Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 3 – “Human Best Friend”Spock’s (Ethan Peck) weirdest Vulcan mind-meld happened in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s The Hangover-inspired comedy. Directed by Yana Gorskaya and written by Kathryn Lyn, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 3, “Human Best Friend,” paired up hungover Lieutenants Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) and Scotty (Martin Quinn) to find their missing shuttle.
Spock and his “human best friend,” James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley), carried Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 3‘s B-story. “Quite incapacitated” from the resort planet Cesnar’s intoxicating atmosphere, Spock spent his shore leave in the belief that he was hallucinating James Kirk. This didn’t stop the Vulcan from playing board games and getting hugs from Kirk.
The twist, however, was that Kirk was really with Spock on Cesnar, and then back aboard the USS Enterprise, the entire time. Kirk let Spock think he would “fade away,” enjoying the time he spent with his Vulcan bestie, who confided his “fears, hopes, and dreams.”Kirk learned “everything” from Spock, more than when they shared a mind-meld in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3’s finale.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Gave Spock His Weirdest Mind Meld Ever
Spock mind-melded with a plant in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 3, and it was weird. Ortegas and Scotty recruited the Vulcan Science Officer to hack into a computer and find their missing shuttle. Instead of a computer terminal, however, the Starfleet Officers found a ficus plant made from advanced botanical technology, which Spock mind-melded with, bizarre as it was.
“My mind to your leaves, my thoughts to your root system,” Spock said as his psychic connection with Cesnar’s security apparatus worked, revealing the location of Scotty and Ortegas’ lost shuttle. Yes, it was strange, and yes, it happened so fast and yielded the results necessary to move Erica and Scotty to their next stop in their wacky quest that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds asks the audience to just go with it, like the characters do.
Spock mind-melding with a plant may raise alarms for Star Trek canon purists, but the ficus wasn’t really a plant. It was, in fact, technology. Star Trek: The Original Series has examples of Spock psychically interfacing with machines; however, previous mind-melds were with technology that possessed consciousness. Then again, who’s to say Cesnar’s computer network isn’t ‘alive?’ It’s a weird planet.
It was worth considering the possibility that Spock, in his “incapacitated” state, only saw a plant, just as he saw Scotty and Ortegas as plants. Yet the other two Starfleet Officers also saw a plant. Regardless, it is now established by Star Trek that Spock, and presumably other Vulcans with psychic abilities, can mind-meld with computer networks and communicate with operating systems, at least to glean basic information.
Spock Has Had Weird Mind Melds Throughout Star Trek
Spock’s Vulcan mind-melds veered away from being strictly with humans and humanoid species fairly early in Star Trek: The Original Series. William Shatner’s favorite Star Trek episode, season 1’s “The Devil in the Dark,” saw Spock (Leonard Nimoy) mind-meld with the Horta to learn that the silicon-based lifeform wasn’t a monster, but a mother trying to protect its eggs being destroyed by unsuspecting miners.
Stardate 47988.1 · Crew Assessment The Final Frontier Trivia Challenge
🚀ShipsEnterprise!
⭐CrewMake it so
☠EnemiesResistance is…
⚡TechWarp speed!
📖LoreLive long…
01
The USS Enterprise is the most iconic starship in science fiction. What is the registry number of Captain Kirk’s original Enterprise from The Original Series?
✓ Correct! NCC-1701 is the registry of Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise. The “-D” suffix belongs to Picard’s Galaxy-class ship, NX-01 is Archer’s Enterprise, and NCC-74656 is Voyager.
✗ Red alert! The answer is NCC-1701. Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise carried this now-legendary registry. NCC-1701-D is Picard’s Enterprise from TNG, NX-01 is Captain Archer’s, and NCC-74656 belongs to Voyager.
02
Kirk’s most trusted officer is a half-human, half-Vulcan science officer famous for his logic and iconic salute. Who is this legendary character?
✓ Correct! Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, is the half-Vulcan science officer whose “Live long and prosper” salute became a cultural icon. His struggle between logic and emotion defines the heart of the Original Series.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Spock. Data is an android from TNG, Tuvok is Voyager’s Vulcan tactical officer, and Sarek is Spock’s Vulcan father. Only Spock is the half-human, half-Vulcan first officer of Kirk’s Enterprise.
03
Starfleet’s most important regulation forbids interference with the natural development of alien civilizations. What is this guiding principle called?
✓ Correct! The Prime Directive (also known as General Order 1) is Starfleet’s most sacred law. It prohibits interfering with less-developed civilizations — though Kirk, Picard, and Janeway have all famously bent or broken it when lives were at stake.
✗ Red alert! The answer is the Prime Directive. While “General Order One” is technically another name for it, the Prime Directive is the universally known term. The Omega Directive and Temporal Accord are separate, more specialized Starfleet protocols.
04
“Resistance is futile.” This chilling declaration belongs to a cybernetic collective that assimilates entire civilizations into its hive mind. What is this fearsome species called?
✓ Correct! The Borg are Star Trek’s most terrifying villains — a hive-mind collective that forcibly assimilates species and technology. Captain Picard was famously assimilated and transformed into Locutus in the landmark TNG episode “The Best of Both Worlds.”
✗ Red alert! The answer is the Borg. The Dominion is the Gamma Quadrant empire from DS9, the Romulans are a rival empire, and Species 8472 is actually one of the few species that the Borg themselves fear. Only the Borg declare “Resistance is futile.”
05
Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation and later received his own series, Star Trek: Picard. Which acclaimed actor portrays him?
✓ Correct! Sir Patrick Stewart brought gravitas, Shakespeare, and Earl Grey tea to the captain’s chair for seven seasons of TNG, four films, and three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. His “Make it so” is one of TV’s most iconic catchphrases.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Patrick Stewart. William Shatner plays Captain Kirk, Avery Brooks is Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine, and Scott Bakula captains the NX-01 Enterprise. Only Sir Patrick Stewart portrays the legendary Jean-Luc Picard.
06
Starfleet vessels travel faster than light by bending space around them using a matter-antimatter reaction. What is this propulsion system called?
✓ Correct! Warp Drive is the standard faster-than-light propulsion in Star Trek, powered by dilithium-regulated matter-antimatter reactions. Zefram Cochrane invented it in 2063, which led to humanity’s first contact with the Vulcans.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Warp Drive. Transwarp is an advanced Borg technology, Slipstream is an experimental quantum drive, and the Spore Drive uses mycelial network navigation (from Discovery). Standard Starfleet vessels use Warp Drive.
07
At Starfleet Academy, cadets face a notorious no-win scenario designed to test their character under impossible circumstances. James Kirk is the only cadet who ever beat it — by cheating. What is this test called?
✓ Correct! The Kobayashi Maru is an unwinnable rescue simulation that tests how cadets handle certain death. Kirk reprogrammed it so he could win — earning a commendation for original thinking. It was memorably featured in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
✗ Red alert! The answer is the Kobayashi Maru. The Corbomite Maneuver is a TOS episode, not an Academy test. The Kobayashi Maru is the famous no-win scenario that Kirk defeated by reprogramming the simulation — because he doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario.
08
In the widely regarded greatest Star Trek film, a genetically enhanced superhuman from Earth’s past seeks revenge against Captain Kirk. “KHAAAAN!” Who is this iconic villain?
✓ Correct! Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalbán, is Star Trek’s greatest villain. First appearing in the TOS episode “Space Seed,” he returned in The Wrath of Khan (1982) for a devastating revenge plot that cost Spock his life.
✗ Red alert! The answer is Khan Noonien Singh. General Chang is a Klingon from Star Trek VI, Q is TNG’s omnipotent trickster, and Gul Dukat is DS9’s Cardassian antagonist. Only Khan inspired Kirk’s legendary scream across the cosmos.
Mission Complete Your Starfleet Record
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Are you an Admiral — or still a cadet on deck-scrubbing duty?
In Star Trek: The Original Series, Mr. Spock mind-melded with Nomad, a sentient machine searching for its creator. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which was a big-screen version of “The Changeling’s” basic story, saw Spock mind-meld with V’Ger, after the Vulcan felt a psychic connection with the massive sentient starship that was also seeking answers from its creator.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home established that Spock can mind-meld with 20th century humpback whales, and communicate to the point of learning one of them was pregnant, and that the whales liked their caretaker, Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks). Spock’s most controversial mind-meld turned out to be in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, when he tore information from the mind of his treasonous protégé, Lieutenant Valeris (Kim Cattrall).
In truth, Spock can mind-meld with whatever a Star Trek episode or movie’s plot needs him to mind-meld with. This now includes plants comprised of photosynthetic technology in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After all, Vulcans aren’t real, and Star Trek hasn’t strictly defined the logic and parameters of mind-melds, so that they can have Spock perform weird feats like psychically connect to a plant.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s new episodes premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.
