Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will focus on more than just one character.
Anson Mount wants fans to know that the idea of episodic television will return to Star Trek through Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Yet, it won’t just be about the alien/planet of the week idea that fans were hoping for. It’ll also be in the sense of the characters on the show. Strange New Worlds will look to put a different character in focus with each different episode.
This may seem like an odd thing to say because doesn’t most shows focus on more than one character, but not always. Gizmodo spoke to Mount about the show, and he was very emphatic in saying the show would have a “character of the episode”.
"We knew going in we wanted to make something episodic—not just in terms of the new idea, or the big planet of the week—but, ‘What is the character of this episode? How can we encourage our directors to come in and really put a strong footprint on their episode? How can we find a different way to play every episode?’ We wanted to re-inject a sense of fun in Star Trek, and I hope we succeeded."
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is embracing the Peak Age of Star Trek
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will look to follow in the footsteps of other Trek series from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. While Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, and Scott Bakula were the stars of the show, each of their series featured other characters in the main role from time to time. It appears as though Mount is saying that this type of episodic approach will continue with Strange New Worlds.
This is a good call, as some of the best episodes in Star Trek didn’t focus on that series’ respective captains.
With the cast being a pretty loaded one, maybe the most loaded of anycast in some time, fans are going to want to see these characters fleshed out and if the series delivers as many are hoping it to, then these characters may reach a similar level of admiration as past series.