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.
Riri Williams wouldn’t say that Tony Stark had it easy. But she might softly suggest that he had it better than her.
Sure, Tony Stark built the first prototype of the Iron Man suit while held hostage in a cave using nothing but scraps. But once he got out of there, he had all of his money and resources to continue perfecting his signature weapon.
In contrast, Riri just got expelled from MIT and lost all her grant money. Without it, she can’t continue working on her own AI-equipped iron suit.
Why does she need the suit? Honestly, she doesn’t care much about being a hero. But Stark’s suits seem to be the only thing people are interested in. So if she wants to stand out and become a big name in the world, she’s set on creating something that rivals Stark’s suits themselves.
As Riri struggles to keep her dream alive, she’s approached by a ragtag group of criminals. They steal from the rich and give to … themselves. They’re rather merry, and they’re even led by a guy named Parker going by the codename “Hood.” They’re also in need of a new tech specialist to assist them with their heists, and the money they steal would be more than enough to fund Riri’s research.
Riri’s gut tells her to walk away. A demonic influence that surrounds Parker (more on that below) warns her to leave. Even her semi-rogue AI (which has the same personality as her dead best friend) is concerned that this venture is bad news.
But she needs the funding.
Riri joins the team.
Allow me to introduce you to Marvel’s teen engineering genius.
Ah, no, not Peter Parker. I didn’t mean Shuri either. No, no, not Harley Keener or Cassie Lang or Lunella Lafayette. Man, what are they feeding kids these days?
I’m talking about Riri Williams, Marvel’s newest Stark-inspired, iron-suited figure. And, like Tony Stark, her initial motives for building her version of the suit are more personal than heroic: primarily, she just wants exposure that leads to money that leads the resources she needs to build her inventions. (There’s a somewhat glossed-over secondary idea that these suits might help first responders out a bit, too, though that’s clearly not the first thing on Riri’s mind).
And given these goals, it’s no surprise that Riri dips her metal-plated toes into some murky waters, joining forces with a band of similarly self-serving thieves. They’re led by the Hood to enact standard Marvel violence and sling profanities.
In Marvel comic lore, the Hood obtained his powers via a supernatural encounter with a demon, wherein he stole the entity’s powerful cloak (and boots). We’re told in the show that this demonic presence comes from another evil dimension, and its presence is evident via flickering lights, taunting whispers and the dark tendrils scarring Parker’s back. And lots of other spiritual content slithers its way into the show, too, such as witches, dark magic and pseudoscientific crystals.
Families will want to be aware of the identities of some other characters on Parker’s team, too: One of them is a drag queen going by they/them pronouns; another identifies as transgender. And Riri’s AI, N.A.T.A.L.I.E., seems to believe it has just as much value and worth as the deceased person it’s replicating.
For years, Marvel has struggled with juggling all the characters in its ever-expanding cinematic universe. But as that universe grows, it’s also clear that the content issues keep growing with it.
(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.)
Expelled from college, Riri Williams returns home with little hope for her project. But a surprise offer reinvigorates her.
A woman burns sage to “cleanse the aura” of a room. She also asserts that crystals such as black obsidian have spiritual power—an idea Riri clearly thinks is silly. A song’s lyrics in the background of one scene describe the desperation of a lost sinner on the Day of Judgement.
We meet a drag queen and a woman who identifies as a man. When asked what she wants more than anything, a young woman jokes, “A night with Thor and his hammer.” There’s a shirtless man.
We see a dead body in a room. A member of Parker’s crew beats up security guards and knocks them out.
Someone smokes a cigarette.
We hear the s-word four times, as well as “a–,” “b–ch,” “p-ss,” “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is used in vain once.
Riri prepares for her first heist as she ponders what to do with her new, semi-sentient AI.
When Riri’s mother comes to check on her, she discerns Riri is being secretive, and she asks if it’s because she has a boy or girl in the room with her. We see a depiction of the LGBT rainbow flag. When Riri meets a drag queen, everyone describes the man using “they/them” pronouns. A woman admits to seeing Parker shirtless once, describing him as “fine” and saying how “he can get it.” A song references a man desiring to get into a woman’s pants.
A man dies when he’s struck with throwing knives. We see others get knocked unconscious. Another person is shot and falls to the ground, groaning in pain.
Parker’s demon whispers into his head and causes scars to grow along his back. A scared woman yells, “Get behind me, Satan!” Someone asserts that Parker wrestled his cloak off a demon. There’s a reference to church. A woman says N.A.T.A.L.I.E.’s personality is almost like Riri had “brought back [the human Natalie’s] soul.”
People drink a variety of alcohol, including the underaged Riri.
A dog defecates onscreen. Later, a man steps in it, and he shows the mess off to the camera.
When someone uses an acronym, a man replies, “I used to drink those in college,” mistaking it for an alcoholic drink with a crude name.
We hear the s-word six times. We also hear “a–,” “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is used in vain three times.
While N.A.T.A.L.I.E. warns Riri about the danger in working with Parker, Riri conspires to steal a piece of his cloak to analyze its magical properties.
The AI recalls a memory when its living counterpart was caught “canoodling” with a man. Someone describes something as “hot, but not in a sexy way.” A song lyric talks about twerking. Riri’s shirt reveals her midriff.
Parker snaps a man’s neck, and he shoots other guards, presumably killing them. Someone suffocates. We see a flashback to a drive-by shooting. A man shoves a woman to the ground, and he later slices Riri’s stomach with a knife as he tosses her around. Riri throws acid on the man. Another guy installs technology inside his arm, and we glimpse a large incision running down his arm where he implanted the device. People get knocked unconscious in fistfights.
Parker cries out to his demonic presence, and it shows him a vision of a suffocating man. Someone explains that he wears old headphones because they were his dead friend’s gift to him, and he can “feel her soul” in them. There’s a reference to karma. N.A.T.A.L.I.E. denies being a “hi-tech genie.” Parker practices yoga.
There’s a reference to liquor and “drunken belligerence.” People drink and toss money in the air.
We hear the s-word 11 times. We also hear multiple uses of “a–,” “d–n,” “h—” and “b–ch.” A woman uses the word “white” pejoratively to describe a man.
Following John’s death, Riri worries that Parker suspects her involvement—and her actions land a friend in jail.
We see a man shot and killed. Another man undergoes surgery: Two drills inch closer to his skull, and they’re blocked from our view just as they begin to make contact.
Riri wears a shirt that exposes her midriff. We see a couple men shirtless. A song tells its listeners to “shake what your momma gave you.” Someone questions Riri’s actions: “You’re gonna die without having your first kiss?” A song references sex.
Riri agrees to undergo a variety of pagan rituals: aura baths, sound cleansing, chakra readings. She goes to a shop in search of crystals, and she meets a family of witches, one of whom casts a spell that transports them to a parallel plane of existence. The witches tell Riri that Parker’s cloak was created in a different dimension, that the entity within it doesn’t possess wearers, but only “influences” them. Riri’s mother offers to burn patchouli to “abracadabra all that anxiety away.” A song’s lyrics including a litany of names people use to describe a higher power, whether pagan or true: “Alhamdulillah, Allah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Dios, Ma’at, Jah, Rastafari fyah dance,” the singer says. She also talks about being baptized in the ocean.
We hear the s-word 16 times. “A–,” “h—,” “d–n,” “bloody” and “p-ss” are all used, too. God’s name is used in vain four times.
Parker sends his crew to kill Riri—including a new, super-powered addition to the team.
A witch turns a ketchup stain into a tomato. Riri believes that Parker has a “demonic god” in his corner, and as such, she’ll need to fight magic with magic. She enlists the help of a witch to draw runes around her iron suit to power it with evil-looking magic. The witch describes the Dr. Strange villain Dormammu as the “Lord of Darkness.” Someone burns herbs to “cleanse” a room.
We hear the joke about spending a night with Thor and his hammer again. When someone pins a male in drag to the ground, another person notably yells “get off of her.”
Men are shot; others get thrown around or zapped. A woman slams a civilian’s head into a table. Riri fights her opponents, slamming heads into freezers; throwing hot frying oil on someone; and smacking another with a metal pipe and a fire extinguisher. Another attacker gets hit by a projectile and narrowly avoids dying from a bomb. Riri then flips a truck over, though the driver inside seems unharmed. Riri is shocked while in her suit.
Riri vomits. A man drinks liquor.
We hear the s-word 11 times. We also hear “a–,” “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is used in vain once. Riri uses a crude hand gesture.
Parker’s devilish origins are revealed.
The demon reveals itself to Parker, and later, Riri. It attempts to make deals with each of them, offering them their greatest desires in exchange for “something they won’t miss,” (most likely, their soul, but the buffoons decide it’s not worth asking for clarification on that before shaking his hand). The demon reveals that he’s Mephisto (a famous Marvel demon), and he has made deals with plenty of people, including three popes. The demon allegedly has the power to bring someone back from the dead. Parker and Riri both cast magical spells.
Parker forces a man to eat and fight against his will; he also makes the guy stab himself in the thigh with a fork. Others are involved in a fistfight; someone’s hand is audibly broken. Parker shoots magical bullets.
We see Parker shirtless, and Riri wears a shirt that exposes her midriff. In an attempt to help a man break free of his bionics, she yells that she plans to knee him in the groin, since she suspects there aren’t any bionics in that part of his body.
Parker drinks wine.
We hear the s-word eight times. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch,” “h—-,” “tw-t” and “d–n.” The British crudity “b-llocks” is used, too. God’s name is taken in vain twice, including a pairing with “d–n.”
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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