I enjoy Star Trek, but do not consider myself a Trekkie by
any means. I watched old episodes in the 80s, I enjoyed Next Generation and
Voyager, I enjoy Discovery, Lower Decks, Picard and this new series, Strange New Worlds but I
couldn’t tell you intricate details of timelines etc.
The crew of the USS Enterprise 1701 debuted in the original
pilot episode of the 60’s incarnation of Star Trek, led by Jeffrey Hunter as
Captain Pike. The format was then reworked and a subsequent pilot with William
Shatner as Captain Kirk began the Star Trek we know and love. Pike did make an
appearance in later episodes as the original pilot became part of a 2-episode
story “The Menagerie” showing an unfortunate but terrible fate for Pike. This
hasn’t gone away for “Strange New Worlds” and forms an ongoing storyline.
The ”new” Enterprise line-up under Captain Pike debuted in
season 2 of Star Trek Discovery, with Anson Mount as Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock
and Rebecca Romijin as “Number One”. The story goes that these additions to
Discovery were so well received, fans campaigned for their own spin-off and
this evolved into Strange New Worlds.
“Spock Amok” is the fifth episode of the premier season of
Strange New Worlds, but in just 5 episodes, the show has been so well written
and performed that I find myself really enjoying the cast and feel like they’ve
been around forever. Mount is electrifying as Pike, he is charming and funny,
brave and dependable. He is just so good I find myself missing him when he is
not on screen. Peck does an admirable job as Spock, maintaining the logical
distance yet genuine friendship as mastered by Leonard Nimoy and Romijin is
wonderful as “Number One”, Pike’s second in command, now given a full name of
Una Chin-Riley. After many escapades and emotionally deep episodes, “Spock
Amok” does the one thing Trek can do so well: the light-hearted and genuinely
fun episode. This type of story has been missing from many of the new Treks
(Lower Decks excluded of course), so it’s doubly refreshing to see it back,
with this particular crew.
In a nutshell, Enterprise is in dry dock having repairs
after its recent encounters with strange new life and new civilisations. Most
of the crew are on down time, being allowed shore-leave etc. Spock has
negotiations with a potential new ally for the federation, and his fiancée,
T’Pring arrives with her own mission and to connect with her loved one.
Una and La’an Noonien-Sing discover the new recruits’ game
of “Enterprise Bingo” and in their attempt to have more “fun”, decide to try
all the challenges themselves. Spock consults Nurse Chappel for some relationship
advice and in a strange attempt to carry that advice out, conducts a ritual
with T’Pring which in true Star Trek tradition goes awry. This time, Spock and
T’Pring swap bodies. Yes, Star Trek goes all Freaky Friday. While maintaining
the characters integrity, this proves to be a barrel of laughs.
Peck performs a sterling job as T’pring trying to be Spock,
while guest star Gia Sandu does an even more admirable job performing as Spock.
Needless to say, this situation does get resolved by the closing credits and I
was more than pleasantly surprised by the resolution of that plotline and wonder
where they will go from here.
Other standout performances include, of course Romijin,
letting her hair down to try to have fun with Christina Chong playing
Noonien-Singh, both of whom have been through the wringer in recent episodes,
so the chance to play out-of-character is clearly relished by them both. Jess
Bush as Nurse Chappel also deserves recognition for her portrayal as fun-loving
party-girl harbouring a possibly unrequited love (or is it?). The relationships
between the new crew is really the bricks this show is built on, and it shows,
to its credit.
I won’t spoil the rest of the plot or other sub-plots, but I
thoroughly enjoyed this episode (as I have all of the episodes to date). After
numerous complaints from Star Trek fandom, this new series just hits all the
right spots, when it needs to hit them. Even the recasting, there’s a new
Uhura, a new Dr M’Bega, a new Dr Chappel and the new characters such as
Noonien-Singh (Long term fans might recognise THAT surname), Hemmer and Sam
Kirk (yes indeed, James T Kirk’s brother who DOES appear in the original series
too), are all spot on. You can
get to know them yourself as you watch the series. Longer-term fans might balk at the stylistic rnodern changes
to Enterprise but on the whole, Strange New Worlds is a refreshing, yet
traditional take on the Star Trek legacy.
The releases of the new Trek’s have been a bone of
contention for fans across the globe due to new networks and subscription
services, but I heartily recommend if you get a chance to catch Strange New
Worlds, give it a go. You won’t regret it.
Year: 2022
Episodes: 10
Series count: 1
Availability: currently available via streaming platform
Paramount+
