Strange New Worlds picks up as a spin-off of Discovery Season 2. If there’s one Nu Trek to watch, it’s this.

Discovery and SNW are prequels to TOS. However, Season 1 of Disco is very weak with the exception of one or two episodes. Season 2 is much better and you can probably start here. Then go into S3 or SNW.

Season 3 is where I believe Discovery really shines. It also changes setting entirely. 4 is good too.

Lower Decks takes places shortly after/around DS9/Voy era. So if you’re familiar with 90’s trek, this show is basically like home cooking. You can watch it anytime.

Picard Season 1 and 2 are bad. But if you think of it as non-canon Fan Fiction written by Patrick Stewart, it’s just kinda fun. Season 3 is the final season and is basically the show everyone actually wanted. It’s an epilogue to TNG. There’s a few references to Season 1 and 2, but you can Google the small gaps. You can watch it anytime.

Also, watch The Orville. It’s a love letter to Star Trek, has Trek writers, producers and actors. It’s starts as a dumb comedy that didn’t really know what it’s doing, but by episode 3 they start to find their footing.
Season 2 and 3 and pretty much perfect and IMO as good as the best of Trek. The show gets more serious and the humor takes a backseat to the human element.

T’Pol would be the first Vulcan in Starfleet, no?

She started off as Vulcan High Command but officially joins Starfleet later on in ENT.

Besides the fact that the Prime Directive is violated constantly, what am I missing about it?

V’ger seems like a direct nod to Star Trek 1.

I mean, the fact that the Fediverse is not called The Federation is a missed opportunity.

A little late to the game but I really loved this episode.

Only thing that didn’t quite make sense to me was the romantic connection between La’an and Kirk. It felt forced - and I feel like the episode would’ve been just as strong without it. Just them bonding as friends, who are going through this deeply traumatic time travel experience together - would’ve been more than enough.

I can appreciate that La’an would be more vulnerable as a result Kirk not knowing her family name, but she oggled him in the changing room before that was revealed. Seemed out of character.

Otherwise, I’m really curious to see what kind of timeline implication all of this will have - and if the watch will make way back in the series somehow.

If you’re going to start a new Trek, I seriously recommend The Orville.

It’s a love letter to TNG, VOY, DS9 era Trek. Better in many ways.

It starts as a goofy comedy and the first few episodes are kind of… okay. But by the third episode they find their footing and it just gets better and better.

The third (and possibly final) season is up there with the best of Trek. No bad episodes, and a much more serious tone. The show even has actors from ST series like Penny Jerald (Kassidy Yates in DS9) as main cast, cameos from Robert Picardo (Doctor on VOY), Tim Russ (Tuvok), John Billingsley (Dr Phlox from ENT). Also Brannon Braga produces/writes on it and Jonathan Frakes directs some episodes.

If you want to continue with TNG/VOY/DS9 era - Lower Decks is my personal favorite new Star Trek property. It’s a cartoon geared to a more adult audience, very funny - and very well written.

Strange New Worlds is the best of the new live action series. It’s episodic ‘alien of the week’ kinda vibe. It’s a spin-off from Discovery. It’s a prequel to TOS.

Discovery is a different approach. It’s season-long story archs and follows one main protagonists’ journey. It does become more about the crew later on. It had a very weak first two episodes - way too much lens flare and shaky cam. It gets a little better after but Season 1 was fairly weak. Season 2 is a huge improvement (and is the precursor to Strange New Worlds). You could start there if you read up about the characters and plot points.

Season 3 is their best - and is practically a whole different show. They flip the entire setting and premise and introduce some new characters. You could also start here if you do some light reading. Season 4 is a continuation of Season 3 - not as strong, but still solid.

Picard is pretty much fan fiction.
Some of the new characters are fun (I like Rios a lot), but the writing doesn’t do any of them any justice. Season 1 and 2 are pretty bad. If you don’t have time to kill, skip it.

Season 3 is actually the show many fans wanted. It’s pretty much like a long-format TNG sequel mini series. It has some plot holes, but it’s a real joy to watch and puts a nice bow around the series. And around TNG.

Sometimes I feel like I’m part of the minority who actually enjoyed Enterprise.

I adore it. Archer is probably my favorite series Captain, but that comes from my love of Scott Bakula & Quantum Leap more than the writing.

I think it’s an underrated show, and was mostly dragged down due to it’s strange choice of music and intro sequence.

series 5

You’d have to do a time skip given the actors’ age.

The main focus could be Lorian - the son of T’Pol and Trip. He had appeared in an ENT episode from an alternate timelines.

The background could be that T’Pol used Trip’s DNA to get pregnant with Lorian (Dr. Phlox hints some science is required for Humans and Vulcans to reproduce in Lorian’s ENT episode, for reference). She always wanted to be a mother and chose Trip as a logical donor.

Since T’Pol and Trip had a psychic link, he appears to her in a form only she can see. Similar to Dr. Balter & Six in BSG. Or Al in Quantum Leap.

T’Pol spends her later career as a science expert, being called from planet to planet solving mysteries.

T’Pol struggles with grief in her own way and questions whether seeing Trip is a sign of mental illness or rather that Trip somehow lives on, truly, through her. They’d even argue about it. She doesn’t tell anyone - out of embarrassment or fear. But she’d say it’s illogical to discuss it until she understands it better. The show could drop red herring hints. Perhaps Trip reveals something to T’Pol she didn’t know, only for the audience to be revealed that information was always accessible, in the background.

Meanwhile, Lorian gets his first commission on Enterprise and climbs the ranks. Because he’s mixed race, he deals with a lot of prejudice along the way. The story could get a lot more detailed, revealing separatist movements, even amongst some Starfleet members wishing to leave the Federation. Or rather would prefer a defensive agreement over integration. Lorian balances the idealistic image of a hero Starfleet father he never knew - with the realities of being part of a pluralistic society that’s still learning to accepting new cultures and overcome it’s biases.

More of a spin-off, really.