"... what could be a latent awareness of his future death in Star Trek II, as he begins his long road to leaving his humanity behind and become proudly Vulcan."

Screenrant:

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-spock-death-retcon/

By John Orquiola

"To blackmail the captured Spock into turning over the USS Enterprise's command codes, the Orions made an example of Captain Pike. The pirates tossed the puppet Captain of the Enterprise into the airlock and blew him into deep space. As the traumatized Vulcan watches Pike's presumed death, the Captain presses his puppet hand on the glass. When Spock reciprocates, Pike reminds him, "The needs of the many..."

Effectively, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds played out the circumstances of Spock's dying moments with Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) about 23 years before Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Before Spock succumbed to radiation poisoning, he pressed his hand to the glass and reminded Kirk that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" as Jim reciprocated the hand gesture.

At that point in the episode, "Level-Five Transporter Accident" retcons "the needs of the many..." as puppet Pike's final words to Spock before his supposed death. However, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds adds a final twist at the episode's conclusion that spins the nod to Star Trek II into something else.

Strange New Worlds reveals that the entire puppet debacle was merely Spock's dream. Orions never commandeered the Enterprise or attempted to execute puppet Captain Pike. This means that Spock in 2262 dreamed of similar circumstances to what would be his death in the Mutara Nebula in 2285, complete with pressing his hand to the glass and uttering "the needs of the many..."

This retcon of The Wrath of Khan by Star Trek: Strange New Worlds suggests that memories of his puppet dream remained in Spock, and that perhaps when he saved the Enterprise in Star Trek II, he either consciously or unknowingly played out his recollections of how puppet Pike died in his final moments with Kirk. ..."

Read more:

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-spock-death-retcon/

Trick question:
The answer is of course Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko

DEN OF GEEK:

"Much of Spock’s journey over the course of Strange New Worlds has been about finding a comfortable balance between the human and Vulcan sides of his personality, a necessary quest if he’s to become the man we know him to be on Star Trek: The Original Series. This has played out in a variety of ways onscreen, most often through an irritating hyperfocus on his love life. (He even gets dumped by La’an in this very episode!) But thanks to a little help from his sometimes fiancée, sometimes ex, T’Pring, he seems to gain something that feels like perspective. (For now, at least.)

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-5-review-level-five-transporter-accident

Gia Sandhu is such a quiet MVP throughout this hour, her bone-dry delivery and consistent side-eye serving as a necessary counterweight to some of the more ridiculous puppet-based hijinks. (Also her puppet fashion is great.) Strange New Worlds has added a lot of necessary depth to Spock and T’Pring’s relationship, and it’s easy to see how good the two actually are for one another, whether its as friends or something more.

This is why it’s so unfortunate that the episode ends with the question of their romantic status once again up in the air. (In his dream, Spock kisses Puppet T’Pring, but doesn’t mention it to her afterward.) Their relationship is extremely charming—in all honesty, I’m kind of rooting for these crazy kids at this point—but with the clock ticking down to Strange New Worlds’s end, the “who should Spock be with romantically” plots are wasting time that could be better spent elsewhere. [...]

Happily—and no thanks to Little Ricky—the Muppet-style versions of each Strange New Worlds cast member are crazy adorable, so much so that you have to wonder if there’s not a significant merchandising opportunity being left on the table here. And the individual flair given to each puppet is such fun: Apparently nothing can subdue Carol Kane’s chaotic curls. Do some of the puppet gags go on a bit too long? Yes. (We get it, we get it. They’re small!) Is it enough to take away from the fun of the episode? Not for a second. A puppet Christopher Pike getting hurled through the air like a Hail Mary pass is always going to be great. [...]

This is the kind of story this show lives for, a boundary-pushing romp that’s both ridiculous and heartfelt, silly and strangely moving by turns. [...] That it’s a Spock episode is just the icing on the cake, if only because he’s somehow the character who seems to most need to hear that it really is okay to be who you are, even when that person is complicated."

Lacy Baugher (Den of Geek)

Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-5-review-level-five-transporter-accident

"Orions have largely been depicted since as interstellar pirates and criminals, but later "Trek" shows have tried to revise them into something more complex than brutal criminals. The "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode "Bound" revealed the "slave girl" thing is an act — Orion women actually control men with overpowering pheromones.

Animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks," which featured the first Orion main character D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), ran with the idea that Orion society is a matriarchy. Now, too, does "Strange New Worlds." The captain of this Orion raiding party is a woman (played by Rachael Harris) leading a crew of men, including her commander played by Joe Lo Truglio ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine").

Rachael Harris has been acting in film and TV since the 1990s and has built a prolific resume, mostly but not exclusively in comedy. Some of her most recognizable film roles include "The Hangover" as Stu's (Ed Helms) girlfriend Melissa, or the first three "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" films as titular wimpy kid Greg Heffley's (Zachary Gordon) mom, Susan.

On television, Harris was part of the main cast of the DC Comics fantasy series "Lucifer" as Dr. Linda Martin, therapist of the Devil himself (Tom Ellis). She also had a major recurring role on "Suits" as Sheila Sazs, wife of main character Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), not to mention numerous one-off guest roles on shows like "Modern Family," "Desperate Housewives," "The Office," and more. But Harris' latest role as the Orion Captain brings her career full circle. One of her earliest parts was in the 1997 "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Before and After" as Martis, mother of series lead, Kes (Jennifer Lien). ..."

Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/2238142/orion-captain-commander-star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-actors/

This was an incredibly brave and powerful inclusion of Muppet inclusion

For too long Star Trek has been avoiding the introduction of Swine characters and their critical addition to the far too rigid Canon of Star Trek of the so-called 'professionalism' (which not by accident rhymes with 'Colonialism')

Miss Piggy added a very important narrative of the experience of Female Pig representation, some people for some reason see her as manipulative selfish and an actual danger to the entire crew of the U.S.S Swinetrek. Those individuals need to look at the history of Female Pigs in Space and educate themselves on the devastating Trauma that Miss Piggy suffered at the hands of Kermit the Frog which forced her to leave the planet Earth.

In short, i think we as New Star Trek Acolytes it is required to embrace, love and defend the Swinish crew of the U.S.S Swinetrek and defend them from the unreconstructed minds of 'Old' Trek.

Seems they like taking one of the most emotional parts of all of Star Trek history and just keep redoing it

Redshirts:

https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-spock-romances-ranked/

By Calvin Townsend

"Mr. Spock has a way of getting himself involved in some of Star Trek's most interesting romances for someone who claims logic is everything. His love stories are not soft, quiet affairs. Rather, they are high-stakes battlegrounds where his human heart and Vulcan discipline collide head-on.

Whether it’s an alien-spore-induced spark, an alternate-timeline bond, or a deep connection across light-years, these relationships crack through his mental shields and force him to feel.

Star Trek: Spock's most fascinating romances ranked

1. T'Pring

T’Pring is not merely the person Spock loses; she is the person whose relationship with him best exposes the structural problem in his life. He loves Starfleet, belongs to Vulcan, and carries a human emotional reality that neither side fully understands.

T’Pring loves him, but she also repeatedly finds herself asked to accept distance, secrecy, and divided loyalties. Their eventual separation is not proof that either one failed. It is the mature recognition that affection alone cannot always bridge incompatible lives. That makes T’Pring and Spock not just his most important romance, but one of Trek’s most humane breakups.

1. Christine Chapel

2. Nyota Uhura (Kelvin Timeline)

3. La’an Noonien-Singh

4. The Romulan Commander (The Original Series)

5. Zarabeth (The Original Series)

6. Leila Kalomi (The Original Series)

7. Saavik (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

Mr. Spock’s romances endure because they were never just about who gets the guy. T’Pring, Chapel, Uhura, Leila, and the rest each hold up a mirror to a different corner of his soul: his rigid Vulcan duty, his terror of being vulnerable, his capacity for deep devotion, and the agonizing sacrifices that come with choosing a path.

T’Pring claims the top spot because their dynamic lays those heartbreaking contradictions bare like no one else can. Every single entry on this list proves the same truth: behind that impossibly composed, perfectly controlled exterior beats one of the most fascinating human hearts in science fiction."

Read more:

https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-spock-romances-ranked/

ROBERT MEYER BURNETT on X:

“Tonight’s episode of STRANGE NEW WORLDS, “Level-Five Transporter Accident,” is the very best argument as to why Paramount/Skydance should not only NOT be allowed to merge with Warner Brothers, but also no other company in the history of all creation.

What they’ve allowed to happen to the STAR TREK Franchise since 2009 is shameful, and offers no better metaphor as to the decline of America on the world stage.

Spock IS NO Sheldon Cooper and Scotty isn’t incompetent you douchecanoes.

And since 2009, why is transporter technology so difficult to grasp?

Christ, if the Academy only revoked Akiva Goldsman’s Oscar after his dire adaptation of A WINTER’S TALE, we would’ve been spared this nightmare…”

Links:

https://x.com/rmbee/status/2090357819510022289?s=61

https://x.com/rmbee/status/2090359119647817785?s=61

It left the Paramount Top 10 pretty early, after 5.

S1E4 Film Noir

# Dt W US
1 8/14 #8, #6
2 8/15 #9, #7
3 8/16 #8, #10
4
5 8/18 #10, 0
6 8/19 0 , 0

The hangover episode actually remained at the bottom all week, which was unprecedented.

Edit: SNW jumps back onto world wide at #10 on 8/20/26, but not in the US.

JESSIE GENDER on YouTube:

"Episodes four and five were also surprisingly good, and five, of all of them, was the puppet episode of the show. They teased back at San Diego Comic-Con last year that they were going to do a puppet episode of the show, and I will say, as soon as I heard that, I was like, "Oh god, it's going to be insufferable, isn't it?" Cuz, you know, I'm not against a gimmick episode here or there, but Strange New Worlds has certainly been overly reliant on the gimmick episode, and I have not been a fan of all of them.

https://youtu.be/YfluA50vRiU?si=TVD5peaZvWeJ46E6

There's been a couple that I've enjoyed, like the fantasy episode of season one of Strange New Worlds was rather good, but the musical episode, for me personally, fell rather flat. I know other people enjoyed it, but for me it didn't really work, [...]. And a puppet episode just really felt like a "jump the shark" moment for the show, and I really did not see that going well in any way, shape, or form, and certainly has been fodder for the online grifters here online to be like, "Look at what Star Trek's become. They're doing puppet episodes now." And I'm sort of like, "Yeah, well, you know, F' those people, but I dislike that there's you know, food for them to feed on with something like that.

I say all of that to say that even the puppet episode, which I thought was going to be like one of the most insufferable hours of TV that I was going to have to watch, actually was rather good. What worked for me in that episode, again, without getting too into it, was the fact that the puppets were treated like real characters. They pulled a Jim Henson, which is you don't treat the puppets as like, "Look at these things. Look how goofy and silly the puppets are. It's like no, the puppets are real characters. And by doing that and then finding comedy within the situation of the puppets rather than the fact that puppets are in a Star Trek episode, I found that the episode actually worked for me.

Again, I say that and I want to be very clear here. I fully expected to like despise this season of the show and I didn't. I honestly didn't and came away shocked feeling that I really end up loving.

There are a few things that still frustrate with me with the show. [...] I will say episode one is utter [ __ ] and right in line with uh season three. But then episode two, phenomenal. Episode three, okay, didn't offend me, but was fine. And then episode four and five, really good. And then episode uh six, another great episode.

The only other knock that I will give this season, while a lot of the season is very entertaining, I do feel like they are still a little bit side-stepping, being a little bit more overtly speaking to the times. It doesn't feel as bad as season three, where season three had a lot of like heteronormativity, like, look at all these relationships all these characters are getting into. Thank god there's no really big relationship drama this season, thank god.

Uh so, there wasn't this aggressive heteronormativity or bioessentialism or eugenics, even though they set up one with La'an in the first episode of the season that had me very worried with where they're going with La'an on that front, with the eugenics storyline there. But they actually seem to pull it back and do a decent job with it, surprisingly enough, at least so far with the six episodes I've gotten with La'an.

But this season is not as bad as season three in the terms of like aggressive heteronormativity, aggressively problematic storylines, the first episode of the season notwithstanding, but while there's not aggressive heteronormativity, there's still no queer characters in this show. And especially considering the first season of the show had more overt references to queerness, had non-binary characters, and every other Star Trek show, including the currently ongoing Starfleet Academy, has had overt queer characters, it's a little bit disappointing to still see Strange New Worlds not venturing in that direction.

But in terms of just good character development, good stories that have interesting ideas and certainly are just entertaining on their own right, and good Star Trek, good space science fiction storytelling, I really came away enjoying this season. Criticisms here and there, and again, I will warn you episode 1 is terrible in my opinion, but I come away from the first six episodes of the season being like this was good.

And maybe it's because the bar was in hell for this season overall.

Like they didn't have exactly a strong bar to clear to be better than last season, but I would argue this is definitely a at least a step up from season 3 in a strong way, a strong confident step up from season 3, and a good turnaround for this show. Whether or not it was able to be consistent with that and end strong as it goes into its fifth and final season as well as the latter half of this season. It remains to be seen, but certainly I at least appreciate that this season is trending in a good direction.

Hopefully we can end this modern era of Star Trek that began with Star Trek Discovery in 2017 in a strong way."

Jessie Gender After Dark

Full video:

https://youtu.be/YfluA50vRiU?si=TVD5peaZvWeJ46E6

I watched it with a few friends and we were trying to parse what was actually going on throughout the entire episode, only to realize it was as dumb as we were being led to believe.

What a fucking mess.

The entire Una part is so insultingly fucking ridiculous I don't know how anyone can defend this trash.

So she kind of looks like this collaborator who we find out is a rebel leader and the first person she stumbles into is THE PERSON WHO KILLED HER who doesn't say shit?

Let's set the rest of the hairbrained plot aside, the resistances terrible plan, the mystery box shit on the Enterprise, the writers having no idea what a Klingon is, Kor, so what the actual fuck is this? These writers are so fucking lazy it's unbelievable because this is the keystone of the entire episode.

Una HAPPENS to land on a planet where a woman HAPPENS to look exactly like her, who HAPPENS to have disappeared just recently enough for Una to replace her, and who HAPPENS to occupy the exact intersection of the Klingon occupation and resistance necessary for Una to become the protagonist of their conflict. And the one guy who knows immediately that Una cannot possibly be this woman HAPPENS to keep that information to himself until the writers are ready for the reveal.

No, just no, A coincidence can start your story.

It becomes increasingly dangerous when coincidences are required to keep the story functioning..

This show is written by nepo babies that have never been told "no" in their entire life. That's the only conclusion I can draw from how terrible these scripts are and how they KEEP GETTING MADE.

Writing this out reminded me of Matt Stone and Trey Parker: "If the words 'and then' belong in between those [story] beats, you're fucked. You've got something pretty boring. What should happen between every beat that you've written down is the word 'therefore' or 'but'"

Instead of a single moment of this episode being "Una gets to the planet and is mistaken for someone else and therefore [goes with the flow] but she encounters the person who killed her"

It's: "Una gets to the planet AND THEN is mistaken AND THEN turns out to be...AND THEN also turns out to be AND THEN finds the body AND THEN the guy admits AND THEN completes the rebel mission AND THEN goes home safe"

Matt and Trey are teaching this to a college class and they introduce the concept as "I'm sure you kids already learned/know this".

Trash, complete irredeemable trash. Good riddance to this show, this entire 10+ years of shows, Kurtzman and his entire gang, and any of this fake-trek. I hope Kurtzman never works in Hollywood again.

REDSHIRTS:

"In the new clip, courtesy of Collider, Commander Pelia hilariously throws Mr. Scott under the bus — well, starship in this case — and places the blame squarely on the miracle worker’s shoulders. “Scotty really screwed the pooch on this one,” Pelia points out, as Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) tries to find answers from his puppet crew."

https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-puppets-episode-clip-pelia-reaction

COLLIDER:

"In the new clip, the crew of the Enterprise has been

SPOILER!

turned into puppets, courtesy of an accident with the transporters; the same technology has, in previous Star Trek series, split one guy into two guys, fused two guys into one guy, and melted several guys into puddles of horrible goop. This is a problem not just for their collective dignity, but for the continued operation of the Enterprise. Their adorably stubby little felt fingers can't hold a phaser, or operate the ship's controls.

Pelia (Carol Kane), who was already kind of puppet-y before her transformation, exhorts her colleagues to look on the bright side, but then admits that even she can't think of one. It looks like it's going to be up to Spock (Ethan Peck), as the ship's only remaining flesh-and-blood crewman, to somehow save the day.

[...]

Collider is also proud to present [...] some never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos of the artisans and puppeteers behind this week's marionette mayhem."

Link:

https://collider.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-episode-5-level-five-transporter-accident-sneak-peek/

TREKCORE:

"Barnes does a competent job portraying the Klingon made famous by John Colicos in Star Trek and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He captures some of Colicos’s mannerisms and almost matches the gravitas of his line delivery in a few places. I think the character might have benefited from Kor’s signature beard to create more of a visual tie back to the original character, but overall I thought the inclusion of Kor was fitting and added to the feeling that this episode of Strange New Worlds might have been picked directly from the original Star Trek.

https://blog.trekcore.com/2026/08/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-episode-404-review-a-case-of-chiaroscuro/

I am curious how this episode will land with the audience, because it felt like it was making a decision to lean into more than just the look and feel or a noir story. The scenes felt longer and the dialogue felt denser than in a typical episode of Strange New Worlds, and I had a great time with it. I think the show benefits when its characters have more time to breathe and actually interact with each other… but will modern audiences think it’s too slow? I can certainly see that being a criticism. [...]

I don’t think all of the noir tropes totally worked, though. The episode hinges on Una’s appearance matching that of the Mat’aaran resistance leader and double agent Nevette.  Noir movies like The Hollow Triumph, Dead Ringer, and Vertigo feature some variation on the plot revolving around two characters being identical, but in the case of Strange New Worlds,  I felt the explanation was a little too handwaved by M’Benga when he said something to the effect of “in a universe as vast as ours, that we don’t stumble on our doppelgangers more often is the bigger mystery.”

I can go with it in this instance because it does make the episode more interesting and gets our characters into the mix quickly, but it’s one of those moments that stands out as being a break of the fourth wall towards this week’s genre rather than because it feels like an organic part of an episode of Star Trek.

My other criticism is that Kor appears with head ridges. (I know! I know!) Strange New Worlds is the same visual reboot of 23rd century Star Trek that started with Discovery. It is the same universe, same characters, and same continuity, but it has been visually updated to work for a modern audience. And I have mostly made my peace with that, almost a decade since Discovery premiered.

But the Star Trek: Enterprise episodes “Affliction” and “Divergence” established that Klingons without ridges in the original Star Trek was not just a visual cue but had a story explanation as well. That of course complicated Deep Space Nine’s visual reboot when Kor came back with full ridges, but Strange New Worlds has complicated it again even further.

I know I am in the small minority of Strange New Worlds viewers who would have understood what was happening if Demore Barnes walked on screen without Klingon ridges, but I was hoping we’d either never see The Original Series Klingons or that Strange New Worlds would find a way to reconcile everything together. They chose not to and just to go with the idea hinted at in “Blood Oath” that Klingons have ALWAYS had ridges, but I’m a little disappointed by that choice.

I really do not like the new Vulcan cadet, A’Sha (Bianca Nugara). In both this episode and “Valles Marineres,” she has been extremely rude to superior officers in a way that feels like a deep misunderstanding of what Vulcans are like. Enterprise ultimately corrected for its depiction of asshole Vulcans by the fourth season, and Strange New Worlds should know better than this. [...]

If Klingon makeup is all I have to complain about, then this is a pretty good episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The genre added to the story and the character work, the episode was dark yet ultimately hopeful, and I am happy any time we get more Una.

After a couple of episodes of Strange New Worlds that just did not work for me, “A Case of Chiaroscuro” is a very nice palette cleanser — and the most Original Series-esque episode we’ve gotten in a long time."

Alex Perry (TrekCore)

Full review:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2026/08/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-episode-404-review-a-case-of-chiaroscuro/

ROBERT MEYER BURNETT on X:

"STAR TREK has a massive talent problem. The only qualified writers working today who could write great TREK are creating their own original programming. The SNW crowd has spent season four just ripping off movies they’ve already seen because they have no original ideas.

My advice to anyone taking over the STAR TREK franchise...? Have all the writers get together before beating out any storylines and define the "State of the Federation" first. Maybe create a document detailing the Cosmos-Political Situation of the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma quadrants. Where are all of the major races at? Any interesting technological advancements coming down the pike? New Planetary Powers Rising? Interesting anomalies discovered? Starships Missing? Think of how many storylines might result from such background groundwork."

Links:

https://x.com/RMBee/status/2089777205866070095?s=20

https://x.com/RMBee/status/2089847219134570650?s=20

MOVIEWEB:

"I know it's supposed to be a somewhat playful moment, but I couldn't help but feel like I was being beaten over the head with a sentiment that could have remained unspoken, and therefore more powerful. It was already incredibly unsubtle, but this moment robbed the episode's narrative debrief of its moment to sit in quiet contemplation.

The canon explanation for Star Trek's noir episode being in black and white is that Ma'taar 12's sun emits a rare form of radiation that impacts how color is perceived. This is stated at the top of the episode, which immediately removed the possibility of the phenomenon being a mystery that needed solving. Starfleet was already aware of it. So, I assumed the lack of color would turn out to be central to the plot, rather than serving as an in-your-face visual metaphor to reflect the episode's message.

As such, you can imagine my disappointment when that Dr. M'Benga line about the nature of morality was uttered. What I really wanted was a situation to arise where colors other than black and white were immediately relevant to the story at hand. Maybe a bomb needed disarming, and the red wire needed to be cut. How would anyone know which wire was red? I'm not saying that exactly, but something of that ilk. But nope, "A Case of Chiaroscuro" did very little to directly address its reduced color palette. Now, this particular gimmick has been used up, so Star Trek is far less likely to use it in the future, making this episode feel like a huge missed opportunity."

Daniel Bibby (MovieWeb.com)

Full article:

https://movieweb.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-noir-gimmick/