Star Trek Strange New Worlds – Season 3

After an exceptionally strong second season, Season 3 picks up right where things left off, wrapping up the fight with the Gorn and propelling Captain Pike and his crew on a whirlwind space romp filled with new alien crises to solve, ethical quandaries to ponder, and messy romances to untangle.

Three seasons in, it’s clear that the writers have found their stride, successfully blending the lightheartedness of Star Trek’s sci-fi camp with the more brainy and philosophical weight of its lofty premise. The result is a fun—if somewhat eclectic—10-episode package of revolving genres covering everything from comedy to horror, with a quick dip into Agatha Christie-style thrillers. Episode 4, “A Space Adventure Tour,” and Episode 7, “The Selhat Who Ate Its Own Tail,” are standouts, offering fans that rare mix of tragic depth and sheer entertainment value.

As always, the acting remains on point. Anson Mount’s portrayal of Captain Pike is as compelling as ever, bringing with it the soft and steady charisma that acts as the comforting universal constant through the show’s twists and turns. Ethan Peck returns as the enigmatic and inquisitive Spock, turning in a fantastically nuanced performance as he continues to reconcile the rigid discipline of his Vulcan heritage with the unruly impulses of his human half, all while adjusting to his unexpected status as the ship’s new man-ho. But it’s Christina Chong who steals the show this season, bringing both a measure of emotional vulnerability and tragic optimism to her character of La’An. Her storyline is by far the most interesting and marks a welcome shift from Season 2’s obsessive focus on Uhura and her Gen Z-esque brand of childish idealism.

Romances take center stage this season, but unfortunately most of them fall flat. This is true of both Captain Pike’s relationship with Captain Marie Batel and Spock’s burgeoning relationship with La’An. Intended as vehicles for character development, they feel more like filler than substance. We do get an interesting glimpse into Ortegas’s family dynamics, but that too is sidelined in favor of an awkward subplot between her brother and Uhura. Episode 8’s foray into Una Chin-Riley’s romantic past, while conceptually funny, is completely goofy in its execution and adds little depth to her character. 

I love that the writers feel free to stretch their creative legs, but it sometimes comes across as though they’re more concerned with proving they understand what made the original series great rather than crafting impactful new narratives. A bit of nostalgia bait is fine, but SNW needs to be careful which detours it takes. The Next Generation had the luxury of 26-episode so it could take more chances with its story-telling. Strange New Worlds only has 10, and it needs to be more selective with its premises.

And that’s perhaps where my main criticism lies. SNW can’t afford any narrative lube between its novelty episodes, so the tonal shifts hit harder than they should. This is especially true in the mid-season stretch from Episodes 4 to 8, where we go from a 1960s murder mystery to survival horror before landing back into a comedy-of-errors plotline. We’ll point out Mount’s hammy performance in the latter, which just adds to the tonal whiplash. 

Overall, though, the show succeeds in capturing what has always made Star Trek so special: its humane optimism and its willingness to grapple with complex ideas. Season 3 might stumble here and there, but it still shines as the best Trek in years. It just needs to lean more boldly into its cerebral DNA. After all, Star Trek is at its best when it poses the high-minded questions that both entertain and challenge us, offering a canvas not only to gaze outward at distant stars but also inward at our shared, brilliantly flawed humanity.