Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reminds you filler TV is fantastic

Image: John Medland/Paramount Plus

Star Trek has struggled in the age of loud blockbusters. The J.J.Abrams films tried to make Star Trek into a mega action film and Star Trek: Discovery tried to make it into a serial tv show. Picard and Lower Decks have tried to play to the fans with in-jokes. They haven't had the same impact as the original series or the Star Trek series of the '90s It feels like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is similar to other shows. The updated Star Trek pitch is perfect for 2022, it knows what we want and that is important.

The franchise is enormous at this point, as big as Star Wars or Doctor Who, but it often feels like it has been at odds with itself and embarrassed by its own existence. It's like a petulant teenager who really wants to go trick or treating with the family, but doesn't want to run into any friends in case they get made fun of

It isn't like that. The show understands that if you are earnest and goofy, you can still entertain people. It isn't embarrassed to be here. A lot of that is down to a terrific cast, led by Anson Mount, who plays Christopher Pike, and Rebecca Romijn, who plays Number One. Beyond a great cast appearing in a great-looking show, what caught my attention was the way Strange New Worlds was happy to embrace the meaningless episode.

Image: Marni Grossman/Paramount Plus

The episodes are not related to the overarching stories. They can be episodes about downtime or funny episodes in a drama show. Most TV series had at least 20 episodes. In the same amount of time many series now turn out six to 10 episodes, writer's rooms would typically have to turn out 22 to 25 script. Things could get weird, that's what it means. The war against the Cigarette Smoking Man and the Consortium is one of the many serial plots that could be found in those 20 episodes. The shows wouldn't raise the stakes to the end of the world, but they would have episodes that were experimental or silly. The impact of Picard getting Borg-ified was due to the fact that he was a nerd who liked to play a private eye.

The filler episode fell out of fashion as TV became more serialized and short. The cast of Star Trek: Discovery isn't acting out a fairy tale for the sake of entertainment. The filler episode is what distinguishes TV from movies. Disney Plus shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi feel like movies because they are so long. One of the biggest complaints about new shows on the internet is that they are too long. We can't just sit with a character and get to know them because the plot is always hustling.

The appeal of TV for so long is due to the fact that you spend so much time with these characters that you know them better than you do with other characters.

Image: Marni Grossman/Paramount Plus

In the first six episodes of Strange New Worlds, we have been allowed to enjoy the characters and not be afraid to breathe. We can have an episode where Captain Pike learns of his own tragic future on Star Trek: Discovery, and we can have an episode that makes the goofy Kirk wrestle a scary threat. We can have an episode where everyone is enjoying their day off and two characters accidentally switch bodies and negotiate some diplomatic treaties.

The show doesn't feel the need to always check in on the characters because they are developed in a variety of ways. The more gentle plot could be learned from the shows. Sometimes we don't need a lot of episodes. Sometimes we need one or two so we can have time for things.

New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can be found on Thursdays.