Has ‘Strange New Worlds’ just unleashed ‘Star Trek’s scariest aliens since the Borg?

Sometimes you just know. As soon as the Borg showed up in the second season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, it was clear they were a foe unlike anything else we’d encountered on the final frontier. Sure, they dressed like they’d just stepped out of a PG-friendly fetish club, but their utilitarian cubic ships, all-for-one hive mind, and awesome arsenal ensured that — within the space of a single episode (“Q Who”) — they’d catapulted themselves into the A-list of Trek’s rogues’ gallery. They didn’t even have to say or do very much to get there.

A year later, they assimilated Jean-Luc Picard in “The Best of Both Worlds” and more than justified the hype to become the Enterprise’s most powerful and chilling enemy. It was a status they retained until they were downgraded into villains-for-hire in “Voyager”.

“Trek” has produced some memorable antagonists since, of course — the Dominion were worthy adversaries for the Federation throughout “Deep Space Nine“, Annorax’s timeline tinkering made “Year of Hell” one of “Voyager”‘s best ever stories, and evil Mirror Universe doppelganger Captain Lorca brought unlikely levels of villainy to “Discovery”‘s bridge. But has anyone — or thing — had the potential to chill the blood (red, green or otherwise) quite like the so-called “Vezda lifeform” in “Through the Lens of Time”, the latest episode of “Strange New Worlds”?

Pike’s Enterprise has already had some memorable skirmishes with the “Gorn“, who’d been “Strange New Worlds”‘ most formidable bad guys so far. But, despite their impressive computer-generated makeover — including prehensile tails and a gory, “Alien”-inspired reproductive cycle — they have certain limitations.