Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Finale Features Cameos From '70s Characters Fans Never Expected To See Again
Set phasers to spoilers. This article discusses major plot details from the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" Season 4 finale, "Tomorrow's Enterprise."
If ever an episode of "Strange New Worlds" was going to toss everything and the kitchen sink into a single hour, I suppose it'd be this one. The Season 4 finale may not be the culmination of everything these past several weeks have been building towards — honestly, each weekly installment of the Paramount+ series has been too episodic and standalone for that approach — but it still feels appropriately epic in scope, nonetheless. In one sense, that's just an inevitability when it comes to a time-travel episode set in the vast universe of "Star Trek." With that said, however, there are also the emotional stakes to consider. With so much on the line for both versions of Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) in the present and one year in the future, well, it's abundantly clear why "Tomorrow's Enterprise" feels so all-encompassing.
Small wonder why this week's adventure is the one to unite multiple different eras of "Star Trek" together into one cosmic umbrella. We're not just talking about the overt setup for the (sadly nonexistent) "Year One" spin-off show and its setting amid the timeline of "The Original Series." Oh no, that simply wouldn't be aiming high enough. The Season 4 finale of "Strange New Worlds" goes even further than putting several of our fan-favorite characters in 1960s-style wigs; it also includes some notable cameos that will cause many a Trekkie to gasp aloud.
How many "The Animated Series" fans do we have in the house? Because this one's for you. Yes, that really was a birdlike Alerian and catlike Caitian making their live-action debuts — neither of whom we ever thought we'd see again.
Strange New Worlds includes cameos for two forgotten The Animated Series characters
Throughout 60 years of franchise history, you're bound to come across some oddities off the beaten path every now and then. One such example would have to be "The Animated Series" (and its much more recent counterpart, the anthology web-series "Star Trek: very Short Treks"). The somewhat forgotten animated spin-off served as a lower-budget continuation of "The Original Series," though with the freedom to portray more cartoonish concepts that the live-action show never could. Like what, you ask? How about a pair of alien Starfleet officers resembling a lion and a pterodactyl-like bird?
You've done it now, "Strange New Worlds" — the furries are going to be all over this one. Yes, the climax of "Tomorrow's Enterprise" brings us face-to-beak with a couple of the more outlandish extraterrestrials in all of "Trek." First, we see our present-day Uhura suiting up for a dangerous space walk in the cavernous shuttle bay, bustling with activity. One alien helping speed things along is tall, feathery, and starkly yellow in color. It's not Big Bird, of course, but a living, breathing Aurelian. While this could theoretically be anyone, it's probable we're looking at Aleek-Om. In "The Animated Series," he was voiced by the great James Doohan and served as a historian who also happened to work for (not-so-coincidentally enough) the Department of Temporal Investigations.
As if that wasn't unexpected and jarring enough, the same scene also features another flamboyant member of the Enterprise crew: M'Ress. Known for her uncomfortably suggestive feline purr, M'Ress was voiced by "Trek" royalty Majel Barrett in "The Animated Series" (and Cristina Milizia in "very Short Treks"). She occasionally filled in for Uhura as communications officer, making her appearance in "Strange New Worlds" oddly fitting, as well.
Maybe Strange New Worlds shouldn't have brought back these characters from The Animated Series
Look, far be it from us to be the party poopers trying to put down all the fun that "Strange New Worlds" packs into its Season 4 finale ... but can we talk about the aliens in the room, real quick? As much of a rush as these "The Animated Series" cameos may give to old-school fans, there's something undeniably off about their appearances in live action. "Star Trek" has always embraced silly designs and sci-fi goofiness, but is this a bridge too far? Maybe the uncanny valley on display here proves that the instinct to try and canonize creatures like M'Ress and Aleek-Om was ultimately a misguided one.
It's not the biggest deal ever, of course, but it's at least worth a discussion. Aleek-Om silently interacting with Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) and then walking off-screen is harmless enough, but what about that rather out-of-focus shot of M'Ress lurking in the background like the creepiest serial killer you've ever seen? We'd gently suggest that the creative team behind the show and this episode likely recognized how unsettling these designs look in live action, which is why they're mostly relegated to the fringes of every shot. There's good weird and then there's just weird weird, and this might be an example of the latter.
"Strange New Worlds" has never been afraid to go there before, whether it be puppets or musicals or what have you, but maybe it's for the best that "Year One" will never have to tackle the idea of including such beings alongside our humanoids on a weekly basis.