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

[fireproof78]

So far in SNW, all chicks just want to take a brake in their relationship with him.

The horror.

 

[flandry84]

I have the feeling that Rah grabbed the dagger and intended to kill M’Benga with it claiming self defense.He’s the kind of sociopath that would use an incident like that to gain more traction with the UFP.
Guess he fucked around and found out though...

 

[firehawk12]

He might be prefer to not kill if possible.
Ergo, he giving up being a Special Ops guy and going back to being a Doctor.



Michael was sheltered with a Vulcan Up-Bringing and special tutelage under Captain Phillipa Georgiou.
On-top of that, Captain Phillipa Georgious stated that almost nobody in the UFP has seen a Klingon in ~100 years after Archer's era.

But if that's true, humans and Klingons wouldn't be colonizing the same planet then... which makes me wonder why Klingon civilians were on that planet. lol

 

[firehawk12]

They're hardy.

On their own, they seem completely useless... all the successes we've seen only happens because of the Federation. It makes me wonder how stupid the Romulans must have been if they couldn't take out the Klingons even with their "guile and cunning". lol

 

[Borgminister]

I mean, poor Spock . So far in SNW, all chicks just want to take a brake in their relationship with him.

And that with only a seven-year itch!

 

[Jedi Marso]

I'm good with the TOS M'Benga being the younger brother of Joseph. It allows SNW to go their own direction with Joseph M'Benga and his ultimate fate.

The TOS M'Benga seemed like this young 20-something brash Doctor who was new to the scene, not a seasoned veteran, and this is about 8 years from SNW.

Having one brother be a war vet and the other being hopeful and idealistic about the Klingons could make for some interesting interactions between them for S3.

That totally works as well. In fact, I like it better, because TOS M'Benga is so obviously younger than the SNW version.

 

[fireproof78]

On their own, they seem completely useless... all the successes we've seen only happens because of the Federation. It makes me wonder how stupid the Romulans must have been if they couldn't take out the Klingons even with their "guile and cunning". lol

I think it depends on the leader. We see cunning leaders as well, and well organized at times. The Romulans seem to prefer neutrality and partial alliances to out and out aggression, and Klingons seem to take aggression all out when it comes down to it.

Plus, technically the Klingons had success in Discovery.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I mean, poor Spock . So far in SNW, all chicks just want to take a brake in their relationship with him.

He finds someone by the 24th Century.

 

[cooleddie74]

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

 

[valkyrie013]

Klingon blood is Pink in Lower Decks..

 

[Mudd]

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ ‘Under The Cloak Of War’ Director Reveals The Purpose Of The Ending, And The Alternate Takes They Filmed

Chapel walked in as the two men were seen behind frosted glass fighting. Rah ended up dead, and while Chapel says M'Benga acted in self-defense, we know from the perspective shown that she's unclear what happened. I asked director Jeff Byrd if it was the intention to leave the incident open to interpretation and learned a lot about what I'm sure will become a much-debated scene in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He said:

"That is true. We're not supposed to know, but we're supposed to put ourselves into that moment of what we would have done behind that frosted glass. I will tell you this. We did shoot different versions of that ending. There was a version that I did where we actually saw the fight and the killer. We did it on purpose. We wanted to make sure we had different versions just to see how it would feel for us emotionally. To see the fight, to see the killing. Have Chapel witness the killing, and on purpose lie about it as we’ve seen it."

It's interesting to hear that there were multiple versions of the fight scene that played out, especially given the version that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds went with. As Jeff Byrd confirmed in our interview, the audience is not supposed to know whether M'Benga killed Rah, acted in self-defense, or it was an accident.

By settling on an ambiguous ending, Star Trek might've created its biggest moral quandary episode since Voyager's "Tuvix." Jeff Byrd shared with me that he prefers the ending that was settled on the best, mainly because of how it challenges the viewer at home watching with their Paramount+ subscription:

"I love that version the best, the version that’s out. I love the version where we don’t really know and we have to insert ourselves in there emotionally. What would you have done? You know, because we will say, 'Oh, you know, I would have done this, or I would have done that.' And this episode allows us to really go, ‘Oh, what were we doing back there,’ or, ‘I would’ve killed him if he attacked me.’ So that was on purpose."

 

[Nerys Myk]

Klingon blood is Pink in Lower Decks..

They have redundant cardiovascular systems. One for red and one for pink. Klingons bodies are very crowded with bones, organs, veins and arteries. That's why most medical procedures are tough.

 

[Tallguy]

Here's what they need to do. Run out SNW however they're going to do it. For another several years - we've got, what? seven left? Then when they take my brilliant idea of setting the new Paul Wesley show the week after Kirk said "Thataway!" in The Motion Picture then we come back to Dr. Christine Chapel who says something along the lines of "Yeah, I was going through a whole thing back then. What can I say? I was a different person!"

 

[Mudd]

Klingon blood is Pink in Lower Decks..

Well, then, fuck them.

And the blood debate is a trivial and meaningless distraction.

 

[Michael]

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ ‘Under The Cloak Of War’ Director Reveals The Purpose Of The Ending, And The Alternate Takes They Filmed

Chapel walked in as the two men were seen behind frosted glass fighting. Rah ended up dead, and while Chapel says M'Benga acted in self-defense, we know from the perspective shown that she's unclear what happened. I asked director Jeff Byrd if it was the intention to leave the incident open to interpretation and learned a lot about what I'm sure will become a much-debated scene in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He said:

"That is true. We're not supposed to know, but we're supposed to put ourselves into that moment of what we would have done behind that frosted glass. I will tell you this. We did shoot different versions of that ending. There was a version that I did where we actually saw the fight and the killer. We did it on purpose. We wanted to make sure we had different versions just to see how it would feel for us emotionally. To see the fight, to see the killing. Have Chapel witness the killing, and on purpose lie about it as we’ve seen it."

It's interesting to hear that there were multiple versions of the fight scene that played out, especially given the version that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds went with. As Jeff Byrd confirmed in our interview, the audience is not supposed to know whether M'Benga killed Rah, acted in self-defense, or it was an accident.

By settling on an ambiguous ending, Star Trek might've created its biggest moral quandary episode since Voyager's "Tuvix." Jeff Byrd shared with me that he prefers the ending that was settled on the best, mainly because of how it challenges the viewer at home watching with their Paramount+ subscription:

"I love that version the best, the version that’s out. I love the version where we don’t really know and we have to insert ourselves in there emotionally. What would you have done? You know, because we will say, 'Oh, you know, I would have done this, or I would have done that.' And this episode allows us to really go, ‘Oh, what were we doing back there,’ or, ‘I would’ve killed him if he attacked me.’ So that was on purpose."

Damn, that's brilliant! Reading this, I like it even more. I didn't want to say it earlier, but yes, it totally reminded me of the never-ending debate about the ending of “Tuvix” as well. (Although I'm not sure the ambiguity in that case was really a deliberate choice by the authors.) But here it works really well for all the reasons the director is giving here.

The way you as the viewer see the scene tells you as much about yourself as it does about the character. Pretty neat. Will have to rewatch the episode tonight.

 

[jackoverfull]

I'm open to wherever the writers decide to take M'Benga's story. I don't give a fuck how or whether it fits with TOS.

it would be extremely difficult to contradict how he’s presented on TOS: all we know on him from TOS is pretty much that he is a competent doctor and that he has experience with Vulcans.

 

[Set Harth]

Damn, that's brilliant! Reading this, I like it even more. I didn't want to say it earlier, but yes, it totally reminded me of the never-ending debate about the ending of “Tuvix” as well. (Although I'm not sure the ambiguity in that case was really a deliberate choice by the authors.) But here it works really well for all the reasons the director is giving here.

The way you as the viewer see the scene tells you as much about yourself as it does about the character. Pretty neat. Will have to rewatch the episode tonight.

Back in the olden days they used to call this kind of thing a "cop-out".

 

[cooleddie74]

This episode did a moral conundrum better than "Tuvix(VOY)" did. I mean, it's an episode that stokes debate and creates lots of funny meme material but this one is just grim and leaves you feeling very shaken, and that's what it should do.

 

[DarKush]

I'm good with the TOS M'Benga being the younger brother of Joseph. It allows SNW to go their own direction with Joseph M'Benga and his ultimate fate.

The TOS M'Benga seemed like this young 20-something brash Doctor who was new to the scene, not a seasoned veteran, and this is about 8 years from SNW.

Having one brother be a war vet and the other being hopeful and idealistic about the Klingons could make for some interesting interactions between them for S3.

I've had this thought myself before. It would definitely free them up to go in their own direction with the SNW character. And they can still have their nostalgia deep cut. In the proposed Hopeship Trek spin off, M'Benga had a brother. They could look to that for inspiration.

 

[Precious Tritium]

Pretty much hated this episode after my first viewing. Don't know if I was just in a foul mood, or unprepared for how dark this episode was going to be, but it certainly left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Just rewatched it this evening, and honestly, I don't know what was wrong with me that first time. This was excellent. It's dark and it's brutal, and it held me at arm's length until I met it on its own terms and let it in. Pretty much solidified Babs as my personal MVP of this season, which is especially welcoming considering how underserved I felt he was last season.

Just outstanding stuff all around. There's no better feeling than revisiting something you thought you hated and coming out with a greater appreciation for it.

Solid 9.