This time it's a twofer! Two reviews in the "compact" form of one.
Over the last month or two I've been watching Prodigy, Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds with my boyfriend, in what started as a sort of morbid curiosity for Prodigy with its apparent sequel to voyager scenario writing which truly did fascinate me from the get go. Unfortunately this is not a review which includes Prodigy since in its current turbulent state I cannot really say much other than "Towards the very end they pulled it all together and made a show I was enthralled in" but it was rocky, very rock up to that point.
After watching Prodigy though, Elliot and I set out upon watching more modern trek that we didn't have opinions on prior. Of course the shows in question are Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks. We started with Lower Decks since it was the most "ripping off a band-aid" I think we could get what with the art style being reminiscent of modern adult cartoons like, Bighead and, the one with the dog, etc. But after a bit it did get us, and we decided to watch Strange New Worlds as well due to it having that fun little crossover episode. Review/Thoughts on both under the cut!
Lower Decks
Alright so admittedly after watching the first two episodes and getting hit with rick and morty humor and shitty titmouse staples of excess gore and sex we did want to stop, but upon googling someone said it 'got good' in season 2 so that's where we skipped to and boy. IDK if I recommend doin that but it hooked us for a good while. We of course went back and finished up season 1 after the fact, added some context for a few scenes and shit in later seasons but we've watched it all now is what matters really.
You can probably guess but my initial thoughts of the show were rocky, but holy hell does it find a stride eventually. Characters go from frustrating to endearing over time, boimler and mariner were hard sells to me initially but over time they got me on em eventually. Rutherform and Tendi though I did kinda love right away they've got a great dynamic and I love them both so dearly. The other characters in the show from the deck crew to the vulcan gal pal introduced in the last season, do all have charm and flare though.
Plot wise I've loved it bouncing around the place keeping it fresh though I've also loved the light overarching plots. IDK if I have a fave plot or episode or anything like that but I do love that as of now by season 4 the whole crew and cast have become written over well enough now that most characters have had a moment or another that has made them shine in some fun way. It's hard to believe that mariner went from what she was like season 1 to now, same for Boimler though to a lesser degree. I've loved the variety of sexuality expression and such too, Boimler's sexuality gets played for a joke a lot but I do personally like to think of him (especially past season 1) to be more ace. Of course the trademark star trek bisexuality is on display, you love to see it. And Tendi's seeming acearo writing does have my enjoying her character a good deal. Rutherford's as well.
I think overall I'm glad I stuck it through, overall it subverted my expectations of what it could accomplish and by god if you're a star trek fan wanting something new it's probably got something going on for you. I can get the Comedy nature is not for everyone though.
Strange New Worlds
By god, I was not expecting to love this as much as I do. Where Lower Decks is a recommendation with some hesitation to long standing fans Strange New Worlds is a full bore recommendation to anyone wanting a New Star Trek. Where Discovery failed to grab me and Picard uh, turned me way off. Strange New Worlds has gripped me in a way I couldn't even begin to expect.
The character cast here is like, near perfect. We'll never have like the Deep Space Nine level of perfect but this cast is high in my heart. The plots and stuff shoot from episode to episode and overarching themes hit hard. I love the range of serious mature pacing to the usual goofy shit Star Trek accomplishes. The first season's episode on M'Benga's little fantasy trip was an absolute favorite, it of course fumbled a little bit at the end but my god it was so fun and charming I was probably smiling big the entire time. The characters across the board have had something to hook me as well.
I did go into this noting the astonishingly similar vibes La'an had to another fave Sci-Fi female protag w/ The Expanses Camina Drummer, there's something there that connects the two in my head. But from there I grew to love a good chunk of the cast, this version of M'benga is easily my fave of the bunch, nuanced and fun. There's flaws of course Spock's multiple comphet relationships show a special kind of "we can't acknowledge any sort of spock kirk relationship teasing otherwise we'll get killed by execs" going on in the writing room. This version of Spock in general is all over the place but still fun! Pike plays a wonderful captain, absolutely love his fun and charm and his more serious scenes. The Number One arcs have had me too, the court trial was of course on the nose and obvious as to what it was trying to say but like, come on, we've watched Deep Space Nine we know the augment stuff is like. Brazen with its themes. Uhura was a sleeper hit for me too, reading up on Celia Rose Gooding after/during the musical episode had me happy to see them on the cast, wonderful pick for Uhura, wonderful writing for her as well. The Hemmer plotlines had my heart and brain hooked unlike any other. Love tragedy.
Where Lower Decks was unafraid to approach queer characters and topics I feel Strange New Worlds is absolutely mortified to confirm on screen gays exist. Ortegas is so obviously written to be lesbian but doesnt say shit or fuck about it. And to my knowledge I haven't noticed any sort of same sex relations or such. They DID have a transgender actress for an episode who I did love and obviously Celia Rose Gooding is delightfully queer and so focal.
I again emphasize Strange New Worlds is my go to recommendation now if anyone asks about Modern Trek. The abrams movies and discovery and the like really missed me for the most part, Discovery was so interesting but the execution fell flat quick for me sadly. But this Feels like an old Trek show. The episode plots and overarching plots all feel as though they could've slotted into TOS or TNG depending. It's an easy recommend.
Wrap Up
My god what is with the shows referencing Janeway's salamander children though.
Joking aside I'm happy I embarked on watching these, it's pushed me to go back and rewatch Deep Space Nine especially with seeing how the community on Tumblr talks about DS9. I hope to maybe someday review Prodigy when season 2 drops but I'm something along the lines of "incredibly worried" since all the changes and such between seasons has got to affect something or other, and it was already such a thin line it rode of being good at the end that it felt a miracle they stuck a landing at all. I wont be reviewing DS9 btw, if you haven't watched it just go do so if it interests you. My reviews are as always less review and more "I love this I want to write my thoughts down" so thank you for reading and thank you for your time. Have a lovely day.