Monday, June 20, 2022

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1x07 "The Serene Squall" Review

I'm getting more and more into Strange New Worlds with each episode. It's interesting because I don't typically like episodic shows that much, but I am enjoying this one.

When T'Pring was first introduced, I never expected that we'd see so much of her. I thought she'd pop up for a couple episodes at most, but she's also in this one. We see her at a rehabilitation center for criminals where she's working. We also find out that she's learning about humans in order to connect with Spock.

Each time we see her, I like T'Pring more. While she seemed very dismissive of Spock's human heritage in past episodes, I like that she's making an effort to learn about it now. She also mentions the onus being on her to learn about humans, and that combined with how much she trusts Spock in this episode really makes me respect her.

We also meet a new character in this episode: Aspen. Or Captain Angel, as he later learn their name actually is. I loved Aspen/Angel! They were such an intriguing character when they were pretending to be Aspen, and they were even more so when it turned out that it had all been a trick. I love how "Aspen" questioning Spock not trusting his emotions led to the reveal that Angel's husband is a Vulcan who rejected rationality.

In an attempt to rescue colonists, Enterprise goes into non-Federation space, but they fall into a Serene Squall trap and lose control of Enterprise.

"Aspen" tells Spock that their husband was a Vulcan and died. It's a very compelling story that ends up being at least partially a lie as "Aspen" is actually Angel and their husband was actually imprisoned by Vulcans because he rejected logic. Angel calls their husband Xaverius, but Spock believes that Xaverius is actually an assumed name of his half brother.

The only information I know about Spock's half brother is stuff I've googled, but I'm curious about where this is going. I get the feeling we'll be seeing him. Considering everything that happened with Michael and Spock in Discovery, seeing Spock's brother in Strange New Worlds will be even more interesting. I'm curious about what he knew about Michael and if she'll come up.

I also wonder if T'Pring, when she was preparing to hand over the prisoner, knew that it was Spock's brother.

At the end of the episode, Spock "pretends" to be having an affair with Chapel to give T'Pring a reason not to release the prisoner. T'Pring doesn't believe it though and trusts Spock, which makes me admire her even more as a character.

I'm enjoying this love triangle because it's one where I genuinely like all of the characters involved, and none of them are doing anything that massively annoy me like often happens with love triangles.

Right now, I think the love triangle is what I'm most curious about in the immediate future.

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