Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 4 Review: Nothing is Completely Black and White

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

4.5

Let’s get this out of the way: Chiaroscuro is pronounced kee-aa-ruh-SKYUR-oh.

It is an Italian art term describing the strong contrast between light and dark used to create three-dimensionality and deepen dramatic mood.

Look at those Star Trek: Strange New Worlds writers! Teaching us about art and the power of allegory all at once.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “A Case of Chiaroscuro”

The Enterprise’s Mat’aaran space away team on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 4, “A Case of Chiaroscuro,” is the first mission Una leads since her promotion to Commander.

I’m not sure that it’s a whole lot different from her leading the team to Mesozoic Era Earth on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 1, “Valles Marineris,” but she clearly feels the weight of rank.

M’Benga: Congratulations, Commander. The next promotion will be to Captain.

Una: I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.

M’Benga: All I know is that your moral compass has never failed you in the past. But if it does, you’ll just refer to the Starfleet handbook.

Una: I do love rules. And lists. And rules about lists.

A quick aside about the makeup of this away team. Una’s leading it, and Uhura is clearly needed to reprogram the malfunctioning surveillance probe.

But why is M’Benga there? Did they think retrieving the probe would need medical assistance? Was he just there to explain the “infrared black body spectre” that was causing everyone to see in black and white?

Once they were on the planet, it was super handy to have his covert ops experience, but the plan was never to land on Mat’aar-12.

Of All the Gin Joints…

In a season of film homages, it would’ve been remiss to leave out the atmospheric cinematic thrillers of the 1940s.

Mat’aar-12 is a Klingon-occupied planet in Klingon space, the Star Trek equivalent of Nazi-occupied Casablanca from the 1942 movie.

There’s even a cafe/nightclub where the grassroots Resistance forces collaborate and activate from.

When Una is mistaken for a high-ranking Mat’aaran Klingon collaborator named Nivette, the team’s plan to stay low-profile needs to pivot.

M’Benga leaps into operative mode, assessing the situation and giving Uhura advice on how to create an alias, while Una slips into her new role with the necessary confidence to convince Kor, the Klingon commander, she is his top lackey.

“A Case of Chiaroscuro”‘s narrative theme is one of leadership and trusting oneself.

Una’s masquerade as Nivette forces her to consider both her leadership of her team and doing right by Nivette’s duty to the Resistance.

Gaslit

Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, the B plot smacks of 1944’s Gaslight with circumstances around the retrieval of the probe triggering La’an’s spidey-senses.

With her own insecurities about her instinctual paranoia and tendency to be reactionary, she turns to others for reassurance.

Unfortunately, her investigation is stymied by Spock’s logical judgment, filtered by her own admission of concern.

Ultimately, her instincts are proven accurate, and she’s able to honestly report that her investigation turned up no issues for Enterprise security.

The secondary theme of doing the right thing even though it breaks protocol runs through her report, Chapel’s actions, and Una’s choices.

Tree

When Uhura is apprehended at a Klingon checkpoint for showing compassion but no identification, she finds herself tested by Kor’s interrogation machine.

Reminiscent of Picard’s interrogation on Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 Episodes 10 and 11, “Chain of Command,” Uhura replies deliberately incorrectly to questions designed to establish baseline honesty.

Remembering M’Benga’s advice, she maintains a plausible cover story, seeded with enough truth about herself to confuse the machine’s results until her forged identification comes through from the Resistance.

For her, the Mat’aar-12 adventure is a crucible that tests her fortitude under duress. Like the Resistance member who dies rather than fall into Klingon hands, she fulfills her mission.

A Few Quibbles

I’m always willing to suspend my disbelief for a good story. However, I need to ask what possible reason Nivette could have had for keeping a cryo-chamber in her office?

Also, as much as I love the idea that the Mat’aar star’s radiation affects how people see color, why is the action on the Enterprise also seen in black and white when the ship is outside Mat’aaran space?

Also, the radiation shouldn’t affect the INSIDE of the ship.

The Anguish of Leadership

The crux of the chiaroscuro allegory is that it isn’t the dark or the light that define our characters.

Rather, it’s the interplay of the two that gives the characters and the story depth and meaning.

Una succeeds in temporarily freeing the Mat’aarans from Klingon subjugation but questions if she’s done enough.

M’Benga sympathizes, recounting a situation where he had to kill to save his patients.

“Now you understand the Healer’s Anguish. No matter how many you save, it’s never enough.” — M’Benga

La’an gets to the bottom of the probe mystery and can trust that her gut was right. This time. She will continue to question herself because what might happen if she doesn’t is unthinkable.

Everyone lives, chooses, and takes action between the dark and the light. That’s where humanity exists.

Here’s Lookin’ at You, Fanatics

What’s your take on “A Case of Chiaroscuro,” Fanatics? Did it stray too far from the look and feel of Trek? Or was its homage to film noir right on target?

Hit our comments with your feedback! Bonus points if you can work in a classic movie line. And rate the episode in our poll below!

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