- Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
- Verdict: The fourth season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” remains creative, entertaining and emotionally engaging as it explores the early adventures of the crew of the starship Enterprise. Although the goofiness of the previous season has been slightly scaled back, there’s still an enjoyable variety of genres and styles.
- Premiere date/time: New episodes premiere Thursdays starting July 23
- Where to watch: Stream on Paramount Plus
“No hijinks” is the only request that the Vulcan T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) makes of her fiancé Spock (Ethan Peck) when she agrees to visit him on the U.S.S. Enterprise. She could be echoing the concerns of many viewers of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” which may have gone a little too hard on the hijinks in its third season. The new fourth season dials them back slightly, although T’Pring’s request comes at the beginning of the most ridiculous episode, in which nearly all of the characters are transformed into puppets.
I didn’t necessarily mind the prevalence of goofy episodes in the previous season of “Strange New Worlds,” although I found the puppet episode to be the weakest of the six available for review (out of 10 total) in the new season. The episodic structure of “Strange New Worlds” is one of its greatest strengths, and the ability to switch genres, tones and styles from episode to episode — while remaining grounded in the traditional sci-fi of “Star Trek” — is a major part of what makes the show so entertaining.
That’s still the case in the fourth season, which mixes ongoing character development with creative, engaging individual adventures. It still represents some of the best storytelling of the modern era of “Star Trek” TV.
‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ sticks to what works
Although they may have toned down the wackiness a bit, overall the creators of “Strange New Worlds” haven’t made any major changes for the fourth season, which continues to follow the Enterprise on its five-year exploratory mission in the years before the events of the original 1960s “Star Trek” series.
At this point, the ensemble cast has become as cohesive and endearing as any crew in the history of “Star Trek,” and seeing them again is like spending time with old friends. That means getting emotionally invested when they find themselves in danger, and also finding amusement in their more ridiculous predicaments.
The new season starts in a relatively calm place, with Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) noting that the Enterprise has been on 15 straight “routine missions.” The first episode begins with the aftermath of one of those missions, with Pike and a couple of crew members dressed as cowboys and riding horses on the surface of an unnamed planet. It’s just enough to hint at all of the Enterprise’s missions that we’ll never get to see, and that slightly compensates for the much shorter seasons of the modern streaming era, versus the lengthy episode counts for vintage “Star Trek” shows.
The Enterprise quickly plunges back into peril, with a number of classic “Star Trek” set-ups. There’s time travel, complete with a Tyrannosaurus rex showdown, and there are ethical dilemmas that require the crew to make tough decisions that could affect the entire universe.
Especially in the sixth episode, in which the Enterprise is caught in a wormhole that could disintegrate the ship, there’s the satisfaction of watching skilled scientists, navigators, engineers and leaders working together to solve seemingly unsolvable problems. “Star Trek” has always been about the value of people collaborating for the common good, and at its best, “Strange New Worlds” beautifully captures that perspective.
The characters on ‘Strange New Worlds’ are as appealing as the sci-fi
Although the bulk of the main characters are younger versions of established figures from “Star Trek” continuity, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for personal growth or new discoveries. The third season may have focused a little too much on Spock’s love life, but his complex relationships with T’Pring, nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) and security officer La’An Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) are still rewarding, and the new season balances the Spock soap opera with substantial arcs for other characters.
In the best episode I watched, La’An continues to struggle with her dark side as a descendant of genetically engineered villain Khan Noonien Singh, while facing literal ghosts aboard a haunted ship. Among the show’s genre departures, the comedic episodes get the most attention, but veteran horror director Axelle Carolyn proves that “Strange New Worlds” can tackle the horror genre just as effectively. Carolyn delivers plenty of eerie moments as La’An, Spock and James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) are tormented by the ghost that stalks the corridors of an abandoned ship.
One of the season’s silliest episodes offers a sweet story of friendship between hotheaded pilot Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) and flustered engineer Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn), and the camaraderie among the main characters remains a highlight that can carry the show past the occasional dodgy storyline.
Verdict: ‘Strange New Worlds’ remains a ‘Star Trek’ gem
Anyone who hasn’t already been watching “Strange New Worlds” probably won’t want to jump onboard with the fourth season, although the relatively standalone episodes make it easier to pick up than any other modern “Star Trek” show. For viewers who’ve been following the show since the beginning, though, this is another highly enjoyable season, with a slight course correction for past missteps.
With both the truncated fifth and final season of “Strange New Worlds” and the second and final season of “Starfleet Academy” already in post-production, and no new shows on the horizon, it seems like this current era of “Star Trek” may be coming to a close. If so, “Strange New Worlds” proves that it’s going out on a high note.
The fourth season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” premieres July 23 on Paramount Plus
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