RECAP | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 304 - 'A Space Adventure Hour'

In the previous episode of , in attempt to find a treatment for Captain Marie Batel, Captain Pike and Dr. M'Benga venture into disputed Klingon space where they're forced to come face-to-face with zombie-like creatures of both human and Klingons alike. On the surface of Kenfori, M'Benga confronts the consequences of his actions upon meeting the Klingon Bytha. Meanwhile, Lt. Ortegas is pulled from roster duty after defying orders and putting the safety of the entire crew in jeopardy

Now, in Episode 4, "," when Lieutenant La'An Noonien-Singh tests a prototype holodeck with a fictional case only she can solve, the consequences of failure get greater and greater, with Enterprise hanging in the balance.

Aboard the U.S.S. Adventure of the Alliance of Outer Space Planets, the Captain is dealing with an outbreak of melancholia and an unusual level of space radiation in the Blootar Nebula. The Lieutenant hails the Agonyans on the space phone, connecting the Captain to Zipnop of the Triathic Agonyan Empire.

The Captain exposes the Agonyans' plan to steal brain cells from the "human food piles" to power their radiation. The Agonyans open fire with nuclear lasers, and the Adventure — on its 84-month mission — responds with its photonos beams. Nevertheless, the Agonyans obtain the humans' brain cells, and the Captain resolves to retrieve them in this episode of The Last Frontier!

In a far more familiar galaxy, the U.S.S. Enterprise is passing through the Kitolian Belt, which centers on a neutron star. Starfleet has achieved a breakthrough with long-term faster-than-light travel, so Captain Christopher Pike and Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley assign Lt. La'An Noonien-Singh to rigorously test the Re-Creation Room, or Holodeck for short, as a potential source of entertainment for lengthy voyages.

La'An interrupts Lt. Spock in his quarters, where he continues his dance training. The two tango, and La'An questions Spock about the field emitters that he's been fixing. Now, wearing a monitoring pin to assist the Holodeck in constructing the most realistic environment for her, La'An is inspired by the chat and decides to base her simulation on…

…AMELIA MOON! In the Science Lab, La'An explains that she became obsessed with * when the captain who rescued her from the Gorn gave her a copy. Lt. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is more concerned about the computer's ability to keep the simulation running. Since the holographic characters need to be incredibly detailed, the interactive avatars will be based on the crew's bio-signatures from the transporter pattern buffer.**

Using the Amelia Moon novels as a reference, La'An orders the computer to create a mystery that she will find challenging.*** Now dressed in 20th Century attire, La'An meets Spock in the Holodeck and activates the program. Spock references his ancestor Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — announcing, "The game is afoot" — and departs.

Joni Gloss — the Hollywood agent who is modeled after Ensign Nyota Uhura — arrives to take La'An to the victim's body, insisting that she had nothing to do with the murder. As Gloss leaves to stall the other guests, La'An inspects the corpse of Tony Hart, the head of Lomond Pictures Studios. The guests-turned-suspects are the cast and crew of the space adventure hour The Last Frontier — creator TK Bellows (Pike); actress/producer Sunny Lupino (Chin-Riley); stars Adelaide Shaw (Nurse Christine Chapel), Maxwell Saint (Lt. James T. Kirk), and Lee Woods (Lt. Erica Ortegas); and Shaw's date Anthony MacBeau (Dr. Joseph M'Benga).

La'An confronts the guests in the sitting room, stating that one of them murdered the studio executive because their show was being cancelled. La'An presents a glass with Max Factor's Ruby Red lipstick, a favorite of Sunny Lupino, who happens to be the strangulation victim's ex-wife. Sunny denies the allegations, revealing that she and her ex had been working on a plan to save The Last Frontier. As Sunny sips her drink and points the finger at Maxwell Saint, she suddenly gasps for air and falls dead, poisoned.

Believing the simulation has learned her moves, La'An requires a partner with a different point of view and recruits Spock. As La'An and Spock return to the sitting room, the real M'Benga and Chin-Riley deal with increasingly frequent power fluctuations in Sickbay. Blaming the sensory overload on the omnidirectional holo diodes, Scotty assures Number One that things are under control in the Science Lab.

In the Holodeck, Maxwell admits to having an affair with Hart's secretary, but asserts that he made amends with the executive by claiming to be dating Adelaide Shaw. Shaw contests this, expressing frustration that people are more consumed with stories about her love life than her acting prowess. Anthony MacBeau voices his artistic admiration for Sunny, advising that he runs an artist salon which Lee Woods — who had secretly written a western set in the Dakotas — had attended.

TK Bellows was also aware of Lee's script but hoped to leave his own show to direct a movie. As La'An focuses on the screenplay's missing title page as a clue, a chandelier — apparently purposely cut — nearly falls on her. A cut on La'An's face indicates the Holodeck safety protocols may be malfunctioning, but the computer doesn't respond to requests to end the program or activate the exit arch.

Faced with a communications problem, Scotty consults with Uhura on the Enterprise Bridge. Unable to shut the simulation down, Scotty warns that blowing the Holodeck open would crash the ship's entire computer system. The only way to end the program is for La'An to complete it by solving the murder.

Back in the Holodeck, La'An is concerned that the killer could genuinely harm her and Spock. An argument breaks out among the remaining guests, and Joni Gloss is discovered standing over Lee Woods' body. Gloss declares she did not stab Lee, contending that The Last Frontier inspired audiences and gave them hope through the lens of fantasy. La'An spies a piece of celluloid film in the fireplace.

The Enterprise Bridge crew prepares to observe the neutron star's collapse, but a massive power drain impacts the ship. Scotty can't deactivate the Holodeck; though, the engineer restores enough power for the Enterprise to avoid a deadly gamma ray burst. Uhura heads down to the Science Lab to help Scotty, proposing that he attempt to contact La'An by convincing the computer that he's part of the program.

In the simulation, La'An and Spock watch an outtake from The Last Frontier that portrays a furious TK Bellows. Having inserted himself as a character in the film strip, Scotty warns La'An that the Holodeck is pulling all of the ship's processing power. A drunken Bellows waltzes in holding a gun, explaining that they weren't cancelling the show, they were firing him. Bellows insists he's not the murderer; though, he wounds Spock with an accidental discharge when La'An seizes the gun.

Relieved that Spock's injury is minor, La'An passionately embraces the Vulcan, only to realize that he has been the perpetrator all along.**** In fact, this Spock has actually been a holographic recreation since La'An walked into the Holodeck. The monitoring pin had observed her interacting with the real Spock and knew she would never suspect him. The simulation now complete, La'An is able to end the program.

In the Ready Room, La'An advises the captain that the Holodeck technology holds promise, but recommends against installing it on active ships at this time. Scotty emphasizes that the Holodeck simply needs a dedicated server room and power source. Scotty confides in Number One, relaying that his adherence to fixing problems on his own traces back to the tragic loss of his previous ship, the U.S.S. Stardiver. Number One dictates that asking for help is a strength.

La'An pays a visit to Spock's quarters so they can complete their dancing lesson, sharing the computer's decision to pair her with Spock in the Holodeck. However, the facsimile did not look at her the way Spock does. This admission sparks romance between them, and they pause their dance to kiss.

Meanwhile, on the set of The Last Frontier, the cast and crew work through the difficulties of filming their series. From Maxwell Saint's Captain failing to "Riker" his way over the captain's chair to Lee Woods’ The Doctor having trouble opening the door to the Bridge, the bloopers highlight the trials and tribulations of producing such a show.

* "The Big Goodbye" — LA'An's interest in Amelia Moon parallels Captain Picard's love for Dixon Hill. In this Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, and a number of others, Picard explored more of Hill and his world via the Holodeck as he embodied the fictional private detective.

** "" — The characters from Julian Bashir's holo-program are replaced with avatars based on the patterns of Deep Space 9's crewmembers following a .

*** "" — While La'An requests the computer to find a mystery challenging for her in this SNW episode, Geordi La Forge requests in this TNG classic.

**** "Inside Man" — The Voyager crew dealt with their own holographic facsimile foe after Starfleet Headquarters' Pathfinder Project's attempt to make contact with Voyager is commandeered.

***** "" — Like Maxwell Saint, Bradward Boimler attempts to "Riker" himself onto Pike's saddle in this Star Trek: Lower Decks x SNW crossover episode, alluding to William T. Riker's unique approach to sitting in chairs.