TL;DR – They are puppets.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

It feels like Season Four of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is on a mission to see how many different films they can create their own version of. For example, last week’s Casablanca homage with The Case of the Chiaroscuro. But of all the inspirations, I was not expecting The Muppet Show.   

So, to set the scene, Scottie (Martin Quinn) hopes to set a new record for the longest transport as the USS Enterprise makes a slow trip to Vulcan while on pirate patrol. Scottie needs Spock’s (Ethan Peck) help, but he is struggling to centre himself. Everything was going well until the puppet Scottie was using caused a feedback surge, and soon the cast is teleporting away. When Spock arrives back on the ship, he can’t find anyone until he notices something felt move, because all the crew have been turned into puppets. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

It’s Time to Play the Music

This was a question that I saw asked about The Case of the Chiaroscuro: did there need to be an explanation for the fun gimmick of the week? I kind of like that they took the time to give a plausible, if wildly silly, premise as to why this all happened. Because you kind of have to; yes, there is a lot you can hand-wave away, but there must be a core of plausibility, even if it is a very, very, very small core. The best at doing this is, of course, Star Trek: Lower Decks, which managed to get away with it for five seasons [and I would not be opposed to more]. Strange New Worlds has been a bit of a hit [see Those Old Scientists] and a miss [see Human Best Friend], but this week it is a hit. It was nice to see that they remembered the slight change-up from Enterprise that the Orions are secretly a matriarchal society, though was anyone else slightly surprised that their prison restraints are very bondage-coded from a visual perspective?       

It’s Time to Light the Lights

Of course we must talk about those puppets, and if you are going to look at puppets, there is no other company to work with outside the masters at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Each of the puppets was perfect for what they had to do. Each is a perfect encapsulation of the characters down to their hair, and yes, Pike’s (Anson Mount) majestic locks remain. The look is important, but there is a feel to them that is just as important, and the way they move and run is such a delight. The juxtaposition of the puppets and the few full-sized characters is where a lot of the humour of the show can be found, and they revel in the dichotomy. It also gives a lot of space for the now voice cast to have a bit of fun with their characters in a way they would not normally have. While it was clear that The Muppets was one of the main inspirations here, I could not help but also feel the impact of the Smile Time episode of Angel.

It’s Time to Meet the Muppets on The Muppet Show Tonight

Okay, we have covered the set-up and the execution of the silliness, but how does the story work? Well, overall, it works quite well. The foundation of the Enterprise being in trouble because only Spock can operate the controls, mirroring his own personal struggles, is a strong one. It is clear that the cast, including our guests this week, Rachael Harris & Joe Lo Truglio, is having a ball, and that charm is infectious. Indeed, it almost plasters over some of the issues of the episode, such as the prequel issue of there being no concern about Pike getting spaced. I am glad that they actually embraced their puppet-ness in the last ten minutes and ramped up the chaos after a classic Pike monologue. However, if there is one thing that profoundly irked me, it was that they pulled a “it was all a dream” card at the end. Embrace Your Silliness! M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) just stabbed an Orion in the groin with knitting needles while yelling bloody murder, the musical score is full of slapstick, Pike got yeeted across the bridge in slow motion, and Pelia (Carol Kane) just mauled a dude. Don’t walk that back.

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? Absolutely. This was such a fun blast of an episode. I had so much fun from the beginning to almost all the way to the end. They took an absurd concept and made it work with gusto. Have you seen Star Trek: Strange New Worlds yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Directed by – Jordan Canning
Written by – Henry Alonso Myers & Dana Horgan
Created by – Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, & Jenny Lumet
Based On – Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry
Production/Distribution Companies – CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, Weed Road Pictures, HMRX, Roddenberry Entertainment, & Paramount +
Starring – Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn, & Rebecca Romijn
With – Rachael Harris, Joe Lo Truglio, Gia Sandhu, Adrian Holmes, & Carol Kane
And – Alex Kapp, Landon Nesbitt, & Darryl Scheelar