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Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Mia Kirshner, paramount, Review, spock, star trek, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S02E05 Review: A Peck-fect Performance
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S02E05 "Charades" is further proof that Ethan Peck can carry Leonard Nimoy's Spock torch for decades to come.
There's no question about who, through over 50 years of Star Trek history, the definitive Spock is. That would be Leonard Nimoy, who originated the role in 1966's The Original Series. When the time came for the inevitable of passing the torch, the actor did so to his Kelvin Universe Timeline counterpart in Zachary Quinto. But as that portion of the franchise is stuck in cinematic limbo as Paramount figures out how to make Star Trek 4 happen, we have Ethan Peck, who made his franchise debut in season two of Discovery. If there was ever an episode to show how he is more than skilled enough to take on the mantle for decades to come, it's the latest Strange New Worlds episode, "Charades." The following contains minor spoilers.
While exploring the duality of Spock isn't anything new as there are plenty of times where his strict Vulcan side conflicts with his emotional half, surprisingly, the series never completely removed one from the equation. In this week's episode, we have a shuttle accident to "thank" for putting that scenario into play – with aliens removing Spock's Vulcan half, allowing Peck the opportunity to go all out with the character to make up for lost time, so to speak. The result is pure gold. We already know how well Strange New Worlds can cross several genres with pristine execution, but this sitcom scenario plays out perfectly as he and T'Pring (Gia Sandhu) have to do a series of Vulcan rituals for her parents. The problem is Spock's human half completely lacks discipline, and helping him out is his human mother, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner). On another front, Chapel (Jess Bush), who was with Spock in the shuttle accident, is frantically doing everything she can to undo what the aliens did and restore Spock back to his true self before it's too late.
If there was ever a case of "seeing is believing," writers Kathryn Lyn and Henry Alonso Myers, along with director Jordan Canning, make wonderful use of the cast to help Spock get his groove back, retraining him how to Vulcan with clever deception. Even Pike (Anson Mount) gets in on the action, as the episode title suggests, as the perfect diversion to keep the ruse going. Believe it or not, sometimes the life-or-death scenario of the week can be impressing your partner's parents – and this episode gave the situation just enough sense of urgency for us to respect it without sacrificing the comedic aspects. If you find reasons to hate this episode because it doesn't fit your ideal mold of what "Star Trek" should be, then you need to recheck your fan status – and make sure you still have a heart, a soul, and a funny bone. I could imagine this being the kind of episode that Nimoy wished he had to work with during his original TOS run. Yes, "Charades" is deserving of that high of praise – building upon an already over-the-top impressive second season.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 5: "Charades"
9.5/10
It's easy to make the case that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S02E05 "Charades" is a Top 5 Spock episode - and that's thanks, in a very large part, to the performance of Ethan Peck bursting out of his Vulcan shell to fully embrace his human half. Anson Mount, Gia Sandhu, Jess Bush, and Mia Kirshner help anchor this memorable fish-out-of-water classic, with writers Kathryn Lyn & Henry Alonso Myers and director Jordan Canning impressing from start to finish.
Credits
Director
Jordan Canning
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