In just a matter of weeks we’ll be off to venture more Strange New Worlds as Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew return for their third season.
Last we left them, the crew were in the middle of a Gorn crisis as a personal mission that could risk all out war resulted in the crew being split in two with half safe and sound on the Enterprise with the others in enemy hands with Pike left to decide what happens next as all odds are against them.
It’s been a long wait since seeing Pikee staring into space trying to decide on the next move. Especially with writers strikes pushing back filming. But now we’re almost there, we’ve picked out some key episodes to rewatch ahead of the launch!
Hegemony (S2E10)
May be an obvious one, but with Season 3 kicking off with the conclusion to a two-part episode, you should probably watch part one…. trying to settle after a bit of a weird year, Captain Pike’s better half Batel is under attack; her ship in ruins as she visits an independent colony on the edge of Gorn space. Ordered to tow the line and not break the already razor thin peace, Pike risks an all out war to find Batel and save the crew.
In terms of Gorn episodes, it’s not the best of the lot so far. There’s a lot of tension and building up to the end, which will surely give the second half a more satisfying pay off.
Lift US Where Suffering Cannot Reach (S1E6)
A mostly isolated story far from the Gorn Hegemony, this is a nice break from war and action to focus on a rather small, but deep story for Pike. Reunited with a former space fling, Pike involves himself in the kidnapping of a child who would be king. Well, as far as he’s aware. Or course, nothings straight forward and the bad guys aren’t who we think they are.
In terms of the big picture, it’s a rather low scale planet of the week episode with little lasting effects. But for a story where there’s no happy ending, it’s a great way to get to know the Captain who’s up against the Gorn in season 3’s opener.
Under The Cloak Of War (S2E8)
There’s no Gorn in sight in the episode, but in terms of story, there’s few better in recent years that highlight the effects of war in Star Trek. A former Klingon General with a reputation for brutality has defected to the Federation and on a galactic forgiveness tour. The Klingon War veterans on board aren’t exactly thrilled with this and as we see M’Benga struggle through his duties as a representative of Starfleet, the episode flashes to his service during the war where General Dak’Rah’s reputation was born.
What Starfleet is has always been a debate. Is it a military? Or a peace keeping armada? Here we see both sides in harsh contrast, as well as what happens to good people under pressure. M’Benga’s story is dark, compelling and with one of the most ambiguously hard endings the franchise has seen.
All Those Who Wander (S1E9)
With the Enterprise needed in two places at once, Pike lets his Number One take the ship to meet a deadline while he pops into a shuttle with some newly promoted crew for a recovery mission. And of course, the more they learn about what happened to the ship they’re recovering, the more he realises that one away team and no ship to fly home to was not a good idea.
If you took Alien and the Thing, smashed it together and dotted around some bright coloured shirts, you’d have this episode. Reinventing the Gorn for a new era meant expansion and making them seem more alien. This episode leans into that with somewhat of a reintroduction of the Gorn as a species, expands on their structures, capabilities and why everyone should be terrified of them.
Memento Mori (S1E4)
While only seen in one episode, the Gorn from the original series seemed to last a lifetime through reputation. In part because Kirk having to fight a Gorn captain with whatever sticks and stones he could find becoming a good, solid story. In part because, despite it’s looks and moving like a fridge, it was a solid baddie of the week. And yeah, in part because it’s a bulky static costume thats not aged well. So when it came to giving the Gorn some teeth, SNW dived right in.
Caught in a Gorn trap and hunted for sport, the Enterprise crew has only La’an’s extremely tainted knowledge of the Gorn to guide them through what comes off as a submarine style drama as the crew do anything they can to run and hide from a harsh and uncaring enemy. Filled with tension, drama and Ortega’s regretting her life decisions, as an early episode it remains one of the best to get a feel for the terror of the new Gorn direction.
Strange New Worlds makes its return for season 3 exclusively on Paramount Plus. Ahead of the launch we’re locking down our Spoiler alerts on social media groups with all live and post episode reaction held in our Continuing Mission: Spoilers & Discussion Group –
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