'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'' season 4 opener is a pulpy sci-fi joy packed with dinosaurs, martians, and a 5th planet where the asteroid belt should be

Key Points:

• The season 4 opener of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," titled "Valles Marineris," coincides with the 50th anniversary of Viking 1's Mars landing and explores a newly suggested ancient magma system on Mars that could have supported past habitability.
• The episode features Captain Pike and the USS Enterprise crew traveling 65 million years back in time to Earth’s Cretaceous period to recover iridium needed for ship repairs, blending classic sci-fi elements with a dinosaur encounter.
• A major plot reveals advanced Martians engaged in a war with arachnid-like Dol'Drm on a fifth planet in the Solar System, whose destruction by antimatter weapons leads to the formation of the Asteroid Belt and alters Mars' orbit, making it inhospitable.
• The episode ties into a larger cosmic narrative by showing the Enterprise's actions indirectly causing the Chicxulub meteorite impact that wiped out the dinosaurs, setting the stage for human evolution, raising profound questions about fate and time travel.
• Captain Pike makes a pivotal decision to allow the Dol'Drm planet’s destruction, suggesting humanity's existence depends on this event, blending pulpy sci-fi adventure with existential themes about the origins of life and history.