Enterprise Chief of Security Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) has been struggling with herself this whole season. She punched a dinosaur, impaled Farragut First Officer Commander James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), and even dumped Enterprise Science Officer Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck), but she’s no closer to finding the answers she’s looking for than she was before.

That is, until the Boltzmann Brain cosmic entity that turned the Enterprise and her crew into characters from the story Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) was reading to his daughter, Rukiya (Sage Arrindell), decides to help. The crew once again finds themselves trapped in The Kingdom of Elysian in this week’s episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Once La’an a Time.”

Prologue

Stardate 2355.6

Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Communications Officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Pilot Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), Spock, and  La’an are beaming back to the ship after representing Starfleet at a Benzite dignitary’s wedding. Something is clearly off, since everyone is in their dress uniforms except La’an, who decided on a classic standard duty tunic and pants. Not to mention RBF that could drop an elephant at 1,000 yards.

But La’an is great! So great. At least, that’s what she’s telling everyone, and they’re all too afraid of her to tell her otherwise. Even Spock, whom she dumped a few episodes ago, says she’s struggling. They’ve tried to help, but La’an has blown them all off.

There’s one person on the ship she can’t ignore or dismiss, however: the Captain.

Pike sighs and accepts that this this something he’s going to have to deal with, whether she beats him up for it or not.

Feelings

Pike finds La’an in the gym, where he’s relieved to see her taking her aggression out on a punching bag and not him. He naïvely asks if she’d like to talk about her feelings and lets her know her friends are worried about her.

Proving that denial is not just a river in Egypt, La’an responds with the classic, “I’m fine.” After all, Chief of Security isn’t supposed to be a “popular” job. Being a jerk kind of comes with the territory.

Lately, however, she’s been a little… extra. She confiscated the experiment Spock was working on with Jim Kirk’s brother, Lieutenant George Samuel “Sam” Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) just because they were fighting over it.

And the wedding? Well, the Orion dignitary was a spy, so she’s kind of a hero by exposing him.

Unfortunately, she smashed the groom’s face in the cake and lit the bride’s dress on fire in the process.

Maybe we should check in with a doctor?

Nothing More Than Feelings

Dr. M’Benga waves his magical scanner over La’an and regrets to inform them both that there’s nothing physically wrong with her. Whatever is causing La’an’s grumpiness, it’s not something he can fix.

Great, now can we get back to the episode… er, I mean work?

Round vs Flat

Sensors have detected what they can only describe as “Unknown Flat Planet,” which Spock says shouldn’t physically exist, much less have its own gravity, atmosphere, and population.

Get it, Flat-Earthers? It’s round.

Enterprise‘s Lanthanite Chief Engineer Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) points out that the mysterious planet looks like something that was painted on the side of her ex-boyfriend’s van. She quickly sees that she’s talking to wrong crowd, since none of them has a clue what a van is.

Kids these days. They’ve probably never heard Led Zeppelin’s classic “The Immigrant Song,” either.

Of course, sensors can’t get clear readings of the surface, so they’ll have to go down there if they want to look into it further. While Pelia is always up for a new adventure, La’an kills the buzz by reminding everyone of the dangers something unknown presents.

Medieval Times

Captain Pike beams down to the impossible planet with Spock, Pelia, and La’an to investigate. What they find can only be described as something out of a fairy tale. Fireflies dance among the trees of a lush, green forest with a magnificent castle in the distance. Pike compares it to a real-life slice of Medieval history come to life, while Pelia assures him this one smells a lot better.

The landing party is surprised to find Dr. M’Benga sitting on a log, just as he’s surprised to see… Princess Thalia? He quickly positions himself between La’an/Princess Thalia and the rest of the crew.

This isn’t the Enterprise CMO. This is King Ridley from the book Dr. M’Benga read to his daughter, Rukiya, The Kingdom of Elysian, by Benny Russell.

Joseph, You Got Some ‘Splaining to Do

Dr. M’Benga was the only member of the Enterprise crew who remembered the events of season one, episode eight, “The Elysian Kingdom.” He didn’t tell everyone what really happened during that lost time, but now, he has to.

Joseph describes each person’s character. Captain Pike and his science officer don’t like the sound of either Sir Rauth the Coward or Pollux the Wizard. La’an is particularly annoyed at being cast as Princess Thalia, the damsel in distress.

And Pelia… hadn’t checked on board yet. She’s disappointed to learn that this all happened while Commander Hemmer (Bruce Horak) was Enterprise Chief Engineer.

Pike orders Dr. M’Benga to send them the book and some period-appropriate clothes. It’s highly likely they’ll run into others who mistake them for their doppelgängers, so they need to be prepared to act the parts.

La’an pumps the brakes and asks why they’re even bothering to stay and look around. Captain Pike breaks it down pretty simply, “To find out why a magic planet populated with our doppelgängers is floating through space.”

I mean… It’s hard to argue with that.

La’an’s next criticism is their sudden acceptance of magic as a thing. Spock reminds her of Arthur C. Clarke’s famous quote: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

That’s when Pelia chimes in to tell everyone she consulted on 2001: A Space Odyssey with Clarke and Stanley Kubrick.

M’Benga finishes by telling them that this entity knew he had some stuff to work out. Now, it seems to be sensing La’an’s struggle. She can complain all she wants, but they’re committed.

She’s going to have to let it play out.

Unlike in “Level-Five Transporter Accident,” Pelia actually has a bright side for La’an to look at. La’an has the easiest job of all of them. All she has to do is send guys out on quests and cry when she doesn’t get her way.

That doesn’t sound like La’an.

Before she can argue any further, Queen Neve’s/Uhura’s Crimson Guard finds them. Just like King Ridley/Dr. M’Benga, they mistake La’an for Princess Thalia. Since the princess is locked in their dungeon, that can only mean one thing:

The Prophecy

Queen Neve/Uhura is in her castle with Lady Audrey/Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), and they’re cooking up some trouble in Audrey’s cauldron. Lady Audrey/Chapel has been teaching Queen Neve about this Prophecy, and according to Audrey/Chapel, it’s about to come true.

What is this prophecy? Simple: Whoever controls the Iron Dragon rules the world.

And the “Iron Dragon?” Oh, that’s the Enterprise.

Act One

Here I Come…

La’an/Princess Thalia looks at the dress she’s supposed to wear like it’s a throw-away from last year’s Met Gala. There’s no way she’s going to wear this.

Queen Neve’s/Uhura’s Crimson Guard try to find out how “Princess Thalia” escaped from the dungeon, not to mention where she got her weird armor. La’an’s already on a short fuse, and she warns the guards that she’s about to go off. Still believing she’s Princess Thalia, the guards laugh it off.

Of course, this isn’t Thalia; this is La’an Noonien-Singh, and she doesn’t take being laughed at very well.

Her ass-kicking is interrupted by a masked… guy swinging in on a rope. He’s trying to be the hero, but he comes up a little short and doesn’t do anything more than give the guards a chance to run away.

To La’an, he’s just another face to punch, so she lands one right on his nose. As she winds up for another one, the masked stranger reveals himself to be… James T. Kirk.

This doesn’t make sense for a ton of reasons, not the least of which is that his character, Princess Thalia’s true love, Prince Dashing, isn’t anywhere in M’Benga’s book.

La’an/Princess Thalia brushes off her momentary confusion by telling Dashing/Kirk that Queen Neve/Uhura stole her memories. She has no idea who he is.

Not to worry. He remembers her, and he would do anything for her, including trying to break her out of the queen’s dungeon for months.

Really? And how hard did he try?

Hard enough to read about a key that would free her. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of a deadly forest, and he was having a little trouble getting it. But now, he doesn’t have to, because she broke herself out.

La’an/Princess Thalia disagrees. She may be free of the dungeon, but Queen Neve/Uhura still has her memories trapped in a necklace, and she needs to get them back.

In order to convince Prince Dashing/Kirk to help her, La’an/Thalia tries really hard to fake some crocodile tears, but that’s not happening. She gives up and just tells him to come on.

In the Dog House

Having been mistaken for Sir Rauth and Pollux the Wizard, Captain Pike and Lieutenant Spock have been hauled off to the dungeon themselves. Ever the optimist, Captain Pike assures his Vulcan science officer that things could be worse.

Yeah. Could be raining.

No sooner did Pike finish his sentence than they heard a deep growl come from the shadows.

Apparently, it was worse.

False alarm. It’s just the most adorable Cavapoo wearing a tutu they’ve ever seen.

Also emerging from the shadows is her master, Princess Thalia herself, who yells at them to get their hands off of her beloved dog, Runa (Runa Ewok).

Wow, everyone really hates them, a fact Spock is quick to point out.

Pike agrees and adds another wrinkle: If they’re there, what are their doubles (Rauth and Pollux) doing now?

Try the Magic Clam

The “real” Sir Rauth and Pollux the Wizard were also wandering the forest and found the landing party’s uniforms and equipment they left behind. They’ve seen the landing party, too, and Rauth has his own ideas about fulfilling the prophecy.

One of the communicators starts beeping, so Rauth decides to open the “magic clam” and see what it wants. It’s the Transporter Chief, Ensign Salazar (Ernie Baez), wanting to know if everything is all right, and if he wants to return to the Enterprise.

Initially startled by the voice coming from the magic clam, Rauth answers yes, he would like to “return the prize.”

I’m the Captain Now

He and Pollux are quickly grabbed in a transporter beam and rematerialize on the ship, which Pollux believes is some kind of sorcery even greater than his.

Ensign Salazar asks Rauth/Pike and Pollux/Spock if they’re OK. Pollux uses his own magic to make the ensign explain who he thinks they are and what their doubles do on the ship, not to mention forget their whole conversation.

First, they need to look the part. Pollux uses his magic again to quick-change them into the uniforms they found, but something doesn’t feel right. He’s wearing gold while Rauth is wearing blue.

Another quick-change puts the right tunic on the right person, but it drains Pollux/Spock more than he expected. His magic isn’t being replenished, so he only has a limited amount he can use. They need to be mindful.

Rauth/Pike can work with that. He and Pollux/Spock came to the same conclusion Queen Neve did: the Enterprise is the Iron Dragon. All Sir Rauth has to do is play the part of Captain Pike, and he can take over everything.

But it’s not enough to look the part; they need to learn about their counterparts in order to fool the Enterprise crew.

Author, Author

Queen Neve has the prisoners brought to her, where they try to keep pretending to be their Elysian counterparts. It doesn’t matter; the queen has the book, and she knows who they really are.

They’re doppelgängers from the Shadow Realm, clearly.

Except for Pelia, who Neve doesn’t recognize. Pike introduces her as the book’s author, Benny Russell.

And by the way, Pelia adds, she’s a duchess.

In that case, according to Queen Neve, “Duchess Benny Russell” is going to write her chapter, the chapter where she controls the Iron Dragon.

Pelia’s no Benny Russell, so she tries to claim a vicious case of writer’s block. Queen Neve doesn’t mind; with a snap of her fingers, she traps Spock and Pike in their own paintings.

That’ll get the duchess’s creative juices flowing.

The Key of Consequence

La’an/Princess Thalia and Prince Dashing/Kirk set off on their quest. On their way, La’an/Thalia asks Dashing/Kirk what makes him love her so much.

Simple, Dashing/Kirk replies. She’s seen the “real” him and accepted him. All of him. And he’s done the same for her.

If only she could see and love both sides of herself, like Dashing/Kirk has.

Before La’an has time to think about that, she and Dashing are met by Sir Adya/Ortegas. Adya/Ortegas greets La’an/Princess Thalia but refers to Prince Dashing/Kirk as “Runa,” the princess’s dog.

Well, the joke’s on you, Adya. Dashing is allergic to dogs.

I’ll bet that’s going to mean something later on.

Dashing/Kirk explains to Adya/Ortegas that they are on a quest to find the Key of Consequence to rescue La’an’s/Princess Thalia’s memories Queen Neve has trapped in a necklace.

Say less. Adya/Ortegas joins their quest, especially when she sees La’an/Princess Thalia dismiss her beloved Runa as another dog. This is serious.

The bad news: Sir Adya/Ortegas doesn’t have the Key of Consequence anymore. The good news: She knows where it is.

That’s the really bad news. It’s in the Swamp of Infinite Death guarded by a monster.

Good talk. Let’s go get it.

Act Two

Fantasy Land

As Sir Rauth/Captain Pike and Pollux the Wizard/Mr. Spock wander the ship, Rauth/Pike accesses his inner Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and tosses around some ideas for redecorating the Enterprise.

Lieutenant Ortegas appears from around the corner and notices something still looks a little off. Their uniforms may be correct, but they forgot about everything else. She chuckles at how ridiculous they still look and asks if they enjoyed their trip to Fantasy Land.

Cowardly Sir Rauth/Pike can’t answer. He’s frozen in fear, distracted by his encounter with who he thinks is Sir Adya.

Pollux/Spock jumps in and covers for him, making some lame excuses and smiling way too much in the process. Ortegas/Adya shrugs it off and goes about her day. It’s the Enterprise; weird comes with the assignment.

Both Elysians agree they need to be more careful. They’re going to encounter their “shadow selves,” and they need to be prepared.

They barely finish their thought when Dr. M’Benga/King Ridley and Lieutenant Uhura/Queen Neve emerge from Sickbay. Pollux/Spock instinctively uses his magic to freeze them, which drains his powers a little more.

Rauth/Pike and Pollux/Spock realize they need to do more homework to really get into character. Pollux/Spock casts one more spell to make the frozen M’Benga/Ridley and Uhura/Neve forget they saw the Elysians and tell them how to get to the Captain’s Quarters, where they can study up.

Cool Story

La’an/Princess Thalia, Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk, and Sir Adya/Ortegas get ready to head into the Swamp of Infinite Death.

Kind of like Club Slit Throat from Star Trek: Lower Decks (“Something Borrowed, Something Green). No subtext whatsoever.

Since memories are tied to emotions, La’an/Thalia must have some strong emotions tied to the necklace. Dashing/Kirk asks La’an/Thalia just what this necklace means to her.

It was… an heirloom.

Sir Adya/Ortegas gives her a “Cool story” and asks her to elaborate a little for the rest of the class.

The necklace was a gift from her father after her very first dance recital. When he gave it to her, he told her she “danced like a princess,” and she never forgot that.

Dashing’s/Kirk’s heart melts; she’s never told him that story before.

Of course not; she’s never told anyone that story before.

That’s a story Sir Adya/Ortegas can get behind. She draws her sword, ready to head into the swamp, guided by the light of the full moon.

Except for Prince Dashing/Kirk, who hears a noise in the distance. A werewolf has been seen around the swamp, and he’s going to make sure it doesn’t get them.

Not only is there a monster guarding the Key of Consequence, they need to watch out for a werewolf, too.

Have Fun Storming the Castle

Queen Neve/Uhura is getting impatient and wants to know how Duchess Benny Russell/Pelia is coming with her chapter. Not much has been done, however; she’s been stuffing herself with the delicious scones baked by the queen’s master chef, Max. Pelia sends her compliments and calls him a miracle-worker.

Miracle? Max? I’ve heard that somewhere before…

Lady Audrey/Nurse Chapel has almost finished her brew that is true. She’s just missing one key ingredient. In order to complete her potion, she needs both the light and the shadow together.

They already have Princess Thalia/La’an in their dungeon, but they still need to find La’an/Princess Thalia, who Duchess Benny Russell/Pelia unwittingly confirmed is already there on the planet.

Queen Neve/Uhura just needs to find her.

Papa Was a Rolling Stone

La’an’s/Princess Thalia’s quest leads them to a cabin that looks like it’s straight out of the Evil Dead franchise. Sir Adya/Ortegas La’an/Princess Thalia it’s safe to go inside, “She’s never home at night.”

She?

Adya isn’t taking any chances. She locks the front door and barricades it with a beautifully rustic hutch.

With the shades drawn, they only have lots of growling and silhouettes to go on, but it looks and sounds like someone shot the werewolf with arrows, driving it off.

The “monster” has returned, but it’s not what La’an/Princess Thalia expected.

It’s a very pregnant Huntress/Number One / Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), and there’s clearly some tension between the two former partners. Huntress is upset that Adya/Ortegas bailed on her the moment they found out she was pregnant with Adya’s/Ortegas’s child.

That’s a pretty valid reason to be upset.

Sir Adya/Ortegas begs for forgiveness, claiming, “The forest beckoned.”

Sure it did.

They don’t have time to argue about it. Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk staggers into the cabin, warning them that Queen Neve’s/Uhura’s Crimson Guard is right behind him.

Huntress/Una tells La’an/Princess Thalia and Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk to go; she and Sir Adya/Ortegas will hold them off… together.

The parents-to-be seal their reconciliation with a passionate kiss before going into battle.

Act Three

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

Sir Rauth/Captain Pike and Pollux the Wizard/Lieutenant Spock are finishing their cram session. Their hair and faces finally match their clothes; however, Pollux/Spock consulted the “oracle from the shiny machine” to learn their speech patterns and mannerisms.

Let’s practice.

“Hit it?”

“Fasc-in-a-ting.”

“Hit it!”

“Fasc-in-a-ting.”

“Hit iiiiiit!”

“Fasc-in-a-ting.”

Nailed it.

They set off to find Sir Rauth’s/Captain Pike’s throne, a.k.a., the Captain’s Chair. On their way, they do everything but act like Captain Pike and Mr. Spock. The finger guns alone should’ve tipped off the crew.

The forest may beckon Sir Adya/Ortegas, but it’s a good tavern that beckons Sir Rauth/Captain Pike when they reach the Port Galley. Pollux/Spock can’t turn his back for two seconds before Rauth/Pike is in the bar, throwing one back.

Pollux/Spock takes a moment to regret his life choices, then joins Rauth/Pike in the bar.

Paper Faces on Parade

La’an/Princess Thalia and Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk have reached the palace. Now, they have to figure out a way to get her necklace with her stolen memories back.

They’re in luck! The queen is hosting her weekly Masquerade Ball, complete with dining, dancing, and some light torture of the local peasantry.

Dashing/Kirk and La’an/Thalia find a room to change into something more appropriate. When La’an/Thalia emerges from behind the privacy screen, Dashing/Kirk can hardly believe his eyes. He’s awe struck by her beauty.

Still not getting it, La’an/Thalia feels ridiculous and can’t understand why Dashing/Kirk has such strong feelings for her. Dashing/Kirk replies by quoting her own words back to her, “I accept you for who you are. All that you are.”

La’an/Thalia begins to realize that Dashing/Kirk has seen Princess Thalia at her best and at her worst and still loves her. Just like alternate timeline (not Kelvin) Jim Kirk saw all of La’an Noonien-Singh and accepted her for who she was (“Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”).

La’an/Princess Thalia and Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk glide gracefully across the queen’s elaborate dance floor. Their romantic moment is short-lived, however; the full moon begins to peek out from behind a cloud.

Werewolf? There Wolf.

With an evil laugh, Queen Neve/Uhura takes credit for the ploy; she wants to lure the werewolf out into the open.

The werewolf who also happens to be Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk.

As Dashing/Kirk begins to change, La’an finally realizes what he meant by seeing both sides of him. Princess Thalia knew all along that he was the werewolf, but it didn’t matter to her.

She loved him. All of him.

With a snap of her fingers, Queen Neve/Uhura traps the werewolf/Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk in his own painting, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be riding any rainbows to get out of it.

Seeing what’s become of her love, Princess Thalia rushes in. That’s all Queen Neve/Uhura needed. Now, with La’an and Princess Thalia together, Lady Audrey/Nurse Chapel has all she needs for her brew that is true. Drawing the light and the dark from the princess and the security officer, the potion is now ready.

Queen Neve/Uhura takes a chalice from the palace and drinks the brew that is true. She sees that in order to defeat a dragon, she needs to become one.

Things aren’t looking good for the home team, folks.

Act Four

Freaky Friday

After the queen’s guests scatter in a panic, Princess Thalia and La’an are left alone in the ballroom. Loyal Runa sees both women unconscious and wakes up La’an first.

Princess Thalia wakes up soon after and sees La’an holding Runa. Since no one touches her precious Runa but her, she’s not happy about this. Instead of crying about it, however, she picks up a sword and attacks La’an.

La’an defends herself, but she’s not doing anything to fight back. Princess Thalia is the clear aggressor between the two.

Stop Dragon My Heart Around

Umm… Excuse me, Commander, but is that a… dragon on the viewscreen?

This is weird, even for the Enterprise Bridge crew.

The Battle Within

What’s even weirder is La’an appearing to be locked in mortal combat with herself. Except this time, the side of her that’s usually emotional is just… angry. Like, really angry. And the side of her that’s usually cold and distant is suddenly… well, sad.

Something La’an hasn’t allowed herself to be in a long time.

She realizes she can’t keep fighting herself. One of them has to stop fighting.

Dragon Books

Sir Rauth/Captain Pike and Pollux the Wizard/Lieutenant Spock finally make it to the Bridge, where Una is very grateful to hand the conn over to Rauth/Pike.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Rauth the Coward immediately panics but quickly remembers facts about dragons. One of which, apparently, is that dragons need to see the ground in order to fly.

Sure, why not?

Even Una questions that one, but Rauth/Pike explains that he really likes dragons. Seriously, he has a lot of books about them.

Rauth/Pike orders the crew to open fire on the dragon as well as “erratic evasive maneuvers,” whatever those are.

The Battle Without

La’an drops her sword. She’s done fighting.

Now that they’ve swapped their light and dark sides, neither one likes the way they feel. They need to stop fighting each other and, just like she’s done with Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk, accept each other for who they are.

If they both drink Lady Audrey’s/Nurse Chapel’s potion, it should put them back the way they were. Either that, or it’ll turn them into dragons.

Win/win?

That Old Black Magic

Sir Rauth/Captain Pike summons whatever courage he has, which isn’t much, and tries to rally his troops. When he’s at his corniest, he orders Pollux/Spock to hit the dragon with everything he’s got (magic).

Pollux/Spock reminds Rauth/Pike that this would make him useless, but Rauth/Pike doesn’t care.

Hit IIIIT!

Pollux/Spock summons all the magic he has left to render the dragon paralyzed.

As he does so, La’an and Thalia drink Lady Audrey’s/Nurse Chapel’s potion.

It works. The dragon turns back into Queen Neve/Uhura, surprising the Communications Officer with her fiercely fabulous look.

Una orders the defeated queen beamed to the brig and invites her “captain” to have some words with her.

Dénouement

Everyone’s a Winner

With the evil Queen Neve/Uhura defeated, all her spells are undone, freeing all of her prisoners from their paintings.

Happy to see her true love free, Princess Thalia/La’an rushes to embrace Prince Dashing/Jim Kirk. All Princess Thalia/La’an remembers is a dream where she was fighting herself.

When Dashing/Kirk asks her who won, she answers that they both did.

Whole Again

La’an finds herself back in Sickbay again for her post-mission check-up. This time, however, something’s different.

She’s not scowling. In fact, she can’t stop grinning.

Dr. M’Benga gives her a clean bill of health. As for the smiling, there’s only one diagnosis for that:

She’s content.

As for the “Unknown Flat Planet,” it wasn’t really a planet after all. It was actually some kind of ship, which Pelia stayed behind to help pilot home.

Apparently, she and Max made some miracles of their own.

The Necklace

Before they left, Princess Thalia and Prince Dashing had one last gift for La’an: Runa.

After all, Dashing is allergic to dogs.

La’an may have left her anger behind in the Kingdom of Elysian, but she gained a clarity and sense of balance she never felt before. And she has Runa waiting for her every time she comes back to the ship.

And all of this was to tell Commander James T. Kirk, who once again happens to be on a ship he’s not attached to, that yes, the necklace she’s wearing does have a special meaning.

Jim appreciates La’an’s openness and proposes that they start over by considering this their first date.

And with that, Jim leads La’an to the dance floor…

Final Report

“Once La’an a Time” can best be described in one word: cute. It tells the same story as “The Enemy Within” but with more of a fantasy theme (and the dog survives). It was well written, acted, and directed.

That said, I have some thoughts:

• Motivation. Maybe I’m missing something, but it never seemed clear as to why the Boltzmann Brain entity/Debra locked onto La’an and made her live out her fantasy. It was clear in “The Elysian Kingdom”; they encountered the entity in a nebula, who felt Rukiya’s loneliness. How exactly did she know La’an was struggling with herself?
• Bros before security officers. I was brought up not to start dating your bestie’s ex after they break up. If Jim Kirk is Spock’s “Human Best Friend,” and he knows La’an dumped Spock, why is he still hitting on her? Not cool, Jim.
• La’an Noonien-Singh. This was a beautiful story about loving yourself, accepting yourself for who you are, and opening yourself for others to do the same. Things are clearly about to get serious between her and Jim Kirk. So, how did neither Kirk nor Spock recognize Khan Noonien-Singh when they picked him up in “Space Seed” when they’ve both been intimate with his descendant? I love the character of La’an Noonien-Singh, but her connection with Khan has never sat well with me.
• The Princess Bride. The tie-in with The Princess Bride through Carol Kane made me laugh. If I need to explain this one, please go watch The Princess Bride. You’ll understand.

Season four’s penultimate episode provided a whimsical respite from last week’s intense “Orders of Magnitude.” In keeping with the grading theme, it’s a solid “C+.”

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