Oh, well done, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Well done.
Everyone loves a bookend, but I especially enjoy a perfectly paired premiere and finale that frame a season which primes the audience without ever tipping its hand.
This might be the first time I’ve ever had that happen.
I didn’t even see the clever majesty of it all until I stepped back and realized that every genre-flex and creative homage has been preparing us for the sheer audacity of this finale. Cheers to you, my friends.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Tomorrow’s Enterprise”
Submitted for your consideration, dear readers, let’s begin with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 1, “Valles Marineris.”
The season opens with time travel. It sends the entire Enterprise back in time 65 million years.
In providing the Martians with the means to obliterate their enemies, they cause the annihilation of Mars and create the asteroid that wipes out the dinosaurs.
Here, on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 10, “Tomorrow’s Enterprise,” they end with time travel, playing up a Frequency (2000)-esque communication between Now Uhura and a-year-from-now Future Uhura.
Seeing Double
Throughout the season, the Enterprise crew repeatedly encountered other versions of themselves.
On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 2, “The Griffin Incident,” the haunted ship manifested horrific versions of real individuals to torture and test La’an, Jim Kirk, and Spock.
Una discovers her dead doppelganger on Mat’Aar-12 on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 4, “A Case of Chiaroscuro.”
Most recently, the Kingdom of Elysium represented the shadow selves of many crew members, though La’an was the only one to interact with herself on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9, “Once La’an a Time.”
And, of course, on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5, “Level-Five Transporter Accident,” they were all—except Spock—puppets.
Given all that front-loading, having Uhura contact her future/past self, switch places, and collaboratively facilitate the birth of a temporal space baby doesn’t seem so wild, does it?
See what I mean about priming us for the finale?
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One thing about ten-episode seasons is that our heroes seem to run into rare anomalies with greater frequency.
From Category 10 Interstellar Space Storms to strong force neutrinos, ghost ships to miracle planets, infrared blackbody spectra to white holes, 70% of the season’s adventures involved highly improbable encounters.
With puppet antics and inebriating planets in the rearview, the idea that white holes are the B-side of black holes almost makes sense, doesn’t it?
A Tale of Two Enterprises
The level of fan service served up on “Tomorrow’s Enterprise” tips the scales something fierce.
In the year between the two Uhuras, the Enterprise crew and appearance change dramatically.
Pike accepts the promotion to Admiral, leaving Jim Kirk to take over as captain.
Kirk’s crew includes a much more diverse mix of species. There’s at least one Caitian and an Aurelian aboard, which makes one wonder about how those two species get along.
Although we didn’t see Bones, we learn that he and Boyce have basically taken over M’Benga’s role on the ship.
The most obvious change is the uniforms and hairstyles. Both the future versions of Christine Chapel and Uhura adopt looks more in line with their characters’ style as they appeared on Star Trek: The Original Series.
And the writers snuck SO many Easter Eggs into the dialogue. Perhaps the best was Future Jim Kirk’s Gary Mitchell clarification.
We were holed up on Starbase 6. That solar storm had every ship in spacedock for parsecs. And we played poker for five days straight. You, me, Ortegas, Gary. Mitchell. Jenna’s stepbrother. — Jim Kirk
And, of course, they hint at what happens to the non-legacy characters after their Enterprise tenure.
Ortegas becomes a pilot instructor. M’Benga’s gone to Vulcan.
And La’an? Her fate is terrifyingly unknown. Jim Kirk’s reaction to her name doesn’t bode well.
Uhura’s Season 4 Journey
Of all the introspective character development presented throughout Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Uhura’s evolution from overachieving ensign to galactic midwife is the most significant.
On the season premiere, “Valles Marineris,” her main goal was to mentor Cadet A’Sha. That doesn’t go well.
While on shore leave in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 3, “Human Best Friend,” she discovers how freeing it can be to let go of expectations.
By “A Case of Chiaroscuro,” she’s picking up M’Benga’s espionage tips.
And the Trelane-facilitated therapy on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 7, “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass,” has her open up about her feelings of loneliness and disconnect.
After the events of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 8, “Orders of Magnitude,” she’s promoted, only to discover her Elysian shadow self on “Once La’an a Time” is a badass queen who can transform into a dragon.
Without a doubt, Celia Rose Gooding has had the best costumes this season.
The Double Bluff
It seems that the trait that defines and distinguishes Future Uhura from Now Uhura is her ability to bluff believably.
It’s an odd thing to harp on, but they put a lot of effort into fleshing out the idea that the mature Uhura lies really well.
And yet, we already knew that she could lie convincingly after her interrogation on Mat’Aar-12.
Perhaps it was just a ploy to shoehorn in the idea of regular poker games. Or maybe it symbolized her growth as a communications officer.
Bluffing, after all, is a more complex form of communication, conveying a misleading message in a convincing way. A particular skill that will come in handy in the future.
Living in the Now
When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds first premiered in 2022, Pike’s obsession with his future drove the show.
In fact, it wasn’t until the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 finale, “New Life and New Civilizations,” that avoiding his destiny stopped taking up so much real estate in his head.
As we approach the handover to the TOS crew, the focus shifts from Pike, the ship’s “dad,” to Uhura, the most junior “kid.”
Where Pike’s fixation on his future came from knowing and dreading it, Now Uhura worried that her future was too unknown and unpredictable.
Future Uhura, having lived through a year more of Enterprise’s adventures and its changes, offers some sincere advice.
Don’t we all wish for the chance to give our younger selves the wisdom we wish we’d had?
My favorite bit of brilliance on “Tomorrow’s Enterprise” isn’t the nod to one of the best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes.
It isn’t the cheeky naming of the shuttlecraft or the preciously perfect timing of everything from growing the dilithium diamond to Spock’s mathematical calculations.
The sparkling moment is Uhura’s final log entry.
Stardate: Today
Not tomorrow and not yesterday. The past is over: The future hasn’t happened yet. The only moment that’s real, that we actually live in, is now. It’s the only day that matters. How you spend it and how you define it. My future is not all I think about anymore. I’m not afraid of it. I’m lucky to be here, in the moment, to not know what adventure will come my way every week.
Not only is it written and shot so we can’t tell if it’s Now Uhura or Future Uhura who records it, but its message of gratitude carries over to the Trek fandom.
It’s meant for everyone who worries about the franchise’s future, and a gentle nudge for those who can’t move past their nostalgia.
What a beautiful way to close out the season.
Hailing Frequencies Open
For the last time this season, let’s hear from you, Fanatics!
What did you think of “Tomorrow’s Enterprise”? Where do you think Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 5 will take us?
Drop your thoughts and theories into the comments! Let’s chat while we wait for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 2! And don’t forget to grade this season’s finale in the poll below!
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