Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x08 - "Under the Cloak of War"

[kirk55555]

The episode hasn't even streamed yet and you're already calling it "possibly the worst episode" in the franchise. So much for an open mind.

Who said anything about an open mind? Star Trek should not do a damn musical episode. No TV show should be doing musical episodes unless they're a show specifically about musical stuff (like Glee) or literally a musical show (like Galavant). The fact that Joss Whedon once did a good musical episode in a non-musical show does not justify any other show doing it, because outside of that 1 episode they are all terrible.

We just got an amazing episode about peoples experience in war and how they deal with it, and they're going to follow it up with fucking High School Musical in space. Its a gigantic embarrassment to the entire franchise to do this. There is not another episode in the entire franchise that approaches being this wrong for Star Trek, not even the damn freaky friday or fantasy land episodes from this show's first season, and they were really bad themselves.

Anyway this show overall has really dragged itself to the bottom, I now expect bad episodes from SNW and get a nice surprise when they're occasionally good, so I'm fine with just skipping next week's episode so that I don't give myself a rage induced heart attack.

 

[El Maestro]

Pink and sticky? Bubblegum



"Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department!" say Wernher von Braun

Again…not saying he was good…

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

This was a fantastic character episode. It certainly had shades of DS9. Felt like a mashup of M*A*S*H* and DS9's "THE SIEGE OF AR-558".

I recognized Rah's voice... he's played by Robert Wisdom, who played the angel Uriel in season 4 of SUPERNATURAL. Rah being a Klingon defector who is a Federation ambassador... directly after the war? This speaks to both a good and a bad thing about the Federation... the good in that they can turn an enemy into an ally and can try to move forward from a conflict, and the bad in that you have someone who murdered children be a poster child for peace and expect everyone to be fine with it. To the former point, it speaks to the idealism of the Federation... to the latter point, it speaks to how out of touch the Federation is with its population. You can't expect people who went through the war to be just fine with Rah, and you can see the difference between the crew who served during the war and those who didn't. Pike, Una, and Uhura were all about the idealism... M'Benga, Chapel, and Ortegas were about the reality. Spock was the only one who didn't seem to be pushing for either side. (Though his attempt at making the raktajino can be considered a play on the side of idealism.)

Speaking of Ortegas, I actually applaud her scene at the dinner. It's not fair to all the dead and the victims that Rah was not at least called into question. I'm glad she stood her ground and left.

Una really is a great XO. She analyzed what the problem on board was and already calculated a solution... Rah being aboard and getting to the destination faster. She has Pike's back but is also not afraid to tell him he's wrong... exactly what a good First Officer does.

I have to say, Pike didn't come off that well here. It's the first time I've seen him sort of mess up with his crew, but I like that because it makes him believable. No leader is perfect... not even The Sisko. Pike's idealism clouded his judgment regarding those who served during the war. I understand why Pike asked all members of his senior staff to attend the dinner, but I think he should have been more clear on it being okay for Ortegas, M'Benga, and Chapel to decline.

Babs Olusanmokun completely nailed this episode. I really love his character... but man, what more can he go through? Between the war and his daughter, I feel like he's the O'Brien of SNW.

Regarding the death of Rah... he had it coming. M'Benga reiterated multiple times for Rah to leave him alone, and he not only didn't back off, he got into M'Benga's personal space. Add to that the fact he was a mass murderer, a liar, and a coward, I shed no tears for him. And while I do agree that people deserve a second chance, you also have to be careful about who you give those second chances to. As manipulative as he was about the facts of his past, can anyone really be sure he was telling the truth about his need for redemption? Or was he just playing on the sympathies of the Federation and tried to make the best out of a situation where he got captured? And besides... a few treaties and acts of kindness doesn't erase the blood on his hands, like Degra toward the end of ENT season 3. It was not a murder, it was justice.

Like many times in TOS, this one did not have a happy ending. And it's all the better for it. I gave this one a 9. Outstanding, all around.

I definitely got a MASH vibe. "Incoming Transport" instead of "Incoming Choppers".

Robert Wisdom has been all over TV since 1990, but I don't see anything I'd remember him from. I feel like he has a fairly similar voice to Tony Todd, so maybe that's what's giving me the idea I've seen Robert before.

 

[jackoverfull]

True, your not trained to "Kill" your trained to immobilize, With M'Benga ( and most soldiers) there trained to kill there opponent.

Sorry, Didn't mean to cast any shade, Just this particular example of M'Benga.

well, he should know when to kill and when not to then.

I'm no expert but what looked fake? They reminded me of films I've seen of my Dad sparring when he was doing Jujitsu.

They didn’t seem fake to me. In fact there was so little shown that’s hard to make out what happens exactly.
In most cases, anyway, in modern Trek fight choreography is usually very well done and much more realistic than in past Trek.

 

[Uhura's Song]

Who said anything about an open mind? Star Trek should not do a damn musical episode. No TV show should be doing musical episodes unless they're a show specifically about musical stuff (like Glee) or literally a musical show (like Galavant). The fact that Joss Whedon once did a good musical episode in a non-musical show does not justify any other show doing it, because outside of that 1 episode they are all terrible.

We just got an amazing episode about peoples experience in war and how they deal with it, and they're going to follow it up with fucking High School Musical in space. Its a gigantic embarrassment to the entire franchise to do this. There is not another episode in the entire franchise that approaches being this wrong for Star Trek, not even the damn freaky friday or fantasy land episodes from this show's first season, and they were really bad themselves.

Anyway this show overall has really dragged itself to the bottom, I now expect bad episodes from SNW and get a nice surprise when they're occasionally good, so I'm fine with just skipping next week's episode so that I don't give myself a rage induced heart attack.

While there has not been a "musical episode" per se, there have certainly been many instances of signing in various episodes.

Off the top of my head:
1) Uhura in "Charlie X"
2) Lt. Riley in "The Naked Time"
3) Uhura in TFF (not Nichols, though)
4) Picard, Data, Worf in "Insurrection"
5) Klingons at various points in TNG/DS9
6) All the DS9 Vic Fontaine stuff.
7) Seven in "Someone to Watch Over Me"
8) The Doctor in "Virtuoso"
9) Una in Short Treks
10) Agnes in Picard S2
11) Uhura in "Children of the Comet"

 

[TheFlutteringHorde]

I really felt like this one was trying to do too much in the span of a single episode. A flashback episode on time during the war would have been great. An episode dealing with the political fallout from the Klingon war and all the feelings that could come up would have been great. But as a whole I just don't think it came together and a lot of it felt too rushed. I think this episode would have worked a lot better if we didn't see any flashbacks at all and leaned in to the moral ambiguity of both Rah and M'Benga's actions on the ship instead of clearly telling us who was good and bad and why it's okay that it went down the way it did.

 

[cooleddie74]

Seven sings when she's in holodeck character as Madame de Neuf in "The Killing Game(VOY)."

 

[Spoonful of Sugar]

Did I miss something about the medbay that Mbenga was working on at the very end of the episode? It seemed to come out of nowhere, and it saying "System Error" after he walks away after claiming he fixed it just left me going "WTF?"

 

[Spoonful of Sugar]

I mean biobed, but for some reason I can't edit my post to fix it.

 

[JoeZhang]

Did I miss something about the medbay that Mbenga was working on at the very end of the episode? It seemed to come out of nowhere, and it saying "System Error" after he walks away after claiming he fixed it just left me going "WTF?"

it’s a metaphor for him - appears to be fixed but…

 

[Uhura's Song]

FWIW, I like the ambiguous ending. Rah couod have seen the knife and sought to kill M'benga with it to keep his secret safe. Or M'benga could have just offed him.

Chapel is certainly lying about seeing the whole thing. But with the murder weapon so obviously (and wrongly) identified as Rah's dagger, unless you secretly think M'benga is the butcher AND kept the dagger, to conclude otherwise makes no sense.

 

[J. Frank Doobie]

It seemed to come out of nowhere, and it saying "System Error" after he walks away after claiming he fixed it just left me going "WTF?"

Forgive me if I'm being condescending but: It's a metaphor for his own irreparable trauma. Just as he'd just "fixed" the injustice of Da'Krah becoming a hero/peacemaker while being a war criminal. The solution will not stick because the problem is deeper and, as M'Benga implies in his log, can only be maintained, never repaired.

 

[mikelima777]

It does make me wonder how much involvement did Kirk have in the War?

It does reinforce the idea that Kirk was more suitable for the Captain's chair when it came to higher-stakes confrontations with the Romulans and Klingons. Pike is an excellent leader, but as others have said, he isn't perfect.

Also, Rak's "remorse" is very insincere, and selfish. It is clear that he is acting all peace-loving as self-preservation, to hide his past crimes.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I really really dislike this addition of this Klingon War to the canon

I think there was always meant to be prior conflict but weirdly never anything on this scale before DISCO.

 

[Charles Phipps]

The marriage of Sarek's unnamed son that Picard attends as a young officer.

Watch a future Trek retcon Sarek as having another kid that Spock never mentioned.

 

[Greg Cox]

it’s a metaphor for him - appears to be fixed but…

Yet. It's symbolic, not a surprise plot twist or cliffhanger.

 

[cooleddie74]

Watch a future Trek retcon Sarek as having another kid that Spock never mentioned.

Sy'Michael.

 

[fireproof78]

Star Trek should not do a damn musical episode.

Sure it can. Variety platform. That is the purpose of Trek.

That is all.

so I'm fine with just skipping next week's episode so that I don't give myself a rage induced heart attack.

Highly recommend seeking professional help if this is a possibility with a TV show.

 

[Paul755]

I doubt the writers are going to stick with the Korby thing. Namedrop or not. I also hope they won't go that way. Why would they spend 15 episodes building up to the resolution in S02E05, and why would they carry on with further tensionbuilding in all episodes we've seen since then?

I think (and hope) they're going with a "broad strokes" approach, mainly inspired by the scene in "The Naked Time". Leaving their "fling" open ended at the eventual finale of SNW would make more sense and would be more in line with what they did so far with the characters, in my opinion.

As open as they are to fudging canon, I doubt they are going to throw away a major piece of her backstory and large plot point of a TOS episode just to keep the Spock/Chapel thing open ended for shipping purposes.

Because it builds drama.

Regardless of what I want the producers have stated lining up towards TOS is on their minds, and will go forward, even in broad strokes. So, yes, I expect SNW Chapel to line up in some ways with TOS Chapel. Not exactly, 1-to-1, but there will be that traumatic event and showing her struggling in some measures.

I'm sure it won't end up exactly that way but the whole "Chapel needs a lobotomy to end up like TOS Chapel" argument, and it's variants, is frustrating as fuck and I grow fatigued of it.

the second they decided to include her as a character in SNW she was never going to lineup 1 for 1 with the TOS version. Especially with the type of personality the writers and Bush herself have given her. But yeah, I agree she will move a bit closer to that version it’s just a matter of how.

 

[cooleddie74]

Yeah, I'll watch it. Best case scenario: it's a fun romp where alien energy makes the crew sing. Worst case: it'll suck. Neither involve me having a coronary of any kind.