star trek strange new worlds episode 6 easter eggs

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From Koala To Q, The ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Easter Eggs In “Those Old Scientists”

| July 25, 2023 | By: TrekMovie Editors 67 comments so far

Usually, we don’t do Easter egg deep dives into episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , but when the show crosses over with Star Trek: Lower Decks , it’s time to go on the egg hunt. There were tons of references in “Those Old Scientists,” so here are a few highlights and favorites…

Strange New Koala

The usual opening credits for the episode were swapped out for a version done in the animation style of Lower Decks . For the most part, the animated version matched the original, but it ended with a koala nebula next to the final planet seen along with the Strange New Worlds logo. This is the same koala seen in the Star Trek Universe animation that precedes episodes of Lower Decks . The idea of a metaphysical koala controlling the universe was first introduced in the Lower Decks episode “Moist Vessel.”

The other notable change in the credits was the addition of the same space creature attached to one of the nacelles of the USS Enterprise, as seen in the Lower Decks credits attached to the USS Cerritos.

Remember Crusher?

As Boimler is pulled into the time portal he yells out “Remember me!” This is a callback to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “ Remember Me ,” when Dr. Beverly Crusher finds herself on a USS Enterprise where members of the crew keep disappearing and she is the only one who remembers them. There is also a moment in the TNG episode when Dr. Crusher is pulled into a vortex that got an homage in the SNW episode in the way Boimler was being pulled into the portal.

The crossover episode was directed by Next Generation vet Jonathan Frakes, aka William T. Riker from TNG (and Voyager and Lower Decks and Picard ). As a bit of an homage to the man and the famous way his character gets into chairs, Jack Quaid (Boimler) ad-libbed a line as he jumped onto Pike’s saddle, exclaiming “Riker!”

Classic exploding tricorder

Boimler was very excited to check out Dr. M’Benga’s “classic TS-122 tricorder , which was actually a TS-120, according to the doctor. Boimler said “they never improved” on the classic design, but noted 24th-century tricorders were “arguably less likely to explode,” which could be a reference to the TOS episode “Arena” when the Gorn jammed Spock’s tricorder, causing it to explode. Boimler’s admiration of the tricorder was also reminiscent of Jadzia Dax in the Deep Space Nine time travel episode “ Trials and Tribble-ations ,” when she expressed her love for their “classic twenty-third-century designs.”

Time travel riot

One of the more meta moments came when Una noted how Boimler and Mariner’s “references are weirdly specific.” This was in reaction to Mariner saying she was worried Boimler traveling back in time could have found him “stuck in a dystopian San Francisco in the middle of a riot.” This is a reference to another DS9 time travel episode, the two-parter “Past Tense,” when Sisko, Dax, and Bashir traveled back to 21st-century San Francisco and became part of the historic Bell Riots .

No bloody dashes

The first time Boimler arrives on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, he is overwhelmed, saying, “Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God! I’m on the bridge. NCC-1701 dash… nothing.” Una and La’an are confused over “what would come after the dash?” but Boimler knows of future ships to bear the name Enterprise, with the registries NCC-1701-A through to NCC-1701-E (and more to follow). This moment is yet another callback to a time traveler, when Montgomery “Scotty” Scott jumps forward in time from the 23rd century to the 24th (via a transporter buffer). In the TNG episode “ Relics ” he asked the Enterprise-D holodeck to recreate the original Enterprise bridge, saying “NCC One Seven Oh One. No bloody A, B, C, or D.”

Speaking of ships bearing the name Enterprise, the NX-01 from Star Trek: Enterprise along with its crew got a lot of shout-outs throughout the episode. Captain Pike mentioned he understands how Boimler feels when he imagines “setting foot on Archer’s Enterprise.”  Uhura talks up NX-01’s communications officer Hoshi Sato, saying she wrote three papers about her at Starfleet Academy, and Ortegas said she was a “huge fan of Travis Mayweather, first pilot of the NX.” Archer’s ship also played a role in resolving the plot of the episode, as NX ships were made from an alloy of horonium, the substance needed to power the time travel portal to send Boimler and Mariner back… and it was “just the right shade of gray.”

Holy Trelane Q!

When Mariner surprises Boimler while he is sneaking around a shuttle, he yells out: “Holy Q!,” referencing the impish superbeing who has troubled Starfleet crews in the 24th century with a particular interest in Jean-Luc Picard and the USS Enterprise-D on Star Trek: The Next Generation . Q’s travels have also taken him to the USS Cerritos on Lower Decks , but Mariner admonishes Boimler, “Don’t yell Q! They haven’t met him yet.” Mariner does add “They had kind of a Trelane thing going on,” referring to the crew of the original Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk, who will encounter a superbeing named Trelane in the TOS episode “The Squire of Gothos.” This mention is certainly a nod to the popular fan theory that Trelane was also a Q.

Ortegas play dom-jot, human

Erica Ortegas was able to help Uhura identify the markings on the time travel portal by noting they were similar to something she’d seen before on Starbase Earhart , specifically an “ancient old” dom-jot set. When explaining what dom-jot was to Uhura, Mariner said it’s a “billiard game that Nausicaans are terrible at, yet love to bet on for some reason.” Nausicaans and Starbase Earhart were first introduced in the TNG episode “Tapestry” when Picard traveled back in time to replay events as his younger self who got into a fight with some Nausicaans over a game of dom-jot. Mariner has also tussled with Nausicaans over dom-jot at Starbase Earhart.

Spock childhood pet got two mentions in the episode. Boimler tells Chapel he has read about Spock’s “pet Sehlat,” and later Mariner asks, No, Boimler, don’t tell me you asked him about his sehlat.” The fact that Spock had this pet was first established in dialog in the TOS episode “Journey to Babel.” And in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “Yesteryear” Spock goes back in time to visit with his younger self and we meet I-Chaya , Spock’s sehlat.

This last one is extra meta: When Commander Ransom sees Boimler’s recruitment poster with Commander Una “Number One” Chin-Riley, he excitedly exclaims “Oh! Numero Una. Hottest first officer in Starfleet history.” Una is played by Rebecca Romijn, wife of Jerry O’Connell, the voice of Commander Ransom. So both of them play first officers in Star Trek, and of course he thinks she’s the hottest one.

What did you see?

Spot any new Trek references we missed on Strange New Worlds ? Have a favorite? Sound off in the comments below.

Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com .

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Not a reference, but I thought it was funny that live-action Boimler’s first line, after flying through portal and landing at the feet of the Enterprise landing party is something like, “You look realistic…” (before passing out). Also, Boimler mentions Worf’s name and why he knows Pike’s birthday (it’s a future holiday).

Yep instead of “scout’s honor”, he says “Worf’s honor” lol

During a scene in one of the corridors, the camera watched Boimler walking away and he had a particular walk.

Yeah that was a reference to his “Section 31” power walk from Season 1

When Boimler runs after Mariner in the corridor, he does the whole “pumping his arms” thing that he does when running in LD

And it was cute

Like a typical Lower Decks episode, they did a great job with all the fun easter eggs. There were so many and I laughed hard over Trelane/Q, Dystopian San Francisco in a riot and ‘Remember Me’.

But I really loved the Enterprise references and how so much of the SNW crew admires the original NX crew. And that the NX-01 (technically) helped them get back to the 24th century. A really great tie in.

I don’t know but I feel like Numero Una is going to stick. ;)

This episode was just so much fun. And it’s always great to see when the fanbase generally loves something like this. It is definitely an instant classic. And it would be great if they did another crossover but this time some of the SNW characters show up in the future on Lower Decks.

Or maybe we will get 7 seasons and now a crossover movie! ;D

Love the meta ‘Community’ reference there.

Can you point out which one that was? I’ve never seen Community.

I think Garrett meant “community like” in the style of the meta reference they do in the show community, not that it was referenced in the episode, hope it helps

Mariner’s reaction to seeing Spock is nearly identical to Jadzia’s reaction to seeing Spock in the DS9 episode of Trials and Tribble-ations.

“Remember Me” is also a callback to the lyrics to the TOS theme song.

Love the references to Enterprise. Anything that gives it further validity is fantastic.

Another reason why I hope SNW dwells on the differences between Klingons since it would be traced to that series.

The animated intro was worth the whole concept to me – even though I don’t know how exactly to feel about the rest of the episode. But the animated version of the Big E was just beautiful, and the creature sucking on the nacelle was the perfect LDS tie in.

The other references were fun, and I enjoyed some of the typical Boimler and Mariner ramblings. But some of the SNW cast interactions just didn’t work as well for me.

In terms of something I caught, Uhura using Cardassian and Bajoran as options as she was trying to translate the writing on the portal was interesting to me. Got me thinking as to whether or not those species’ languages would actually be in the database at that point in time. I would think that Starfleet may not have had much interaction with them just yet (I can’t see them wanting to interact with a race of aliens who were enslaving another group of aliens), but I guess the language information could have come from Vulcan interaction.

Yeah there seems to be a lot of debate over how much would the Federation know about Cardassia and Bajor in this time frame. TBH, I always assumed first contact with Cardassia happened closer to the 24th century and when the war broke out.

But like you said, maybe other species like Vulcans interacted with them first and how Uhura obtained the information.

I’m pretty sure? that the Cardassians actually weren’t like that then. Also in season 1 iirc Pike had a Cardassian medal so he’s definitely interacted with them himself. So this is before their society went to 💩 and they became a bunch of fascists.

I double checked and yes Chain of Command (TNG two parter) said that their society became like it was at the start of the 24th century.

The Bajoran I don’t know about, I hope they expand on it someday because we really don’t know much about either species before the occupation.

I *like* that everything in Star Trek history prior to Discovery’s debut has already been discovered and gets used in whatever time period for the new series. These shows should not be beholden to canon because canon means old and old is bad.

LOL! I’m certainly a person who prefers canon and gets pretty irritated at the current show runners and writers for their lack of care when it comes to tossing around details that don’t fit in the storyline/timeline. But I’m also not an absolutist. Canon can be limiting, but it SHOULD NOT be COMPLETELY THROWN OUT just because it’s “old”. If that’s the case, why even call it Star Trek or use any ideas created over the last (nearly) 60 years? Start a new show altogether!

This seems like an odd thing to be upset about. As I and others stated, since we don’t even know when the Federation or Starfleet made first contact with these planets, it’s really all fair game. We assume it’s later but it’s all circumstantial at best. This is not the same issue with the Gorn since it was very obvious Arena was their first contact with that species.

And it’s an episode that went out of its way to honor the old shows as much as possible. In fact, I think it’s another big reason it’s being praised so much.

I think I’m just a stupid idiot taking this stuff way too seriously.

I think i speak for everyone when I say we’ve all been there brother. ;)

Yes. You missed a big Easter Egg. When Boimler first came through the portal Number 1 called to the ship and said we have a problem. A call back to TOS Tomorrow is yesterday when Kirk would say that when the security guard was beamed up and the police and when Scotty would say in In Star Trek 4. The Voyage Home. Surprised you missed that. Lol.

It’s almost as if the Apollo 13 ground control said “we have a problem” because Star Trek beat them to it…

What a joke… which is good I guess? So mission accomplished? Do we ever get back to Strange New Worlds dealing with strange new worlds, new life and new civilizations, colonizing the galaxy, etc or it is joke episodes and lame time travel episodes from now on? On the plus side whenever someone says something about how there is unlimited free energy or magic mushrooms go faster than light because it was on Star Trek you can be like “Yeah, and they also met up with some cartoons, what’s your point?”

I’m sure you may love the musical next week! 🤣

This season has been all about new takes on established Star Trek tropes. Transporter accidents. Time travel. Courtroom episodes. First contact misunderstandings. Feels pretty Star Trek to me.

Trust me! I understand your frustration. I liked the episode, especially watching Chapel’s heart explode as she learns she doesn’t even get a footnote in a future Spock biography. Cruelest but funniest moment in nu-trek.

However, yes, this is what the franchise will look like in the future. A Star Trek void of intelligence, but plenty of hijinks and cheap laughs.

Actually I did feel for Chapel when she realized from Boimler they wouldn’t have a future together. 😥

That was actually very clever writing.

I don’t think that turbolift scene was meant for laughs aside from the stop polluting the timeline and stepping in “it.” Perfectly acted by Jess Bush. My heart ached for her.

The Chapel moment ALMOST made me forgive SNW for the ridiculousness of the Spock/Chapel relationship this past season. But in the end, it makes me fear they will now have her work even harder to be with Spock and it will get even more out of control.

Krulmuth-B (spelling?) with a portal was certainly a strange new world.

I’m curious – if Lower Decks was exactly the same as it is except it was live action – would that make a difference?

To me, the format doesn’t matter. Story is Story and characters are characters. Yes, the transition between the two is a bit visually jarring, but the story made sense and it made me laugh. Perhaps it helps that I like both shows.

I don’t think Lower Decks would work beat for beat as live action. Just imagine how ridiculous it would be if Dr. T’Ana were depicted purring and playing in a box in a live action set or screeching like a cat. And the characters like Shaxs are so hyperbolic. The main four might do alright though in live action.

Actually given this show is canon, I would prefer they do a word for word, scene for scene transfer to live action just so fans can see once and for all how ridiculous this is in terms of credible and believable Star Trek.

If it’s canon and it’s supposed to be real Star Trek, it must be able to stand up on its own as live action without any adjustments — because every single thing we see on the show happens in the Star Trek timeline.

I love the idea of a full translation to live action and let’s then see how well this series is received when it’s presented on the same live action level, with the gravitas and seriousness just the way the other Star Trek series are generally presented to us over the course of their runs.

But I totally get why you and others would be so afraid for that to happen… lol

I don’t think Shaxs is that hyperbolic. He’s just REALLY passionate about this job. ;)

Dr. T’Ana would be nuts in live action and I would be all for it lol.

Kind of sad how defensive some get when you put forward your simple opinion that you don’t like this.

I have an observation — I think a lot of fans know deep down that this is bad Star Trek, and so that is why they react so defensively when anyone dares to question whether it’s good Star Trek.

They need others to validate their group-think and are very uncomfortable and defensive when their view gets challenged — because deep down they are not confident in their opinion on this.

That’s basically modern fans in a nutshell. I think – and partially agree – that SOME Trek is better than NO Trek at all, which is what we had before Discovery and all what came later. I frankly, just take the good with the bad, but certainly, there is a lot more bad than good. Lower Decks to me is just Rick and Morty with a Starfleet skin on, and Stranger Things got a lot worse during S2.

Trying new things is the point of Star Trek. Leave that tight-assed, no sense of humor BS for Star Wars.

I’ve seen this episode four times now and I still didn’t catch the Star base Earhart reference to TNG until I read this article lol.

They really went all out with this episode and why it was so great!

Q sucks. The golum or jar jar of star trek. He ruined tng episodes about the q which sucked anyway cus Picard is such an asshole. They barely brought him out in voyager and now they want to screw up the best show they made since with the stupid q. Way to shoot yourself in the foot.

Bro I love Q! He’s awesome. But that’s cool. I hate Neelix and don’t get the appeal with him either so we all that one character.

But he’s not on this show. It’s too early in the timeline for him to show up. That’s what Mariner’s joke was about.

Tapestry are AGT are both (at least) top 20 Star Trek episodes, so maybe sit this take on the shelf with your five in-house spices.

Q wasn’t in the episode, just referenced. But he’s been around 35 years and probably will be around another 35 years. You can’t really kill off Q. Ironically Picard made that clear last season.

Fun episode. Too much (Star Trek:) Enterprise sucking up for my liking. (I still cannot get over what they did to Porthos.) Otherwise, it was great. Anytime we can see Jack Quaid is awesome! (Well, except for Scream, but I digress). (Further digression, Jack Quaid as Jimmy Olsen!) I guess I’d better stop, I am running low on parentheses. >;>)

You do know that Jack Quaid is playing Superman/Clark Kent in a new animated series.

Also when they mentioned that all the SNW people were talking too slow and quiet

Well, that’s because everyone on Lower Decks acts like an ADHD Generation Z kid, always shouting and going “OMG!” like they are not from the 24th century but this current era.

Anyone pick up the sorta Trouble with Tribbles reference? The wheat they gave away and got back was tritacaly-while not the exact thing, I figured it was close enough to count as a reference.😊😊

You are right; that was definitely a call back to Trouble with Tribbles.

Yeah and it being the only grain that would grow on that planet like Sherman’s planet in “The Trouble with Tribbles.” Nice catch!

Enterprise – the prequel that only shows that came after it mention.

That’s how pretty much every prequel works. How many stories are there about Discovery until the last few years?

Yeah, but Discovery is SUPPOSED to be classified information and conveniently forgotten by everyone involved.

That is certainly the one positive about Discovery! 🤣

Honestly I actually expected several more easter eggs, I think they were reigning themselves in. I expected something about Khan with regards to La’an.

Thank God they passed on that. In reference to a note above, while I truly felt for Chapel, the one thing I didn’t want to see was Spock and Chapel having ANY idea about their future. They went really out of their way to build something up and then trash it. Can’t we be surprised watching them be surprised?

I don’t know. I find it more interesting to see how people respond to knowledge of impending inevitable doom, then how they react when they get side-swiped by it. That’s why I like Pike’s knowledge of his future (even though I have a really hard time being convinced that he wouldn’t choose to avoid it).

Given they focused on how traumatic it is for La’an to always be associated with her infamous forefather in Episode 2×1, I’m not surprised they didn’t go there. Boimler would have come off as a jerk. Maybe if he’d made a side comment to Mariner or something that could have worked.

Perhaps the most obvious one at the end when Boimler and Mariner spoke of the “TOS era” as meaning Those Old Scientists, when in actuality……

It was also setup in the very beginning when Boimler mentions “Those Old Scientists” but he clarifies the meaning at the end. Definitely obvious in hindsight, but I missed it when I first saw the title.

I only wished Boimler could have remarked upon the difference between this Enterprise and the slapped together sets of TOS. Like, “Captain, how is it you have a huge gourmet kitchen, yet visiting ambassadors only get served Jell-o cubes and melon balls?”

It might have been fun for Boimler to ask Spock or Uhura “Have you met him yet?”

Seeing the kiddie koala bear and the stupid lobster hanging on the end of the enterprise ruined what was an awesome looking animated version of the strange new world’s title sequence for me.

I can’t wait for this season to come out on DVD and Blu ray so I can save every single screenshot of Brad from trekcore when they upload it and send them all to my friends on discord and ramble for days about how cute he is.

One correction – Boimler asks Mbenga if he has a ‘classic TS-122’ and Mbenga corrects him by saying it’s the older TS-120, not the other way around as mentioned in the article.

For the love of God, Una is a Commander, not a Lt.Commander.

There is a way to subtly put in references to older shows, like how TNG, DS9, Voyager or even Enterprise did it… and there is the “Look, look, remember this thing from older better shows?” the way Lower Decks does it.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Recap: Unknown Caller

Star trek: strange new worlds.

“Previously On …” intros serve a dual purpose, both reminding viewers of what’s been going on in the series they’re about to watch and providing a hint of what’s immediately to come by the clips they choose to show. But they can also be a bit deceptive. The “Previously On …” for “Lost in Translation” suggests this is going to be an episode with major repercussions for some ongoing storylines, thanks to clips of Spock and Chapel’s recent kiss and a similar moment between Kirk and La’an that’s been erased, for all but La’an, by the restoration of the proper timeline. Will this mark the return of the Department of Temporal Investigations? Will Spock and Chapel have to make some choices? And what’s the deal with Hemmer showing up, a crew member whose loss the  Enterprise  still feels?

“Lost in Translation” connects to all those storylines, but it’s not really  about  any of them. Instead, it’s another first contact episode, one that puts Uhura at the center as the  Enterprise  heads to a stellar nursery that’s also the site of a deuterium refinery; one made all the more urgent by its placement at the edge of known space. That makes it a convenient jumping-off point for further missions — which Pike attempts to make the centerpiece of an inspiring speech — but also a strategic spot when dealing with the mounting threat of the Gorn. (Yes, that’s still a thing, even if we haven’t heard much about them for a while.)

It should be an easy stop: Pike gets a moment to be a fleet commander, the station gets up and running, and everyone refuels and calls it a win. But it’s not that simple, even if only one crew member initially suspects this. Someone, or something, is sending signals only Uhura can hear. To figure out what’s going on, Uhura heads to engineering, where she watches a YouTube how-to video she made with Hemmer illustrating how to recalibrate the communications array. This annoys Pelia at first, then makes her wax nostalgic about Hemmer once she realizes what’s going on. It seems like business as usual until, after hearing that strange noise again, Uhura receives a terrifying vision of an undead (and pretty gross-looking) Hemmer on the turbo-lift.

What’s up with that? M’Benga doesn’t have an answer, but he does note that Uhura might have a mild case of deuterium poisoning but also hasn’t been sleeping. His prescription: sleep. But this only makes matters worse, or at least more intense, as Uhura starts getting glimpses of a vision whose full scope will only be realized later.

While she sorts through this, the  Enterprise  gets a visitor named James T. Kirk, whose reunion with his brother Sam is fraught with tension. Jim has some big news — he’s soon to become the first officer of the  Farragut.  As they drink in the  Enterprise  lounge, talking about Jim’s achievement stirs some old resentments in Sam, who feels that Jim doesn’t respect his choice to pursue xenoanthropology and that his brother’s overachieving ways can be traced back to their dad, who also doesn’t respect Sam’s career choices. It’s a really intense family dynamic.

That’s not the only tension in the lounge, although the other is of a different sort. As they play four-dimensional chess, Spock and Chapel attempt to discuss their relationship. Does what they’re doing need to be reported to Starfleet?  Is  there a relationship? Chapel likens human relationships to Schrödinger’s cat suggesting their own is currently in an undefined quantum state that might not survive someone else observing and defining it. And with that interaction, sealed with a wink from Chapel, we learn all we’re going to learn about Spock and Chapel in this episode. That cat remains safely in the box.

Whatever’s going on between them, the two are not particularly helpful to an increasingly frustrated Uhura, who attempts to find some solace with some Saurian brandy but quickly finds herself annoyed by a chatty Jim. Annoyed and not wanting to be hit on, she tries to give him the brush-off. Things don’t go much better when Jim insists he wasn’t hitting on her (which doesn’t  entirely  check out, given the character), prompting Uhura to flee. But instead of an escape, Uhura walks into a horrific vision of crew members’ corpses strewn about the corridor and begins fighting with a doppelgänger. When she snaps out of it, she discovers she’s decked Jim.

Jim’s not thrilled with this but senses that Uhura’s going through something he might be able to help her with. When he leaves her alone to consult with the  Farragut ’s doctor (with medicine, it’s always good to get a second opinion), she has another awful vision in which she sees the  Enterprise  destroyed. While she talks it over with Pike, Jim returns, making this, after his introduction to Uhura, the second of three historic meetings within the episode.

Over at the refinery, Una and Pelia try to get the refinery up and running with a combination of scientific know-how and managerial skills. It doesn’t go well, at least at first. Pelia’s not great at following orders, which turns out to be a good thing when she discovers evidence of sabotage. This puts Una and Pelia on the trail of the saboteur, a Starfleet officer named Ramon (Michael Reventar), who seems to be in the grips of the same delusions as Uhura. When he’s taken to the  Enterprise ’s sick bay, he appears to be even further gone than Uhura, attacking the crew and then fleeing.

In the search that follows, Jim is briefly reunited (if that’s the right word) with La’an, but it’s Uhura who ultimately finds the fugitive. It’s good timing, too: Ramon is in the process of trying to sabotage the  Enterprise . She tries to talk him down by sharing personal details with him, but it’s no good. They fight, Jim shows up to rescue Uhura, and Ramon goes out the airlock.

In the aftermath, Jim and La’an get a little more time together, during which she (correctly) surmises he’s the type of person who can’t pass up someone in trouble without trying to help. This puts Jim in a reflective mode, thinking back to his childhood and the father who dragged them around the galaxy, traveling from one place he might be of service to the next. Annoyed as a child, he understands this better as an adult, and as someone whose life was saved by Starfleet, La’an expresses gratitude for Jim’s dad and those like him. They share a moment, but when Jim attempts to take her up on her previous offer of a drink, La’an walks away without replying. And as with Spock and Chapel, that’s as much as this episode does with that could-be romance.

Jim’s pretty busy anyway. He listens to Uhura’s story of her parents’ shuttle-accident death, the ways it’s shaken her, and the ways Hemmer’s death has compounded her doubts and fears. Then he replies with a classic (not-yet) Captain Kirk inspiring speech that prompts her to revisit Hemmer’s video and come to a realization: something is trying to communicate with her. This sends Uhura and Jim to Sam’s lab, where the other Kirk’s expertise proves invaluable. With the Kirks’ help, Uhura cracks it: Her visions are a code from a species being destroyed by Starfleet’s deuterium mining. The refinery must never be allowed to power up!

Unfortunately, the refinery has already been powered up. What’s more, it can’t be shut down. In the desperate rush that follows, Uhura receives a vision that forces her to confront her parents’ death before being able to tell Pike what she’s figured out and that, if they can’t shut down the refinery, they have to destroy it. Rather than dismissing this as a crazy theory, Pike takes her advice, evacuates the refinery, and blows it out of the sky, repercussions be damned. And with that, the deuterium people, or whatever they are, are safe, a development confirmed by one final vision: a smiling Hemmer who nods in approval.

And with that, Uhura can sleep again, which she’s presumably done before the episode’s final scene, which finds Uhura hanging out with one future crewmate whom she introduces to a current crewmate: Spock. It looks like a trio that could work together well as a team.

• Written by the team of Onitra Johnson and David Reed and directed by Dan Liu, this is another fine spotlight episode for Uhura (and Celia Rose Gooding), who continues in some ways to be a surrogate character for viewers since she’s still a relative newcomer figuring out how the  Enterprise  works.

• Hemmer looms over this episode even when he’s not showing up as an alien-created vision. He’s much missed, and Pelia has felt just how missed he is by the way others treat her. Uhura’s avoided her and Una outright dislikes her for her sloppy ways (fair enough) and because Pelia gave her a C at the academy (seems a little petty), but mostly, as Pelia surmises, because she’s not Hemmer. Recognizing that is the first step to a better relationship. No longer a cadet, Uhura’s been upgraded to better quarters. In the process, she’s apparently lost the previously established need to sleep in absolute darkness.

• It would be really annoying to play chess with Spock, but at least the game would move along quickly.

• Another example of why Pike’s a great captain: the way he asks Uhura if she’s 100 percent sure and then asks no further questions. He trusts his crew and even says he’ll take the rap if anyone objects to his decision.

• Sam and Jim come  this  close to resolving their differences before the episode ends, before Jim blows it by refusing to apologize. Paul Wesley doesn’t particularly look like William Shatner, but it’s moments like these that drive home how much this younger James Kirk and the Kirk we already know have in common.

• If Jim was hitting on Uhura at first, he abandons that plan pretty quickly. They end up friends who respect each other, laying the groundwork for the decades of history to come.

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'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Episode 6 Recap: Uhura Gets a Message From the Beyond

Uhura is seeing ghosts in this week's episode of 'Strange New Worlds' Season 2.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 is chasing last week's comedic episode with one of the most emotional episodes of the series thus far. "Lost in Translation," written by Onitra Johnson and David Reed , centers around Uhura ( Celia Rose Gooding ) as she begins hearing strange noises and seeing ghosts from her past. Director Dan Li strikes a fantastic balance between horror and action/adventure with this episode, as Uhura races against the clock to understand what's happening to her and who exactly might be trying to send her a message.

This episode also honors star Melissa Navia 's late partner Brian Bannon by naming the nebula after him — a birthplace for new stars and the home of a new alien species. "Lost in Translation" also gives Uhura a chance to grieve the loss of Hemmer ( Bruce Horak ) , the Enterprise's Season 1 engineer who gave his life to save the rest of the crew. Strange New Worlds ' episodic nature can make exploring long-term narratives like grief difficult, so it's satisfying to see the series return to this moment and explore Uhura's emotions in a way that inspires hope for the future.

Carol Kane also returns as Pelia in this episode as she squares off with Una ( Rebecca Romijn ) for the first time. Pelia remains one of the most delightful new aspects of Season 2, bringing unparalleled levity to every scene she's in and Kane bounces off of each of her scene partners with ease. Finally, "Lost in Translation" delivers the first-ever meeting (for their Prime timeline selves, at least) between Kirk ( Paul Wesley ) and Spock ( Ethan Peck ). While the moment is brief, the weight of it is not to be understated, as fate starts to fall into place for Star Trek' s most iconic soul mates .

RELATED: Why Are We Meeting Multiple Kirks on 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'?

'Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Explores a New Frontier

Uhura opens the episode with a Communications Officer's Log detailing the Bannon nebula, as the crew of the Enterprise oversees the establishment of an outpost to collect and refine the element needed to fuel starships. As Captain Pike ( Anson Mount ) marvels over the evolution of space and exploration, Uhura reveals that she's been having trouble sleeping. Moments later, Una joins the bridge and announces that Pike has been made fleet captain for the duration of their mission at the nebula as they work to get the station online.

Spock notes that this particular nebula appeals to Starfleet for its proximity to Gorn space , picking up on that final scene from the first episode of the season and making it clear that the predator species is still very much a threat. Logically, they make the decision to refuel the Enterprise while the station is still offline, and as they do so Uhura hears a strange yet indecipherable signal in her earpiece, but as soon as she tries to play it back for everyone else, it disappears. She heads down to the ship's nacelles to see if the disappearance was caused by an error in the communications array. While she's going through the system with an instructional video of Hemmer, the ship's new engineer, Pelia, happens upon the young ensign. The two clash a bit as Pelia's blunt honesty about Hemmer being a "just okay" engineering student rubs Uhura the wrong way. The tension is clear, as Uhura clearly isn't ready to let go of her former mentor.

Elsewhere, Pike and Una take a classic walk and talk through the halls of the ship as they discuss the state of the deuterium station, which was supposed to be online over two months ago. Starfleet claims that the delays were caused by organizational issues, so Pike is assigning Una to clean up the mess with her no-nonsense managerial style. In a turbolift, Uhura hears the distorted signal again just before she's cornered by a terrifying zombie version of Hemmer. In Sickbay, M'Benga ( Babs Olusanmokun ) concludes that the vision of Hemmer was a hallucination, but he validates Uhura's concerns and provides her with an explanation for why she's having such an experience — while working in the nacelle she was exposed to the deuterium which can cause hallucinations and headaches. He clocks that she hasn't been sleeping well, and notes that exhaustion can exacerbate her symptoms. M'Benga bars her from active duty until she gets a decent amount of sleep.

On the station, Una and Pelia take point on getting the necessary systems up and running. Pelia notes that station appears to be breaking down faster than any of the crew are able to fix it, but Una brushes her concerns aside as they now have three crews working in tandem to get things in working order. There's also a strange amount of tension between the two of them as Pelia's chaotic, instinct-based nature clashes with Una's sense of order and reason. Pelia pays Una's severity no mind and goes about conducting her own investigation of the problem.

Uhura's Nightmares Are Trying to Tell Her Something

As Uhura attempts to get some rest, she finds herself inside another hallucination, this time she's on a planet, and just over the horizon black smoke violently billows into the air. She wakes in a cold sweat, reeling from the vision — in Season 1, Uhura revealed that she lost her family in a shuttle accident. Elsewhere, James Kirk, who's currently serving aboard the Farragut , beams aboard the Enterprise for the first time, to visit his brother Sam ( Dan Jeannotte ). They end up at the ship's bar and there's a clear tension between them as Sam doesn't waste his time updating his brother on talk of xenobiology and instead congratulates Jim on becoming the youngest first officer in the fleet. They both want to impress their father and Sam resents Jim's ambition as he one-ups him while Sam pursues his passion for science. Wesley embodies Kirk perfectly, calling upon mannerisms that invoke William Shatner 's energy effortlessly. Back on the station, Una gets life support stabilized, but the system appears to crash almost immediately after she gets the word "stabilized" out of her mouth. Pelia reveals that one of her crew found an issue in one of the functional systems, and while Una's upset that she disobeyed orders it's a good thing that she did — someone's been sabotaging the station.

On the Enterprise, Chapel ( Jess Bush ) and Spock address their burgeoning relationship over a game of 3D chess. Spock proposes telling Starfleet about the romantic connection between them, if there is one, to avoid protocol issues in the chain of command. However, Chapel is concerned that telling people will lead to prying eyes, and prying eyes will lead to the end of whatever's going on between them. They agree to keep their (messy) relationship between the two of them when they're interrupted by Uhura. She tells her superior officers that she doesn't have deuterium poisoning and while she theorizes that something else is causing her hallucinations, Chapel and Spock point to the more logical known sources of deuterium and exhaustion. While they insist that she get some rest, it's the last thing she's interested in at the moment as she's gripped by this mystery.

At the bar, Kirk introduces himself to Uhura by commenting on Spock's moves in the chess game he's been watching from across the room. Uhura clocks him as "Sam's brother" and tells him she doesn't feel like being hit on at the moment, as Kirk's ladies' man reputation proceeds him , but he assures her that he's not, and she just looks like she could use a friend. As much as she appreciates it, she brushes that off too as she's too focused on what's happening to her to relax in any way. Out in the hallway, Uhura hears the sound again as the lights flicker, and she sees a handful of her fellow officers laying dead on the ground covered in blood. She's then attacked by an angry version of herself and as she finally punches the clone's lights out, the lights flicker back up, the bodies disappear, and Kirk is laying on the ground with a busted nose.

Uhura apologizes and offers to take him to Sickbay, but Kirk points out that the last thing she needs right now is to be written up for striking a superior officer. He can tell that she didn't intend to hit him, as she was clearly seeing something that wasn't there, and they go to her quarters so she can heal his nose with a dermal regenerator. Uhura assumes that he's just going to brush her off like everyone else, but he believes her and is willing to go down the rabbit hole with her to figure out what's causing her nightmares. She hasn't found any anomalies in the nebula, but she appears to be the only person on the ship experiencing these hallucinations. Kirk takes her medical file to cross-reference her symptoms with the crew of the Farragut to see if perhaps she isn't the only one.

A Saboteur Lurks Among the Shadows on 'Strange New Worlds' Season 2

Una and Pelia investigate the sabotage aboard the station and they find a young officer muttering to himself in terror — he can't tell what's real and what isn't. He tells Una that his name is Ramon, and when she asks why he sabotaged the station, he assumes that she isn't real. It looks like he might be suffering from the same hallucinations as Uhura, and Una calls in a medical emergency to the Enterprise. After Kirk leaves her alone the ship kicks into red alert, driving Uhura to the bridge as they face an attack from an enemy ship. The viewscreen cracks and shatters before her fellow officers are sucked into space before her very eyes before Captain Pike shakes her from the latest waking nightmare.

In the ready room, Pike talks with Uhura about what's going on when Kirk walks in to check on her. He interrupts to explain that the officer from the station was flagged to medical on his ship the day before as a friend was concerned about his wellbeing. Everyone heads down to sickbay and as M'Benga examines Ramon, he and Uhura experience the same strange sound — except that it appears to be much more advanced and debilitating for Ramon, implying that whatever is happening to them is further along with him than it is with her. The sound drives Ramon to attack them and run out of the room, and as Uhura tries to wake herself from what she assumes is another nightmare, Kirk assures her that what she just saw was very much real.

Pike, Kirk, and Uhura fan out in search of Ramon, and Pike finds a wounded officer outside of Astrometrics. La'an arrives to explain that Ramon cut a power conduit, shrouding the ship in darkness. Uhura keeps hearing the sound as she searches the ship with Kirk. As the noise gets louder Kirk disappears, and she hallucinates the walls of the ship closing in on her. She tells him that she'll walk back to Sickbay and that he should keep up the search. He comes across Pike and La'an, and La'an is briefly taken aback after her experience with an alternate Kirk in "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." She doesn't have time, or clearance, to explain though, and they're interrupted as Uhura finds another trail of blood outside the port nacelle. Kirk tells her to wait for him, but she heads in alone anyway.

She begs Ramon to stop trying to sabotage the ship, assuring him that she's experiencing the same things that he is, affirming that she's real and his hallucinations are not. While she manages to stall him for a second, he immediately resumes his attempts to sabotage the ship, causing a cascade failure in the nacelle. Kirk arrives just in time and calls for an emergency beam out for himself and Uhura as fire consumes the access tunnel and Ramon dies in the void of space as a result of the explosion.

In Sickbay, Pike talks with Uhura about what's going on, and he assures her that they're going to figure out what's going on with her. She thinks she should be confined to quarters to avoid hurting herself or anyone else, but he assures her that they won't let it get that far with her. He gives her access to Ramon's medical file and personal logs to see if she can find answers there. Outside, Kirk waits for Uhura when La'an bumps into him again and the tension between them is palpable . La'an doesn't break her commitment to not reveal what happened in the alternate timeline, but she quickly realizes that the core values that she fell in love with in that Kirk are still present in this timeline, if not more so.

On the station, Una and Pelia continue to butt heads over the best way to solve this mystery. Una says that the priority is to get the station back online, but Pelia is ready to confront the first officer about whatever she's holding against her. Finally, Una explains that she can't stand how reckless and whimsical Pelia is, and the engineer tells her that she thinks Una's gotten too used to being the smartest person in the room. Una pulls rank on her and Pelia says she'll get the station up and running in a few hours.

Time Is Running Out for Uhura to Solve This Mystery

Uhura and Kirk go through Ramon's files and while they're no closer to figuring out what's causing it, Uhura concludes that she's on the same path to destruction with no signs of how to get out. She explains to Kirk that this isn't the first time she's experienced hallucinations — after her family died she kept seeing the crash, despite not having witnessed it in person. Losing Hemmer reopened that wound for her, and she's been spiraling ever since. Gooding does a beautiful job exploring Uhura's grief , as the cadet wonders if she even belongs in Starfleet because she can't face death. Kirk is poetically honest with her about the fact that if she wants to keep exploring her future in Starfleet, she needs to be able to fight back against death and hold on to the memories of the people she's lost.

After he leaves her alone, Uhura pulls up the video she has of Hemmer, allowing herself to embrace those memories. What he's saying in the video sparks a realization in her as she finally understands that an invisible alien species has been attempting to contact her. Together, Kirk and Uhura go to speak to Sam in the xenobiology lab, and he explains that the species could be reaching out through interdimensional space, using her brain as a universal translator. The visions she's been having are a message — she puts the pieces of each of her hallucinations together and together the trio realizes that whoever's trying to contact them is living inside the nebula and any attempts to refine the deuterium here is killing them.

Uhura attempts to get Pike and Una to shut down the station, but the station isn't responding. As Uhura and Kirk race to the bridge, she's thrust into another hallucination of the shuttle crash that killed her family. She powers through it and makes it to the Captain, immediately telling him that they're killing the alien species as the zombie figure of Hemmer hovers around the edge of her line of sight. Because they can't shut down the station, Uhura explains that they need to destroy it — it's no small undertaking, as this was set to be an important fueling location for Starfleet on the edge of Federation space. However, Pike trusts Uhura's instincts and understands that she wouldn't call for such drastic measures if it weren't a life-or-death situation. They beam everyone off the station, and vent all the gathered deuterium from the Enterprise and the Farragut, before blowing the refinery out of the sky. As the station is destroyed, Uhura's vision of Hemmer becomes whole and healthy again, he smiles at her one last time as the alien species confirms she did exactly what she needed to in order to save them.

A Meeting of The Minds Promises a Bright Future on 'Strange New Worlds' Season 2

Uhura is restored to active duty, and Pike assures her that she won't face any blowback from Starfleet for making the call to destroy the ship as he completely stands by her decision. After she finishes a few urgent communications tasks, Pike orders her to finally go get some rest. On their evacuation shuttle, Pelia and Una continue their little squabble, as Una attempts to explain that her reason for beefing with the new engineer is that she gave her a C in Starship Maintenance at the academy. However, Pelia sees right through that explanation and points out that her feelings of animosity stem from Hemmer's death because, as his replacement, Pelia is a constant reminder of that loss. Romijn quietly expresses that grief in a way that is very befitting of Una as she tears up over the moment of vulnerability. The two come to an understanding as Pelia comes to Una's level with understanding, having lost more people than she can count in her hundreds of years alive.

Back in the Enterprise's bar, Kirk and Uhura share a drink and strike up a friendship that will last long into the future. Uhura is finally able to look at photos of her family again, and as she wonders why the species chose her, Kirk explains that it's clearly because she's "a good listener," calling her thoughtful and empathetic. Sam rolls up to their table to share in the glory of a job well done, but Kirk immediately rolls his eyes at his older brother's excitement over writing a scientific paper. Sam pushes down his annoyance and tells Jim that he's proud of him, but when Jim doesn't apologize for not taking him seriously, Sam storms off in a fit of frustration.

As Jim searches for the right word to describe his brother's habits, Spock appears, swiping Sam's abandoned glass off the table (something we know annoys him about the elder Kirk), providing the exact phrase on the tip of Jim's tongue. Uhura takes the opportunity to introduce Kirk and Spock to each other , and the camera lingers on the very first handshake between the two. Kirk invites Spock to join him and Uhura, and the future crew of the Enterprise that started it all begins to take shape.

New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 arrive every Thursday on Paramount+.

The Amazing Visual Easter Egg Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Uses In Its Season Finale

This post contains spoilers for the season finale of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is a lovingly crafted return to form for "Star Trek," harkening back to the classic original series while also managing to feel completely fresh. There's a lot of attention to detail that makes every episode feel authentically "Trek," from the uniforms  to the dialogue, but the season 1 finale, "A Quality of Mercy," features a much more subtle reference to "Star Trek: The Original Series." 

"A Quality of Mercy" references the "Original Series" episode "Balance of Terror," both in its story and in its cinematography, bringing one of the best episodes from the 1960s series into the present. Including that infamous "Original Series" lighting. 

The eyes have it

In the "Strange New Worlds" season finale, the lighting on the Enterprise bridge becomes much more dramatic, mimicking the visual style of "The Original Series," with its highlights on actor faces — especially the eyes — and darker backgrounds. It's instantly identifiable, a style of lighting inspired by classic films of the 1940s and '50s like "Rashômon" and "Sunset Boulevard" that was often utilized to evoke a film noir aesthetic. (Director Roman Polanski also used the technique in "Chinatown" in the 1970s and Ridley Scott used it for "Blade Runner" in the 1980s, so it's a lighting technique that's truly lasted the test of time.) The lighting style gave "The Original Series" a signature look, and it was used heavily in "Balance of Terror" to heighten the drama. So it makes sense that the folks behind "Strange New Worlds" would want to reference it for their own episode. 

In an interview with /Film, co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers explained that the nod to the original series was important to the "Strange New Worlds" team: 

"Chris Fisher, who directed the episode, and Magdalena Górka, who was the DP on that episode, they really wanted to return to some of the hallmarks of that original series. What's wonderful about that episode in particular, is it's really a bottle show. It's a show that's set almost entirely on the Enterprise, with the exception of the stuff on the Romulan bridge. So, we wanted to give it that really distinct flavor. [...] You want to put stuff in there for the folks who love 'Trek,' who can see it and be like, 'There's a scene that Chris Fisher wholesale shot-by-shot recreation from "Balance of Terror."' The push in on Spock with his eyebrow and everything, we did it, but you don't need to know that, and if you do know that, it doesn't make a difference. I mean, it doesn't make a difference to the story, but if you know it, it makes everything much deeper and more fun because you realize the level at which we're sort of commenting on it. Because we're not criticizing the previous episode, we're trying to use it as a template for telling a new story."

"Star Trek" has a long history of being self-referential and "Strange New Worlds" is no different , so the lighting feels right on-brand. 

A slightly more subtle approach

There are a couple of shot-for-shot references to "Balance of Terror" in "A Quality of Mercy," including the above-mentioned Spock zoom and Captain Pike (Anson Mount) presiding over the same wedding as James Kirk (William Shatner) did in the original episode. Both are similarly interrupted by Romulans, and they each have a bar of light over their eyes that is unmistakable. The entire episode doesn't lean into the classic lighting, but the bridge in particular stays starkly lit, utilizing hard shadows to mimic the lighting of "The Original Series."

The crew continue to have strong lighting across their eyes and faces whenever they're on the bridge, though it's never as boxy or as obvious as the ones from the 1960s. That's probably a smart style choice, given how slick the rest of the series looks, but that first hard shot of Pike at the pulpit is pure classic "Trek," and it rules. Here's hoping they continue to do these kind of smart, deep-cut throwbacks in season 2. 

Season 1 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is available to stream on Paramount+.

The Deep Space Nine Easter Egg You Likely Missed In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" feels like a show made for the fans. After the discord among long-time Trekkies caused by properties like "Discovery," their enthusiasm for "Strange New Worlds" is downright refreshing. Not only is it a return to the episodic format that fans of "The Original Series," "The Next Generation," and other legacy shows have been missing, it often plays on deep canon respectfully and freshly.

The most obvious examples of this have been opening up the opportunity for Captain Pike (Anson Mount) to dodge his gruesome fate and the added stories of Spock's (Ethan Peck) relationship with his fiancee T'Pring (Gia Sandhu). Both have proven fun and engaging for fans. Then there are the Easter eggs, the winks, nods, and threads that any superfan will surely start to tug at, connecting back to "Star Trek's" past and, perhaps, explaining something long unexplained.

One such Easter egg showed up in Episode 5 of "Strange New Worlds." This was "Spock Amok," a primarily light-hearted episode of the show that saw Spock and T'Pring switch bodies and the usually serious officers Chin-Riley and Noonien-Singh try out some lower deck hijinx. TrekMovie.com 's Anthony Pascale called the episode a fun pallet-cleanser following the heaviness of the previous episode, "Memento Mori." It also had a moment that should trigger recognition in any fan of "Deep Space Nine."

The R'ongovians' solar sail ship is very similar to that of the Bajorans'

In "Spock Amok," Captain Pike and Admiral Robert April (Adrian Holmes) attempt to negotiate a treaty with the R'ongovians, a race that displays what Pike identifies as "radical empathy." They also travel in a golden shimmering ceremonial ship powered by solar sails, which, when negotiations are successful, fly the flag of the R'ongovians' new ally. As John Orquiola points out on  ScreenRant , there is a striking similarity between the R'ongovians' solar ship and those of the Bajorans, which we see in "Deep Space Nine."

"Deep Space Nine" is set roughly a century after the events of "Strange New Worlds" and takes place on the titular ship, hovering around the recently liberated planet of Bajor. In Season 3, Episode 22 of "Deep Space Nine," Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) tests a theory of ancient Bajoran lore, seeing if the Bajorans could explore far beyond their world with the aid of non-warp-capable ships that harness solar power through sails.

Though the Bajorans are present in "Deep Space Nine" and "The Next Generation," both these series are set a hundred years after "Strange New Worlds," presumably meaning that the Bajorans are unknown to the Federation during Pike's tenure on the Enterprise. Nonetheless, the resemblance between the ship constructed by Sisko and that of the R'ongovians is undeniable. What might this mean for the intricate and ever-growing connections between the worlds of "Star Trek"? Is there a historical link between the R'ongovians and the Bajorans? Might there be an origin story in the offing? Tough to tell. The only thing we can do to figure it out is to keep watching.

'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' episode 6 suffers from a slight dip in story quality

Will we ever find out what Security Lessons four and five are..?

Warning: Spoilers for "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 1, episode 6

So far, " Star Trek: Strange New Worlds " has shown signs of steadily improving, even if the episode titles seem to be getting longer. This week it's "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach" and you try squeezing that into a two-deck headline. However, even an excessively long title can't save this episode from sadly being the weakest of Season 1 thus far, but then one of them had to be. 

Hopefully, this is where the new minimum standard will be set and this extremely promising new show won't descend into disappointing plots and lazy writing like the other live-action shows in this particular sci-fi franchise on Paramount Plus .

Apparently, this past week's episode is based upon an unused "The Original Series" script by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. According to IMDb , it also bears a strong similarity to Ursula Le Guin's 1973 short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" as both depict a seemingly utopian society whose prosperity is predicated on the suffering of a single child.

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Regardless of its origins, it marks the first time Captain Pike ( Anson Mount ) has been dragged into an ethical crisis of this particular nature. Following the recap — which we'll come back to shortly — we're treated to a classic-style opening sequence, with a little bit of personal attachment, a dash of spirited fun, seasoned with light humor and served with a generous dollop of drama. 

Honestly, anything could've happened after that: the crew could've had all the salt sucked from their bodies, been forced to amuse a demi-god or just stumbled upon a being from between dimensions. Roll those gorgeous opening credits.

While on a routine [cartographic survey] to [the Majalan system] the USS Enterprise receives a distress call from a non-Federation shuttle under attack by a small combat cruiser, also with no Federation ID. During the fracas that follows, the cruiser is inadvertently destroyed and all aboard are killed. The passengers of the shuttle barely survive and are beamed to the Starfleet starship.

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Turns out that, while on a previous mission to this sector of space 10 years ago the  then Lieutenant Pike was involved in a rescue operation to evacuate civilians from a dying pulsar and he has already met Alora (Lindy Booth), one of the newest additions to the Enterprise passenger list. The other two are a young boy, known as the First Servant (Ian Ho) and his apparent biological father, Elder Gamal (Husein Madhavji).

The primary plot takes up practically all the airtime this week, but there a couple of interesting sub-stories stuck onto the side, one of which is the training of Cadet Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) in matters concerning security by Lt. Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). It seems her lessons are near-legendary in the Enterprise community. We are to understand there are seven golden rules of security, however, we only get to hear five of them:

#1 A Rigelian tiger pounces with no warning; #2 There are no breaks in security because threats never take breaks; #3 Let your tricorder do the investigating; #6 Know when to bend the rules; #7 Leave no stone unturned.

Unfortunately, with everyone on the small combat cruiser killed, Pike et al are only hearing one side of the story. That old chestnut. But, their story seems to be believable. Moreover, Pike seems to have forgotten about his partner, Capt. Batel (Melanie Scrofano) — who we met in the premiere episode "Strange New Worlds" — and he's more than happy to slide under the sheets and get busy with Alora. 

Tonight in Captain Pike Bingo , it's Triple Points Night! ☑ Gets his shirt off ☑ Gets buff! ☑ X-rated extracurricular activity with an extraterrestrial ☐ Hand to hand combat to the death ☐ Use the double-fist punch ☐ Travel over to the Mirror Universe ☐ Find himself on a planet that looks a lot like Vazquez Rocks Natural Park ☐ Outwit a superior alien intelligence ☐ Meet the magnificent, mischievous Harcourt Fenton Mudd ☑ Save the galaxy ( season 2 of "Discovery" )

Now, remember we mentioned that recap? Upon second viewing of this episode, you'll notice a slight slant in the recap when it briefly focuses on Pike's future — the maybe-it's-imminent/maybe-it-isn't accident when a baffle plate ruptures on an old class J starship, exposing many helpless trainees and himself to deadly delta-particle radiation. Specifically, the voice of Lt. Cmdr. Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) when she says, "Don't throw your life away, Chris. I made a choice. I accepted my fate. What if you're wrong? What if your fate is what you make it? "

And clearly, Pike is not throwing his life away, but rather he is it embracing it, every facet of it. And good for him. Sadly though, Alora has a somewhat unorthodox culture, but we'll come to that momentarily. The Majalan people have an incredibly advanced medical technology; tissue can be altered, repaired or replaced at a "quantum mechanical level." It offers hope to both Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) that he might be able to cure his daughter Rukiya (Sage Arrindell) and Pike, in that it could heal him of his future wounds.

As the story unfolds, it slowly becomes clear that Elder Gamal is aware of the fate that awaits his poor son, the First Servant; however, he was not a part of the initial plan to rescue him that resulted in the destruction of the small combat cruiser. Instead, he plans his own attempt to keep the child safe, from the Majalan people. And for a short while at least, it looks to have worked. That is until a crude distress signal is detected by Spock (Ethan Peck) and the young, incredibly gifted child is recovered and returned to the Majalan people.

Related: 'Strange New Worlds' episode 5 taps into some classic Trek tropes

This, combined with some rather damning evidence discovered by Uhura and Noonien-Singh, leads Pike down to the surface where he witnesses, but is unable to prevent, the "ascension" of the First Servant, thus fulfilling his somewhat short-lived destiny. The boy is, in essence, plugged into the machine that, we are to understand, needs the neural network of a child to function. "Our founders designed it that way. We don't know why," Alora attempts to explain to Pike.

And thus sadly ends the chance that the people of Majalan might join the Federation, for now at least. But all is not lost as Gamal offers to assist M'Benga in his search for a cure for his daughter. Although, it's not adequately explained quite how these people have such an advanced knowledge of medicine and yet have not evolved past the need to sacrifice an innocent child every generation or so.

You know what would be really interesting, is an episode sometime in the future from the perspective of someone stored in a transporter pattern buffer, because everything around you could change in an instant, or the blink of a transporter beam, each and every time you had to go back in.

Related:   'Strange New Worlds' episode 4 embraces submarine-style battles

The plot seems to have a few more holes in it than usual and the dialogue — in particular between Alora and Pike, towards the end — is not terribly convincing. As we mentioned earlier on, this the weakest episode so far, but as we also mentioned, if this is as weak as they get, then we're doing alright. It's nicely layered, nuanced and and interest is maintained throughout. It just feels like it trips over a couple of times with the basics. 

Finally, in other "Star Trek" news, the sixth season of "Discovery" has started principal photography in Toronto, as star Doug Jones comically tweeted this week. Will a strange anomaly threaten the entire galaxy? Billions could be killed. Will Starfleet unite as everyone must dig deep, face their own mortality and risk their lives for the greater good? Again??

Rating: 6 ½ /10

The first six episodes of "Strange New Worlds" is now available to watch on  Paramount Plus  as is the entire second season of " Star Trek: Picard ." Season 4 of "Star Trek: Discovery" is also available on the Paramount streaming service in the US and CTV Sci-Fi or Crave TV in Canada. Countries outside of North America can watch on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel.

Paramount has confirmed that its streaming platform will launch in the UK and Ireland on June 22, available both as a standalone service and as part of the Sky Cinema subscription for the UK cable provider. However, only the  first three episodes  of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" will be available on the streamer on that region’s launch date, as the show will continue on a weekly Wednesday release schedule through the conclusion of the 10-episode Season 1 run.

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When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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Screen Rant

Strange new worlds actors reveal cut star trek musical finale moment & why spock dances.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding, and Christina Chong drop some BTS about the musical episode's grand finale number.

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' musical episode concludes with a grand finale showcasing the power of unity and camaraderie among the crew.
• Lt. Spock's logical decision to dance in the musical finale helps boost subspace rift's 'improbability levels,' aiding the crew in saving the galaxy.
• A bonding moment between Uhura and La'an highlights the ensemble's support for each other, showcasing a sense of solidarity and friendship, but it was cut from the episode.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' Celia Rose Gooding and Christina Chong reveal a cut moment from the finale of the first-ever Star Trek musical, and Ethan Peck explains why Lt. Spock decided to dance in the closing musical number, "We Are One." Strange New Worlds season 2's acclaimed musical episode, "Subspace Rhapsody," was written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff and directed by Dermot Downs. All of the songs were composed by Kay Hanley and Tom Polce from Letters to Cleo. The musical required the entire cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to sing and dance, and everyone embraced the musical with gusto.

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' musical episode, a subspace rift created a reality defined by the rules of musicals that threatened to engulf the entire galaxy. Meanwhile, aboard the USS Enterprise, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and his crew unwittingly express their deepest feelings and emotions through songs. Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) deduced that to close the subspace rift, the crew of the Enterprise needed to perform a grand finale, and every single person aboard the starship joined in for the big finish musical number, "We Are One."

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Musical Episode Ending Explained

Star trek: strange new worlds' musical cut a moment from the grand finale, celia rose gooding explains a missing moment from the musical episode..

In an interview with TV Insider, Celia Rose Gooding and Christina Chong reveal that there was a bonding moment between Ensign Nyota Uhura and Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh that was cut from the final version of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' musical episode 's finale number, "We Are One." Read their quotes below:

Celia Rose Gooding: La’an and Uhura had a little handshake moment that we made up on the spot. Christina Chong: We did! Celia Rose Gooding: We did, but that didn’t make it. But in my mind, there was something so beautiful about that after we finished the song. Our instinct was first to just celebrate one another, and then get back to work. I think that is such a nod to our routine as an ensemble to just check on each other and really boost each other up because we’re doing something that some characters are not super comfortable with and that isn’t their instinct to burst out into song. And so that final moment of camaraderie - of course, it had to be shrunk down for the nature of TV - but in my perfect world, there’s an edit of five minutes of everyone just giving each other compliments.

"We Are One" was a catharsis for the crew of the Starship Enterprise. For La'an, the Strange New Worlds musical's finale reaffirmed her decision to be more open with her feelings, even after her confession that she is attracted to Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) didn't go as she had hoped. Meanwhile, Uhura realized that her role in keeping the crew of the Enterprise connected was a gift, and it empowered her to save the ship. Both La'an and Uhura shed their old inhibitions and took steps forward to becoming happier people .

Watch the full TV Insider interview with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' cast below:

Why Spock Dances In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Musical Finale

Ethan peck knew spock would only dance when it was logical to dance..

Ethan Peck also explained Lt. Spock's decision to dance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' grand finale, "We Are One." Peck, who understands Spock like Leonard Nimoy did , needed a logical justification for Spock to dance , and he found out. Read Peck's quote below:

Ethan Peck: There was a moment there in that finale where life really imitated art. I mean, that happens so frequently, but never so closely together as in that moment. Spock doesn’t get to participate because, obviously, he doesn’t want to be dancing. I spoke with Dermot, the director, about it. How would Spock dance? Well, I guess he has to to get that meter maxed out so we can break out of the musical reality. And he would do it for that, and so he joins in for the very end of it. So I felt like kind of an outsider. I join in at the very end of that whole sequence. And then Chapel and Spock are sort of on rough terms, and I remember its ending. We had this joyous moment, and then we have kind of a broody look to each other. So my experience was a little bit different from some of the other cast members.

Lt. Spock dancing in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' musical finale did boost the subspace rift's 'improbability levels ', and helped put the Starship Enterprise crew over the top. Unlike Uhura and La'an's moment, the final cut of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' musical included the awkward moment between Spock and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) after the couple ended their relationship through song. What happens next between Spock, Chapel, and the crew of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 remains to be seen, although it won't include another musical episode. (At least not in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.)

Source: TV Insider

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount+

Strange New Worlds Season 3 Director Becomes A Star Trek Redshirt In The Best Way

• Director Jordan Canning shares a redshirt moment on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds set with Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck.
• Exciting news for fans as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds receives a renewal for season 4 from Paramount+.
• Jordan Canning's directorial work on Strange New Worlds includes episodes in seasons 2 and 3, showcasing her talent.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds director Jordan Canning jokingly became one of Star Trek 's infamous "redshirts" in a behind-the-scenes photo from season 3. Strange New Worlds season 3 is nearing the end of its production in Toronto, with Canning directing episode 8 of the hit Paramount+ show's third season. Excitingly, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has received a season 4 renewal from Paramount+, assuring even more voyages aboard the Starship Enterprise.

On her Instagram, Jordan Canning (@jjcanning) shared a behind-the-scenes photo of herself from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' USS Enterprise set between Rebecca Romijn, who plays Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley AKA Number One, and Ethan Peck, who plays Science Officer Lt. Spock. Canning joked in her caption, "Always happy to be the redshirt between these two." Check out her post below:

Jordan Canning also directs Star Trek: Strange New World s season 3, episode 2, and she helmed the Vulcan comedy of manners, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 5, "Charades."

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 - Everything We Know

What is a redshirt in star trek, lt. hemmer is strange new worlds' most tragic redshirt..

A "redshirt" became infamous in Star Trek: The Original Series . The term refers to the ill-fated, red uniform-wearing security officers of the Starship Enterprise who were known for beaming down to a planet with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) only to be killed horribly by whatever monster of the week the Starfleet Officers faced. Many redshirts had names and ranks, but their most common trait was they were disposable background characters who fueled the plot and suspense of that week's Star Trek episode . Star Trek: Strange New Worlds nodded to TOS' redshirts with the death of Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak) in season 1, episode 9, "All Those Who Wander."

Hemmer's demise was in contrast to most redshirts who usually died haplessly on Star Trek: The Original Series .

However, Hemmer died a noble death in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , sacrificing himself to the Gorn to save his friends and crew mates. Hemmer's demise was in contrast to most redshirts who usually died haplessly on Star Trek: The Original Series . Considering many of Strange New Worlds ' core characters like Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) wear red shirts, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds isn't as bloodthirsty with their redshirts as Star Trek: The Original Series.

Source: Instagram

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount+

Cast Bruce Horak, Celia Rose Gooding, Jess Bush, Melissa Navia, Ethan Peck, Babs Olusanmokun, Rebecca Romijn, Paul Wesley, Christina Chong, Anson Mount

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Bill Wolkoff, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers

Directors Amanda Row, Valerie Weiss, Jonathan Frakes, Chris Fisher

Showrunner Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers

Where To Watch Paramount+

• Lower Decks
• Short Treks
• Strange New Worlds
• Deep Space Nine
• Star Trek: Picard
• The Next Generation
• The Original Series

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PREVIEW – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 6

We’re already over the halfway mark for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 . As such, the second season’s sixth episode is airing later this week. Titled “Lost in Translation”, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 6 looks like the Uhura (Celia Rose-Gooding) episode we have been expecting. For example, ever since the early trailers for season 2, we’ve been wondering if the series will explore more of the character’s past. This looks to be the case, especially as hallucinations are mentioned in the episode synopsis.

Each week Trek Central has brand new preview material for  Strange New Worlds . The episode is written by Onitra Johnson & David Reed while being Directed by Dan Li. Following this week’s sixth episode of season 2. We also have the Star Trek: Lower Decks crossover episode. Additionally, this week is San Diego Comic-Con week . Therefore, there is potential for a glimpse at the Star Trek Universe once again.

Uhura seems to be the only one who can hear a strange sound. When the noise triggers terrifying hallucinations, she enlists an unlikely assistant to help her track down the source. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 6 “Lost in Translation” – Episode Synopsis

Preview Pictures

Brand new preview pictures for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 6 give us a glimpse of the upcoming episode. First up, we’ve got a fresh look at the latest Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise. Carol Kane’s Pelia has already made quite an impact. Sadly she was absent from last week’s episode. However, perhaps we’ll spend more time with her this week. For example, based on the preview clip, we might see her doing engineering work.

In a not-so-surprising reveal, if you’ve watched the trailers, Paul Wesley returns as Lieutenant James T Kirk . What he is doing onboard the Enterprise is unknown currently. However, he does appear to be working alongside his brother, Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) . Perhaps Kirk might be under suspicion for whatever happens to the ship and crew in his episode. Finally, we’ve got shots of Uhura looking serious with a phaser. Though one shot may point to something we’ve theorised about for some time now.

The picture of Uhura standing on grass, clearly observing something, likely links with the trailer of her looking at a shuttle crash. Previous Star Trek media informs us that Uhura’s family were tragically killed in a shuttlecraft accident. We’ve long theorized that this episode’s “hallucinations” element might force her to relive these traumatic memories. Additionally, based on trailers, it links with a conversation she has with James T Kirk.

The Ready Room Preview Clip

Last week, as always, The Ready Room Aftershow with Wil Wheaton gave us a preview of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 6 . While the word “sabotage” might interest everyone, something else is worth pointing out. The location that Number One (Rebecca Romjin) and Chief Engineer Pelia (Carol Kane ) find themselves in looks oddly familiar. This looks like it could be the USS Enterprise Warp Nacelle control areas. Maybe not, though, as they are working on life support.

Still, it reminds me of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “The Catwalk”. This is where Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and his crew had to spend eight days inside the maintenance shafts of the warp nacelles. I doubt that is what is going on here. However, it seems like the Enterprise is perhaps a victim of sabotage. This could be a ruse linked to whatever is happening with Uhura in this upcoming episode. It would link both the A plot and B plot together nicely.

While we await this week’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 6 , it’s worth pointing out something. The upcoming seventh episode of Strange New Worlds season 2 is our Star Trek: Lower Decks crossover episode . It’s something fans have been looking forward to since it was announced. We’ve already seen Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) in the trailers for the second season. With San Diego Comic-Con taking place this week, it’s possible we might get another extended look.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams via Paramount+ in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Latin America, France, Germany, Brazil, South Korea (via Tving), France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland & Austria. As well as CTV Scifi / Crave in Canada, & TVNZ in New Zealand. And on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Central and Eastern Europe.

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REVIEW – Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 4 “Face the...

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 4 Review: Rayner & Burnham Faced the Strange

By using a Time Bug, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 4 revisited the series' greatest hits, and deepened its heroes' characters and journeys.

The following contains spoilers from Star Trek: Discovery, Season 5, Episode 4, "Face the Strange," now streaming on Paramount+ .

In Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Captain Michael Burnham and her crew are in a race against a pair of space-pirates for the future of the Federation. Yet, with only five clues to find before getting to the finish line, there were bound to be some detours. "Face the Strange" is one such side-mission, but it's also a brilliant way to look back at the series' larger journey from being the new kid on the franchise's block to becoming a classic Star Trek series .

Producers said that Season 5 wasn't supposed to end the series, yet this episode is a perfect addition for its final mission. By using time travel as a framing device, the episode looked back at the journey the crew, and especially Burnham, embarked on ever since the show launched in 2017. This was exactly the kind of nostalgic and emotional trip down memory lane that one would expect a character-driven series like Star Trek: Discovery to do in its swan song.

Of course, time travel shenanigans are a classic Star Trek motif, and Star Trek: Discovery already had its share of such adventures. That said, what made this particular time-traveling escapade special was that it allowed for the return of a long-lost character, and it gave Commander Rayner a chance to further define and refine his character while also affirming his place on the Discovery's crew . While his connection to the crew is still a bit tertiary, this episode really showed that Burnham and Rayner made a fantastic and complementary duo.

Face the Strange Revisited Star Trek: Discovery's Greatest Hits

Captain michael burnham and commander rayner relived some of the show's best moments, star trek: discovery ending is a blessing in disguise.

At the end of "Jinaal (Season 5, Episode 3)," Moll slipped into the Trill symbiont caves and planted a strange device on Ensign Adira Tal's sleeve. When "Face the Strange" opened while affirming that the recently broken-up Gray Tal and Adira will remain friends, the spider-like device (later referred to as the Time Bug) crawled from their sleeve and onto the ship.

Meanwhile, Rayner's harsh style of command rubbed Burnham the wrong way. She asks him to join her in the ready room for a slight dressing down, which inadvertently proves to be the crew's saving grace. When the Time Bug does its dirty work, the captain and first officer use their personal transporters, which prevents them from becoming unstuck in time like the rest of the ship and crew. This allowed them to find a way to free the Discovery from its time-displaced prison, and to reflect on their lives.

There is a brief jaunt to the future, Burnham and Rayner learn that their crew died and that the Federation was decimated after a Breen attack. This was also the third mention of the Breen this season, and one of their heaviest bits of foreshadowing yet. Interestingly, this grim sequence evoked the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "Calypso (Season 1, Episode 2)," which featured a marooned soldier many, many tears in the future encountering an abandoned USS Discovery occupied only by Zora.

The two Starfleet officers then appear on the ship during its journey through the wormhole at the end of Season 2. Next, they were thrown back to the battle against Control, the evil artificial intelligence that wanted to merge with the "Sphere Data" that became Zora. They also traveled to the distant past before the Discovery was even launched. However, their most important trip to the past took place just a few weeks after Burnham joined the ship. The best thing about this sequence was that it allowed Airiam, the human-turned-cyborg who died in Season 2, to return for a brief few scenes. That said, this sequence was all about Burnham and her personal journey.

Captain Michael Burnham Confronted Her Past, Insecure Self in Face the Strange

It's been a long road for michael burnham, going from mutineer to captain, star trek: discovery's alex kurtzman & michelle paradise talk final season.

As Rayner and Commander Paul Stamets try to figure out how to stop the Time Bug, Burnham encountered her past self in a turbolift. Past Burnham immediately thinks her future self is a shapeshifter. Nitpicky fans might wonder why Future Burnham didn't just drop some knowledge only they would know. However, in a universe with wormholes, time travel and the USS Discovery's spore drive , the possibility of a shapeshifter using their telepathic abilities to copy the memories of whoever they impersonated wasn't a big stretch. This led to a fun sequence where Burnham fought her past self.

After incapacitating her past self with a Vulcan Nerve Pinch, Burnham gave voice to the subtext of this entire journey. Burnham reminded audiences just how desperate things were for her back then. She was Starfleet's first mutineer, and her actions led to the death of her mentor, Captain Philippa Georgiou. Even though the Klingon leader, T'Kuvma, was going to start a war with the Federation, Burnham also blamed herself for this close call. The most unbelievable thing for the understandably self-loathing Past Burnham to accept was a future in which she not only had rank again, but was trusted enough to be given a ship.

While this makes Burnham Star Trek 's most relatable captain among the franchise's imperfect fans, the character herself can't believe she could attain new heights after falling so far. Yet, in trying to stop Rayner and Stamets, Burnham again proved her worth . She's determined to do the right thing to protect her ship, her crew and Starfleet itself. This episode underscored that Burnham's unique skill isn't her intellect or fighting prowess, but her commitment to higher ideals even when she thinks she's failed them in unforgivable ways.

Commander Rayner Finally Connected with the Crew in Face the Strange

Commander rayner learned new things about himself by visiting the past, star trek: discovery actors doug jones & david ajala prepare for their last adventure.

While Burnham is and always was heroic, it's actually Rayner who saved the day and the rest of time in this episode. Hearkening back to his previous attempts to know the crew, Rayner was now able to prove to Past Lieutenant Commander Gen Rhys that they do know each other. Rayner may have only given Reese 20 words, but these were enough to discover Rhys's affection for Constitution class ships like the USS Enterprise . Still, Past Burnham was not convinced. It's only through Rayner sincerely connecting with her and his own understanding of what it's like to fall from grace that seals the deal.

He told Past Burnham something no one but she could know. Specifically, that when she first stepped on the bridge of the Discovery, she felt like she didn't belong. Yet, he reaffirms that she does belong not just on the vessel, but in command of it. Yes, she's made mistakes, huge ones when compared to those committed by previous Starfleet heroes and captains. However, her heart is always in the right place. In Season 1, Burnham seemed more Vulcan than human, but her emotions were still there. In fact, she cared so much that she told Captain Gabriel Lorca she didn't deserve to serve on a starship.

Another touching moment between crew members in "Face the Strange" came via Rayner's collaboration with Stamets . He was already depressed this season since the spore drive is, effectively, dead technology. Rayner also killed his science-buzz upon realizing the potential of the Progenitor's technology. Yet, when Stamets was worried about being able to save the ship, Rayner motivated him by saying "old dogs" like them still had life-saving tricks up their uniform sleeves. Despite his gruff demeanor, this episode showed why Rayner was such a successful long-serving leader in Starfleet -- especially in a post-Burn galaxy.

Moll & L’Ak’s Time Bug Is a Brutal Weapon Tied to Star Trek Mythology

The time bug was used for more than just nostalgic fanservice, star trek: discovery's sonequa martin-green embarks on one final voyage.

Star Trek is full of near-magical and nonsensical technology like the transporters themselves , but even by these loose standards, the Time Bug is a little confusing. If Burnham, Rayner and Stamets weren't immune from its effects thanks to the latter's "tardigrade DNA," it's unclear exactly what the device does. Somehow, the present-day USS Discovery is incapacitated while the ship jumps back and forth through time. No one on the vessel is aware of this, and the crew complement changes with the times.

When Burnham and company arrive back in the 22nd Century, it's unclear what happened to folks like Commander Jett Reno or Adira, who were always in the 32nd Century. Trying to figure out how the Time Bug works is really a waste of time, since it's nothing more than a fun sci-fi concept that was used to drive an episode. The show gets around this when Rayner says the Time Bug is technology leftover from the Temporal War first introduced back in Star Trek: Enterprise, and wrapped up for good in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' Khan episode .

In previous episodes, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 brought in connections to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Chase (Season 6, Episode 20)," and it also built on the Trill mythology established in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . The Time Bug is yet another way the series used past Star Trek events to tell new, fresh stories instead of just dropping cute Easter Eggs. The bug was an illegal black-market weapon, but one that (despite its inconsistent details and lack of specifics) fit neatly into this six-decade-old universe.

While the crew lost six hours in their race against Moll and L'ak, they still came out ahead. They are now a more cohesive unit than ever before, meaning they will face whatever challenges come next as a tightly-knit crew. This was the way that any Star Trek crew should be.

Star Trek: Discovery debuts new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+ .

Star Trek: Discovery

• Time Bug allows for the series to revisit past moments and characters in its final season.
• The focus on Burnham's journey from mutineer to captain underscores her remarkable journey over five seasons.
• The episode reveals more aspects to Rayner's character making him more well-rounded.
• "Face the Strange" is a near-perfect blend of action, sci-fi problem-solving, and character moments.
• The ensemble takes a backseat because of the time-travel nature of the episode's plot.
• Moll and L'ak return for a scene but are still not as present as in each episode as perhaps they should be.
• Saru and T'Rina don't appear making last episode's story with them feel more like an aside.
• Other than Ariam, past characters like Ash Tyler, Nilsson, Captains Lorca or Pike don't appear feeling like a missed opportunity for a final season victory lap.