The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail

Moving into the second half of this most uneven season, this episode is hopefully an indicator of a better back-half. While mich of the episode is spent on a rather vague jeopardy plot, confronting a faceless enemy with more or unless unclear motivations and wildly exaggerated capabilities. This is like TOS"s Planet killer if were manned by a crew.

But along the way, it does what too few episodes this season have done: provide a good reason for the story that is told, as we're seeing Kirk learn some lessons about command. This culminates in a scene that's as good as this show has produced thus far when he and Pike wonder about the casualties of their successful mission. In this dialogue, finally the good old spirit of Star Trek comes through. Too often lately, it has been lost between all the jokes and romantic entanglements.

For me, this is the best episode since Season 1's A Quality of Mercy, and the only episode of Season 3 I've felt compelled to watch twice. Simply put, this felt like Star Trek - a fun, multilayered adventure with a clever twist and a timely reminder that we're not so different from our enemies.

Interestingly, my two favourite Strange New Worlds episodes so far both feature Kirk, even though I'd much rather the writers focus on Pike, Una, and the crew. I don't mind the slow build of Kirk's world, but it shouldn't come at the expense of Pike and Una, who seem noticeably under-utilised this season.

I'm still not a huge fan of Pelia, but her rummaging through antiques and rewiring the Enterprise had the charm of the quirky, lighthearted moments we used to see in The Next Generation.

The resolution to this week's problem (and the episode's title) was once again a little unsatisfying - it prompted a "wait, what?" and rewind moment just to decipher what had happened. Kirk also went from being lost to suddenly having all the answers in a manner that felt unearned. And what was with the enemy ship's jaws and teeth? Still, these were minor missteps in what was otherwise a great episode.

I imagine writing Strange New Worlds isn't easy, with the constraints of canon, timelines, and the sheer number of prior plots - not to mention the harshness of a vocal minority who, somewhat ironically, seem to keep their phasers permanently set to kill. But when the show remembers its roots - hopeful, character-driven science fiction - it really shines. More of this, and less gimmickry, please.

How did Caption Kirk become the Captain loved in TOS?

This episode goes a long way in explaining that. Kirk isn't just some brash young Captain in today's Star Trek and he's already way more mature than the character we observed in the 1960s.

I loved this episode and personally I think that if today's cast redid an old episode some folks would still say it is horrible writing.

Personally, I would ignore every bad review bc in my world, my make believe, space flying, sci-fi loving world.., there is no such thing as a bad episode of Star Trek! And I also know that if you are a Trekkie, yeah, I know you agree!

Great episode with a vibe of Star Trek: The Original Series.

Nice 'learning lesson' for James T. Kirk. Good dynamics between Science Officer Spock, Nurse Chapel, Ensign Uhura, Lieutenant Scott and Commander then Captain Kirk.

Fine foreshadowing of the future teaming up of known legacy characters.

Best episode of this third season.

After watching the previous episode which was good, but then this one was far the best out of all the episodes in this season.

Kept me at the edge of my seat.

And Kirk comes into the picture how he came to be. Eeally good one! Won't give out any spoilers for this you just have to watch it.

Good directing! Good script!

Keep it up!