The reviews are in! Read what critics are saying about the first few episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres today in the United States

MAY 5, 2022 - Today is the highly anticipated premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and this 11th television series entry in the almost 56-year (so far) mission has attracted a lot of media attention. Here are just some of the reviews coming in for the first five episodes, from across the web:

• NPR notes that the overarching theme of SNW is fate: "In different ways, this Enterprise crew is struggling against the roles they've been assigned, and ceaselessly question themselves and others. And while there are ... a few recurring narrative threads that will likely unspool over the course of the season, the series seems most at home telling old-school, strictly episodic Trek stories...."

•  Given the promise of more episodic storytelling, IGN confirms there is that as well as character arcs and backstories. They encourage us “to make a choice as fans: Do you go with the new storytelling or instead focus on how things connect or don’t, as the case may be, to the stories told decades ago? In the case of Strange New Worlds, I recommend the former, because if the first five episodes are any indication, this is just really good Star Trek.”

• Variety is less effusive while also being critical of certain approaches taken during recent Trek efforts prior to SNW. But they call Anson Mount’s Pike a “chill silver fox with occasional worries” and Ethan Peck’s Spock a “strong presence.” They also note that Rebecca Romijn gets more to do as Number One than she did on Star Trek: Discovery and that Christina Chong’s La’an Noonien-Singh “may be the standout, if only because her grim practicality helps to differentiate her from what is, on the whole, an aggressively lovable bunch.”

• TrekMovie calls out the score, saying, “Jeff Russo’s opening theme can already be heard, but the real musical star of this series is episode composer Nami Melumad, who brings a lot of the active style of the TOS-era scores and combines it with the cinematic scope of the modern Star Trek feature films. She honors what has come before but shows freedom to have some fun too. And that is the sense you get from every element of the production, a love for the source material combined with a master level of their crafts.”

• Finally, TrekCore says that Strange New Worlds is fun; “most resembles the Original Series is the way it uses its science fiction lens to directly relate to the issues affecting its audience;” and is consistent in the “quality of the characters, the thought-provoking ideas, and the absolute embracement of the Star Trek legacy.” 

The full reviews are available at the links above, and they are relatively safe from spoilers.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now streaming on Paramount+ in the US and on other networks around Planet Earth.