Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 5 is the fifth instalment of an American scifi space opera television drama created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet for the streaming service Paramount+. A spin-off of the Discovery series, Strange New Worlds features the USS Enterprise captained by Christopher Pike and set a decade before the events in the original Star Trek TV series. Arguably, Discovery’s second season – which introduced Anson Mount’s version of Pike – has been the best so far, so it’s no surprise that this series is now a reality.
S P O I L E R S
Entitled “Spock Amok”, Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 5 is probably the best episode of any new Trek series thus far and evidence that this series is truly hitting its stride! Whilst we harboured reservations whether the episodic approach would rob the series of vitality and interest, the series has proven us wrong time and again, with brilliant writing, pacing and performances. Certainly, with this episode, the series also adds an element of comedy that succeeds on every level.
READ OUR ANALYSES OF STRANGE NEW WORLDS.
Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 5, as the title suggests, finds Spock in a dilemma as in an attempt to get to know his fiancé T’Pring better, they undergo a ‘soul-sharing’ ritual which inadvertently causes them to exchange bodies in the classic Freaky Friday style! Naturally, of course, this causes problems with their own duties as they are separately summoned to vital tasks at the most inconvenient time.
Another excellent plot involves Una and La’An staying onboard the ship during shore leave and indulging themselves in a game of enterprise bingo, a challenge undertaken by cadets and ensigns. They rationalise taking the challenge as a means to understand the crew better but of course, the enterprise bingo is really a lot of fun! Our favourite is for two players to simultaneously relay instructions to the lift and see which instruction the computer chooses! Love it!
Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 5 demonstrates that this series is on track to be the best of the new Star Trek and thank goodness for that! Highly recommended!!
Now streaming on Paramount+.
… still there’s more …