Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 continues its space-faring adventures with the fourth episode. Where is our intrepid crew going to boldly go this week? What new wrinkles to Trek lore will fans be given to chew on? And will one of Strange New Worlds‘ genuinely great female characters actually get to have a leading role this season?
Every single one of these questions and then some will be answered in this fantastic fourth episode of Season 3. This is your final spoiler warning if you haven’t seen the episode and are, for some reason, still here after reading the headline. Now, without any further delays, let’s dive right into the spoiler-filled breakdown.
What happens in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 4?
Christina Chong as La’an and Paul Wesley as Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
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L to R Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga and Jess Bush as Chapel in season 3, Episode 4 of Strange New Worlds
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Christina Chong as La’an and Paul Wesley as Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
L to R Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga and Jess Bush as Chapel in season 3, Episode 4 of Strange New Worlds
After a frankly hysterical cold open and unique title sequence focusing on a Star Trek: The Original Series pastiche called “The Last Frontier,” we cut to La’an in a meeting with Una and Pike. They feel that her skills at battle simulations will make her the perfect candidate to test a new entertainment/stress release technology for Starfleet’s incoming line of long-term, faster-than-light travel ships: the Holodeck. As fans of Next Generation will already be aware, the Holodeck is an advanced simulator capable of recreating virtually any scenario the user wishes.
The goal of La’an’s test? See if a simulation as advanced as the Holodeck can still run properly under rigorous circumstances, specifically the Enterprise’s study of a neutron star. After a brief dance with Spock (he’s been practicing since the centennial in Episode 2), La’an decides she wants her Holodeck scenario to be a 1960s murder mystery based on the “Amelia Moon” novel series. With all 112 books loaded into the Holodeck’s system, La’an assumes the role of Amelia and takes on this new solo mystery, though Spock is on standby to assist her if needed while running diagnostics.
Within the simulation, La’an as Amelia is hired by Hollywood superstar agent Joni Gloss, played by Uhura’s Celia Rose Gooding (all the NPCs are based on crew members due to technical limitations), to solve the murder of Tony Hart, head of Lamont Studios. The suspects? The cast and crew (and one cast member’s boyfriend) of “The Last Frontier,” the TOS pastiche from the opening, as the killer was most likely motivated by the show’s impending cancellation.
Locking everyone inside Tony’s mansion and cutting off phone lines to ensure no one gets in or out until the case is solved, La’an starts by interrogating Sunny Lupino, a producer on “Last Frontier” and the victim’s ex-wife. La’an claims that, in order to finance the show’s costly special effects, Sunny took out a loan from the mob. A loan she would never be able to pay off if the show was cancelled. Therefore, she killed Tony to ensure she wouldn’t have to pay the debt.
As it turns out, this theory is only half-right. Sunny did help finance the show herself, but she did it by selling her and Tony’s old house. But before Sunny can provide any further testimony, she collapses on the floor dead, her signature drink having been unknowingly poisoned. La’an, thrown off by this curveball, tells Scotty, the architect of Holodeck technology, that she could use a fresh set of eyes on the case, with Scotty apologizing for being unable to provide this service himself as he’s preoccupied with keeping both the Enterprise and the Holodeck running on his own.
Luckily, La’an already has a perfect partner in mind: Detective Spock. The two begin interrogating the remaining cast and crew, including series creator T.K. Bellows; Adelaide Shaw, one of the two leading ladies of “Last Frontier,” played by Chapel’s Jess Bush; Maxwell Saint, who plays the Kirk equivalent on “Last Frontier” and is fittingly played by Strange New Worlds‘ Kirk, Paul Wesley; Lee Woods, the First Officer on “Last Frontier,” played by Ortegas’s Melissa Navia; and Adelaide’s boyfriend Alex, played by M’Benga’s Babs Olusanmokun.
During their interrogations of Alex and Lee, Spock and La’an learn that Lee has been writing a screenplay for a Western focused on the Dakotas. That exact screenplay was found in Tony’s room when he died, but it had no title page and therefore no writer credit. This leads La’an to suspect that Tony stole the script and planned to credit it to someone else (most likely a man because of 1960s sexism), and Lee killed him to prevent this from happening. But before they can present their findings to the others, a chandelier falls, leaving La’an with a small cut on her face.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but the cut is bleeding, and the Holodeck isn’t supposed to be able to cause real harm. Not wanting to take further unnecessary risk, La’an tries to end the simulation but can’t. Not only are the safety protocols malfunctioning, but the Holodeck’s ever-evolving AI has cut off all communications from outside the simulation. And it’s diverting power from all other systems to keep itself going, leaving the Enterprise on a direct collision course for a lethal gamma ray burst from the neutron star. Oh, and shortly after all this, they find Lee dead, leaving them with no leads.
With solving the mystery being their only apparent method of escape, Spock and La’an start to suspect Joni is the real culprit, but this turns out to be a dead end. However, after confronting Joni, they discover a reel of celluloid in the fireplace that contains a recording of footage from the filming of “Last Frontier” wherein T.K. Bellows receives a phone call seemingly informing him of the show’s cancellation. Within this recording, Scotty is able to get a message to La’an by posing as the man delivering Bellows’ phone (Uhura gave him the idea), reaffirming that the only way to end the simulation and save the Enterprise is to solve the mystery.
Bellows confronts Spock and La’an, pointing a loaded gun at the pair. He reveals that the phone call wasn’t the studio telling him that “Last Frontier” was cancelled, but that he was being replaced as showrunner. Despite this being blatant evidence that he killed Tony, he vehemently denies having killed anybody and ends up shooting Spock. Spock survives, shockingly unphased by the situation. This makes La’an realize that Spock was actually part of the simulation and the real killer all along, as the Holodeck knew that La’an would never suspect him.
Having solved the mystery, La’an is able to end the simulation, and power is restored to the rest of the Enterprise, saving the crew from the gamma ray burst. However, after this incident, Pike is no longer interested in pursuing Holodeck technology, arguing that it instead should be “locked in a box buried deep underground.” But as Scotty points out, all it really needs is its own dedicated servers and power source. Pike is still not convinced.
Afterwards, La’an meets up with the real Spock, and the pair share a dance as she tells him about her experience with Hologram Spock. And how she was ultimately able to deduce that he was a hologram because he acted cold whereas the real Spock is compassionate and kind. The pair kiss, and the episode ends with a “Last Frontier” blooper reel.
Is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 4 worth watching?
L to R Christina Chong as La’an and Ethan Peck as Spock in season 3, Episode 4 of Strange New Worlds
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L to R Rebecca Romijn as Una and Anson Mount as Captain Pike in season 3, Episode 4 of Strange New Worlds
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L to R Christina Chong as La’an and Ethan Peck as Spock in season 3, Episode 4 of Strange New Worlds
L to R Rebecca Romijn as Una and Anson Mount as Captain Pike in season 3, Episode 4 of Strange New Worlds
In my opinion, Strange New Worlds is at its best with its gimmick episodes, and this is no exception. Whether it be the fairy tale fantasy of “The Elysian Kingdom,” the blending of live-action and animation in “Those Old Scientists,” the musical escapades of “Subspace Rhapsody,” or even the wedding shenanigans earlier this season, the series shines when it allows its characters to step out of traditional sci-fi conventions and experiment for an episode.
As such, getting to see Christina Chong’s La’an step out from her “genetic modification” arc from the first two seasons and really get to play as a 1960s detective was incredibly fun to watch, with the rest of the Strange New Worlds crew making for a delightful cast of potential suspects. Plus, Martin Quinn’s Scotty gets to have not only a story spotlight as the inventor of the Holodeck but also some genuine character development as he learns to accept help from others and move past the trauma of his last ship being destroyed by the Gorn.
Speaking of the Holodeck, I imagine its retconned earlier origin point might be divisive amongst fans, but I personally think it works for a few reasons. Firstly, Star Trek lore does have previously established prototype Holodeck technology in the form of the “recreation rooms” in Star Trek: The Animated Series, which even get a shout-out at the beginning of this episode. Second of all, at the end, Pike wants the technology buried, so it makes sense for it to not become mainstream until Next Generation despite being possible during the TOS era.
Finally, like with the Q retcon earlier this season, I think that good storytelling should always take priority over rigid adherence to established canon, and this is a great story. Not just a fun murder mystery, but a loving tribute to the campy fun and futurist idealism of both Star Trek in general and The Original Series specifically. Like I said, the cold open had me rolling on the floor, and Joni’s monologue about how “Last Frontier” could inspire future generations really got to me emotionally.
Before we wrap things up, let’s talk about the Spock and La’an romance that’s been hinted at for a while but officially starts at the end of the episode. Short version, I like it. Of all the romantic partners Spock’s had over the course of the show, he and La’an easily have the most chemistry. And while my gay little heart is still holding out hope for Strange New Worlds to be the Star Trek show that finally canonizes Kirk x Spock, I know that’s unrealistic, and Spock x La’an is a fine pairing in and of itself. Either way, this episode is excellent and the high point of the season so far, at least for me.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 is now streaming on Paramount+
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 4 SPOILER Recap/Review — The Crew Goes Retro In Hollywood Murder Mystery
Strange New Worlds Season 3’s fourth episode is a heartfelt tribute to the franchise’s 1960s roots with hilarious camp, genuinely moving emotional moments, and a thrilling murder mystery at the center of it all.
