Yes, I know it was last week… but you know the deal; these things don’t get installed until Tuesday.
The final episode of the penultimate fourth season of Strange New Worlds premiered last weekend and as good a time as any to post about this just as my Paramount+ subscription came to an end… we’ll renew when the final season comes around and that’s only six episodes.
Should I feel sad that this whole enterprise (no pun intended) is coming to an end next year? Probably… and yet I’m not. Not to say that I’m over the moon; there’s no ticker-tape parade being thrown once this Kurtzman era of Trek comes to an end and the wait begins for the next iteration of Star Trek to come along from people who haven’t a fucking clue. Seriously, we want to dissect the idealistic future of Star Trek AGAIN? Haven’t we done that this past decade already?
But I digress.
So Season 4 ends with Tomorrow’s Enterprise… and because clearly nobody cares about today’s Enterprise, it’s a time travel episode where current-day Uhura has to team up with future Uhura (a.k.a. current-day Uhura in 1960s hairdo and costume). Future Uhura – of course – is serving an Enterprise with Jim Kirk in command… and of course, it’s just the existing cast members decked out in TOS-like colors and hairdos… well, mostly the ladies. Martin Quinn is still Scotty and still looks like a baby… and that’s not a knock on the dude because he’s really good… but he’s the opposite of Paul Wesley’s Kirk; he’s too bloody raw.
Tomorrow’s Enterprise’s BIG SWING is to present an episode of Star Trek. Holy Shit! An actual episode of Star Trek on a Star Trek show? What sorcery is this?!
But seriously, it involves a rather unique time travel device that almost reminds me of All Good Things, but has enough going for it that it doesn’t come across as a total copy. I thought they did a fine job of distinguishing the two Enterprises with simple lighting that more than sufficed. Use to be a time when the way to tell you were on the bridge of a completely different ship was to use the same bridge set, but light it and film it differently. You’d be amazed by the little things that make all the difference. They also did an admirable enough job with Uhura and Chapel’s wigs and costumes; a nice compromise of sorts between making things look classic while maintaining some semblance of modern updates.
Worth noting that Uhura already had that particular uniform in the Season 1 finale, Quality of Mercy… but this time, they added the ol’ hairdo instead of just no hair… not a knock on Celia Rose-Gooding, who did more than her share of heavy lifting this episode and perfectly played these two distinct Uhuras. Some touching moments here and there, as well as some nice little nods and winks to past lore… not the least of which we know that the red shirt Mitchell played by Rong Fu (amazed that I spelled that correctly on the first try – yay, me.) is step-sister to Gary Mitchell, Jim Kirk’s buddy who turns into a god.
For those who were somewhat disappointed by the news of Year One not happening, this is as close as you’re going to get to that idea being a thing (well, this and the series finale which is supposed to depict Jim Kirk’s first mission as captain.) And if they had produced more episodes like this and less episodes like the musicals, the puppets, the ill-fitting comedies, and whathaveyous, this show will likely still be on the air… and maybe we would have gotten that Year One show… kinda, sorta, maybe… oh well.
That’s a wrap on Season Four, a largely disappointing season that continues the downward spiral of a Star Trek show that actually started off quite promising before falling off the rails. All that’s left is to wait for those remaining six episodes to air and we can call this era a wash.
For those wondering, I still haven’t watched, nor do I plan to watch Starfleet Academy. I’ve already outlined my reasons in a prior post, but the simple truth is that the show didn’t interest me due to its young adult school setting, what clips I saw of the show didn’t inspire much confidence that this was going to be a quality show, and perhaps most of all, when I asked an acquaintance who has followed this franchise since its early days their thoughts on the show, they didn’t speak too highly of it.
There’s no point in watching a show I have no interest in or know that I’m not going to enjoy, regardless of whether it’s part of the franchise or not. That’s part of the problem people seem to miss; it doesn’t matter how many detractors decide to shit on the show. If they’re spending time blaming the “haters” for its cancelation, they’re wasting their energy, because the haters are talking about this thing and probably watching this thing to give you their opinion on this thing. Love it or hate it, you’re still watching.
I, on the other hand, chose not to watch because the show simply didn’t interest me. I have no opinion on whether it’s a good show or a bad show. I only know that it’s not a show that interests me. There’s no obligation to watch this show. There’s no sense of duty to support a brand by watching something I know I’m not going to enjoy out of pity. Time is a premium and I’d rather put that time to better use. Hell, I’ve got better options for background noise while I’m doing better things.
This is not like Section 31 where I’m going to turn it into a gimmick that I do every so often because it amuses me greatly. Starfleet Academy isn’t a shitshow that was waiting to happen – it was an attempt at doing something different with Star Trek and I can admire the tenacity even if what they’re presenting doesn’t interest me. I’m not going to be throwing a ticker-tape parade over its cancellation or anything like that, but I’m not exactly sad over its brief run, either. It had a run, it didn’t do numbers, it’s coming to an end. Oh well, time to move on.
That’s why I say there’s only six episodes left before we call this an era. I know there’s another show in the midsts, but that show is not for me. Feel free to enjoy it, hope it turns out great and all that… I’ll just wait for the next thing that I’m actually looking forward to… because despite the shoddy fourth season, I am genuinely curious to see how they wrap all this stuff up in six episodes. Hopefully, they end it on a high note.
But if not, they can always get Jonathan Frakes to come back as Will Riker and have the whole thing be a holodeck simulation or something. Worked wonders for Enterprise, after all.
Oh, wait…
