I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been a huge fan of Star Trek in the Alex Kurtzman era. While there have been promising ideas here and there in the recent shows, and even some solid episodes on occasion, the general feel and tone of classic Star Trek has largely been absent. Even shows like The Orville, in part a parody of classic Star Trek, have done a better job of capturing the utopian idealism of Star Trek than the modern Trek shows have. That is, until the arrival of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which was likely intended as a show to fill the gap with a nostalgic cast and a traditional story structure reminiscent of Star Trek: TOS.
In fairness to Trek, Strange New Worlds has succeeded in its efforts thus far as a whole. The first episode did a solid job of setting the tone of the series, while the second episode, “Children of the Comet”, felt like a strong classic Trek episode while not being a rehash of that. The Enterprise crew as shown in this series is intriguing, even though some of the show’s decisions make the viewer do the work of the show to make everything fit. The third episode, “Ghosts of Illyria”, is a good representation of this concern, as it starts off with an interesting premise, but story issues get in the way of what is otherwise an entertaining Trek experience in the classic mold.
“Ghosts of Illyria” revolves around two main points that fans of classic Star Trek will recognize. One is the allusions to the Eugenics Wars, which led to genetic engineering becoming outlawed in the Federation. This only makes sense, as a major cast member of this series is descended from Khan Noonien Singh. But the episode itself seems to take influence from episodes like “The Naked Time”, an outbreak-style episode that served as a metaphor for other ideas. A light-based illness takes hold of the Enterprise crew, while Captain Pike and a younger Spock are stranded on the planet with the ghosts of a dead world. All of these are good ideas in and of themselves, and when the episode works, I was entertained by these moments.
The focus on this episode is on the character of Number One, Una Chin-Riley, a character we never learned much about during The Original Series. This episode attempts to fill in those gaps by giving Una roots, a planet that she hails from, and a newfound heritage that offers a degree of character conflict. It also has a whiff of retcon about it, since it never seemed like Number One could ever do the things we see in this episode. It also makes Una conveniently immune to the virus that spreads throughout the ship. At the same time, the revelations about Una in this episode do add depth to her character that we haven’t previously seen, and it works to establish a sense of kinship between Una and the security chief La’an. I have some mixed feelings about the new revelations, but I’m also intrigued enough to see what the show does with it. As the Eugenics Wars is a recurring background element of this series, tying that background into major characters is an understandable decision, at least.
Unfortunately, as sometimes happens on Trek shows, the crew members make poor or incomprehensible decisions so that bad plot-related things can happen. This is something that Voyager would occasionally do, and I was hoping not to see it here. In the case of “Ghosts of Illyria”, it’s the decision not to send a shuttle to the planet after Pike and Spock once the ion storm makes it impossible to beam them aboard. To be fair, this is a plot point that could be explained away, but the writing leaves the viewer to do the work of the episode even when any plot issues could be addressed in an offhand line. Although it seems minor, it’s a nagging oversight that left me wondering why Pike and Spock couldn’t have been rescued from the planet much sooner than they were. Moreover, it comes across as a convenient way to get Pike and Spock off the playing field so that Una has the chance to shine. If that’s the case, that’s fair, but it shouldn’t look too ham-handed or obvious, as it regrettably does here.
Still, the cast more than make up for any small writing concerns. Anson Mount is an excellent Captain Pike, capturing the energy of Jeffrey Hunter while bringing his own charisma to the role. Although I wasn’t certain about him at first, Ethan Peck has grown on me as Spock, channeling enough of Leonard Nimoy while not copying that take. Rebecca Romijn is an actress I always liked in the X-Men films, and she does a good job of fleshing out the character that Majel Barrett Roddenberry started. Nurse Chapel, the other well-known Majel Roddenberry character, fares quite well; Jess Bush makes her seem capable while also showing a little more warmth and personality than we’ve seen previously. Christina Chong works in the role of La’an, one of the more fascinating of the newer characters, and she gets in some good acting moments towards the end of the episode. Another important player in this episode is Babs Olusanmokun as Doctor M’Benga, who comes across as a sad and dignified figure in this story. Although it’s likely that M’Benga will probably be found out with consequences to his career, it’s understandable why M’Benga acts as he does; Olusanmokun makes the conflict he faces visible in his performance, and his reluctance comes across well. My only concern is Celia Rose Gooding, who still doesn’t yet come across like the Uhura that the legendary Nichelle Nichols established in TOS, but she does well enough in this episode that this isn’t a real issue. Bruce Horak as the Andorian engineer Hemmer is growing on me, though, and I find arrogance an interesting trait in a chief engineer.
Although this episode stumbles a bit compared to previous episodes, it doesn’t hurt the show as a whole. Strange New Worlds is generally a good show in the mold of classic Star Trek, featuring a cast that inhabits the classic characters while breaking new ground as well. It’s certainly the best new Star Trek show that I’ve watched to date that has the name “Star Trek” on it. While “Ghosts of Illyria” is so far the weakest of the three episodes that have come out so far, it is still worth watching for the characters and the ideas that it introduces, even if it executes those ideas imperfectly. I’d recommend Strange New Worlds if you’re missing the classic style of Trek, as the show is enjoyable when it works. Hopefully, this episode is simply a weaker patch in what will eventually be a stronger opening season for this show, as Strange New Worlds has a great deal of promise thus far. There is much to like about this show, as it does an excellent job of building goodwill, and I look forward to seeing this series realize its potential.
Score: 3.8/5
Director: Leslie Hope
Writers: Akela Cooper and Bill Wolkoff
Cast: Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Bruce Horak
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