Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 premiere review: From Kojitar with Love

I am not the kind of Trekkie who deems certain series and movies to not be “real” Star Trek. But even so, as Strange New Worlds season 2 began, I felt a kick from my hindbrain saying, “At last! Real Star Trek.” Strange New Worlds feels refreshingly familiar, like a throwback to classic Trek shows like The Next Generation and even The Original Series. In the hands of a less skilled crew, SWN could’ve felt derivative and unoriginal. Instead, it feels fresh and familiar at once.

At the risk of overthinking it, I think SNW succeeds because of the philosophy behind the show. Where Star Trek: Discovery views the history of the franchise as a resource to mine for story ideas and Easter eggs, SNW views that history as…history. SNW doesn’t copy or refer to what’s come before, but builds on it.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds review, Episode 201, “The Broken Circle”

The season 2 premiere, “The Broken Circle,” has to reinforce those strengths and remind us why we want to watch. Keeping in mind its throwback spirit, SNW has mostly featured episodic adventures that wrap up neatly in an hour or so, but there is still a larger continuity. At the start of “The Broken Circle,” the Enterprise is in spacedock for inspections after the events of last season’s finale. Lieutenant La’an Noonien Singh is off finding the parents of the little girl who they rescued from the Gorn and Captain Pike is off finding a lawyer for Number One, who was arrested at the end of last season for lying about her species in her Starfleet application, leaving Spock in command of the Enterprise. That’s when Uhura receives a vague message from Noonien-Singh indicating an imminent anti-Federation threat somewhere in the Kojitar system.

The Kojitar System is home to a dilithium mining operation that the Klingons and the Federation take turns running month by month (bit weird). A Federation starship turning up during a Klingon month would be considered an act of war. So because Starfleet can’t give our heroes permission to check the message out, they obviously have to steal the Enterprise.

But first, they have to get those pesky inspectors off the Enterprise by faking a warp core breach. But wouldn’t you know it, the inspector Pelia is an expert on warp core breaches. She sees through their ruse, but she lets them do it anyway because she’s bored.

Carol Kane comes to the final frontier

Pelia, played by sitcom veteran Carol Kane, is the first big surprise of season 2. When they announced that the Enterprise’s new chief engineer would be played byCarol Kane, I knew the result was going to be something special. From Addams Family Values to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Kane is often typecast as a mischievous old lady with a distinctive accent. If she played that stock role in SNW, it would be something never before seen on Star Trek. And if she played against type, it would be fun to see what she came up with.

Well, it turns out that Kane is playing a mischievous old lady with a distinctive accent, so stock role it is. While she sees through Spock’s ruse, she reasons that Vulcans don’t do anything without a good reason. She then casually points out that the Enterprise is short a chief engineer, mentions that it’s been a hundred years since she’s had her own engine room, and tells them how to fake a warp core breach more effectively.

That’s when Uhura realises that Pelia has a Lanthanite accent; I don’t think we’re supposed to know what that means, but I can’t wait to hear more.

Before we’re on our way, we get another fun moment: While Spock is in the captain’s chair, Erica Ortegas asks him what his line will be to command them to go to warp. Captain Pike’s is “hit it,” so what’s Spock’s? After a moment’s thought, he says, “I want the ship to go… now.” Between that line and Carol Kane being Carol Kane, it’s hard not to be totally charmed by this show. With a few humorous moments, we’re completely sucked in.

The One Where Spock Gets a Hangover

When our heroes rendezvous with Noonien-Singh we see that SNW is following another beloved Trek tradition: the found family. The meeting on Kojitar is like a family reunion.

La’an reports that war profiteers from both the Federation and the Klingon Empire have teamed up to reignite the Klingon war. A bit later, Nurse Chapel and Dr. M’Benga find themselves on a Federation ship that the bad guys have stolen in order to commit a false flag attack on the Klingon empire. They get a message to the Enterprise that the ship must be destroyed and eject themselves out into space, hoping that the Enterprise can beam them aboard before they freeze and suffocate. Obviously this works, but it’s still gripping. And it’s wonderful to see such gentle characters kicking butt.

With the day saved, Spock has to smooth things over with the Klingons. This is achieved, naturally, with a drinking competition. We also learn here that Lanthanites live for a very long time. Pelia asks Spock what he thinks is the worst thing about living so long and he replies that it’s seeing your loved ones grow old and die; she corrects him, saying it’s the boredom, and reveals that she knew his mother, Amanda Grayson. This character is going to be fun!

In the closing moments of the episode, the Starfleet brass deem Spock’s bloodwine hangover to be punishment enough for stealing the Enterprise before revealing that he got off lightly because they need their best guys in action, in preparation for an imminent threat from the Gorn.

Strange New Worlds may focus on self-contained stories, but it always links back to a wider arc. The Gorn, the fate of Number One, and Pelia’s backstory are teases that make for compulsive viewing. SNW knows how to entertain us and keep us coming back.

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