‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ cements its first season with a powerful finale | Engadget

The following article accommodates actually important spoilers for ‘A Quality of Mercy.’

We’re dwelling within the age of the prequel, with studios exploiting each scrap of present materials the place there’s an viewers already in place to take pleasure in it. But the low-hanging fruit and simple money a prequel guarantees severely limits the storytelling alternatives for these properties. Obi-Wan Kenobi can’t die (or do something of consequence) throughout his personal status miniseries since his destiny was preordained in 1977. Ewan McGregor has to age into Sir Alec Guinness and die at Darth Vader’s hand, and that’s that. Sure, there are some issues artistic groups can play quick and free with, however the massive issues – those that permeate the tradition at massive – are set in stone.

Ever since Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was introduced, it was blighted by this identical laborious cease, one dictated again in November 1966. Movies apart, till 2018, Christopher Pike was little greater than a pub trivia reply to the query “Who was the first captain of the Enterprise?” (It’ll provoke an argument between the oldsters who nearly bear in mind Jeffrey Hunter was there earlier than William Shatner, whereas the oldsters who know Robert April was first sit smugly on the sidelines.) But Pike’s destiny wasn’t essentially immutable till the second season of Discovery reaffirmed that he was going to get his radiation dose. But that didn’t matter till the followers, manufacturing workforce and executives discovered that they preferred Anson Mount, and will simply watch an entire collection of pre-Kirk adventures with him on the Enterprise.

I wouldn’t have been shocked if the artistic workforce seemed for a strategy to delay the collection past its narrative finish level. The present has already dangled a number of ways in which Pike may survive the incident, and made it clear that there are nonetheless seven years left to go. Seven years being the old style level the place a TV present may make it in syndication, and the length that each one three Silver Age Trek collection reached. Strange New Worlds may simply as simply sluggish its timeline down and spend 5, seven, ten or seventeen seasons filling the subsequent six years of Pike’s life or discover a strategy to take away such an arbitrary deadline.

And but, the present’s season finale “A Quality of Mercy” decides to benefit from the boundaries imposed upon it, making it clear to each Pike, and us, that there are not any get outs. We start at a base on the sting of the Romulan impartial zone, the place the son of Commander Hansen will, when he grows up, be one of many cadets who dies within the radiation leak. Pike decides that it’s solely logical to dissuade the child from becoming a member of Starfleet and, subsequently, save his life, however as he’s writing a letter to the boy to warn him of his destiny, an older Pike seems in his quarters. And we all know he’s older, as a result of he’s carrying one in all Robert Fletcher’s attractive 2278-era Starfleet uniforms, albeit restyled to go well with the nu-Trek period.

Sadly, Admiral Pike isn’t right here to congratulate his youthful self on a job effectively executed, however warn him of the results of futzing with time. Thanks to a Klingon Time Crystal from Boreth, Pike will get All Good Things-ed into his personal future, six months after the radiation leak. If your fan antennae began tingling on the date, it’s as a result of Pike is working the Enterprise in 2266, through the first season of traditional Star Trek. In reality, it’s worse than that, as a result of he’s been thrust straight into the episode of “Balance of Terror”, besides he has to win the way in which his manner as an alternative of Kirk’s. As Pike says, the one strategy to uncover why this future is horrible, is to dwell it.

(“Balance of Terror” is extensively regarded to be one of many high three finest episodes from the traditional collection. It’s the one the place the Enterprise performs a tense recreation of cat-and-mouse with a brand new Romulan warbird outfitted with a cloaking machine and a strong weapon able to shredding starships in a single shot.)

Now, if there’s one factor this episode does higher than, effectively, most of nu-Trek, it’s the truth that all the characters make sensible decisions. Pike, thrown into the long run, immediately confides in Spock and when he’s met with resistance, instantly recommends a mind-meld. Caught in control, Spock turns into Pike’s co-confidant within the altered future, serving to him to work out what precisely he must do right here.

Pike’s survival has triggered loads of issues to vary within the timeline: James Kirk is the captain of the USS Farragut, which has survived on this model of the long run. And, mercifully, the ship is within the neighborhood, which means that Kirk and Pike get to work collectively to resolve the issue of the rogue Romulan Warbird with its devastating new weapon. Meanwhile, the beats from “Balance of Terror” get replayed – with Ortegas changing Lt. Stiles because the on-bridge racist with indignant eyes pointed at Spock.

Understandably, given the conflicts between Pike’s folksy diplomacy and Kirk’s extra action-y strategy, no one wins. The Romulans get a sign out to the fleet, who notice that the Federation is weak sufficient to wage complete battle upon. In some ways, this episode serves up its personal indictment of Pike, exhibiting that his don’t-shoot-first strategy has a restrict. (And it additionally places some clearer water between Pike and Kirk, since one was the alternative for the opposite again within the ‘60s.) Naturally, the episode ends with Pike opting to return to his own time and understand that he can’t merely again out of his preordained destiny.

This is the second episode of Strange New Worlds co-written by the polarizing Akiva Goldsman, and plenty of of his hallmarks are on full present right here. There’s the misplaced reverence for franchise iconography, Great Man Of History mythologizing (this time with Spock) and a face off between two copy-and-paste CGI house fleets. Even so, given the chance of what this episode may have been, particularly threading a brand new narrative by way of one of many sacred texts of the unique collection, this labored fairly effectively. (Given Goldsman’s earlier Trek work, I’m giving all the credit score to showrunner and co-writer Henry Alonso Myers right here.)

I can’t actually give a lot touch upon Paul Wesley’s performance as Kirk here, since he’s handed essentially the most poisoned of chalices. William Shatner, even at his worst, by no means performed Kirk as massive because the stereotype has develop into, and Chris Pine’s efficiency dialed down Kirk’s bookish, warrior-poet aspect. Go too far on both aspect and it’ll develop into an impression, particularly since he’s solely acquired round 10 minutes of screentime in the entire episode. That’s why he primarily performs Kirk as somebody who’s each stalwart but additionally endlessly searching for a 3rd possibility, emphasizing his inventiveness.

The episode ends with a twist – in some way, Number One’s previous has been revealed (like when she simply informed everybody who would pay attention in “Ghosts of Illyria”), and he or she’s arrested by Starfleet. Pike almost breaks a safety guard’s hand stopping the arrest however is talked down by Una on the pad earlier than he declares that issues aren’t over. I’ll be very curious to see how this explicit storyline will get resolved, particularly contemplating my perpetual questioning about Rebecca Romijn’s absence from the present. The incontrovertible fact that Paul Wesley was tipped to recur in season two may recommend Kirk’s approaching board as her alternative, however that feels a bit too extreme in its fan service. 

Fundamentally, nonetheless, Strange New Worlds wraps up its first season with one thing that’s higher than it had any proper to be. As I wrote again firstly, the primary 5 episodes all have one thing good occurring, however usually journey over their very own shoelaces. Ever since “Spock Amok”, nonetheless, the present has began to search out its toes, with much less awkward dialogue, a extra relaxed groove and the braveness to go for top camp and comedy simply as recurrently because it does excessive drama. Every episode within the again half of the primary season has been higher than its speedy predecessor, even when there’s some very apparent kinks that also have to be labored out. Whisper it, buddies, however, Strange New Worlds may really be good?