Breathtaking second SNW episode ups the visual ante

 

A visual masterpiece: this photo does not do it justice

Stated bluntly, "Children of the Comet" is the most visually stunning, most beautiful episode of Star Trek ever broadcast.

All credit to director Maja Vrvilo, Cinematographer Glen Keenan and the entire Visual Effects, Art and Special Effects departments (which are huge, according to IMDB). I have now watched the episode twice and am still not entirely sure what the story is about, so amazing was the episode visually. Practically every frame is a work of art.

Even the onboard scenes are stunning

I contemplated simply putting up screen shots from the show instead of writing an actual blog post but the photos don't do the show justice. Just go and watch it. On as big and as high-definition a screen as you can find.

Even the scenes onboard Enterprise are visually stunning. It's a virtuoso performance by the technical team at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW). And I think it's something of a statement: we are focused on making every aspect of this series excellent.

Uhura takes centre stage

As a story, "Children of the Comet" is a strong but derivative second episode of this new series. It borrows heavily from the TOS episode "For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky" for its main story line. But with a few twists, including a focus on character development and team-building. That may not be to everyone's tastes but at least SNW avoids the excesses of series like Discovery and Picard, in which the character arcs tend to dominate, interrupting and undermining the main story lines of the the series.

Captain Pike's hair remains a distraction but Uhura and, to a lesser extent, Ortegas get some strong moments in this episode. Celia Rose Gooding is exceptional, showing at once the strength and the fragility of Uhura, a character with a tragic past who is carefully navigating a path to her future. And I am hopeful that Melissa Navia is given more of an opportunity to shine as Ortegas -- we've seen some intriguing aspects of the helmsperson/pilot but it is clear that Ortegas, and Navia, have a lot more to show us.

Breathtaking

The flirtation between Chapel and Spock seems to develop naturally from the development of the team. Despite some initial reservations, Jess Bush is starting to grow on me in the role of Nurse Christine Chapel -- she brings a playfulness to the part while not permitting it to undermine her presentation of an intelligent, capable character.

And the final outcome of the plot reminded me strongly of guidance superstar science fiction/fantasy author N.K. Jemisin gives in her Masterclass on writing science fiction about building your planet and society. Jemisin talks about the X factor, that one thing that permeates your story that is different and new, that drives the plot and influences how your society has developed and how your characters behave and react.

In "Children of the Comet", Enterprise and her crew struggle to reroute a mysterious comet/ship/artefact to stop it from striking an M-class planet (Persephone?) and destroying the primitive society developing on its arid, sandy surface. In a couple of brief scenes, the people of the planet are shown living lives that are significantly shaped by the arid climate.

Then the comet passes close by, seeding the planet's atmosphere with huge volumes of water. Rain begins to fall and the planetary population emerges from its shelters, stunned by the sudden downpour of precious water, seeming to sense that their lives and their futures are forever changed.

If I understand Jemisin correctly, this development -- the sudden change of the climate from dry and arid to almost tropically rainy -- would be the X factor in what could be a fascinating story about these people and this society, as they adapt to their new climatic reality. Who benefits and who loses? How do structures of power shift as a result of the sudden abundance of a critical resource that was previously scarce? What impact does the appearance of a light in the sky (the comet) that corresponds with the sudden abundance of water have on their cultural and religious development?

I bring this up here because one of the strengths of Star Trek: The Original Series was its commitment to recruiting experienced, talented science fiction writers to contribute scripts to the series -- while we haven't seen that happen with SNW yet, it seems clear to me that the creative team is at least cognizant of the need to draw from such experts for the series.