WARNING! The following contains SPOILERS from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 episode 7.
“Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass, so are the days of the Enterprise,” Trelane (Rhys Darby) gleefully exclaims as the seventh episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds gets underway. And just like a brilliant fan theorized, actor Ethan Peck took on double duty and portrayed both Lt. Spock… and — add dramatic soap opera pause — his half-brother Sybok!
According to the soap opera script Trelane has set in motion as a part of his experiment, everyone on the USS Enterprise is experiencing extreme melodramatic effects and far-fetched storylines that rank right up there with Strange New Worlds musical and puppet episodes' over-the-top theatrics.
Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Spock have been injured in a shuttle accident. However, Spock requires an organ transplant to survive, so Lt. La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) captures the only person who is a donor match: Spock’s illogical brother, Sybok (Peck).
I know many Star Trek fans are going to take issue with this choice — and episode for that matter — but I love how Strange New Worlds dives into the soap opera world at warp speed and utilizes the common practice of actors taking on dual roles. And Peck excels as the more emotional Sybok, who looks just like Spock, of course, only he has long hair to differentiate between them.
I’m also delighted the fan theory about Peck playing Spock and Sybok was correct because devoted Star Trek followers are treated to one of Peck’s most entertaining performances and certainly one of my favorites since he and T'Pring (Gia Sandhu) switch bodies in "Spock Amok."
What did you think about Strange New Worlds embracing so many soap opera tropes in “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass?” Share your thoughts and comments with us about the episode on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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