# Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 4 Recap and Review – (Please Don’t) Play It Again, Sam

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-4-recap-and-review-please-dont-play-it-again-sam/
- Published: 2026-08-13T13:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-13T14:49:37+00:00
- Original publisher: IGN
- Original article: https://www.ign.com/articles/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-4-episode-4-recap-and-review
- Topics: AI, Americas, Celebrity, Entertainment, Offbeat, Technology, TV, Weird & Viral

## Key points

- Stylish noir homage, but the reviewer finds it too gimmicky.
- Una’s moral conflict is judged underdeveloped.
- M’Benga is praised as the episode’s standout.

## Summary

IGN’s review finds “A Case of Chiaroscuro” visually inventive but ultimately over-reliant on a film noir and Casablanca-style gimmick. The episode follows Una, M’Benga and Uhura after they become stranded on a Klingon-occupied planet, but the reviewer argues that its genre imitation overwhelms the character drama, particularly Una’s personal conflict over aiding a resistance movement.

The black-and-white setting is explained through the system’s radiation, while the away team adopts period-style disguises to blend in on Mat’aar XII. The review praises the episode’s imagery and M’Benga’s role as a physician, fighter and adviser, but says the familiar noir elements—doppelgängers, a central bar and corrupt authorities—feel mechanical, and that Una’s history with Illyrian occupation is not explored deeply enough.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.