Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 3 Plunges Star Trek Straight Into The Last Of Us

Watch out, redshirts! This article contains spoilers for "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 3, episode 3, "Shuttle to Kenfori." 

"Star Trek" in general and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" in particular doesn't hesitate to draw inspiration from other genres. In fact, "Strange New Worlds" season 3 has now delivered two consecutive episodes that wink and nod to specific works of fiction. Episode 2, "Wedding Bell Blues," brought back William Campbell's child-like alien Trelane (now played by Rhys Darby of "Our Flag Means Death" fame) to pose as a wedding planner for the recently broken up Spock (Ethan Peck) and Chistine Chapel (Jess Bush). The antagonist resets the situation whenever Spock refuses to comply, thus locking the half-Vulcan in a loop that seems to pay homage to "Groundhog Day." Now, episode 3, titled "Shuttle to Kenfori," seems to riff on a far more recent pop culture phenomenon: HBO's post-apocalyptic juggernaut series "The Last of Us."

In search of the healing Chimera weed, the Enterprise sets course to planet Kenfori, which is a strict no-fly zone. On the surface, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Doctor Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) soon find themselves in the middle of a full-on post-apocalyptic scenario, where they encounter hordes of deadly plant zombies. Granted, "Strange New Worlds" throws in plenty of franchise-specific lore about Klingon invasions and truly outlandish medical treatments, but the episode certainly makes Kenfori seem like the "Star Trek" version of the Cordyceps-infested "The Last of Us" Earth. And honestly? Season 3 of the best "Star Trek" show in decades makes this unlikely combination work surprisingly well.

The apocalyptic event of "The Last of Us" is a version of the parasitic Cordyceps fungus, which starts taking over the brains of the infected. The Cordyceps makes its victims behave much like traditional zombies and attack people in order to spread the infection before eventually mutating them into something far stranger. Years after the outbreak, nature has reclaimed most human settlements, and the few survivors left are struggling to get by either by themselves or in makeshift alliances. In HBO's "The Last of Us" season 1, main characters Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) traverse this cruel but beautiful world on a mission that may or may not save humanity, struggling with the dark side of human nature on the way. Season 2 introduces another, very different duo mission, as well as a key element from Naughty Dog's games: The surprisingly scientifically accurate fungus spores that allow the airborne spread of the infection. 

It's easy to see how "Shuttle to Kenfori" plays with similar themes. Here, Pike and M'Benga play the role of the contentious traveler duo exploring overgrown buildings and trying to survive moss-infected zombies. They even locate an apocalyptic log not unlike the ones players find in "The Last of Us" games. It reveals that Kenfori's fate is effectively a sci-fi version of the Cordyceps infection: The Chimera agent, which transfers much like "The Last of Us" spores, went haywire and caused everyone on Kenfori to turn into moss-infested hybrid creatures. Combine all this with the story of revenge, violence, and hopelessness that unfolds on the planet, and it's clear that "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 3, episode 2 just went full "The Last of Us" on its viewers ... either by design or accident.