Warning! Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 7, “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass.”As I’ve watched Star Trek‘s modern era come under fire from long-serving fans, I’ve often had to hold my tongue. Nostalgia can cover up the cracks in any franchise, and Star Trek is no different. Although The Original Series and its spin-off movies are beloved for the warmth and fuzziness they instill in so many, it’s easy to forget that William Shatner’s James T. Kirk and company did not go on a perfect run of adventures. There were numerous storylines, twists, and even characters that were heavily criticized upon release.
Regardless, there have been few efforts to retcon these more divisive elements from the canon. In fact, newer Star Trek shows have actually doubled down on some of the more disliked parts of the classic era, recontextualizing them in the canon at large. Strange New Worlds Season 4 has just done it again with Episode 7, “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass.” The soap-opera-inspired installment admits one of the biggest missteps the franchise has ever made, but it does so in a creative and playful fashion.
How ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Admits ‘The Final Frontier’s Sybok Reveal Was a Cheap Twist
Laurence Luckinbill’s Sybok made a sudden debut in 1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, giving Leonard Nimoy’s Spock a half-brother. The connection to Spock was pivotal to the movie’s plot. Still, even now, I firmly believe that it was completely unnecessary to debut a sibling who had never been mentioned before. Sybok could have just been an old friend. I’m sure I’m not alone in that belief, either. It felt like a very cheap twist designed solely to surprise the audience. It reeked of something from a soap opera storyline, which are routinely written to maximize melodrama rather than focusing on the grounded stories they masquerade as.
“Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass” intentionally champions a soap opera format, drawing strong influences from genre standouts like Days of Our Lives. Because Trelane (Rhys Darby) has become a fan of soapy storytelling, the spell he casts over the crew of the Enterprise forces them to act out these over-the-top tropes. Uhura’s (Celia Rose Gooding) claim that she’s actually Captain Pike’s (Anson Mount) daughter is a great example of this, but so is Ethan Peck being cast in the role of Sybok.
Star Trek: Discovery also introduced Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin Green) as Spock’s adoptive sister. However, the show did at least give a better explanation for why Spock had never before mentioned Michael.
Usually responsible for playing Spock in Strange New Worlds, Peck is also tasked with playing a version of Sybok in “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass” who’s nothing more than a part of Trelane’s illusion. Peck’s Sybok, unlike Luckinbill’s, is unveiled as Spock’s surprise identical twin. It’s exactly the kind of over-the-top twist that regularly occurs in soap operas like Days of Our Lives. By extension, I can’t help but feel like this is Star Trek finally admitting that writing Sybok as Spock’s brother was unnecessary, and, in certain lights, somewhat laughable.
‘Strange New Worlds’ Season 4’s Sybok Gag Opened the Door for a Fascinating New Character
Diedre Hall makes her debut as Dr. Chivers in “Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass.” Most known for playing Marlena in over 5,000 episodes of Days of Our Lives, her presence among the Strange New Worlds cast is initially implied to be part of Trelane’s high-concept deception. After all, the Enterprise has never been revealed to have a ship’s counselor, in either The Original Series or Strange New Worlds. The fact that Hall’s character was at the center of one of the biggest twin twists in Days of Our Lives history also feels like a fun nod to what the episode does with Spock and Sybok.
Then, when the illusion is lifted, it turns out that Dr. Chivers is real after all. It’s also confirmed she’s been on board for a while, as she mentions to Captain Pike all the times he has canceled appointments with her. This begs the question of whether Dr. Chivers or her successor was still aboard the Enterprise in The Original Series, and if we just never saw her. I like to believe this is the case. Even though The Next Generation first introduced the position of ship’s counselor with Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), it makes perfect sense that earlier Starfleet vessels would also recognize the importance of the position. Plus, because Hall plays a psychotherapist in Days of Our Lives, we already sort of know what kind of counselor Dr. Chivers might be, even if she never shows up again in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2027-00-00
- Network
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Paramount+
