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The Worst Episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Every episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds!

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Follow Captain Christopher Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9 - Once La'an a Time
    4.3/10(2693 votes)

    #1 - Once La'an a Time

    S4:E9

    We return to the Elysian Kingdom, but this time on a real fantasy planet.

    Director:Sydney Freeland
    Writer:Onitra Johnson

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  2. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 7 - Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass
    4.4/10(4187 votes)

    #2 - Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass

    S4:E7

    A space trickster traps the Enterprise crew in a soap opera as Pike mourns a lost life.

    Director:Anna Dokoza
    Writers:Bill Wolkoff, Dana Horgan

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  3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 5 - Level-Five Transporter Accident
    4.7/10(6217 votes)

    #3 - Level-Five Transporter Accident

    S4:E5

    A transporter accident turns everyone but Spock into puppets as pirates invade the ship.

    Director:Jordan Canning
    Writers:Henry Alonso Myers, Dana Horgan

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  4. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 4 - A Case of Chiaroscuro
    5.2/10(4333 votes)

    #4 - A Case of Chiaroscuro

    S4:E4

    Una is mistaken for a virtuous kingpin against a Klingon occupation.

    Director:Meera Menon
    Writers:Dana Horgan, Skylar Ojeda

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  5. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 3 - Human Best Friend
    5.4/10(4910 votes)

    #5 - Human Best Friend

    S4:E3

    The Enterprise crew visits a shore-leave planet that guarantees fun in an inebriating atmosphere.

    Director:Yana Gorskaya
    Writer:Kathryn Lyn

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  6. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 8 - The Elysian Kingdom
    6.2/10(7752 votes)

    #6 - The Elysian Kingdom

    S1:E8

    The U.S.S. Enterprise becomes stuck in a nebula that is home to an alien consciousness that traps the crew in a fairy tale.

    Director:Amanda Row
    Writers:Akela Cooper, Onitra Johnson

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  7. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 7 - What Is Starfleet?
    6.2/10(3894 votes)

    #7 - What Is Starfleet?

    S3:E7

    While aiding a war-torn planet, Pike and crew face scrutiny from a probing journalist.

    Director:Sharon Lewis
    Writers:Kathryn Lyn, Alan B. McElroy

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  8. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 4 - A Space Adventure Hour
    6.3/10(4820 votes)

    #8 - A Space Adventure Hour

    S3:E4

    La'An tests a prototype holodeck with a fictional case only she can solve.

    Director:Jonathan Frakes
    Writers:Dana Horgan, Kathryn Lyn

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  9. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 2 - Wedding Bell Blues
    6.4/10(4699 votes)

    #9 - Wedding Bell Blues

    S3:E2

    At a Federation celebration, an uninvited guest disrupts Spock and the crew's reflections.

    Director:Jordan Canning
    Writers:David Reed, Kirsten Beyer

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  10. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9 - Subspace Rhapsody
    6.8/10(15279 votes)

    #10 - Subspace Rhapsody

    S2:E9

    An accident with an experimental quantum probability field causes everyone on the U.S.S. Enterprise to break uncontrollably into song, but the real danger is that the field is expanding and beginning to impact other ships—allies and enemies alike.

    Director:Dermott Downs
    Writers:Bill Wolkoff, Dana Horgan

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  11. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 8 - Four-and-a-Half Vulcans
    6.8/10(3826 votes)

    #11 - Four-and-a-Half Vulcans

    S3:E8

    After a mission turns crew members into Vulcans, trouble arises when they try to revert to human.

    Director:Jordan Canning
    Writers:Henry Alonso Myers, Dana Horgan

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  12. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 2 - The Griffin Incident
    6.8/10(4836 votes)

    #12 - The Griffin Incident

    S4:E2

    La'An, Spock, and Kirk get trapped on a mysterious, long-lost Federation ship.

    Director:Axelle Carolyn
    Writer:Robbie Thompson

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  13. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 3 - Shuttle to Kenfori
    7.0/10(3550 votes)

    #13 - Shuttle to Kenfori

    S3:E3

    Pike and M'Benga enter Klingon space for Batel's cure as M'Benga's past returns on a deadly world.

    Director:Dan Liu
    Writers:Bill Wolkoff, Onitra Johnson

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  14. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 10 - New Life and New Civilizations
    7.1/10(2927 votes)

    #14 - New Life and New Civilizations

    S3:E10

    When an ancient evil resurfaces, Pike faces a life-altering choice to stop it.

    Director:Maja Vrvilo
    Writers:Davy Perez, Dana Horgan

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  15. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 7 - The Serene Squall
    7.2/10(6106 votes)

    #15 - The Serene Squall

    S1:E7

    While on a dangerous humanitarian mission, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise stumbles into a harrowing game of leverage with the quadrant’s deadliest space pirate.

    Director:Sydney Freeland
    Writers:Sarah Tarkoff, Beau DeMayo

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  16. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 4 - Among the Lotus Eaters
    7.3/10(5153 votes)

    #16 - Among the Lotus Eaters

    S2:E4

    Returning to a planet that dredges up tragic memories, Captain Pike and his landing party find themselves forgetting everything, including their own identities as he confronts a ghost from his past.

    Director:Eduardo Sánchez
    Writers:Davy Perez, Kirsten Beyer

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  17. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 6 - Lost in Translation
    7.3/10(4853 votes)

    #17 - Lost in Translation

    S2:E6

    Uhura seems to be the only one who can hear a strange sound. When the noise triggers terrifying hallucinations, she enlists an unlikely assistant to help her track down the source.

    Director:Dan Liu
    Writers:Onitra Johnson, David Reed

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  18. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 10 - Tomorrow's Enterprise
    7.4/10(1669 votes)

    #18 - Tomorrow's Enterprise

    S4:E10

    A time ripple damages the Enterprise, forcing young and old Uhura to cooperate and fix the timeline.

    Director:Chris Fisher
    Writers:Henry Alonso Myers, Robbie Thompson

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  19. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 5 - Through the Lens of Time
    7.5/10(3365 votes)

    #19 - Through the Lens of Time

    S3:E5

    Chapel and Korby's quest leads the Enterprise to ancient ruins hiding a dark secret.

    Director:Andi Armaganian
    Writers:Davy Perez, Onitra Johnson

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  20. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 1 - The Broken Circle
    7.6/10(6173 votes)

    #20 - The Broken Circle

    S2:E1

    A distress call from Lt. Noonien-Singh compels Spock to disobey orders and take the U.S.S. Enterprise and its crew into disputed space, risking renewed hostilities with the Klingons in a bid to aid their shipmate.

    Director:Chris Fisher
    Writers:Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman

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  21. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 9 - Terrarium
    7.6/10(3278 votes)

    #21 - Terrarium

    S3:E9

    Stranded on a toxic moon, Ortegas must defy her deepest beliefs to survive.

    Director:Andrew Coutts
    Writer:Alan B. McElroy

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  22. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 3 - Ghosts of Illyria
    7.7/10(6149 votes)

    #22 - Ghosts of Illyria

    S1:E3

    The U.S.S. Enterprise encounters a contagion that ravages the ship. One by one, the entire crew is incapacitated except for Number One, Una Chin-Riley, who must now confront a secret she’s been hiding as she races to find a cure.

    Director:Leslie Hope
    Writers:Bill Wolkoff, Akela Cooper

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  23. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 6 - Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach
    7.7/10(5649 votes)

    #23 - Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach

    S1:E6

    A threat to an idyllic planet reunites Captain Pike with the lost love of his life. To protect her and a scientific holy child from a conspiracy, Pike offers his help and is forced to face unresolved feelings of his past.

    Director:Andi Armaganian
    Writers:Bill Wolkoff, Robin Wasserman

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  24. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 1 - Hegemony (2)
    7.7/10(4064 votes)

    #24 - Hegemony (2)

    S3:E1

    Pike leads a risky rescue behind enemy lines as the landing party flees a deadly enemy.

    Director:Chris Fisher
    Writers:Henry Alonso Myers, Davy Perez

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  25. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 2 - Children of the Comet
    7.9/10(6739 votes)

    #25 - Children of the Comet

    S1:E2

    While on a survey mission, the U.S.S. Enterprise discovers a comet is going to strike an inhabited planet. They try to re-route the comet, only to find that an ancient alien relic buried on the comet’s icy surface is somehow stopping them. As the away team try to unlock the relic’s secrets, Pike and Number One deal with a group of zealots who want to prevent the U.S.S. Enterprise from interfering.

    Director:Maja Vrvilo
    Writers:Sarah Tarkoff, Henry Alonso Myers

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Once La'an a Time" is the worst rated episode of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds". It scored 4.3/10 based on 2693 votes. Directed by Sydney Freeland and written by Onitra Johnson, it aired on 9/17/2026. This episode scored 0.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass".