Strange New Worlds Season 2 Ep 3 is the third instalment of the second season 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.
S P O I L E R S
Entitled “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, Strange New Worlds Season 2 Ep 3 is yet another winner as it leans heavily on a Star Trek trope viz. time travel! The focus is firmly on La’An Noonien-Singh (brought to life brilliantly by Christina Chong), a descendant of the infamous Khan (from The Wrath of Khan), as she is suddenly thrust into an alternate timeline by a dying agent of the Department of Temporal Investigations (previously seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Enterprise). However, she is not alone and is accompanied by an alternate James T. Kirk (!) as they both travel to the past to preserve the ‘correct’ future from a time-traveling Romulan.
Strange New Worlds Season 2 Ep 3 is more about characterisation than it is about plot as the duo’s quest to prevent a secret cold fusion reactor from being destroyed in Toronto is conveniently accomplished. In this respect, we have an engaging romantic relationship blossom between Noonien-Singh and Kirk, as well as a test of faith for Noonien-Singh herself. In a sense, Noonien-Singh despises her heritage – as a genetically augmented human, her kind has been ostracised and the burden of guilt weighs on her shoulders for the genocide committed by Khan and his augmented cohorts.
At the very end, Noonien-Singh has to make a personal sacrifice to preserve the timeline and complete her character arc. It is an emotionally resonant development. She loses the bond she had with the alternate Kirk, and continues to live with the burden of being Khan’s descendant. The result is a heart-wrenching ugly cry where Noonien-Singh, whose emotions are usually kept in check, breaks down all by myself. A powerful scene! Yet another powerful Season 2 episode! Highly recommended!
Now streaming on Amazon | Read our analyses of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
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