Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 4
"A Space Adventure Hour"
Writer: Dana Horgan & Kathryn Lyn
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Cast: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn, Rebecca Romijn
Tonight's episode of Strange New Worlds, "A Space Adventure Hour", beams onto screens with all of the charm, imagination, and heart that made Star Trek a pop culture phenomenon. Directed by franchise veteran Jonathan Frakes, who's been dabbling in the final frontier both behind and in front of the camera for close to 40 years now, this episode manages to do something delightfully rare — it honors Trek's roots while boldly trying something new. And has an absolute blast doing it.
The episode opens with a wonderfully bizarre prologue — a grainy, gloriously over-the-top in-universe show called The Last Frontier, complete with rubbery aliens, eye-popping color palettes, and melodramatic line readings so bad they're actually good. Paul Wesley hams it up brilliantly as Maxwell Saint, clearly channelling all the swagger and confidence of a young William Shatner, while Anson Mount portrays T.K. Bellows, a Roddenberry-style creator figure fighting desperately to keep his sci-fi dream together against the slide of poor ratings. Meanwhile, Rebecca Romjin steals scenes as Sunny Lupino, an homage to Lucille Ball and her role in shepherding Star Trek to the small screen. It's a fun, exaggerated tip of the hat to the roots of the franchise, and while it's not afraid to poke fun at the cheesiness of it all, it does so with real affection, indulging in the camp rather than mocking it.
Back on the Enterprise, La'an is assigned to test out a cutting-edge recreation system serving as a precursor to the holodeck. She programs a mystery scenario inspired by her favorite Amelia Moon detective novels and steps into a noir-tinged world filled with suspects, secrets, and a cast of characters who just so happen to look like her fellow crewmates. The recreation system uses crew pattern data to build out characters in a simulation — allowing Kirk, M'Benga, Chapel and others to show up in 1960s-inspired personas that let the cast stretch their legs in fresh, often hilarious, ways.
La'an takes center stage in this story as the sharp-witted detective Amelia Moon, with Spock playing the part of her prudish partner. Their chemistry simmers throughout the case, which begins as a glamorous Hollywood whodunit before slowly shifting into something far more dangerous. When characters start dying off, and the program starts adapting beyond its original parameters, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary simulation. The system, linked to the Enterprise's power grid, has become self-aware and has begun reworking the story to challenge La'an to the limit. The twist? The program casts the person she trusts most as her final adversary!
What could have just ended up a stylish genre exercise becomes something much more layered. The episode deepens La'an's inner conflict by exploring her complicated dynamic with Spock. As the story evolves, she's forced to not only confront the artificial mystery unfolding in front of her, but her own emotional walls. Christina Chong gives one of her best performances to date, finding some real vulnerability and strength beneath all of the gumshoe bravado.
Meanwhile, Scotty and the rest of the Enterprise crew work feverishly to prevent the runaway simulation from crashing the ship. These scenes do a nice job of grounding the stakes without dragging down the momentum of the main plot. However, the real magic of the episode lies in how well it balances that tension with a sense of play. Jonathan Frakes has proven countless times he's more than capable of crafting compelling Trek for both the big and small screen (seriously, just go back and watch First Contact and you'll see what I'm talking about), and here he directs with the confident hand of someone who knows exactly when to lean into a dramatic beat — or throw in a cheeky legacy nod like Paul Wesley breaking a prop chair while trying to execute the famed "Riker maneuver."
However, underneath all that glamour and genre-bending fun, what makes this episode so great is that it never loses sight of what Star Trek has always stood for. "A Space Adventure Hour" takes time away from its stylish sleuthing to acknowledge how this franchise has inspired countless generations to dream big, build boldly, and look to the stars. It's not just self-referential — it's self-reflective, reminding us why Star Trek continues to matter so much to so many people. There's a real sincerity here that cuts through the camp, reminding fans new and old alike that Starfleet's real mission isn't just exploration — it's also imagination.
In the episode's final moments, after La'an successfully shuts down the simulation, she meets with Spock. The walls are down. The mystery is over. And at last, their long-simmering connection culminates in a tender kiss — honest, passionate and long overdue.
With its embellished performances, witty writing, and an unabashed affection for legacy, "A Space Adventure Hour" stands out as another stellar installment this season. It celebrates Trek's past, embraces its quirks, and charts a course toward an even more adventurous future. No, it's definitely not going to be for everyone, but with all the campy cleverness and heart, this writer walked away wholly satisfied with the final product. And that, to me, is what mattered most of all.
