Read this review to see if the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “Through the Lens of Time” is worth watching.
About Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Season 3, Episode 5: “Through the Lens of Time”
- Directed by Andi Armaganian
- Written by Onitra Johnson & Davy Perez
- Synopsis: Chapel and Korby’s quest leads the Enterprise to ancient ruins hiding a dark secret.
- Airdate: August 07, 2025
- Starring: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn, Rebecca Romijn, Carol Kane, David MacInnis, and Ish Morris
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 5 “Through the Lens of Time”
Recap Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025): S3E05 – “Through the Lens of Time”
Ensign Gamble, stationed on the Enterprise for six months, is recording a log. He observes Chapel and Korby discussing Korby’s research on immortality and resurrection with Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), M’Benga orders Gamble to prepare medical equipment before Marie Batel arrives for treatment.
Chapel and Korby discuss the upcoming mission. Korby has apprehensions about Starfleet’s behavior at archeological sites but he needs a starship. La’an Noonien-Singh inquires about Spock’s handling of Korby’s return. La’an tells Chapel that she and the science officer have a relationship without expectations. She curtly suggests she speak with Spock if she wants to know more. Meanwhile, Batel is doing well after her treatment, and M’Benga tells Gamble he will join on the away team for the next mission.
Chapel and Spock awkwardly discuss the mission in the Turbolift, and he ensures her he’s put safeguards in place for their safety. Just in time, Gamble joins them in thy.e turbolift for the briefing.
The planet’s society refuses to join the Federation, allowing only a small landing party. Christopher Pike confirms this, and Spock monitors from the Enterprise. Beto Ortegas, filming for a documentary, is allowed to record the Enterprise’s missions. The away team, including Chapel, Gamble, Beto, and Nyota Uhura, beams down to the planet, where ancient technology is working. Uhura and Beto flirt with the cameras for a few minutes before setting up the pylons.
As the team enters the chamber, Uhura discovers an access panel with unidentifiable symbols. It turns out that the Macroons are descendants of ancient intergalactic astronauts who achieved immortality through quantum instability. Chapel sacrifices blood to enter the temple, which is vast and dark. They find a gateway blocking light and find corpses, possibly dead of starvation.
Spock says it’s too dangerous and wants to leave and contact the captain before proceeding. N’Jal says his people want to learn more about their history. Chapel extracts a “memory stone” from one corpse’s pack. While their distracted, Gamble picks up an orb that melts his eyes with energy. Rookie mistake.
Gamble is sent to sick bay, and M’Benga tries to bioengineer some new eyes. Makes you wonder why Geordi didn’t get a set of those.
Meanwhile, the away team discovers a registry of names inside a temple, but Chapel and Korby stay behind. Beto sends a camera through a doorway, revealing a statue recognized by N’Jal as evil, who tries to Usopp run out of the temple. Lasers kill the alien, and the team is trapped inside.
Gamble regains consciousness, and the captain asks for a report. M’Benga isn’t sure why, but something is stopping the eyes from regenerating.
The away team investigates the temple, believing their survival is linked to Chapel’s biosignature. Korby suggests they venture deeper, and Chapel scans the door, revealing a room illuminated. La’an and Chapel discover a giant statue in the temple, but realize they’re alone. They contact Spock and Korby, while Uhura and Beto remain alone in a third room.
Medically, M’Benga struggles to identify Gamble’s injury, but he assures the young man he he will solve it. Back in the temple, they discover Chinese writing on the statue, which has a lifesign reading, but it’s both “alive and not.” Spock and Korby examine the corpses, revealing a tablet containing the words “parasite,” “hitchhiker,” “well,” and “evil.” Spock uses the visor and discovers that the structure is filled with thousands of eye-tanning orbs. One of these rises, and the half-Vulcan, half-human recoils as he flashes back to his demonic mind-meld.
Pike informs Erica Ortegas on Enterprise that the landing party has failed to return. Pelia, Scotty, and Kirk report containment units in the orbs, but cannot determine if it was sentient. Gamble, in medical, speaks to M’Benga about Rukiya, but M’Benga hadn’t talked about his daughter. The doctor realizes a foreign intelligence is speaking through Gamble, named “Vezda.”
Just then, Batel comes into medical, and they both start speaking in alien languages. The two start to throw down, and it’s a crazy fight. But her boyfriend distracts Batel, allowing Vezda to escape. M’Benga sedates Batel, and Vezda surrenders. Security questions M’Benga if to bring Vezda to the brig or medical. Does he want to save Gamble or fight Venda?
In the Temple of Doom, Uhura scans the temple and reveals that the pillars are flickering in and out of reality. Beto loses hope, but the linguistic expert reassures him. There’s something else, though. She realizes Beto’s PADD shows six away team members in the same room, with unstable phase variances. Spock discovers orbs contain interdimensional entities seeking immortality, and La’an suggests the temple is a prison for these entities.
We get a quick moment back on the ship as Vezda is brought to the brig, and M’Benga apologizes. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen.
Uhura reads a description in the temple, and Chapel suggests placing artifacts on pedestals could unify dimensions. Korby places a tablet and ring in a specific location, and Chapel, believing she’s the key, places the ring on the tablet. With the six team members back in dimensional space, Spock’s hand injury is healing.
Batel wakes up in Pike’s quarters, feeling overwhelmed by her desire to “exterminate” the creature inhabiting Gamble. The captain speculates it could be Gorn DNA, and Una connects Pike with the Macroon ambassador to ask for help.
Spock cuts himself in a temple and realizes he’s in a Tenet-style inverted causality due to a reconstituted reality. He suggests they can cross the empty space and turn on the bridge.
Vezda uses his knowledge of the security officer to lure him over and escape. The team is skeptical, but Chapel convinces them to take the risk. The away team steps into empty space, and the bridge appears beneath their feet. Yet, another Indiana Jones reference with a Last Crusade leap of faith. They exit the temple, even though Korby is reluctant to leave the relic.
Vezda demands control of Enterprise from engineering and threatens to kill Sam, Pelia, and Scotty. M’Benga threatens to shoot Vedza, but the entity doubts his ability to kill his favorite ensign. Pelia shoots Vezda, and a ghostly entity emerges from Gamble’s corpse. Scotty traps it in an orb and beams it away to the transporter buffer.
In the observation lounge, La’an and Spock discuss the Macroons’ potential joining the Federation. They realize that if Gamble hadn’t been sacrificed, the creatures could have spread across the galaxy. Pelia apologizes for shooting the young man but believes Gamble was already gone. Pike says there’s no such thing as good or evil, but the Lanthanite disagrees. “There is evil in this universe, as sure as there is good,” she says, and adds. “If any of those things… ever escape that well down there… God help us all. You want one for the camera?” That’s why they hired Carol Kane. She’s hilarious, and I laughed out loud as she shrugged and said, “suit yourself”.
As the episode ends, we hear M’Benga inform Gamble’s family of his death, but the computer screen flickers ominously. Will the entity return?
Overall: Watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2025): S3E05 – “Through the Lens of Time”
Strange New Worlds’ crew has plot armor, making it difficult to give stories real stakes. While Pike’s future is unknown, Spock, Uhura, Scotty, and Chapel have The Original Series waiting for them. Most characters are expected to make it out of whatever scrape they face. The episode’s death is emotionally devastating, but most of the secondary characters feel expendable.
The show returns with a gripping mystery that should set the tone for the remainder of the season, following a contentious episode last week. It was elevated even further by outstanding performances, costuming, and production design. We want Strange New Worlds to be like this. Make it so.
I’m giving this episode 4 out of 5 stars
All episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are available to stream on Paramount+. New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds drop every Thursday.
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