A Holodeck episode in Star Trek? Sounds crazy, right? But being serious for a moment. A Holodeck adventure in Strange New Worlds? Yep, that is crazy! Well, this week’s episode, titled “A Space Adventure Hour“, is taking us there. Star Trek Universe veteran Jonathan Frakes directs Episode 4 of Season 3, which follows a murder mystery theme. Christina Chong’s La’an Noonien-Singh takes the lead in this episode, with a surprise appearance from James T Kirk (Paul Wesley) once again!
If you attended San Diego Comic-Con 2025 and went to the Star Trek Universe panel, then you would have already seen this episode. Trekkies who beamed down got an exclusive early viewing of episode 4.”A Space Adventure Hour” is written by Dana Horgan & Kathryn Lyn.
WARNING – Spoilers below for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 4 “A Space Adventure Hour”
The Last Frontier
The episode opens with what’s very obviously a reference to The Original Series. From the costumes, props, lighting, sound mixing, and acting, you’d almost have to be ignorant not to see it. The whole ordeal, including the bit at the end, couldn’t be more than 10 minutes. In that time, I found it hard to decipher if this was supposed to be a recreation, parody, or tribute act to TOS.
What we’re left with is a confusing mess of those possibilities, committing to none of them. There’s the bright colours, the almost shot-for-shot remake of the intro, and some very tongue-in-cheek acting. In the captain’s chair is Kirk, doing an honestly pretty awful impression of William Shatner. Line deliveries so heinous they feel almost offensive, but the lighting on the close-up shots was a nice touch.
It’s the end credit sequence that feels more like a loving homage. A performed reel of outtakes and bloopers. The actors rocking side to side in time with the ship’s violent jerking, the door not working as intended, and Kirk’s destructive attempt at the famous Riker Manoeuvre. There’s also a vocal cameo from director Jonathan Frakes, the second star of The Next Generation to have one this season. After the mixed episode, which I’ll discuss more on that soon, it was a really nice way to close it out.
The Recreation Room
The episode’s main plot involves La’an testing Holodeck technology on the ship. It’s not totally anachronistic, with the Recreation Room in “The Practical Joker” in The Animated Series. The main gripe, from a design perspective, is that the holodeck turned off perfectly resembles the one from The Next Generation. While the most iconic, both Deep Space Nine and Voyager showcased different designs, and it’d have been nice to see a unique prototype version.
The computer crafts a mystery too difficult for the crew, the characters can get hurt, and the exit is gone. We’ve seen all of these things before. Not even the mystery’s resolution is particularly deep or surprising. The only novelty is having the cast play the holograms, which lends itself to little nods like Jess Bush‘s Australian accent, but leads to an overstuffed cast of guest characters. Although inserting Kirk is frankly contrived, especially in the captain’s chair, continuing the sidelining of Pike (Anson Mount) in his own show.
That’s not to say it’s devoid of any merit. I particularly enjoyed Celia Rose Gooding‘s speech about the show as commentary, escapism, and inspiring generations of scientists. That’s what the franchise is, and seeing the series acknowledge that directly was satisfying. While a nod to the legacy of The Original Series, it’s a very real line about what the franchise as a whole as accomplished over the last sixty years.
Engineering Troubles
The episode’s B-plot is one that doesn’t feel quite so necessary. All the main cast are busy in the holodeck, and the ship’s power not working properly could easily be communicated to La’an. It would honestly make Scotty (Martin Quinn) appearing in the video feel infinitely creepier and genuinely up the stakes. Instead, we see him have the idea, and know it’s coming.
The plot’s also irritatingly simple. The Enterprise is struggling to fly around a space anomaly, Scotty diverts some power, and then suddenly they can. I’m game for building up Scotty, but this is the second week in a row we’ve had him lead engineering because of some handwave explanation for Pelia (Carol Kane) being absent. It’s also something that should be an episode’s focus, rather than a B-plot that only takes away from a crowded A-plot of new characters.
Having Number One (Rebecca Romijn) tell him to ask for assistance if he needs it is sweet. It would work, if Scotty weren’t a character we’ve seen work engineering on his own, on a Klingon Bird of Prey. He becomes this famous solo miracle worker, worshipped as a legend in his field. Even this younger Scotty’s shown he’s capable of these feats. It makes the whole story feel unnecessary, but this also feels like it’s setting up a payoff for him later, so we’ll see what happens there.
Love in the Stars
Right from the recap at the start of the episode, it’s clear that we’ll be revisiting the relationship between La’an and Spock (Ethan Peck). Just two episodes ago, she helped with some dance practice for the formalities around the Federation’s celebrations. There’s some more dancing between them here, this time more for fun and recreation than anything else. It happens twice through the episode, acting as a sort of bookend for La’an’s story.
The first one’s inoffensive enough, even if it’s got this air of sexual tension toward the end. It’s what happens in the second one that sends it overboard. They each confess that they wanted to go further when things got a little more heated earlier, and then share a kiss. Spock finds a new partner to shove in Chapel’s face when Korby (Cillian O’Sullivan) no doubt returns and marries her.
I don’t know how to feel about this, overstuffing the Enterprise with love stories, as if the writers know no other way to create drama. Hopefully this plotline disappears as quickly and suddenly as it appeared. Forcing another love story on Spock, as if the endless tension between him and Chapel last season wasn’t enough, is just tiring. I desperately wish they’d go back to exploring strange new worlds, as the series’ title would suggest, instead of the nostalgia infested romance soap the show’s becoming.
Conclusion
This episode was billed as many thing. It’s been teased a Hollywood-style murder mystery, and equally as a send-up of The Original Series. For the second TOS-era episode to feature Holodeck technology, it seems preoccupied with the same tropes we’ve seen through The Next Generation. The elements acting as a tribute to The Original Series were a mixed bag as well.
Introducing yet another love plot to the series is nothing but a lazy attempt to manufacture drama. Strange New Worlds is quickly becoming stuffed with soap opera-level love story plotlines, with the overly wacky sci-fi plots taking a backseat. Although we’re not even halfway through the season yet. I’ll definitely be sitting for whatever is set to come in next week’s “Through the Lens of Time”.
Strange New Worlds Season 3 premiered on July 17th (2025) and will continue weekly on Paramount+ in the US, UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan. It is also available to stream on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Central and Eastern Europe.
