'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 3

Trailer.

Season 2 thread.

Show to end with a shortened season 5, with six episodes.

Not that surprising, but four and a half seasons is a decent enough run. By far the best Trek in ages, hopefully the new Academy show doesn't suck.

Aside from some vintage cinematography and Pelia's hair flips, the premiere was a bit of a mess. This show shines in slower episodes, the action ones are just mid. The Gorn arc is over now, I think it should have concluded last season already.

Pike reciting The Lord's Prayer at the end was one of the most unTrek-like things I've ever seen in a Trek show, so that sucked. I do like how he uses his knowledge of his future to make insanely daring calls a regular captain probably wouldn't.

Hoping the second episode is better.

Probably the biggest paycheck of her career.

Second episode was such an improvement, one of the most fun SNW episodes to date. Rhys Darby is truly a New Zealand's national treasure! And of course, shirtless Ethan Peck!

I lvoe how they had to cast someone even taller for Nurse Chapel's new partner, so he could look imposing next to the already super tall Peck. He was a hot hairy snack, too!

The dancing lessons were fantastic. That actress probably professionally dances, her moves were insane.

Hopefully they ease up on The Volume going forward, that entire wedding took place in front of one. On the other hand, we'd get this kind of episode in a small stuffy room back in TOS days, so I guess can deal with a little plastic-looking CG.

There was something seriously off with Uhura's hair in the premiere, they were trying their best to stuff her real hair under that small wig. And kinda failed, her skull looked like like a Xenomorph's.

Una's wig hairline was also more visible than ever. That premiere was a mess in more ways than one.

Dr. Roger Korby was played by this NYC-born Irish beauty who looks like Armie Hammer. Looks even hotter with some facial hair.

He's definitely on my radar now.

He gets the barrel chest from his grandfather!

Akiva Goldsman confirms the show was cancelled by the studio, it would have gone on forever if it were up to him.

[quote]”You will not see [all] of the original series crew before this show wraps,” Goldsman said. But he confirmed that other legacy characters will join the show later in the series.

Space zombies, Klingon blood feud, mind meld, and a good old away mission shot in a warehouse. Cheap, but effective.

Some of the biology talk on this show could be better. A planet is weird because it only has flora but no fauna? But we've encountered many of those in Trek before? Also, someone said last week the Gorn evolved to no longer need sight, perpetuating the common misconception that all evolution leads to some higher, ultimate goal.

Chuckling at all the "Carol Kane couldn't join us for filming today" lines from (floating) Scottie, we got a couple of those last season as well.

Ortegas' arc seems like ground we've already covered many times on Trek.

Crazy Heidi hair on Una this week. I loved it!

Not a big Sci-Fi fan but isn't all this "Star Wars" & "Star Trek" shows a bit of overkill?

r12 Star Trek has been around in TV form since the '60s, with occasional pauses. It's Star Wars that's the newbie in this medium, and that one has way too many (bad) shows in production, I agree.

Trek only has this one series now, with Academy premiering later this year. And who knows what'll happen when Paramount's anti-DEI "ombudsman" starts work, he probably won't tolerate progressive Trek shows for very long.

All-puppet episode next season!

They've already done the musical one, so this is the logical next step.

Another week, another "Carol Kane couldn't join us for shooting" excuse. What's happening? She's the best part of the show!

First (chronological) appearance of holodeck and it's a classic whodunnit set in the 1960s, with Chapel rocking her native Australian accent. Only edited way more tightly than previous – mostly boring – holodeck episodes in Trek, so it's pretty much impossible to get bored.

The Argentinian tango scenes are insanely good, dance has never looked this good in Star Trek. And they're delivering lines during those bits as well. Would be even better if that were me in between Spock's legs.

[quote]There was something seriously off with Uhura's hair in the premiere, they were trying their best to stuff her real hair under that small wig. And kinda failed, her skull looked like like a Xenomorph's.

You can see why starting in E2: Celia Rose Gooding lost at least 40 pounds since last season and grew full-length 'locks. (Its last season was filmed in 2022, before the Hollywood strikes. She had a full two years off.) I was assuming that reason alone may be why they jumped forward several months starting after resolving the cliffhanger.

The curious part is that they explicitly did *not* hire a "hottie" to play Uhura: J.J. Abrams was criticized for hiring Zoe Saldaña to play her in the movies, considering Uhura's Kenyan and Zoe's Puerto Rican-Dominican. Celia Rose's Uhura was, in a nutshell, meant to be an intentional dork, with a buzzcut and somewhat dumpy clothing – which is reasonable, considering she was a child prodigy. Not sure if she decided to glam up or was more or less ordered to do so by the studio, but agreed that they did a shitty job of covering it up (but locks aren't exactly easy to keep hidden).

[quote]Another week, another "Carol Kane couldn't join us for shooting" excuse. What's happening? She's the best part of the show!

In your opinion. In mine she's better in small doses, much like Kirk & Scotty, since she's not a main character.

Is this the one that had a little pug wearing a tiara at a wedding last week? It was pretty cute!

r17 I kinda agree, but you can still do a small dose every episode. She's not THAT MUCH that she'd have to sit out two or three in a row. Is she too busy with Broadway and couldn't make it to Canada or something?

r18 Yes, that was Dr Korby from r8, transformed into a cute dog by a Q.

Quite frankly, I’m getting bored with Spock becoming the lover boy of the Enterprise. Who’s next, Number One? Chief Engineer Pelia?

That wedding episode also featured Scotty in a gorgeous kilt-uniform hybrid and Sam Kirk in an Irish green for some reason (James T. Kirk is undefined white, but widely believed to be Scottish).

Uhura rocking just an outrageous cleavage in the back.

r21 I'd agree with you in principle but man, those tango scenes... I'm gay, but I can feel their chemistry through the screen. Is it even possible for regular people to dance like that and not get romantically involved?

I'm just happy she has some distraction from that Gorn PTSD, even though this relationship will obviously be a short one for canonical reasons.

Normally, I don't like holodeck episodes. But episode four worked with all the meta references to the original "Star Trek" series, and for Paul Wesley doing the Riker Maneuver with the chair during the "outtakes" at the end (even more meta is that Jonathan Frakes directed the episode). Also, Paul's Shatner impression was pretty good. Meanwhile, Holo-Pike was Gene Roddenberry and Holo-Una was Lucille Ball. A character wanting to leave the show to go into movies likely references Jeffrey Hunter (the original Pike) leaving the show. Holo-Uhura's speech about science fiction was the highlight of the episode. The murder mystery itself was kind of hard to follow, but that seemed intentional. Christina Chong's American accent was excellent.

But I'm tired of Spock's love life. Since he just ended his relationship with Chapel for good, would it not be logical to take some time away?

r24 Great observations, Una being Lucille Ball went straight over my head. I also loved how Pike's hair was completely messed up compared to how on point it always looks on the show. They might have gone a bit too far in portraying Gene as a lush and a slob, though Uhura then redeemed them with that speech.

[quote]Since he just ended his relationship with Chapel for good, would it not be logical to take some time away?

Wasn't she also with Kirk previously? They might just be using each other to rebound, I suppose. What else is there to do on a starship, honestly? I used to complain about these romances as a teenager, but now as an adult I think I'd be the worst offender of them all. So many cute guys crammed together, so little time! And there's no homophobia anymore, so no one gets worked up if you ask them out.

[quote]Quite frankly, I’m getting bored with Spock becoming the lover boy of the Enterprise.

I will never, EVER get bored of seeing Ethan Peck's, um, pecs.

[quote]Wasn't she also with Kirk previously?

R25, Kirk had a romance of sorts with La'an, but in an alternate timeline that only she remembers. I think you may be recalling an episode of TOS.

Six months went into the puppets for the puppet episode we're getting next season, apparently. They even consulted with the producer who did the famous puppet episode of Angel. Can't wait to see the pointy ears on Spock's puppet, I wonder if they'll sell these as merch?

r26 His pecs are unreal, but I feel like his meaty thighs don't get enough praise. I'm not going to mention the butt because the guys all have padding in this show and so everyone's ass looks amazing at all times.

Episode is available on YouTube in the US, probably for a limited time.

Great horror episode, with Alien, Event Horizon and Stargate SG-1 vibes all in one. Genuinely shocked they killed that nurse. That prison was built by the Q and those prisoners were totally Pah-wraiths, weren't they? I do have to say, I'm seeing budgetary issues now – so many episodes that take place in an abandoned mine and then in front of the Volume, it's all starting to look as bit samey. Makes me miss those California caves in older Trek.

Carol Kane returns and she overacts as only she can. She pronounced "corporeal" as "corporal" but who gives a shit honestly. And were those huge pearly baubles dangling from her ears in engineering in line with Starfleet regulation? Seems like a workplace safety hazard to me.

Not buying Ortegas' brother having a crush on Uhura as his flames are visible from space.

Spock once again looked incredible in those leggings they cram his huge thighs into.

To me, TOS is the only trek that feels like trek. I watched TNG for a season when it started but it felt sort of fraudulent to me.

I want Anson Mount in me quite deeply.

[quote] and those prisoners were totally Pah-wraiths, weren't they?

Interesting. I’m a total DS9 Trekkie and that didn’t occur to me but I can see it.

Say what you will about Carol Kane but I find her character Pelia to be quite entertaining. I thought she stole the show at the end with that “Do you want another one for the camera” line. That was hilarious!

Akiva's gonna pitch "Year One" series covering Kirk's early years to Cindy Holland over at Skydance, but something tells me she won't be interested. And god knows what David Ellison will do with "woke" stuff like Trek now.

[quote]“Strange New Worlds ends on Jim Kirk’s first day of work as captain of the Enterprise. And if we call ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ the second pilot, there’s space and time and relationships and crew that exist, that have been untold. The untold stories of Kirk’s enterprise. So that’s where we would love to situate the show, not really trying to drive into the continuity that we’ve seen, but in that gap between.”

r32 Yeah, her earnestness before that moment made that gag land so hard. I was wondering why they had her act so scared all of a sudden, but it was totally worth it in the end. And then Pike's little "oh, what is she like" smirk...

I'm gonna miss this crew when the show ends.

And now Michael Sussman is pitching a Scott Bakula show, called Star Trek: United.

[quote]The show would revolve around Archer’s time as president, with Sussman likening it to shows like The West Wing, Homeland, and The Diplomat. “It’s a political thriller and a family drama set in those chaotic, formative years of the Federation.” Sussman began outlining ideas for this potential series, working with Bakula, who liked the idea of a different take on the character. “We did 98 hours of Enterprise and I think he felt he really explored that character, but this was a very different direction for Archer to go in. And I think he was really intrigued by that.”

No thank you to the family drama part, angsty kids are always the worst part of political thriller shows.

I actually would look forward to that show. Seasons 1 and 2 and even 3 of Enterprise were mostly underwhelming, imo. But season 4 had many great episodes to the extent that I considered it one of Star Trek's best seasons to date. If they can find writers to make this work, I am all for it. However, that's the caveat. In Nu Trek, they haven't always emphasized on good writing as long as everything on screen looks pretty.

Here's an idea: Maybe focus on the post-TNG, DS9 and Voyager era with a new ship, a new crew and new adventures, instead of beating the dead horse of the Kirk and Spock era.

Sure, I think lots of folks wanted that after Picard's final season. And yet... crickets.

AMEN R37!

Starfleet Academy is set almost a millennium (850 years) after TNG and people can't stop bitching about it. They want post-TNG Trek while not wanting to see the same old faces either. So I don't know why exactly any new Trek has to be set near Picard's final seasons chronologically. Is that just everyone's sweet spot?

We're never getting Capt. 7 of 9 adventures are we?

r41 Doesn't look like it, even though I'd trade both the new Holly Hunter show and the two that are being pitched in an instant to see Seven captaining a ship.

Here's an update from Terry Matalas on pitching ST:Legacy to NuParamount

I love Michelle Hurd but Raffi, nor anyone, should be First Officer to their partner. If Star Trek: Legacy comes to light, they need to change that.

r43 Thanks for that, it's even worse than I feared. No plans to pitch to the new head honchos, just vague "it's up to the fans". In other words, the project is dead.

I still like the idea of a Legacy series with Seven at the helm of the Enterprise. But the project seems to be dead, with no chance of it ever becoming a reality.

I thought this week‘s episode was one of the best in the series. It was the closest we’ve got to a TOS reboot thus far.

Episode six was fantastic from start to finish. We got Kirk as captain, working with most of the original series crew, pulling off a crazy plan that somehow works, and a post-mortem heavy on the moralizing. That's Star Trek, man. If this is what the potential "Year One" series would be like, then I'll be there.

Loved last week's episode

This was a good episode except for the ridiculous design of the scavenger's space ship having a gigantic metal mouth with teeth.

R33 Honestly, I hope this doesn't happen. I think we've had enough of the TOS era & prequels in general: ENT, DISCO (seasons 1 & 2), SNW, the Kelvin movies. Lets do something different.

R43 The part that perked my ears here is dealing with the Klingon Empire but I agree with R46 a Legacy series is probably unlikely at this point. IMHO, they should've made Legacy instead of Academy. There had been talk, before that shitty Section 31 movie, that they might have done a Legacy movie (Jeri Ryan has said she was contacted about something related to Legacy but said no because it wasn't want fans would've wanted).

My problem with SNW is the episodic nature of it doesn't work as well in only 10 episodes. It kind if makes the show feel all over the place. Back in the day when it was 26 episodes a season most episodes followed the kind of "alien of the week," "anomaly of the week" but then maybe 5 episodes or so were kind of outside the mould. The other problem is that because of the focus on concept, the character development on SNW is meh. Like "teen romance" plot lines are not character development. Also just as a side note, SNW is so straight...not a queer character in sight.

[quote] Also just as a side note, SNW is so straight...not a queer character in sight.

The thing about this series is that almost all of the major male characters have appeared in canon ST before, where it was established they were all heterosexual: Spock with T' Pring; Christopher Pike with Vina on Talos IV; Sam Kirk with his wife; Jim Kirk with all of zillions of women (especially Carole Marcus, his former wife); and Scotty with the multiple women he dated on TOS. To make any of them bisexual now would seem odd (they HAVE had Christine Chapel on this series say she considers herself bisexual, but that just seems out of place given on TOS she was so deeply infatuated with Spock and had been in love with her husband Roger Korby).

The once exception is that they could have made Dr. M'benga gay since his sexuality was never established on TOS, but they ruined that opportunity by making him previously married on this series.

They should just come right out and state as fact that Ortegas is a lesbian since obviously she's dykier than the Netherlands. I had hopes that that cute Black male nurse was going to be established as gay, but he died in last week's episode before they revealed anything about his sex life.

[quote]We got Kirk as captain, working with most of the original series crew, pulling off a crazy plan that somehow works, and a post-mortem heavy on the moralizing.

Why did they even bother hiring Mount if they were just going to shove Kirk down our throats at every opportunity???

R52 because bisexuality doesn't exist?

r54, you're not even worth a response.

There was a gay character in the first series, but the actor left.

I say Pike makes out with Spock and then goes back to Batel just to piss R55 off.

Is Pike even on this show anymore?

All the promotional material I have seen features Wesley as Kirk.

Great episode, but I thought they went way overboard with Kirk's guyliner, especially when he looked completely normal just a couple of episodes ago (see screenshot). He's starting to like like La'an. I don't recall The Shat's eyes ever being this accented either.

Also, that ending was very anthropocentric. I wonder if they'd be just as distraught if those 7.000 were a group of ancient Andorians on a similar mission. Even Pelia spoke like she's human, even though she's not?

R59, you haven't seen half of it. Seriously, I think they'll add on even more in future episodes to get him visually even closer to Shatner. Why they would do it? I don't know.

[quote]I wonder if they'd be just as distraught if those 7.000 were a group of ancient Andorians on a similar mission.

Or if they were 7,000 Nazi SS death camp officers. They acted like it was the first time humans had killed other humans in battle, or that all human life is precious.

They'd have no problem smoking a million Gorn on that mother ship in the premiere if it meant saving the Federation. But 7k people who destroy entire planets for breakfast is too much for them.

I gagged a little when I saw the Tesla logo on the uniforms. I wonder if that was a dig at Musk, but then they said those people were "the best of us". Musk surely wouldn't be sending our best to explore space, that fucker would gladly start WW3!

The writing overall has been weak this season. They've had good ideas, but a lot of problem with the follow through.

R15 I'm guessing Carol Kane isn't cheap and she still fairly in demand, given her IMDB she's done other movies and TV roles while attached to SNW. Also DISO, PIC, & SNW all shoot episodes in blocks of three (meaning three episodes are in production at the same time). She likely comes to Toronto for just a couple weeks each season...shoots her scenes and then goes home.

[quote] There was a gay character in the first series, but the actor left.

What are you talking about? There was no gay character on the first original "Star Trek" series 1965-67.

How much better my life would have been had there been one at that time.

[quote] There was a gay character in the first series, but the actor left.

Maybe the poster meant Hikaru Sulu who was retconned gay in ST Beyond. Or maybe the poster is British where 'seasons' are called 'series'. R56 who was the gay character?

His diction is perfect. That was hilarious.

Interesting docu-type episode, but I wish they slightly altered the drone cameras like they did with some of the console feeds, so the video wouldn't look the same as it does for regular episodes. I kept forgetting I'm supposed to be watching a documentary. A fantastic idea addressing the perennially – for me, at least – uncomfortable marriage between military in science in Star Trek, but the execution could have been better.

Pelia's gone again, I think r64 was onto something.

Ethan Peck's off-duty outfits are getting lighter and tighter, I very much approve.

Episode seven reminded me a little bit of "Data's Day" from "TNG," in that it showed a new perspective of life on the Enterprise. The execution was kind of awkward at times, with way too many tight close-ups. And since parts of the mission were not "declassified," it made following the story a little difficult.

Cute episode, but I'm starting to get acutely aware of the budget cuts – there aren't any real away missions anymore, just shenanigans on the ship or the crew acting in front of the Volume.

I was so sad when Carol Kane didn't seroconvert. (Which I just realised is a brand new sentence.) Mount was probably the weakest Vulcan, acting-wise.

The dance sequence in Cetacean Ops was beautiful. We need more dance scenes in Trek.

Are the Kirk brothers EVER going to meet? My fantasy is that the two actors have amazing sexual chemistry together and so the showrunners are trying to work around that somehow.

The gay character was the transporter chief. The actor got a bigger part in another series and didn't return. His new series didn't last long however.

I recall going gaga over Kyle the Transporter Twink, but I didn't know he was supposed to be gay. Was that mentioned or shown in some way?

And yeah, I also remember being angry because he left for Vampire Academy – featuring the equally handsome British hottie Max Parker – which was cancelled after ten episodes. He's not doing much these days; he rolled and he lost.

At this point I've written off SNW. Last season had that musical which was gimmicky but turned out to be really good. This season has lots of gimmicky episodes with maybe one or two regular episodes. For my taste the show has devolved into Star Trek cosplay. And because the deviations are the norm now, I don't feel invested in the characters either anymore. I'm glad others like the show, and it's successful (I assume). But it's no longer for me.

Yeah, I'm missing more classic Trek episodes. As in, arrive at an alien planet and deal with that civilisation's problem. This season has been very navel-gazey, with the crew talking about their feelings a lot. Except they're supposed to be exploring space. Again, I think budget cuts are to blame for why we're not getting actual alien sets that aren't just warehouse locations or, worse yet, rendered digitally on the screen behind the actors.

There was an episode where the was a clearly obvious cruisey interaction between Kyle and another crewman. The latter then got killed in the crisis of the week, but it was a clear and intentional signal that would have been followed up if the actor had stayed.

OP, I thought that was Barbara Walters with extensions.

The scenes in Carol Kane's quarters looked like they could've been shot in her NYC apartment back in her Kimmy Schmidt days.

The Vulcan episode was silly but enjoyable. The post-credit scenes with Spock teaching Doug about humans were pretty funny.

I like this season well enough, but I don't disagree about the quality of it not being as good as the previous two. I wouldn't mind an episode that presents a moral dilemma to debate; that's usually Star Trek at its best.