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.
There are a lot of mysteries in the world. But stick around Dorothy “Dot” Conner long enough, and you’ll be sure to find the truth of it all.
She’s what you’d call a webtective, a sleuth who scours the Internet to find leads and experts who will help her answer all her questions. They’re questions like:
Does a perfect person exist?
Why do people do bad things, even when they know they’re wrong?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Those are deeper questions than your standard detective would find in a case file, which is why Dot turns to experts to help teach her the answer—experts who, time and time again, point Dot back to the truths of Scripture.
Sometimes, it can feel as if Christian entertainment keeps clear teaching about faith a little too vague, plays it too close to the vest. Episodes or movies can end with general Christian sentiments about trusting in God, but too often we’ve seen the credits roll on a piece of “Christian” content with little actual teaching to derive from it.
Dot Conner: Webtective does not make that mistake.
Its first episode, for instance, depicts Dot as she wonders whether anyone can be a perfect human. Her investigation eventually leads to Jesus, where the episode teaches perhaps the clearest gospel presentation that we’ve seen in Christian children’s media. Later episodes walk through difficult topics such as whether genuine believers can lose their salvation and the trials we face in a fallen world.
Each episode likewise comes with guest-starring experts, such as J. Warner Wallace or Alisa Childers, most of whom provide a relevant Bible verse or two for Dot to remember.
Content-wise, we see some light animated blood when the show depicts the crucifixion, as well as during the slaying of Abel. Otherwise, the only thing parents will want to note is that some topics, like discussions about hermeneutics and sanctification, may fly over a younger viewer’s head.
Dot Conner: Webtective premiered in 2022 as an 8-episode series streaming on Minno. The series can likewise be viewed for free on YouTube, too.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Upset by a less-than-perfect score on her recent math quiz, Dot searches to find a perfect person to teach her how she can be perfect, too.
Dot speaks with professional soccer player Ryan Hollingshead, hoping his soccer skills might mean he’s perfect at what he does. However, Ryan points Dot toward Jesus instead.
Later, Dot asks a Bible study leader about Jesus, and her leader presents the gospel to Dot, explaining that Jesus was perfect because He was also fully God and not born with a sin nature. She also explains how Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice on the cross cleanses us of our sins, and she tells of how He rose from the dead. We hear references to 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 4:15.
We see a depiction of Jesus dying on the cross.
The episode warns children that not everything they find on the Internet can be trusted.
When Dot’s friend, Alex, leaves her text messages unread, she realizes that he must have gotten offended by reading a previous text message in a way she didn’t intend. The encounter makes her investigate how people can misinterpret Scripture.
Dot speaks with Dr. Darrell Bock of the Hendricks Center about hermeneutics, the practice of interpretation. He explains a four-letter acronym to help interpret Scripture: AACL – Author, Audience, Context, Lens. Readers must keep in mind who the author of the Scripture is, who the audience receiving it is, the surrounding context of a verse and the lens through which we read the material in order to better interpret the intended meaning.
Dot gets in trouble for using the computer when she’s not supposed to, and she decides to learn why people do things even when they know that they’re making wrong choices.
Christian author J. Warner Wallace helps Dot to realize that she’s struggling with a question about why Christians continue to sin despite being saved. He introduces her to the concept of sanctification, wherein we are continuously being made more and more like Christ in holiness. We hear references to Romans 7:15 and 1 John 1:9.
We see a depiction of Cain killing Abel with a stone and Jesus dying on the cross.
When Dot’s friend, Makayla, has a dream that she’s going to go to jail for all eternity, she takes it as a sign that she’s sinned too much to be able to go to heaven. Dot decides she needs to determine if Makayla has somehow lost her salvation—or whether that’s even possible.
Dot gets the help of Christian author and speaker Alisa Childers, who reminds Dot of many verses that teach Christians are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our salvation. She tells Dot that since God doesn’t break His promises, if He promises that no one can snatch His elect out of His hand, then He won’t lose any of His people.
Dot and Alex then wonder about people who say they’re Christian but later recant, and Alisa teaches that there’s a difference between genuine faith and simple knowledge. She explains that even though demons know who Jesus is, they don’t have saving faith. We hear references to Matthew 10:22, Mark 1:23-24, John 6:40 and 10:28, Romans 8:1, 2 Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13-14 and James 2:19.
When Dot loses first place at a school science fair to a rival, Pamela, she wonders why bad things happen to good people.
Dot speaks with surfer Bethany Hamilton, the subject of Soul Surfer. Bethany, who lost her arm in a tiger shark attack, reminds Dot that all people are born into a broken world. And she reminds Dot that since there’s no one who is truly good or holy like God, there’s technically no such thing as a “good person” apart from Jesus Christ. She references Mark 10:18 and Romans 3:10-12.
They also discuss why God allows bad things to happen in general, and Bethany tells Dot that God can use bad things to bring about great things that would not have happened had they not endured the bad. Bethany uses her own story as a prime example of that truth, and she references 1 Peter 1:3-9.
Dot, Alex and Makayla get separated from their youth group while hiking in the woods. They’re forced to choose between walking two paths, both of which appear to go the same way. That’s when they learn that even though two paths may seem to head in the same direction, they don’t all end up at the same place.
Along the way, the trio bumps into wilderness survivalist Ray McKee, who compares their situation to religion. He tells the kids how some people teach that all religions lead to God, but the truth is that all religions eventually end up going to different destinations. Ray tells them that to discern the correct religious path, they should consider how Christianity is uniquely different from all other religions. Specifically, you must rely on Christ’s works, while every other religion requires you to rely on your own works. He references John 14:6.
Dot’s antagonistic rival, Pamela, asks Dot to join the school debate team, hoping Dot will choose the team’s weekend tournament over attending discipleship weekend at her church.
Dot struggles to decide to which event she’ll go. She speaks with professional basketball player Kayla Thornton, who reminds Dot that she should prioritize Christ over everything else, even if it means sacrificing success according to the world’s standards. After choosing to attend her church event, Dot gleefully tells us that she got to witness a girl being baptized.
Dot warns children to not click on any unknown internet links.
When a friend believes he’s obtained superpowers, Dot investigates what makes a person who they are—and why he might believe he’s changed.
Dot speaks with author and speaker Lauren Chandler, who tells Dot that it’s God who determines who we are. He is the one who forms us in the womb—and He makes us just right. The advice helps elevate the mood of Dot’s friend, who admits he felt inadequate because he is confined to a wheelchair.
We hear references to Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:14 and Luke 12:7.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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