Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) — Review
To Boldly Go (Again)
We’re seven episodes into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’s first season on Paramount+ . Now’s as good a time as any to pause and reflect. Spoiler alert: I’m going to give the show a positive review, but first, a little context…
I was born in 1966, the year the original Star Trek series hit the airwaves. Obviously, I was too young to watch it then, but I remember seeing promos for syndication. My father turned to me during one of those commercials and said, “Hey, I think you might like that.” I was into Planet of the Apes at the time (because, duh, monkeys with guns) so my dad knew I was probably part of Trek’s target demo.
Like many people (and I do mean many), I fell in love with The Original Series (or TOS, as the nerdy kids call it) and it’s been an intermittent companion throughout my life. Not so much that I’d go to a convention or don rubber ears, but it is a bosom chum who drops by now and again.
I like the way TOS told stories. I like the three central characters (and the three corresponding actors) enough that I consider them TV friends. I developed a bias, so I never cottoned to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Despite a talented cast, TNG always felt anemic to me. Strangely lacking in conflict for a show that was supposed to, you know, be…
