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Posted in: CBS, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Anson Mount, Celia Rose Gooding, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Review, star trek, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S01E02 Review: Comet Kharma Chameleon
The second episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds puts Celia R. Gooding's Cadet Uhura front and center utilizing her skills in xenolinguistics to good use. As per the narrative, the young and very green communications officer goes through the usual "new person" round of light-hearted hazing, nothing ever cruel but a dinner with Captain Pike (Anson Mount) finds the young officer a bit overdressed for the casual affair after a little "miscommunication" at the hands of Ortegas (Melissa Navia). This is your minor spoilers warning.
While the meal is prepped, Uhura meets Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak) as we get the atypical first awkward conversation about the nature of his race as an Aenar, a subspecies of Andorian that's visually impaired but more heightened in their other senses. The early reveal is that Uhura's not so sure where her ultimate ambitions lie, because she's taking her service in Starfleet and the Enterprise for granted. On the one hand, it's profoundly open in terms of candor for the character but at the same time, it's potential career suicide that could alienate her from her peers & the work they're committed to. Seeing Uhura act the way she did going in might come off a bit smug to some but it also represents how the show is offering us characters with flaw that we can relate to and appreciate.
The focal arc concentrates on a comet that's on a collision course with an inhabited planet that may potentially destroy it. Upon the Enterprise's arrival, they find that not only was there some form of previous physical presence on the comet, but a much larger ship will do anything (and we mean anything) to let that play itself out, creating a "unique" set of complications for the crew. The bulk of the episode takes place on the comet's surface as well as on the Enterprise as we see a number of crew members shine. But it's Gooding who turns in a wonderful performance, demonstrating the character's inexperience while never coming off as naïve and immature. It's hard to pull off that balance of showing uncertainty with showing the capacity for growth, but Gooding does it with conviction.
I definitely look forward to seeing Gooding organically grow as the series progresses especially the chemistry between her and Spock actor Ethan Peck. And in many ways even this early on, Gooding is evoking memories of Star Trek: The Original Series star Nichelle Nicols' take on the character while also adding her own influence. The other bright stars we saw shine were Peck, Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Christina Chong, and Navia. Directed by Maja Vrvilo and written by EP Henry Alonso Myers and Sarah Tarkoff, "Children of the Comet" provided another example of the Strange New Worlds crew all operating like a well-oiled machine. Once again, the camaraderie among the crew dealing with the crisis on hand shows Star Trek at its best. The tensions are contained to the situation and the stoicism early on strikes a definitively different tone from the early episodes and internal strife of Discovery.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S01E02 "Children of the Comet"
8.5/10
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S01E02 "Children of the Comet" was an impressive outing anchored by Celia Rose Gooding's powerful performance and a layered, complex storyline that once again represented the best of what "Star Trek" has to offer.
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