Hegemony, Part II

This extremely tense, well-paced episode concerning the war with the Gorn revolves around Pike's ability to make so many split-second executive decisions that determine the fate not only of the Enterprise and its crew but the entire Federation.

I'm surprised at the torrent of criticism in reviews posted here which critically miss the point. Somehow Hitchcock is considered a genius of film suspense, but his movies depend on many instances of what he termed the MacGuffin -basically a black box plot device used to propel the story without revealing exactly how key elements work.

Here, in Davy Perez's screenplay, we have dozens of scientific ideas or concepts submitted by Pike's crew (or Spock to Nurse Chapel in sick bay to save their ailing collelague) for him to act upon. Any one of which are crucial to survival and victory, but for which the details are irrelevant -the viewer cannot be expected to understand the scientific basis for all this.

So taken as entertainment, this is just what the doctor ordered - an action-packed, at times frightening sci-fi adventure. The relationships between the crew members are easy to identify with, and contributions to the success of the mission are well-distributed among them.

I review from a unique position of having been introduced to Star Trek with Strange New Worlds season 1 and season 2. Following this I watched The Original Series and I am halfway through Next Generation, before coming back for Season 3 here. Only after watching it side by side with the originals do I realise that this franchise isn't what it was once.

The biggest difference is that back then it was low budget, big imagination. It was incredibly realistic, the characters, the interactions, the political situations, the conflicts and even the science to explain them was more believable.

Here, I don't see that. It's a visual effect spam to create a popcorn grabber. A lot of very marvel level dialogue, humour, and meme potential reaction faces / shots. I don't doubt it looks amazing, as does the hair, makeup, sets, costumes, but it just lacks the underlying substance. I am not fascinated with the world of the federation when I watch. The flashbacks and the whole La'an sequence really did not feel in place to what a Star Trek episode is, very much simplistic action with nice visuals.

It also reflects how our world has changed from the 60s. There isn't a chain of command in the same fashion, including a lack of authority from the captain. It's much more 'we did this as a team :)'. I don't see nearly the respect, the ability, the leadership and intelligence from Pike as I do the original captains. The enterprise doesn't function similarly to how it has in other editions, or similar to how a real world military or space organisation would function. Uhura and Scotty are examples in this episode. New ensigns or newly joining the ship yet they're running the show. The amount of times the captain is overruled by an ensign IE Rachael 'all respect sir but I am staying'.

I can also say I agree with past reviewers on how, by nature of expanding from the originals, it often overwrites what has come before. This makes the original meeting with the Gorn that Kirk had less valuable to me.

Aside from the nearly two years between the cliff hanger and this episode, I think the producers did a great job of wrapping up story to a point that the could move the plot arcs forward. The writing was tight, the humor subtle and very much on point. It felt... organic. Where "Discovery" relied heavily on McGuffin's (invented objects strictly for the sake of pushing the plot along), this we true. Everything has a purpose; a necessity

I watched the episode twice (so far) in case in missed anything. It was just superb Science Fiction and certainly everything that has made Star Trek, Star Trek for the past 60+ years.

It has been a long wait for the third season of Strange New Worlds.

I do wonder if it was a misstep to end with a cliffhanger and then wait so long for it to be resolved.

The Gorn threat is real. Captain Pike needs time to think and asks his crew for potential solutions. It looks like the Gorn are encroaching further towards Federation space. Pike intends to stop them.

Chapel and Spock are working together to stop the Gorn hatchling forming from Batel's body and going after the crew. A cunning and gory plan from the Gorn. They need to somehow safe Batel.

The segment loses momentum as once again Star Trek characters want to talk about their feelings.

Then there are the captives inside the Gorn ship. La'an looking for ways to escape from the ship.

This was a very cinematic episode that promised more than it delivered.

To me it felt flat and underwhelming. A lot of the technobabble was just junk.

We pick up after a 2-year cliffhanger, and come out swinging, only to be given a weak solution to end the episode, and sadly, Strange New Worlds is continuing down the path of disregarding what came before them, in TOS Prime Canon Trek. Further placing this show in an alternative parallel timeline to the original.

The A Team of Spock, Pike, and Una all work on trying to solve the issue with the infected Captain Batel and save the Enterprise from being overwhelmed by the Gone attack force. The B team, composed of La'an, Ortegas, and Dr. M'Benga. Are trying to self-rescue after being captured by the Gorn's portable lunch-mobile. Good thing Ortegas can fly anything on the spot.