Something bad was bound to happen, but who saw this coming?
Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck) finds himself the only one not affected and trying to run the entire Enterprise by himself after Mr. Scott (Martin Quinn) accidentally turns the crew into cute and adorable puppets. And, while Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s fifth episode, “Level-Five Transporter Accident,” is heartwarming and funny, it’s also quite heartbreaking to watch La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) end her romantic dance with Spock.
Chong, who has portrayed the USS Enterprise’s security officer and descendant of Khan Noonien Singh since the show debuted in 2022, discussed La’an’s decision to break up with Spock before all the puppet shenanigans began. The actress said (per TV Insider): “She sees in Spock that he’s heading more into the logic side of things as well. She can see they’re both going on separate paths, so it just makes sense.”
Chong continued by saying:
“What we had was great, but now it’s time to move on so that we could both evolve how we’re supposed to. And I think in real life, sometimes you have to split up with people — friendships, romantic relationships — in order to grow to be the person you’re supposed to be.”
Personally, I was sad to see La’an and Spock’s romance come to an end. However, one aspect I really loved about “Level-Five Transporter Accident” was how grounded it remained, particularly for Peck’s character, given all the emotional turmoil his typically logical Spock endured throughout this episode.
In addition to dealing with the puppets, Orion pirates trying to commandeer the Enterprise, and La’an breaking up with him, Spock is also brought face to face with his ex-fiance, T’Pring (Gia Sandhu), again. However, even in her "Muppet" form, T’Pring acts as a stabilizing force in Spock’s situation, which allows him to rise to the occasion and overcome the impossible — in his dream, at least.
The puppets were a clever way to try and take the spotlight off La’an’s choice, but my attention was drawn away from the breakup thanks to the interactions between Spock and T’Pring throughout, which gave both Peck and Sandhu a large sandbox to play in and show off their respective acting ranges.
Were you sad to see La’an end things with Spock, too? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ whimsical puppets episode, “Level-Five Transporter Accident” is now streaming on Paramount+.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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