Tonight is the return of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for its third of five seasons. It is a shame that when this series completes its run, the episode total will be only 50 fewer than the ‘failed’ original series with its three seasons. It is a shame because this is the first Star Trek series in a very long time that, to me, has the voice and feel of the original series.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

Yes, this series, produced nearly six decades after the original, has a very different tone and sensibility from its progenitor. It ‘violates’ established lore and canon numerous times, such as repeated contact with the Gorn prior to Kirk’s encounter following the destruction of Cestus III, or the sexual activity of Vulcan’s outside of pon farr, the time of madness; but as I have written about in other posts these divergences have led to more complex characters and more interesting plots, so I am not irritated by them.

Sunday evening my sweetie-wife and I rewatched the season two finale, which, of course, following the modern trend established by Dallas decades ago, ended with something I truly despise: a cliffhanger. That said, I and thrilled and excited to be returning to Pike’s Enterprise. To re-engage with what has surprised me, my favorite character, Christine Chapel, and the rest of the stellar crew as they sail the stars seeking out strange new worlds.