Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 4 - Among the Lotus Eaters

When I was younger I used to hate preachy messages from television but now as I age, I love these moral messages that shows give out each week. Perhaps it could have been as a kid the shows and their messages were directed to my parents and now they are directed at me. Or maybe I just agree with the messages. This show references Homer's Odyssey, Book 9 where Odysseys travel with some men to the land of the lotus eaters where if any of his sailors ate of the lotus fruit, they no longer had desire or memory to return home. In fact they were dragged back against their will. The reference is fun as this show involves memory loss.

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

Summary and Recap

This week's show revolves around the crew traveling to Rigel VII after seeing a giant garden with the delta emblem of Starfleet on a picture of the planet. The crew, ever so aware of the prime directive, is being sent to extricate any federation technology or memorabilia left behind. To avoid the problems of last time, they dress in clothing similar to the population and only bring tech appropriate for that time, including telescopes rather than tricorders or phasers. To their surprise, when they arrive, the population is equipped by phasers and are fully aware of Starfleet. It turns out one of the presumed dead, Zac Nguyen armed the locals and made himself king, after being left behind. 

It is revealed that the asteroids contain a material that emits radiation (which so happens the main ruler's structure on the planet protects them from) that causes the memory loss. The symptoms are first the ringing, lost time, fear then lost memory. Being protected or away from the radiation for a period of time appears to restore the memories. The solution lies in removing the asteroid from the planet.

Major Characters of focus in this week's episode

Captain Pike - the main character in this show, "Rigel VII changes people. No, it shows us who we really are." The show has Captain Pike cooking an italian pasta dish again, this time his mother's recipe for a tomato sauce. He was given Opelian Mariner's keystone from Galt (it is a necklace) by his love intrerest, breaks up with her and decides to get back togehter with her after having a catharsis of sorts on Rigel VII.
Captain Betel - captain pike's love interest
Dr. M'Benga - miffed that he is being put on the mission for his combat prowess.
Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh, chief of security - I am glad she remains on the show and she does an excellent job acting. She is the first to be affected by the radiation and later is injured, requiring Captain Pike to act in order to save her.
Lt. Erica Ortegas - shows her being perennially stuck on the Enterprise, still undergoes memory loss but saves the crew by forcing herself to remember and flying the ship to safety.

Moral of the story?

A single asteroid changed the course of history on this planet, for thousands of years. That's not natural development. Your logic feels sound to me...

Although technically natural development does seem to mean a hands off approach, the Enterprise will intervene so long as they may stay hidden, quiet and silent so that they may save lives. The moral statement of the show is that it is better to have your memories who shape who you are rather than to forget them all in ignorant bliss...

Thoughts on this episode

The show's special effects and production are simply beautiful, the space scenes, especially with the enterprise flying through and shooting a phaser through an asteroid got me pretty excited. I also like that the show touches on work life balance and how Captain Pike and Captain Betel have this issue in their relationship. I also like that this show speaks about relationships at all, whereas old sci-fi (and comics for that matter) seemed to always talk about being a loner.

Lingering plot lines

• The Gorn attack ship as shown in episode 1
• What about Spock's relationship with T'Pring?
• The time travel episode 3 seemed pretty random, will there be more to it?

Links to other episodes

Season 2 Episode 1 - The Broken Circle
Season 2 Episode 2 - Ad Astra Per Astera
Season 2 Episode 3 - Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Season 2 Episode 4 - Among the Lotus Eaters
Season 2 Episode 5 - Charades
Season 2 Episode 6 - Lost in Translation
Season 2 Episode 7 - Those Old Scientists
Season 2 Episode 8 - Under the Cloak of War