TL;DR – This is a great episode that shows the strength of the Short Trek formula with some truly delightful moments

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Review –

We are back with another season of Short Treks, one of the more novel experiments that have come out of this third Star Trek TV resurgence. These are a number of shorts in and around the Star Trek universe (mostly but this season not exclusively around Star Trek Discovery). Like last year’s The Escape Artist that looked at Harry Mudd. Today we get to dive back into this world with a fun look at someone’s first day on the job.

So to set the scene, it is Ensign Spock’s (Ethan Peck) first day on the job. After a long flight to Starbase 40, he beams aboard and is welcomed by Number One (Rebecca Romijn). After some pleasantries, Number One decides to show the new ensign the Bridge only for the turbolift to fail on transit giving them a lot of time to chat.

After the appearance of the USS Enterprise on last season’s Discovery and the very warm reception to Anson, Ethan, and Rebecca reprising the old characters a lot of people we wondering if we would get to see them again. Now while I am sure there are negotiations on to see if a full/abridged season of Pike’s Enterprise is possible, it is a great use of the sets and the cast to bring them back in these Short Treks.

While it is Spock’s first day, this episode mostly focuses on Number One/Una as it explores more of her past and what drives her. Of the three cast members, Una was a character that we didn’t get to see as much of so it was a good opportunity to explore her engineering skills, her command style, and letting her get her weird on with Gilbert and Sullivan. Watching these two characters from very different past interact was a joy to watch. As was the little nods to past Trek canon and a warning never to talk to Pike (Anson Mount) about horses.  

In the end, do we recommend Q&A? Yes of course we do. These Short Treks are a fantastic idea, they get to break up the time when there is not a show on air, they get to explore areas we don’t get to see, and they give us a chance to let the characters take centre stage. I just hope in the future that we get some from around the Star Trek world, not just the shows that are airing atm.          

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you seen Star Trek Short Treks yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.    

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Star Trek Short Trek
Directed by – Mark Pellington
Written by – Michael Chabon
Created by – Bryan Fuller & Alex Kurtzman
Starring – Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck & Anson Mount with Sarah Evans, Samora Smallwood & Jenette Goldstein