The new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds looks more fun than the first season. And, between you and me, that’s saying something.

It all looks and feels very much like the Star Trek we hoped we would get.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is set about ten years before the timeline of the original series. One of the first things we noticed, apart from the fact that Anson Mount is once again sitting in the Big Chair as Captain Pike and that Ethan Peck is back as Spock, was that Number One, Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romjin) is back aboard the Enterprise as the first officer, despite the fact that we saw her arrested at the end of the first season after Starfleet learned she lied about being a genetically engineered Illyrian. I can’t help thinking that events in Star TreK: Prodigy might have fed into this; the Federation’s tolerance of genetically enhanced beings may have gotten some much needed adjustment.

The season two teaser features Melissa Navia’s character, Erica Ortega, being pretty excited about her job as ship’s navigator and personally interpretting the role more as piloting a very large fighter craft. She lends an agility to the Enterprise that it might not otherwise have. The other fun surprise is the addition of a “newcomer”, the inimitable Carol Kane. as a character named Pelia, who appears to be part of the bridge crew. We get only a glimpse of her.

Of course we get some more of Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk, and in the IMDB listing for the show it lists him as Captain James T. Kirk. Obviously the staffing situation aboard the Enterprise is going to be changing up some.

Then there’s that shot of Spock drinking Klingon Blood Wine (at least I think that’s what’s in the mug) as a social gesture in the presence of Klingons.

Season 2 filming is already completed, so they’re taking this time prior to release to finish up the post production work.

The first episode airs on Paramount+ on Thursday, June 15, 2023.

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