It’s the best of both worlds. Beautifully bright, updated visuals and iconic characters are brought to life by incredibly talented modern-day actors with all of the sci-fi drama, introspection, and humor you could ask for.
The first episode begins with Captain Pike going through some stuff. Deep stuff. Ignoring his calls, rewatching favorite movies, questioning his career (and his life’s purpose) at Star Fleet, with no perceivable end to his mind’s wandering. That is until Admiral April comes knocking, and even the most distracted officer can’t say no to saving one of his own.
With Una Chin-Riley and her sidekicks lost on Kiley 279 during a first contact that has gone sideways, the USS Enterprise is pulled out of dock early to locate the crew and hopefully successfully re-establish first contact, the success of which is quite shaky. With a captain who’s distracted about his own mortality and ability to lead plus a few new, untested crew members aboard there’s plenty that can go wrong but there’s also a lot that can go right. Or weirdly wrong, I mean it can go either way with this bunch.
When the Enterprise arrives, the residents of Kiley 279 are embroiled in a highly volatile civil conflict that is about to go full world war. Captain Christopher Pike, Spock, and La’an Noonien-Singh devise a plan to find their lost crew, but it takes some enhancements courtesy of one Nurse Christine Chapel and Dr. M’Benga to help the rescuers blend in with the locals. Of course, things don’t work out as planned, one of the most amusing incidents being the two Kiley natives who were brought aboard the Enterprise with the intention of keeping them sedated until they can be beamed back to the planet without any recollection of their time on the ship waking up from the sedation early and freaking out (I’ve woken up early during an outpatient procedure and let me tell you, it’s pretty messed up. I, however, didn’t have the need for a nurse chase me down which is kind of disappointing.)
Using Earth’s history of civil conflict as a guide, Captain Pike (while breaking a few rules that Admiral April will later have to explain to Star Fleet) offers the people of Kiley a possible glimpse into their future if they continue on with their planned path of mutual destruction, one that Discovery unintentionally helped set them on. It’s an episode that blends what if, what was, and what could be in a very succinct yet completely relatable and engaging way. All I can say is if the rest of the season is anything like “Strange New Worlds” we are all in for one hell of a ride.
Strange New Worlds drops today on Paramount+ so definitely take the time to check it out.
Come on, you know you want to.