The first half of Strange New Worlds’ third season was very much a mixed bag. After the underwhelming resolution to season two’s cliffhanger Hegemony, we had a couple of Trek’s tried and tested hits, with a Q/Trelane episode, and a visit to the holodeck. Neither of these made a bit of sense canonically and seems to have divided fans between those who loved revisiting old favourites, and those worried the show was beginning to fall into gimmick of the week. They also felt like poor imitations of the type of Next Generation episodes that inspired them. We also had – of all things – a zombie episode, which somehow managed to make the walking dead as dull as, well, The Walking Dead; and finally, an actual sci-fi episode (where they even visited a strange new world – something which is, ironically, a rarity for the show).

Here at STARBURST, we fell very much into the gimmick of the week camp. The show’s constant changes of tone – once a selling point – were starting to feel predictable, and the gimmicks felt tired. We gave it an unimpressive two-star review.

Fortunately, things are looking up in the second half, as the show, well, to put it bluntly, actually tries to be Star Trek. We get actual sci-fi stories, character-focused episodes, moral dilemmas, and a new perspective on an old enemy. We also get this season’s obligatory comedy Vulcan episode, but you can’t have everything.

First up is The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail, which sounds from it’s title like one of the show’s wacky episodes. It’s not. It’s a Kirk-centric story set aboard his current ship, the U.S.S. Faragut, which gives the first officer his first real challenge of command – with a little help from some of his future colleagues. Paul Wesley still makes an unconvincing Kirk – both in his performance and the writing – but putting that aside, it’s a good episode about a not-quite-ready officer being put under pressure.

What Is Starfleet? is the documentary-style episode announced last year. Throughout the season, we’ve seen Beto Ortegas (younger brother of the Enterprise’s helm officer Erica) working on a documentary, and this captures his efforts during a taxing mission for the crew. While the mission itself is reasonably compelling, the framing device of the documentary doesn’t really add much, other than some nice character moments (particularly from Uhura, who, along with La’An, is one of the stars of the season).

Four and a Half Vulcans follows season one’s Spock Amok and Season Two’s Charades as the season’s comedy Vulcan episode. After the last time round, Spock was turned human; this time round, someone obviously thought it would be hilarious if other crew members turned Vulcan. They were wrong. If you enjoyed previous entries in the ‘wacky Spock’ subgenre, you’ll probably find a lot to enjoy here. Otherwise, like the previous episodes, it’s a bit of a waste. At least it has a fun guest star turn from the always excellent Patton Oswalt.

The final two episodes, Terrarium and New Life and New Civilizations, Paramount has kept under wraps, so we won’t spoil them here. Suffice to say that mysteries set up earlier in the season will be resolved – some more satisfactorily than others – and that the showrunners’ promise of an Ortegas-centric episode is fulfilled. Oh, and most fan theories out there are dead wrong.

The show still has its issues – even the good episodes still feel like mid-tier old Trek; various cast members (hello Babs Olusanmokun) are grossly underserved; Pike (Anson Mount) still largely lacks command presence; and there’s numerous canon issues for those of us who care about such things (and Trek fans are known for being pedantic). But after a few episodes where the show looked like it was becoming stale, the second half of the season is a definite step up. Those who like the wacky stuff will be disappointed (but hey, you’ve got a muppet episode next season to look forward to), but for the most part, this is solid Star Trek.