The Shenzhou is outnumbered by Klingon ships – and its first officer has led a mutiny. It’s not Starfleet’s finest hour…

I suspect that consequences are going to be a theme of this new Star Trek series, with some interesting scenes throughout this second half of the pilot. Michael Burnham’s mutiny isn’t just swept under the carpet: it affects the attitudes and actions of the ship’s crew throughout the episode, with the closing few minutes taking things to a place you probably would not expect Star Trek to go (or at least not without a reset button being hit pretty quickly afterwards).

There is however quite a bit that feels familiar about the story (big battle that leads to key character in the iteration of the franchise suffering irreversible personal loss) even if the writers throw a number of curveballs – the relationship between Burnham and Sarek being a particular case in point (and quite how this fits with TNG’s handling of the character will be interesting to see). There’s been a lot of misdirection in the way the show’s been publicised: I suspect we’re not going to see that much of the Shenzhou in future (not that there is that much of the Shenzhou left to see!) so this whole “two ships” idea is not really likely. The reminder that Starfleet are explorers not soldiers seems timely and I hope that’s the direction things move.

Looking back over the two episodes, it feels like we’ve really only gained insight into Burnham: we’ve seen the lessons that she’s been taught. Now to see if she learns from them…

Verdict: A solid rather than spectacular start to the show. 7/10

Paul Simpson