WHY WE LIKE IT: A peek at what the show could have become.
WHY WE DON'T: In terms of Doctor Who references, "space babies" is really an irritant.
REVIEW: Told in two time frames, a year apart, Tomorrow's Enterprise was perhaps designed as a consolation prize for fans who hoped to get an Early Kirk Enterprise series spinning out of Strange New Worlds (or a continuation with a shuffling of the deck chairs). A year ahead of the show presently, so just beyond the upcoming fifth season, Kirk has just taken the captain's chair and is still working on his style, hasn't assembled his ultimate crew yet, etc. Hairstyles and uniforms are starting to migrate towards TOS (ignoring the very early phase without red uniforms), M'Benga is seconded to Vulcan (so he'll be an expert by TOS Season 3), leaving sickbay to Boyce and apparently McCoy, unseen (again, this should be Mark Piper, but he seems to have been erased from the timeline). Pike is an Admiral (another continuity mistake, he was a Fleet Captain in The Menagerie). Gary Mitchell is referenced (as Jenna's stepbrother). Ortegas is now a flight instructor. Something bad happened to La'an (though Kirk's sadness may just be because his relationship with her ended badly). The ship is full of TAS aliens (including a Caitian who appears to be M'Ress). And Scotty and Uhura are dating, which links to their love affair in Star Trek V, but I'm guessing they found each other again late in life, because Scotty needs to be in several unrequited love subplots in TOS, so this didn't work out (Uhura believes it won't, but we're not really told why). It's really HER story, as she's able to speak to her past/future self and arrange to save Scotty's life and more importantly, deliver a "space baby" from a singularity.
This is the culmination of the writers' hunger to actually be working on Doctor Who. Uhura is using Steven Moffat-era timey-wimey means to achieve her ends, using Spock the way the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver or TARDIS in "The Day of the Doctor" to get things ready a year later. That some things take "a year" is pretty convenient unless this is a test engineered by the timeless creatures in the singularity, and it isn't, so yeah, pretty convenient. The best part is her leaving a phonetic clue (has to be phonetic because puns don't translate that way) in her quarters. But the science is generally bonkers in this one. I like the black hole/white hole idea (I grew up on such speculation), but the black hole doesn't act like a black hole in any way, and when they have Uhura jump into it, it might as well be a soap bubble (or ovum) in space. We see Uhura handle anti-matter that looks like black crystals that can apparently touch air without exploding (which she turns into dilithium diamonds...). With Chapel's help, she's going to deliver this baby by moving drones filled with diamonds remotely, collaborating with herself on the other end of the time tunnel. After Scotty dies in the present and vanishes from the future (along with Erica, no explanation given), no one questions why they'd send Uhura alone in a shuttle to probe the black hole (shades of Remember Me). And when the two Uhuras get switched by a "contraction", it takes a while for anyone to notice despite the immediate cosmetic changes. As with the previous episode, the script requires people to be dumb for it to work (why not just Quantum Leap her, then you don't have the obvious visual cues?).
At least the captains both come to her, noticing something is different in her attitude. A year on, Uhura has moved beyond the overachieving, ambitious young officer, and has learned to open up, socialize, even become the weekly poker game's best bluffer. While this brings her closer to the TOS characterization, it's a big, sudden leap, and I don't appreciate the theft of the poker game from the TNG crew. The intimation is perhaps that she makes active changes (like accepting Scotty's invitation for a drink) because the events inspire her. Because somehow, she is allowed to remember them, even if the timeline is reset and no one else does. I expect a lot of speculation about the timeless aliens who live in a singularity to lead back to Bajor's Prophets (and the baby to Sarah Sisko), but they're probably more like the aliens who incubate their young in a Romulan engine in Timescape. Either way, it's Celia Rose Gooding's show and she's always great. The direction likes to put both in shot, smashing the time frames together, and the underlying theme is communications. Being personal to a single character makes for a relatively low-key finale, but they chose the right character to get personal with.
LESSON: You can grow a lot in a year.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: While the writers should be watching more TOS and less Doctor Who, the Season 4 finale makes good use of one of its best cast members and teases what might have been, post-SNW. Was this meant as a possible series finale?
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