When Star Trek goes weird, sometimes it goes really weird. As the great philosopher Captain Janeway says, “We’re Starfleet officers; weird is part of the job.” However, I think the weird has been cranked up to 11 in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident.”
Orions, fun guest appearances, puppets, and is it all a dream? There’s a lot to unpack here in this episode! Let’s get weird with my review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident.”
A Transporter Accident Unlike Any Other
Strange New Worlds has always done wacky well. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident” is no exception. The premise is interesting enough. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a melding of forms in a transporter accident. See the somewhat (in)famous Star Trek: Voyager episode, “Tuvix” or Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Episode 1 “Twovix” for reference. However, this…is something else entirely, and I’m here for it!
The puppets for this episode are crafted to superb excellence by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Overall, each puppet captures the essence of our crew in an exaggerated manner, as any good puppet caricature should. Pike’s hair hits new heights. T’Pring’s ears are extra pointy and extra big. The textured hair for Uhura and M’Benga is simply chef’s kiss, and M’Benga’s beard has never looked better.
Ortegas’ hair is showcased in all its thick, gravity-defying glory, but perhaps the greatest of them all is Pelia’s wild mane of macaroni noodle-like curls. I must commend the puppeteers for this episode—Frank Meschkuleit, Dina Mechkuleit, Alex “Jurgen” Ferguson, Dusty Hagerud, and Kristi Ann Holt.
It’s one thing to put on a puppet show. It’s another entirely to have your puppet show mimic the movements and mannerisms of characters of an established TV series. They have a difficult job, and they perform it with excellence. The look and mannerisms of puppets are on point in this episode, but the puppet logic is the aspect that makes this episode work. More on this in a moment.
MORE: Catch up with the Strange New Worlds news from SDCC!
Puppet Logic
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident” employs its best puppet logic in this episode. And I must admit, it took me a couple viewings to really get what they are doing with the puppet logic. Scotty getting himself out from under the fallen panel to help Spock lift it off him. “You could do that the whole time?” Spock asks. Apparently so.
As a lifelong lover of cartoons and the Muppets, I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me that this episode would also employ that same kind of logic. Yes, in real life, a puppet can’t beat up invading Orion pirates, lift fallen panels, etc., but this is no ordinary episode of television—this is a puppet episode!
That barrier lifted; the puppet chaos can ensue. You can’t space a puppet! Puppets don’t need air to breathe! The collective gasp of all the puppets at that revelation had me howling. The three puppets in a Vulcan robe gimmick is the perfect Star Trek version of “three puppets in a trench coat” that I didn’t know I needed. The leaping tackles to take down the Orions, Una setting herself up as a stumbling block to take out the one pirate, are all great, but La’an’s run up the wall and karate-kicking the pirate to the ground? Perfection. The only thing that could have made it better was a Miss Piggy-style “Hi-yah!”
Using a puppet’s lack of oxygen necessity to knock everyone out is quite clever, and a great way to put that earlier plot point to good use. Finishing the episode with everyone enjoying being out in space is a lot of fun too. However, Spock making out with T’Pring in puppet form and fading to black? Well, I’ve got thoughts on that.
MORE: Check out our reviews of episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, and episode 4!
A ‘Lost’ Ending?
One thing I did not suspect of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident” is that it would all be a dream. Maybe I should have suspected this with a premise so wacky. But the thing that has made all previous episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that have gone wacky work is that they never made it a dream sequence.
It wasn’t a dream when Boimler and Mariner crashed the Enterprise in “Those Old Scientists.” “Subspace Rhapsody” stuck the landing and got stuck in our heads for months afterwards. Do us the courtesy of keeping Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident” in the real world.
Even though it’s just a dream, is Spock still as affected by what he experienced in his dream? Has he learned to lean into logic, but also accept chaos when chaos is the rule of the day? Like his experiences on the Griffin, did his logic help bring him back to reality? We aren’t given a clear answer by the episode’s end, and that is to the episode’s detriment. Is this an appeasement to a certain segment of the fandom that hates hijinks? I don’t think so.
They’re still clutching their pearls that Star Trek puppets exist at all, along with every other big swing this series has taken. I just wish the writers had decided to fully commit to the puppets being reality, rather than an elaborate and detailed dream.
MORE: Watch our interview with Ethan Peck, Christina Chong, and Paul Wesley HERE!
Final Thoughts
Overall, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident” is a lot of fun, but doesn’t quite stick the landing by making it a dream sequence. However, there is still much to enjoy in the episode. Rachael Harris as our Orion Captain and Joe Lo Truglio, who I know best as Charles Boyle from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as her First Officer are fantastic in their respective roles. They do the pirate bit well while also fitting in nicely with the comedic beats of the episode.
Speaking of comedic beats, I was just waiting for Captain Pike to kick back in his chair a la Joey and Chandler in their Barker Loungers in Friends. Additionally, the send-up of the famous scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with “The needs of the many…” with Pike and Spock got a laugh from me, but may encroach on Star Trek blasphemy for others. As with any comedy, your mileage may vary.
Even with these comedic beats, there are some great lines in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident.” Spock saying, “Control is not determined by gender. It is efficient,” is just one more reminder that Star Trek has the best examples of positive masculinity on television.
Additionally, Pike shows us that determination and courage are never determined by one’s stature. He says, “I’m shorter and fluffier than usual, but I’m still the Captain,” and with that, our crew defeats the Orions. With an episode that builds its set pieces around silliness, it’s nice to be reminded that you’re still watching Star Trek.
MORE: Rebecca Romijn chats about being part of Star Trek’s 60th and more, along with Anson Mount and Carol Kane in this roundtable interview!
What do you think of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 “Level-Five Transporter Accident”? Leave me a comment and let’s talk Trek.
The next episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will air on August 27, 2026, on Paramount+.
