2 Ups And 7 Downs From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.7 — What Is Starfleet?

2. DOWN — Star Wipe

Star Trek Strange New Worlds What Is Starfleet Star End Credits
CBS Media Ventures

Praise should always be due for at least trying new things in the end credits, already done with far less subtlety this season for A Space Adventure Hour. In this case, it was a bright enough idea — the 'Star' in 'Star Trek,' via the message in the freeing of the Jikaru.

Visually stellar, yes, but it was all still a little dull, monotonous even. As the image continues and the names go by, the realisation hits. We've been short changed. What Is Starfleet? is barely forty minutes long. A not insignificant portion of that is just CGI of a star.

The Original Series made its end credits iconic with a series of still images (and a momentous theme). More recently, Star Trek: Picard's third season provided us with sweeping visuals for its end titles, and variations on First Contact as a theme. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been pleasantly creative with its opening credits. What changed here?

Was this not the perfect opportunity to show what Starfleet is, what Starfleet will be, in a less allegorical manner? The episode had just concluded with 'it's all about the people'. That was hardly a bright idea either, but some sense of coherency might have meant actually including more of said people. Tacky clip show aside, a good montage of Starfleet's finest, past, present, and future, would have sufficed.

Contributor
Contributor

Jack has been a content creator for TrekCulture since 2022, and a Star Trek fan for as long as he can remember. He has authored over 170 articles, including one of TrekCulture's longest, and has appeared several times on the TrekCulture podcast. He holds a first-class honours degree in French from the University of Sussex, a master's with distinction in Language, Culture and History: French and Francophone Studies and a PhD in French from University College London (UCL). He has previously worked in the field of translation. His interests extend to science-fiction television and film more widely. His favourite series is Star Trek: Voyager, followed closely by Stargate SG-1.