Is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Setting Up A Key Character For Death?
by Jeremy Mathai · /FilmShields up! This article contains spoilers for the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" Season 4 premiere.
Apologies for quoting a very different space-set franchise, but I've got a bad feeling about this. More so than any other series in the franchise, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has always come loaded with an inherent dread of sorts. As Trekkies are all too aware, Anson Mount's Christopher Pike is doomed to a grisly future that he can't escape ... and, in a canon-altering twist, he knows it. But, with "Strange New Worls" being a "Star Trek: The Original Series" prequel, we're also privy to bits of knowledge that the show's characters are not. The Season 4 trailer uses this to its advantage, ending with a wink and a nod to Spock (Ethan Peck) and James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) eventually becoming best buds. But it's not all fun and games, as the Season 4 premiere reminds us.
One of the best original additions to "Strange New Worlds" would have to be Christina Chong's portrayal of La'an Noonien-Singh, the chief security officer on board the USS Enterprise and, most notably, a figure who doesn't appear in "The Original Series." That fact can't help but inform how we've watched her burgeoning will-they/won't-they relationship with Spock, which now appears to be fully established as a casual fling. Since something must happen to explain her absence down the line, that would seem to put a countdown timer on any bond (romantic and otherwise) the two characters currently share.
Could that explanation be something much more tragic than a simple ship transfer or breakup? One ominous moment late in the Season 4 premiere hints at La'an undergoing a physiological change. Read in a certain way, it can't help but feel like the setup to her potential death.
The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 premiere teases some big changes for La'an Noonien-Singh
It all starts to go haywire when La'an Noonien-Singh punches a velociraptor in the face with her bare knuckles and doesn't even blink an eye. Okay, you know what? Let's back up first. The Season 4 premiere of "Strange New Worlds," titled "Valles Marineris," puts our Enterprise crew on strange footing indeed when an interstellar squall (honestly, "Star Trek" lingo remains undefeated) sends the starship careening to a distant portion of the galaxy — and a different time altogether. 65 million years in the past, to be precise. Yes, this is the excuse that the show's writing team uses to have our characters face off against dinosaurs on ancient Earth, and it's freakin' awesome.
Once La'an, Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), and Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) land on the planet to recover some precious iridium, that's when things begin to go sideways. The episode builds up to the dinosaur reveal perfectly, but what comes next promises to have serious ramifications for our chief of security. Under strict orders not to kill the local wildlife, lest they inadvertently change the course of the future, La'an has no choice but to resort to some old-fashioned fisticuffs when some nosy velociraptors come sniffing around. The visual of punching a raptor is as fun as it gets, but it's La'an's momentary confusion afterwards that raises questions.
Later on, we find out the reason why. After returning to the Enterprise, La'an pays a visit to sickbay to get her injured hand checked out. Noting her complete lack of pain, she points to her augmented DNA, itself the result of La'an being descended from the villainous augment Khan Noonien-Singh, and admits she's "felt different for a while now." So, what's happening?
La'an Noonien Singh's days on Strange New Worlds may be numbered -- one way or another
Say it with me, folks: Uh oh. When La'an expresses concern that her recessive genes might be activating somehow, as a result of everything she and the crew have been through over their last several missions in deep space, it feels like there's no way this ends well. Granted, she's always harbored complicated emotions about her augmented ancestors and the role that Khan played in Earth's Eugenics War centuries in the past. "Strange New Worlds" has previously used this backstory to explore the thematic idea that characters are more than where they come from, a thread that Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) picks up on when she assures La'an that those "enhanced warrior genes" don't define who she is.
But the disturbing feeling remains. Doctor M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) bluntly asks if these changes she feels in her body (which already features enhanced strength and reflexes) means she's going to follow in Khan's footsteps and try to take over the galaxy. Her uncertain response that she isn't sure doesn't exactly quell those concerns. In light of that, fans attached to the character may be best served by planning for the worst. It's alarmingly easy to imagine a future storyline where La'an realizes the threat her now-activated genes pose to the rest of the galaxy and decides to remove herself from the picture entirely — perhaps exiling herself or worse. Or maybe we're overreacting and "Strange New Worlds" will keep her around through to the end of the line in Season 5. Either way, it's worth savoring every remaining moment we have with these fan-favorites. They'll be gone before we know it.
New episodes of "Strange New Worlds" stream on Paramount+ every Thursday.