In need of rest and rejuvenation ahead of important peace talks, the crew of the Enterprise heads for shore leave on a resort planet with an atmosphere that induces intoxicating effects. Though most of them head off on their own separate journeys, Scotty and Ortegas are forced work through their personal differences and pair up: they must trace what happened to them during an overnight blackout and locate a missing shuttle.
This episode might be the most "Lower Decks" feeling episode of Strange New Worlds since the one that actually featured characters from Star Trek: Lower Decks. The hijinks are as broad as ever and the tone is relentlessly silly. Dave Foley from The Kids in the Hall is here to underline that fun is the mission in this mashup of The Hangover with Dude, Where's My Car? And since Lower Decks is my other favorite Star Trek series of the modern era, I'm totally here for this.
The thing I found revelatory about Lower Decks is that it was genuinely funny. Almost every series in the Star Trek franchise has taken a run at a comedic episode on occasion, but the results are usually mixed. At best, they can be quite fun and can put a smile on your face... but are rarely laugh out loud funny in the way the best sitcoms are. Lower Decks was consistently laugh out loud funny. And so was "Human Best Friend."
I was the "Leonardo DiCaprio pointing" meme when Doctor M'Benga declared of his drink: "It's green." I tittered at Anson Mount's hilarious take on drunk Pike. I snickered every time Spock saw Ortegas as a cactus. (The "special sauce" on that joke being that she always raised her hands right before we saw Spock's POV.) I belly laughed at Ethan Peck's delivery of Spock's reply to being told he didn't look drunk: "absurd!" I snorted at all the spins Celia Rose Gooding put on the word "journey" as Uhura resisted anyone trying to harsh the vibes of her party.
A good friend of mine who never quotes movies or TV texted me this week: "They stole my eyeballs!"
I gather from some of the response online that many viewers aren't into tonal whiplash this extreme -- or at a minimum, not something this zany on the heels of an episode that was straight-up horror. But I love that in an age of television that forces you to binge-view almost everything, Strange New Worlds is a series best not binged, putting some breathing room between each installment to reset expectations.
My expectations this time were well and truly satisfied. I give Human Best Friend an A-. I certainly don't want Strange New Worlds to be this every week. But when it decides to be, this is exactly what I want.
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