Spoilers for “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds” to observe.
“What if we simply did ‘Star Trek’?” That was the pitch for “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds,” in accordance to collection co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers. The present’s guardian collection, “Star Trek: Discovery,” had as a substitute tried to replace “Trek” for the status TV period. That meant serialized storytelling, a darker tone together with extra violence and morally compromised protagonists, and so on.
Examine that to “Unusual New Worlds.” The collection has episodic tales, an optimistic tone, and an Enterprise crew who’re paragons of the “Star Trek” utopian future. That crew additionally contains many faces from “Star Trek: The Authentic Collection,” akin to Spock (Ethan Peck), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), Scotty (Martin Quinn), and the longer term Captain Kirk (Paul Wesley).
Seeing outdated favorites in new (however chronologically earlier) adventures has made “Unusual New World” right into a satisfying consolation look ahead to Trekkies. /Movie Lead Editor Jacob Corridor has praised “Unusual New Worlds” season 3 for its confidence, earnestness, and tonal variance, and all that reward is warranted. But, having watched the just-wrapped third season of “Unusual New Worlds,” I can not assist however really feel the low ceiling of the present’s ambitions is holding it again.
A part of the “Unusual New Worlds” classicism is reusing “Star Trek” inventory plots and typically instantly remaking outdated episodes. The season 1 finale “A High quality of Mercy” actually dropped Captain Pike into the plot of the traditional “Star Trek” episode “Stability of Terror.” Then, the season 2 finale and season 3 premiere “Hegemony” riffed on the “Star Trek: The Subsequent Era” episode “The Better of Each Worlds,” simply with the Gorn as a substitute of the Borg.
Virtually each episode of “Unusual New Worlds” season 3 has made me suppose, “Hey, that is like [insert other ‘Star Trek’ episode here],” and you’ll inform the episodes are all inviting you to make these comparisons. But when all of the collection is doing is making me consider different “Star Trek” episodes, then can I name it an awesome present by itself deserves?
Is Unusual New Worlds too Star Trek for its personal good?
It is necessary to do not forget that “Unusual New Worlds” was implicitly designed to rescue the “Star Trek” franchise from a tough period. The J.J. Abrams reboot movies died on the vine, whereas “Discovery” earned a decidedly combined response from starting to finish.
All of the homaging in “Unusual New Worlds” is code for the Trekkies watching that the present sees them; that it is a collection made by and for “Star Trek” followers. You can even observe this shift with “Star Trek: Picard,” which went from one thing near “Discovery” in its first season to the “Subsequent Era” reunion all of the Trekkies had needed by season 3.
“Star Trek” has been round for greater than 60 years; it is developing on 1,000 episodes complete throughout all collection. At that time, you may solely inform so many “new” tales. But, I can not assist however consider the earlier darkish period for “Star Trek” tv: the early 2000s.
Again then, “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Enterprise” had been operating on autopilot, recycling “Subsequent Era” and “Deep Area 9” scripts and staying inside a formulaic field to diminishing returns. “Unusual New Worlds” is doing one thing comparable with its flurry of pseudo-remakes, wanting backwards to older “Star Trek” episodes to remix or remake them.
The one benefit of “Unusual New Worlds” is that I would not say it is listlessly going via the motions because it does this. Each episode, even the darkish ones, is exuberant. It is clear the solid and crew love that they are making a “Star Trek” present, and so they need to make it as “true” to “Star Trek” as it may be. The collection has often explored new territory too. I might level to the season 2 musical episode, “Subspace Rhapsody,” as “Unusual New Worlds” doing one thing “Star Trek” has by no means achieved earlier than. However is all this sufficient to make “Unusual New Worlds” a traditional in its personal proper?
The most meta second in “Unusual New Worlds” season 3’s holodeck episode, “A Area Journey Hour,” mentioned how the unique “Star Trek” collection pushed social progress ahead and constructed a group of impressed followers. Is “Unusual New Worlds” sustaining that group and constructing it out? Or simply overlaying the outdated hits for a shrinking fandom? Solely time will inform.
“Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds” is streaming on Paramount+, with season 4 scheduled to premiere in 2026.
