The second Spock woke up next to T’Pring, it was obvious.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s puppet episode, “Level-Five Transporter Accident,” managed to stick the landing when it comes to entertaining television.
However, the latest installment of SNW needed some logical way to explain how the entire crew of the USS Enterprise was transformed into “Muppets.” And whether it was inadvertent or not, the streaming series definitely took a page out of the classic TV show Dallas’ playbook to address the puppets.
Warning! The following contains spoilers about the end of Strange New Worlds season 4’s “Level-Five Transporter Accident.”
Near the end of the episode, Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck) is comforted by the puppet version of T’Pring (Gia Sandhu), while the rest of the main characters fulfill their desire to float outside the ship since they — for some reason — can breathe in a vacuum, talk in space, and aren’t subject to the sub-freezing temperatures.
Spock then kisses puppet T’Pring and the screen fades to black. When everyone’s favorite Vulcan wakes up later, T’Pring has returned to normal, and it turns out the crew of the Enterprise never transformed into puppets. Yes, it was all a dream, which pays homage to the classic storyline that played out on the primetime hit Dallas 40 years ago.
Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) had been killed of the show at the end of season 8 (1985), but at the conclusion of Dallas season 9 (1986), there he stands in the shower… alive and well! And, as it turns out, the entire ninth season was written off as a dream that his beloved Pam (Victoria Principal) experienced.
I’m not sure how I feel about Strange New Worlds pulling a Dallas, but it does easily explain away how a transporter accident of any magnitude could turn the entire crew of the Enterprise into adorable puppets.
I probably haven’t laughed this much since Lower Decks’ animated characters Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Mariner (Tawny Newsome) were transformed into live-action versions of themselves during SNW season 2’s “Those Old Scientists.”
Executive producer and showrunner Henry Alonso Myers, who co-wrote the puppet episode, even commented on Spock's dream outside of the Dallas context by saying in an interview (per TV Insider):
“We really wanted to try to make it as big and as bold and push the edges of it as much as we possibly could. And as for the dream, dreams are dreams, I don’t know, sometimes they’re real. That I’ll say.”
I loved the puppet episode, but when it comes to whimsy and hilarity, “Those Old Scientists” simply can’t be beat — and it remains my favorite of the Strange New Worlds big-swing episodes. Plus, SNW explained away the transformation without cheating. Yes, Boimler and Mariner truly underwent the change!
What did you think about the puppet episode’s homage to Dallas? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s “Level-Five Transporter Accident” is now streaming on Paramount+.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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