For many, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 saved the best for last.
Another way to look at it is that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds took its time building towards its finale.
No one’s 100% right or wrong about it, but ultimately, we’re here. Ante up and call it, Fanatics. The future is calling.
All season, we’ve been examining how certain lines carry implicit meaning, humorous double entendre, and emotional subtext.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Tomorrow’s Enterprise”
Because it seemed that every crew member had their own journey on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, the writers masked the fact that it’s Uhura’s arc that anchors it at both ends.
Uhura: Life has this way of constantly trying to interrupt you when you’re trying to get the job done.
Present-day Uhura (to be called Now Uhura moving forward) focuses on her career and advancement. Although Scotty tries to initiate something upon her return from the protocols mission, she dodges the advance.
Her bridge crewmates welcome her back from the protocols convention in their own ways.
La’an: You’ll update me on all the new protocols later, hm?
Uhura: I’d love to, but I have to review them myself first.
Una: I wouldn’t mind hearing as well.
Ortegas: Nerds. You only live for tomorrow’s potential assignment.
That interplay between present and future runs through the narrative, reinforcing a message of living for today even as Now Uhura works to restore Future Uhura’s happiness.
MORE-tegas in Any Timeline
I’ve never been shy about my love for Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas. As a non-legacy character, her future post-SNW has been a point of apprehension for multiple seasons.
Ortegas: Anyone ever tell you you’re no fun?
Spock: You do.
This glimpse into her life as the Enterprise crosses into its Star Trek: The Original Series era is a relief, as she comes into her own as a flight instructor.
Future Ortegas still lacks all the filters for delicate situations. Thank goodness.
Ortegas: What could possibly go wrong?
Scotty: You know something? I hate when you say that.
It’s so satisfying to know that no matter where she hangs her hat, Ortegas still flies the ship.
No One Likes Time Travel (in Starfleet)
Now that Pelia’s gone off with her Elysian Miracle Max, timey-wimeyness is back on the menu.
Uhura confiding first in La’an is heavy-handed foreshadowing of where this other major non-legacy character’s path is leading her.
La’an: You heard Scotty calling mayday, and you were injured.
Uhura: It was happening, but it hadn’t happened yet. Not that I remember. It was just for a second. I felt…
La’an: Reality shifting. Metal taste in your mouth. Vertigo. Dislocation. Crushing need to pee.
Uhura: I’m glad I called you.
La’an: This could be your first experience with a temporal incident.
Uhura: Time… stuff? Are you sure?
The Chief Security Officer entertains no romantic notions about temporal anomalies.
La’an: You know what’s not in the book? Time travel is heartbreaking. The only day we have is today.
That won’t be the last time Uhura hears that message.
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However, La’an does offer some help in navigating the space-time continuum.
La’an: We never even had this conversation. Which means I never told you that locating the target of the distress call might provide you with more information.
In both timelines, Uhura has Commanding Officers who understand time… stuff. And keen eyes for anomalous behavior.
Future Jim Kirk — now Captain but not quite THE Captain Kirk yet — confronts Present Uhura with his observation that she no longer can bluff convincingly, an ability he trained her on.
Jim Kirk: You see, the thing is, I can tell that you’re lying. And if there’s one thing I know about Nyota Uhura is that no one bluffs better. I know because I taught you how to do it. We were holed up on Starbase 6. That solar storm had every ship in spacedock for parsecs. And we played poker for five days straight. You, me, Ortegas, Gary. Mitchell. Jenna’s stepbrother? Played until no one – and I mean, no one – could tell that you were bluffing. Not even me.
And yes, that was a fun Easter Egg to drop regarding Gary Mitchell.
Meanwhile, Pike goes understated when referencing his experience to Future Uhura on his present-day ship.
Pike: Oh, I know a thing or two about time travel.
Uhura tries to stay focused on the important things.
Future Uhura: Get to the quarters. Stay low. Don’t destroy the space-time continuum.
But big moves require big risks. Luckily, she’s got the right crew behind her.
Chapel: And what are we doing here?
Jim Kirk: Well, as far as I can tell, breaching pretty much every regulation Starfleet has about time travel.
And once they’ve connected the math to the music to the black/white hole that has the ship trapped, the mystery comes clear.
Let’s Talk Space Babies
Some might argue that the musical notation piece of the puzzle fell into place a little too easily. They’d be right. But there’s only so much time for figuring stuff out in an hour-ish long episode.
Universal Translator: We are the Midwives. The baby is breaching. Stay clear. We are the Midwives. The baby is breaching.
Chapel: We have to deliver a space baby.
It’s a bit odd for Kirk to get stuck on the vocabulary around their mission.
Chapel: These drones will be able to move the space baby.
Kirk: Do we have to say ‘space baby’?
Chapel: Space … critter?
Kirk: You know that’s worse, right?
But he eventually comes around to it. At Spock’s insistence.
Spock: The red lights on your EV screen will change to green if and when they make contact with…
Jim Kirk: Honestly, Spock, you’re better off not knowing.
Spock: I am not.
Jim Kirk: Fine. It’s a… space baby.
Like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 6, “Off-Hour,” time is of the essence on “Tomorrow’s Enterprise.”
Although they don’t use the standard split-screens, they finesse the juxtaposition by dovetailing Present Uhura with Future Uhura scenes.
Their ability to communicate with each other makes synchronizing plan elements a joy to watch.
Future Uhura: Okay, I’ve just dropped off the dilithium diamond. I’ll be ready to remotely transport it into the black hole on my end.
Now Uhura: And then I’ll send the reverse pulse into the white hole on mine.
Future Uhura: When they connect, BOOM. Timeline restored.
Now Uhura: Has it ever been that easy?
Future Uhura: No. Not so far.
When the two finally meet, it’s momentous to a point.
Future Uhura: Is the space baby safe?
Now Uhura: You guys called it a space baby too?
Future Uhura: Not important.
The Midwives — beings with extra-temporal perception — remark on Humanity’s constant novelty.
Midwives: Despite how we see time, you are and always will be… surprising.
Take the win, friends.
Bridge Banter
As this will be the last “Best Lines…” piece for a while, I’m going to indulge a bit and sneak in a few sparkly bits of dialogue from the bridge crew that define the joy it is to watch Trek and love its characters.
Pike: Spock, what were those things?
Spock: Unclear. They are out of sensor range but holding us in position with some form of tractor beam.
Pike: So we’re a sitting duck and we can’t see a thing.
Una: Is it a Tuesday? Feels like a Tuesday.
Whether it’s on Pike’s Enterprise or on Kirk’s, the bridge crew works and plays together to the benefit of team morale. Mostly.
Spock may debate the benefit of the human need to bluff.
Captain Kirk: The key to a good bluff, Mr. Spock, is never knowing if it was one.
Spock: Humans.
But the Spirk Force remains strong.
Spock: Captain, this entire occurrence is very confusing to witness.
Jim Kirk: To you and me both.
And although it didn’t happen on the bridge, this little gem provided some continuity in the med-bay narrative.
Scotty: I like Boyce and McCoy, but I still prefer the weeks when M’Benga’s aboard, y’know?
Uhura: Joseph’s been spending more and more time on Vulcan. Christine thinks he may end up transferring there permanently. Sounds like Bones will be taking over full-time.
I was hoping to spot Bones in the finale, but that’s just another thing to look forward to next season.
Holding Onto the Things That Matter
This adventure frames Uhura’s focus on the future — her worries and plans — as obstacles to her happiness.
As noted above, La’an, the ship’s expert on time and its mercurial nature, gives Uhura some carpe diem advice.
In her first conversation with Future Uhura, her more experienced self is quick to point that out, much to Now Uhura’s astonishment.
Now Uhura: You’re literally talking to yourself. You understand that, right?
Future Uhura: Y’know, if you maybe stopped thinking so hard about your career, and learned to live in the moment, you might not be running into this mess.
Now Uhura: Are you exactly the person I’m going to end up like?
When Future Uhura explains her relationship with Scotty to Future Ortegas, she acknowledges how important they are to each other.
Uhura: It’s casual. With the crew changing – Pike leaving, Jim taking command – we sort of held onto each other. Then we just kept holding.
But then, even Future Uhura lets planning ahead cut off her options.
Uhura: I know it’s not going to last. So does he. I mean, there’s no future in it.
Ortegas: Look, there’s a now in it. And sometimes, that’s enough.
For those who wondered about this romantic entanglement, submitted for your consideration: 👆🏼 how it began, 👇🏼 how it ended up (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
How great is that?
Regarding the episode’s theme, even Chapel’s got her two cents to add.
Chapel: Don’t live for tomorrow. You don’t know how many tomorrows you have. Today is what matters. Seize it, and all that!
Once all is right again, both Uhuras take the note and adjust their perspective.
Stardate today
Not tomorrow and not yesterday. The past is over: The future hasn’t happened yet. The only moment that’s real, that we actually live in, is now. It’s the only day that matters. How you spend it and how you define it. My future is not all I think about anymore. I’m not afraid of it. I’m lucky to be here, in the moment, to not know what adventure will come my way every week, because, wow, the not knowing is a gift, and part of that gift for me is I’m going to spend this moment and every moment to come doing what I love with the ones I love. I may not know what the next few years will bring but I know who I want to be with. My family.
Thanks for taking this strange new ride with me, Fanatics! Reliving and re-examining this season’s episodes through their most memorable lines has been a delight.
Let me know in the comments if I missed any of your favorites! Not just from “Tomorrow’s Enterprise,” but from any of the Season 4 adventures.
Was there an Easter Egg I missed? A subtle tip-of-the-hat to Trek lore that I’m overlooking?
Were there lines that made you laugh out loud? Or that lived in your head for days later? Beam it all down!
Until next time, friends, LLAP by embracing IDIC, and we’ll engage with another season soon!
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