Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 4, Ep. 4: The Klingons are Back! In Black (and White)

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

By John Kirk

Rating: B+

Episode 404 - “A Case of Chiaroscuro” - is a pretty well-written episode filmed in black-and-white, which seems to be a craze these days.

More importantly, it’s a fun episode in which we see our friends the Klingons as we remembered them! Another episode definitely in line with TOS style of storytelling.

Here’s the story:

Una (Rebecca Romijn), M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokum) and Uhura (Celia Rose-Gooding) are on a reconnaissance mission to recover a lost probe that has wandered into Klingon space. While in orbit over a planet occupied by Klingon troops, they are forced to land on the planet below and get embroiled in the planet’s resistance movement to the Klingon occupation.

It’s a story that could have been written for TOS.

The fashion and design of the planet’s population could have been taken directly from the 1940s, with some slight variation. Trenchcoats, old-style radios, projectile weapons and of course, even internal combustion engine vehicles. It’s like the TOS episode “A Piece of the Action,” complete with fedoras.

What also sells the classic vibe is the fact that the entire planet emits a harmless radiation that has the property of eliminating colours, forcing people to only see in black and white. Hence the title. It’s obviously in sync with a film noir trend (Spider-Noir, anyone?) but it works.

But what’s really fun in this episode is the interaction with the Klingons. When we see the classic D7 Battlecruiser parked in orbit over the planet, we know that we are getting closer to the return to the original brand of TOS canon that Season Four is setting us up for. The return to the D7 original design and NOT the abominations we saw at the start of Star Trek: Discovery (DSC) is both reassuring and relieving.

We also get an appearance of another classic Trek character: Commander Kor. Again, another sign that we are making our way back to original canon. As fans will remember, Kor was the Klingon military governor of the planet Organia in the TOS episode “Errand of Mercy.” His inclusion in this episode is a sign that we are heading back to TOS. That Kor was played by none other than Canada’s own John Colicos.

However, there is a bit of an inaccuracy in his presentation in this episode. Kor was descended from Klingons who had the human genetic augmentation process. Remember the difference between human-looking Klingons and typical Klingons with the bony ridges? That’s the reason why they looked different by the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

In this episode, Kor looks fully Klingon. Oh well. This will be one for the critics of Kurtzman era Trek.

While the intent is there, and I certainly appreciate it, what this does demonstrate is the need for a Star Trek canonical integrity checker.

This is a great episode. It has everything a typical classic Trek episode should have: Federation peaceful values against warmongering Klingon expansionism; Starfleet officers demonstrating ingenuity and resilience in the face of greater odds. And it even has a justice themed ending because of the employment of those values.  But it could be even better with that attention to the finer details.

If the intent is to head back to canon, then it can’t be half-assed. It has to be done right.

Yes, I am offering up my services. How did you guess?

Season Four – Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Episode 404: “A Case of Chiaoscuro” Director: Meera Menon. Cast: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Babs Olusanmokum, Celia Rose-Gooding, Melissa Navia, Rebecca Romijn, Martin Quinn, Carol Kane

Episode 404, “A Case of Chiaroscuro ” debuts on August 13 on Paramount Plus and CTV’s Sci-Fi Channel.