Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 6 Review: Off-Hour
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 4, Episode 6, “Off-Hour,” is a bona fide disaster movie in space. It’s a white-knuckled, edge-of-your-seat affair and easily the best episode of the season. Hell, I’d call it one of the best episodes of this series, period.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, “Off-Hour”
That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed the sillier outings in Season 4; I love it when this show takes audacious creative swings for the fences, even if those swings don’t always connect. However, we were well overdue for a more somber narrative. “Off-Hour” also thrusts M’Benga and Chapel under the spotlight. Admittedly, they’re my favorite pairing, and their arc is undoubtedly the strongest in the episode.
Babs Olusanmokun and Jess Bush are this week’s MVPs, along with Carol Kane and Martin Quinn. I love that the players outside of Spock/La’An/Pike/Una are getting more attention. And it’s these two friendships that get the nurturing they deserve.
Of course, we know that M’Benga will survive this ordeal, as will Chapel and Scotty, but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cranks up the stakes to an 11. Even knowing they must live through Star Trek: The Original Series, the anxiety here is palpable. The countdown on the chronometer is a clever way of raising those stakes, too. You genuinely feel like the Enterprise crew might not make it past the warp threshold.
Slipstream Disaster
Outside the gripping performances, the production values are through the roof. There’s an element that the ship is almost trying to kill our intrepid crew, and the widespread damage (and devastation) is as impressive as it is terrifying. Even Una, Chapel, and M’Benga’s gruesome injuries add to the immersive experience. Una’s injury, in particular, made this writer pretty damn squeamish.
I’ll never tire of watching the Enterprise gang put their heads together to find a solution. “Off-Hour” sees them save the day at the buzzer, as it were, when we can finally exhale. The added challenge of brainstorming in separate spaces keeps things fresh, incorporating a new spin into a well-worn dynamic.
“Off-Hour” is a compelling thrill ride from start to finish, and it’s a much-needed reminder of what Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can do in terms of storytelling. What an episode. What a show.
Stray Observations:
- I love that the series brought in Dr. Boyce to tease M’Benga’s potential replacement (the character first appeared in “The Cage” in TOS).
- “I’m more expendable than Spock” feels like a sly wink at the audience, since we all know that the canon TOS characters like Spock have plot armor here (unlike La’An, unfortunately).
- “Life didn’t give us lemons, we demanded them” is a banger of a line. All hail to the queen, our Pelia.
- Scotty talking about how even the latest tech becomes obsolete because there’s an immediate upgrade is painfully true, especially with phones.
- If I ever become almost impaled at the waist, I want Chapel by my side. What a badass.
What did you think of this episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.
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Melody McCune
Melody loves TV. Maybe too much. Besides being a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV, she's the Managing Editor for Geek Girl Authority, an Independent Contractor for Sideshow Collectibles, and a Senior Writer for Eulalie Magazine. Additionally, she has bylines in Culturess, Widget, and inkMend on Medium. To top it all off, she's a critic for Rotten Tomatoes and CherryPicks.