Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Premiere Review

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is back with two strong episodes to kick off season 3. It’s my favorite series among the new generation of Star Trek shows thus far (although Star Trek: Lower Decks is right on its tail), and “Hegemony, Part II” and “Wedding Bell Blues” are an absolute blast.

After an agonizing two-year wait, the double-episode premiere is a balm for the Trekkie soul. Let’s dive into the ins and outs of the Gorn-filled, surprisingly wedding-centric, Spock-errific season debut.

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Gripping Action and Comedic Shenanigans

“Hegemony, Part II” and “Wedding Bell Blues” are the perfect double feature – the former keeps you on the edge of your seat with tension and suspense, while the latter is a lighter, levity-filled palate cleanser. Well, for the most part. “Wedding Bell Blues” is also quite character-driven and addresses the narrative (and emotional) fallout of the preceding episode.

The Gorn are as formidable and terrifying as ever in “Hegemony, Part II,” proving why they’re a worthy antagonist for our Enterprise crew. It also helps that, for a good chunk of the outing, we don’t see them. This effectively ramps up the suspense already innate in the story, so when they do inevitably appear, they pack more of a punch – figuratively and literally.

There’s a wonderful cinematic quality to the first episode, which, of course, is made possible by a seemingly bigger budget and killer special effects. Those wider shots of the Enterprise battling the Gorn ships are like something plucked out of a sci-fi movie. Not to mention, the boisterous, sweeping score punctuates every pivotal moment.

On the flip side, “Wedding Bell Blues” is the wind down after that shot of adrenaline in the arm courtesy of the previous episode. There’s more mischief and silliness, even a smattering of campiness reminiscent of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Rhys Darby is a delightful addition to the cast as Trelane. The episode plays with a few sci-fi tropes, including the genie-like character granting wishes and alternate realities. Strange New Worlds always manages to push the envelope regarding the genre while cleverly experimenting with these familiar tropes and breathing new life into them.

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Performances

The double-episode season 3 premiere boasts no shortage of stellar performances. “Hegemony, Part II,” in particular, sees performers like Anson Mount, Christina Chong, and Jess Bush shine.

Bush injects so much heart into her depiction of Nurse Chapel. She’s unafraid of tapping into the character’s vulnerability and ability to react to the understandably traumatic experience of saving someone from becoming an incubator for Gorn babies. While most people might switch off their emotions and hurl themselves into work mode, Chapel balances both. She feels fully human.

Mount showcases a softer side of Pike, our courageous captain. Pike juggles complex, conflicting emotions while trying to fight the Gorn, rescue his kidnapped crew, and ensure Chapel and Spock do what they can to save the love of his life. That’s a lot to handle. We see him understandably break a few times, and Mount navigates those emotional ebbs and flows like a pro.

Chong is a wonderfully talented vessel for La’an’s pain and trauma. She delivers a relatable, deeply resonant performance as one enduring unwanted exposure therapy by reuniting with her childhood captors. But more on that in the next section…

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Honest Depiction of Trauma

Strange New Worlds is the perfect mirror for humanity, reflecting our flaws, messiness, layers, and colors. “Hegemony, Part II” and “Wedding Bell Blues” offer an honest depiction of trauma, especially where La’an is concerned. After spending her childhood in Gorn captivity and losing her whole family to the creatures, La’an is kidnapped by them along with a handful of Enterprise crew members.

Naturally, La’an exhibits a trauma response most know all too well: the freeze. She’s inundated by flashbacks to that traumatic time in her life, literally freezing her in place. Chong makes us feel like she’s really experiencing La’an’s pain. And La’an has a lovely moment with M’Benga, who reminds her that she’s no longer trapped in her past. It allows her to return to the present and lead her crew and the colonists to safety.

This part of La’an’s story is a stark reminder that healing isn’t linear. She did a lot of healing work last season, but being kidnapped by those who caused you the most pain is an understandable trigger.

Ortegas emerges from the events of “Hegemony, Part II” with the most physical pain after a Gorn impales her. In “Wedding Bell Blues,” we see her in fight mode, incessantly training to remain in top form so she can’t get hurt like that again. Her trauma stunts her, in a way, bringing her inward. Ortegas suppresses her pain, and with that suppression, her shell becomes hardened. She’s in a much different place in her healing journey than La’an. I’ll be curious to see how her arc plays out this season.

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Ties to The Original Series

“Hegemony, Part II” and “Wedding Bell Blues” present not one but two connections to The Original Series. Firstly, there’s Chapel’s new beau, Dr. Roger Korby. Korby is Chapel’s fiancé in The Original Series, and, spoiler alert (50-some-odd years later), things don’t end well for him. Of course, it’s imperative that the writers lay the groundwork for these characters so they’re organically where they’re supposed to be in The Original Series.

Secondly, Rhys Darby’s Trelane is another OG character. Trelane is a childlike, mischievous alien who’s over 8,000 years old. Darby is the perfect actor to portray the alien’s petulance and desire to play. Even better, Trelane’s father is voiced by none other than John de Lancie, who’s been playing Q since his debut on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Strange New Worlds seems to imply that Trelane’s parents are the Q (the race, not necessarily the character).

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Faith and Science

Star Trek loves to challenge that age-old debate of whether faith and science can coexist. In “Hegemony, Part II,” Chapel urges Spock to have faith in the experimental serum with Number One’s Illyrian blood, which they plan to use to save Batel. Spock echoes her sentiment later in the scene regarding the probability of her survival. At this point, there’s an 86 percent chance Batel will die during surgery, but Spock encourages Chapel to have faith.

It’s human nature to put one’s faith in a higher power. That isn’t entirely restricted to deities or religious entities. One can also believe in science. The juxtaposition of faith in the unseen or unknown versus the fact-based truths that science provides is intriguing here.

By the end of “Hegemony, Part II,” Pike starts reciting the Lord’s Prayer over an unconscious Batel, after telling his late father that he “wins.” It’s interesting to hear something Christian-related this far into the future, especially in one where the show’s organized religions have evolved past the common religions, like Christianity, we know today. In Pike’s darkest hour, when answers on the scientific front are few and far between, he chooses to pray. Spock would be fascinated.

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What’s on the Horizon

The premiere episodes lay the groundwork for what’ll undoubtedly be a riveting remainder of the season. There’s the Ortegas arc as she navigates the bumpy road of healing ahead of her. Spock learns to move past Chapel. La’an embraces her new life mantra of taking risks and expanding her horizons.

Batel might be awake and walking, but the solution the gang found for her is only temporary. If they don’t find something more permanent, she’ll die. Pike will do all he can, even breaking Starfleet protocol to keep her alive. He’ll have to deal with the outcome of this, regardless of what happens.

On a lighter note, Uhura has found potential romance with Ortegas’ brother, Beto, and, y’all, we need some sweetness like this to keep the doom and the gloom away.

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This season is already off to a solid start. I can’t wait to see how this series continues to boldly go where no series has gone before.

What did you enjoy most about the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 premiere? Join the conversation alongside other Star Trek fans over at Sideshow Social Network or in side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Trekkie Sideshow!