It is odd to get excited about a show I don't care about. I shouldn't. I have never been a fan of Star Trek, and what I know about it has mostly been gleaned from my 20 years of covering nerd news. When Discovery kicked off its new era, and again when Patrick Stewart returned as Picard, I contemplated jumping into Trek. Strange New Worlds has made me more interested in Star Trek than I have ever been. The show follows the crew of the Enterprise during their five-year mission to explore strange new worlds. It is incredibly easy to watch, understand, and enjoy Strange New Worlds, and it is one of the highlights of my week. This is no small feat for a show in a franchise with a devoted fan base. Trek shows like Discovery and Picard have built on existing parts of the franchise, using them as load-bearing pillars to prop up their stories. Strange New Worlds has no connection to the franchise. I know that Strange New Worlds is a continuation of the adventures of Captain Pike, who starred in the second season of Discovery. I know that SNW is a sequel to the original 1960s series and that the first captain of the Enterprise was seen in the first pilot before being replaced by Kirk. SNW stars younger versions of original series mainstays Spock and Uhura. I didn't need to know anything to enjoy the series. In the second season of Discovery, Pike was fated to get caught in a radiation leak that would leave him immobile, unable to communicate, and almost wholly confined. SNW gave me everything I needed to know in the first few minutes of the pilot episode. I'm pretty sure there are lots of Easter eggs for Trek fans, for instance, Spock's fiancée T’Pring briefly pops up for a scene. The scene is not dependent on knowing what will happen in the future. It wasn't necessary, maybe it helps, or gives something an extra layer of meaning. Next-Level Sound can be experienced. Theater-like sound surrounds you with spatial audio with dynamic head tracking.
This is refreshing, but Strange New Worlds takes it to another level. Each episode of the show is a self-contained story, instead of a chapter of one continuing, season-long narrative. The classic model of The Original Series and Next Generation is what Strange New Worlds follows. In the first two episodes of SNW, they encountered one sci-fi dilemma and solved it. An entire adventure in 50 minutes.
SNW is easy to watch because it is a nerd franchise series. What was the last Star Wars book that didn't feature a surprise character from the comics or animated series, or at the very least the original trilogy? What is the last product that didn't require you to have watched other movies or TV shows or read certain comics to fully understand? There is nothing wrong with that, and those long-form narratives can be very satisfying when told when. There is something very satisfying about sitting down to watch an hour of TV and getting an entire story.
Fans of classic Trek TV series know that these short stories don't have to preclude character development. The pilot shows Pike wrestling with how he should spend his present when he knows his future, while this week's episode focuses on a new cadet. I'm looking forward to seeing what Strange New Worlds has in store for Number One and Nurse Chapel, as well as its new characters.
Even if it is set in some of the oldest ground Trek has to offer, I still look forward to new episodes of the show, and seeing it explore the universe of Star Trek instead of going back over old ground. I don't know if the show will be enough for me to consider myself a Trek fan, but even though only two episodes have aired on Paramount+, I'm absolutely a fan of Strange New Worlds.
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