4 Ups And 5 Downs For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.4 — A Space Adventure Hour

3. DOWN — Holo-Whodunnit

Technically speaking, A Space Adventure Hour never solves its original murder mystery. At the end of the holoprogram, La'An only explicitly links the deaths of Sunny Lupino and Lee Woods to holo-Spock. If we accept T.K. Bellows' statement — "I didn't kill anybody!" — then who did kill Tony Hart?

The convoluted answer is still holo-Spock. At first glance, holo-Spock couldn't have killed Hart. He was there with La'An/Amelia Moon as the program was activated, and Hart was dead from the get-go. Never mind means or motive, holo-Spock didn't seem to have a moment's opportunity.

That is unless the game was afoot before the game was afoot. Similar to the holodeck within the holodeck of Ship in a Bottle, holo-Spock was always the program within the program. He was already the murderer of the computer's new Moon mystery, and La'An/Moon's 'partner,' made to appear like the real Spock, at the same time. It is little wonder La'An only (half) figured things out at the last minute!

Perhaps all that is far more clever than we're giving it credit. Perhaps it is the stuff of headaches and loose ends.