Pops Watched TV: STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS and SUPERMAN & LOIS

NERD ALERT: 

I’m currently rewatching season one of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS in anticipation of season two premiering on June 15th, and am loving it just as much the second time. Not really being a fan of any other modern iteration of Gene Roddenberry’s brainchild, I had fairly low expectations for this TOS prequel (of sorts), but the superlative casting, throwback sensibility to classic TREK, and (mostly) episodic nature of the series completely won me over, making this not just the best TREK since the underrated ENTERPRISE, but hands down my favorite genre show on TV right now. 

Meanwhile, the third (and probably final*) season of SUPERMAN & LOIS is a real head-scratcher, eschewing the deft balance of adventure and soap opera of the first two seasons for a story that focuses on Lois Lane battling breast cancer (coincidentally getting treatment alongside a supervillain who’s also the secret wife of the season’s big bad, Bruno Mannheim, who’s also coincidentally the father of Natalie Irons’ new boyfriend!). I’m not against bringing some real-life drama into a superhero story, but this season has been so relentlessly downbeat (sad music theme in every episode and Superman doesn’t even appear in costume in one of them!) that I have to sometimes remind myself I’m watching a superhero show. (Additionally, this season finally fell into the Berlanti pattern of revealing secret identities to every other person on the show.)

Watching both of these series at the same time, I’m again frustrated by the fact that almost every superhero (and other genre) show feels the need to tell season-long arcs instead of individual stories. STRANGE NEW WORLDS has reminded us of the power of short-form storytelling in genre television, and I wish S&L had gone that route (it played with it a bit in the first season). If it does indeed fall under the CW cancellation knife, its legacy will mostly be that of a sadly missed opportunity.

* Turned out to not be true, a fourth and NOW final season premieres in 2024. 

Originally posted on social media, June 8, 2023