6 Ups And 3 Downs From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.6 — The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail

In an episode that relies on it, one of the best examples of foreshadowing came via a quieter moment in the ready room of the Farragut. Colleagues for time being, these are the premises of the greatest on-screen friendship. The vast majority of the destiny of Kirk and Spock is already written. Like in The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail, some of it features death and destruction. Some of it just involves chess.

There is no need for the less-than-subtle one-liners when two beloved characters can simply be allowed to interact. After a heated exchange on the bridge, Spock simply goes to talk to Kirk (as only he can, and especially will be able to, do). 3D chess in the ready room of the Farragut becomes 3D chess on the Enterprise in Charlie X, and yet all the dramatic irony in the world can't temper the immediacy of the scene itself.

The interaction is played expertly by Ethan Peck and Paul Wesley, who must surely feel the weight of it. Spock's more custom stoicism is on display around his current and future captain. Kirk has moved from posturing self-assuredness to poignant self-doubt — not for the last time.