The 7 best sci-fi/fantasy TV episodes of 2023
By Dan Selcke
6. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, "Those Old Scientists" (Paramount+)
Star Trek has been undergoing a renaissance over at Paramount+, with shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard giving fans a little bit of everything. It can all seem a bit much at times -- how manyTrek shows really need to be on the air at once? -- but then an episode like "Those Old Scientists" comes along and you think we really might be living through a new golden age for the franchise.
"Those Old Scientists" is an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, probably the best Trek show currently running. However, it brings in characters from the animated comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks for a cross-over spectacular. Ensigns Mariner and Boimler (voiced by Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid on Lower Decks and played in live-action by those same actors here) get warped back a few hundred years in the past and meet the cast of characters from Strange New Worlds, some of whom are legendary heroes in the future. The two shows mesh surprisingly well, making you realize what an embarrassment of riches Star Trek currently has on offer.
This episode is funny, it has heart, and it's a celebration of Star Trek as a franchise, bringing together multiple generations of talent (it's directed by Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes) for one big blowout. There may be hope for the final frontier yet.
5. The Wheel of Time, "Eyes Without Pity" (Amazon Prime Video)
Everyone loves a comeback story, and The Wheel of Time has a great one. While plenty of people enjoyed the first season, many fans derided it for going too far afield of the fantasy book series by Robert Jordan. But the cast and crew revamped things for season 2 and came back bigger, bolder and better. The best piece of evidence is the sixth episode of the season, "Eyes Without Pity."
In this episode, the Aes Sedai trainee Egwene al'Vere (Madeleine Madden) is kidnapped by the Seanchan, a culture of people who didn't appear in the first season until the very end. While people who can use the One Power, aka wield magic, are treated with awe and fear where Egwene comes from, the Seanchan treat "channelers" as sub-human animals only fit to be slaves. The episode has a few standout scenes, but all the most powerful belong to Egwene as she struggles to accept her new reality.
In addition to being an impressive acting showcase for Madeleine Madden, "Eyes Without Pity" commits fuly to an intricate, expanding world, implying that the best of The Wheel of Time is yet to come.