Star Trek Strange New Worlds — Series 4-Episode 3 — “Human Best Friend” — A Review

23rd October, 2026: “Human Best Friend”.

The Introduction.

Right, then: it’s another Friday.

And yes: this review is being written while I’m doing fish and home-made chips!

I still don’t know why we have fish and chips: I really don’t.

But … ?

So long as I’ve got the ingredients, I’m having a fish supper.

That said … ?

And as a pointless bit of trivia?

The Jewish community’s made many positive contributions to Britain, over the years: more than I can list, but ones that Google can summarise far better that I.

The Burton’s cloths shop was started by a Anglo-Jewish entrepreneur.

Benjamin Disraeli was of Jewish heritage: as Britain’s first Jewish Prime Minister he would have cleared the way for the rest of his community.

And finally … ?

Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin, was the man who opened the UK’s first chip shop: and did Britain proud in the process.

Why?

He created a cultural icon: an icon that’s British, all the way through!

~≈🥄≈~

At any rate, me banging on about dinner?

Is not what I had in mind for this post!

Nope.

This introduction is to tell you I’m going to watch another episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds.

Hopefully?

Hopefully, by Tuesday, I’ll be able to make sense of this clip from “Human Best Friend” … !

~≈🖖≈~

Just as a note?

When I finished writing this post, I opened the BBC’s News site: to see the sad news that Walter Koenig, the original Chekov, has died at the age of ninety.

The man is going to be much missed.

~≈🖖≈~

Part One.

The Summary.

Episode 3 — “Human Best Friend” — opens with the usual summary of previous episodes: reminding us that the crew of the USS Enterprise need time to relax, occasionally.

Then shifts, to show us Lieutenants Ortegas and Scott (Melissa Navia and Martin Quinn) are still at each others throats: both need to learn how to not annoy the other.

And both admitting that Alpha shift — the USS Enterprise’s main crew — are in need of serious shore leave.

Something Number One (Rebecca Romijn) agrees with: telling Captain Pike (Anson Mount), whilst the Alpha shift crew are having a post-shift drink, that the main crew need a night off.

It’s not until the Enterprise receives an inviting message from Dendru, Maitre’d of the Cesnar Grand Resort, that Pike officially authorises some much needed shore leave.

It’s only after the opening credits that Ortegas and Scott find out they have problems.

Ortegas’ left arm is in a cast.

And Scotty … ?

Is in a second hand Mugato outfit … !

~≈🖖≈~

25th October, 2026.

Part Two.

What IS It?

Now … what did I make of this episode: of “Human Best Friend”?

Did you read, or see, my reviews of “Valles Marineris”, and “The Griffin Incident”?

The first two episodes, in other words?

Whether you did or didn’t is possibly irrelevant to the point I’m going to make: that the first two episodes of Season Four are very dark in tone.

“The Griffin Incident” in particular.

“Human Best Friend” is something of a contrast.

It’s an outright comedy: deliberately played for laughs.

The story takes possible cue from the classic show episode, “The Naked Time” and from The Next Generation’s “The Naked Now”: as it sees the crew become uninhibited, and behaving erratically.

But where “The Naked Time” and “The Naked Now” see their respective cast forced to behave unnaturally — a virus in one case, ‘an illness’ in the other — “Human Best Friend” sees the crew taking voluntary shore leave on planet that will make them lose their inhibitions.

Makes them quite happily as drunk as skunks.

With a hell of a lot of fun being had in the process.

Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) — in contrast to her usual serious self — becomes a very relaxed space hippy.

Number One?   Hogs the Karaoke bar’s main stage: showing off her ability to sing in Klingon, in the process.

Dr M’Benga?   Is happily mixing drinks in the bar: whilst Spock … ?

Whilst Spock, the utterly calm Spock keeps apologising for being inebriated … whilst seemingly unflappable as ever.

Despite the fact his eyes are telling him his crew-mates are plants … 

My point in all this … ?

Is simply this: unlike the first two episodes, “Human Best Friend” is funny, is light.

But leaves me with a question.

“Where did those ideas come from … ?”

~≈🖖≈~

Part Three.

Where Did What Come From … ?

Where did that come from?

OK, I know what you’re saying: you’re saying “What do you mean, Paul, where did that come from?”

And what do I mean by ‘that’?

More to the point, where’s that where?

First things first?

The first that that I’m talking about is the drink that Dr M’Benga’s mixing in the bar: when asked what it is, he gives the by now traditional Star Trek answer, and tells both Ortegas and Scotty that “it’s green.”

Yes: I know, I know.

The line’s originally used by Scotty in an episode of a classic Star Trek episode called “By Any Other Name”: and sees the Chief Engineer telling a friendly alien “It’s green”, when asked what it is.

It’s been a running gag, ever since.

My problem … ?

Isn’t so much a problem … as a reminder.

Hand anybody in a science fiction show something green and alcoholic, I automatically think of a scene from The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy: one that famously introduces us to the green and heavily alcoholic, Pan-Galactic Gargle-Blaster.

No: I’m not going to tell you how to make one: there’s too many recipes online already.

No: I’m just going to repeat myself, and tell you that’s the drink I think of, when I see something green and alcoholic in a science fiction show.

~≈🖖≈~

Part Four.

Where Did The Other Thing Come From … ?

The drink isn’t the only thing that made me think of The Hitch-hiker’s Guide.

Oh, no.

At the end of the British show’s fourth episode, our heroes — Ford, Arthur, Trillian and Zaphod — are standing next to a computer when it explodes.

We assume they’re dead.   Only to find — at the star of the fifth episode — that the group has survived.

And been unsuspectingly thrown across space and time to a very posh venue they think is the afterlife.

Which parallels the the ending of “Human Best Friend”: an ending that sees Scotty and Ortegas rescued in the nick of time, and wake in an afterlife that Scotty says looks suspiciously like the Enterprise … 

Another scene from that fifth episode … ?

Shows us Ford and Zaphod talking about the ships in the carpark.

Which I felt paralleled the scene where Scotty and Ortegas are in the resort’s space port, trying to find their shuttle: and shows us Scotty admiring at least one other ship on the way.

So … ?

What am I saying, there?   Am I saying “Human Best Friend” is a rip-off of The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy?

No: not at all.

I’m just saying there were three scenes in the former resembled some in the latter.

Were those resemblances a co-incidence?

Or deliberate?

I’ll be honest, I don’t know.

But, either way, they’re a nice little easter egg for those of us in the know.

~≈🖖≈~

Part Five.

Was She Singing?

There’s possibly a minor point, here.

I said — in my review of Episode 1 — that I felt Ortegas and Scotty would end up in bed together, or killing each other: and that, by the end of the series.

It looks like I was wrong about that.

As the pair finish the episode if not friends or lovers, then at least on good — and polite — terms.

Which just goes to show how wrong I can be, sometimes.

On another front … ?

If you’ve seen “Subspace Rhapsody”, you’ll be aware that some of the cast can sing: Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding and Jess Bush all grabbed my attention, as did Christina Chong and Babs Olusanmokun.

I get the impression a lot of actors, do: it gives them the chance to audition for musicals, in between doing ‘real’ jobs.

It gives them a chance to work during a quiet patch, in other words.

So the fact some of the cast can ride horses, box, sing, play guitar, do what-have-you, shouldn’t be surprising.

Neither should the fact I’ve missed an actor.

And remind myself that that not mentioning Rebecca Romijn as Number One, when talking about singing Enterprise crew members, is practically a hanging offence.

Those of us who’ve seen that particular short will know that yes: both actress and character have got a pair of lungs.

Lungs that the character do a rousing rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart”: in Klingon!

It’s quite a funny scene to watch.

As well as a poignant one.

You see, I saw the scene as part of the publicity drive for this season: at about the same time I learnt about the death of Bonnie Tyler, who did the original version of the song.

I was never a fan of hers: but a well-penned Jim Steinman in the hands of a performer like Bonnie, made the tune a classic.

Number One’s version?

Seemed entirely appropriate.

~≈🖖≈~

Part Six.

Call-backs and Geekery.

Moving on?

There’s call-backs and geekery going on.

We’ve already mentioned The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, haven’t we?

The simple fact I’ve mentioned “Subspace Rhapsody” reminds me that the musical episode’s singing was caused by an ‘improbability field’.

Go look up the Starship Heart of Gold, if you get the chance.

Outside of that?

La’An mentions a martial art called Anbo Jyutsu.

The first time we saw the sport was in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “The Icarus Factor”: an episode where Commander Riker mets his long estranged father.

The fictional martial art has been referenced, occasionally, ever since.

The other bit of geekery to mention?

Was the idea of an Alpha shift: or, at least of a shift rota.

I remember seeing them mentioned in various Star Trek novels, and in earlier Star Trek series, this is the first time I can remember the idea getting a mention in Strange New Worlds.

Is that mention a good thing or a bad thing?

I think it’s a good thing.

Granted, in a ‘real’ Star Fleet vessel, juggling the different shift lengths of a mixed-species crew with all those different body clocks is going to be a nightmare for whoever’s writing the rotas … but admitting there’s a shift system on the Enterprise makes the show a little more realistic.

~≈🖖≈~

Part Seven.

Finally.

So, with all that said … ?

What did I make of this episode: of “Human Best Friend”?

I loved it!

OK: there are those who are going to criticise “Human Best Friend” for being downright silly: for being stupid, unnecessary, or just plain offensively daft.

For being lightweight and comedic.

Personally, I don’t think comedy science-fiction is a bad thing: I grew up on The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, after all, and caught Red Dwarf in later years.

So the fact “Human Best Friend” is funny without being slapstick, comedic without being vulgar, means it’s a wonderfully watchable, much needed, change of pace.

“Human Best Friend”

★★★★

≈🖖≈~

Part Eight.

Last Words.

That?

Is where I’m going to leave things: until this Friday.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my review, and the episode: “Human Best Friend” is both funny, watchable … and has a tune you can hum!

In Klingon!

Before I go, though, I’d like to ask a favour or two.

I’d like to ask you to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Or put a few pence in my Tip Jar: it keeps a channel, and a blog, going.

Finally?

I’ll be watching the next episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds — “A Case of Chiaroscuro” — on Friday, 30th October: and posting my written and video reviews of it by Tuesday, 2nd November.

Hopefully?

I’ll see you then!