Here’s the thing: If someone told me this episode of Strange New Worlds was so jarring it put them off Star Trek forever, I’d get it. Trek comedy episodes are always a gamble and this Hangover-inspired romp may be the biggest swing the show has taken yet. I could easily see an episode about the Enterprise crew taking shore leave on a planet that makes you high being the kind of thing that gives someone a massive case of secondhand embarrassment. And yet, this is maybe the most I’ve laughed at a Star Trek comedy episode… ever? I’m tempted to say that’s just because Martin Quinn is the most charming man alive, but, honestly, the biggest laugh for me was Spock saying, “My mind to your leaves.” So maybe there’s just no accounting for taste.
The best thing about “Human Best Friend” is its sense of surprise—not just in the goofiness of its comedy, but in where it chooses to put its focus. I assumed the rivalry between Scotty and Ortegas would be an ongoing throughline that only got resolved towards the end of the season. Instead, they work through that tension and form a real friendship in just the third episode. It’s an exciting reminder that bridge crew dynamics still have plenty of time to evolve as Strange New Worlds barrels towards its endgame.
That relationship throughline is key because the plot here is pure nonsense. After six months of nonstop missions, Pike and the rest of Alpha shift decide to blow off some steam ahead of an important peace treaty negotiation in the Rodaxion system. That brings them to a resort planet run by a spritely Dave Foley, where the “intoxicating atmosphere” promises a unique relaxation journey for each visitor. Naturally, the peace talks get moved up, taking place while the crew are still under the planet’s influence. And, also naturally, there’s a missing shuttle and a violent act of sabotage that Scotty and Ortegas have to solve in their altered state.
That makes this a retracing-your-steps mystery à la The Hangover. And, like that 2009 hit, the point is really just to get in as many wacky vignettes as possible: Uhura hosts a raging party, Una sings Klingon power ballads, M’Benga flair bartends, Pike gets a tatted up, Chapel becomes hypercompetitive at Bingo, La’An starts a warrior cult, Spock sees everyone as plants. Yet building this story around the question of whether or not Ortegas and Scotty can learn to work together grounds the goofy comedy in a tangible emotional arc—much more so than if this were just a story about friends like Una and La’An trying to save the day while high. The plot may be too ridiculous to even attempt to follow, but a shifting relationship between two of the show’s main characters is something worth investing in.
The other smart choice writers Skylar J. Ojeda and Dana Horgan make is to turn Scotty into a happy drunk rather than keep him sober like Ortegas. An entire episode of the two of them at each other’s throats probably would have been too much, but watching Ortegas’ frustrations bounce off Scotty’s newfound go-with-the-flow demeanor creates a very funny odd couple dynamic. While Quinn has been a likeable presence since he joined the show, I truly didn’t know he had this level of stellar comedic timing in him. And though Melissa Navia sticks to more familiar comedic ground, it’s always nice to see Ortegas in a new kind of storyline after she was one of the characters least well-served by the first two seasons of the show.
“Human Best Friend” also balances its shenanigans with some genuinely thoughtful character texture for its two leads. Scotty grew up the youngest of seven brothers in a chaotic but loving home, while Ortegas is an overprotective older sister to a gifted brother. Those conflicting energies put them at odds, but with a few small tweaks they can learn to fit together like familial puzzle pieces. After that initial breakthrough, it’s surprisingly sweet to watch them open up about the insecurities that kicked off their rivalry in the first place: Ortegas wanted to be an engineer but didn’t have the brains for it. Scotty’s been afraid of the helm because he once crashed seven shuttles in a piloting class. They’ve both got some anger and jealousy issues to work through when it comes to their “ownership” of the Enterprise. It’s all pretty bluntly stated, but sincere enough that it works anyway.
In fact, by the time they’re both risking their lives to detonate a bomb, I was shocked by how much I was invested in their burgeoning bond. This obviously isn’t the kind of episode where someone is actually going to die—not least of all a main TOS character. But their willingness to risk it all together speaks well to their dedication to Starfleet and each other. (“I think we would have been friends,” Ortegas says when all seems lost. “I think we already are,” Scotty responds.) Plus, this is a great example of Strange New Worlds using its prequel status well. Ortegas isn’t an Original Series character, but weaving her into Scotty’s history in this way means we can now imagine their friendship as an influence on all the brave, silly things he’ll do in future canon.
Indeed, it works so well it makes the clumsiness of this week’s titular B-plot stand out like a sore thumb. (Or should I say, a blown-off thumb.) Where the Ortegas/Scotty friendship evolves organically against a heightened backdrop, Strange New Worlds for some reason seems to think it needs some kind of Very Special Explanation for Spock and Kirk’s future friendship. The show did it with their mind meld last season and now it continues that pattern here as Spock spends this hour thinking he’s sharing his secrets with a hallucination of Kirk only to discover he’s been talking to the real thing.
Not only is it an incredibly hacky joke, I would say it’s almost borderline insulting to give such an important Trek friendship such a hijinks-filled origin story. Why can’t we just watch Spock and Kirk become friends naturally? Why is the show rushing through all these artificial shortcuts to speed up their sense of intimacy? Even the enemies-to-lovers vibes of the J.J. Abrams films had more juice than this.
Still, in the spirit of not harshing my mellow, I’ll handwave that concern and focus on what works here. I went into this episode liking Ortegas and Quinn’s Scotty well enough, but I came out loving them. That’s quite an achievement for an hour that could otherwise easily have become too high on its own supply. While I wouldn’t want every comedy episode to be this goofy, in this case the “journey” was worth the destination.
Stray observations
- • The production codes suggest this was the second episode shot for season four, which makes sense given the “it’s been six months, we need a break” throughline that carries over directly from the premiere.
- • It’s interesting to hear the show so openly discuss the differences between Alpha, Beta, and Gamma shifts. That’s not something I remember from past live-action Trek shows.
- • On the Easter egg front: There’s a tribble in Ortegas’ room when she wakes up, while Scotty wears the white fur suit of a mugato from “A Private Little War.”
- • Rebecca Romijn sounds way better on a Klingon version of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” than she did in the show’s actual musical episode. I wonder if they gave her this performance as an apology for not showcasing her better there.
- • That tattoo parlor scene might be the best use of Anson Mount’s comedy instincts yet. Each line reading was more insane than the last and I laughed at every one of them.
- • I wish La’an’s “journey” had been about something other than violence, which feels like the only idea they have for her at the moment.
- • Everyone remaining high for the peace talks was kind of lame, but Spock using “reverse human logic” to figure out the actual message behind a game of telephone was a very funny subversion.
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