Blu-ray Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season One)

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The Star Trek two-part episode “The Menagerie” that featured Spock visiting the previous Captain of the Enterprise felt weird when I was a kid. Captain Pike was in extremely bad shape being burned up and stuck inside a wheelchair where he could only blink a light in response to question. Spock basically kidnaps Pike and has the Enterprise take them to a planet they had once visited. There’s a court martial for Spock that uses flashbacks to fully mobile Pike and Spock’s adventure on the planet. Being a kid before the internet meant I had no idea that the two-part episode was really a way to use the original pilot for Star Trek and explain why only Spock was part of the crew. Pike was an interesting character as the prototype to Captain Kirk, but he remained stashed away until the recent revival Star Trek films when Pike became Kirk’s mentor. Pike became a bigger character when he arrived during the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. Now Pike has finally been given his own series with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that takes place a decade before the original Star Trek.

Pike (Hell on Wheels‘ Anson Mount) is still recovering from all that happened at the end of his time on Discovery including getting a glimpse of his future state when he gets a “call” from Starfleet that he’s needed back at work. Turns out his Number One (X-Men‘s Rebecca Romijn) is missing while on a First Contact mission with a planet that’s on the verge of war. Making the situation more complicated is one side has a weapon they created after getting a glimpse of the Discovery. Pike has to figure out how to rescue Number One and defuse the situation so this newly discovered planet doesn’t blow up. The episode leads to Pike reupping to serve a five-year mission on the Enterprise.

Unlike Discovery and Picard that tell one giant story each season, Strange New Worlds is episodic. You can skip around without fearing that you’re missing important elements from the previous adventure. “Children of the Comet” has the ship dealing with a comet that’s going to smash into a barely populated planet. “Ghosts of Illyria” introduces us to a planet that’s been banned from joining the Federation. “Memento Mori” is a Gorn trap. “Spock Amok” has the science officer swapping bodies with his girlfriend T’Pring. “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” features a planet’s creepy “ascension ceremony.” “The Serene Squall” scares the crew with an invasion of Space Pirates. “The Elysian Kingdom” has the ship get too close to a nebula. “All Those Who Wander” gives us the nasty truth about the Gorn. “A Quality of Mercy” has a season ending cliffhanger with Number One getting in serious trouble.

Anson Mount brings a lot to Pike. He has a sense that at some point, something is going to go wrong, and he’ll end up in the wheelchair. Even though this takes place before Captain Kirk takes command, the Enterprise isn’t designed to look like the sets from the original series. The production design makes Strange New Worlds fit in with the ships found in Discovery and Picard. Strange New Worlds features many of the characters that were part of the original pilot including Spock (Eden‘s Ethan Peck) mixed in with a couple characters that came later in the series such as Uhura (Jagged Little Pill‘s Celia Rose Gooding) and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush). This feels like what could have been Star Trek if NBC had been cool with the original pilot episode and didn’t demand recasting of roles. This is an alternate reality to the alternate reality that is the Star Trek universe.

The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The 1080p will give you a clear view of the new worlds. The audio 5.1 DTS-HD MA so you can feel like you’re inside the Enterprise. There’s also a French dub in 5.1 DTS-HD MA. The episodes are subtitled in English and French.

Audio Commentary on Strange New Worlds pilot with Anson Mount and Akiva Goldsman. They talk about bringing back Pike.

Deleted scenes on “Children of the Comet, Ghosts of Illyria, Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach, The Elysian Kingdom, All Those Who Wander

Star Trek Original Series “Balance of Terror” (50:24) has a wedding on the Enterprise get interrupted by the arrival of Romulans. This is from the first season of the series.

Pike’s Peek (17:26) gets a glimpse into what Anson Mount went through while he was quarantined before the series began production. He filmed this on his phone. Later we’re taken to the first day of production when Mount mounted a fake horse.

World Building (11:56) has him show off the Holodeck technology.

Exploring New Worlds (53:58) has Akiva Goldsman explain how he thought Star Trek: Discovery was supposed to be about Captain Pike. But it wasn’t and he kept wanting a Pike-centered show. They discuss how the timeline worked between the two shows.

Gag Reel (2:47) is the foundation of Star Trek as the cast botches their lines and props go bad. Did you know back in the ’80s people paid to see the blooper reels shown at theaters?

CBS Studios present Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Starring Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia & Rebecca Romijn. Boxset Contents: 10 episodes on 3 Blu-ray discs. Release Date: March 21, 2023.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.