Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review/Recap... Yeah, This Is the One With the Puppets...

Spoilers travel for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 5, “Level Five Transporter Accident.”

Alright then, the puppet occurrence is yet here.

We’ve known this 1 was coming ever since it was archetypal teased, what, 2 San Diego Comic-Cons ago? The latest successful high-concept Strange New Worlds episodes – this straight follows the zany Hangover riff from 2 weeks ago, and past week’s movie noir homage – “Level Five Transporter Accident” surely does consciousness similar an accident… but not 1 that tin beryllium fixed with specified needle and thread the mode the puppets present can. Indeed, its lone redeeming grace is the show from the ever reliable Ethan Peck arsenic Spock, who manages to locomotion the enactment betwixt comedic Vulcan acting and conflicted Vulcan acting conscionable fine.

Ethan Peck holds the puppet occurrence of Strange New Worlds unneurotic successful a precise Spock-like way.

When Scotty (Martin Quinn) tries to propulsion his transporter tech to its limits – a bully motion to the Kelvinverse movies, wherever that Scotty (Simon Pegg) makes immoderate large leaps with the aged beam ‘em up exertion – things spell awry. Since he’s utilizing his puerility puppet “Little Ricky” arsenic a trial subject, erstwhile the strategy gets screwy, someway everyone onboard winds up beaming into puppet versions of themselves. And mostly annoying puppets astatine that.

I’ve complained astir this before, but 1 of my issues with these Strange New Worlds conception episodes is that a batch of said concepts person been done before, if not advertisement infinitum, connected different shows. The philharmonic occurrence “Subspace Rhapsody” was large and all, but you know, not precisely an archetypal idea. A movie noir episode? Been there. LARPing with the crew? Mmmhmmm. And present we get a puppet episode, the thought of which I tin callback seeing astatine slightest arsenic acold backmost arsenic connected Angel 22 years ago, erstwhile it felt similar a caller idea.

And look, there’s thing incorrect with recycling aged premises, but if you’re gonna bash it, you gotta bring thing caller to the table. It’s got to work, and “Level Five Transporter Accident” mostly doesn’t. For starters, by its precise nature, the conception of having astir of your formed crook into puppets is going to bring a heightened consciousness of absurdity to things; the characters adjacent harness this thought successful their quest to decision the nasty if forgettable Orion villains of the week. But there’s thing astir abruptly proceeding voices similar Anson Mount’s and Christina Chong’s coming from the puppets that I recovered excessively jarring. It’s each expected to beryllium amusive and funny, but it’s mostly not, and erstwhile again Mount’s instrumentality connected Pike veers into “this is not a Starfleet captain” territory, wool stuffing notwithstanding.

So what does enactment here? I deliberation I laughed retired large twice, and some times it was involving the feline astatine the navigation console adjacent to Ortegas (Melissa Navia) who would usually person been a Red Shirt but alternatively present is conscionable a comic puppet. His wordless panic astir the concern is great. And the puppet designs themselves (created by the Jim Henson Company) are truly bully – like, they should merchantability them connected the Paramount+ store due to the fact that radical would privation to cod them all. Oh, and the shots adjacent the extremity of the episode, with the unit each floating astir successful abstraction successful puppet form, are conscionable rather saccharine (and really, is however the hr should’ve ended, alternatively of turning it into an “It was each a dream” script for immoderate reason).

And past there’s the Spock stuff, which saves the occurrence from disaster. Peck’s comedic timing is notable, arsenic helium has to tally astir doing everyone’s jobs for them to support the vessel running, since their small puppet fingers are mostly useless. The histrion truly has mastered Spock – helium and Mount person been playing these characters since 2019 astatine this point, erstwhile they debuted connected Star Trek: Discovery – and helium ever rolls with the assorted curveballs the writers person thrown astatine him. Too Vulcan, excessively human, excessively Vulcan/human, he’s done it all, and present he’s dealing with not conscionable getting dumped by different crewmate (though La’an was beauteous graceful successful the dumping, dissimilar Chapel previously), but besides successful having to spell to his ex, T’Pring (Gia Sandhu), for assistance successful the aftermath of the incidental onboard the Griffin earlier this season. I’m gladsome to spot they didn’t conscionable driblet that thread, and continuing to research its interaction connected some Spock and La’an is welcome.

Little Ricky strikes again!

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• About it each being a dream… was it? Little Ricky definite seemed malevolent successful that past shot… oregon possibly Spock conscionable needs much logic training.
• But what is this “studying logic” happening anyway? Hasn’t Spock been doing that since helium was successful diapers?
• Could Little Ricky beryllium a notation to the onscreen lad of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz from I Love Lucy? The puppet adjacent has a reddish harvest of hairsbreadth connected its head. Don’t forget, the pair’s accumulation institution Desilu was down the archetypal Star Trek series.
• Pelia (Carol Kane) pointing retired that they shouldn’t beryllium capable to perceive each different successful abstraction and however it doesn’t adjacent marque consciousness is an appreciated jab astatine the grumps successful the assemblage similar me.