Blerd Trek: Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 4 Update: William Shatner's Return and more!

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Will (0:21): Greetings, nerds, trekkies, blurreds, and trekkers. Welcome back to Cedar Nerd presents Blurk Trek. I'm Will, and this is last week in Star Trek for the week ending 05/30/2026. We're now less than two months away from the return of Star Trek Strange New World season four, and the producers are out here saying the magic words that Trek fans love to hear. Classic storytelling, character focus, no big bad, and a return to what what made the show work.

Will (0:52): But, and there's always a but, we also learned there's a version of season four where William Shatner's Captain Kirk almost came back. So today, we're talking pure Trek storytelling, puppets, Kirk and Segas, and the Shatner story that didn't happen. Let's get into it. First things first. Star Trek Strange New Worlds will be returning on 07/23/2026 on Paramount plus.

Will (1:19): That is the official return date with 10 episodes rolling out weekly through September 24, which is very cool because it also coincides with the sixtieth anniversary of the airing of the original series. So we are only about fifty plus days of getting Captain Pike and the crew to return to us. And honestly, the timing is interesting, not only because of the sixtieth anniversary, but and the weight that it has for that, but it also carries the weight of being the penultimate season of Strange New Worlds. Because if you haven't heard or if or to remind you, season five will be the final season of Strange New Worlds, and it's only gonna be a six episode season when it airs. And we don't know the when it's gonna air, but I would assume it'll probably be some point in 2027.

Will (2:12): So season four is not just another season. It is the penultimate chapter of where this show is heading, which is the endgame, to that being the original series. And based on what producers are saying, season four might have might be trying to do something very specific, and that is remind people why they fell in love with the show to begin with. The big headline that's driving this week is the creative team trying to return and promising to return to a more character driven Star Trek story telling. And that is very important.

Will (2:45): And this comes from Trek four did a summary of an interview with the showrunners from with with Polygon. And season four, of course, will still move around in tone and genre, which is very much the identity of Strange New Worlds if you've watched it. But this time, we should not be having or expecting one season long big bad like the Gorn or Vesta like we did last season, hanging over to everything. And that's a big, big deal because where Strange New Worlds is at its best, in my opinion, and when it feels like the best modern version of classic Star Trek as far as the original series or even the next generation, once you'll get those episodic weeks of Mortal Dilemma, the next week you may have a courtroom drama, you may get a space horror, you may get a romance episode, and you may get something completely weird and unexpected and experimental, but that format is to show superpower. And and I think that's the right move because not every Star Trek series needs a big bet.

Will (3:48): Sometimes, Star Trek is the strongest when the danger is the unknown, the ethical question, the alien civilization, and the personal challenge facing the crew. So when the producers talk about going back to pure storytelling, it sounds like Strange New Worlds season four is trying to rebalance the show after some big gigantic swings that it took last season. Speak speaking of big swings, the puppet episode is still happening. Yes. That's right.

Will (4:16): If you have seen some of the promotional materials four or the trailers, you will see that there is a Muppet style puppet episode coming in Star Trek: Extinction World season four. That's due to some type of transport accident, if I recall. But Alex Kurzman, the showrunner, did say that this this is a big lift to do this Muppet show, and it is in the vein of the animated episode and musical that we saw in prior seasons. Now, I'm sure whenever you hear puppet episode, I'm sure many of you are like, what are we doing? But I'm going to say this.

Will (4:48): Star Trek has always been weird and have these weird episodes. And so this right on brand. I mean, they've had body swaps. We've had evil twins. We've had baseball episodes, holotheque chaos, even singing Klingon.

Will (5:02): So you name it. We've we've had it. So Star Trek has always had some strange premises in the past. But the question is not is the premise weird. The question is, does the weird premise tell us something about our characters?

Will (5:15): And that is where season four definitely has to land. It's not that you know, we can't have the puppet episode be puppets for gimmick's sake. It's gotta have to telling a story and and using something about them to get turned into Muppets to, you know, tell us something very real about Pike or in the crew as far as any type of funny things or insightful things about the characters. And that is where the episode can go from being just a gimmick to one that is an instant classic. So that is very Star Trek when we do those things, when it tells uses the gimmick to tell us something about the character.

Will (5:52): Now another key thing that we learned in these interviews this week is that season four is definitely going to be picking up on the relationship between Paul Wesley's James D. Kirk and Ethan Peck Spock. Season four is definitely gonna be and the and the show itself has been walking a very delicate line because we know where Kirk and Spock end up in the original series. But we don't know how this version of these characters end up in the version that we know. And that is the lane that season four of Strange New Worlds can really, really work in.

Unknown Speaker (6:23): Now, you know, it's not one of those things. Hey, look here. These these cool characters you know and love. But but how do these people that we we see in in season four that we've seen in the prior seasons of Strange New Worlds become the characters that we know and and become those legends that we know? And that is more interesting is checking cannon boxes.

Will (6:41): And I think this is where Paul Wesley has an opportunity to shine because people are divided on his Kirk. I mean, I I see the chatter on the interwebs, and folks are definitely divided about Paul Wesley's portrayal of Captain Kirk. And so if if the show in season four can give us something with Kirk and Spock that grows naturally, awkwardly, unexpectedly, just like relationships in the real world do, then that can make the future friendship feel earned. And that is the very keyword here. That is that is an earned friendship.

Unknown Speaker (7:15): So this just don't give us it's very cool to have Kirk here on the bridge of the Enterprise, but give us the journey. And and in doing so, make it feel earned. The other piece that caught my attention is the fact that they're going to be spending more time with characters like La'An and Ortegas. And that is definitely where the emotional stakes live because, obviously, we know where Kirk and Spock and Scotty and Uhura end up, but and they're, you know, they're with us in the original series. But clearly, La'An and Ortegas are not.

Will (7:43): So what's what's going on there? And and I have to say, I'm very happy to hear that because Melissa Navia, as far as her portrayal of Ortegas, has been great. And she definitely is this pops on the screen, but they haven't given her much meat and stories to work with over the course of the for prior three three seasons. So they did a little bit last season with the enemy of mine kind of reference episode. But beyond that, you know, we haven't had much more than I'm Erica Ortega's and I fly the ship.

Will (8:10): So I'm really looking forward to seeing something really cool with this character. Also, same with Lan. I mean, we, of course, noticed she has the legacy and the weight of being Khan Lutnumi Singh's descendant, and she definitely shines. Christina Chonk shines whenever she has to play that trauma or legacy or identity. But I'm really looking forward to seeing them stretch both these actors' legs this season with, you know, real meaty stories and and maybe give us some Gilapses as far as where they're gonna end up at the end of season five.

Will (8:37): And then finally, let's talk about the headline that definitely grabbed all the headlines this week, and that is that William Shatner almost came back. Now I had a chance to see William Shatner live a few weeks a few months ago whenever it was here in North Carolina back in April. Check out my video. Look for that. But the the producers shared that they tried multiple ways to try to crack a story that would make sense for Captain Kirk to come back.

Unknown Speaker (9:03): And one of those was picking up the episode of back in the original series of The City on the Edge of Forever, where Kirk stays in nineteen thirties with Edith Keeler. And so that is something that they tried to write multiple scripts, but this just never came together. And look, as a fan, would it be awesome to see William Shatner return to the franchise? Yes. Totally.

Will (9:25): But I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want that. But at the same time, if the the story just doesn't work, then I don't want Shatner to come back for a half baked story that I'm gonna feel let down by. And so I am glad that they recognize that and just didn't go for the shiny object, hey, a sixtieth anniversary. Let's just have a chat or show up just for the sake of having them show up. But really trying to make it if he was gonna do it, make sure that it was a story that was earned.

Unknown Speaker (9:56): And so yeah. You know, because otherwise, I'd just become member barriers and nostalgia for nostalgia's sake, which, you know, none of us will be happy about that. And so and true truthfully, Strange Worlds has a lot on its plate these last two seasons. I mean, we we we definitely need to understand where our core characters in this story end up. So to add Shatner and Captain Kirk to it may have just tipped it too far over.

Will (10:23): Because, you know, maybe this is good for us to just have our headcanons and be like, if? You know? And I think that's totally fine. In closing, it seems that for me, Strange New World season four is definitely going to be a season where they're trying to thread the needle to not only continue the stories that they have built up with these characters, but also thread that that needle to get us towards the endgame of the of the original series. And to me, that has a lot of things for for it to be right.

Will (10:54): And and then, of course, in that, what becomes the legacy of Star Trek Strange New Worlds? Is it gonna be the show that brought modern Trek back to episodic adventures? Is it gonna be the show known to that gave us Pike his moment? Is it a bridge between modern streaming Trek and the original series? And we'll find out all of those things starting on July 23 on Paramount plus Be sure to follow me here.

Unknown Speaker (11:20): I'll be doing re recaps of those episodes and and not just one by one beat counts, but what I really thought about those episodes. But I wanna hear from you. Are you excited for Star Trek Stranger World season four? Drop your comments and thoughts below. Hit the like.

Will (11:34): Subscribe to see the nerd, and keep it locked right here for see the nerd presents Blur Trek. Also, if you haven't checked out my video with Valerie doctor Valerie Weiss, she was the director of the Spirah, Paraspara, and also let the set let the Aetas tell. Go check out that video right now. But until next time, be sure to like, subscribe, do all the things. Thank you.

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