Star Trek’s Most Important Show Keeps Making the Same Frustrating Mistake

Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount Plus

Debuting in 2022 as an offshoot of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was celebrated for revitalizing the franchise’s classic episodic structure. By prioritizing character development over the expansive, season-long story arcs prevalent in the modern Paramount Plus era, showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers initially struck gold. However, as the series progresses, a recurring pattern has emerged: a reliance on gimmicky high-concept episodes that often overshadow the core cast. While season 3 laid the groundwork for Captain James T. Kirk’s eventual transition to command, it frequently sacrificed meaningful character work for experimental detours—ranging from murder mysteries to forced alien-induced hijinks. Unfortunately, these structural inconsistencies persist throughout season 4.

A primary offender this season is the noir-inspired entry, “A Case of Chiaroscuro.” While clearly channeling the spirit of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “The Big Goodbye,” it lacks that classic’s narrative justification. Writer Robbie Thompson leans into a convoluted doppelgänger plot to center the story on first officer Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), yet the episode fails to offer any substantive insight that wasn’t already masterfully handled in the season 2 highlight, “Ad Astra per Aspera.”

Character stagnation remains a significant hurdle. Communications officer Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) is largely sidelined, relegated to mentoring a confrontational Vulcan cadet rather than exploring her own arc. Similarly, security officer La’An Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), despite promising progress last season regarding her ancestral trauma, feels trapped in a cycle of aimless brooding. A moment of reassurance from Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) intended to ground La’An feels particularly artificial and unearned.

The writing team continues to struggle with defining helmsman Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) beyond her flight console, and her dynamic with chief engineer Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn) feels strained by forced, meta-humor—including thinly veiled Doctor Who allusions that feel entirely out of place. While Scott’s neurotic charm is occasionally bolstered by his interactions with the immortal Pelia (Carol Kane), these moments often fail to elevate the characters beyond their immediate professional duties. It is only in the quieter, more focused moments—particularly involving Uhura and Dr. M’Benga—that the show’s potential truly shines.

When Strange New Worlds aligns its high-concept premises with genuine character growth, it remains formidable. The real-time tension of “Off-Hour” offers a poignant emotional breakthrough for Chapel and M’Benga, while “The Griffin Incident” utilizes body horror as a compelling lens through which the Kirk brothers must navigate the pressures of duty and brotherhood. Had the showrunners avoided the temptation to turn the latter into a backdoor pilot for an X-Files-style spin-off, it might have been an all-time classic.

Ultimately, the season’s highlight is ironically its most absurd: “Level-Five Transporter Accident.” By transforming the crew into puppets, the show leans into its tradition of tormenting Spock, using the sheer ridiculousness of the scenario to pull back the curtain on his repressed internal conflict. It is a brilliant example of what this series can achieve when it stops chasing tropes and starts exploring its characters’ psyches.

Season 4 serves as a microcosm of the show’s current identity crisis: capable of profound thematic exploration, yet frequently settling for a collage of pastiche and genre-hopping. As the franchise stares down an uncertain future with the conclusion of Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy, one can only hope that its next iteration learns to better balance its inherent wonder with the consistency that its legacy deserves.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 arrives on Paramount Plus on July 23, with new episodes releasing every Thursday through September 24.

Source: Polygon