Strange New Worlds S3E5: Through the Lens of Time

Instead of Captain’s log, we start from the POV of Ensign Gamble, Dr. M’Benga’s new assistant, who’s psyched to be serving on the Enterprise. It’s nice to get the occasional reminder that exploring space can be a very exciting job that people love, and his enthusiasm plays off of M’Benga’s world-weariness nicely. Gamble is also excited that Dr. Korby, Nurse Chapel’s new beau, is preparing a planetary archeological dig. The ancient civilization who left the ruins behind were rumored to possess the secret to immortality, and the ability to visit other galaxies.

Gamble is especially excited about the dig because it’s his first away mission. He talks about how that’s been a longtime dream of his. He’s wearing a white shirt, not a red one, but we can all agree he’s clearly doomed, right?

Before he gets to beam down, we also check in on La’an’s burgeoning romantic relationship with Spock, via an awkward conversation between her and Chapel. We establish that the two have been seeing each other for a few months (meaning that much time has passed since the previous episode), but La’an describes it as no commitments, “just fun times.” Not quite the phrase one would use to describe either our security chief or her unemotional paramour.

We also get another framing device, as Ortegas’ brother Beto is filming aboard the Enterprise as part of a documentary film. He’s unsurprisingly underfoot. (Not the least of which because he’s flirting with Uhura) His presence doesn’t add much (apart from one small plot point where having a camera handy helps provide a clue), but he also only gets a few quick moments.

Beto tags along with the away team, who quickly discover that what looks like a few dusty pillars turns out to be a very large, ornate hidden temple. They’re joined by one of the locals, but he’s not there to do much apart from an acknowledgement that the Federation isn’t just plundering the planets’ heritage without asking. He’s as mystified by the temple as anyone, and he’s less useful than Uhura in deciphering his ancient ancestors’ language.

Of course, our away team search the temple with no preparation, and of course, they’re quickly in trouble. They can’t call the ship or transport from inside the structure. And they almost immediately stumble upon the desiccated bodies of a previous group of interlopers. Spock sensibly wants to step outside and notify the ship; Korby and Chapel object, as if they couldn’t return in ten minutes after checking in. It’s a dumb narrative shortcut that this show is usually better than.

Especially when disaster quickly strikes one of the crew (you’ll never guess which one), and Spock has to call the ship anyway. Pike orders them to beam back, but when Spock returns to the temple, the whole group gets sealed in. WIth no escape, they explore deeper inside, and in the blink of an eye, the group are separated into pairs. They can radio each other, but can’t actually find each other, despite appearing to be in the same room.

It’s a classic Trek mystery, with Strange New World‘s usual horror movie vibe. While the crew tries to figure out the temple’s mysteries, a different horror movie unfolds on the ship. One of the two solutions is a little pat — the crew are literally handed pieces of a puzzle, so it’s only a matter of time before they but them together. But the other involves the difficult moral choices and mixture of triumph and tragedy that’s Trek’s stock in trade. That (and the fact that we’re actually getting a planet-of-the-week adventure for the first time in a while) makes the episode worthwhile.

Stray tachyons:
• Korby is stubborn and arrogant here, which is a convincing setup for his eventual downfall in the TOS episode in which he appears.

• Carol Kane is back as Pelia, after being conveniently off-screen for the last two episodes. She’s delightful as always.

• We’ve been rooting for Ortegas to get more screen time, and she’s barely in this one. But with the episode juggling Pelia, Scotty, Batel, Korby, Beto, and Gamble, on top of the main ensemble, you can’t fault the show for relegating a few characters to the background. Pike and Una are barely in this one either.