TV Review: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4

Anson Mount as Captain Pike in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount+.

Arriving on Paramount+ July 23rd with the first episode (and nine more to follow weekly), the fourth season of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ represents a welcome return for the crew of the pre-James Kirk (though he’s also to be found here) Starship Enterprise.

“Boldly go one step closer to where it all began.”

The cast includes Anson Mount (‘Safe’),Ethan Peck (‘The Midnight Sky’), Christina Chong (‘Johnny English Reborn’), Melissa Navia (‘The Chosen’) and Rebecca Romijn (‘X-Men’).

Related Article: TV Review: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3

Initial Thoughts

(L-R) Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk and Dan Jeannotte as Sam Kirk in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount+.

Barring a big announcement at this year’s Comic-Con or elsewhere, the new season of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ represents one of the last remaining bastions of the ‘Trek’ franchise on TV –– after this, we only have the show’s fifth and final season and the second run of the cancelled ‘Starfleet Academy’ to keep fans boldly going.

Fortunately, ‘Strange New Worlds’ remains as nimble and fun as ever, able to leap across different genres while maintaining coherence better than a structural integrity field.

Script and Direction

Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount+.

Led once more by showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, ‘Strange New Worlds’ balances weighty sci-fi themes (causality, genocide) with friendly characterization and episodes that spin stories that vary from wildly goofy to claustrophobically scary.

All though, our crew are still consistent and every tale moves them along emotional arcs; it’s quite the juggling act.

On the directorial front, the likes of Axelle Carolyn and Jordan Canning find the right tone and guide the cast to success.

Cast and Performances

Martin Quinn as Scotty in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount+.

The regulars know exactly what they’re doing at this point –– the showrunners can throw everything from a puppet episode to a noir to a tense horror outing at them and they embrace it with aplomb.

On the guest front, the likes of Paul Wesley (as a returning, recurring James T. Kirk), fit right in, and even ‘The Kids in the Hall’ veteran Dave Foley pops up as the weird manager of a pleasure planet (no, not that one. Sorry, Trek fans).

Final Thoughts

(L-R) Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk and Ethan Peck as Spock in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount+.

‘Strange New Worlds’ continues to fly the flag for the Federation’s franchise, and if this show is one of the last we have to look forward to for a while, then ‘Star Trek’ is warping off the televisual stage on a high –– though we at least have a fifth season to anticipate.

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 receives 80 out of 100.

Melissa Navia as Ortegas in ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Jan Thijs/Paramount+.

What’s the plot of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4?

The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise – led by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) – embark on a series of thrilling and emotional adventures across the stars.

As they journey to strange new worlds, they will battle inner demons and external threats, encounter colorful new characters, reunite with familiar faces and confront terrifying aliens. Through it all, they strive to embrace a bright, hopeful future.