Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Just Pulled Off The Greatest Comedy Episode Of Trek Ever Made
This post contains spoilers for the latest episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
The new episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" could have been a disaster. The long-running franchise has spent decades exploring the many facets of Spock's half-human, half-Vulcan identity, but across multiple TV shows and films, "Star Trek" has never actually dared to tinker with the nature of the character's identity — until now. The latest episode of the Paramount+ prequel series boldly goes somewhere the saga never has before, imagining what the most beloved character from one of the world's most beloved sci-fi franchises would look like if he suddenly became human for a day.
The result of this thought experiment is "Charades," which turns out to be not just the funniest episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" to date, but also one of the funniest "Trek" episodes ever. It's no secret that Trek has a robust shipper fan base, and there have been more than a few fanfiction works that imagine an alternate universe in which Spock is suddenly subject to all the rash and ridiculous desires of humankind. Those works typically skew angsty or passionate, and there's a little bit of that in "Charades" too, but mostly, the episode works thanks to its pitch-perfect humor and Ethan Peck's totally committed performance.
Who knew Ethan Peck was a fantastic comedic actor?
If you've ever wondered what Spock might be like without his ultra-logical Vulcan side to keep him in check, the answer, according to "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," is simple: he'd basically be a teenager. When a customer service rep-like entity accidentally removes Spock's Vulcan DNA, the human version of the character is as polite, articulate, and geeky as ever, but he's also prone to bouts of extreme emotion and somewhat nonexistent impulse control. Anyone who has undergone a major hormonal change will recognize the references to crying jags, emotional outbursts, and insatiable cravings. That last bit might not seem like it would relate back to Vulcan-ness, but the "Strange New Worlds" writers' room made sure to mention that Vulcans use scent suppressants to curb the nasty smell of humans, meaning Spock didn't smell bacon for the first time until after his accident
All of this could have come across as a cliche quasi-coming-of-age comedy, but it works because it turns out Peck is a tremendous comedic actor. He typically plays Spock with a mix of practical level-headedness and sweet innocence, and the temporary dismantling of all his emotional barriers only makes the latter trait more obvious. This Spock doesn't seem out of character — he just shows more of himself than he's ever been able to before. The snarky eyebrow arch perfected by Leonard Nimoy is replaced by Spock's goofily aggressive verbal assault on Sam Kirk. The deep sense of vulnerability and care that was once only distinguishable by measuring the pauses between Spock's words is now fully on display across his expressive face. In some ways, it's like Peck is playing a kid in a man's body, "Big"-style. Yet he's clearly also still the guy who cares a lot about coming across as smart and collected, which makes his sillier moments even more uproarious.
Human Spock lets subtlety fly out the window
"Charades" made me laugh out loud more than any episode of "Star Trek" ever has (though it's probably tied with a few unintentionally hilarious episodes of "The Original Series"). Peck gets the best bits, like when he chugs a drink after laughing too hard at a joke, then loudly says, "Sorry, I got so thirsty!" or when he feels a sudden pang of attraction for La'an (Christina Chong) and declares that he's embarrassed. When Spock ends up stuck in a tricky situation a la "The Birdcage" with T'Pring's severe parents, he tells them that "charades is very important" to humans, and when he tries to practice a Vulcan-like level of placidness, he ends up going through every facial expression imaginable. The kooky scenario gives everyone else a chance to get a little ridiculous, too, as the crew impersonates his monotone voice and Captain Pike (Anson Mount) tries to distract the Vulcan in-laws by plying them with his culinary creations.
In the end, "Charades" is a lot more than just a classic comedy episode of Trek. The episode touches on the complicated experiences of growing up bi-racial, passing as one culture but not another, and not feeling good enough to participate in your own cultural practices. Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) is right when she says Spock isn't his full self when he's human, and the show does well to return him to his eyebrow-raising, expressionless ways before the episode's end. Still, by letting a Starfleet officer who's known for his subtlety suddenly become the broadest and brashest version of himself, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" managed to uncover a new layer to a character we thought we knew backward and forward. Lucky for us, that new layer is hilarious.