IR TV Review: STAR TREK - STRANGE NEW WORLDS - EPISODE 7 (“The Serene Squall”) [Paramount+]
"Star Trek" works best when it uses its own humor against itself. One of the most interesting aspects, just as a reference point in the televised defamation trial that just happened with Johnny Depp/Amber Heard, is the aspect of finding humor and a sense of irony in any circumstance, even one that may be painful. That is what makes Episode 7: "The Serene Squall" so interesting because everyone is doing it to a certain point. The interesting variable here who stirs things up a bit but in a peculiar and fascinating way is Dr. Aspen , played by Jesse James Keitel, a non-binary actor who is also exception on "Big Sky" on ABC. Here, Keitel plays a character that is bathed in duality but she is having a ball playing it. And yet Keitel still finds these great character moments, especially with Ethan Peck's Spock that go to the heart of that issue while still making it seem like a dance.
Nurse Chapel (after her interaction with Spock in the previous episode), is involved, in a way, much more here. But their use in a key point in the episode is so wonderful and yet so heartbreaking because of the fact that the triangle never has connecting points (which is as it should be). Jess Bush (Chapel) and Peck play it very well and a small dialogue exchange right at the beginning of the episode sets it up. Everyone here has a strategy and everyone has a sense of humor (including Spock). The use of strategy especially the aspect of laughter and inside jokes really continue to make this series really work. It doesn't take itself too seriously but seriously enough and that is what connects it. People live. They mourn. They cry. They laugh. And then repeat. "The Serene Squall" gets this while creating more mythology to keep the train moving along. A-
By Tim Wassberg
