If subscribing to Paramount Plus isn’t a possibility right now, but you’re still a massive Star Trek fan, then you're in luck. Paramount Plus has just added the second season premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to YouTube, letting you watch the entire episode for free.
Eagle-eyed fans may remember that the entire first season of Strange New Worlds was added to YouTube earlier this month. While that is apparently only available for a limited time, all ten episodes are still live on the Paramount Plus YouTube Channel at the time of writing. That means you can watch 11 of the 12 Strange New Worlds episodes that have been released so far, absolutely free. For the time being, anyway.
The only downside here is that the episodes are only available to watch on YouTube in the U.S. However those geographical restrictions can be circumvented by one of the best VPNs, in case you live elsewhere and can’t get access to the full Paramount Plus catalog.
The show is set in the years before Star Trek The Original Series, following the crew of the Enterprise before Kirk took over the captain’s chair. The idea behind the series was to take Star Trek back to its roots, and recapture the tone and feeling of those iconic episodes from the 1960s. That means there’s a lot less serialization, and episodes largely stand on their own.
And fan reception has largely been positive. Right now, as we sit two episodes into Strange New Worlds’ sophomore season the Rotten Tomatoes score is one of the highest of any Paramount Plus exclusive show. Reviews are still trickling in, and we still have eight more episodes to get through, but that score is still sitting at 98% — alongside an 82% audience rating.
Considering how critical Star Trek fans have been of the recent entries in the franchise, criticism that isn’t always undeserved, it’s incredibly high praise. Which shouldn’t be a huge surprise, considering Strange New Worlds only exists because fans demanded it — aided by the stellar performance of Anson Mount and Ethan Peck in the second season of Star Trek Discovery.
If you don’t believe us, then all you have to do is head over to YouTube and check Strange New Worlds out for yourself. Just remember that the rest of season 2 isn’t likely to be free to watch on YouTube anytime soon — if ever. So if you want to keep on top of the adventures of the Enterprise, you’ll need to subscribe to Paramount Plus. Prices start at $5 a month, or $10 a month if you prefer an ad-free experience.
Star Trek Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Commander Una Chin-Riley, Ethan Peck as Lieutenant Spock, Celia Rose Gooding as Ensign Uhura, and the usual motley assortment of cast members making up the rest of the Enterprise crew.
