Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 Review — Once La’an a Time

The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 episode 9.

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ fourth season is an unexpected follow-up to an installment from its first, just probably not the one that any of us might initially have predicted. Season 1’s “The Elysian Kingdom” was the show’s first M’Benga episode, mixing a candy-coated fairy-tale setting with the much darker story of his terminally ill daughter who was kept in stasis in the Enterprise’s pattern buffer. The show returns to this well again this time for a La’an-focused episode that doesn’t quite pack the same emotional punch. 

To be fair, “Once La’an a Time” is fun, for the most part, giving the bulk of the show’s cast the chance to play multiple versions of themselves and letting them rock the kind of costumes that deserve to be cosplayed at conventions for years to come. The hour plays into a long tradition of Star Trek episodes in which our faves meet (or create) other versions of themselves, such as The Original Series’ “The Enemy Within,” The Next Generation’s “Second Chances,” or Voyager’s “Deadlock.” There’s even a literal dragon in it! But where “The Elysian Kingdom” undercuts its sparkly silliness with genuine emotional pathos—in fairytales, remember, magic always comes with a price—this follow-up largely pulls its punches, bestowing a happy, well-adjusted ending that doesn’t feel entirely earned.

One of the few season-long arcs during this run of episodes has been La’an’s battle with two sides of herself. Anxious about whether her Augment DNA is in some way causing her to become more monstrous, she’s been battling physical and mental issues since she first punched a dinosaur in the season premiere and felt no pain. As a concept, this is interesting enough, but the execution hasn’t always been terribly coherent. Nor has it gone as far as I suspect many viewers might have liked. There is something that feels disappointing in the idea that La’an finally reached some sort of peace with her own identity and her reward is… a regifted puppy and an actual date with Kirk. (No matter how cute together they happen to be.)

The story is fairly simple—or, as simple as anything can be when something that feels a lot like magic is involved: The Enterprise stumbles across a planet that technically shouldn’t exist. It’s moving through space under its own power. It contains breathable air, and there are signs of life. And it’s…flat. (Hands up if you too thought that Strange New Worlds was about to give us its take on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Sadly, it was only labeled “Unknown flat planet” on the ship’s screen) 

Pike, Spock, La’an, and Pelia beam down into a world that is essentially Medieval Times in Space, with lush foliage, a towering castle, and literal fairies flitting about. And its decor is technically an upgrade from season 1’s Party City vibes. Upon discovering an alternate version of M’Benga who assumes La’an to be a kidnapped princess, everyone pretty much figures out immediately that this planet is a recreation of the same fantasy world that a Boltzmann brain-style consciousness once built from the bones of a children’s story. 

Turns out that everyone’s “Elysian Kingdom” doppelganger is back, from Pike’s obsequious and cowardly chamberlain to Spock’s Lord of the Rings-style Dark Wizard. All save Pelia, who, since she wasn’t part of the crew in season 1, doesn’t have a fantasyland counterpart. Not to worry, she more than makes her own, assuming the identity of children’s author Benny Russell in a twist one can only assume Benjamin Sisko would approve of. Of course, this doesn’t explain where the Prince Charming version of Kirk comes from since he wasn’t on the show back then either. But I guess if an all-powerful, bodiless space consciousness has decided to create an after-school special for you to work out your various emotional issues, it can also magically include your crush in the program.) 

Forced to pretend to be the simpering Princess Thalia, La’an must confront much of what she’s been suppressing all season, with a little help from Fantasyland Kirk, who encourages her to accept all of herself the way she’s accepted all of him. Honestly, he turns out to be kind of dream boyfriend material, even if he is secretly also a werewolf. 

Elsewhere, Rauth and Pollux, the Elysian versions of Pike and Spock, sneak their way onto the Enterprise and pretend to be their Starfleet selves to escape evil Queen Neve’s wrath. This B plot has almost no substance other than putting both fairytale characters in a position to save the day at the end of the hour, but it’s hilarious watching Anson Mount and Ethan Peck pretend to be two guys pretending to be Pike and Spock. The scene in which the pair are posing and practicing their catchphrases alone is almost reason enough for this episode to exist. 

Still, for all that this is a La’an episode—heck, her name is in the title!—it somehow feels oddly light on La’an content. Or at least, interiority. Yes, La’an literally has to fight herself to find a way to merge the two halves of herself, but it’s a simplistic solution to a complicated problem that doesn’t really offer much insight into her emotional evolution. Is she still worried about the threat of becoming too much like her Augment ancestors? Or does the act of accepting the complicated truth of her identity and past mean those traits have been suppressed? That she can control them better? Who can say.

In other frustrating news, it certainly feels like “Once Upon a La’an” might be our final farewell to Carol Kane. Pelia has decided to stay behind to study the flat planet/ship’s engineering. It would make sense for this to be the last time we see her. After all, Scotty has to take over her job in the not-too-distant future. But it’s hard not to see such a choice as a waste of potential.

Strange New Worlds has never really quite figured out what to do with Pelia beyond Doctor Who references and comic relief, despite the many opportunities her unique species presents in terms of story. Thankfully, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect exit for her character: Hooking up with a “miraculous” cook named Max on a planet literally made of fairytales. Here’s hoping he knows how to make a nice mutton, lettuce, and tomato.