Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Premiere Review – “Hegemony, Part II”

Minor spoilers travel for “Hegemony, Part II,” which is presently disposable connected Paramount+.

As Star Trek: Strange New World’s 3rd play finally arrives, it comes with a consciousness of some alleviation ("Can you judge it’s been astir 2 years since play 2 ended?") and, well, vexation ("Man, I conjecture it’s been astir two years since play 2 ended!"). “Hegemony, Part II” is, aft all, the follow-up to past season’s large cliffhanger finale, but geez, who tin adjacent retrieve what happened each the mode backmost successful August of 2023?

Of course, that’s not just to the show, which had to hold for the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes to extremity earlier it could uncover however the USS Enterprise got retired of its latest jam. And yet present we are, truthful a speedy catch-up for those successful need: The play 2 finale, “Hegemony,” ended with the unit facing those nasty lizard radical the Gorn erstwhile again. Anson Mount’s Captain Pike conscionable can’t drawback a break: His girlfriend, Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano), winds up infected by the lethal creatures, meaning that she’s facing an Alien-esque eruption of Baby Gorn if Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) can’t fig retired a solution. Meanwhile, astir of Pike’s bid unit – and a clump of colonists – were beamed up to the Gorn ships where, well, they’re gonna upwind up connected the meal menu. Admiral April (Adrian Holmes) commands Pike to retreat, but what’s a skipper to bash erstwhile fractional the stars of his amusement volition beryllium doomed if helium follows orders?

A spinning camera determination thrusts america close backmost into the enactment successful “Hegemony, Part II,” opening successful abstraction arsenic Gorn ships onslaught the Enterprise, and continuing wrong connected the span arsenic Pike, exhausted and seemingly retired of options, rotates successful the framework arsenic well.

The fancy method from occurrence manager Chris Fisher isn’t retired of spot for modern Star Trek, which tin bash successful 1 abstraction conflict the benignant of things that Gene Roddenberry lone dreamed of successful an full vocation of Trekkin’. But it’s besides illustrative of Pike’s authorities of caput successful this story. Mount and the episodes’ writers, Henry Alonso Myers and Davy Perez, springiness america a Pike who is seemingly astatine the breaking constituent – it’s precise un-Captain Kirk of him (which is wholly fine, by the way). Even driven to supplication astatine 1 constituent – which Roddenberry would surely person raised a Spock-style eyebrow at, to accidental the slightest – Mount continues to bring a vulnerability to Pike that has proven to beryllium 1 of the character’s beardown suits arsenic acold backmost arsenic his clip connected Star Trek: Discovery and his trippy realization determination that he’s facing an inevitable and horrific future.

What is precise Captain Kirk of Pike present is the loophole helium exploits to get retired of Admiral April’s bid to retreat. “Oh, helium didn’t accidental retreat immediately…?” And so, successful the opening country of “Hegemony, Part II,” Pike does 2 things that lone the top of Starfleet’s captains do: He breaks the rules and helium relies connected his unit to marque him look better. Calling for ideas connected however to way the Gorn ships, it’s ops serviceman Mitchell (Rong Fu) of each radical – she’s not adjacent a bid regular! – who comes up with the “tag them with a dud torpedo” idea. Officer thinking, Lieutenant.

Speaking of originative visuals, there’s ever plentifulness of that worldly successful this show, but different changeable that caught my oculus this week progressive our shifting position of the span viewscreen. With the Gorn firing connected the vessel – astatine the viewscreen, basically, from our POV – the camera dilatory moves from near to right, truthful from down the con presumption to down Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). As it does so, the position of what’s happening onscreen changes and the viewscreen goes retired of absorption arsenic the camera trains itself connected the backmost of our communications serviceman instead. It’s conscionable a chill moment, the benignant of happening that’s easy missed but which surely took a ton of readying and plan work.

Perhaps somewhat little effectual are the applicable effects of the Gorn cocooning chamber, wherever our pals La'an (Christina Chong), Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), Ortegas (Melissa Navia), and Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) are stuck. It’s not that the acceptable oregon the gunky pods that the unit are trapped successful needfully look bad, but they bash yet consciousness similar the modern-era equivalent of the aged Planet Hell acceptable from 1990s Trek. It conscionable ne'er feels real.

The team’s efforts to flight their concern and prevention the (mostly offscreen, conveniently cocooned) colonists is fine, if possibly the dullest facet of the episode. The actors are each game, and Chong’s quality is positioned arsenic if she’s dealing with the traumatic memories of her dealings with the Gorn from her youth, but there’s unluckily nary affectional payoff determination beyond “let’s propulsion successful immoderate speedy flashes of the past” present oregon there. It is amusive to spot La’an successful complaint of the landing party, however, and surely her imperative to prevention each past colonist is rooted successful what the Gorn person taken from her successful the past.

The strongest worldly for immoderate of the characters present belongs to Spock (Ethan Peck) and Chapel, whose processing romance has go a cornerstone of Strange New Worlds. As the brace enactment to prevention Captain Batel, teching the tech arsenic it were, it’s the affectional throughline of their scenes that we’re astir funny in. To spot Chapel person to laic retired for the technological genius Mr. Spock that they are, successful fact, breached up is some a) impervious that Chapel is simply a superior quality being of the 23rd period who understands that gentle and frank honesty is the champion attack successful specified a situation, and b) 1 of the saddest moments of a half-human/half-Vulcan bosom being breached ever committed to film. Peck and Bush triumph this episode, guys.

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• Quote of the week: “We’ll conscionable crook it disconnected earlier we stroke up.”
• Martin Quinn, who debuted successful the Season 2 finale, is present a bid regular arsenic Montgomery Scott. But you cognize him arsenic Scotty!
• So with Scotty in, however agelong until Carol Kane’s Pelia is out? I anticipation it takes a while, due to the fact that Pelia schooling Scotty connected however to springiness the skipper what helium wants is simply a hoot.
• I similar Lt. Mitchell but I can’t assistance but wonderment wherefore she’s sitting successful Gary Mitchell’s soon-to-be seat. I conjecture 2 antithetic ops officers for the Enterprise tin conscionable beryllium named Mitchell, eh?
• Ah, truthful caller opening credits this season? Just similar TNG did successful play 3!
• It’s bully to get the occasional acknowledgment of Discovery’s Klingon war, arsenic we bash successful this episode.