Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season 1, Episode 9 – “All Those Who Wander” – The Horror of the Gorn and the Amazing Character of Hemmer

“All Those Who Wander” is an amazing action and character episode. You can clearly see the show was taking inspiration from “Alien” and “Aliens” and it works as the tension and action is used to develop characters and explore who they are. This is one of the best episodes to come out of the show and I look forward to rewatching it.

The episode was directed by Christopher J. Byrne and written by Davy Perez.

The Enterprise landing party finds themselves facing a dangerous enemy and cut-off from all communication with the ship.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

The Setup – The setup of the Enterprise looking for survivors on a Federation ship that can only be reached by a landing party is powerful, especially as the Enterprise being away to make sure a station doesn’t lose power is fantastic. The stakes are established and when the crew finds that it is a trap is made all the more horrifying when the Gorn are revealed.

The Action – The action is amazing as we have a broken Federation ship and tiny Gorn running around and developing quickly (We also learn the Gorn lay their eggs with venom they spit and that those inhabit the hosts of the aliens they land upon). The crew not being able to sense the Gorn and them in a rush to repair the ship adds more to the action as well as there being 2 unknown people on the ship, one who was hosting the young Gorn.

The Tension – The tension in this is great as we have new cadets in the away team who the young Gorn quickly kill off. Spock’s logical nature pisses off George Samuel Kirk as well and Hemmer has venom spit on him by one the Gorn after he and Uhura make a major repair to the ship. This tension carries through as the Gorn slowly kill each other off until there is one and continue targeting the survivors.

Captain Pike – Captain Pike continues to show why he is captain as he goes on the away mission with the cadets and never breaks even as the terror of the Gorn is unleashed upon them. He keeps everyone calm even as Dr. M’Benga and La’an each experience their past losses in different ways and George Samuel Kirk’s anger. In the end his plan is a success and they free the ship from the planet and kill the Gorn.

Uhura – Uhura is debating whether she should stay in Starfleet during this episode and it is Hemmer who compliments her on her knowledge and empathy that leads to her choosing to stay as one of the last scenes is her looking at the communication station on the bridge. It is a wonderful arc and I loved her and Hemmer’s mentor and mentee relationship.

Nurse Chapel – Nurse Chapel is the one who is around when the Gorn breakout of one of the 2 survivors and it is after La’an helps her calm down that she finds the peace to help in the mission. She is also there for Spock after he unleashes his anger and we see how much he trusts her as well as her romantic feelings for him.

La’an Noonien-Singh – La’an is the one who lures the last young Gorn into the trap set by Hemmer and Captain Pike and we see her rage towards the Gorn. We also see her compassion too as she takes a leave of absence to hep the young girl who was a survivor to find her family.

Spock – This is a great Spock episode as he unleashes his anger to attack and trap a young Gorn as part of the plan and isn’t able to stop feeling the anger after the death of Hemmer. It is powerful and captures the conflict within Spock, made all the worse by George Samuel Kirk’s anger at Spock for his Vulcan calm during the conflict. This episode showed how trapped between worlds Spock feels so well.

Hemmer – Bruce Horak’s Hemmer is such an amazing character. This is his story as the ice world they are one reminds him of Andoria and we see him guide Uhura and is essential to defeating the final Gorn in the plan. His death is meaningful as he infected by the Gorn eggs and venom and chooses death to save the crew.

The Funeral – Lt. Ortegas, Uhura and others speaking at Hemmer’s funeral is powerful and it really captures just how much he made in the short time of a single season of a show. Spock even reacts in anger privately which is something we don’t see that much in “Star Trek.” This whole scene was a truly fantastic finish to the episode.

“All Those Who Wander” is easily one of the best episodes from any of the new “Star Trek” shows. It captures what makes “Strange New Worlds” work so well as the ensemble cast is explored and the loss of Hemmer is something that is felt and is meaningful given how great of a character Hemmer was. I highly recommend this episode.

Final Score: 10 / 10

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season 1, Episode 4 – “Memento Mori” – Facing the Gorn and Hope in Despair

“Memento Mori” is a great episode that has a lot of solid character development for our cast while developing the Gorn as a threat. As a La’an fan since this series has began this was fantastic to watch as it fully illustrates why Captain Pike is so amazing as a captain. If you’ve enjoyed the series so far this one I highly recommend for all the intense action and character development we get through the episode.

The episode was directed by Dan Liu and written by Davy Perez and Beau DeMayo.

The Enterprise must face off against the Gorn when they fall into a trap as they seek to save refugees.

SPOILERS ahead

The Pros:

The Setup – The fact that we start out saving refugees and they are the bate as the Gorn extend their hunting grounds expands the threat of the Gorn in a way we haven’t seen before. The fact that no one has seen the Gorn and survived is mentioned multiple times too and we see that even La’an may have never seen a Gorn even though she survived them when they killed her family.

The Action – The action reminded me of “The Wrath of Khan.” We have a fight in a nebula and around a black hole where the only thing that the Enterprise can hope for is to survive. This establishes the stakes so well and we start out with the Enterprise injured so already the Gorn have the advantage making survival all the more less likely.

Hemmer and Uhura – The B-Plot is Hemmer and Uhura as Hemmer is injured and must guide Uhura to keep the engine from exploding. It is great as Hemmer is his usual grumpy and isn’t a people person but guides Uhura where it counts. In the end he recommends her as she keeps the engine from overheating and they survive the bay being opened. It endeared them both to me so much.

Spock – Spock does a mind meld with La’an to help her find out how to fight the Gorn and she learns about Spock’s secret sister Michael from it. It is well done as Spock is vulnerable as he helps La’an confront the loss of her brother who showed her how to fight the Gorn. It was a great moment.

Captain Pike – Captain Pike is a great captain in this. We see him take La’an’s advice and always focus on hope and communicates the stakes to the crew. He really is a great captain and he lures the Gorn away and outsmarts most of them. He really is owning the series.

La’an Noonien-Singh – Christina Chong continues to be my favorite character in this show besides Una. We see her confront her trauma of surviving the Gorn and the loss of her family in Spock’s mind meld and also her acting as Number One when Una is injured in the initial attack. She is amazing in the role and in the end she finds the place to honor the lost that kicks off the episode which she wasn’t able to do before due to suppressing the trauma of all those she’s lost.

Passiveness versus Passivity – This was a small touch but I loved how Hemmer said even though the Aenar are pacifists doesn’t mean they need to be passive as he believes in the ideals of the Federation. It gave nuance and depth to his character.

Honoring the Lost – The episode starts out honoring all those Starfleet has lost. La’an isn’t able to but by the end of the episode she is with Captain Pike with the 7 people who died facing the Gorn and you see he recognizing that even though she isn’t wearing a pin. It works so well.

The Cons:

Sickbay – We have the setup of using ancient medicine to save Number One but never seen it pulled off as it goes off without a hitch. These scenes felt like they almost could have been cut given all the loss we see at the end.

La’an is one of my favorite characters in “Strange New Worlds” and Captain Pike owning his role and more Hemmer time is always a plus. I highly recommend this episode and consider it great. There is so much going on that works and the tensions is consistent through the entire episode. If you don’t care about “The Original Series” I think you’d still appreciate this as an action episode.

Final Score: 9 / 10 Solid action episode with stakes.

Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 1, Episode 19 – “Arena” – The Dilemmas of War and Power of Mercy

   “Arena” is the first of a few “Star Trek” episodes I’ll be reviewing this week. On Facebook I did some “Trek Requests” and this was the episode requested for “The Original Series.” The other two episodes will from “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine.” I’ll save which ones they are until I review them. Suffice to say “Arena” was very enjoyable though it still has the same problems I noticed when I first watched the episode as a young child.

    The episode was directed by Joseph Pevney with the teleplay by Gene L. Coon and story by Fredric Brown.

    The story involves the crew of the Enterprise arriving on the outpost Cestus III which is under attack from the Gorn. A dying survivor tells them how they were attacked leading Kirk to pursue the Gorn ship until they are stopped by the Metrons who transport Kirk and the Gorn Captain to the Arena where they can face each other using the resources on the planet so the conflict between the two ships will no longer be happening in Metron space. From here the story unfolds as Kirk must MacGyver his way out the situation and learn what bigger purpose he it being put up to by the Metrons.

The Pros: Cestus III – Cestus III is a warzone. We see that chemical weapons were used on Federation troops and the Outpost is a wasteland we also hear about the slaughter of women and children but due to the nature of the episode we aren’t able to confirm it. It is war and like war there is a fog. Luckily through quick thinking by Kirk, he and Spock are able to fight back though the red shirt is killed. It’s a very strong start to the episode and shows just what is at stake and what motivates Kirk in his desire to stop and destroy the Gorn vessel.

Sulu – Sulu is in charge of the Enterprise at one point when Kirk and Spock go down to Cestus III and he does a great job protecting their ship and keeping the Gorn at bay until Kirk and Spock are able to be beamed back aboard again. Sulu was eventually made Captain for a reason, the guy is great in a crisis.

Spock – Spock not being emotional is good as he points out that Kirk doesn’t know what happened or why they became under attack, what he misses is that the enemy has never communicated with them at all. Spock is implied to be right though on not destroying the vessel when it is found that the Outpost might have been placed in Gorn Territory and that it will be a situation for diplomats to handle.

McCoy – McCoy sees the consequences of fighting the Gorn too and makes an appeal to civilization to the Metrons to stop the fighting of Kirk and the Gorn Captain. They are ignored but when they are shown the fight the Gorn Captain says the Outpost was in their territory which changes McCoy over to Spock’s perspective of not attacking first.

Captain Kirk – Captain Kirk shows what he is famous for in this episode (no he doesn’t sleep with the Gorn) he MacGyvers a makeshift gun that defeats the enemy Gorn Captain after he’s exhausted all other traps against the Gorn…and after he shows Mercy which impresses the Metrons who appear to him and which later leads to a Kirk Speech where he tells Spock that in 1000 years maybe they will be an enlightened species, so they’ve got a little time. Kirk’s humor, passion, anger (the destruction of the outpost) and compassion (sparing the Gorn Captain) are on display here and show why he is one of the most popular Captains in “Star Trek.”

The Gorn Captain – The Gorn Captain has a great design and he is clearly alien. For him mercy is giving Kirk a quick death and any intrusion into their territory warrants a threat. The Captain is strong and powerful and is only stopped by a diamond fired from a gun. It’s a shame the Gorn weren’t used more as they have a great design and are one of the more intriguing lesser used species in “Star Trek” along with the Tholians.

The Message – The message is that mercy is important when you’ve defeated your enemy and to not leap to conclusions in war. The message is kind of wrong in regards to the outpost though as we never see the Gorn communicate with the Enterprise and to reason with another to understand a person you have to talk to them. The Gorn do not talk to the Federation as far as we can see until the Metrons force their captain onto the planet. Also, if there were women and children slaughtered on Cestus III than the Gorn involved were evil. There is nothing that can justify the killing of innocents and that is where mercy can be missed, as we have no guarantees the Gorn wouldn’t do it again elsewhere. The core message of not rushing to judgement is important though as the Outpost wouldn’t have been built if the Federation had known it was Gorn space (assuming the Gorn are telling the truth, just like have to assume the Federation soldier was telling the truth about women and children being slaughtered…we don’t know fully yet in either case).

Okay: The Metrons – Another God Species trying to teach the “lesser” species a lesson about compassion towards one another and mercy. I really don’t like the transcended species trope as it simplifies the issues and in most cases the folks like the Metrons stand by while real life atrocities are going on so all their talk of Enlightenment usually doesn’t mean much in regards to their actions outside those who enter their sphere. Still, one of the earliest uses of this trope so I’m putting them down as okay and not a con.

The Cons: Pacing – The episode is really slow. It starts out strong when Kirk and Spock are on Cestus III under fire but most of the action on the Enterprise is passive watching of either the Gorn ship or of the Gorn Captain and Kirk fighting on the planet. This episode should have been 35 minutes ideally or given us more character moments like when Kirk and Spock were discussing the attack and what might have lead to it and what must be done. Those were the strongest moments in the episode outside of Kirk’s ingenuity.

  This is classic “Star Trek” and well worth watching, even though it isn’t my favorite episode and I do take issue with the Metrons approach to life, the pacing and that the Gorn are just presented as bad guys if we only take how they react to Kirk and what happened on the outpost. There was the potential for much more complexity this episode than we got, though I really like the idea and watching Kirk MacGyver his way out of a situation is always fun to watch…and the horror of Cestus III really raises the stakes in the episode and kept me interested even with how slow the episode felt at times.

8 / 10. Solidly good.