Strange New Worlds

 

Strange New Worlds, debuted in the summer of 2022, as a spinoff of the series Star Trek Discovery, with its star Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) having ties to the original 60’s series. Hardcore fans will find easter eggs connecting planets, ships and names of characters popping up somewhere in every episode, with an underlining storyline that leads up to an inevitable future for both its captain and crew.

We learn Discovery commenced a mission unsanctioned by Starfleet to jump into the future to defeat an A.I., While Pike and the enterprise stayed in the present, Pike saw his future, and to fans of 60’s series titled The Cage/The Menagerie. Fans old and new know what the future has in store for its captain.    Looking back to the original series; episode 4 – titled The Naked Time, it shares a story to that of Strange New Worlds Episode 3: Ghost of Ilyria -how the crew become infected with an alien virus.  New Worlds episode 5 Spock Amok , that plays with original season 2 episode 1’s  Amok Time, we witness the first meeting, and the start of Nurse Chapel’s crush on Spock, that pays off in The Naked Time several years into the future.  Which puts a question of chief security officer La’an Noonien-Singh a descendant of Khan who in accordance with the original series episode called Space Seed, has Khan currently adrift in space in suspended animation. As he and his augmented crew where tyrants in the 1990s and attempted to take over world, her last name is a source of ridicule and a reason why the federation does not accept creatures who genetically modify themselves.  Which sets up the character Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijin), Captain Pike’s number One. In episode 3 Ghosts of Ilyira – Ilyrians were never accepted into Starfleet as they experimented on themselves with genetic modifications, and Una is an Ilyrian but from a distant planet.  …  Trivia note - Majel Barrett played unnamed first officer for Captain Pike in “The Cage” episode; which was also Barrett’s first role on Star Trek…  making her the original Number One.

As tightly woven Strange New Worlds is to shows of the past like Enterprise, Discovery, Deep Space Nine, Next generation, and the original series.  The show keeps the traditional format of an A and B story subplot, but that B subplot will have a C & D side story that along with keeping true and accurate to the rich lore of Star Trek history. ….  In layman’s terms, if you never watch Star Trek, you will find each episode engaging with a new set of circumstances and location, while also getting a closer look at a crew member and situation involving them to this over arching story and how their captain and crew work in that member’s situation. Making each episode engaging, complex and packed with story; fans of previous shows will draw lines, find small connections, they will debate or have water cooler talk of who is the better captain, that can begin from Pike losing crew members early in the season, The Kobayashi Maru, the test Kirk reprogrammed to cheat the no-win simulation test; to each Series Captains’ sense of charisma and valor. Or just the shear performances of other actors on their captains’ interpretations from Janeway, Sisco, Picard, Archer, Lorca and Kirk.  It honestly should come down to who would you want to be your boss, that you’d have to report to for 5 straight years, A surprising number has pointed to Strange New Worlds Christopher Pike, his fatherly warmer approach to his crew, and open lines of communication is more calm, easy, and mutually enriching as compared to the more ritual hierarchy of past/future commanding officers.