Overview
- Episode 4, “A Case of Chiaoscuro,” is now streaming on Paramount+ and presents much of its action in black-and-white that the script explains as an effect of the Ma’taaran star.
- A shuttle mission to retrieve a probe is forced past the Demarcation Line, leaving Una Chin-Riley with Dr. M’Benga and Uhura to shelter on the occupied planet Ma’taar 12.
- The installment plays as a straight-faced 1940s noir homage with clear nods to Casablanca, using period style and a populated occupied city to explore moral choices under authoritarian rule.
- Critics widely praised the episode’s ambition and Rebecca Romijn’s performance as a showcase for Una, while some reviewers said the black-and-white device felt forced and the subplots grew overly tangled.
- The episode continues Season 4’s week-by-week genre experiments and builds toward the already filmed six-episode final season designed to bridge Strange New Worlds back toward The Original Series continuity.