Star Trek has come a long way and Strange New Worlds season 2 is proof

Star Trek shows a vision of humanity’s future, but it’s always really about the present.

Original Series was a portrait of optimism, the now-iconic narration beckoning to John F. Kennedy’s “New Frontier” speech. Next Generation aired during the end of the Cold War, when many Americans felt they were at the “end of history.” So TNG showed a utopian future, reflecting viewers’ sense of security but urging them to aspire for more. It was then Enterprise, the first post-9/11 Star Trek, shifted to something more paranoid — the entire third season was about the crew hunting the alien Xindi after they attacked Earth.

This brings us to Strange New Worlds, The ongoing Trek prequel is set about a decade before Original Series. Star Trek has been used to create the title of this series which ended its second season last Thursday. The Enterprise is a story that unfolds in episodic form, with messages. This kind of narrative can seem alien in the age of serialized streaming.

There’s more to it than you think Strange New Worlds It’s a throwback. Social commentary is very 2020s with a focus on institutionalized prejudice, civil unrest, or PTSD. The episode narratives may be classical but the innovative aspects of Strange New Worlds Reframing these old stories with a contemporary lens is the best way to reframe their messages.

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Star Trek’s most iconic message episode is “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” when the Enterprise visits the planet Cheron. They discriminate each other, because the inhabitants are white on one side of their body and black on the opposite. For the other half, it’s the other way around. It’s an antiracist message for sure, but one that paints racism as only foolish and advocates colorblindness.

By contrast, Strange New Worlds’ handling of Una’s heritage in episode 2 of this season has a more 21st-century view of discrimination. After the Federation learns that Una is an Illyrian (an alien race which practices genetic engineering), she and her identity are brought to trial. The story’s impact is the same whether it’s interpreted as a story about queer identities and gender affirming medical practices or racism.

Here, discrimination is insidiously woven into the system the heroes live under, and they have to look past their privilege to understand others’ experiences. This would’ve been far too radical a perspective to broadcast back in the 1960s; indeed, queer issues weren’t even on the radar of Original Series. Now, though, we’ve reached a level of understanding such that “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” doesn’t cut it. “Good” doesn’t come easy on Strange New Worlds.

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It is important to have empathy for others. Strange New Worlds doesn’t end with the Illyrians. Episode 6, “Lost in Translation,” features the Enterprise destroying a refinery after the locals object to it. With an environmental message like that, the episode might as well be called “How to Blow Up a Deuterium Pipeline.” Even in season 1, “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” practically adapted Ursula K. Le Guin’s Omelas – The ones who walk away from it with a metaphor for capitalism and American hegemony nestled in a paradise sustained by a child’s torture.

Star Trek eras have been characterized as being more stable, but the 2020s will be even angrier. It has seen a surge in popularity. Perhaps the best example of this is episode 8 of this season, “Under the Cloak of War,” when the Enterprise is assigned to escort Klingon ambassador Dak’Rah (Robert Wisdom), who defected to the Federation and forsook his people’s warlike ways. He even killed his own men after his change of heart, which earned him the nickname “Butcher of J’Gal.” Still, the crew is uncomfortable around him, especially Klingon war veteran Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun).

Star Trek VI is a good example. Undiscovered country, The film explains how Klingons allied with the Federation. It is an allegory about the USSR’s fall. The Klingons sue for peace after their moon Praxis explodes (à la Chernobyl) while the Klingon chancellor’s reforms mirror Premier Gorbachev’s glasnostYou can also find out more about the following: perestroika.

Both sides are involved in the plot of this movie. They want to undermine peace negotiations. Just as difficult is for our heroes to overcome their prejudice. If they don’t, peace is impossible. In 1991, when the national policy was reconciliation with Russia, such a message hit on lingering resentment toward a nation that had been the West’s boogeyman for decades.

Undiscovered country is about the heroes learning forgiveness — and that people who they thought evil are worth forgiving. Other Star Trek stories echo the pacifist ideology, such as Next Generation’s “The Wounded” or Deep Space Nine’s “Duet.” But not Strange New Worlds. Dak’Rah is lying about his past; he’s not the Butcher of J’Gal, it’s M’Benga, who tried to assassinate Dak’Rah. When he got there, the Klingon had fled, so M’Benga settled for his soldiers. The two come to blows and M’Benga stabs Dak’Rah, finally killing him years too late. In the episode’s coda, the doctor tells Captain Pike (Anson Mount) that he still hasn’t forgiven the Klingon even in death.

Star Trek has been a popular series in the past. War created prejudice. But instead of telling the story about how reconciliation is a powerful equalizer in overcoming this prejudice, Strange New Worlds It is argued that the show does victims a great disservice by asking them to forgive those who injured them. That perspective is reflected in the one the episode shows; half of “Under the Cloak of War” is flashbacks to the war. Since we go through the horrors of J’Gal alongside M’Benga, our empathy is always with him.

Star Trek has been a huge success. What if we turned our backs on forgiveness and the virtue it represents? It’s more that this isn’t the mood of the times. The bad guys seem to be able to do whatever they want without any accountability. A president started an illegal war under false pretenses. Another one tried to overthrow democracy because he couldn’t stand losing. Financial bros crashed the economy through their greed while tech bros destroyed entire industries, and then left with golden parachute. Understanding those who’ve wronged us can start to feel futile if they won’t accept the consequences themselves.

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Isn’t Star Trek But are we supposed to be hopeful? Yes — so the guiding question of Strange New WorldsIs a utopian world still something that we could wish for? Pike, in the pilot of Kiley 279. warns its inhabitants about the dangers of using weapons of massive destruction to kill each other. How? Showing them a 21st century Earth where people were tearing each other apart. It’s a warning not just for the aliens, but for the audience too.

When La’an (Christina Chong) goes back to the 2020s at the beginning of season 2, she learns that the Eugenics Wars (previously said to have happened in the 1990s) have been moved up thanks to some time-traveling Romulans. This can just seem like a continuity reshuffling, but it’s actually home to Strange New Worlds’ guiding light: While the timeline has changed, we’re still on the right path to a better tomorrow. We’ll grow not in spite of the challenges we face, but because we can rise to meet them.

Strange New Worlds can’t be baselessly optimistic — we the viewers know firsthand that time moving forward doesn’t necessarily make things better. The show tells the audience to not lose hope, despite the fact that our past faults are still present.