Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 may have felt a bit disjointed, the season nevertheless delivered some great Star Trek stories. In its third season on Paramount+, Strange New Worlds continued experimenting with genres and tone. While some efforts worked better than others, the show’s characters continued to shine, and the big emotional moments paid off.
With such compelling characters (and strong performances), I can’t help but wish Star Trek: Strange New Worlds got more than ten episodes per season. Anson Mount’s take on Captain Christopher Pike continues to be a highlight, but the whole cast brought their A-game in season 3, and several previously underused characters got more development.
While Strange New Worlds season 3 was a bit uneven, it was still a lot of fun. Plus, the creativity and obvious love of all things Star Trek were on full display, which bodes well for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4.
Episode 8 – “Four-And-A-Half Vulcans”
Directed By Jordan Canning, Written By Dana Horgan & Henry Alonso Myers
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has proven that it can do comedy well, but “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans” unfortunately misses the mark. The story revolves around Captain Pike and three of his crew members who must transform into Vulcans for an away mission. But when they cannot immediately turn back, they wreak havoc in their lives with their new Vulcan logic.
With an odd, but welcome appearance from Patton Oswalt as an unconventional Vulcan named Doug, “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans” has its moments. Still, it sometimes feels like the episode is laughing at Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Vulcans in general, rather than laughing with them.
Plus, the “science” behind Pike and his friends’ Vulcan personality transformations doesn’t really make sense. The after-credits scene with Spock and Doug is a lot of fun, though.
Episode 10 – “New Life And New Civilizations”
Directed By Maja Vrvilo, Written By Dana Horgan & Davy Perez
The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 finale has a lot going on, and that’s part of the episode’s problem. When the episode slows down and shows an alternate happily-ever-after for Captains Pike and Batel (Melanie Scrofano), it’s some of the best storytelling Strange New Worlds has offered yet. But the convoluted road it takes to get there is a bit of a mess.
“New Life And New Civilizations” nicely wraps up the season’s storylines and feels like it could have been a series finale, but it crams a lot of plot into one episode. The return of Ensign Gamble (Chris Myers) as the evil Vezda makes for a compelling villain, and the new planet of Skygowan is absolutely stunning.
If this finale had been separated into a two-part episode, one focused on Skygowan and the Vezda, and the next focused on Batel, it could have been great. As it stands, however, it’s an overstuffed episode with some great moments that never coalesce into a satisfying whole.
Episode 1 – “Hegemony, Part II”
Directed By Chris Fisher, Written By Davy Perez, Based On A Story By Henry Alonso Myers & Davy Perez
Pike looking through the Enterprise viewscreen at two stars and lots of Gorn ships in Star Trek Strange New Worlds Hegemony Part II
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds opens with a bang, delivering a satisfying end to its season 2 cliffhanger and (mostly) wrapping up the Gorn storyline. Captain Pike and his crew come up with a clever but dangerous plan to fight back against the Gorn and save their captured crewmates. It’s a tense, fast-paced story that gives everyone something to do and nicely sets up several of the season’s storylines.
Martin Quinn proves to be a great addition to the cast as a young Lt. Scotty, who needs some encouragement from Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) to pull off an engineering miracle. And Melissa Navia’s Lt. Erica Ortegas finally gets a major storyline, as she suffers a devastating injury at the hands of the Gorn.
“Hegemony, Part II” doesn’t do anything necessarily wrong, and it has some great moments, but it doesn’t do a lot to distinguish itself either.
Episode 4 – “A Space Adventure Hour”
Directed By Jonathan Frakes, Written By Dana Horgan & Kathryn Lyn
In its fourth episode, Strange New Worlds delivers a fun holodeck episode that boasts great performances, but never quite reaches its full potential. “A Space Adventure Hour” opens with a great retro sci-fi sequence that lovingly parodies Star Trek: The Original Series, before jumping to the Enterprise and a holodeck murder mystery that centers on Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong).
The episode delivers some genuine laughs and all the costumes look amazing, but it also feels like it’s missing something, though it’s hard to pin down what that is. Still, Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) delivers a beautiful speech that exemplifies what it means to be a fan of something like Star Trek, and all of the cast members seem to be having a blast.
Episode 2 – “Wedding Bell Blues”
Directed By Jordan Canning, Written By Kirsten Beyer & David Reed
Image via Paramount+
Strange New Worlds season 3 leans into humor in its second episode, bringing back cosmic trickster, Trelane (wonderfully portrayed by Rhys Darby), from Star Trek: The Original Series. “Wedding Bell Blues” explores the love triangle between Spock, Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), and Dr. Roger Korby (Cillian O’Sullivan).
Korby is immediately likable despite being Spock’s supposed competitor, and the two characters have a fun dynamic as they work to find the truth behind Chapel and Spock’s surprise wedding. There’s nothing revolutionary about “Wedding Bell Blues,” but Rhys Darby elevates the episode, helping make it a delightfully fun diversion.
Episode 7 – “What Is Starfleet?”
Directed By Sharon Lewis, Written By Kathryn Lyn & Alan B. McElroy
In “What is Starfleet?,” Star Trek: Strange New Worlds delivers the franchise’s first documentary-style episode, which explores the military nature of Starfleet. Lt. Ortegas’ brother, Beto (Mynor Luken), has been filming the documentary throughout the season, and “What is Starfleet?” presents the finished product, complete with extreme close-up confessionals and unique shot angles.
This episode had the potential to be an all-time great episode of Star Trek that explored the darker aspects of Starfleet and the Federation. In the end, “What is Starfleet?” pulls its punches and ends with an oversimplified message, but it still has some strong character moments and delivers a classic Star Trek story.
Episode 3 – “Shuttle to Kenfori”
Directed By Dan Liu, Written By Onitra Johnson & Bill Wolkoff
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ third season incorporated more horror elements than previous seasons, which resulted in some of the season’s best moments. In Episode 3, “Shuttle to Kenfori,” Captain Pike and Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) embark on an off-the-books mission to Kenfori, where they encounter zombies, Klingons, and Klingon zombies.
Pike and M’Benga make for a great duo, and Anson Mount and Babs Olusanmokun play off of one another well. “Shuttle to Kenfori” incorporates humor into its horror, effortlessly delivering genuine laughs and a couple of jump scares. The episode nicely connects to season 2’s “Under the Cloak of War,” and cements M’Benga as one of the series’ most fascinating and complex characters.
Episode 9 – “Terrarium”
Directed By Andrew Coutts, Written By Alan B. McElroy
Lt. Erica Ortegas finally gets her spotlight episode after sitting on the sidelines for much of Strange New Worlds’ first two seasons, and it’s a solid outing with a wonderful performance from Melissa Navia. “Terrarium” borrows from Star Trek classics like TOS’ “Arena” and TNG’s “The Enemy” and “Darmok,” but still manages to be a solid episode in its own right.
The story follows Ortegas as she finds herself stranded on a barren moon alongside a Gorn pilot (Warren Scherer). After suffering a near-fatal injury at the hands of the Gorn in the season premiere, Erica is understandably wary of her companion, but the two develop a tentative friendship that helps them get rescued.
“Terrarium” also brings back the god-like Metrons (who first appeared in “Arena”), offering a possible explanation for any canon discrepancies regarding the Gorn.
Episode 5 – “Through the Lens of Time”
Directed By Andi Armaganian, Written By Onitra Johnson & Davy Perez
At its halfway point, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds delivers a great episode that shows the crew exploring a truly strange new world and discovering an ancient evil. The episode follows Korby and Chapel as they lead an archaeological expedition that takes the landing party into a mysterious (and dangerous) ancient alien structure.
The structure ends up being a prison for an ancient evil known as the Vezda, which Ensign Gamble unfortunately finds out the hard way. The effect of Gamble’s eyes being burned out is pretty gory for Star Trek, but episode 5, “Through the Lens of Time,” does a great job blending horror and true sci-fi as it tackles concepts like interdimensional space and wonky causality.
Episode 6 – “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”
Directed By Valerie Weiss, Written By David Reed & Bill Wolkoff
“The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail” places Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk front and center, offering a look at a different side of the future Enterprise captain. After an explosion on a nearby planet, the USS Farragut is severely damaged and its captain wounded, leaving Kirk in command. The Starship Enterprise soon arrives to assist, but ends up being swallowed by a massive Scavenger Ship.
This leaves Kirk in command of a skeleton crew comprised of Spock, Uhura, Chapel, and Scotty on the crippled Farragut. Kirk struggles with the pressures of command during a crisis, but after a pep talk from Spock, he works with his crew to make a plan to save the Enterprise. The episode offers fascinating insight into a younger, less confident Captain Kirk, and Paul Wesley is more than up to the task.
Between Kirk’s command crisis, the fun analog plot on the Enterprise, and the final, tragic reveal that the Scavengers were human, everything about “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail” works. It’s a great episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that gives everyone something to do and nicely lays the groundwork for Captain Kirk’s bright future.