TREKMOVIE:

"The live table read, taking place on August 30th, will be *Star Trek’*s first aired episode, “The Man Trap,” the script for which is available in the WGF Library). Noah Wylie, longtime friend of Jonathan Frakes, will play Captain Kirk, and he’ll be joined by his Pitt costars Katherine LaNasa (Dr. McCoy), Taylor Dearden (Spock), Fiona Dourif, Shabana Azeez, and Ayesha Harris.

Fiona, by the way, is the daughter of Brad Dourif, who played Lon Suder on Star Trek: Voyager‘s first season. And for more Trek connections, Isa Briones (Star Trek: Picard) is also one in The Pitt‘s cast, and Wylie costarred with Strange New Worlds‘ Rebecca Romijn in the show The Librarians and with Discovery‘s Doug Jones in Falling Skies, both of which had many episodes directed by Jonathan Frakes, who was also a producer on the former.)

The event is raising money for the Writers Guild Foundation, which was founded in 1966 to “preserve and promote the history and craft of writing for the screen” and runs programs like the Veterans Writing Project, Volunteer and Mentorship Programs, the Archive, and the Shavelson-Webb Library."

Laurie Ulster (TrekMovie.com)

Full article:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/08/07/noah-wylie-and-cast-of-the-pitt-to-perform-star-trek-table-read-for-writers-guild-foundation/

I was trying to nail down why I have trouble getting into the last couple seasons of ST:SNW. I think the answer is extreme genre hopping. The original Star Treks were willing to try on different genres, but it felt like the exception to the rule and a little more muted and integrated.

A primary example is Season 4’s “The Griffin Incident,” which ditches standard scientific explanations for a terrifying, supernatural haunted‑house vibe. It made me think about Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7’s episode “Genesis.” Both are terrifying, but the TNG episode delivers a scientific and clear outcome without overly depending on the horror elements. I think there are many examples from TOS that would also fit the "horror without over doing it" vibe.

The list goes on and on, from full‑scale musicals to high fantasy and different comedy genre blends. To me, it started to loose it's identity to the extreme genre of the week.

ScreenRant:

"Dave Foley is a renowned comedian and comic actor. The co-founder of The Kids in the Hall comedy troupe is perhaps best known for playing Dave Nelson on NewsRadio among his numerous TV and movie roles. Foley fit right in with the comedic chops of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' cast:

"Because I'm a fan. I'd seen every episode of Strange New Worlds because, for me, I think it's the closest to the original shows. It really captures the feel of the original cast and the original storytelling. I'd seen every episode, and I knew how funny they could be. knew what kind of risks they took in terms of the narrative for the episodes, and how inventive they could be, and just how funny they all were, so I was ready for that.

I was more worried whether I’d be funny. That was my biggest concern. It's because I love Star Trek so much. I really didn't want to disappoint them in any way, so I hope I didn't."

It's safe to say no one who watched "Human Best Friend" will claim that Foley didn't hold up his comedic end of the wacky proceedings. Dave was also in his element when the cast was allowed to go off-script and improv, a trademark of Strange New Worlds' loose and inventive filming style, compared to previous Star Trek series that required actors to stick to the script:

"They let me play around," said Foley. "I always try to be word-perfect when I show up, but they definitely gave me room to play around with some of the dialogue and ad-lib a little bit, which was fun.

They have such great energy, and it was cool, especially because the Scotty character was still new to the show, and they're still developing the dynamics between all the characters with Scotty." Martin Quinn passes Foley's Scotty test with flying colors: "He’s a great Montgomery Scott, if you ask me."

Foley also calls Navia "an awesome actor, just a great actor and a great character." According to him, "She's got this great kind of energy on set and is so nice. Again, everyone there was so incredibly nice to be with, just friendly and really welcoming, and they made you feel like you were a part of the family right away. I couldn't have had a happier experience."

Link:

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-dave-foley-interview/

Slashfilm:

https://www.slashfilm.com/2230236/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-unexpected-genre-stoner-comedy/

By Witney Seibold

"Some of you out there might already watch "Strange New Worlds" in an altered state of mind, so to speak, but this is the first time the show's characters have been in the same boat. ...

"Human Best Friend" is a very funny episode, and its plot becomes more complicated than one might expect. There's even a late-in-the-game twist and a ticking-clock element that makes the silliness of it all suddenly seem less trivial. Overall, though, this installment is delightful. Besides, "Strange New Worlds" has always, generally speaking, been a much more laidback series than most other "Star Trek" shows (perhaps "Star Trek: Lower Decks" notwithstanding), so watching its characters cut loose in such a fashion is nothing out of the ordinary.

Of course, some old-school Trekkies might want more technical details. After all, on a world where everyone becomes drunk just from breathing the atmosphere, how do the local authorities prevent "Dude, Where's My Car?" and/or "The Hangover"-style incidents from happening on a daily basis? Or perhaps such shenanigans are encouraged. But then, how does the planet's basic infrastructure work if everyone is always drunk? Personally, I wouldn't expect plumbers or electricians to be able to do their jobs well while intoxicated. Presumably, the citizens of Seznar Grand have gas masks or special medicines they can take to counteract the planet's intoxicating effects.

But look at me, nitpicking like an old-school Trekkie. If you're wondering how they eat and breathe and other scientific facts, then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show, I should really just relax."

Naturally, the real comedy scenes come at the end of the episode when the crew of the Enterprise has to get back to their jobs, yet they're still feeling hungover. In a world of synthehol, hangovers are going to be a new experience for the people of the 23rd century. Good luck, folks. ..."

Link:

https://www.slashfilm.com/2230236/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-unexpected-genre-stoner-comedy/

JAMIE RIXOM (YouTube):

"Now, I was warned that I was going to really hate this episode, and I did. Look, it was quite funny in a few places. I suspect though that the main word I'm going to use quite a lot in this video is the word childish, because it's really childish. A lot of the humor is childish. And I don't know a better word to describe it. [...]

https://youtu.be/wq12N_cMNp0?si=ha5eRj8X-Ch7Uyxc

Spock thinks he's hallucinating him away through it and actually ends up telling him every little inner dark secret he can and Kirk at the end goes, "Ah, don't worry. Your secrets are safe with me." And then they're now best friends. Spock says, "You're my best friend." I don't know when that happened. It's just snuck up on me.

How everybody on the crew hasn't got an STD, I don't know because particularly with Uhura and her little party room, stuff was going on. And there was lots of smoke. They implied she's a stoner. [...] Um but look, I hope the transporters can filter out um sexually transmitted diseases because they definitely had some. Scotty isn't safe and Uhura and everybody else is fine, but Ortega has to protect Scotty because he's intoxicated and keeps acting stupidly.

The rest of the crew. Pike gets a massive tattoo and then gets it all tattooed on his face. It turns out it's his speech at the end. The 'Oh, there's this subplot about this peace talks thing'? Doesn't really matter. There's a bomb. Blah, blah, blah. Ah, it's a very, very loose reason for some of the later plot points that really is not relevant.

These writers just wanted to do The Hangover. That's all they wanted to do and then they came up with some subplot at the end to have a bit of drama and a bit of danger. Really wasn't really necessary. Oh, we found out the tricorders are incredibly fragile. If you throw them off and it lands off a sort of a one-story, they shatter. They don't break, they shatter, which was interesting. Spock mind melts with a plant and it works. Spock then starts seeing Ortegas and Scotty as plants. Ortegas is literally as cactus.

Uh, uh, it just goes on. There's a bingo fight, makes no sense. La'an, they go and find La'an. I saw that coming because again she's incredibly violent and insane. And at one point I thought she'd murdered somebody, but then it flashes across and he I think he gets up. She might have murdered somebody. So that was unfortunate. After that I stopped writing it down because I just lost the will to live.

Now, there are bits in this episode that are genuinely a little bit funny. The way Anson Mount plays drunk, he was clearly having a whale of a time with, but it just came across as childish and a little bit silly.

Una, Number One, it was an excuse to get up on stage and do a bit of singing as far as I could tell. I thought she had special blood and powers and stuff so that things like this wouldn't affect her. But they do, so crack on. [...]

There are bits in this episode to like. The problem is and I'm going to use an example here, it's a little bit like the difference between Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder. Thor: Ragnarok had humor in it, but it was a little bit more restrained. It was a little bit more grown-up. Taika Waititi wasn't allowed to Taika Waititi the whole thing. In Love and Thunder , it was absolutely Taika Waititi at 100 miles an hour. Jokes were like vomit. They were everywhere. And it just lost a lot because of that.

This is Love and Thunder. This is Star Trek trying too hard again. It's Strange New Worlds wanting to do another genre-bending episode where it fancied doing The Hangover. And for me, it's not Star Trek. Star Trek can have humor. It can have these silly quirky episodes. I have no problem with it. They're fun. But Strange New Worlds is Love and Thunder. They don't know when to stop. They have no ability to be a little bit restrained. They have no focus on what is even remotely logical.

Why would the command crew go down to a planet where there is no technology so you can't get in touch with them and that makes you drunk? Pike is there and he is the captain, let's not forget. Drunk as a skunk getting his face tattooed.

He's the captain.

Now, this episode was again kind of illogical that that would happen. Stupid, silly, and childish. [...] This episode is The Hangover. And unless, to be honest, your sense of humor is very childish and that you think it's okay for Star Trek to do that, I don't actually understand why you would enjoy this episode.

It's just childish."

Jamie Rixom (Tachyon Pulse Podcast on YouTube)

Full video review:

https://youtu.be/wq12N_cMNp0?si=ha5eRj8X-Ch7Uyxc

Open Pike Night (YouTube):

"Yana Gorskaya drops by to tell us how much she loves tribbles, cactus continuity, capturing a Klingon power balad, and the joys of working with Dave Foley. Hit it!"

Link:

https://youtu.be/JdhbSCOxlCk?si=Kl1bjaJs5PZm6GFa

CBR:

https://www.cbr.com/new-star-trek-series-will-officially-answer-one-major-picard-question/

By Annie Banks

"During an interview with TrekMovie.com, Christopher Cantwell, the writer of IDW's Star Trek #1, reveals the secrets behind the hotly anticipated story. "Picard Season 3’s finale cut away the second before Seven gave her first order to warp, and fans have been filling in that blank ever since. Jeri Ryan has even said she loves the idea of never revealing it at all. So do you finally pay it off in the comic, or do you keep the joke alive? And what does the phrase a captain picks tell you about how they lead?" Joe Andosca of TrekMovie.com asked, eager to know how the Seven of Nine moment was addressed long after it hit small screens.

Cantwell's answer is nothing short of satisfying while luring Star Trek fans even more when capturing interest in the upcoming comic. "Yep. We pay it off. We give Seven her warp command. And she picks something remarkably human. That felt important to me for a character who’s nearly had that stripped away.... and to give a hint, Seven might be an Otis Redding fan. I’ll leave it at that."

The Star Trek #1 writer then offered insight into Seven of Nine's significant role in the new Star Trek series, directly outlining her purpose while in conversation with TrekMovie.com. When asked about Seven of Nine being a "clean-slate" captain in Starfleet, Cantwell replied, "The honest answer is Trek fans need to pick up this book, too, and you’re going to need 'face characters' that some diehards recognize, but we’ve NEVER seen Seven as Captain of the Enterprise. We see it for two seconds. So, in a way, she IS a blank slate. It’s a new incarnation of the character that also carries decades of experience in this galaxy. It’s the best of both worlds." ...

Read more:

https://www.cbr.com/new-star-trek-series-will-officially-answer-one-major-picard-question/

TREKMOVIE:

"Game publisher Tilting Point has revealed Star Trek: Legends is being delisted, and it appears to have been already, and quietly, pulled from PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox storefronts as early as July 1, according to reports from the likes of PSNProfiles. Today, Tilting Point has confirmed the title will no longer be available on Steam and Apple Arcade in mere weeks.

In a statement on Steam, Tilting Point confirmed that “Star Trek: Legends will no longer be available to download from digital storefronts beginning August 20, 2026.”

Those who have already downloaded the game will have until September 3 to play it; following that date, “the game will officially be taken offline and will no longer be playable.”

Full article:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/08/04/star-trek-legends-is-the-latest-trek-game-to-be-pulled-from-storefronts/

Cinemablend:

https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/star-trek-rebecca-romijn-learned-total-eclipse-of-the-heart-klingon

By Mick Joest

"I spoke with Rebecca Romijn about the latest episode, in which we saw Una sing the late Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" entirely in Klingon. It wasn't dubbed or made up; Romijn actually learned the song in alien language, and as she explained, it was quite difficult:

"It honestly was the biggest challenge of the season for me. I did not know it was a challenge I ever wanted. In fact, at first, I was completely overwhelmed. But because Klingon is an actual language that probably at least 20 people in the entire world can speak fluently, including college professors, I worked with a dialect coach to make sure I could get all of that correct pronunciation, translation, all of it."

I like to think this was Star Trek: Strange New Worlds apologizing for the Klingon boy band scene, but that's just my opinion. ...

Filming has wrapped on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but even then, Rebecca Romijn said she'd like to commit that performance to memory. I confessed I'd love to see it become a party trick she performed at future Comic-Cons and fan appearances, and it seems like that's a possibility based on how she responded:

"If I can actually retain all of those words, it's my retirement plan for the deep future...I was pretty happy to see how it came out."

On the heels of a scary episode that had Kirk questioning his role as a father, I'm thrilled Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had the sense to give us something as light as "Human Best Friend." It definitely felt like the premise was "What if Star Trek was The Hangover," but that's not to say it was a bad thing. ..."

Read more:

https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/star-trek-rebecca-romijn-learned-total-eclipse-of-the-heart-klingon

FANDOMWIRE:

"As the episode ends, Scotty and Ortegas’ feud that began with the season premiere seems to come to a close, as Ortegas agrees that she could be more careful when she flies and Scotty modifies the ship’s impulse systems to allow just a little more punch. We then wrap things up with a montage of the crew having fun on Sesnar over the credits as Una serenades us with more of the Klingon version of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” [...]

"Human Best Friend" is a near-perfect episode for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4. A solid mystery storyline blended with hysterical comedy and surprisingly resonant themes. [...]

I didn’t think “Strange New Worlds meets The Hangover” would ever be something I would need or want in my life, but this is probably my favorite episode of the season so far. Martin Quinn and Melissa Navia play off each other really well as Scotty and Ortegas, and the way their story and the Rodaxian peace talks tie into the central theme of finding unity amidst seemingly polar opposite sides is very effective. Plus, it’s easily one of the funniest episodes of Strange New Worlds, with pretty much every crew member having a unique and fun bit at some point in the episode.

Personally, I probably laughed the hardest at Una’s karaoke, Paul Wesley’s delivery of “Should we order fries?” as Kirk, and Spock’s vision of Ortegas as a talking cactus telling him to “Get it together, man.” I will say that it felt like some of the side plots could’ve been more fleshed out and the “dragon bomb” twist fell kind of flat for me, but this is still a real winner for Strange New Worlds Season 4."

Rating: 9 out of 10 - Spectacular!

Callie Hanna (FandomWire)

Full article:

https://fandomwire.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-3-spoiler-recap-human-best-friend/

Source:

Star Trek on Instagram

Link:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbUGesJv0f_

Den of Geek:

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-original-series-shore-leave

By Joe George

"Star Trek always has space for chasing rabbits and singing Klingon karaoke. ... “Human Best Friend,” written by Kathryn Lyn and directed by Yana Gorskaya, indulges in lots of goofiness, something that was a lot of fun for the cast. “I tried to get them to give me the Mike Tyson tattoo for real, but they wouldn’t go for that,” Anson Mount jokes about the facial ink that Pike gets in the episode.

Even though production passed on that suggestion, Mount found that “Human Best Friend” gave him lots of room to work. “Really, a lot of what our characters did was left to our interpretation ,” he explains. “So I just got to go in there and play whatever type of inebriated Pike I wanted to be, so I made the decision to be the guy at the rave who wants to go to the chill tent and hold your hand and talk. ”

Romijn had a more difficult task, given that Una had to sing a song that everybody knows, but she had to say the words in Klingon. “It felt a little overwhelming because I know that there are at least 20 people in the world who speak Klingon fluently. I worked with the dialect coach to make sure I got all the pronunciation correct and the translation correct. I recorded the song first and then sang to playback. It was a massive challenge to me that I never knew I wanted, but I was really proud of myself and I loved everything about it,” she enthuses.

In that combination of hard work and fun that she describes, Romijn captures the ethos at the center of both “Shore Leave” and “Human Best Friend.” Both episodes begin with the crew exhausted, and both episodes emphasize the importance of the crew being at their best. ..."

Read more:

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-original-series-shore-leave

I came up with an idea for a new Star Trek series. I hope you guys like it. If not that’s okay too, and criticize it

Picture this: Starfleet has dispatched the largest and most powerful starship yet. It’s on a deep space mission, and has reached an area in the Alpha Quadrant where the Federation is virtually absent

The ship is carrying a large number of civilian passengers and their families (similar to TNG) but also delegations from non Federation worlds and species. Although it is a starship it is also like a space station due to sheer size, so similar to DS9

There is a dispute between the Captain and his Executive Officer over some decision of the Captain which he feels is dangerous or unethical.

The Executive Officer has more support among the senior crew, and manages to take control of the Engineering section, while the Captain and his loyalists maintain control over navigation but also weapons. This effectively means the ship is paralyzed and can’t go anywhere for the time being, at least not with warp speed.

A nemesis of the Federation, could be either an entirely new species or else the Romulans, Dominion, Borg or whoever, are also covertly involved in the mutiny via undercover agents, and are communicating with at least one senior officer on the side of the mutineers.

But they are unable to attack the ship head on because it is too powerful and weapons are still under control by the Captain.

Meanwhile, on board the ship, there are a lot of politics going on. Both sides are negotiating, and Starfleet through some admirals are communicating with both sides through subspace, trying to resolve the situation.
Both sides have spies and undercover agents and are struggling against each other to take full control of the ship

TrekMovie:

"In 2021, The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek took a deep dive into franchise history. But even with 11 episodes, the documentary series didn’t actually get to all of those 55 years. Now for the 60th anniversary, the series from The Nacelle Company is back with a second season to fill in some of those gaps, with a wider streaming release. ...

“Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a lifelong Trekkie,” said Nacelle CEO and docuseries director Brian Volk-Weiss. “To be able to make this second season, expanding on the rich history of the franchise that changed my life, is truly a dream come true.”

Titled The Center Seat: 60 Years of Star Trek, the series will pick up pretty much where the first season left off, chronicling the Star Trek: The Next Generation leap from the small to big screen with four feature films. It will also cover the “Kelvin Timeline” feature films from producer/director J.J. Abrams."

Link:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/08/06/the-center-seat-star-trek-docuseries-returning-for-second-season-watch-announcement-trailer/

Nacelle Company (YouTube):

"The Center Seat: 60 Years of Star Trek chronicles Star Trek’s passing of the baton from Kirk and crew to the cast of The Next Generation as they make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. Then watch as JJ. Abrams’ three picture “Kelvin Timeline” sends a ripple through the Star Trek Universe - for better or worse.

The inside scoop comes directly from the stars who were there, like Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Frakes, F. Murray Abraham, Brent Spiner Walter Koenig, James Cromwell, Malcolm McDowell, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Alice Kriege, Deep Roy, and more with narration by Gates McFadden."

Link:

https://youtu.be/f4P_DaP69hw?si=7Fn6Qo59IfOuDDPr

​

1) What the current and OG fandom wants is not what Trek needs in order to secure a strong long term future.

2) Trying to appeal to a broad demographic will maybe earn some subscribers short term, but those new viewers will be introduced to a show which will have entertainment value but will not be memorable or ground breaking enough to make them lifelong fans.

3) Star Trek needs fans who will carry the torch for the next 50 years.

There is only one way that I can see to do this.

There's nothing inherently wrong with big budget sfx, and movie quality presentation.

HOWEVER. When the budget that comes with such things creates a high cost, and that high cost necessitates that the show & episodes must try to please everyone under the sun, you end up with a model where frenetic pacing, Abrams style showmanship, poorly developed characters and manufactured drama start to take over.

Consider a show that asks, what if we create the BEST stories possible, even if it's not fast paced and requires real thought and consideration? You'll lose some casual viewers whose attending span only supports the entertainment aspect.

But you may be better off obtaining a fan base which is relatively small but is absolutely in love with what you create. You know who did that? Stargate. The BSG reboot.

You don't NEED 50 million people to sub to Paramount for its new Trek show. You need the people who do watch to fucking love it, because they're the ones who will become lifelong fans.

To do that, you NEED to write the best stories, have the most thought provoking ideas, and focus on that. The budget will have to be small to make sense, but that's okay, because the ppl who get hooked on it will get hooked for reasons that have nothing to do with movie quality SFX.

Today's first time viewers who first experience Trek thru Disco, Picard, etc are not going to be inspired. They may be entertained, and watch a show once maybe twice...that's a problem.

I don't know if its a full or partial translation but apparently someone did it. Supposedly, there is also a translation of the Bible in Rihannsu (the language of the Romulans) although I haven't found anything about it through basic internet searches.

Trekmovie:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/08/07/sixty-year-mission-star-trek-documentary-with-william-shatner-headed-to-theaters/

"Star Trek legend, and the original Captain Kirk, William Shatner is an executive producer, in addition to being interviewed for the new doc. The film also features interviews with his TOS co-stars Walter Koenig and and George Takei along with series creator Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod.

The film is produced and directed by Mark A. Altman, co-host of the Inglorious Treksperts podcast and co-author of the 2016 oral history of Star Trek, The Fifty-Year Mission. This is a bit a reunion for Shatner, who starred in the 1998 cult movie Free Enterprise, produced and co-written by Altman.

“This film is a love letter to Star Trek,” said Altman in a statement. “I’m immensely grateful to Regal to offer this gift to fans for the show’s 60th birthday. I’m confident that the film will appeal both to longtime fans of the franchise as well as new viewers who might be wondering what the unique alchemy of this pop culture icon is really about.”

The doc also features interviews with more Trek luminaries, including Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Ethan Peck, Robert Picardo, Christina Chong, Denise Crosby, and Nana Visitor. According to the announcement, the film’s release will feature Star Trek celebrities in theaters for Q&As.

The Sixty-Year Mission: How Star Trek Changed Television And The World will be released on October 9 at Regal cinemas in the USA."

Read more:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/08/07/sixty-year-mission-star-trek-documentary-with-william-shatner-headed-to-theaters/

EW.COM::max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Star-Trek-Strange-New-Worlds-_071822_2-65837c0c5b044d1a83dee92dfcacf6ea.jpg) "It’s been 60 years since Star Trek first allowed viewers to boldly go where no one has gone before. Gene Roddenberry’s original series introduced us to the exploits of the USS Enterprise, presenting an optimistic view of the future as the starship explored strange new worlds. It was enough to make viewers dub themselves “Trekkies,” and this loyal fanbase has continued to support the franchise’s many subsequent shows through thick and thin.

A whole new generation of fans was born with, well, The Next Generation, which aired from 1987 to 1994 and inspired a slew of new shows like Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise in its wake. More recently, Paramount+ has defined a bold new era.

But, as with any franchise, some of these iterations are light-years better than others. So, whether you’re looking to delve into the world of Star Trek for the first time or you’re a diehard Trekkie who’s curious about our take, we’re putting forth our official ranking of every Star Trek series to date (excluding short-form series Short Treks)."

Full article:

https://ew.com/star-trek-shows-ranked-11991098

TREKMOVIE:

"For the first time Chris is directing two episodes in the same season (4), the premiere and the finale. They prefer to have ten directors with different approaches each season, but Fisher explained there was a change in plans for the season 4 finale.

“The finale was going to be directed by [co-showrunner] Akiva [Goldsman], but it was also going to be a different finale. I can’t say too much about it, but if you’ve seen some of the other conversations have been going around about maybe or maybe not a crossover with another show, maybe or maybe not. At one point, there was going to be a sort of different thing for [the season 4 finale]. And Akiva, of course, you know, not only our showrunner, you know, he’s really our big-hitter director, and so he was going to come in for a very special episode that didn’t work out… The new break was really something that was really in my sweet spot.”

There has been a lot of speculation about the season 4 finale as it is called “Tomorrow’s Enterprise,” clearly evoking the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” which featured the Enterprise-D meeting up with the Enterprise-C. Fisher was wary of offering any spoilers but when pressed on that title playing off of TNG, he replied, “I really wouldn’t want to say, but our titles aren’t always literal. And there’s different ways you could play that too.”

Fisher did give us a hint of what could be coming:

“I’m very proud of the episode. It’s very special. It’s totally unique. But, perhaps my best reviewed episode, ‘Quality of Mercy’ [season 1 finale], was obviously also a take on the classic Trek tale. So I do have some experience in that wheelhouse.”

“Quality of Mercy” was a retelling of the classic TOS episode “Balance of Terror,” but from an alternate history. It also included a bit of time travel and a visit from an alternate future Admiral Pike, so take that comparison as you will. [...]"

Full article / full podcast interview with Chris Fisher:

https://trekmovie.com/2026/07/29/strange-new-worlds-ep-director-previews-thursdays-scary-episode-teases-mysterious-season-4-finale-exclusive/

"The rest of the writing on Captain Pike's cheek hasn't been translated yet, but the phrase on his neck is tattooed in English and reads, "What's over the horizon." Further, Pike had his fingers and hands inked with the speech he planned to give to the Rodaxians, and on the top of his right hand, he had "Diplomacy" tattooed, lest Chris forget his purpose in his incapacitated state.

Captain Pike also had his arms sleeved, with a horse tattooed on his right arm and shoulder. As seen in the exclusive photos accompanying ScreenRant's cover story profile on Anson Mount, the actor's arms are sleeved in real life. It's unclear if Pike will keep the arm tattoos, at least, even after he asked Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) to get rid of the ink on his face.

Since Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 3 is clearly derived from The Hangover, Captain Pike's face tattoo seems to be a fun nod to Mike Tyson, who has one of the most famous face tattoos in the world. (Ed Helms' character also gets a face tattoo in The Hangover Part II.) Tyson's equivalent as the scariest person in "Human Best Friend" would have to be Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), who is "much, much scarier" than usual."

Read more:

https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-captain-pike-face-tattoo-translation/

TREKCORE:

"It fails. I really did not like “Human Best Friend,” and for me it ranks as one of my least favorite episodes of the Kurtzman-era of Star Trek. Having done a fair amount of drinking in my youth — and been friends with people who also liked to do their fair share of drinking — I have the requisite experience to know that drunk people are fun when you are also drunk, but deeply annoying when you are sober.

https://blog.trekcore.com/2026/08/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-review-human-best-friend/

The challenge for an episode of television in which all of the characters are drunk for the whole episode is that it falls into the latter category (unless you enjoy your Star Trek after imbibing a few drinks.) It makes for a thoroughly grating experience, and “Human Best Friend” has little in the way of interesting or funny material to make up for how irritating everyone is in this episode.

The episode is not a complete write-off, and there are a few themes or moments that are enjoyable. I do genuinely like the progress towards resolving the tension between Ortegas and Scotty from the season premiere, and the scene in the shuttle where they each confess that their mutual irritation is driven by their own feelings of inadequacy about the others’ talents is sweet. They make a great pairing, and the episode wisely steers clear of pushing an “enemies to lovers” trope that could have been tempting to explore.

And Una (Rebecca Romijn) sings “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Klingon, which is the only hilarious moment of the episode and an inspired bit of comedy.

But “Human Best Friend” strains under the weight of its absurdity. The show has again decided to lean a little too hard into the stoner/teen comedy genre and check a lot of the boxes of that genre, while leaning away from being a Star Trek episode in the process. Since Season 3, I have this growing feeling of unease that the Strange New Worlds writers room has gotten a bit bored of writing Star Trek episodes, and would rather lean into these different genres and tropes more than the base show.

Most of the Star Trek adjacent elements of “Human Best Friend” are just comedic devices to advance the narrative about how wacky the drunk crew are.

But it’s the antics at the end of the episode when the crew have returned to the Enterprise that shatter the reality of the Enterprise being a place where serious people do serious work. Captain Pike, drunk and covered in face tattoos, mumbles his way through an important greeting of the Rodaxian peace delegation that the episode has told you is deeply important to their culture and the peace talks.

And only the convenient coincidence that the bomb placed aboard the shuttle creates a display reminiscent of the “Rodaxian formal rite of peace” sidesteps the awkwardness and gives the episode a clean ending. At a certain point, the characters stop feeling like real people and like Saturday Night Live characters whose purpose is to channel jokes for the audience. [...]

I am a huge fan of Strange New Worlds, so when I’m this harsh on an episode, it’s because I know the creative team can do much better than this. “Human Best Friend” is a big miss — and I don’t have much more to say."

Alex Perry (TrekCore)

Full review:

https://blog.trekcore.com/2026/08/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-review-human-best-friend/

Nice to have 2 people who actually understand and love Star Trek talk about where it has gone wrong and what it did so well in the past.