“So are the days of our Enterprise.”

That mischievous scamp of a Q, Trelane, puts the Enterprise crew in the middle of his own soap opera on this week’s emotional episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass.”

Prologue

Cosmic Amnesia

Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) wakes to find himself in Enterprise‘s Sickbay with Chief Medical Officer Joseph M’Benga standing over him. The doctor tells him he has a head injury due to a shuttle accident as he was passing through a treacherous asteroid belt.

Maybe that’s why the lights seem so bright and the focus is so hazy?

M’Benga can’t answer that, but he asks his captain what’s the last thing he remembers. Pike thinks for a moment and recalls the Captain’s Table he hosted. It’s worse than M’Benga imagined; that happened two weeks ago. He diagnoses his captain with… Cosmic Amnesia.

Pike takes that on board as he tries to wrestle with everyone’s dramatic pauses. He also hears ambient musical tones in the background and wonders out loud if they’re back in a musical reality again.

Have a Heart

His question is ignored as Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) steps in to explain that, while Captain Pike may be feeling a little confused, his Science Officer, Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck), is in much worse shape. He took blunt-force trauma to his chest where his heart is located. Medical was able to place him in an induced coma, but without a Living Heart Transplant, he won’t make it.

A what now?

Enterprise Chief of Security Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) is already on her way back to the ship with a donor. So, some good news.

There’s bad news, too; Dr. M’Benga is relieving Captain Pike of duty until he sees the ship’s counselor, Dr. Chivers (Deidre Hall), for a cognitive test.

Dr. Marlena Evans?

Pike returns to his quarters to find Dr. Chivers waiting for him. His first question is to wonder why everyone is being so melodramatic, but she’s acting strangely, too. Dr. Chivers strongly advises Pike to take these cognitive tests seriously, or he could be permanently relieved of command.

Pike is very confused. There’s a two-week gap in his memory, his crew is acting melodramatically, and everything is in a soft focus. This seems familiar.

Cut to “a very naughty boy” sitting in a control room watching everything unfold on screens in front of him. The as-yet-unnamed supreme entity (but we all know it’s Trelane) is controlling their lives yet again.

Cue the opening credits.

Act One: A Family Affair

A Shocking Revelation

Enterprise Communications Officer Ensign Nyota Uhura rushes into Sickbay to find Nurse Chapel. She got Chapel’s message – Does that mean she’s a match for Spock?

No, La’an is on her way to get the donor now, but there’s something else. Chapel found something in Uhura’s DNA – Something she’s breaking protocol by even telling her.

Chapel hands the PADD to Uhura, who can’t believe what she sees.

Is this real?

He Ain’t Heavy

La’an contacts the Enterprise to let them know she’s on her way back with Spock’s donor. As he stirs in the corner, however, it doesn’t look like this “donor” came willingly. His hands are bound behind his back, and his face is obscured by a mysterious hood.

La’an removes the hood to address her “donor” face-to-face revealing his identity – Spock’s half-brother, Sybok (Ethan Peck)!

Sybok compliments La’an on carrying out “the best prison break I’ve ever been party to” and asks her what she wants. In return, La’an slaps him across the face (presumably to establish dominance) and tells him he’s there for only one reason.

He’s going to save his brother, Spock.

That’s the Job

Pike has resigned himself to his therapy session with Dr. Marlena… er, Dr. Chivers. She points out the quick turnaround time (less than 48 hours) between his last two missions. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for Pike to take for himself.

A frustrated Captain Pike wonders aloud what this has to do with all the weird stuff happening on the ship.

A lot, it turns out. The health of a ship’s crew starts at the top, and when a captain doesn’t take care of himself, his crew suffers with him.

Pike counters with the argument that it’s part of the job – The mission comes first.

Speaking of the mission, the Enterprise computer informs the Enterprise captain that their are no anomalous readings on the Enterprise.

That’s a lot of Enterprise.

Who’s Your Space Daddy?

Ensign Uhura bursts into Pike’s quarters asking to speak with him. Desperate for a little validation, Pike gestures at everything and asks Uhura if she sees it, too.

She does not, but she has some big news for him. Something personal that can’t wait.

Nyota Uhura is Christopher Pike’s daughter.

Umm… what?

I’d Like to Shake Your Hand

Nurse Chapel eagerly tells her mentor that La’an is on her way back with a donor.

That’s wonderful news! Dr. M’Benga begins to prep for surgery when his right hand begins to tremble.

Oops. He left some notes in his quarters. He’ll be right back.

I’ve Seen This Episode Before

Uhura is Pike’s daughter? How is this even possible? She has parents who died in a tragic shuttle accident. Right?

Yes, that’s true, but Uhura… was adopted! She never knew anything about her real parents; all she had was a recipe book left with her at the orphanage.

Pike begins to freak out; nothing is right. He doesn’t have a daughter, everyone’s acting weird, and the computer didn’t find any anomalies.

Wait a second. This feels familiar.

Frontier Day. Spock’s “wedding.” A higher-dimensional being able to avoid ship’s scans.

The “Fancy Coat God Guy.”

Stick to the Script

At that moment, a familiar voice appears on the ship’s speakers telling Pike to “stick to the script.” Pike demands that he show himself.

Trelane appears and almost introduces himself, but Captain Pike cuts him off before he actually speaks his name. He doesn’t care who he is; he just wants to know what he wants with them now.

The young denizen explains that he’s not there out of spite this time; he found humans fascinating and wanted to study them more. He created this artificial “body cleaning theater” for everyone to deal with whatever stuff they have going on right now.

Great. They’re all in a soap opera for this kid’s school project. Trelane corrects him that it’s more of a dissertation, and his thesis is “Space adventures leave little time for humans to deal with their internal struggles.”

There’s just one problem: Pike isn’t supposed to be aware of the simulation. He’s supposed to be just as involved as the rest of the crew, but for some reason, he’s resisting.

They’re trapped in his soap opera reality until Captain Pike figures out what his true internal struggle is.

That’s all.

Act Two: The Only Way Out is Through

Family Therapy

Dr. Chivers suggests a family therapy session to help the newly-reunited father and daughter sort through their feelings over this big news. Pike thinks that’s a great idea, but he has to be somewhere else, so he’ll get back to them as he walks out the door.

And right back in again.

Pike tries to leave his quarters again but instantly reappears right back where he started. After the third try fails, he agrees to get on with it.

Uhura just wants to know one thing – Why did he leave?

Dr. Chivers encourages Pike to tell the truth and be honest, so he does. He explains that none of this is real, and they’re all stuck in a soap opera created by a higher-dimensional being for his school project.

That doesn’t work. Uhura is shocked that Pike would rather believe that they were all in some elaborate hallucination than believe that she’s his daughter. She even shows him the recipe book. Page 28: Coq au vin. The perfect meal for the perfect daughter. Dated Stardate 1443.2.

Pike tries to see what she’s talking about, but when he opens the recipe book, the pages are all blank.

Feeling like Pike was rejecting her again, Uhura storms out of his quarters. Pike realizes that, while the situation may be an illusion, Uhura’s anger was real. She truly believes Pike is her father.

Entr’acte

Watching from his control room, Trelane does what anyone who watches soap operas does – He talks to the screen, and he’s loving what Pike is doing. He couldn’t have planned it better

A voice behind him disagrees. Planned what?

It’s Trelane’s Proctor (Diane L. Johnstone). Of course, it’s all part of his project, and everything is going according to how he planned it. It’s called “high drama,” and it’s going wonderfully.

Let’s get back to it.

Let’s Make a Deal

Aside from the clear fact that she’ll beat the crap out of him if he doesn’t help, Sybok wants to know why he should help his long-lost half-brother. Before La’an can answer, however, Sybok frees himself from his cuffs and grabs La’an’s phaser.

Apparently, Sybok is also a master escape artist.

He makes La’an a deal: If she can beat him in a game of Kal Toh, he’ll give her his heart.

Game on.

Space Madness

The Enterprise‘s acting commanding officer, Number One / Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) wanders into the Port Galley, where she sees Dr. M’Benga looking troubled. He shrugs her off and tells her he’s fine. Una reminds her friend that, whatever he’s going through, he’s not alone.

He shows her his trembling hand. He can’t deny it anymore; he has… Space Madness.

There’s only one problem – Una isn’t the only member of the crew in earshot. Enterprise Pilot, Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) overhears the doctor’s confession.

Family Dinner

Captain Pike has made some breakthroughs, but he hasn’t made the big one yet. Dr. Chivers asks Pike to describe his Captain’s Table ritual. He tells her it’s like a family dinner for the Bridge crew. They’re all like family to him.

He’s still repressing something that’s tied to whatever happened two weeks ago. When he figures that out, he’ll solve his problem.

OK, but he still has an annoying omnipotent kid to deal with.

Pike tries to access his files from their last encounter with the little brat, but he’s locked out. He’s been relieved of duty by Dr. M’Benga; he needs to go through Una to get to them. Maybe this time, he won’t be stuck in a loop when he tries to leave his quarters.

The good news: Pike is finally able to leave his quarters. The bad news: Whether he wanted to go there or not, he ended up at the Port Galley, where Ensign Uhura is sitting.

Share Your Pain with Me

La’an is doing surprisingly well in her game of Kal Toh with Sybok, but she’s starting to get distracted. Sybok notices and asks why she’s second-guessing herself.

“Each of us hides a secret pain…” Sybok leans forward; he wants to take away her pain. La’an responds, leaning toward him, faces mere centimeters apart. Do they kiss?

No. They Kal Toh.

La’an was hustling/distracting Sybok the whole time. Sybok betrayed her, too; he never planned to help Spock. Instead, he plans to escape to the Arachnid Nebula and live among his fellow V’Tosh ka’tur.

And he wants La’an to run away with him.

Act Three: Believe

The Heart of the Matter

No. La’an won’t run away with Spock’s evil twin half-brother, Sybok, no matter how tempted she may be. She can’t abandon Spock. He may not show his feelings, but it’s his logic that makes him a good person. One of the best she’s ever known.

And she won’t leave without Spock’s heart.

Sybok reminds her – It’s still his heart.

Growth

Captain Pike takes a seat next to Uhura and apologizes. Whatever she may believe, what he said was over the line, and he regrets it. He also couldn’t help but notice the Stardate she mentioned, 1443.2. It was the same date as her parent’s shuttle accident.

Uhura confessed she saw it, too, and wondered if it was some sort of cosmic coincidence. Since Cadet A’Sha came on board, she’s been trying harder to fit in at the big kids’ table. She knows she isn’t a cadet anymore. Uhura was only 16 years old when her parents’ shuttle crashed, and part of her has always felt stuck as that 16-year-old.

Pike recognizes Uhura sees him as a father figure and offers to make that recipe with her. What he said really hurt her, though, and she doesn’t quite feel ready to go there yet.

If she changes her mind, Pike tells her to come find him.

Entr’acte Deux

Hooked on his own show, Trelane reacts to the scene he just watched. That was really sweet.

The Proctor disagrees. He was just making excuses.

Trelane knows he’s got her hooked, too. Let’s get back to the drama.

Just a Little Crush

Una can’t believe what her friend just told her. He assures her it’s true; he’s been adrift in space for too long. Not only that, but he’s been adrift emotionally as well – M’Benga no longer feels a connection with Starfleet.

Una understands, and if M’Benga wants to leave, she won’t stand in his way. She’ll miss him, though, and not just because he’s the best doctor in Starfleet.

Her hands linger on his just a little too long. Is there something unspoken about to be revealed?

Not this time. Lieutenant Ortegas interrupts to tell her acting captain there’s an emergency on the Bridge, and she’s needed there immediately.

There’s no emergency; Ortegas wanted to get M’Benga alone to make her big reveal.

She overheard everything. She knows he has Space Madness.

Mom Always Liked Spock Best

Sybok is still trying to convince La’an to run away with him. He wonders why Spock, who doesn’t feel love, is so deserving of it from those around him.

Despite his bitterness, Sybok turns the shuttle around and heads toward the Enterprise to save his brother’s life, but they may be too late. Sybok’s hesitation cost them valuable time, and the risks to both Vulcans are greater.

Sybok could die.

That’s What Friends Are For

Ortegas revealed that she knows Dr. M’Benga’s secret, but what will she do with that information? Blackmail the doctor into committing some nefarious act?

She tells the doctor it’s OK. She had it, too, after their escape from the Gorn ship (“Hegemony II”). She didn’t go to him about it out of fear – How could a pilot with Space Madness fly a ship? The stigma would cost her her career.

Instead, she taught herself to be vulnerable and trust her friends. She learned to lean on them when she needed to and encouraged the Enterprise CMO to do the same.

He’s not alone. He has friends, and they believe in him.

Daddy-Daughter Time

Pike is back in his quarters and at a loss. Now what is he supposed to do?

He doesn’t have to wonder long. Uhura comes in and tells him she’s reconsidered and would love to make coq au vin with him. She even asks if it’s OK to call him “Dad” now. Pike isn’t sure about that yet.

He reminds Uhura that she’ll have to read the recipe to him since he can’t see any words on the book’s pages. He turns to the recipe on page 28, but the page isn’t blank like he expected it to be. What Pike sees shakes him to his core, and he rushes out of his quarters.

Trelane wasn’t ready for this. He might be a little too invested in his own show, so he cuts to commercial to try to regroup.

Act Four: What Is Real?

How Many Spocks Does It Take…

It’s the moment of truth for Spock. So far, so good. The surgery has gone well, and both Spock and Sybok are doing well. All Dr. M’Benga has to do is reconnect some arteries, and it’ll be done.

Of course, his hands begin to shake again. M’Benga’s Space Madness may be the death of both Sons of Sarek. He remembered Ortegas’s advice – Look to your friends for strength when you need it. We believe in you.

M’Benga’s hands steady, and he reconnects Spock’s arteries with dexterity and grace.

Don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet, though. The alarms above Sybok’s bio-bed start going off.

He’s dying.

Know Your Truth

Pike really needs therapy now. He finds Dr. Chivers in the Port Galley and immediately asks her how something can be both real and not real at the same time.

Dr. Chivers reminds the captain that he’s been through some pretty reality-bending stuff, including the life he lived with Marie Batel before she transcended. Who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t? It was real in his world, and that’s all he needs.

And as her last piece of advice, she tells Pike his emotional truth is the same as scientific truth; he just has to see it.

He looks down at the recipe. It is, indeed, a recipe for coq au vin, the perfect meal for the perfect daughter, dated for Stardate 1443.2.

His daughter, Juliet’s (Anna Mirodin), birthday.

Wait, who’s Juliet?

The Daughter He Never Had

Pike returns to his quarters to find Juliet, his daughter in his life with Batel, preparing the coq au vin. It was her birthday dinner, even though her birthday was two weeks ago.

That’s what Pike has been focused on.

Pike sees his daughter and tells her he wants so badly for this to be real. But who’s to say it isn’t? Juliet reassures her father when she tells him, “Just because it didn’t happen doesn’t mean it wasn’t real.”

As is often the case, Pike is afraid he’ll forget her. Sure, the faces may fade, but the feelings never go away. He’ll always have those, and they’ll always be real.

Juliet can’t stay; her shuttle is about to leave. Instead of insisting she stay like he desperately wants to, Pike wishes her well and lets her go.

The Final Grade

Back in the control room, Trelane and his Proctor have become fully engrossed in the drama. Trelane admits he did not see the real daughter reveal coming.

For her part, the Proctor thanks Trelane for bringing humanity to her attention. They may warrant further study. As for him and his project, she gives him what humans would call “a solid B-.”

You know what? That’s a fair grade.

Denouement: Back to Reality

Stardate 2654.9

Through the usual magic of the Q Continuum, what Pike and his crew never really happened. The crew, however, remember everything that was said and done in Trelane’s little project. With that in mind, Pike lets Uhura know that his offer to make coq au vin still stands.

Just Friends

Spock and La’an didn’t join the rest of the crew; they’re still in Sickbay. Spock was never really injured – He was just asleep the whole time.

Lucky.

In addition, Sybok was never really there, either. La’an never left the Enterprise‘s shuttlebay. In fact, they don’t look anything alike.

La’an believes she saw pieces of Spock in Sybok, but Spock tells her not to read too much into it. While La’an doesn’t regret their break-up, she misses him more than she thought she would.

Spock isn’t having it, though. She broke his heart, and he’s not letting her back in. He reminds her they’re just friends because she wanted it that way.

Just as La’an appears on the verge of telling Spock what’s been eating at her all season, she simply says good bye to him.

So he says it back and leaves.

Therapyyyyy!

Now, Pike is ready to take his counseling seriously. He opens up to Dr. Chivers about his experience with Marie on Vadia IX and how he’s already let her go. Chivers tells Pike that part of the mourning process isn’t just mourning the loss of the person. We also mourn the loss of a future with them.

Whether or not they were real to anyone else, his family was real to him, and he needs to treat them that way.

Pike describes his life with his daughter – teaching her to read, walking her down the aisle. All the special moments he had with her.

Finally, Pike breaks down and admits it – He misses his family. He misses his daughter.

Final Report

“Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass” is an unexpectedly powerful episode. I was not prepared for the emotions that came up when I watched it. Yes, it’s a cheesy soap opera episode, but writers Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff managed to add a deep message as well.

• I wept. Maybe I’m getting sentimental in my old age, but seeing Pike mourning his daughter brought out the waterworks.
• William Gibson once defined “reality” as a “consensual hallucination,” and I think that’s the best way to describe this episode. None of the events they experienced occurred, but they can remember all of it. Does that make it real?
• I loved the message this episode sends: It doesn’t have to be real to everyone to be real to you. We all see the world around us in our own unique way, and they’re all valid.
• I also enjoyed the call back to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass” is the first time Sybok is mentioned since “The Serene Squall” way back in season one, and we haven’t seen that “power” he has since in action since 1989.
• I still have trouble with Trelane episodes in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We never actually hear his name, but someone should have recognized him in “The Squire of Gothos.” I feel like Uhura or Scotty should have seen him, turned to Spock, and asked, “Hey, isn’t that your wedding planner?”
• The soap opera format was perfect. The soft focus, sudden zooms, and dramatic pauses were spot on, and Ortegas even gave us “the eyebrow.” If you’ve ever watched classic Days Of Our Lives from the 1980s, 1990s, or early 2000s, you know about John Black and his infamous eyebrow. And adding Deidre Hall as a guest star was the icing on the cake. She turned the episode from cheese into fromage.

All in all, I agree with Proctor – This episode is a solid B-.