“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” Season 4 Episode 1 Recap/Review – “Valles Marineris”

“Time’s a funny thing.” “Yes, it is.” That brief moment between Captain Cristóbal Rios and Q in Star Trek: Picard season two could very easily describe the first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ fourth and penultimate season, “Valles Marineris.” A classic chicken-and-egg paradox story, the Enterprise crew find themselves at a very misunderstood moment in Earth’s history. Yee-haw! The episode fades in on Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) making good use of his historical saddle. Trying to keep up are Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) and Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun). The last time we saw these three particular crew members on a mission together, things went seriously sideways on good ol’ Rigel VII again (“Among the Lotus Eaters”). This time, however, it looks like they’ve outrun whatever was chasing them once they finally regroup (but that’s a pretty big shiner on Captain Pike). Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) calls from the Enterprise to tell them that the street lamps are coming on, so it’s time to come home. Remember, RHIP (“Rank Hath Its Privileges”), so Pike takes five more minutes to ride a little more with the landing...