Strange New Worlds S2 Ep8 - Under the Cloak of War
The episode opens with the Enterprise in a rendevous with the USS Kelcie Mae in order to pick up a defector now ambassador for the Federation who happens to be a prior brutal Klingon General Dak'Rah responsible for the death of thousands of Federation civilians on the moon of J'Gal during the Klingon War. This had a major impact on Dr. M'Benga as well as Nurse Chapel as they were tending to the wounded and witnessed the atrocities of war first hand. We learn the legendary story of General Dak'Rah who murdered his own men, earning the nickname the butcher of J'Gal, so that he can escape and later became the reason for many peacekeeping missions in the Federation. However as the show progresses, it is revealed that Dr. M'Benga, who was known as the Ghost with a record of the most confirmed hand-to-hand kills, decided to go after General Dak'Rah and was himself the butcher of J'Gal. He decidedly kills the Klingons (General Gra'val, Commander Kiff, Captain Ruh'lis) looking to murder General Dak'Rah. However the general escapes at this time, which would be considered cowardly in Klingon culture. It is at this point he becomes defector with a made up story and building upon it to become Ambassador. In his haste, Ambassador Dak'Rah continually approaches Dr. M'Benga with a request to become allies until they end up in a scuffle with Dr. M'Benga killing Ambassador Dak'Rah with the same knife used to kill Dak'Rah's men. Nurse Chapel covers for him and the show fades out showing the malfunctioning bio- bed 2 screen, which had been malfunctioning since Season 1 Episode 4 (memnto mori).
Major Characters of focus in this week's episode
Dr. Joseph M'Benga ("the ghost") - Shows much more depth to his character as he was also an assassin/heavily skilled solider who turned to a life of healing.
Nurse Chapel - had the most amount of PTSD and war trauma after Dr. M'Benga. It took it's toll on her relationship with Spock.
Captain Pike - Tries his best to have a successful mission but did not go through the Klingon War in the same capacity as those who were on J'Gal.
Spock - does seem to have a little bit of a rift with Nurse Chapel in this episode with Nurse Chapel as she pushes him away while dealing with her PTSD and war trauma.
Lt. Erica Ortegas - Displays her own war trauma and is unable to hide her distaste for General Dak'Rah. Her character becomes a little more one-dimensional in the process. However, there has not been a whole episode dedicated to her as of yet.
Food in this week's episode
Analysis
- This episode was a very dark and serious episode and had a lot of death and very deep emotional themes. With last week's episode being very upbeat and humorous, and with next week's being a musical, the season finale looks to end on a somber note as the Gorn threat will surely be addressed.
- This episode shows more of a rift between Spock and Nurse Chapel. Could this be the beginning of their split? Or is it more tension for the sake of story?
- BioBed2 seems to be malfunctioning, it could be symbolic of Dr. M'Benga's mental state as it mimics when he is having his war traumatic episodes however it could be a plot device in regards to alien infiltration or anything to do with the Gorn in the last episode. Time will tell.
- Protocol 12 is revealed to be the name of the serum or the project that creates the serum. Although it is no longer sanctioned or produced by Starfleet, Dr. M'Benga is credited with designing it and knows how to make it. This gives a nice little backstory to Episode 1 where out of nowhere he and Nurse Chapel became superheroes in order to escape from Klingon captivity.
- There is much debate if Dr. M'Benga murdered Ambassador Dak'Rah in cold blood or was merely defending himself and the show leaves much of the struggle ambiguous. However he did use deadly force in what otherwise appeared to be a non-life threatening encounter. The episode intentionally encourages a moral gray area and debate to decide at which point the line is drawn in forgiveness vs justice vs revenge
Trivia
The USS Kelsie Mae is named in honor of a fan that had passed away that had worked at CBS and also on Strange New Worlds:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/kelcie-sundquist-memorial-save-the-bunnies
Lingering Plot Lines
- The Gorn attack ship as shown in episode 1
- The time travel episode 3 seemed pretty random, will there be more to it?
- Eventually Spock and Nurse Chapel must break up
- What about Spock's half-brother, Sybok?
Links to other episodes
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