A “strange new” return to Star Trek’s roots

More than 50 years ago, Gene Rodenberry created one of the world’s most popular science-fiction series. Paramount’s new show Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (streaming on Paramount Plus) returns to the franchise’s roots, feeling much more like the original series than recent spin-offs.

The series (rated TV-PG for violence, it also has a few adult sexual references and homosexual characters) follows Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), the predecessor of the better-­known James Kirk, who leads the USS Enterprise. Joining Pike on the bridge is half-Vulcan Spock (Ethan Peck), first officer Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), and new crew member Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding).

If you’ve watched any of the Star Trek movies or TV series, you’ll feel at home with these adventures. Spock’s Vulcan rejection of emotionalism makes for some funny lines.

Unlike recent series, Strange New Worlds has self-contained stories that wrap up by the end of each episode. The Enterprise crew members take their duty to the Federation of Planets seriously, and it is refreshing to hear Pike defend the Federation’s values to aliens that might be enemies or new allies.