“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” Season Four Takes its Biggest Swings Yet (NON-SPOILER REVIEW)

The new worlds feel stranger and it is a welcome change.

(L-R): Anson Mount as Captain Pike, Christina Chong as La’an Noonien-Singh, and Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga in season 4, episode 1, of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+

Strange New Worlds has always had a tough job. Canonically, it’s wedged between two series: the brilliant - but admittedly polarizing - Discovery and the one that brought us here, The Original Series. It needs to pay homage to both shows, while also feeling distinct and fresh. 95% of the cast have two other actors to compare their performances to. It needs to be interesting, while also casting the widest net to appeal to the fandom, which has been bitterly divided in the era of new Trek.

While the first three seasons were generally well-liked, I’ve always had a mixed reaction to them. When they hit, they hit hard. But when they fell short, it felt like they were tripping over their own feet. It seems so much like whenever they plodded into a dicey political statement, they wanted us to know “we don’t take it seriously, so neither should you.”

Having watched the first six episodes of the season, I can say that I think they’ve finally fixed this vibe. 

Oh, I don’t mean that they’re taking things seriously now. Actually, the opposite. It feels to me that the writers made a firm decision to take the show as unseriously as possible. And I think it’s the best decision they could have made.

ECLECTIC AND ELECTRIC

Rebecca Romijn as Una in season 4, episode 3, of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+

The first three seasons had serious plots about the war with the Gorn and its aftermath, leading to the fridging of Captain Marie Batel. There was this serious tone, but then they’d throw in a musical episode, or a crossover with Lower Decks, or Trelane terrorizing Spock. When you only have ten episodes, trying to balance these two extremes leads to a hell of an emotional whiplash.

Season four doesn’t have that problem, because it’s fully leaning into the episodic and ridiculous. When it does get serious (which believe me it does), it hits harder, because it’s standing out among these frothier plotlines.

What really makes SNW stand apart with its eclectic episodes is that it’s not just the tone of the episodes that are different. It’s not “this is Star Trek, but it’s funny” or “this is Star Trek, but a mystery”. Everything about the episodes are different. The visual language, the always stellar music, the costumes. It gives the series an anthology feel. It heightens the idea that these characters are going on wild and different missions each episode because everything feels different. It’s so pronounced that when an episode is a bog standard Starfleet has an adventure, it just feels kind of quaint.

EXCITING, UNEXPECTED FOCUSES

(L-R): Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas and Martin Quinn as Scotty in season 4, episode 3, of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+

SNW has a large cast of interesting characters, well acted by impossibly pretty people. With each season, new characters have been added. This is a blessing and a curse. It can be difficult to balance the focus between roughly nine main characters, when there are only ten episodes a season. Obviously, a lot of attention needs to be given to Captain Pike. He is the leader, after all. Then, when you have a character like Spock, who is treated with the same reverence in the Star Trek franchise that Mickey Mouse gets from Disney, things get really rough.

These characters do get their moments, even entire episodes focused on them. But these six episodes didn’t feel as overwhelmingly focused on them. This season feels so much more egalitarian.

There are two MVPs in this first batch of episodes. Martin Quinn really gets to shine, showing himself to be a more than worthy successor to both James Doohan and Simon Pegg. With each episode, he’s growing more and more into the miracle worker we saw in TOS. Both professionally and personally his character is expanding.

The other is Melissa Navia as Erika Ortegas. Yes, patience pays off! It’s finally Mortegas time! Previous seasons have teased us with more about the Enterprise’s hotshot pilot, with Terrarium being one of the standout episodes of season three. Now, almost every episode provides her with at least a solid check in. It is the meal we’ve been waiting for after the morsels of years past.

Not every focus is a home run though. One character’s ongoing plotline feels warmed over, melodramatic, and more than a little problematic. As they are a character I’ve greatly enjoyed in the past, I’m irritated that I’m not enjoying what’s happening to them.

A MATTER OF CHEMISTRY

(L-R): Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk and Dan Jeannotte as Sam Kirk in season 4, episode 2, of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+

Not only does SNW give focus to characters that have been relegated to the background, it’s playing around with its relationship focuses.

…Wait, hold on. That might give people some pause. One of the big complaints about SNW has been its focus on romantic relationships (aka Spock can’t keep it in his pants). No, SNW is paying more attention to the comradery you’d find aboard a starship. It’s Starship Band of Brothers, not Deep Space 90210.

Characters that haven’t received screentime together get it now, and it works really well. It brings out new facets of their identities. Some of these facets are bringing characters closer to their TOS incarnations. Others are just things for us to enjoy now. Some of it is related to their jobs, and some of it is personal. In each instance it gives us a deeper understanding of characters that have been neglected thus far.

Of course, you can’t fully escape the romance. SNW has spent so much time on it already. But it has been dialed down a lot from previous seasons. It feels like the complaints about the focus in previous seasons were listened to finally.

These new friendships and working relationships really help make things feel fresh. I feel so much more invested in these characters as they become invested in each other.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Jess Bush as Christine Chapel in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, episode 6, season 4, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+

Sometimes it can be hard to be a reviewer… Oh, play the world’s smallest violin for me. I get to talk about one of my favourite franchises with my friends. But what I mean is that you can lose your enjoyment of a property. You’re not able to just sit back and watch something for fun. You’ve really got to examine it. I’ve always felt SNW was a series for kicking back and watching, and that my ambivalence from previous seasons was because I was looking at it under a microscope. 

I didn’t feel that in watching these first six episodes. I think they’re fun and inventive in wonderful new and exciting ways. There are episodes I like more than others, true. But nothing has hit my personal nadir from previous seasons. So far, my lowest rating is “well, that was pretty fun I guess.” And when the episodes hit, they hit hard. It is so hard to write a non-spoilery review, because there is just so much I want to talk about. I’m also feeling a bit of sadness that at this point I only have ten more episodes of SNW to go before we say goodbye to this show. It feels like they’ve just hit their stride.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns on Thursday, July 23, on Paramount+.