Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, "Tomorrow's Yesterday" | Season 4, Episode 10

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If you consume enough media, you start to recognize certain stock messages popping up everywhere. As a child of the ‘80s and ‘90s, I’m more than familiar with stories about parents who put their careers ahead of their families and need to be taught otherwise; of friends discovering the power of friendship; of sourpusses who finally open their eyes to all the joy that love can bring. These are “morals,” but they’re presented so routinely, and so unquestioningly, in popular culture that they have by and large lost what little intention or meaning they might once have had. Tropes aren’t inherently bad, but ones presented without thought or consideration are pointless. You could get the same meaning reading the back of a cereal box.

There’s one cliché that I’ve become particularly confused by in recent years: the constant exhortations to “live in the moment.” I get the concept, but I’m baffled by the apparent need to repeat it ad nauseum, as it doesn’t seem to apply to any part of my life. This could be due to the way my brain works; I’m autistic, and I struggle with tasks related to executive function. I can do the work in front of me, but if something is important, I need to build a routine for it, a process that is slow and often frustrating. I’ve managed, in fits and starts, to adapt myself to this limitation over the course of my life, but it still causes me problems. Telling me to “live in the moment” feels about as useful as handing a drowning man a straw.

So I may not be exactly the target audience for the theme of “Tomorrow’s Enterprise,” but surely even people who do appreciate this kind of lesson would prefer it being better expressed. “Enterprise” is–and I know I’ve said this several times this season, and I’m sorry for not finding better words–well, it’s not terrible. There are nice moments, and not all of them revolve around Chapel and her wig. (I just think it’s neat, y’know?) Uhura is a well-established character, and while it still feels like this season under-served Pike, I don’t mind her getting the focus.