SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” Season 4 Episode 5, titled “Level Five Transporter Accident,” now streaming on Paramount+.
Finally, the most eagerly awaited event in recent “Star Trek” history has arrived.
Contrary to expectations, it’s not another movie or a series centered on a legacy character. Instead, it’s the highly anticipated puppet episode of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.”
In this episode, Spock (Ethan Peck) assists Scotty (Martin Quinn) in an experiment to break the record for the longest distance an object has ever been transported via a transporter.
Scotty chooses a creepy puppet used by his brothers to scare him as the test object, intending to transport it directly into the quarters of an old Academy rival on another starship.
Meanwhile, Spock is dealing with personal issues, including a breakup with La’an (Christina Chong). Close to Vulcan, he contacts T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) seeking her assistance in understanding logic better. She agrees, with one condition: no hijinks.
On the Enterprise? Perish the thought.
Spock takes a shuttle to position equipment necessary for Scotty to enhance the transporter signal. However, when Scotty activates the transporter with the puppet, a transporter accident occurs, transforming the entire crew into sentient puppets.
Courtesy of Jan Thijs/Paramount+
Initially teased at San Diego Comic-Con in 2025, this episode certainly lives up to expectations. It stands as one of the most humorous “Star Trek” episodes ever, featuring Spock and the puppet crew battling Orion pirates trying to seize the Enterprise, all while adapting to their puppet forms.
In an interview with Variety, Peck expressed his initial skepticism upon hearing the episode’s concept.
“We’ve received a few episodes over the years where I thought, ‘Really? Are you sure? Are you serious?’ And this episode is certainly one of those,” he remarked. “Then the puppets arrived on set, and it became very real.”
Peck was the only main cast member not turned into a puppet, but he found a positive side to this.
“I was a bit disappointed, but I was the only one who got to act with all of them. No one else interacted with the puppets,” he mentioned.
This episode was directed by Jordan Canning, who previously worked on the “Fraggle Rock” reboot for Apple TV. Through that connection, the “Strange New Worlds” team collaborated with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, who enthusiastically joined the Enterprise.
“There’s a strong Henson presence at Dragon Con, Comic-Con, and similar events, and ‘Star Trek’ is also there,” said Jason Weber, creative supervisor at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. “There’s always been mutual admiration between our cultures. Finally working together was an amazing experience. We had a blast.”
Weber’s team created 3D renderings of the puppet versions of the Enterprise crew, with each puppet emphasizing exaggerated features of their real-life counterparts.
“For example, with Pike, it’s all about the hair, right?” Weber noted. “He’s got those strong shoulders and that hair, so we focused on exaggerating those.”
Courtesy of Jan Thijs/Paramount+
While most puppets were hand-crafted using traditional Henson techniques, the puppet for Carol Kane’s character, Commander Pelia, required a different approach.
“For Pelia, we used synthetic horsehair tubing, placing it on a spiraled form and boiling it in place,” Weber explained. “When removed, it retained the spiral curl. Her hair is wild, and we captured it perfectly.”
The Pelia puppet was widely regarded as a favorite.
Courtesy of Jan Thijs/Paramount+
With the puppets complete, shooting the episode presented its own set of challenges. Canning noted that, unlike “Fraggle Rock,” which has sets tailored for puppeteers, “Strange New Worlds” required creative solutions.
“These sets are made for humans, so there were many interesting and fun challenges for the puppeteers, writers, and art department,” Canning said. “We had to find creative ways to hide puppeteers, like behind consoles on the bridge or in the sickbay.”
Jan Thijs/Paramount+
The team quickly realized the limitations puppets faced in scenes. Even holding an object required intricate setups.
“With a puppet’s tiny hand lacking mechanisms, holding a prop is complex,” Weber explained. “A wrangler has to rig it into their hand between shots, and there it is, they’re holding it.”
Even simple actions like walking down a hallway, as T’Pring does with Spock, required significant effort and expertise.
“Donna [Kimball] lay on her back, kicking her feet, moving forward, performing with Ethan, and holding what looked like a pile of phasers on a stick to make it appear she was carrying it,” Canning said.
Despite the comedic tone, the episode includes emotional moments for Spock. Caught between his Vulcan and human sides and having faced real challenges this season (like “The Griffin Incident”), Spock engages in intense conversations with T’Pring — or at least with her puppet.
Jan Thijs/Paramount+
“The challenge was not to see the puppet as just a hand inside a sock,” Peck said. “It’s easy to get distracted by the fact that you’re acting with a puppet, especially during serious scenes, so I had to ensure those thoughts didn’t affect my performance.”
Canning commended Peck for maintaining composure throughout filming, breaking character only once. “It happened when Pike was trying to swipe his puppet hand on his chair,” she said. “He just kept going, and we were zooming in on Ethan, who managed to hold it together until he burst into laughter at the end.”
Jan Thijs/Paramount+
Humor was a significant part of the episode, especially during the elaborate puppet fight scenes. Puppets aren’t made for stunts, so capturing them fighting to reclaim the ship required innovative filming techniques.
For instance, a scene with three puppets in a trench coat attacking a pirate required eight puppeteers. The climactic battle between the Enterprise crew puppets and the Orion pirates took two days to shoot, according to Canning. Even a quick shot of Pike flying at a pirate involved intricate planning.
“Pike is armatured when flying,” Canning described. “A POV slow-motion shot armatured the entire puppet, wiring it in position. In between, Frank the puppeteer, in a green screen suit, maneuvered [Pike] across, transitioning to the POV flying towards the captain.”
Jan Thijs/Paramount+
Ultimately, the entire episode turns out to be Spock’s dream. Hopefully, this won’t be the last appearance of puppets in the final frontier.
