I need to watch it. Behind on everything.
Have they righted the Star Trek ship finally? Instead of trying to be everything else that was popular in sci-fi, the producers realized that Star Trek is it's own thing?
Man, it took a while. Discovery is terrible, Picard was an embarrassment. Strange New Worlds, though, seems like, yes, they've finally understood that we just want fucking Star Trek. And there are modern day storytelling concessions, but they're all handled well. Except for some personal through-lines (from the obvious, like Pike's inevitable destiny, to more drilled down like the struggle of veterans of the Klingon War) the episodes are self-contained Star trek adventures.
The Enterprise isn't destroyed in every episode, there's no vast seasonal/series arc that requires you to watch every single minute AND the web shorts, and the legacy characters are handled well. Uhura is perfectly cast, young Spock's journey pairs well with the original Spock we saw in the trashed pilot (before they made him more logical). Anson Mount's Captain Pike is simply sublime.
The Khan references are, at first, a bit of an eyeroll (his great great granddaughter is on the crew, or whatever). After the first mention, this is pretty much ignored. It becomes a much larger plot point in season two and -- fucking stunningly -- it's handled well and I'm perfectly happy with it. How often do you get to say that about a self-referential reboot, eh?
They took vast liberties with Nurse Chapel and, initially, that presented a problem for me. But Jess Bush is so, so good in the role that I very quickly forgot about the (way underused) OG Chapel. By season two, Jess Bush is the ONLY Nurse Chapel in my mind.
The hardest pill to swallow is this iteration of Jim Kirk. He's almost an open sore in season one, and the Great Shadow of Kirk blots out their attempts to give elder brother Sam Kirk a proper role. As soon as you hear "Kirk," it's gonna be all about Jim, you know?
In season two, not only have I gotten used to Current Kirk, but I've grown to like him and accept his occasional guest spot. And the "As soon as you hear "Kirk," it's gonna be all about Jim" is actually addressed by an angry Sam.
In terms of the all-important Trek Ensemble, they've nailed it pretty much from day one. There are some occasional growing pains here and there but nothing bad. So far, this show hasn't truly let me down once.
That said....I'm about to watch the musical episode that dropped today. So stand by for a post all about how I hate this show and you shouldn't watch it.
