An instant sci-fi hit that left the rest of its floundering franchise in the dust engages the streaming crowd

Star Trek is in a weird place right now. Ostensibly, the franchise is enjoying something of a boon period, considering that there are more series set in the Trek universe airing right now than there have ever been before. On the other hand, shows like Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery — both of which are ending after their current/next seasons — are hugely divisive. And the less said about the continuing embarrassment that is Paramount’s total failure to make Star Trek 4 happen the better.

Thank Q for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, then, that managed to do the impossible and unite the entire fandom when it released its debut season last May and set a whole new bar of quality for the franchise. Spinning out of Discovery, SNW is a prequel to The Original Series that documents the voyages of the Starship Enterprise when it was under the command of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), who’s joined by his Number One, Una (Rebecca Romijn), and a younger, sexier Spock (Ethan Peck). Let’s just say this guy doesn’t wait until Pon Farr to get his groove on…

Shirtless Spock goodness aside, Strange New Worlds succeeded where other modern Trek shows have failed by marrying the old-fashioned episodic storytelling popular in TOS and the ’90s series with contemporary TV’s commitment to character development and story arcs, all without breaking the cardinal rules of Gene Roddenberry’s blueprints. Given all this, it’s no surprise that season two is on its way later this year and a third season is believed to already be secretly in the works.

Let’s hope season two retains the quality of the first, as audiences are still lapping up the show. According to Flix Patrol, Strange New Worlds is currently nipping at the heels of The Last of Us to stand as the second most popular TV series on iTunes worldwide. Now that’s what we call beaming up.