Chris Connor reviews the third episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2…
Strange New Worlds has further cemented its place with the opening couple of episodes of its sophomore season going in some unexpected directions and focusing on its ensemble cast. Episode three is structured in a similar fashion to the finale of the opening season with an alternate version of James T. Kirk front and centre.
Christina Chong’s La’an Noonien-Singh, a highlight throughout the show to date, here takes centre stage alongside the alternative Kirk. Thrust into a timeline in which Starfleet doesn’t exist and none of her crew are aboard the Enterprise, La’an has to find a way to correct the timeline before it is too late and a major catastrophe occurs.
The alternate timeline brings with it some fun variations on Trek canon with Spock not acquainted with Kirk and Kirk born in space rather than Earth. The bulk of the episode takes place on 21st Century Earth, offering a fun fish-out-of-water scenario for this Kirk and La’an, similar in a fashion to The Voyage Home with the original crew.
The episode builds on the reoccurring theme of La’an’s heritage, descended from the classic villain Khan from The Original Series and The Wrath of Khan film sequel. Chong captures La’ans disdain for her heritage but also desire to do good and protect those she cares about.
Paul Wesley reprises his role as Kirk from the first season, funnily enough, both alternate versions of the character, and while he is not quite the spitting image of William Shatner, he is solid in the role. The interplay between La’an and Jim does much of the work in this episode with the pair sharing fine chemistry and La’an’s knowledge of Earth, funnily juxtaposed with this Kirk’s lack of it.
The core concept of the episode plays out almost like the classic Doctor Who serial Genesis of the Daleks and the idea of stopping a monster before they go on to commit atrocities. It offers some clever moral questions and again takes the series in some new directions, making it all the better for it.
‘Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow’, is another stellar episode in Strange New Worlds’ second season, largely a two-hander between Paul Wesley and Christina Chong who make it constantly engaging as with previous episodes it never feels its runtime with and is an incredibly enjoyable watch. Again there is a welcome focus on other members of the enterprise crew and Paul Wesley continues to impress as Kirk, who we can only assume will have a meatier role in future.
The moral questions raised are handled delicately and the Earth and 21st Century settings help differentiate from previous Trek adventures, while Christina Chong once again proves how effortlessly she has captured La’an’s psyche and internal conflict.With such a strong run of episodes fans will surely hope season 2 is able to maintain this high quality level for the remainder of its ten episode run.
Chris Connor
