One of the many criticisms that emerged from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ uneven third season was that the show struggled with the effective balance it had maintained in its first two seasons between classical action-adventure episodes in the vein of Star Trek‘s past and more outlier (and largely lighter-hearted) one-off episodes that put zany premises over building on character arcs and a broader seasonal narrative.
Those episodes are clearly not going away as we get closer and closer to Strange New Worlds‘ end—after all, we are getting an episode where the crew becomes puppets next season—but they may become a bit more sparse as the show tries to make the most of the time it has left with these characters.
“We’re making season five now, we’re trending towards that, which is probably the center line of Star Trekright?” Co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman told Screenrant of Strange New Worlds‘ final episodes. “We’re trending now, and beginning with season four and through season five, to a much more singular sci-fi, action-adventure, emotional storytelling. And you know, the outliers are getting less and less as we kind of focus on saying goodbye to each other and the fans.”
It’s the latest in what’s been a bit of a promotional apology tour in the wake of season three’s release, which has already seen the crew behind the show promise fans that the show’s last batches of episodes will be stronger than the unevenness of season three. With season four being the last full installment of the series—season five will be truncated down to just six episodes—the series doesn’t have a lot of time to spend with either its version of classic original series characters and getting them on the path to their places in that show or its remaining original characters that, presumably, have to eventually move on from the Enterprise in one way or another by Strange New Worlds‘ end.
It might be a while before we start seeing the fruits of Goldsman’s promises, but at least there’s something to be hopeful for as we wait for season four and beyond.
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