After a rescue mission gone wrong, half the crew have been captured by the Gorn, the Enterprise is on the wrong side of the border, Captain Batel has been fully aliened and the order to retreat and regroup has come through and in the middle of it all stands Pike, pacing his way through a season break and a writers strike to finally answer his first officer asking for orders.
Writers: Davy Perez & Henry Alonso Myers
Director: Chris Fisher
Opening right where things left off – with Pike realising his noble plans had turned to chaos – there’s really no hesitation in the action. There’s camera twirling, snap decision making and even giving Mitchell some day saving ideas as Pike plucks the best ideas Picard style to figure out his next move. From there it’s a three story show that balances out fairly well.
On board the Enterprise, Pike has to face April to give the Admiral an ethics lesson. Unable to beat the Gorn, the best idea was to escape and find their missing officers later thanks to a dud torpedo buried into the Gorn hull as a tracker. From there it’s all hands on deck with that thread holding everything together. Playing some more on the Gorn’s light-reliance and visual limitations, Enterprise hides in plain sight as they follow the Gorn into a binary star system. That turns out to be the staging area for a full blown attack on the Federation and more scrambling for ideas. The tension throughout the whole thing was nice as everything just moved nicely from one bad situation to the next crisis. Though it was nice to have Pike kind of in the back seat relying on everyone else to share the stage. Compared to other captains, Pike is at his best at his most vulnerable, and they have Anson Mount plenty to play with between feeling responsible for his missing crew, being up against an entire Gorn armada with no support, and all with one eye on monitoring his dying other half in sickbay.
From the initial tag of the missile right up to the end, there was a nice pace of action and pressure that built up. Mostly with Pike, but Pella playing with Scotty a little and putting him under pressure to perform was a strangely nice fit in there. Especially as she kept nudging Scotty to help build on Pike’s Gorn-busting idea. Uhura had already confirmed the Gorn were reactive to the stars, their hibernation cycles controlled by solar cycles, so turning the ship itself into one big lighting rod of solar energy was set up to be a brilliant visual treat. Even if it was a convenient way to get the Gorn out the way for the rest of the season, forcing them into hibernation until their next encounter.
Below decks, Chapel and Spock’s own relationship ending tension worked well as a backdrop to trying to solve the Marie mystery and save Batel while ramping up the tension for Pike on the bridge. Of course the day is saved thanks to some Spock genius and Illyrian blood – but it worked well to keep pushing that humanity button on Pike who, through sheer desperation, even starts to pray at her bedside.
As a flip side to the sickbay side story, we also get a glimpse into the Gorn ship as La’an managed to wake up some of the main cast to save the colonists from inside. Which, well, wasn’t as good to be fair. In contrast to the camera work and visuals throughout the episode, the practical set for the Gorn ship felt a little dated and a bit more like Stargate Atlantis than a modern Trek production. Most of the escape also happening off screen was a little underwhelming and felt like we’d skipped to the end for convenience. Though that may not be a bad thing as ten minutes of shooting Gorn would be dull, and the most interesting part was Ortegas flying them to safety while decorating the consoles with her insides.
Overall, the pacing kept the story alive for an exciting return for the show. But as always, it was the humanity that pulled it all together. Not just Pike’s shattered confidence as he struggles through the day while failing not to think about his personal life, but Chapel and Spock’s scenes set up where they are now rather nicely. Mainly with Chapel again being the emotionally intelligent lead by politely pointing out they were broken up, while Spock pretended he wasn’t crying on the inside.
The Gorn solution is also fascinating. From a visual perspective, the Enterprise turning itself into a sleep enduing solar flare was lovely, especially with the camera work and focus helping to show the stress and strains on the ship inside. But with them being the big bad guys for two seasons now, how long will they stay asleep?
Highlights
- Pella tricking Scotty into finishing the shield modifications was a nice touch to highlight their history a little better than before. It's a safe bet that she'll be the one to set him up for taking her job as the season progresses.
- Pike giving some masterful justification in taking risks with 'Just turn it off before we blow up' amused me more than it should have.
- Nice to see them playing the heroic death trope with Ortegas in the end. Though they need to give her some better dialogue....
All Connected...
Pike’s prayer was a nice call-back to the story he told Burnham about his father. If you missed it, the short version is Pike’s dad is a man of faith and raised Christopher in the Church. Little Chris was even an Alter Boy. But their relationship broke down and, as mentioned last season in Strange New Worlds, they parted on bad terms. We’ve had a hint in SNW so far about their past, but the ‘You win, dad’ line works best in full context and is one of the rare moments that human religion is shown in context and the most overt since Ben Sisko calling out his dad for quoting the bible.
About the author
Resistance Is Optional: Choose Your Adventure!
Our trials of bringing the fleet together have been hit and miss with scheduling and dates being a bit slim. So we're opening the floor to the fleet to pick the next date and theme! You can make your selection below on what works best for you ahead of our next fleet event! The final outcome will be shared at Europa on Facebook and in Fleet Alert in the Officers Hub as soon as we have a comfortable number of notes. For more information or to get direct updates on non-Discord online events, you can the subscribe to Twitch channel, visit twitch.tv/sfcq2. Google Meets events are hosted by our google account - you can add sfcquad2@gmail.com to your whitelist to ensure direct notification. Info and invite confirmations may also come from jt@sfcq2.com directly.
Sixty Year Mission…
It's been a really weird year already for the world of Star Trek fans. We started 2026 with a new venture into a strange new future with Starfleet Academy. Then just as the show had won people over, we found out it's the latest in a long list of recent productions to get a cancellation order, is a bit of a weird way to start the 60th anniversary of a legendary franchise. The past few years we've kind of spoiled. Growing up it was exciting to have Deep Space Nine run alongside the Next Generation. In modern times we had multiple shows going at once with Discovery's launch spawning a new world of story telling from revisiting Picard in his post-Starfleet years, to animated comedy with Lower Decks, to finally telling the story of Captain Pike and even a peek […]
[Retro Review] Let This Be Your Last Battlefield
Often shown in highlight reels and quoted in discussions about Star Trek's more forward thinking messages, Let This Be Your Last Battlefield is at it's simplest, a story of the ridiculousness of segregation. En route to a vital mission of mercy, Kirk and his crew end up in the middle of a political minefield. Interrupted in the mission by a stolen Federation shuttle carrying an injured alien, Lokai from the planet Cheron, they're soon further interrupted by Commissioner Bele, an official representing Cheron who announces Lokai as a political traitor and demanding custody. One asylum request later, Kirk's stuck between the two trying to find the right course of action knowing he has orders to follow beyond the situation. The separation between Belle and Lokai is a simple context. And also a strangely charged one looking at it from a […]
[Treknology] The Holodeck
An immersive experience in itself, the Holodeck is one of the many creature comforts that help bring comfort and entertainment within the life of a starship years from home that not only acts in creating a live action gaming environment, but as a useful tool for educational simulations, experiments and the occasional Hirogen nightmare! The holodeck is a complex device. Essentially a simulated environment generator, the holodeck is usually a vast room that used a combination of forcefields, matter replication and visually manipulative holographic systems to create an immersive environment that one or multiple people can use to not only see and hear, but physically interact with. Able to replicate anything from historical settings to an entirely original landscape, the holodeck ios Knightmare in ultra high resolution without a headset or guide, but a physical interaction with a created world […]
A Fistful of Sisko
In the past few years, Star Trek has made several nods to it's past. But while The NExt Generation and Voyager had their continuations, Deep Space Nine continued to 'black sheep' of the family with it's history and name drops being few and far between. Until Academy when we had an entire episode based around the legend of Starfleet's most complex captains. Starting his show as a widower and single parent, Benjamin Sisko started his time in Star Trek as a reluctant hero turned religious icon who's become a prime figure in Bajoran history, the Federation-Dominion war and much more. If you missed his series, first of.... why?! And also, if you want a quick intro - here's our Sisko top five to see what the fuss is all about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzBkvzPoofQ IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT Season 6, Episode 13 Lets […]
Starfleet Academy to end with with Season 2
Announced first by Variety, it's been announced that Starfleet Academy will end with Season 2. Having just launches in January with the first season finale receiving positive reactions, and it's second season now in post-production following the completion of filming, the announcement comes at an unsurprising time with Paramount undergoing new ownership under Skydance and more business shenanigans with further consolidation in the works with plans to absorb Warner Brothers into the mix. Set in the 32nd century and using Discovery's season 3 'Burn' storyline as a reset point, Starfleet Academy was focused on new original characters who had signed up to be the new stewards of Starfleet's future to rebuild the strength and vision of the Federation. Opening strong, Academy improved throughout it's first season and used it's setting to help strengthen the hopeful vision of the future and […]
Related
New Cast Welcomes Aboard for Season 5 of Strange New Worlds
As the media hype is starting to ramp up for Academy's debut, Strange New Worlds is adding the finishing touches and along with cast such as Anson Mount saying goodbye to their Enterprise, we have some new names announced to have joined for the final season. Acting as a prequel to the original series, Strange New Worlds has helped to expand legacy characters having brought over Ethan Peck's younger and less refined version of Spock, the first career steps of Nyota Uhura, a completely revamped Christine Chapel and smaller parts – such as Dr M'BEnga, Samuel Kirk and T'Pring among others – being revived for the new era. Since then we've also spent some time with a young Jim Kirk, even seeing his first time in command last season, and Scotty's joined the lower decks of Engineering. As the show […]
All You Need Is Love; New Life and New Civilisations. Strange New Worlds S3E9 Review
Following from Through the Lens of Time, Dr Korby is following the trail of the Vezda all the way to Skygowan; a world that worships the evil aliens found buried in a hidden temple. But the Vezda Scotty captured in the transporter buffer after possessing Ensign Gamble survived, escaped and is now fully reconstructed leading the planet and about to unleash hell throughout the galaxy. And of course, it's up to the Enterprise to find out how, why and chase down the demon to save the day. Writers:Dana Horgan & Davy Perez Director:Marja Vrvilo There's something quite nice about the idea of this episode. Strange New Worlds has leaned on retelling the 23rd century era for a lot of it's main hooks, whether that be revisiting the Gorn, Vulcan romance or going to the length of an alternate history […]
Girls Gorn Wild; Terrarium. Strange New Worlds S3E9 Review
There's weird stuff going on in an uncharted region of space, and the Enterprise needs a closer look. To figure out why gravity waves are being especially weird, the crew strip down a shuttle to make it light as possible, and keep the crew levels down to one pilot: Erica Ortegas. But all their caution isn't enough as a wormhole appears out of nowhere and sucks the the shuttle into a dangerous, far sway hellscape from which there is no escape. Writers: Alan B McElroyDirector: Andrew Coutts Erica Ortegas is one of the most under utilised characters in Strange New Worlds. Giving the sarcasm and being the annoying one who argues – a point they hammered home is a family trait earlier this season – she's often laid out as a star pilot and war hero, but the most focuses […]
Highly Illogical; Four And A Half Vulcans. Strange New Worlds S3E8 Review
When a local planet is in trouble, it's Enterprise to the rescue. Or usually would be, but it's a pre-warp civilisation and the no contact rule applies. But there's a loophole. The planet Tezarr runs on an energy system gifted by Vulcan explorers way before the Federation existed and now it's breaking down. Starfleet can't help, but Vulcan's barged their way onto the planet before those rules were made. They just need a few Vulcans to help... Writers: Dana Horgon & Henry Alonzo Myers Director: Jordan Canning One of the earliest released details for Season 3 was 'The Vulcan Episode' that would introduce the crew to Vulcan Logic the hard way. The set up for all of this is a little shaky. The pre-warp Tezzar planet has high levels of tech outside warp drive and with no Vulcans on […]
War. What is is good for?; What Is Starfleet?. Strange New Worlds S3E7 Review
Since the second episode of the season, Beto Ortegas has teased his documentary on Starfleet as a bit of an excuse to cosy up to Uhura and had previously invited himself onto an away mission where his camera's came in relatively handy. Having permission to film the inner workings of a top secret mission, Beto follows Pike and the crew through a questionable and dangerous adventure as he asks, What Is Starfleet? Writers: Kathryn Lyn & Alan B McElroy Director: Sharon Lewis Strange New Worlds hasn't been shy in playing around with different formats with mixed results. From fantasy adventures with the crew in different roles, to classic warfare drama's to modern(ish) day time travel and even a musical. There's been a lot of classic formats used and this time it's all from Beto's perspective through his camera feeds […]
Chasing Cars; The Sehlat Who Are Its Tail. Strange New Worlds S3E6 Review
Restless in the monotony of real space exploration, James Kirk is getting impatient for his chance to take the big chair and lead without the overt caution of his Captain during a routine survey mission. Until the monotonous mission suddenly falls into chaos when the planet comes under attack from a devastating weapon that tears the ship apart, leaving Commander Kirk without a captain and without a clue as the USS Farragut is torn to shreds. Writers: David Reed, Bill WolkoffDirector: Valarie Weiss Paul Wesley's interpretation of a young James Kirk has had it's moments despite technically not having that much screen time. His first two episodes were alternate realities and even in season three we've only had a transporter pattern used to test a holodeck instead of the real deal. So when we do get a look at a […]
