(courtesy IMP Awards)
SNAPSHOT
In Season 4, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise — led by Captain Christopher Pike — embarks on a series of thrilling & emotional adventures across the stars. As they journey to strange new worlds, they’ll battle inner demons & external threats, encounter colorful new characters, reunite with familiar faces, confront terrifying aliens. Through it all, they strive to embrace a bright, hopeful future. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a modern Star Trek sci-fi series created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet. It’s currently showrun by Akiva Goldsman & Henry Alonso Myers. Written by Onitra Johnson, Henry Alonso Myers, Bill Wolkoff, Dana Horgan, Skylar Ojeda, Alan B. McElroy, Robbie Thompson, Akiva Goldsman. And featuring episodes directed by Axelle Carolyn & Yana Gorskaya. Made by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, H M R X Productions, and Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive produced by Eugene Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Jenny Lumet, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Aaron Baiers, Heather Kadin, Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman. (courtesy First Showing)
I have watched three seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (STW) to date, and read a couple of accompanying novels, and I have to say that while I have adored all of the Star Trek I have watched, including the unfairly maligned Discovery, I think I love STW most of all, save of course for Deep Space Nine, which is and shall always remain my favourite franchise series of all.
What has really appealed about STW, besides the vibrant, fully-formed characterisation and the exemplary performances by a uniformly talented cast, is the imaginative sense of fun that sits at the heart of the show.
The series has gone to some truly weird places but through it all, as they are being wildly clever and lusciously imaginative, they have always remembered the heart that sits at the heart of any show in the franchise.
So, while there have a range of out-there premises, they have always worked because the show’s team has leaned fully into the imaginative vivacity but also remembered to let the characters be the people they are and not simply narrative props for some truly adventurous storytelling.
Happily, season four looks sets to continue in that fine tradition, thought it is also clear that STW is also counting down to the inescapable fate of Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and the huge changes that will follow in the wake of an event he and everyone else cannot escape.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S4 debuts on Paramount+ on 23 July with the ten-episode penultimate season running through to 24 September.