Summary
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds improves on a plot from Star Trek: The Next Generation by embracing a comedic tone and delivering an emotional story.
- The characters in Strange New Worlds develop more over the course of the series, making their engagement scenes more impactful and the humor more effective.
- Both Star Trek shows highlight strong and caring mothers in Lwaxana Troi and Amanda Grayson, who bring depth and contrast to their respective storylines.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds updated a plot from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1, and did it better. In TNG season 1, episode 11, "Haven," Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) finds herself pushed to marry a man she was promised to as a young girl. Her mother, Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett), arrives on the USS Enterprise-D alongside Deanna's betrothed, Wyatt (Robert Knepper), and his parents. As Deanna and Wyatt try to get to know one another, Lwaxana makes herself at home on the Enterprise.
Deanna Troi's storyline resembles Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) because Troi was originally intended to be the Spock of TNG. This might explain why Next Gen's creative team chose to give her an arranged marriage storyline reminiscent of Spock's in the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Amok Time." There are a few genuinely funny moments in TNG season 1, episode 11, such as when Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) struggles to carry Lwaxana's bag which her valet, Mr. Homn (Carel Struycken), picks up with ease. But overall, the episode takes itself too seriously and never fully embraces the comedy. Wyatt fails as a compelling romantic interest for Troi, as he has no real personality to speak of. With an obvious last-minute reveal, "Haven'' finds a convenient way to avoid the marriage and reestablish the status quo.
