Star Trek: Strange New Worlds isn't the franchise's "new" A-show,

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is an amazing series. It blends a modern lense of Star Trek but keeps the iconic feeling of what made us all fans of the franchise in the first place. It updated the look of the series, despite being a prequel, but it didn't insult fans by trying to make it better than what came before. It just acknowledges that the original Star Trek series was as good as it could be with the financial and technological limitations of nearly 60 years ago.

It kept the heart and soul of Star Trek, and we love it for it. It's not perfect, the fantastical episodes each season, like the musical episode from Season 2 didn't land with me, but it's a near-perfect show. And no Star Trek show is perfect. Not Voyager, not The Next Generation, not Deep Space Nine. They all have flaws, but their strengths all outshine the flaws, like Strange New Worlds.

It's been a juggernaut since its launch, becoming one of the most-watched streaming shows (so we're told), as well as having a huge fandom interacting with it on social media. Sure, it's not peak Game of Thrones levels of popularity, but it's fair to say it's the show that caters most to Star Trek fans and the common viewer alike.

That's why it's been the flagship show of the franchise since it launched. Sorry to Giant Freaking Robot, who seems to think that Strange New Worlds only now became the "A-Show" due to the cancelations of Discovery and Lower Decks.

Unlike other shows, like Picard, Discovery, Lower Decks and even my beloved Prodigy, Strange New Worlds thrives off of its characters and plots, and while it's a prequel, it doesn't need to sell itself on nostalgia. Sure they use Spock, Uhura, and others from classic shows, but they're all played by new actors, making it harder for them to resonate with fans. So many people compare characters to previous versions, so it makes it significantly harder to launch a show like this. One steeped in history and legacy but also has the ability to stand on its own.

Sure, some people will angrily decry that Ethan Peck is no Leonard Nimoy, but Peck has been as brilliant as Spock, just as Nimoy was. Getting fans to embrace the old with a new tint isn't easy and usually fails. This time, not so much.

Strange New Worlds isn't just adding to the legacy of these iconic characters but they're also improving the story arcs of a franchise that doesn't need much improving.

The current arc involving the Gorn and just how much more ruthless and soulless these creators are has added so much intrigue to the franchise. They've updated, the Gorn without disrespecting what will come after it in the timeline. Sure, they'll have to figure out how to retcon some things when the time comes, but the end of Strange New Worlds' second season just delivered to many what a powerhouse this series is at telling stories.

This is a series that would rival any show from the franchise's history as the A-show if they aired at the same time, let alone against the lackluster and usually divisive series that have come out recently. Strange New Worlds got a fourth season, on top of them working on a season there, and we're hoping that there is much, much more to come from this show.