It’s the Star Trek sequel no one expected! Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time” offers a follow-up to Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 8 “The Elysian Kingdom.” This is the sequel episode I did not anticipate from this series. Settle in for a “storybook story” as real as the feelings you feel in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time.”
An Unexpected Sequel
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time” opens with a testy La’an. She’s itching for a fight and while is successfully doing her job to the letter, her methods are abrasive and more surly than normal. The “Do you have anything that can cure acute grumpiness?” line from Pike definitely had me cracking up, but even more so with M’Benga’s response to Pike, “If I did, I’d have given it to you years ago.” Joking aside, I can empathize with La’an. The conflicted feeling that she just can’t shake, and the simmering anger in the backburner of her mind are bubbling to the surface. It’s time for some play therapy! And what better way to do that than a trip back to the Elysian Kingdom. Right? RIGHT?!
While our first encounter with “The Elysian Kingdom” took place on the Enterprise and centered on M’Benga, this one centers on La’an. “Are we all on drugs?” asks Pelia. Can’t blame her for asking! It sure would seem like it if you landed on Planet Renaissance Fair and were mistaken for Princess Thalia. Our previous visit to the Elysian Kingdom had M’Benga understanding what was happening while everyone else believed themselves to be characters in a book. In this scenario, our crew now has doppelgängers of themselves and a seriously evil queen to contend with. Further, this sequel seems to offer La’an the opportunity to explore her gentler, more vulnerable side. More on this in a moment.
MORE: Check out our reviews of episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, and episode 4!
The Princess Bride Homage
While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time” is yet one more exploration in “Strange New Genres,” albeit one they have visited just once before, this episode is more than that. It is a total love letter to The Princess Bride, and even has Valerie from that film, our own Pelia, played by Carol Kane. Or should I say “Benny Russell”? It’s an interesting choice for a Star Trek episode. Aside from “The Elysian Kingdom,” there’s been many a fantasy episode in Star Trek history. There’s a bit of it in “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie” from Lower Decks and even The Next Generation crew had a bit of fun with medieval times like in “Qpid.”
That being said, the costuming and musical cues all scream The Princess Bride. The gentle plucked guitar melody when La’an and Dashing get dressed for the ball is not unlike the themes used for Westley and Buttercup’s scenes in The Princess Bride. There are several other musical cues that evoke that film’s score as well.
La’an’s lament of the lack of subtext with “The Swamp of Infinite Death,” and obvious homage to the Fire Swamp, and the “Key of Conscience,” is hilarious. Further when the unseen cook named Max is a “miracle worker” with his delicious scones, I simply, could not stop laughing. What a wonderful reference, especially when spoken by Carol Kane. I was half-expecting her to say, “I’m not a witch, I’m your wife!” to Billy Crystal as Miracle Max. However, I don’t think his salary was in the budget this week.
A Send-off for the Ages
Finally, when Pelia hooks up with Max and pilots the what-we-thought-was-a-planet-but-is-actually-a-ship safely home, I couldn’t stop cracking up. While I have no confirmation of this, it feels like this is an exit for Carol Kane’s Pelia. If it is, I can’t think of a better send-off for a character that to me, is Space Mary Poppins™. If so, thank you, Carol Kane, for your contribution to the Star Trek universe. I hope you pop up as Admiral Ake’s fun Lanthanite auntie or cousin in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. While The Princess Bride references are great fun, they also provide a bit of whimsy and gentle comedy in an episode that is focused primarily on La’an’s serious internal conflict. Speaking of La’an, let’s dig into what she believes to be her Jungian dark side.
MORE: Anson Mount chats being part of Star Trek’s 60th and more, along with Rebecca Romijn and Carol Kane in this roundtable interview!
I’m the Monster
La’an’s internal struggle has been a constant in season 4, but truly bubbles to the surface in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time.” And if I may speak on a personal level, all I have to say is, “Girl, same.” I also have struggled with feeling like I am a monster. Like La’an, I can be just as aggressive and tough as I am gentle and kind. However, for much of my life, I chose to shield the gentler parts of myself for fear of getting hurt, but at the same time, struggled against my domineering personality and the negative side effects of having a forceful, and at my worst, aggressive or angry, personality.
I have spent a large part of my adulthood reconciling that I am allowed to have deep feelings without being considered weak. I don’t have to be in control to be safe. Additionally, knowing that I can be gentle and strong simultaneously, while also being unabashedly vulnerable marks my greatest personal growth. La’an is experiencing this same kind of thing in this episode.
Learning to Love and Be Loved
Further, Prince Dashing says to La’an/Thalia, “I accept you for who you are. All that you are. If only you could do the same for yourself.” Having people in your life that accept you for all parts of you is healing—the light and the shadow. Further, when La’an learn that Dashing is the werewolf and that Thalia knows and loves him in spite that he is a literal monster helps her to love herself a little more. “You knew? You accepted him?” she asks. “Yes, the light and the shadow,” says Thalia. Would that we all find our greatest strength in the parts of ourselves that we wish to hide.
MORE: Watch our interview with Ethan Peck, Christina Chong, and Paul Wesley HERE!
The Power of Story
One thing that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time” does well is highlight the power of story as a vehicle for external processing. As someone who has spent a lifetime processing her emotions through fiction, La’an’s journey in this episode hits home. Further, not only is La’an getting out of her own head here, she is literally going head-to-head with herself.
Thalia is the representation of all her joy and sadness and all the emotions she is afraid to feel. Conversely, Princess Thalia is now feeling all of the anger and rage that La’an feels. While the reconciliation of this episode seems nearly tropey, it is no less powerful to hear, “Maybe if we stop fighting ourselves, we could be more than the sum of our parts.” Would that we all give ourselves the freedom to feel our feelings, to raise a glass, “To love, to anger, to everything in between.” Our feelings are not bad things, but they are temperature gauges, and it is indeed important to “check the weather,” so to speak.
There is excellent fight choreography with Christina Chong and her body double here. I hope we get behind-the-scenes insight on these scenes on the physical media release for this season. As Thalia says, “I fought myself,” but when Dashing asks, “Who won?” she can indeed respond with confidence, “We both did,” as La’an looks on, knowing this experience is not a dream. Indeed, La’an and La’an have won.
MORE: Read our reviews of episode 5, episode 6, episode 7, and episode 8!
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time” is going to be an episode that ages better over time than in its episode airdate. While I enjoy “One La’an a Time,” I understand that many in the audience are experiencing a measure of fatigue with this exploration of “Strange New Genres,” every other week. Even while these genre-bending episodes have worked well for me in the ultimate message each conveys, this is not the case for every Star Trek viewer. Honestly? That’s okay.
While expanding across 60 years, the long-term memory of the Star Trek fandom can be a short. Perhaps because I came later with my own Star Trek fandom, I’m less bothered by non-typical Star Trek stories that were previously buffered by 24-26 episodes. The number of off-beat Star Trek episodes per season hasn’t changed that much, but the number of episodes per season has.
Unfortunately, there’s not anything we can do about the number of episodes or the emphasis on “fun” episodes. However, we can change our response. Does the episode offer a “Star Trek” message, regardless of the genre? I would contend that the answer is yes for every episode this season, even if it’s not a genre I’d have gravitated to myself. Even Star Trek: Jurassic Park, Event Horizon, The Hangover, Casablanca, The Muppet Movie, Days of Our Lives, or even The Princess Bride all have some type of deeper meaning than the superficiality of their genres or styles.
I have found the stylistic choices disarming, which allows the message of each episode to sink into my heart deeper than before. On some level, I connect with each episode in a personal way. I can’t say that about every episode of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, or even Voyager. However, I can say that about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4. And for me, and many viewers like me, that means much. Does that denigrate the opinions of anyone who disagrees with my assessment? Not in the slightest!
Broaden Your Horizons
I would appreciate it if those who disagree would consider that they don’t have cornered the market on what Star Trek can be. We are trying to explore Strange New Worlds after all, even if that looks more like exploring Strange New Genres. Frankly, the fact that we have a cast capable of exploring that many genres. That much grace should be a marvel of Hollywood, not something whose existence seems to have utterly shook the core of the “fan” base. Remember, IDIC has existed in the Star Trek universe since Day 1. Let’s keep looking for that infinite diversity in infinite combinations (of genres).
MORE: Check out interviews with Deidre Hall and Rhys Darby!
What do you think of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 “Once La’an a Time”? Leave me a comment and let’s talk Trek.
The next episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will air on September 24, 2026, on Paramount+.
