IR TV Review: STAR TREK - STRANGE NEW WORLDS - EPISODE 2 (“Children Of The Comet”) [Paramount+]

The texture of resilience is an important part of character building. With "Strange New Worlds" it is taking a new approach of working on the characters without the stakes always being the end of the galaxy. That is the difference in texture in this series is that it paints back to the old episodic structure that has mostly been lost in the other new series because of their narrative structure. In Episode 2: "Children Of The Comet" it is back to exploration after the angled slingshot of the first episode. Anson Mount as Captain Pike understands the sashay of this Captain while the series doesn't want us to forget his eventuality. That tends to work against it though at times. It would be nice if it wasn't mentioned every episode.

This episode has harks to both TAS but also in a way to the TOS Episode: "The Galileo Seven". "Comet" actually focuses more on Uhura and paints that backstory a little more clearly. Celia Rose Golding balances the character with awe and reticence along with a sense of humor. It is also angles the character differently than the recent films per se. The interaction with Spock and his reaction is what makes it work, especially with certain in-jokes that die hard fans with get. Anthony Peck understands that Spock needs to both get the joke but also at times not able to process the joke (which makes it funnier). The story structure also plays with that notion of fate which nicely dovetails in the best tradition because not every series or episode needs to be a life ender. Life is about living and hopefully "Strange New Worlds" can continually reflect that tradition. A

By Tim Wassberg