Sci Fi TV Review: Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds started off by blending Nu Trek with the spirit of TOS and TNG, but lately it seems to have gone off the rails.

What Is It?

Set prior to the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, this show follows the U.S.S. Enterprise as it treks into outer space, boldly going to strange new worlds with Captain Christopher Pike, his first officer Number One, and his science officer Mr. Spock in command of the ship.

Streaming: Paramount+, New Episodes Release on Thursdays

Starring: Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong. Celia Rose Gooding

Created By: Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet

Johnny Jay’s Thoughts:

When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds first premiered back in the spring of 2022, I watched the entire first season and rather enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say I became a devoted fan, but I liked it best of the Nu Trek entries because it captured the spirit of The Original Series while still bringing in some of the modern sensibilities of the newer shows. I especially liked the cast, particularly the actors playing the Big Three: Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock. The first season had its ups and downs, but it was mostly solid and ended very strong.

I stuck around for the second season, which seemed to be getting rave reviews from fans and critics, but I found myself less enamored. I didn’t like the tinkering they were doing with canon—such as Spock’s relationship with Nurse Chapel (in TOS it was established that she pined for him while he had no interest) or their encounters with the Gorn (who were presented as an unknown enemy in their TOS episode “Arena” that nobody from the Federation had previously encountered ). I also didn’t care for the CGI overload, something Trek doesn’t need if it delivers the quality of stories we expect from the franchise. I ended up watching episodes selectively that season (no, I didn’t tune in for the singing episode) and had my doubts about where it was headed.

Despite my reservations, I started watching the third season a couple of weeks ago. But by the time I got to episode four, I was pretty much done. Here’s my episode-by-episode progression through the season:

“Hegemony Part 2”: I didn’t hate this episode (which concluded the Season 2 finale), and I had pretty much accepted that they’d re-written the Federation’s history with the Gorn—though I still wondered why they didn’t just bring in a new alien species instead of relying on name recognition when these Gorn are so different from what we saw in TOS. But this installment threw CGI overload at us along with improbable escapes and rescues that substituted for actual storytelling. And while I didn’t mind them bringing in Mr. Scott (who apparently also has a history with the Gorn never mentioned in TOS) and liked the actor they picked, he is way too young. This Scotty seems to be in his 20s, while by the time Kirk takes command of the Enterprise (only a few years away), he should be in his 40s.

“Wedding Bell Blues”: I almost turned this episode off about twenty minutes in because it was going the sitcom route, similar to the Season 2 episode “Charades.” Then I kind of liked what they did with the wedding planner, and thought that had some humorous potential. But pretty quickly, I realized this guy was just a Trelane-like character (with Rhys Darby very much channeling William Campbell’s performance), and I knew exactly how the episode was going to end. After these events, canon is disrupted again, because Spock would know the existence of this god-like species and should have recognized it when they encountered Trelane in TOS.

“Shuttle to Kenfori”: I didn’t mind them introducing zombies into Trek and thought Pike had some pretty funny lines related to that. But this episode crammed in so much that each of its storylines could have been an episode in itself. It was like a firehose of ideas unleashed, with plenty of CGI excess, but none of the stories were fully explored. This one had far too much action and SFX and not enough true development, and I felt cheated by the end.

“A Space Adventure Hour”: This one started out kind of fun with a decent parody of TOS, and then worked in a humorous look behind the scenes at the infighting and political maneuvering of making a TV series. It also acted as an origin story for the holodeck/rec room, which I didn’t mind, but then they took it down the same road they always do: someone steps onto the holodeck and things go wrong. I saw it coming a mile away, and it played out exactly as expected. And might I remind us of what J. Michael Straczynski had to say about this: “If you need a holodeck to make an interstellar starship on the bleeding edge of the unknown interesting, something is seriously amiss.” On top of all that, they threw in yet another love interest for Spock at the end. When did this show become The Starship of Love?

Basically, the ending of the fourth episode did it for me, and I decided to bow out. I’d kind of like to see the upcoming puppet episode, but I’ve cancelled my Paramount+ subscription as of the end of the month because Paramount paid shakedown money to a thug and cancelled Stephen Colbert at that person’s behest (and I don’t care what you think of Colbert—no government official should be able to get someone kicked off the air just because they don’t like them). I also have plenty of other shows I am watching and enjoying, so I’ve decided I’m done with hate-watching Strange New Worlds for now.

Some people do like the show, and I’ve heard some positive buzz from the current season. But as an old-time Trek fan, this one just goes too far off the rails too often, and I don’t like the way it rewrites the show’s history. Now, can we please get a fourth season of The Orville so there’s something on television that hearkens back to the true spirit of the franchise?

And one more thing: Captain Pike’s hair is getting pretty ridiculous by this point.

What’s Next?

Season 3 of Strange New Worlds wraps up on September 11th, and the show has been renewed through its fifth season. It is scheduled to end at that point, though there are rumors that after the Paramount/Skydance merger finalizes the franchise could be sold off. If that happens, perhaps more adventures of Captain Pike and his crew could follow, or maybe they’ll move ahead with the Captain Kirk series that’s been discussed (Though I am not thrilled about that, either). But for now, SNW will end at the five-year mark, and we’re not certain what’s next for the franchise beyond the upcoming Starfleet Academy series (and the rumored President Jonathan Archer show, which you can read more about at this link).

Are you watching Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and do you believe it has proven to be a good entry in the franchise? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

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