(Deja vu, am I right?)
To be perfectly honest, Star Trek has always been very sacred to me. While I was too young to fully appreciate seeing the show when it first aired on television in the late 1960's, I distinctly recall being exposed to it in my youth via TV syndication. I just devoured those original stories of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy as they spoke to me in a way that I fully understood and appreciated even though their lessons were occasionally just out of my rational reach. I was glad that Paramount eventually returned us to that world -- what with the motion pictures of the original crew and even the Star Trek: The Next Generation spin-off -- and still at some point I began wondering if too much was going to spoil the tapestry.
You see, I struggled with a good deal of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Mind you: I loved its characters, but I wasn't always intrigued by the stories the writers delivered. The same thing could be said for Star Trek: Voyager -- though a few characters were, quite frankly, unnecessary -- and I just couldn't even begin to tolerate Star Trek: Enterprise. (I think I made it two seasons, and then I've watched bits and pieces of Seasons 3 and 4, never being surprised it was inevitably cancelled.) Star Trek: Discovery? Good grief. I've seen two seasons of that, and I've no interest in completing it whatsoever. Star Trek: Lower Decks? No. Not for me. Star Trek: Prodigy? Took in the pilot and couldn't find any appeal.
Well ... Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had some promise. Not a lot. But it occasionally feels good. Its first season was interesting; and -- ahem -- then its second season went totally off the rails into 'WTF am I watching' territory. Yes, it sticks largely to the original Trek formula -- each episode functions as its own entity, and it tries very hard to deliver reasonable commentary for those watching -- but I think it fails more than it truly succeeds. Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger that -- again -- I didn't much care for, so I'll likely not tune in for Season 3 unless it's offered freebie somewheres where I consume my entertainment.
This past weekend, Paramount offered up some footage at the San Diego Comic Con in hopes of spurring our collective interest in the next season ... and -- ahem -- color me underwhelmed. I do appreciate that they've finally dropped all pretense of claiming Strange New Worlds is a 'space Drama' and they're digging deep solely for Comedy. Maybe that's the best they have to offer at this point in the franchise's once storied history.
In any event, the footage is below. Watch it if you will. Cry if you must.
-- EZ