Through the Lens of Time

Season one made me think this was a revival of TOS. Semi-serious show addressing adventure and real life issues through aliens. However the show has often turned goofy. Often stretching a 1 season arch into 3

The season opener which should have been last season's finale at least had promise. But then turned goofy and boring for the next few episodes. This one returns to what I would expect of a Star Trek show. It wasn't awesome ir groundbreaking but is at least what I would expect spect as the minimum offering of a quality show in sci-fi. However even sci-fi quality has a much higher bar than it did back in the day when cheesy was garanteed due to low tech attempts for special effects. But with shows like Foundation, dune, the expanse.....too many shows are giving top tier performances to tolerate gimmicky characters hat on ver this ST is.

The best episode of the season and one of the best episodes of the entire series.

After the rather disappointing start to the first half of the season, "Through the Lens of Time" does a really good job of telling a new and exciting story.

First of all, the set design looks incredible, and the way it is integrated into the story keeps the tension high throughout. Individual fates play a very important role, previous events are interestingly integrated into the narrative, and the emotions are strongly conveyed to the viewer. You can feel what is being told here, and how it is being told is essential to the foreground.

The episode feels like the prelude to something even bigger, for which the Gorn were just a small foretaste.

The stakes are raised, the characters interact fluidly with each other, and the narrative is elevated to a higher level, which will hopefully pay off in the coming episodes and perhaps even beyond into the final seasons.

Wow that was scientifically accurate as quantum!

I love this show! Its great they explore new approaches to asses what could be a strangeness is all about, it is in the end called strange new worlds and it is and apt name to put it.

Without any spoilers, this could be the one of the best episodes in the series.

The episode has its moments of drama that is rather boring. I think some of the problem is the writing and delivery just don't fit the content. I do not like the Ortegas character but I'm pretty certain that's by design. I'm surprised that her little brother is even more annoying, unfortunately the actor really isn't very good at the delivery.

With the fifth episode of Season 3, we get our second truly "strange new world" of the season. Yay! And there was much rejoicing.

Through the Lens of Time is my second favorite episode so far, just behind the premiere. It builds on an intriguing premise and, thanks to some clever visual effects, gives us a setting that's both satisfying and puzzling for an away team to investigate.

That's where this episode shines: it leans into the classic Star Trek formula; an away team encountering a mysterious environment, and it does this very well! Even the long-standing TOS "red shirt" trope gets a fresh twist here, and I'm fully on board with it.

Where the episode falters is in the details. The meta, film-within-the-story elements don't land for me; it feels forced rather than clever, and I'm not sure why the writers keep returning to this device throughout the series. Likewise, the time-warp material never gels, coming across more as contrived coincidence than inventive storytelling. Too often, characters are shuffled into place simply because the plot demands it. That kind of backward construction can work if it's either brilliant or if the dialogue is so engaging that science is an afterthought. Here it's neither, leaving the episode as a whole feeling above average, but not as epic as is should.

Five episodes into the third season, I still feel like Strange New Worlds is working with first season level scripts. Fortunately, the talented cast and their on-screen chemistry, combined with consistently strong production values and effects, keep the show afloat. At this stage, though, what the series really needs is a leap in top-tier writing. That's both encouraging, because the potential is there, and a little disappointing, given how far along we are in the show's run.