Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 4, Ep. 1: Setting Course For Kirk's Enterprise

As Star Trek: Strange New Worlds enters its second last season, genre writer John Kirk will preview new episodes weekly.

By John Kirk

Rating: A-

This week kicks off the penultimate season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In time, the entire pre-history of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701 will give way to the crew that that started the entire franchise.

As we get closer to that auspicious moment, when the newest incarnation of James T, Kirk (Paul Wesley) takes command, it has to achieve some degree of similarity to the weirdness of the original Five-Year Mission.

I’m relieved to say that it’s a bit more apparent with Season Four.

The first episode is titled: “Valles Marineris”. Space buffs will recognize that name as belonging to the largest canyon in the solar system, on Mars. When I started watching Star Trek, I was also a big space fan. And with this first episode, the writers seek to take a leaf out of the original Trek handbook by connecting with that type of die-hard fan.

Basic premise: the USS Enterprise finds itself investigating a stellar phenomenon of enormous power that throws it into a vortex instantly transporting it off-course to an unknown solar system. A classic Trek premise. Nothing out of the ordinary for fans and in fact, this is the first sign that there is a shift back to the original storytelling that fans remember.

Of course, when I say original storytelling, I mean weird.

Before Star Trek was “woke,” it was also weird. But the weirdness was novel and the progressive ideas actually reinforced the weird. That relationship tends to get forgotten. The original series saw Nazis in space, alien cultures that adopted cowboy motifs and transporting light-years across the galaxy with the weakest of sci-fi reasoning. But fans accepted these unlikely premises because suspension of disbelief was necessary to make the story work.

My opinion is that in the 21st Century it’s more difficult to enter into this mental contract because of two things: the high degree of mental minutiae Trek fans have about their franchise, and the chore of filling in the gaps when there is no established lore.

Well, there also seems to be a greater amount of skepticism in our culture, but that’s another line of reasoning.

This first episode of Season Four definitely falls into the weird category, but it doesn’t overstep the weird fiction of any other Star Trek iteration. That’s the secret of this episode’s success and it heralds a renewed approach to the franchise that might allow more fans to enjoy this series without any “this isn’t Star Trek” objections.

I enjoyed the premise. It employs a lot of typical Trek tropes that I can’t describe in detail for fear of giving away the story. But trust me on this one: its familiar storytelling style is going to resonate with even the die-hards.

Season Four sees more involvement of Martin Quinn as Engineer Montgomery Scott. And one of the purposes of Seasons Four and Five will be to establish the roster of Captain Kirk’s Enterprise. Even though he is overshadowed by Carol Kane’s Pelia, it’s clear that the writers are trying to show Scotty in his learning years, before he becomes the “miracle worker” that fans remember.

That said, I’ll be glad to see the departure of Kane’s character as it keeps Scotty in the rank of junior grade Lieutenant, which is a bit of a stretch. After all, in the original series, he was a Lieutenant-Commander. He’s got a few more promotions to get through.

Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount)’s role this episode is a bit more subdued, as it is for the rest of the season. There are two possible reasons for that. One, Mount now has Executive Producer added to his Star Trek responsibilities and two, Pike also has to contend with the crippling accident we all know he is destined for by the time the original series comes around. Obviously, it’s going to be a big Pike moment.

I’m also enjoying the greater emphasis on the growth of Spock’s character by Ethan Peck in this episode, and for the future ones as well. Remember, when we first met Spock in “The Menagerie” or as it was first known (though un-aired), “The Cage,” we see Spock genuinely smiling. Peck has embraced this embryonic status of the half-human Spock and is working with the struggle of controlling his emotions. Peck is doing good work.

Look – it’s a great episode. It’s weird. It’s a bit whacked out when it comes to the aspects of time travelling. But that’s what made Star Trek great. This first episode of the fourth season just does that.

Season Four – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Episode 401: “Valles Marineris.” Directed by Akiva Goldsman. Cast: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Babs Olusanmokum, Celia Rose-Gooding, Melissa Navia, Rebecca Romijn, Martin Quinn, Carol Kane, Paul Wesley

Episode 401, “Valles Marineris” debuts on July 23 on Paramount Plus and CTV’s Sci-Fi Channel.