Read this review to see if the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “Shuttle to Kenfori” is worth watching.
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About Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Season 3, Episode 3: “Shuttle to Kenfori”
- Directed by Dan Liu
- Written by Onitra Johnson & Bill Wolkoff
- Synopsis: Pike and M’Benga enter Klingon space for Batel’s cure as M’Benga’s past returns on a deadly world.
- Airdate: July 24, 2025
- Starring: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn, Rebecca Romijn, Christine Horn, Melanie Scrofano, Chris Myers, and Ishan Davé
If you want to avoid spoilers for this episode, skip to the overall section at the end.
Warning: Spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 3 “Shuttle to Kenfori”
Recap Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025): S3E03 – “Shuttle to Kenfori”
In an episode that sees M’Benga face his decisions from the previous season, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds attempts zombie horror.
“Shuttle to Kenfori” begins with the Enterprise on a scouting mission, where Pike discovers Batel unconscious and M’Benga reveals Gorn tissue reforming. Spock suggests a rare flower on Kenfori, a “no-fly zone” due to treaties, could heal her. Spock wants to go, but Pike volunteers to accompany M’Benga.
Ortegas eagerly flies into Klingon space, while Pike and M’Benga take a shuttle through an asteroid field. The Klingons leave a “go back or die” message that flashes on the display. Pike and M’Benga talk about old times before they find an abandoned research facility and discover a Klingon’s remains. They enter the facility to find a flower and investigate Batel’s potential help. However, they discover a chewed-off leg amid the plants.
On the Enterprise, Ortegas discovers a cloaked Klingon battle cruiser. Una suspects scavengers, but Ortegas insubordinately disagrees. Pike and M’Benga leave, but a Klingon fighter destroys their shuttle. The Klingons hunt Pike and M’Benga, until a pack of grey-skinned aliens attacks. Yup, they’re the “z word” space zombies.
A Klingon prepares to shoot M’Benga when a pack of grey-skinned aliens attacks, turning him into a Feastable. Vack is on the ship, Batel is in agony. So Spock proposes a mind meld to alleviate it. The two go into some kind of shared nightmare, and Chapel slaps him out of it. Something deeper is happening to the captain.
The shuttle’s communications are out, and Scotty fills in for Pelia. They need to enter emergency transporter range without Klingons noticing. they apalan. to sneak in range, which would take four hours. Ortegas suggests warping into the planet’s atmosphere, beaming the two out, and warping out. Scotty explores this, but La’an is upset by Ortegas insubordination. Did she come back to work too soon?
Pike and M’Benga discover that creatures on the planet don’t register on life signs and only send signals through the roof array. The two realize that the moss hybrids were developed to alleviate hunger, but they mutated the researchers, turning them into zombies. Pike figures that M’Benga and Spock plan to turn Batel into a human/Gorn hybrid, and she’s in on the plan.
The Enterprise is going through the field when it hits one of the objects around it, at first looking clear, only for the Klingon ship to spot it. Surprisingly, B’itha isn’t upset that M’Benga killed her father, who she saw as a weakling and traitor who dishonored their house. She is upset that M’Benga killed him before she could, so killing the doctor is the best option. Klingon honor can be weird.
B’itha’s threat to the injured captain fails to make him confess to killing her father. So the two decide to settle things old school, but he refuses to kill her. The Klingon decides to die in a great battle against the creatures. The Enterprise charges down, using Scotty’s first “miracle” to make engines work in the atmosphere. Pike and M’Benga are beamed away, and the Enterprise warps out just as the Klingons attack.
Pike’s log says they’re using flowers for therapy, but he’s worried. Pike assures M’Benga he won’t report Rah’s murder since the whole mission never happened anyway. Una calls Ortegas out for purposely bringing the ship into battle against the Klingons. Turns out she still has PTSD from her time as a Gorn prisoner. She’s not demoted, but she’s been pulled from duty for two weeks. Una warns her not to let it happen again.
Batel is confronted by Pike about her condition, arguing that she was unaware of any other way to save her life. The episode ends with her terrified and Pike comforting her.
Overall: Watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025): S3E03 – “Shuttle to Kenfori”
It’s a shame that the show had to bring back the Klingons, but “Shuttle to Kenfori” is a subtly enjoyable episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, reminiscing about the season 2 episode “Under The Cloak Of War” with style and conviction. The episode’s superficial storytelling and intense plot may have far-reaching consequences, unlike last week’s episode, which slightly altered Spock and Chapel’s relationship.
I’m giving this episode 4 out of 5 stars
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