Drama
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Captain Pike finally gets his time in the Star Trek spotlight, but his story is one filled with tragedy and foreboding.
This Discovery Channel program is positioned as a post-apocalyptic experiment, with 10 volunteers serving as Guinea pigs. Sequestered from the outside world—one that, in the show’s scenario, has been crippled by a global pandemic—the volunteers start their new lives in an abandoned warehouse without electricity or running water and very little food. Working together, they must survive and rebuild a semblance of civilization using just the junk and scraps they find on-site.
The participants are nearly out of water when this episode begins, meaning they must open the warehouse doors and venture into the wider world to collect some from a nearby river—a place where they’ve been attacked by scavenging marauders before. This time they meet a handful of “missionaries” (actors in on the experiment) who tell them they’d best repent because the end is near. Oh, and they ask the refugees whether they have anything to donate. John V. offers his own water to the motley missionaries, and one returns the favor by handing him a can of Vienna sausages. Later, John V. gives those same sausages (and another jug of water) to a pair of beggars—much to the chagrin of some of the other volunteers. “Welcome to the Colony truck stop,” gasps Michael derisively.
To supplement their food supply, they catch and eat some rats—an act accompanied with a “don’t try this at home” onscreen warning at the end of the show.
This episode serves up squabbling subjects who let loose a few unbleeped uses of “h‑‑‑” along with stronger, bleeped, curses. But it also showcases some surprising spiritual depth: John V. is portrayed as a man of deep faith (unlike, he mentions, most of the other volunteers), and he’s willing to live it out—even within the show’s nightmarish scenario and over the strong objections of some of his Colony mates. Moreover, his kindness is reciprocated: When a missionary hands him that pitifully small can of sausages, John V. can be seen wiping tears away from his eyes.
“It kind of gave me a new little battery charge of faith and hope,” He tells the camera later. He believes God puts people in certain places for a reason, and he believes that perhaps he’s meant to give some of his fellow volunteers a glimpse of that faith and hope, too.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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