Star Trek Strange New Worlds: Shuttle to Kenfori

"You're not a monster, Joseph. Just a man. And my friend."

For a show that tends to boldly go where no one has gone before, I have to admit I never thought they would go towards such an iconic horror trope...

Zombies. I honestly cannot believe we got full on flesh eating zombies on Star Trek. They were even kind of a plant hybrid type like The Last of Us, combined with a fast moving aspect like 28 Days Later. It made for a tense episode, with a lot of fun moments between M'Benga and Pike. Actually, all the stuff on the planet worked for me as almost a buddy cop meets zombie apocalypse comedy movie, complete with zombie one-liners and an over the top kick ass antagonist (more on her in a moment) as well as increasingly ridiculous situations.

I think the moment the pair looked out that window as the Klingons blew up their shuttlecraft signaled the kind of episode we were in for. While not a straight up comedic episode, this particular genre which is close to Shaun of the Dead tonally, is more satire combined with dry/dark humor. I think that might be why it works here. They aren't going for big laughs; they are leaning into the tragedy of the genre and how sometimes all you can do is laugh.

Yet there were some very serious moments on the planet, namely the stuff with M'Benga and Bytha towards the end. I loved that her entire reason for her mission to the planet was to seek honor. It was incredibly Klingon of her to not particularly care that he killed her father, but was seeking to take the honor of him killing her father for herself. I swear we've gotten a plot like that before, but it did make her sympathetic and more than a little kick ass. I was really sad to see her get devoured at the end, but it probably couldn't have gone a different way given the honor bs the Klingons adhere to so rigidly.

Meanwhile on the ship, we have Ortegas going a bit rogue and insubordinate. I don’t know where they are going with her character, but I'm not sure I like it at all. The first part, namely speaking out about her plan, was probably okay. Just a bit outside of protocol and kind of in line with where her head is at after the incident with the Gorn. But to actively fail at an order to force her plan into motion was just too far. I hope this doesn't lead to her being court martialed or worse down the line. As a non-legacy character, and a personal favorite, I don’t want to see bad things happen to her, but they might.

I guess I should talk about the actual plot of the episode that revolved around Captain Batel. The magical solution with Una's blood has started to fail, and now they are forced to search out a final solution involving this rare flower that can only be found on a planet inside both the neutral zone but the completely forbidden part of it called the "unclaimed zone" where both the Federation and Klingon Empire agreed to abandon the world completely, and create a super no-fly zone where even approaching the planet can be considered an act of war.

I honestly think the Zombie part would've been fun without all of those restrictions, but this was clearly meant to be a sequel to the second season episode "Under the Cloak of War," which might be the worst episode in this series so far. Anyway, the rare flower has poisonous qualities that can be exploited to create a serum that can force a hybridization in Captain Batel, literally crossing her genes with the Gorn. What that will mean for her is anyone's guess, but I'm picturing this going body horror like The Fly. Given how often this series has leaned into horror, I'm not entirely convinced they won’t go there.

Of course this creates drama with Pike who is feeling somewhat blindsided by Batel's decision to basically turn herself into the first human/Gorn hybrid. Now I agree it was her decision, and she didn't need to include him in that choice. However, he is her partner and someone with a lot of resources. He might've pushed for an alternative, but is that a bad thing? Anyway, it feels like a massive lie of omission, and while perfectly valid as it is her own body, keeping him completely out of the conversation must feel like a slap in the face for him. Hopefully things play out well. I like Captain Batel and I don't want to see her devolve into a monster.

Bits:

Stardate 2449.1, FWIW.

This week's hair report: Una's hair is possibly one of the worst styles I've ever seen, and possibly the second worst in Star Trek history (at least for bridge crew), surpassed only by Yeoman Rand's basket weave.

I like the emphasis on female crew members. At one point the scene consisted of Scotty and a bunch of women who were all his superior officers.

It is nice to have Scotty back. I wasn't sure about legacy characters at first, but so far all the casting choices have been stellar. Is it too much to ask to bring Karl Urban back as Bones?

Quotes:

Pike: "So, what do you think of this whole Korby/Christine thing?"
M’Benga: "Chris, do I have to remind you that I have three ex-wives?"
Pike: "Well, four, technically."
M’Benga: "That was an annulment, but the next one..."
Pike: "Physician, heal thyself?

Uhura: "Show-off."
Ortegas: "I'll accept any and all accolades and applause and tips. Admit it. You all missed my fancy flying."

This was a good episode, perhaps a bit tonally weird given the two halves of the story, but a way better episode than what it was spinning off from.

3 out of 4 Zombies? They can't actually be the zed word, right?

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

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