STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Goes Back to The Future to Follow Captain Pike, Spock, Uhura, And More

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede If viewers feel a bit nostalgic watching STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, it’s by design, not by accident. The great fun of all the new shows that have entered the STAR TREK universe in recent years is that they have ventured into many different tones. But STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS – which debuts Thursday, May 5 on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and Crave – is notable for its classic approach, meaning it’s more reminiscent of STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES (also on Crave) than anything Trekkies have seen in a long time. “We have tried to harken back to some of the values and styles of the original series, the first STAR TREK, that got those of us who are a little older ignited on our STAR TREK journeys,” said executive producer Akiva Goldsman in a virtual panel interview. “In doing so, we’ve tried to look back and interpolate some parts of the original series that might not have made it to the screen, some things that might have happened just before Jim Kirk (played by William Shatner in the original series) took over the Enterprise. As such, some familiar faces are finding new life.” STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS is focused on the years that Kirk’s predecessor Captain Christopher Pike, played by Anson Mount, manned the helm. Of course, there is some crew crossover: Science Officer Spock is played by Ethan Peck, and Cadet Nyota Uhura is played by Celia Rose Gooding. Also, Pike’s second-in-command, known as Number One, is played by Rebecca Romijn. Another way that STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS will appeal to fans of the original series involves the manner in which the story is doled out. “We are definitely returning to episodic values,” said Goldsman, meaning that the main plot in each episode will tie up, notwithstanding the presence of longer arcs. “I’m a big fan of serialized storytelling, and I think it has been great in STAR TREK, all the way back to its first exploration in DEEP SPACE NINE (available on Crave). But the original STAR TREK was, of course, episodic, at a time where one could tell closed-ended stories. That allowed us to do a few things that we haven’t been able to do in serialized storytelling.” Such as? “One is to move gently through genre, as the original series did, to have episodes that are slightly more tonally specific,” Goldsman explained. “It also allows us to have a STAR TREK that’s great at ‘the moral of the story’ – and I say that teasingly. But the truth is, what episodic, or closed-ended, stories do is they allow you to have reversals, like the best TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, where we reframe the story we’ve just seen and learn to see it from a different perspective. The original series was great at that. We hope to chase some of those values.” The STAR TREK universe is not unfamiliar territory for Mount, who has played Captain Pike in STAR TREK: DISCOVERY and STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS (both available on Crave). “The fan reaction has been unlike anything I’ve experienced in my career,” Mount said. “Honestly, being an actor and trying to judge your own work, it’s a little like looking in the mirror, or hearing your own voice on a tape recorder. It’s impossible to judge sometimes. So to get that kind of feedback is both surprising and deeply encouraging. I grew up a STAR TREK fan, but there was something about STAR TREK that was so far off the radar for me, it wasn’t even on my bucket list. I just never thought I would end up captaining the Enterprise. Every single day I’m on the set – I’m not exaggerating – is both disbelief and a feeling of tremendous gratitude.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv