Get ready for a truly bizarre and delightful episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds! Season 4 delivers on its promise of genre-bending fun with “Level Five Transporter Accident,” an installment that throws the iconic Enterprise crew into a chaotic, puppet-filled adventure. Forget phasers and warp drive; this week, it’s all about felt, stuffing, and some seriously creative puppetry.
A Puppet Masterpiece in the Making
The episode centers around Montgomery Scott’s (or “Scotty,” as he’s affectionately known) attempt to impress a Starfleet Academy rival. His ambitious transporter experiment goes horribly wrong, transforming him and much of the Enterprise crew into adorable, yet surprisingly dangerous, puppets. Spock, thankfully unaffected, must race against time to contain the situation before the ship is overrun by rogue felt-covered Federation officers.
Director Jordan Canning, a veteran of both Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Apple TV+’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, brought her extensive puppetry experience to bear on this ambitious episode. “The Strange New Worlds crew just dove in with open minds and open hearts for this very different process,” Canning told Polygon. “Like with all the amazing genre swings they do, the characters stay grounded. The world stays real and grounded despite what sort of insane things are happening within it that week.”
The episode features a puppeteer crew from Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, bringing a level of expertise that elevates the puppet sequences from simple gags to genuinely impressive feats of miniature mayhem. Dana Horgan and Henry Alonso Myers crafted a script that embraced the limitations – and opportunities – presented by working with puppets, cleverly integrating them into the storyline.
“They embraced all of this stuff that puppets are kind of bad at, like holding certain things or really dextrous hand movements,” Canning explained. “They built that into the storyline, which I think was so brilliant. We’re not pretending that they’re not puppets. They are aware that they’re puppets. What comes along with that is the pros and cons of being puppets.”
Chaos truly reigns supreme in “Level Five Transporter Accident.” With the Enterprise crew transformed into puppets, their ability to operate the ship is severely compromised. Spock becomes the only one capable of piloting the vessel and firing weapons, leading to a series of increasingly absurd scenarios.
Orion pirates, sensing an opportunity, attack the vulnerable Federation flagship. The resulting scenes are a masterclass in miniature mayhem, with puppets being tossed around the ship, narrowly avoiding sliding medical equipment, and even engaging in sword fights in the Enterprise’s bar. Rachael Harris (Lucifer, Suits) delivers a hilarious performance as the Orion captain, while Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) provides comic relief as her subservient second-in-command.
“It was amazing getting to just throw these little puppets around,” Harris said. “It was actually hard to be mean to them.”
Even the more dramatic moments are infused with a sense of playful absurdity. When the Orion pirates attempt to extract information from Spock, they resort to kidnapping Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and threatening to jettison him into space. This poignant moment is juxtaposed with the inherent silliness of a puppet version of Pike delivering his iconic line: “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
“There were so many takes I probably ruined because I was laughing,” Canning confessed. “Ethan’s little mouth just kind of popping open like a little fish just killed me. What makes this episode work so well is how grounded Ethan is throughout. All this bedlam is going on around him and he just feels so real and anchored in it.”
Joe Lo Truglio spends much of the episode distracting and interrogating Spock, delving into his complicated relationship with T’Pring (Gia Sandhu). “Ethan is such a terrific guy and a great actor that it was very easy to act with him on a more serious level and insert some moments of lightness in,” Lo Truglio said. He also praised Ethan Peck’s professionalism and willingness to embrace the absurdity of the situation.
The episode’s production presented unique challenges, particularly when filming puppets alongside human actors. Early in the episode, Pike receives a luxurious new captain’s chair, specifically designed to accommodate a puppeteer. Holes were punched in many of the set’s chairs and couches to hide other puppeteers.
“The puppeteers were all working off the floor, and so they were crammed under consoles and sliding around on dollies flat on their back,” Canning revealed. “The puppeteers will cram themselves into any little corner to make something work.”
If you’re looking for a Star Trek episode that dares to be different, “Level Five Transporter Accident” is not to be missed. It’s a hilarious and heartwarming tribute to the power of imagination and the enduring legacy of Jim Henson.
The first five episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 are available to stream on Paramount Plus. New episodes release weekly on Thursday through Sept. 24.
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