Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

I see a lot of high ratings for Star Trek Strange New Worlds. Let me warn you, this is another review where I ask what show are they watching?

Compared to the other new Star Trek series on Paramount+, this one is brilliant. But that's a low bar.

In fact, original programming on Paramount+ is uniformly mediocre. There's not one winner in the bunch. The first season of Picard, if I recall correctly was pretty good. The second was miserable. Star Trek Discovery is a very uneven series that finally, irrevocably went off the rails.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds is somewhere in the middle. It's just good enough to make you watch just to see if it gets better but not good enough to make you want to watch the next season.

Not only is the story uninspired but the characters are mostly uninteresting. There is an outright dumb character on the bridge crew whose only purpose is to make comments and wisecracks that simply wouldn't be tolerated on any ship other than the S. S. Minnow.

I really tried hard to like this, after reading so many positive reviews here I expected it to be like the original series or the next generation.

This series isn't star trek. What the writers failed to realise is that what made the original star trek series and the next generation so good, and so successful is that each episode (and movie) focused mainly on the storyline, it was about space exploration, technology, tacticle battles, interesting stories. Any kind of relationship drama and character back story was kept to a minimum and only added briefly when it was important to the story.

This series is 90% relationship drama. It's like watching Neighbours set on a spaceship. Far too much of it is just boring inane dialogue that isn't pertinent to the storyline, or character backstory that just isn't interesting and makes you lose interest.

Perhaps that is for some people since this series does have many good reviews, but if you're like me and find relationship soap drama boring then you probably won't enjoy this either.

I have to admit that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was so much better than I expected. This is the prequel to the original Star Trek and even has some familiar characters like Spock and Uhura. It's led by Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and has basically the same plot as the original in where they explore the galaxy. This is actually one of the most well received Star Trek shows ever by both the critics and fans, it currently has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. It has a new fresh feel while also honoring the original. This is a show that both new fans and longtime fans can both enjoy. This hooked me from the very first episode and didn't let go. I binged the entire first season over a weekend and I'm already looking forward for next season.

Strange New Worlds is a fabulous Trekverse series in contrast to some recent offerings. Vintage stylistic choices from uniforms, through technology to sounds, together with opening credits and episodic stories make this a joy to watch for lovers of original Trek.

The stories are focussed, setting the tone, challenges and developing relationships between the crew members very well. The inclusion of younger versions of familiar characters, is a welcome and relatable anchoring to the series.

SNW comes with the familiar plot holes and humour blended nicely together with subtle references to earth's history and Kirk-like problem solving.

Mix all the above together with an excellent cast, this is a winner - I, for one, am very much looking forward to seeing more.

First episode, and we have an encapsulated story, with a beginning, middle and end, in which the dilemmas of modern society are explored in a self-reflective way, using an alien civilization as a parable.

The old classic trek formula with updated and impressive visuals.

And the same can be said of the cast, all charming and easily relatable. But keep in mind that some are remakes of familiar characters. Some people will not like that.

So far, this is the Kurtzman-era series that has positively impressed me the most. Let's see if the quality holds up.

Still. There are some creative choices that bother me a little.

Probably my favorite character from this new series, is La'an Noonien-Singh. One of the best officers onboard and a dashing beauty. But just the fact that she's a Noonien-Singh is going to unnecessarily stress many of the more purist fans.

So far this series is a significant improvement, it has everything many fans have long claimed. And still. They keep some of the tricks, which mess with the cannon, unnecessarily. For me is a minor complaint, but for some boomer fans it's sacrilege.

But clearly, in my opinion, it's the most enjoyable of all the recent Star Trek series. I really liked this episode. And I will look forward to the next.