Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 3 - "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"
Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) has a car chase in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3, and the only thing that could have made it better would be incorporating a J.J. Abrams joke from Star Trek 2009. Kirk comes from an alternate reality in "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," and he and Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) are whisked away to 21st-century Toronto to stop an attack that will irrevocably alter the timeline.
Kirk and La'an fall for each other during their time travel mission in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Because this version of Captain Kirk didn't grow up on Earth, which in his reality is a hostile battleground resulting from a war with the Romulans, James is fascinated by the sights, food, and luxuries of modern-day Toronto. But when a bridge is blown up by time-traveling Romulan operatives, Kirk and La'an steal a red Dodge Challenger Hellcat and chase after who they believe are the culprits. Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3 kicks into overdrive at this point, complete with a contemporary rock song: "Modern Art" by The Black Lips.
Kirk's Strange New Worlds Car Chase Should Have Played "Sabotage"
Kirk and La'an's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds car chase was a jolt of adrenaline, but an even better song to play than "Modern Art" would have been the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage." J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 2009 reboot movie used "Sabotage" early in the film when a young Jim Kirk (Jimmy Bennett) steals his stepfather's convertible and goes for a joyride in Iowa. "Sabotage" got a reprise in Star Trek Beyond when the crew of the USS Enterprise, commandeering the USS Franklin, escape the planet Altamid and use the Beastie Boys song as a soundtrack to battle the Swarm. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) smiles and approves, "It's a good choice."
If Strange New Worlds also used "Sabotage," it would have been a sly wink to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. Besides being a fun Easter egg, "Sabotage" could have also communicated the idea that the two alternate reality versions of Kirk have a common thread, even if Paul Wesley's Kirk didn't grow up on Earth like Chris Pine's Kirk did. "Modern Art" by The Black Lips also wasn't necessarily playing on the radio of Kirk's stolen car; the song was for the benefit of the audience and to add extra oomph to the car chase. "Modern Art" was a cool track nonetheless, but "Sabotage" would have been a rare bridge and acknowledgment of Abrams' Kelvin Timeline films and Star Trek on Paramount+.
Strange New Worlds Was One Of Kirk's Best Time Travel Episodes
Captain Kirk has taken center stage in some of the greatest Star Trek time travel tales, and Strange New Worlds' "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" instantly s the top of the list. Kirk's tragic time travel mission with La'an Noonien-Singh is an ingenious and heartbreaking inversion of Star Trek: The Original Series classic, "The City on the Edge of Forever," but with James in the role of the doomed Edith Keeler (Joan Collins). But before Kirk is murdered by the Romulan operative Sera (Adelaide Kane), James is the picture of charm and good humor as he enjoys himself in Toronto and gets La'an to come out of her shell.
Strange New Worlds' "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" ranks with the aforementioned "City on the Edge of Forever" and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, two of William Shatner's Kirk's best time travel escapades. "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" also resets Kirk as a romantic hero since Chris Pine's Captain Kirk didn't really have a love story in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie trilogy. The Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" would have been a terrific in-joke for fans, but its absence certainly didn't impact the magic of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow."
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.