Star Trek: Strange New Worlds goes full soap opera, to mixed results

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has taken a turn towards the soap opera genre, garnering mixed reactions from viewers. In the latest episode, "Like Chronitons Through The Hourglass," the show embraces the genre with Pike waking up in a melodramatic version of the Enterprise. It turns out that Rhys Darby's character, the "fancy coat god guy," has been deliberately putting the crew through a soap opera world as part of an experiment for his dissertation on the human race.

The idea of this genre twist is intriguing, as it is the first episode of the season to openly acknowledge it's doing a genre riff.

However, the actual execution of the soap opera premise falls short of engaging viewers. The joke of being trapped in a soap opera world forces the crew to discuss their feelings more than they usually do, but the writing itself doesn't deviate significantly from the show's usual approach. While the episode does deliver a few solid laughs, such as Uhura announcing that she is Pike's secret daughter and M'Benga diagnosing himself with "space madness," the parody does not land as effectively as it could have.

The subplot of Ethan Peck playing Spock's evil brother, Sybok, is a welcome deviation from the norm and showcases a steamier energy. The most compelling aspect of this episode, like the horror movie homage from a previous episode, is the lack of clear-cut emotional resolution. The unexpected return to Pike's longing for his imaginary daughter, Marie, adds a poignant layer to the episode and raises intriguing questions about how the show might explore this theme further.