If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.

What can I say? Episode 8 The Elysian Kingdom of Star Trek Strange New Worlds is my absolute favorite. I loved that everyone got to play different, and quite frankly, far more interesting characters than they normally do on the show.

Actually Ortegas (Melissa Navia) played pretty much the same character as the warrior fiercely loyal to the King (M’Benga). Pike as the foppish Chamberlain was perfect and I loved that his hair was different. He was a coward and a traitor or, more or less, as ineffectual as Pike is as a Captain most of the time.

Uhura as the evil queen was delicious as was Spock as her Wizard.

It was implied that Ortegas’ character and Number One as the Druid archer were lesbian lovers, but that was momentary and played for comedy.

Speaking of which, actress Christina Chong must have had a field day as the melodramatic princess with the lap dog which is so unlike La’an. She was really funny.

Oh, cleavage. This version of Star Trek is pretty devoid of obviously sexual women, so it was nice to see La’an and Uhura show off a little.

I actually wish Strange New Worlds would develop multiple episodes based on the Elysian fantasy book, because the stories are so much better than what Kurtzman and company normally churn out.

It’s a “Dad” story, it’s a “family” story. As a Dad and a Grandpa, the ending pretty much tore me apart.

Normally, I write the “blow-by-blow” scene construction but this time, I feel like I don’t need to.

Oh, the origin of the word abracadabra is interesting. Hemmer, as the only other person on the ship besides M’Benga who retains his identity has fun as a “magician” and his “magic” is science.

Kudos to actor Babs Olusanmokun. I’ve criticized M’Benga in the past as a bad Dad but I think that’s more on the bad writers for this show. He’s a great Dad. He sacrificed himself to give his little girl the life she deserved. What Dad wouldn’t.

I know this is fiction but damn…just damn.

When my daughter was fifteen years old, she wanted to be an exchange student and go to Japan for a year. It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in life, but I let her go. She said “Thank you for making my dream come true, Daddy.”

Yeah. I’m not crying so shut up.

Here’s my three-minute or less review on TikTok. I’m not crying there, either.