Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — S4 E9 revisits Season 1 concept and continues concept-episode trend
GG Brief Editorial Desk · AI-assisted, source attributed
IGN's Scott Collura reports that Season 4, Episode 9 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, titled "Once La'An a Time," revisits the storybook-style concept from Season 1's "The Elysian Kingdom." The review notes the episode brings back characters such as Queen Neve and leans on costume- and role-swapping for the cast. Collura wrote that the cast may enjoy the change of wardrobe and roles, but he finds the repeated use of high-concept episodes in Season 4 less enjoyable. The piece frames this installment as both a sequel to an earlier concept episode and part of a continuing series trend.
- What happened: IGN's Scott Collura reports that S4 E9, "Once La'An a Time," acts as a sequel to Season 1's "The Elysian Kingdom," returning to a storybook, costume-driven concept and bringing back Queen Neve.
- Why it matters: The review argues the episode exemplifies Season 4's continuing reliance on concept episodes and expresses reviewer fatigue with repeating that format, even as the cast appears to enjoy the performative novelty.
- Context: IGN notes the episode ties directly to a Season 1 concept episode and that Season 4 has featured multiple similarly kooky concept installments; the assessment and opinions in this brief are drawn from that IGN review.
- What next: The IGN review does not provide broader audience reaction data, ratings, or details about upcoming episodes, so those outcomes are not yet confirmed by the evidence.
What changed
- IGN's recap/review describes S4 E9 as a direct follow-up to the Season 1 episode "The Elysian Kingdom," returning to storybook-style roles and costumes.
- The review identifies Queen Neve's return and emphasizes the episode's focus on costume-driven character swaps.
Availability
- The IGN recap and review by Scott Collura was updated on Sep 17, 2026, per the published article metadata.
Limits
- The evidence is a single review and contains the reviewer's impressions; it does not provide aggregated audience reaction, viewership figures, or confirmation about future episodes beyond noting the episode's place in Season 4's pattern.