A Bold New Look with Star Trek’s Strange New Worlds

Star Trek Strange New Worlds is almost a return to form even though it exists within the rebooted Kelvin timeline.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds poster features the classic USS EnterpriseStreaming on Paramount+

Some long time fans of Star Trek might investigate the latest, Strange New Worlds (SNW). It’s almost a return to form. Not everyone will take to it, and I’ve spoken to a few of my friends who are steadfast in their opinion in our nerd chats. To be specific, since it’s part of the rebooted Kelvin timeline, there’s no true link with Gene Roddenberry’s creation.

Co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers wanted to produce Star Trek in the way it was originally done, and this series honours that aspect. The stories have given Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethen Peck) and crew more backstory to character development to appreciate. At least the direction is off to a good start.

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Star Trek: Prodigy is this Franchise’s Shining Light

The fact Star Trek Prodigy is developed for younger audiences makes for a better tone and escapism that Discovery lacks.

Star Trek: Prodigy (TV Series 2021– ) - IMDbNickelodeon
Paramount+

Releasing Star Trek: Prodigy in small waves is perhaps the next best thing to creating that serialised vibe past series are known for. The first five episodes set up the dynamics in a new crew of misfits who end up finding an experimental Federation starship–presumably abandoned in the Delta quadrant–and figuring out what to do with it. The hologram that helps them out is a simulacrum of Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) from Voyager. As far as artificial intelligence goes, she’s willing to ignore the fact they’re not cadets.

This series is Paramount’s answer to Star Wars: Rebels. We have Dal (Brett Gray), a 17-year-old renegade without parents. The first episode focuses on him escaping a prisoner’s life and finding the USS Protostar to hide out in. He is joined by Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), Zero (Angus Imrie), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) and Murf (Dee Bradley Baker), but five is not enough if they are to escape from the clutches of Diviner (John Noble). He is Gwyn’s father (Ella Purnell), the reluctant sixth member, and is a tyrant of the imprisonment colony of Tars Lamora. Sources say this character is modelled after Kahn from the movies, but I think there’s more of an Admiral Thrawn type personality behind him. He’s in search for that Federation ship. As for what he wants to do with it, that’s anybody’s guess until the next batch of episodes is out.

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We Want to Believe’s The Doll House and Where No Man Has Gone Before

In this episode of We Want to Believe, the team investigates The Doll House and esplores where no man has gone before.

We Want to Believe Title CardPART TWO DUE EARLY DECEMBER

From Annabelle to Chucky to Robert the doll, the producers in the horror film industry loves them! Add a patina to an old figure, and somehow, they just become creepier. I’m ready to walk the other way. As for answering the question if they are truly haunted, I imagine Joblo.com‘s latest instalment of We Want to Believe will get to a solution in part two of the Doll House Investigation, due out in early December.

The episode gets to show Peter Renn talking about his years of investigating one particular manor, Baillie House. The heritage society owns this property and allows groups to come in to document the strange goings on.

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“In Search of” Change, than Another Season with Zachary Quinto

In Search of... PosterBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

The original In Search of TV series ran for six years, with Leonard Nimoy as host, and it dealt with a broad spectrum of “unsolvable” mysteries–ranging from the disappearance of famous individuals to the paranormal. Instead of boldly going to where no man has gone before, this series is revisiting familiar mysteries with the new Spock from the movies–Zachary Quinto–trying to be as excited or curious about the topic at hand.

The last episode, titled “End of the World,” feels appropriate to conclude the two season series. It never had the same enthusiasm which I enjoyed from the original run. Plus, History Channel has not revealed if this show is going to continue.

To offer updates on whether or not certain mysteries can get closure–namely on where the missing Roanoke colony went–would benefit this program greatly than to leave viewers hanging. Some of them are worth revisiting from time to time in other shows, but when it’s the same ol’ material, to make one program better than another requires some original, if not unorthodox thought.

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New Threats are in Store in Star Trek: Picard

Image result for star trek picardBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

On CBS All Access, Crave
and speciality channels.

Spoiler Alert

Star Trek: Picard brings back a franchise some fans believe to have strayed far from everything that was beloved. Whether it’s about space exploration or making a social commentary about the times, I love the series for the characters. Jean-Luc is stern; over the seven-year run of Next Generation, we saw how he suffered and we saw how he developed. Sir Patrick Stewart seems to be showing his age and it works to highlight the golden years of his life.

Part of the new series relies on viewers recall of the films which continued the series in an extended form. With a story that picks up many years after the movie Nemesis, the captain retired. He’s having nightmares, and the life thereafter is a little more rough than kosher. That’s until Dahj (Isa Briones), a young lady appears at the family vineyard begging for help.

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