‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Has Promises and Usual Disappointments

There are reasons that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds existed beyond the need to keep pumping Trek content, so no one thought too much about canceling Paramount+. It was designed to quell some discontent in Star Trek’s vast and vocal fan base about the direction of the live-action shows under uber-producer Alex Kurtzman’s stewardship. It was also a somewhat bewildered response to the criticisms of its predecessors, Discover and Picard, made by the same people behind those two programs. In a nutshell, it’s designed to appeal to those who, when asked what their favorite Trek live-action show is, sarcastically say Orville.

We open on Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), the one-time and future captain of the Enterprise after his Discovery-led voyage in his second season. There, a magical time crystal told him that, in less than a decade, he would non-fatal explosion in one training accident. Armed with the standard-issue Grief Beard™, he rejects calls to return to the stars until the whistle-blowing song about non-sequential space adventures becomes too great. It wasn’t long before he and Spock were reunited to rescue Rebecca Romijn’s Number One from a spy mission on a malfunctioning pre-war planet. Sadly, Paramount’s limited embargo on discussing the first few episodes has barred me from discussing much of what I’ve seen, so things are going to be a bit more hazy from here on out.

Looks like in August 2020 when Alex Kurtzman said the show would many episodes rather than being serialized. Here’s a way to deal with criticism of many episodes, going nowhere, doing nothing the stories of the gloomy mystery box attract a lot of joy from Discover and Picard. Strange new world rather, a deliberate setback of the style Original linealthough with Character stories are serialized. So while we visit a new planet every week, the characters keep their scars, and Lessons Learnedfrom their experience.

There are more characters from the Original Series that are refreshed than just Pike, Spock, and Number One for the ride. Babs Olusanmokun is playing a more gritty version of Dr. M’Benga, while Jess Bush takes on Christine Chapel. André Dae Kim is Kyle’s new Sheriff, who has been promoted from intermittent addition to Director of Transportation. Then there’s Celia Rose Gooding as Cadets Uhura, whose semi-classical backstory is now firmly preserved as a story about Dead Parents/Troubled Childhood. Uhura aside, most of these roles were so undeveloped in the ’60s that they were effectively empty slots for reboots. Oh, except that everyone is Hot and Horny right now, since this isn’t just Star Trek, Star Trek isn’t afraid to show off characters in bed to other people.

Rounding out the cast is Christina Chong as security chief La’an Noonien-Singh, a descendant of Khaaaaan! himself, Trek’s in-series similar to Hitler. From what we know of her so far, she is also remembered with the story of a Troubled Childhood / Dead Parents, as well as a case of newborns. I hope her character will soften even more over time, but right now she’s officially the least cheerful character to spend time with. Of most interest are Melissa Navia’s shooter pilot, Erica Ortegas, who can throw quirky play into the mix when called upon, and Hemmer. Hemmer is a telepathic Aenar (an Androian type first introduced in ). Enterprise) played by Bruce Horak. Horak plays Hemmer as an old-fashioned likable grumpy and mentor character for several other characters and is clearly going to be a fan favorite.

And now that I’ve watched the first half of the first season (a second season has been produced), I can say that Strange new world It will be a disappointing match for the fans. Frustrated because there are bones of a really fun, interesting Star Trek series buried deep inside Strange new world. Sadly, it’s stuck in the usual mix of fantasy drama, slick dialogue, and dodgy plot with the usual flaws in logic. Many writers are blind to their flaws, that’s why it’s so interesting this is what Kurtzman et al. feel is a radical departure from their own work.

Maybe I’m not being fair, but here it is Saturday part of the live-action Star Trek series released under the direction of Kurtzman. The three main characters all had a full season Discover also go to bed, so not everyone starts from cold. But despite the lightest start, the show still manages to stumble when it tries to do too much and not enough at the same time. The first four episodes in particular, it feels as if someone is trying to speed you through the entire season’s worth of plot in a series of partially disconnected episodes.

One Side: Since the mid-’80s, Paramount has been desperate Star Trek reboot with a younger cast to cash in on that level of Kirk/Spock brand awareness. It did happen eventually, but only in 2009 with JJ Abrams’ not-so-successful attempt at rebooting the series in theaters. While a Young Kirk movie made sense in the 80s, tapping into the nostalgic seam today actually seems very odd. After all, most people under 50 will associate TNG with a True Star’s Trip. The fact that Rihanna’s Trek fan favorite Geordi La Forge speaks volumes about where millennial love lies. But I imagine that a La Forge spin-off series will never fly with any generation of Paramount executives.

Let’s talk about emotional continuity now, because although everyone will bring their experiences with them, little effort has been made to seed conflicts before they erupt. . Arguably the weakest set of the group trying to cram four (4!) A-plot into its slender runtime. One of them was an upcoming story for a crew member – and when they did, another character expressed a deep grudge against that group. It would be great, if we could just let this particular fight end, but it was introduced around 25 minutes and resolved with a fistfight at 40 minutes. We don’t show someone struggling with a decision. out and risk their professional and previous personal relationships. Just… fight.

A lot of these episodes also don’t resolve themselves properly, which is the standard problem of any 50-minute TV show. It’s hard to build a new world, create new characters, establish and solve their problems in the space of two episodes. Brooklyn Nine-Nine. But at least three episodes have ambiguous conclusions or take place entirely off-screen, explained with dialogue. I don’t know if it’s a production issue or the majority of the show’s 22 (yeah, twenty-two) the manufacturer is credited with signing it, but it feels a lot like cheating. It’s almost as if the writers wanted to surprise the next scene – how this be solved !? – concocts too much emotion and satisfying narration on screen.

In fact, I’m going to talk about this one particular episode because it’s not content with just revealing one main character. The episode essentially stops 10 minutes early for shock – revealing another Katherine Dark Secret about a mechanic you barely know. One thing I said when Discover The starting point is that if you never get to know the characters in their default state, it’s not worth it to immediately meet the characters in their monstrous world. Here too, Strange new world refuses to do the hard work of filling in these characters before they begin to change due to their experience together.

The cast are all solid and are clearly working hard to enhance the material they’re given, because the lines here are so raw I think they all deserve it. dangerous money. Now, the nü-Trek dialog has always been awkward and/or impenetrable, but it’s beyond scary here. Kurtzman et al. forget the whole “show, not tell” nature of screenplay, and so the characters just stand there and tell you everything, over and over. This is made worse because instead of giving space to these talented, well-paid actors to act, they are instead forced to voice their feelings.

Here’s an example of that: In one episode, a character is trying (and failing) to recall an important memory from a traumatic childhood experience, the key to saving the day. . But instead of using performers to convey that, they let the actor in question stand there, faceless, and say, “I’m traumatized.” Then there are scenes where the two characters describe what’s happening in front of them with the kind of fake gravity that only Adam West can pull off.

Remember when I said there was a promise? It really is, and you feel like if the writers could just come out on their own, things could be massively improved. There’s one episode that you could easily describe as the (really hilarious) gag of the season, and it’s great. Every Trek fan knows it Man and whale is the most financially successful Trek property ever made. However, whenever a new Trek product is created, it always promises more grit, more darkness, more grit, more. realism. Here we are, though, with a fun episode that reminds you why you watched Star Trek in the first place and makes the characters fun people to hang out with. If the series can continue in a slightly slower, more relaxed direction, then Strange new world can be brilliant.

I haven’t said much about the production design or the effects, both are great – this new Enterprise is gorgeous inside and out. Nor is it a musical set, with Nami Melumad’s score being smart, subtle, and lush in all the right places. It’s a compliment not shared with Jeff Russo’s current standard fare, which doesn’t match the subtlety of a well-established TV series trailer nor the soaring melodiousness associated with it. regarding Star Trek. The best and worst thing I can say about the introductory thread is that it sounds like it came from one of Interplay’s mid-90s CD-ROM games.

Basically, I can only really fucking Strange new world with the faintest of compliments – that can be very enjoyable, repeated every now and then. I’ll imagine and hope that things will improve as time goes on and the showrunners won’t incite their worst. Assuming I’ve walked away Picard after finishing my first run as dull as hell, the fact that I was at least prepared to stay here speaks volumes.