How Each Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode Will Feel Different
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunner Henry Alonso Myers explains how the Paramount+ series will make each episode feel different. Premiering in May, Strange New Worlds will be a direct spinoff from Star Trek: Discovery and will take place around ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series in the franchise's canon. Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn will reprise their roles after appearing in Discovery season 2.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will follow Captain Pike (Mount) of the USS Enterprise as he explores the galaxy seeking out new worlds and civilizations alongside his first officer Una Chin-Riley, aka Number One (Romijn), and science officer Spock (Peck). The premise and characters are identical to Gene Roddenberry's unaired pilot for the original Star Trek, "The Cage", which was rejected by NBC in 1965 for being too cerebral. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is theorized to be set at least five years after the events of "The Cage."
During a recent appearance at Star Trek: Mission Chicago (via TrekMovie), Myers talked about how each episode of Strange New Worlds will feel different, conveying unique stories with varying tones and genres. He went on to discuss how classic Star Trek did the same thing, moving between drama, comedy, horror, and the philosophical. He did add, however, that the character arcs will remain more serialized so that the Enterprise crew members have the opportunity to be shaped by the events of individual episodes. Read his quote below:
The show is episodic. Every episode is a new adventure, it’s a new planet, it’s a new genre. One of the wonderful things about Trek is that sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s horrific, sometimes it’s dramatic, and sometimes it’s sad. And we really try to hit that with each individual episode so that they really have a different feel – to the point where we even encourage our directors to really bring a different look to each episode so that you’ll feel it. The only thing we hold on to is we serialized some of the character stories so that if say someone were to—like in TOS—lose the love of their life one week, they’re not completely fine the next week.
He also talked about how the new alien races for the series will be made from a mix of prosthetics and CG effects, and how there's going to be a new alien race in almost every episode. Myers confirmed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will adhere to canon while also trying to form its own identity with a more classic approach to storytelling. Some of Paramount+'s initial live-action Star Trek efforts were criticized by longtime fans for shirking certain elements of the classic shows. However, Strange New Worlds can avoid that by offering differing standalone episodes that take the franchise back to its roots.
The incredibly long history of Star Trek has paved the way for all sorts of storytelling opportunities in that universe. With the rise of more serialized storytelling in television shows, it'll be refreshing for fans of The Original Series and The Next Generation to see the franchise returning to its roots of exploration through shorter form stories. Strange New Worlds has the opportunity to revisit a long-lost part of Star Trek canon, and by doing so gives fans a small glimpse into what Roddenberry's original vision would've been like so many decades ago. The promise of unique episodes only makes season 1 more exciting, as it will likely contain some fun standout adventures. Perhaps this means Strange New Worlds will carve out a place for itself within Star Trek history.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres Thursday, May 5 on Paramount+.
Source: Star Trek: Mission Chicago (via TrekMovie)