It’s time to start the music.
It’s time to light the lights.
It’s time to get things started on Strange New Worlds tonight.

Wait… That’s not how it goes. This is the episode Trekkies have been waiting for since they saw the teaser at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 — the puppet episode. No, that’s not a typo; we’ve really been waiting that long. Orions attempt to take over the Enterprise, but a transporter accident turns the entire crew, except for Science Officer Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck), into puppets.

Prologue

Stardate 3019.4

The U.S.S. Enterprise is en route to Spock’s homeworld of Vulcan, where he plans to immerse himself in the study of logic. His recent experience aboard the Griffin still has him questioning his own mind, and he’s hoping a little time with the Vulcan masters can help him find his center again.

Little Ricky

On the way, they’ve been ordered by Starfleet to slow down to investigate reports of pirate activity in the area. Engineer Lieutenant Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn) decides to take advantage of the extra time by extending the transporter’s range. The current maximum range is 25,000 kilometers (km), and Scotty’s been able to reach 27,000 km in simulations, but he wants to bump it up to 30,000 km. His goal is the U.S.S. Whitmere at 29,747 km away. Specifically, Deck 8, Crew Quarters B-37, home of his Starfleet Academy rival, Deckland Milder.

Scotty needs something, preferably not living, to test the transporter with, so he chooses a terrifying hand puppet named “Little Ricky.” Little Ricky is a running joke in Scotty’s family, used by his brothers to torment him when he was little. Now, Scotty plans to use it to torment his former Academy rival.

Spock is very clearly disturbed by Little Ricky, so he makes a quick exit to keep his “morning calisthenics” date with Security Officer Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). Scotty lets him go but warns him he’ll need Spock’s help later.

It’s Not You, It’s Me

It takes two to tango, and Spock may be ready for their morning dance lesson, but La’an isn’t. She wants to cancel again, and Spock wants to know why. La’an reminds him that they were keeping this casual, “fun times,” and now feels the relationship has run its course. She’s been feeling off lately and wants some time to explore what she’s going through. In other words, “It’s not you, it’s me. Let’s just be friends.”

Spock is left with the realization that he’s been dumped three times in the last two years. Logic sounds very appealing right now.

Give Him the Chair

Up on the bridge, Number One / Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) is reminding Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) of the Orion pirate activity in the area they’re supposed to be looking out for. Pike is less interested in pirates than he is in his new Captain’s Chair. Chief Engineer Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) designed it specifically for Pike. Fully biometric, Pike points out that he could run the Enterprise from there with the touch of his hand and a few voice commands.

It even hums when he touches it. Oh, yes; that’s his chair.

Hell Hath No Fury

Not only has Spock lost another relationship, he’s also lost the therapeutic tool he was using to focus his mind. He tries some good old-fashioned meditation, but he’s about as focused as the Hubble Telescope in 1990. He’s trying to return to logic, so he turns to the most logical person he can think of who might still talk to him — his former fiancée, T’Pring (Gia Sandhu).

T’Pring may have taken his call, but she’s been holding onto a lot of resentment over being cheated on and still has a few things to say. She lets Spock know in no uncertain terms that she doesn’t appreciate being taken for granted as the “next-best thing” once again; he only called because he can’t get to Vulcan yet. T’Pring sends Spock on an all-expense paid guilt trip by reminding him that he was the one who wanted to explore his human side, but now, here he is, crawling back to logic like she knew he would someday.

Spock admits he was a jerk and that he is, indeed, crawling back to logic. He offers to observe Kal Rekk, the Vulcan Day of Solitude and Atonement, as self-punishment, but T’Pring lets him know he’s two weeks too late; it’s already past.

Before Spock can offer up another suggestion, Scotty calls over the comm to let him know, “Little Ricky is ready to fly!” T’Pring overhears Scotty’s call and suggests that maybe a big part of his problem is that he hangs out with too many weirdos. Against her better judgment, T’Pring agrees to come to him on the Enterprise as long as he gives her a ride, but he has to promise her that there will be absolutely no hi jinks this time. Spock can only promise to do his best, and T’Pring calls out his lack of commitment.

“Oh, Dear”

Spock’s errand for Scotty places him in a shuttlecraft setting relay buoys. He places the last one when Scotty lets him know T’Pring has arrived, and he’d better get back. Spock agrees and heads toward the Enterprise.

At that moment, Scotty sends Little Ricky into subspace in his effort to make Deckland Milder question his intelligence and self-worth. There’s a malfunction in the transporter, however, and instead of just transporting Little Ricky, the Enterprise, crew and all, go through the buffer.

Spock returns to the Enterprise and makes his way to the Bridge to try to figure out what happened. What he finds is the greatest test to his logic he’s ever faced. Everyone on the ship, including T’Pring, has turned into puppets.

Act One

Ya Think?!

The senior staff gathers in the Ready Room to figure out what happened and share a collective “WTF” moment. All except Pelia, however, who’s treating this like another Thursday.

Scotty confesses something went wrong when he tried to transport Little Ricky. He explains that Little Ricky was in the pattern buffer when quantum particulates caused the energy to turn outward. It’s really just a simple transporter accident on a much higher scale. Spock, who wasn’t having the best day to begin with, shoots him a “Ya think?!” look and describes it as a Level-Five Transporter Accident, which is apparently really, really bad.

Enterprise Pilot and recent shore leave buddy Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) calls it “another Scotty screw-up.” Pelia aims below the belt when she comments that Deckland wouldn’t have made this mistake and accuses him of screwing the pooch in front of the rest of the crew.

Ouch.

Whatever Scotty did, Pike orders Scotty to fix it now, but when Scotty promises to figure it out, Pelia digs in deeper by pointing out that Deckland would’ve figured it out by now.

Not cool, Pelia.

Chief Medical Office Doctor Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) chimes in to remind everyone that this is a medical problem, too. There’s no telling what this has done to them physically. He’s trained to treat people, not puppets.

Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) agrees, adding she doesn’t know what this does to their genome.

La’an points out she can’t even operate her controls.

Communications Officer Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) echoes the sentiment, complaining that her controls won’t recognize her fuzzy fingers.

When Pike wonders aloud how they’re going to operate the ship, everyone comes to the same conclusion. It’s going to have to be Spock.

Hi, Bob

Pike makes the weirdest call to his boss and former Enterprise CO, Admiral Robert April (Adrian Holmes), to report that due to a Level-Five Transporter Accident, he and his crew are now puppets. April admits he’s never even heard of a “Level-Five Transporter Accident.” Pike tells him to take a look around; it’s a thing.

April has so many questions, and he starts by asking Pike who’s controlling him (which is a tactful way of asking him if there’s a hand up his butt). Pike assures the admiral that he and everyone else are in complete control of themselves.

The next obvious question is whether or not they know how long they’ll be stuck like this. Unfortunately, Pike doesn’t have an answer for that.

April quickly deduces that Spock is the only person who can operate anything on the ship, since he’s been watching Spock run from console to console the entire time. He also let Pike know that the closest ship is two days away, so they should lay low and stay out of sight.

Ya think so, Bob?

Pike closes the channel and tries to give Spock access to his special chair, but the controls won’t recognize his fuzzy fingers. No shortcuts here; Spock just became a one-person crew.

Beam Me Up, Scotty

Scotty may have a solution, and he and La’an are in the Transporter Room waiting for Spock. Scotty reiterates that they can’t work the controls themselves, but like a good engineer, he’s already coming up with a workaround.

Spock finally arrives and apologizes; there are a lot of demands on him right now. Scotty lists all the ways this could go sideways:

• There might not be enough data in the buffer to put La’an back together again.
• She might permanently get stuck in the pattern buffer.
• She might wind up in Deckland Milder’s quarters on the U.S.S. Whitmere, which is where Little Ricky was supposed to go.

La’an understands the risks and is ready to go. When she rematerializes on the pad, however, the experiment fails; La’an is still a puppet (and a little too happy about it). Her celebration is cut short when her right arm suddenly falls off.

Give Her a Hand

Spock rushes La’an to Sickbay, where M’Benga and Chapel are shocked to discover she’s absolutely fine. All she needs is a quick sewing job, which Spock provides, and her arm is as good as new. M’Benga observes that, while dermal regenerators may not work on them, a needle and thread are all they need.

How they’ll actually apply this without Spock is still an issue; everyone is still adjusting to only having four fuzzy fingers. Chapel suggests that yarn might be easier for them to handle.

M’Benga is stumped as to how this is possible. According to his scanners, they’re organic, so in spite of all indications otherwise, they should be able to die. The diagnostic duo gets to work investigating this further.

Spock finishes sewing La’an’s arm and mentions her joy at remaining a puppet. La’an explains that, while she’s a puppet, she’s free of all the stress and anxiety that was bothering her. Spock apologized for not being there for her more, but La’an was quick to forgive, noting he was going through his own stuff, too.

She also mentioned that she understood why he reached out to T’Pring. Oh, right, his ex is on board and also a puppet.

He should probably address that.

Technically Speaking

Spock returns to his quarters to find T’Pring barely holding it together. When she said no hijinks, this is exactly what she was talking about. While she acknowledges that their current predicament isn’t directly his fault, she’s holding him responsible for hanging out with a bunch of weirdos in the first place.

Spock doesn’t even get a chance to apologize when the comm system goes off from:

• Una needing his help opening the turbolift.
• Pelia – “Engineering is on the fritz.”
• Uhura whining that her earpiece fell out again.
• Pike desperately calling for help with — his chair.

The multiple demands on Spock cause him to have a full-blown panic attack. T’Pring literally slaps him back into the moment and tells him to get a hold of himself. She reminds Spock that he can’t be everyone, everywhere, all at once, so he needs to prioritize. She doesn’t want his thanks, though; when he tries to thank her, she slaps him again, also reminding him that gratitude is irrelevant.

Please Hold

The overworked, underpaid science officer heads to the Bridge, where Uhura is still complaining about her earpiece. Ortegas argues that the Enterprise is a starship, not a telephone, and Spock should focus on flying first. Uhura makes a plea to Pike, but he gently but firmly tells her to wait her turn like everyone else.

La’an detects another ship on her scanners. It looks like an Orion, but she can’t work her controls to be sure. Una recognizes it as an Orion Interceptor and suspects it of being a pirate vessel (rude!). Pike tries the “maybe if we ignore them, they’ll go away” maneuver, but the Orion ship hails.

This is not going to go over well with Admiral April.

They can’t fly the ship or fight, so Pike decides to try to talk his way out. He orders Spock to open an audio-only channel to respond to the Orions.

Captain Ch’rol of the Orion ship Voni (Rachael Harris) explains they were just passing by, but their scanners only picked up only one life sign on their ship, so they were stopping to see if Enterprise needed any help.

Pike is a little too aggressive in his response; he warns the Orions that if they don’t move off, they’ll be fired upon. The Orions decide it’s not worth it to call Pike’s bluff, and they agree to move on.

Just as the Orion vessel begins to move, Uhura reflexively tries to close the channel but accidentally turns on the viewscreen instead.

They’re busted.

Pike continues to try to talk big, but the Orions clearly see Spock running from console to console (again), and it’s easy to figure out why. Clearly, Spock is the only person on the Enterprise who can operate anything.

The Orions fire on the defenseless Enterprise, causing puppet panic and pandemonium throughout the ship. Spock is finally able to raise shields and return fire, but it’s too little too late. The ship loses power, and the Enterprise is unable to make its escape.

With the Orions about to board, Pike orders Spock to get down to Engineering and get power back online.

Act Two

“Lift with Your Legs, and Your Spine will be Fine”

Spock arrives in Engineering to find Puppet Scotty trapped under a photon torpedo. While Spock tries to lift the torpedo off the junior engineer, Pelia offers him moral support and tells him that sensors and voice commands are down. Since Spock was only relying on voice commands to do, well, everything, this is a big problem.

Pelia’s bad news distracted Spock long enough that he didn’t notice Scotty slide out from under the torpedo, having been able to escape the entire time. Spock expresses his frustration, but Scotty is still getting used to being a puppet; he doesn’t know what he can do yet.

Pike interrupts them to let Spock know that the Orions are boarding the ship, and it looks like they’re coming through the main shuttlebay. Spock tells the engineers they’ll have to wait again and runs off to defend the ship as the puppets scoff at being blown off again.

Is That a Phaser in Your Pocket?

Spock bumps into T’Pring in the corridor, who is carrying an armful of phasers to do what she can to help. She also tells Spock that she’s dealt with many pirates in the past, and they often use misdirection as a tactic.

They’re not coming in through the shuttlebay.

As if to prove T’Pring right, the Orions appear at the end of the corridor.

Spock tells T’Pring he’ll distract the Orions long enough for her to run. When T’Pring objects, Spock reminds her that their options are limited. He asks her to find Captain Pike and warn him that the Orions are already onboard.

Spock steps into the corridor like a Wild West cowboy but is quickly disarmed. Captain Ch’rol realizes she just captured a valuable hostage, while T’Pring runs to find Captain Pike.

Hold the Bridge!

When Spock wakes up, he’s bound to a chair in the Port Galley with Captain Trull and her Second in Command (Joe Lo Truglio). The Orion captain wants the Enterprise‘s command codes, but Spock refuses to give them to her. They may be puppets, but they’re still the finest crew in Starfleet!

No, they’re not.

Una and La’an, the two strongest humans on the ship, are easily overpowered in their puppet form. La’an admits that her tiny fists are less than lethal, and Una questions if the Orion can even feel her punches.

The Bridge crew doesn’t do any better. Scotty and Uhura try to run but are quickly caught and knocked out. Ortegas’s fists of fury are easily neutralized by a stiff arm. And the best Pelia can do is throw things at the Orion captain, who wants to take the chair she spent three weeks working on.

Captain Ch’rol, unimpressed with the curly-haired Lanthanite, draws her sword and slices Pelia in half at the waist. Scotty, in his attempt to help, advises the bifurcated Pelia not to move, to which she replies, “I can’t move. I’m cut in half. Or can’t you see that?”

Half a Pelia can still hurt twice as much.

Pike and the crew retreat, but the Orions don’t bother to follow; after all, puppets can’t harm them.

Act Three

Sew What?

The crew, sans Spock, regroups in Captain Pike’s quarters. Nurse Chapel and Dr. M’Benga are working feverishly to sew Pelia back together, but Pelia assures them she’s fine. M’Benga’s not convinced; he believes she’s in shock. But Pelia’s been in shock before, so she knows what she’s talking about.

Just to drive the point home, when Scotty makes a weak attempt to comfort her, she replies that Deckland would’ve said something nicer. Not to be the one to cuss out a 5,000-year-old mentor he believes is dying, Scotty shuts up and goes back to his corner.

The crew still believe they need Spock for everything, so they vow to get him back. Ever the noble captain, Pike volunteers himself to rescue the captured science officer.

What, Me Worry?

Still tied up in the Port Galley, Spock continues to refuse to give them the Enterprise‘s command codes. Captain Ch’rol’s as-yet-unnamed first officer assures Spock that he’s well aware of that.

Spock points out that, as a Vulcan, he’s immune to torture.

Sure, buddy. Besides, Ch’rol’s XO is not cut out for torture; that’s more a woman’s job. The Orion second-in-command doesn’t feel it’s his place to perform the more nuanced tasks; he’s content to just do whatever he’s told.

In fact, he can see Spock is under a lot of stress, and not just because Orions took over his ship. Everyone is a puppet, so they have to rely solely on him to perform every task on the ship. On top of that, he figures out that the only other Vulcan on the ship is… his ex.

The Orion pirate’s solution is simple: Just let the women tell you what to do. If Spock and T’Pring were Orion, she would tell him what she wants him to do, and he would just do it. Just like that, no stress.

As someone who’s been married for 21 years, I can vouch that this is absolutely, 100% true and accurate.

While Spock does find the Orion’s advice helpful, he still refuses to cooperate. That’s OK, though; the Orion admits he was just stalling until his captain signaled she was ready for him.

The Needs of the Many…

How does a bad day get worse? When you have to watch your captain get blown out of an airlock.

The Orion pirate leads Spock to the airlock, where Captain Ch’rol has captured her Starfleet counterpart trying to save his science officer. She announces that if Spock doesn’t give her the Enterprise‘s command codes, she’ll blow the fuzzy CO out into space.

Spock holds fast, but Captain Ch’rol isn’t playing around. She tosses Captain Pike into the airlock and begins to depressurize it. The captain and Vulcan press their hands to the glass separating them and begin to play out Spock’s death scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Before Pike can finish saying, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” the airlock door opens. Pike is blown out, leaving Spock to watch helplessly as his beloved captain floats away into open space.

Puppet Physics

The rest of the crew is still gathered in Pike’s quarters when they see him float by. They all sit in stunned silence believing their captain is dead, except for Pelia, who reminds everyone she was cut in half and lived to talk about it.

We’re puppets; we survive things like swords… and space.

Does someone want to let the captain back in?

Act Four

Am I a Man, or Am I a Muppet?

Back in Pike’s quarters, he tells his crew that he fully expected to be dead, but as he floated in the void of space, he realized he didn’t need air to breathe. They may have disadvantages as puppets, but they have advantages, too, that they’ve been ignoring.

If we’re going to take our ship back, we need to fight like puppets.

T’Pring has been silent, but she can’t take it anymore; she lets out a loud scream and desperately tries to apply logic to their situation. She’s forced to admit that when everyone is a puppet, logic doesn’t really apply, and maybe they should lean into pandemonium.

Although T’Pring has “doubt, so much doubt,” she agrees to embrace the chaos.

This Is Our Ship

First, they need to get out of the room. They couldn’t even open a door without Spock there to help.

That’s OK; Scotty’s been working on that.

The door to Pike’s quarters opens to reveal a tall cloaked figure. The Orion guard, confused, thinks another crew member was onboard. The cloak opens to reveal Una, La’an, and Captain Pike, who use the element of surprise, and some puppet antics, to subdue the witless Orion.

Scotty the Miracle Worker

On their way out the door, Pelia asks Scotty how he opened the door. He explains he created a glove that will mimic the electrical pulses of human skin. Pelia admits she’s impressed with his work.

Impressed enough to think Scotty is smarter than Deckland Milder?

Pelia tells her junior officer that she’s only been giving him a hard time because she knew he could take it. Besides, Deckland was a whiny little brat whose parents were on the Academy board, so she had to kiss his butt.

It wasn’t disrespect she was giving Scotty; it was tough love.

Why?

Spock is still reeling from the loss of his captain when the still-unidentified Orion first officer returns with T’Pring in tow. He may say he dislikes torture, but he’s quick to set T’Pring’s hand on fire to try to convince Spock to give him the Enterprise‘s command codes.

Spock can’t bear to watch another person he loves suffer and is about to break when T’Pring suddenly composes herself mid-panic and tells him that Captain Pike is still alive.

Yes, Pike is alive, we have a plan, and we’re puppets. Puppets don’t feel pain.

T’Pring lightly places her burning hand on the Orion’s arm, setting his sleeve on fire as well. Panicking himself, the Orion yells, “Why?” before he runs head-first into a wall.

Didn’t anyone teach him stop, drop, and roll?

T’Pring submerges her hand in the bar’s sink to put it out. To save time, she suggests a mind meld to bring Spock up to speed. As they connect, Spock asks T’Pring if she’s OK. The only lie she told the Orion was that she didn’t feel pain; her hand really did hurt. Other than that, she’s embraced the chaos, and Spock should, too.

Get Out of My Chair

On the Bridge, Captain Ch’rol’s patience with her second-in-command has worn out, and she resolves to get the command codes from the Vulcan herself. Before she can leave, however, the Enterprise crew with Spock in tow emerge from the turbolift and proceed to fight back against the Orion pirates.

Unlike last time, the Enterprise crew have embraced their puppethood. Even the random red-shirted crewmember cowering behind the Ops console realizes he can’t die when Captain Ch’rol shoots a giant hole in his midsection. Puppet power!

Spock takes a moment to embrace the chaos and makes his next move. With his captain’s consent, Spock picks him up and hurls him toward the Orion captain.

As she struggles to remove the Enterprise‘s rightful captain from her face, Spock takes advantage of the opportunity and plants himself in Pike’s chair.

Captain Ch’rol taunts the Vulcan science officer, informing him he’s gained absolutely nothing.

Spock simply sits in silence, staring at the Orion captain as she continues to lay into him. When she succumbs to her frustration and asks Spock why he won’t say anything, Pike chimes in and reminds her that Spock is the only other person on the Bridge who needs to breathe; everyone else is about to pass out, well, now.

Including Spock.

Precise Quantum Polyfil

Spock wakes up in Sickbay to find his puppet crewmates standing over him. They were able to get an oxygen mask on the unconscious Vulcan just in time, rolled him onto a dolly, and brought him down to Sickbay.

It turns out Scotty got it right the first time; the transporter was the answer. He simply forgot to account for their “precise quantum polyfil.”

Captain Pike takes a moment to admit that maybe his old chair was better. Una emphatically agrees.

So, if they know how to fix it, why is everyone still a puppet?

There’s something everyone is dying to try.

When will they ever have another opportunity to float in the vacuum of space without a suit?

Except T’Pring. she’s had enough hijinks for one day and stays behind with Spock in his quarters to observe Kal Rekk with him. She concedes that the experience has taught her an appreciation of hi jinks to an extent, and while his crewmates are a bunch of weirdos, they’re good people. In small doses.

She also asks Spock if he’s still interested in returning to logic, to which he enthusiastically replies in the affirmative, as the former lovers lean in for a passionate kiss.

With a puppet.

Epilogue

Life Is But a Dream

Spock wakes up in his quarters again, but for real this time. He finds T’Pring sitting at the end of his bed in a gloriously Vulcan state.

There was an accident; Scotty’s transporter experiment blew out the relays Spock laid as well as his shuttle. They beamed him out in time, but he was unconscious.

To her knowledge, T’Pring is not now, nor has she ever been a puppet.

After telling T’Pring all about his dream, Spock notices Little Ricky sitting behind his desk. When he asks what the deranged puppet is doing in his quarters, T’Pring tells him Scotty brought it by to cheer him up.

It does not.

T’Pring suggests they share some tea in the Port Galley, where Spock was never held hostage by an Orion pirate, and talk more about his oddly-specific dream.

Final Report

I thought “Human Best Friend” was off the rails, but “Level-Five Transporter Accident” saw it and said, “Hold my Saurian brandy.” Even though I knew it was coming for a year, I didn’t expect the level of insanity this episode contained, and I loved every minute of it.

• We had the opportunity to speak with puppet maker Jamie Bressler on one of our SDConCast episodes, and she told us that this episode was as fun to make as it is to watch.
• Puppet Pelia is everything I didn’t know I wanted to see. If anyone among the crew is going to be able to deal with turning into a puppet, it’s Pelia. Carol Kane makes an adorable puppet with her curly yellow hair and big eyes, and she gets some of the best lines of the episode.
• Rachael Harris as an Orion pirate captain with Joe Lo Truglio as her simp second-in-command is brilliant. Harris is great at being in charge, and Lo Truglio is perfect at letting her be. And he makes a great point about avoiding stress by just letting women tell you what to do.
• Spock is not having the best time this season. When he hasn’t been hallucinating, he’s been struggling to maintain his relationship with La’an, who now decides to end it. We can’t say we didn’t see this coming; she’s been hinting at it all season. But once again, Spock is unlucky in love, and it hurts. He’s also mind-melded with a plant and now, a puppet.
• Scotty takes a lot of crap in this episode. He deserves a lot of it, having caused the Level-Five Transporter Accident to try to satisfy his own vanity, but Pelia gets some really hurtful comments in that arguably cross the line. They’re not helpful, but they’re really funny.
• Uhura comes off a little whiny in this episode, even whining to Captain Pike when she doesn’t get her way right away.
• I would’ve liked to see the writers continue the Star Trek: Lower Decks tradition of adding random apostrophes in names to make them Orion (e.g., “B’Ert,” “K’Evin,” “B’Eth,” etc.).

Watch season four of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds every Thursday on Paramount+ through September 24.