Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 1 Review - Age of the Dinosaurs

Spoilers travel for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 1, “Valles Marineris.”

Cowboys and dinosaurs!

But also… whoa. The USS Enterprise unit is liable for… the instauration of the quality race!?

After the rash of high-concept Strange New Worlds episodes successful caller seasons – musicals, animated hijinks, retro TV abstraction adventures, etc. – getting a bully old-fashioned adventure-of-the-week communicative present to footwear disconnected Season 4 is refreshing. It’s not trying to beryllium thing different than what it is – a fun, chill communicative for Captain Pike and the unit that besides happens to thin into the mind-blowing “can you judge they went there?” zone.

Anson Mount (He's the 1 connected the right.)

Things footwear disconnected with Pike (Anson Mount), La'an (Christina Chong) and Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) connected horseback connected an alien world, wherever they’ve conscionable dropped immoderate medicine that volition seemingly prevention the planet’s population. Pike’s successful his groove present – he’s got his ain saddle, you know! – but aft six months consecutive of aggravated missions, backmost connected the vessel Una (Rebecca Romijn) asks him if it isn’t clip to dilatory down?

Pike is of people inactive mourning the nonaccomplishment of Captain Marie Batel, his person who was mislaid to the vagaries of the space-time continuum astatine the extremity of Season 3. Dude’s had it tough; helium besides has his ain impending destiny weighing connected him constantly, adjacent if helium doesn’t speech astir it overmuch these days. He’s losing himself successful his enactment to flight the world of these things.

So erstwhile Admiral April (Adrian Holmes) shows up with not conscionable a new, chill ngo – spell cheque retired this rad interstellar storm, bent out, and instrumentality immoderate readings – but besides a caller occupation connection – a promotion to commodore – Pike volition yet person immoderate clip to beryllium backmost and think. Or truthful helium believes, if not for the full getting thrown backmost successful clip to the property of the dinosaurs thing.

It’s Burrows' interplay with Mount that carries the amusement arsenic they statement the precise Federation conception of working unneurotic versus the precise Martian ethos of killing each your enemies. “

While Una, La’an and Ortegas’ (Melissa Navia) ngo to what turns retired to beryllium prehistoric Earth is enjoyable, and surely the much flashy “show it disconnected successful the trailer” of the 2 main crippled threads here, it’s not ever convincing from a ocular oregon melodramatic perspective. Strange New Worlds’ reliance connected the LED Volume allows it to sojourn precisely that – unusual caller worlds – but that doesn’t mean the acquisition is ever believable. Plus, Una versus a T. rex astir apt would’ve played amended arsenic scary alternatively than funny, which is however it’s handled here. These guys are being precise casual considering their situation! (Star Trek vs. dinosaurs should’ve conscionable gotten its ain episode.)

No, the A storyline backmost connected the vessel is wherever the money’s astatine successful “Valles Marineris.” While the dinosaur escapade is happening down below, the disabled Enterprise is captured by an unfamiliar alien contention who crook retired to beryllium warlike Martians! Saffron Burrows (Wing Commander, Deep Blue Sea) represents these folks arsenic the hardened Battle Commander Cassel, and it’s her interplay with Mount’s Pike that carries the amusement arsenic they statement the precise Federation conception of working unneurotic versus the precise Martian ethos of killing each your enemies. As Spock mightiness say, it’s quite… stimulating.

(Meanwhile, a speech betwixt Ortegas and La’an down connected the satellite drives location this debate. Ortegas takes the compassionate side, portion La’an is beauteous chromatic cold. But her progressively assertive posture is touched connected again during the episode’s postscript, wherever we larn that she’s disquieted that her genetically enhanced quality whitethorn beryllium getting the amended of her lately. Khaaaaaaan!!!)

Burrows is the benignant of high-quality impermanent prima who tin truly elevate an occurrence of Star Trek, and her steely, emotionally restrained crook arsenic Cassel – who is intelligibly devastated by the horrors her satellite has endured successful its warfare with the insectoid taxon the Dol’Drm – mixes good with Pike’s aw-shucks can’t-we-all-just-get-along-isms. When Pike happens to accidental the connection “alone,” the cosmopolitan translator presents it to Cassel arsenic “widower” due to the fact that of her species’ galore antithetic interpretations of the connection based connected the speaker’s inflection. She offers her condolences to Pike, who aft all, is fundamentally a widower now. He surely feels that way, it seems.

That this each climaxes successful a clutch infinitesimal for the skipper wherever helium must, connected a hunch, determine to let Cassel to destruct the full satellite of the Dol’Drm – portion besides sacrificing herself – is beauteous ballsy. Of course, being 1 of Starfleet’s finest, helium was close to travel his gut, and this full caper has been 1 large clip loop. The Enterprise had to travel backmost successful clip successful bid to trigger the events that would origin the demolition of the Dol’Drm, which ironically capable volition pb to the decease of Mars arsenic a habitable satellite arsenic good arsenic the dawning of a caller property connected Earth wherever humanity volition rise. Awesome.

But possibly wherever this communicative thread stumbles is successful Pike’s casual acceptance of his decision. He did, aft all, alteration the genocide of an full taxon – clip loop beryllium damned – and portion we’re expected to judge that this escapade has helped him travel to presumption with the conception that helium needs to unrecorded successful the present and present alternatively than continuously rushing disconnected to debar his problems, I’m not definite the publication rather sells that. “I privation to absorption connected my now, and that’s here, with Enterprise,” helium tells the Doc. So he’s Rikering his promotion offer. This time.

Planet of the dinosaurs!

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• Pike and his saddle… large Picard vigor going connected there.
• A 15-minute agelong acold unfastened earlier the rubric credits is… a lot.
• The unit has conscionable done six months of missions, but aren’t they already connected a five-year mission?
• Another Doctor Who reference. That’ll bash astatine this point, Pelia, that’ll do.
• “Tract-OR beam.” Is Ethan Peck putting his ain rotation connected Leonard Nimoy’s celebrated “sen-SORE” pronunciation of “sensor”?
• So the phasers person a caller disintegration setting… but Ortegas insists connected calling it the “vaporization thingee” conscionable to annoy Scotty (who isn’t adjacent there!).
• Wait, Una wasn’t already a commander?
• “Sometimes it’s conscionable recipes.”