Plot: In season three, when we reconnect with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, still under the command of Captain Pike, they face the conclusion of season two’s harrowing encounter with the Gorn. But new life and civilizations await, including a villain that will test our characters’ grit and resolve. An exciting twist on classic Star Trek, season three takes characters both new and beloved to new heights, and dives into thrilling adventures of faith, duty, romance, comedy, and mystery, with varying genres never before seen on any other Star Trek.
Review: With the recent announcement that the fifth season of Strange New Worlds would be the last, Star Trek fans were preparing for the third season to resolve the cliffhanger ending of the show’s sophomore run back in 2023. With the introduction of Montgomery Scott in addition to a recurring role for James T. Kirk, the narrative of the Original Series prequel has been gaining momentum as it heads towards the conclusion of Christopher Pike’s command of the U.S.S. Enterprise. While rooted as a spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery, Strange New Worlds has consistently proven to be a welcome addition to Gene Roddenberry’s iconic series. Last season, it took risks with a musical episode and a crossover with the animated series Lower Decks. For the third season, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds opens with great new stories, including a thrilling premiere that continues to cement the Gorn as a major antagonist ranking alongside The Borg, Klingons, and Romulans.
Comprised of ten episodes, five of which were made available for this review, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to play with blending an overarching narrative for the season while still focusing on standalone stories that can be enjoyed like the episodic format of the classic Original Series. While the second season dove into some divisive genres, this season continues to experiment with how far Star Trek can go. Each episode offers a balance of drama and humor while exploring genre conceits never seen on Star Trek before. Without divulging any spoiler details, these early episodes offer elements of action, horror, noir, and variations of retro sci-fi in unique ways. The series also explores alien races and technologies explored in Star Trek: The Next Generation in a manner that adds more to the vast official mythology and world-building of the numerous series without upsetting the canon.
What I appreciated most in this third season of Strange New Worlds is the desire for the series to be, more than anything, a fun exploration of Star Trek. Yes, some stakes rival the gravitas that pervaded all five seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, but they are presented in equal measure with a sense of levity that helps keep an equilibrium. Led by Anson Mount’s leadership as Christopher Pike, along with his impeccable hair, the crew of the Enterprise gets to do more this season, with episodes giving focus to Doctor M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), and the new addition of Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn). The latest episodes also introduce new versions of characters George Samuel Kirk, played by Dan Jeannotte, taking over the role portrayed by Chris Hemsworth in J.J. Abrams’ film, as well as Cillian O’Sullivan as Dr. Roger Korby, a character only seen in a single episode of The Original Series. The deep cut references do not stop there, with moments in the second and fourth episodes bound to be dissected by Trek aficionados once the season debuts.
This season’s melodrama may be divisive as various crew members’ romances and relationships are explored across episodes. A few of the relationships are carryovers from season two, while others are brand new and somewhat unexpected. It gives the cast an excellent opportunity to explore the interactions between pairings further that we have not yet seen. Still, it does bring the series more in line with the soapier elements of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and, to a lesser extent, Star Trek: Voyager. I still enjoyed these chapters quite a bit as the pulpier elements of Trek have been one of the franchise’s hallmarks going back to the 1960s. Strange New Worlds shares more in common with the classic William Shatner series than Discovery ever did. I enjoyed the updated nostalgia as much as the inclusion of more canon connections. The series also still boasts the stellar combination of Anson Mount and Ethan Peck as Pike and Spock, but they are supported by every ensemble member pulling equal weight in these episodes.
The series continues to be led by showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, though only Myers has any scripting credits on the third season. The writing team includes Davy Perez, Kirsten Beyer, Onitra Johnson, Bill Wolkoff, Dana Horgan, Kathryn Lyn, David Reed, and Alan B. McElroy. Directors this season include Valerie Weiss, Dan Liu, Adni Armaganian, Maja Vrvilo, Andrew Coutts, Jordan Canning, Sharon Lewis, Chris Fisher, and Star Trek veteran actor and director Jonathan Frakes. Frakes’ episode is one of the most unique this season and offers a story that will be very exciting for fans of the franchise. Overall, this season’s directing does a great job of balancing action, drama, comedy, and bolder special effects than we have seen before. The design of the reptilian species, the Gorn, continues to be a cool twist to the original version of the character that fought Kirk in the infamous TOS episode “Arena” and has become my new favorite Trek villains.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has not been the flashiest addition to the franchise, but it has continued to be the most faithful to Gene Roddenberry’s vision. With a great cast and the guarantee that the creators will complete Christopher Pike’s five-year mission as captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, we will see where the new crew members and legacy characters end up as James T. Kirk steps up to his legendary command. The third season of Strange New Worlds is easily the most balanced and enjoyable run of this series to date, and the overall best live-action addition to the Trek universe since the debut of Discovery. Fun for long-time Trekkies and new fans alike, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to be a bold and fun exploration of the far reaches of our galaxy.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres with two episodes on June 17th on Paramount+.
