The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode Anson Mount Was Most Excited For Fans To See

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has arrived as a breath of fresh air for the pioneering sci-fi franchise. Eschewing the serialized, season-long story arcs favored by modern television and contemporary "Star Trek" shows such as "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Star Trek Picard," the latest spacefaring Paramount+ exclusive goes where the Enterprise has gone before, embracing a self-contained episodic structure that wraps its stories up neatly in under an hour. By returning to the storytelling formula favored by "The Original Series" and "The Next Generation," "Strange New Worlds" has won over both critics and audiences alike (via Rotten Tomatoes).

As well it should. Not in some time has there been such a well-oiled crew on the Enterprise. As Captain Christopher Pike, Anson Mount carries the swagger of William Shatner's Kirk and the wisdom of Patrick Stewart's Picard but still adds a color of his own to the character as a man burdened with the knowledge of his own inevitable downfall. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast is equally compelling. Ethan Peck plays a young Spock with pathos as he navigates his dual-species identity, while Celia Rose Gooding puts a sense of childlike wonder into the eyes of Cadet Nyota Uhura and Jess Bush updates Nurse Christine Chapel with a brash playfulness that makes her feel, at last, like a fully fleshed-out member of the team.

But none of that would matter if the stories weren't good, and thankfully, they have been well received across the board. As it turns out, there's one episode in particular that Anson Mount was most excited for Trekkies to watch.

In an interview with Collider, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" star Anson Mount revealed that he was most excited for audiences to experience Season 1, Episode 4 of the series, titled, "Memento Mori." "Dan [Liu] knocked it out of the park," Mount said, referring to the episode's director. "And it's not just me saying that."

"Memento Mori" is a heart-racing survival horror story set in deep space. When the Enterprise finds itself in Gorn hunting grounds, Pike and his crew must devise a risky plan to evade detection by the enemy and escape unscathed. The episode is what makes "Star Trek," at its best, so beloved: good people making difficult decisions under intense pressure, rich characters whose traits play endearingly off each other, and hard questions about ethics and morality.

While the Gorn have shown up in "Star Trek" before, "Strange New Worlds" elevates them to a palpable threat by hiding them from sight. We see their ships but never their lizard-like faces. While this show certainly has the ability to show us a much more visually polished version of the Gorn than the rubber-suited versions we've seen before, keeping them hidden heightens the terror oozing through every frame of the episode.

"Memento Mori" has a perfect critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, proving that Mount was right to hype it up. Collider called it "one of the best episodes in the franchise," while Flickering Myth praised it as "a modern classic, and one of the best new episodes of 'Star Trek' in decades." Fans agreed too, with some calling it one of the best "Star Trek" episodes. With Season 1 still in progress, how much higher can "Strange New Worlds" reach into the heavens?