Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Ching, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Rebecca Romijn, Paul Wesley, Adrian Holmes, Carol Kane, Melanie Scrofano, Dan Jeannotte, Bruce Horak, Mia Kirschner, Gia Sandhu, Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Jerry O’ Connell, Greg Byrk, Clint Howard, Martin Quinn.
To view a series with the foreknowledge of what may happen to many of the characters in the future is one that in most circumstances would arguably lead to viewer apathy, the storyline hoped for always standing in the shadows of the decline and death of a main player just so that they can feel the emotion of loss and excitement.
When it comes to foreshadowing and future understanding, very few franchises can go toe to toe with that of Star Trek, and yet in the second series of Strange New Worlds even knowing, understanding what is to come in time, does not stop the quickening pulse of narrative and action from being enjoyed and salivated over.
Whilst the first series was the perfect set up for the belief that brings the early formation of the historic setting and team work, it is in the second series that various other dynamics come into play with a force that would panic other franchises as they deal with the momentous decision to give an entire episode over to a musical, previously only created with conviction in The Buffy The Vampire episode of Once More With Feeling, to bring the darkness of war out into the open as the analogy of World War Two atrocities is revisited with a Klingon commander who has the moniker of butcher attached to his name, and the dramatic retcon of one of the more mysterious foes to have graced the original series, The Gorn, into something more fitting of the horror they portray, a creature akin to that of the nightmare of the Alien.
Such is the belief in the series that even though the fan knows what happens in time to one of its biggest names, the much admired Christopher Pike, and played with sheer passion and panache by Anson Mount, that it does not matter to the audience, all that is required is that the mythic like history of the show’s sacred past is preserved and then built upon, layer by layer, brick by science fiction brick.
In an action packed ten-episode series, it is perhaps to the evolvement of characters such as Christine Chapel, played with vigorous ferocity and joy by Jess Bush, Ethan Peck’s outstanding portrayal of the young Spock, Carol Kane as Pelia, and Babs Olusanmokun in outstanding form as Doctor Joseph M’Benga, that catch the eye, and delve deeper into the psychological impacts of war, exploration, and alienation, as Earth and its allies open our path to what could be as humanity seeks ways to be better than it has been.
A series that transcends its predecessors with flair and enjoyment; it is thrilling and informative, Strange New Worlds continues to be epic.
Ian D. Hall