Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x10 - "Hegemony"

[fireproof78]

There is no "mileage' when one is just pointing out ONE particular "ripoff" from 50 plus years of them, because of one's displeasure of it resembling something else.

There's not a whole heck of a lot of logic in thinking that way.

Just further proof to me that Alien's influence is far too overblown.

 

[Michael]

For what it’s worth, I’m totally on board with what they did with the Gorn on Strange New Worlds and even I would say it’s an obvious nod to the Alien franchise. Calling it a “rip-off” is IMHO judging it too harshly, but they very clearly wanted to do their own version of the xenomorphs. This goes beyond any specifics of how their biology is portrayed; watching parts of “Hegemony” and (especially) “All Those Who Wander” you can’t help but notice that they are riffing on the aesthetics and conventions of that franchise, complete with a dirt-faced Newt stand-in, chestbursting scene, an infected character sacrificing themself and a staredown between a woman and an alien. And I think that’s totally fine. However, I do hope that eventually they manage to add more of their own flavor to the concept, nudging the Gorn away from instinct-driven monsters towards intelligent agents.

 

[Mudd]

It does look like that's where they're going.

TOS borrowed heavily from specific films, such as The Enemy Below. It's funny that "Arena" itself is nearly a point-for-point copy of a well-known short story, down to the title. And a fair amount of TMP comes from Robert Wise's Run Silent, Run Deep, which he directed but did not write.

Then there's a little movie called Forbidden Planet...

 

[johnnybear]

Yes, and determined insistence on an unambiguous consistency in canon is very much being fed by a spoon.

Someone likes to think he was schooled at Harvard methinks...
JB

 

[Tuskin38]

Rewatching this, there’s a few musical cues that sound very TOS

 

[Farscape One]

I just watched this a second time. Just wow! Tension throughout the entire episode. Very, very well done.

Melissa Navia may not get as much to do as the others, but she really makes the most out of every scene. I've seen some posts that call her ability into question because of her asking about the debris, but if you look at her expressions and the way she speaks, it was more her reminding everyone else what's in front of them and she let them say out loud what she was thinking. Also loved her scene with M'Benga with the survivors. And you can tell she just LOVES to be a pilot. And I think that's something we don't see often enough with Starfleet officers... someone who truly loves their job.

Sam Kirk was used well here. He got some redemption by facing his fear and was also instrumental in helping figure out the Gorn's connection with the CMEs.

Una... excellent first officer. Her reminder to everyone about their training was not only to keep them focused on the job, but to remind them that any survivors would be counting on them to know they will try to get a signal through somehow. Level-headed, smart, knows how to get the crew motivated, backs the captain but also not afraid to tell him he's wrong (privately)... I think she may be the best first officer we have ever seen. (TOS Spock still takes the prize, but Una is quickly leapfrogging past the other shows in the XO category.)

Spock... he has NO reason to apologize to Chapel, especially after what happened in last week's episode.

Speaking of Chapel... that was the one thing about this episode that REALLY had glaring plot armor. While the fact she was the only apparent survivor on the Cayuga is already stretching belief, I can let that slide somewhat because any other potential survivors might have been killed by that Gorn attempting to break into the computer. What I find impossible to defend is that somehow, there are pockets of air on a fragment of a destroyed ship? Even taking into account a few forcefields may be in place, how is it getting any power? The ship is destroyed. (Having said this, I do wonder if Starfleet ships are simply sturdier in this era vs. 24th century ships. It also makes me wonder if this was a BEYOND scenario when the Enterprise was getting taken apart piece by piece.)

Speaking of the Gorn, I love that we got different types in the same episode. We have the feral, young ones and we have an intelligent one trying to access the ship's computer. Clearly, this was to show that the Gorn in "ARENA" did indeed know a lot about Starfleet and their protocols to fool Kirk in TOS. (While this Gorn didn't succeed, this episode illustrates they are trying to get intelligence on Starfleet... and a future Gorn succeeded.) I also like how the adult Gorn looked... reminded me of a reptilian version of the Scarrans from FARSCAPE. (Now THAT was a cool looking alien race.)

I agree that ALIEN is used as a template for SNW's Gorn (the Batel scene was lifted right out of ALIEN 3), but I like this. It shows that this race is very different from what the Federation usually deals with. We also have precedence for there being multiple types of the same species... the Xindi on ENT. It is called the Gorn HEGEMONY. Also, as a horror fan, this brings a sense of terror and danger to the Gorn that you rarely get with other villains. The last time I felt a species was this terrifying was the Vidiians. So I'm glad SNW is fleshing out the Gorn.

As soon as that Gorn went to Batel's face, I knew she was infected. She is a goner, and I figured her days were numbered earlier this season.

Pike... we got our man of action back. Though the final scene sort of shows him losing that edge again. Obviously, this is because it's a cliffhanger.

I do like how SNW does maintain continuity within itself, even if I don't like the continuity it maintains. (The musical episode reference in the beginning. Oh, boy...)

Okay, Scotty... they didn't need to introduce him now. We already had Jim Kirk, and this seems to be Paramount hedging their bets and getting a TOS reboot right after SNW finishes however long a run it gets. Having said that, I like Martin Quinn's take on him. And the fact Pelia thought he was an excellent student with the worst grades... somehow fits perfectly. I can see him advancing from Lt. junior grade to Lt. Commander by the time Kirk takes command. That's about 7 years away... certainly reasonable.

This episode delivered a great season finale. And while it borrowed heavily from the ALIEN franchise, the execution was very well done. Despite my nitpicks about Chapel's ridiculous plot armor, this kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. My wife and I both gave this a 9.5, which on the voting scale here rounds up to a 10. I kind of missed the season ending cliffhangers of the old days, but I do think they would be better served on a series that has more than just 10 episodes.

I just rewatched this again to prepare for the season premiere. A couple different things I need to add from my original review. (Also why I quoted myself, for the reference.)

I like how the beginning establishes a reason for a planet to not be part of the Federation... it doesn't want a target on its back. (Something I mentioned in another thread about reasons not to join.)

A reminder to those who think the Gorn in SNW contradicts from previous shows: we still didn't know much about them, and we are getting MORE types of Gorn. I can definitely see the younglings being feral versions of their adult versions. And the Gorn are clearly intelligent because otherwise they wouldn't be able to communicate with the Federation with creating that demarcation line. Plus we see an adult Gorn trying to access the dead ship.

Batel is very much in the wrong here by not being upfront on being infected. She is not only putting Pike's team at risk but all those survivors. Even though she thinks she still has time before the eggs hatch (less than half a day at this point), that's massively important information to just keep to yourself. And she could be wrong with how much time she has left, either by miscalculation or the hatching moves along faster than anticipated. Very much a bad Starfleet captain decision, putting those people at risk like that.

I do wish I could go back and change my vote... it would be an 8, not a 10. Still a strong episode and I stand by all the positives, but the Chapel plot armor and Batel's lack of informing others of her condition just bugs me too much on a rewatch.