RECAP | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 305 - 'Through the Lens of Time'

In the of , Lieutenant La'An Noonien-Singh tested a prototype Holodeck with an Amelia Moon-inspired caper that pulled in the likeness of her crewmates. Unfortunately, the new tech was utilizing far too much of the Enterprise's entire system during a critical time as the ship was observing a neutron star's collapse.

Now, in Episode 5, "," Nurse Chapel and Dr. Korby's quest to uncover the next step in human evolution leads the Enterprise to a planet where ancient ruins hide a deeper mystery and a terrifying secret.

In the U.S.S. Enterprise's Sickbay, Ensign Dana Gamble expresses excitement over Dr. Roger Korby's work on molecular memory and corporeal transference, especially its impact on how mortality is viewed. In one of the ship's corridors, Korby converses with Nurse Christine Chapel, emphasizing how sacred the heritage site they're about to explore is to the local population.

Chapel eases Korby's nerves before catching Lt. La'An Noonien-Singh coming off the turbolift to discuss the security officer's newfound romance with Lt. Spock. Hesitant to chat, La'An declares that she and Spock aren't attaching any labels to their relationship. In Sickbay, Dr. Joseph M'Benga visits with Captain Marie Batel, who is grateful for her ongoing recovery from the Gorn infestation. M'Benga thrills Gamble with the news that he'll be going on his first official research mission to Vadia Nine.

Elsewhere on the Enterprise, Chapel shares an awkward conversation with Spock regarding Korby's dig. In the Ready Room, Chapel mentions that Vadia Nine's M'Kroon overseers have declined Federation membership and will only allow a small landing party. Captain Christopher Pike gets distracted by the vidcam drone that Lt. Erica Ortegas' brother Beto is using to film his documentary to commemorate the Federation's centennial.

The landing party meets Dr. Korby and N'Jal — a local observer — on Vadia Nine, where Korby relays that a magnetic anomaly indicates that an advanced technology is hidden beneath the surface. Pylons are set, and the Enterprise activates its deflector beams to unveil a massive structure that had been concealed in the hillside. Symbols found bear a resemblance to the M'Kroonian alphabet, as do those on a ring discovered on Polaris Twelve and tablets unearthed on Praetoria.

Korby and Chapel theorize that the M'Kroon are descended from an advanced civilization capable of traveling across galaxies. Those ancient astronauts claimed to have achieved immortality by creating quantum instability at a molecular level. Ensign Nyota Uhura deciphers the symbols, stating entrance can only be gained with "blood given freely." A needle draws a drop of blood from Chapel's hand, scans her, and grants access to the interior.

The landing party enters carefully, as comms are down and they are unable to transport from inside the chamber. Uhura jokes that Beto is scared of El Cucuy — the boogeyman — when they come upon a doorway blocked by a light barrier. They spot the centuries-old bodies of starved grave robbers,* but Chapel convinces Spock to press forward with N'Jal's blessing. Chapel locates a memory stone in the robbers' belongings, where Gamble also procures a glowing orb that explodes in his face.

The junior medical officer is beamed to Sickbay, his eyes completely gone. Back in the chamber, Beto sends a camera through the doorway, showcasing a statue that N'Jal describes as evil. The exit vaporizes N'Jal as he tries to flee and seals the rest of the team inside. Meanwhile, in Sickbay, Gamble shares that his short-term memory has been damaged as M'Benga bioengineers new eyes for him. Pike confers with M'Benga, who suspects that some kind of biological agent is preventing Gamble's eyes from regenerating.

Since Chapel's blood was used to access the chamber, the landing party theorizes that her bio-signature kept them safe, which is why the security protocol killed N'Jal when he tried to leave without her. The group proceeds through the darkened interior doorway but find themselves separated into three different rooms. In Enterprise's Sickbay, M’Benga is perplexed over scans that show Gamble's brain is dead, choosing to sedate the ensign.

Coordinating with their communicators, the landing party evaluates their respective chambers. La'An spots the words, "Here stands the Beholder, sentry of eternal bridges," written in Chinese on the statue, and Chapel detects a life-sign reading emanating from it. On a quantum level, the Beholder's particles are in constant flux — both here and not here.

Spock and Korby assess the memory stone, identifying symbols meaning "parasites" or "hitchhikers," "well" or "pit," and the plural form of "Vezda" — the M’Kroon word for evil. Employing a visor found on the grave robbers, Spock observes thousands of the glowing orbs below them, including one with a lifeform inside.

Pike convenes with his crew in the Science Lab, where Commander Pelia and Lt. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott refer to the explosive orb as a "containment device" older than anything they've ever seen. The energy source inside had forced its way out, giving Pelia the heebie jeebies.

In Sickbay, a foreign intelligence commandeers Gamble's voice, with control fluctuating back-and-forth with the ensign's own personality.** As Batel enters, a hostile recognition flashes between her and Gamble, prompting a ferocious struggle. M'Benga sedates Batel, and Gamble — his own personality back in control — surrenders after his alter ego kills an Enterprise crew member.

On Vadia Nine, Uhura's scans show that the pillars in the room she and Beto occupy are shifting in and out of this reality. The pairs of explorers update each other on their discoveries, with Uhura startling the group by noting they are all still together. The intuitive software in Beto's vidcam picks up all six biosignatures and places them in the same room. The chamber resides in layered dimensional space with different planes of existence, and the orbs contain "unwelcome guests," which came to this reality when the M'Kroon experimented with phase shifting to achieve immorality. The palace is actually a prison.

Based on the Praetorian connection, the team surmises that their artifacts are component parts designed to work together and unify the dimensional shift. The memory stone and signet ring are placed separately on the Beholder's pedestal, with both materializing in Chapel's dimension for her to assemble. An hourglass-like relic appears, and the team is reunited — but without a bridge to reach the exit.

Aboard the Enterprise, Batel tells Pike that she perceived Gamble as something other than himself and was inspired by an overwhelming desire to exterminate him. Potentially an expression of the Gorn DNA in her body, the inexplicable urge felt ancient. On the planet, Spock believes inverted causality — a theoretical dimension where effects can happen before cause — exists in this reconstituted dimensional space. Thus, Spock deduces they must paradoxically walk across the empty space to turn on the bridge. Chapel trusts Spock's judgment and leads the landing party across the void and out of the building.

Possessed once more, Gamble escapes the Enterprise Brig and holds Pelia, Scotty, and Lieutenant George "Sam" Kirk hostage in the Science Lab. Gamble requests senior officer command codes and turns to face M'Benga, supplying Pelia with the chance to fire her phaser at the ensign. A being emerges from Gamble's head, and Scotty captures the Vezda in an orb before beaming it into the transport buffer.***

In the Ready Room, Pike advises his crew that Starfleet and the M'Kroon are establishing a security perimeter around the site. Had the entity gained control of the Enterprise, it could have freed all of the Vezda with the ship's phaser banks. Pelia laments Gamble's death, insisting that the being was ancient and malevolent with a desire to malign and consume when given corporeal form. The Lanthanite warns of the horrors that could occur should any Vezda escape. As Dr. M'Benga calls Gamble's parents in Sickbay, the status screen monitoring the Vezda's confinement in the pattern buffer memory flickers and momentarily displays the symbols seen on Vadia Nine.

* "Under the Twin Moons" — In this Star Trek: Discovery episode, it's revealed that the Promelians utilized a drone security system to defend its burial grounds from grave robbers.

** "Masks" — The crew of the Enterprise-D must contend with multiple personalities residing in Data's mind in this Star Trek: The Next Generation episode.

*** "" — In Season 1, M'Benga kept his terminally-ill daughter Rukiya in the transporter buffer as a way to keep her alive. When the Vezda speaks through Gamble, it taunts M'Benga by bringing up Rukiya and a different possible outcome for her fate then the one seen in "."