GoKawiilEven when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is good, you're left with the nagging feeling that it could have been better. The show has always been uneven in quality and tone, which is distinct from its intentionally uneven storylines, dancing as it does between genres and tropes. Part of its mission statement has been to take big swings and push the edges of its format. But even if those swings weren't the best, it was made so confidently you were still sold on the overall product. But when that confidence started to ebb away across the third season, you were suddenly left with a desire to start poking holes in the flimsier narratives.
In its fourth season, Strange New Worlds remains as unafraid as usual to take risks with each episode. The news that the series teamed up with Jim Henson Studios to do a puppet episode is already in the public domain. But while I'm forbidden from sharing specifics about any of the other episodes, suffice to say there's more parodies-of-the-week than stock episodes of Star Trek across the season. Sadly, several of the episodes would be far more fun if the show leaned hard into the tropes they're playing off. Instead, the show puts so much effort in justifying why it's doing what it's doing that it saps the energy from the fun you're meant to be having.