The production geniuses at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 2 took a Big Risk with the first episode by sending Captain Pike (Anson Mount) to different quadrant of the Galaxy. Pike leaves Spock (Ethan Peck) in charge of the Enterprise which is getting much need upgrades and repairs at a space station.
When a distress call from a former Enterprise crew member is ignored by the Star Fleet bureaucracy, Spock decides to “steal” the Enterprise and check out the situation. Spock and the crew discover a “false flag” operation underway to restart the Klingon-Federation war.
I enjoyed last year’s First Season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (you can read my review here). This 10-episode season (new episodes will be released on Thursday from now to August 17) promises to be even better. A third season has already been ordered. GRADE: INCOMPLETE (but trending towards A)
The most moving moment of the first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 2 was this heart-felt tribute to Nichelle Nichols at the end:
For Nichelle
Who was First through the door
and showed us the stars.
Hailing Frequencies Forever open…
Haven’t seen it yet. That’s been true of at least a couple of ST series at this point (though the only actively unpleasant items for me have been the couple of J. J. Abrams feature-films I have seen…and the goofiness of the Roddenberry seasons of ST: TNG way back when (leaving aside the general goofiness of Roddenberry even at the best of times). Just haven’t the will nor the time nor the funds at the moment to engage P+ along with our other expenses. A Michelle Yeoh-starring vehicle, as promised, might get me on-board. Nichols deserves no few plaudits, including putting up with Roddenberry and Shatner, along with touching so many young hearts of all ages. (Though my best beloved thus resonated the most with Whoopee Goldberg’s Guinan…was involved with Trek fandom before we met and for a bit after…and was kind enough to go with me to a pulp-oriented convention, my own first, where I, and she, met Dick Lupoff and small host of others for the first time non-virtually.)
For that matter, my earlier ex, though never in a con-going mood back when, was a far more forgiving fan of TNG and TOS than I…wonder if she is still watching the series…
Todd, since STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, SEASON 3 has already been approved, the audience response to this series seems to be satisfactory to the Suits.
Very glad it’s keeping up the side…so I’ve gathered from other viewers, particularly about this one and DISCOVERY.
Todd, DISCOVERY is almost as good as STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. I recommend both of them.
Todd, I’m sure STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS will be available in various formats and on various streaming services. Paramount+ offers “free episodes” and “trial memberships” from time to time.
No Paramount +
Jeff, Paramount+ offers Free Trials from time to time.
I picked up the DVD set of the first season from the library the other day and am half-way through it. It’s fun hangout TV. They clearly threw a ton of money at the wall and it actually looks better than any of the feature films which is odd but I can’t help but laugh at how many of the sets are ridiculously oversized, like the crew quarters and engineering section. The designers clearly don’t give a rat’s ass that all of this couldn’t fit into a ship this size and that’s part of the show’s charm, it knows it’s just TV. It actually makes me feel like a kid again, wondering where the Flying Sub was supposed to squeeze under the control room of the Seaview or how the Jupiter 2 could have three decks when there clearly was barely room for one.
Similarly, it’s kind of fun how they could not care less about canon which is driving a lot of Trekkies insane but amuses the hell out of me because I just can’t take this stuff seriously. I actually hope this show breaks the hold famdom has on the canon thing and that people can finally go back to enjoying TV and movies again without doing mental gymnastics to justify this stuff. That said, the writing is all over the place and generally sloppy to awful, particularly the relentlessly quippy, adolescent dialogue (you can really feel Akiva Goldsman’s hand on the reins). Still, they somehow do give Captain Pike some of the best captain speeches in the history of the franchise and every now and then I feel like a kid again watching the original show for the first time when it ran in syndication during the weekdays.
I like most of the cast, particularly Anson Mount who fits the role like a glove and is easily the most likeable Trek captain of them all. I don’t get what people see in Ethan Peck though, his Spock just feels amateurishly off-base like a non-actor in some YouTube fan film. The rest of the cast and characters are fine with the sole exception of Ortega. Apparently her character (including her name) is inspired by Gene Roddenberry’s original idea for the what later evolved
I picked up the DVD set of the first season from the library the other day and am half-way through it. It’s fun hangout TV. They really threw a ton of money at the wall and it actually looks better than any of the feature films which is odd. I can’t help but laugh at how many of the sets are ridiculously oversized, like the crew quarters and engineering section. The designers clearly don’t give a rat’s ass that all of this couldn’t fit into a ship this size and that’s part of the show’s charm, it knows it’s just TV. It actually makes me feel like a kid again, wondering where the Flying Sub was supposed to squeeze under the control room of the Seaview or how the Jupiter 2 could have three decks when there clearly was barely room for one.
Similarly, it’s kind of fun how they could not care less about canon which is driving a lot of Trekkies insane but amuses the hell out of me because I just can’t take this stuff seriously. I actually hope this show breaks the hold fandom has on the canon thing and that people can finally go back to enjoying TV and movies again without doing mental gymnastics to justify this stuff. That said, the writing is all over the place and generally sloppy to awful, particularly the relentlessly quippy, adolescent dialogue (you can really feel Akiva Goldsman’s hand on the reins). Still, they do give Captain Pike some of the best captain speeches in the history of the franchise and every now and then I feel like a kid again watching the original show for the first time when it ran in syndication during the weekdays.
I do like most of the cast, particularly Anson Mount who fits the role like a glove and is easily the most likeable Trek captain of them all. I don’t get what people see in Ethan Peck though, his Spock just feels amateurishly off-base like a non-actor in some YouTube fan film. The rest of the cast and characters are fine with the sole exception of Ortega. Apparently her character (including her name) is inspired by Gene Roddenberry’s original idea for the what later evolved into Tasha Yar on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and was based on one of the space marines in “Aliens.” They even have her character walking around in a t-shirt and cargo pants and constantly joking like a 15-year-old boy hyped up on Red Bull.
Glad to hear you are enjoying the show so far. I’ve cut the cord thoroughly so I’ll probably have to wait a year to catch this season on DVD. It does feel odd how Paramount dropped the show in the summer. I’ll always think of TV during the summer as nothing but reruns.
Byron, I’m sure a DVD set of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, Season 2 will be available in a few months. I’ve only watched the one new episode, but I’m liking it even more than Season 1.
Summer “replacement” series are a longstanding tradition…and with a reasonably sure thing such as a ST series, why not wait till a lot of the kids are out of school….
Indeed, George, I’ve taken brief advantage of some of the freebies, including on P+ to catch the first several seasons of THE GOOD FIGHT, mostly, a while back. Still haven’t seen the last couple.
Todd, we occasionally take advantage of “Free Trials”…and then we binge!
I do have Paramount and am about to begin Season One.
Patti, the first couple episodes spend a lot of time introducing the crew members. The later episodes really get into the story-telling mode!
Spock goes rogue and steals the ship? Illogical.
Fred, I know Spock stealing a starship and ignoring a direct order by an Admiral is seemingly illogical. But the scriptwriters of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, Season 2 provide a convincing work-around.
Get a life!
Bob, William Shatner is still around at 92. And he got quite a Life!