Strange New Worlds: Lost in Translation

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds dropped a surprise this weekend, releasing the Lower Decks crossover episode several days ahead of schedule. But there was an episode before it that I haven't blogged about yet, and the "meal" was too good to skip straight to "dessert." So I'm here to talk about the sixth episode of season two, "Lost in Translation."

The Enterprise is working with the Farragut to bring a resource gathering station online inside a nebula. When Uhura is beset by audio and visual hallucinations of an increasingly horrifying nature, she's hard-pressed to convince anyone that they aren't symptoms of overwork. But one person from the Farragut believes her and is determined to help get to the bottom of it: James Kirk.

After two episodes featuring "alternate timeline" versions of Kirk, this time Paul Wesley shows up as the genuine article... and once again, I find him a compelling character both as written on the page and as portrayed by the actor. The sibling rivalry between Sam and Jim Kirk is especially interesting (a bit of an inversion of the typical older/younger brother dynamic).

Of course, the more interesting material comes in his interactions with Uhura. It seems likely that Kirk really is hitting on her when they first meet (that's the Kirk we know), but that quickly gives way to a genuine empathy and concern that plays out in a wonderful way. It's playing up an aspect of Kirk's character that I think has always been there, but wasn't exactly in the wheelhouse of William Shatner. (We saw Shatner's Kirk care this much for Spock -- and the "random strangers" alluded to in dialogue here -- and that's about it.)

But what I enjoyed best was that Kirk's presence in this episode didn't overwhelm and take over the story. This remained an Uhura episode, and I love how it examined her feelings on death. This is "the episodic" live-action Star Trek series right now, in sharp contrast to Discovery and Picard, and yet it's also honoring continuity for characters in a way that prior eras of Star Trek never did. The loss of Uhura's family and Hemmer (great to see him back for a bit!) still weighs heavily upon her.

Strange New Worlds is typically great with finding moments for most of its characters in every episode, and this week was no exception. Chapel and Spock get just one scene, really, but it's a great scene about trying to define their new relationship. (Side note: I love that Spock's first meeting with Kirk was filmed momentously for us, but wasn't actually important at all to the characters.) I wasn't as taken by the Una storyline, as it featured her seeming less "put together" than normal... though I did find it an interesting use of the new character of Pelia. Carol Kane's new character is usually prickly and doesn't care what others think, but here's that's shown to be compatible with caring how others feel.

One "punch-up" to the climax that I would have liked to see would have been someone finding something at the end that corroborated Uhura's explanation of events. (Preferably, something Sam Kirk discovers.) Pike going along with her at the end of this episode seems like a big vote of confidence on incredibly flimsy evidence. Still, that ultimately didn't undermine for me the things I really liked about this episode: a great Uhura story that showcased Celia Rose Gooding, deft use of James Kirk, and solid moments for the amazing Strange New Worlds cast.

I think I'd put this episode right in the "could go either way" territory of a B+ or A-. I'm going to fight the temptation to look downward on this episode in comparison to the wild crossover we got right on top of it; one downside of getting that early is that this episode didn't fully get its time in the sun. So yeah, call it an A-.