Buckle up, Trekkies, If you thought Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season Three was exciting, you’re in for an even wilder ride when Strange New Worlds Season Four premieres on July 23.
Considering Paramount announced Strange New Worlds will come to an end next season, Season Four feels like it’s preparing us to say goodbye to this particular crew. Several characters have clearly begun to outgrow the Enterprise, while others are growing into their future roles. Of course, growth brings change, and change is uncomfortable. This season pulls several of the crew out of their comfort zones and shows us how they became the heroes we know.
The Captain
Season Four picks up where Season Three left off. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) is still mourning Captain Batel’s (Melanie Scrofano) sacrifice to save the galaxy from an ancient evil. You know, that old chestnut. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, she becomes an immortal, multi-dimensional being, boy has to move on. Pike is trying to move on by taking on as much work as he possibly can, but he’s not finding the same joy he once did in the Captain’s Chair. He’s reached the point where temporary distractions aren’t working anymore; he needs to face what’s eating at him.
The Crew
Meanwhile, his crew is learning that when the captain takes on more work, so does everyone else. Not only has Pike been burning his candle at both ends; he’s burning everyone else’s as well.
Number One
Season Four sees Lieutenant Commander Una “Number One” Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) make some hard choices as well. She’s been living aboard the Enterprise as an out-and-proud Illyrian for over a year. The Enterprise has always been her safe space, even before she admitted who/what she was. Now that she doesn’t have to hide her truth, she begins to question what opportunities may be out there for her. We also see Una grow increasingly uncomfortable when she has to pretend to be someone she isn’t.
Ortegas and Scotty
The only crew member who doesn’t seem to mind all the extra work is Ortegas (Melissa Navia). When you love what you do, you never work a day in your life, and everyone loves when she flies the ship. Her fancy flying doesn’t impress everyone, though, especially the engineer who has to fix what she breaks every time she pushes the ship harder than she needs to.
That engineer happens to be Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (Martin Quinn). The way Ortegas flies the Enterprise, the ship needs way more maintenance than it should, which makes Scotty’s job twice as hard as it should be. This type of situation is annoying on a good day, and after dealing with it for months on end, Scotty has reached the end of his metaphorical rope. He tries telling her to take it easy by adding warning alarms whenever she gets a little lead-footed, but Ortegas just ignores them, which upsets Scotty even more. Ortegas thinks it’s all in good spirits, but Scotty is taking it personally. Don’t worry, Trekkies; the interpersonal conflict doesn’t last long, and before you know it, Ortegas and Scotty are making a buddy comedy. Of course, getting there is quite the journey for both of them, and anything can happen when the crew is on shore leave.
Spock and La’an
Meanwhile, Spock (Ethan Peck) and La’an’s (Christina Chong) romance is progressing, until… it isn’t. When La’an remembers she only wanted to keep it casual with no commitments, her emotional deflector shields go up. She wasn’t comfortable being “drawer people,” as she put it, and they’ve gone well beyond that. La’an has always been self-conscious of her unique heritage and the abilities it’s given her. Her time with Spock made her forget all that for a moment, but it was always at the back of her mind. Her reluctance to turn back into a human from being a Vulcan (Romulan?) didn’t sit well with her. Sure, Spock was able to convince her to do it with a beautifully choreographed dance sequence, but she felt he shouldn’t have had to in the first place. La’an wants some time to work on herself, so she sends poor Spock to the friend zone.
Spock, on the other hand, has enjoyed this exploration of his human emotions, so he’s blind-sided when La’an gives him the “maybe we should just be friends” speech. Getting dumped three times in two years can make anyone wonder if emotions are really worth it, which leads Spock to the logical conclusion that maybe his Vulcan ancestors were onto something after all. Season Four finds Spock in a vulnerable emotional state in need of someone, anyone, to turn to. He wants to find his logic again, so he reaches out to the most logical person he can think of. He also needs to find someone to help deal with his emotions. He needs… a friend.
James T. Kirk
Enter James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). The Kirk brother not assigned to the Enterprise turns up yet again right when everyone needs him. Jim Kirk is dealing with his own issue; the on-again-off-again relationship with Carol Marcus is strained by his attempt to balance his Starfleet career with parenthood. This brings up some old remember-when-dad-used-to memories between the Kirk brothers, and Jim is starting to recognize why Carol’s patience with him is wearing thin.
A friend in need is a friend indeed, and Spock has been, and always shall be, Jim Kirk’s BFF. How they get there is a story in and of itself. Carol and Jim are officially off-again, and Spock is on the rebound from La’an’s unexpected friend-zoning. Captain Pike may have taught Spock about commiseration, but Jim Kirk showed him how it’s really done. Sometimes, the best self-care after a break-up is a weekend bender in Vegas, and that’s essentially what they end up doing. I’m sure the Tribble was just for medicinal use.
M’Benga and Chapel
While Season Four showed us the genesis of the relationships between James T. Kirk and his future crew, it also shows us the beginning of the end of one. Trauma-bonded Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) hit a crossroads in their relationship. M’Benga’s whole purpose for exploring the galaxy was to find a cure for his daughter, Rukiya. That hasn’t been the case for a while now, and the years of travel are starting to wear on him. He needs a break.
This isn’t happy news to Chapel. They’ve been each other’s emotional support person since J’Gal, and she’s not thrilled at the prospect of having to navigate life without Joseph around. While they’re having it out, M’Benga lets slip that Chapel never took a permanent assignment aboard Enterprise; she’s remained on temporary status this whole time. This gave her the freedom to pursue fellowships, such as Dr. Korby’s (Cillian O’Sullivan), but that fellowship has ended. Chapel is faced with the most challenging decision of her life — does she stay aboard the Enterprise and try to navigate life without M’Benga, or does she go, too, either with him or not?
Pelia
Pelia (Carol Kane), as usual, is just vibing. When you’re a 5,000 year-old Lanthanite, you learn how to fit in just about anywhere, and Pelia has made her own niche with the crew. Any discomfort or resentment over her replacing Hemmer (Bruce Horak) as chief engineer seems to be gone. In Season Four, we see Pelia grow from a feared former Academy professor to a real mentor for Scotty. She’s always seen great potential in him (“One of my greatest students who sadly got some of my worst grades.”), but he’s still getting in his own way. Pelia encourages Scotty to see within himself the miracle-working talent she’s always seen in him. Also, Puppet Pelia is everything you expect it to be and more.
Uhura
Throughout all this, Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) is becoming the “universally-known, super-translating, unflappable, hard-working badass” Ensign Mariner (Tawny Newsome) told her she would be, but she still has a ways to go. Sure, she can hold her own in a situation now, but we can still see the anxiety in her eyes. While she’s still a far cry from fan-dancing naked in a desert, that kind of confidence is building inside her.
Guest Stars
Star Trek has had a long tradition of bringing big names to share their stage, and it’s not just Hollywood royalty. Figures like Melvin Belli (“And the Children Shall Lead”), Stephen Hawking (“Descent, Part I”), and Stacey Abrams (“Coming Home”) have graced Star Trek screens throughout its history. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues that proud tradition. Look for these familiar faces to appear in this season’s episodes:
- Saffron Burrows (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., YOU)
- Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio)
- Joe Morton (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Justice League)
- Andy McQueen (Revival, Paradise)
And more. Each episode has at least one familiar face. A few also have very familiar names that we haven’t heard in a while. The Strange New Worlds writers dug into the Star Trek vaults to bring us some old friends, one of whom you might have even forgotten (he was only in one episode that technically never aired).
The Season
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has reached a transition point in the series. Beyond Paramount’s announcement that the series will end with its fifth season, Season Four is getting us ready for life beyond Captain Pike and his crew.
With Star Trek: Year One still an unconfirmed rumor and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy also ending before its time next year, the franchise’s future is unclear. Don’t ever count Star Trek out, though. It may go into hibernation, but it’s never really gone.
In the meantime, Strange New Worlds continues to offer up the best of Star Trek. Some episodes will make you laugh. Some will make you cry. One is guaranteed to give you nightmares. They all continue to offer us hope that we can rise above and overcome the obstacles that divide us.
Raise shields and brace for impact. Season Four of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres on Paramount+ on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
