Captain Kirk. Mr. Spock. Dr. McCoy. The Enterprise.

Even people who have never watched an episode of Star Trek know some version of those characters and the world they inhabit. That deep familiarity can sometimes make us remember the legends and forget the people. But if we're being honest, The Original Series was never really about deep character studies or the relationships between those characters.

Looking back, the Enterprise often feels less like a place where humans (and aliens) lived together and more like a set piece where epic stories happened. The crew worked side-by-side, respected one another, occasionally revealed deeper bonds, and then moved on to the next mission. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has subtly changed that.

At first glance, the show, which returns for a fourth season on July 23, looks like a fairly traditional prequel: younger versions of familiar characters, references and occasional winks to established continuity, and stories designed to connect to what audiences already know is coming. But what Strange New Worlds has actually done is make the Enterprise........

© Polygon