And in one episode SNW gives a more satisfying flash back to the Klingon war than Discovery hobbled together in a whole season and to top it off they top give us Clint Howard in a Starfleet badge. Oh Strange New Worlds you are spoiling us.
Refreshing. Genuinely delighted people at CBS/ Paramount that can deliver the goods. Not only does it continue to provide something for the fans but easy in for casual viewer after some top tier TV.
I did not buy Robert Wisdom as a klingon at all. Felt like a guy in a costume so much that I was wondering if it was intentional and the plot twist was going to be that he turns out to be human. I get the character is trying to distance himself from Klingon behaviour but still.
Forgetting past mistakes is difficult, but making others forget them is much more difficult.
After all was said and done in this episode, I'm a bit confused and conflicted. I get that this was supposed to show the toll that war can take on those involved, but the ending seemed very abrupt. There were no consequences for M'Benga in this episode and with only two left in the season, I wonder if they will ever come. I think the individual character focused episodes this season have been great, but this one just felt a bit "off". I still stand by my earlier love of the Clint Howard cameo though. :)
This stood out as the most in your face reality of Klingons and the reality of their warlike ethic. The fact that Spock could never understand unless he was there underlined how war affects people on a much deeper level than just the facts of a battle. Pike showed his ignorance at the end when he was blathering about who should judge and federation law this and that, he made himself look stupid holding the company line. Mbenga gets to judge. Because he was there and he suffered, nobody else is fit to judge him, certainly not pompous starfleet admirals. This was a great episode, I thought it was going to be the musical and was prepared for the worst :joy:
"...you haven't lived my life. You have the privilege of believing in what's best in people, me, I happen to know there are some things in this world that don't deserve forgiveness." - M'benga
...and he's 100% right. Shit, this episode hit so hard it set off my own PTSD.
Also, sure, everyone deserves a second chance, but only if they've owned up to what they've done and faced the consequences. If a person has changed or is working toward change, they'll accept that as a consequence not everyone will forgive them, and they'll respect other people's feelings (even if the feeling is hatred).
General Rah didn't earn forgiveness for his atrocities, he never owned up to what he did. Ortegas saw through his pretense, while M'benga and Chapel tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he was one stubborn and cowardly Klingon who ultimately deserved what he got, a dishonourable death. May he eternally face his consequences in Gre'thor.
I miss the animated opening titles
Color me confused by this episode. I understand it's about war and the ramifications it has on the people fighting in it, losing your humanity, lust for revenge, blood lust... all this enhanced by some drug (that we've already seen in episode 1 of this season).
But what did actually happen on J'Gal? Did M'Benga kill the Klingons, or did he inject the Klingon commander who then killed all his officers? (Have to watch that again...) - Anyway, M'Benga turned out the real monster of J'Gal, and he reinforced that image by killing the Klingon commander/now ambassador of the Federation pretty much in cold blood... and everyone knows things are fishy, but there are no consequences. I realize that this episode is supposed to be uncomfortable, and it's not about what happened on J'Gal that bothers me (because "inter arma enim silent leges" and that goes doubly for morals), but the murder/incident on Enterprise? Just that M'Benga was even interacting with the Klingon should have raised multiple red flags, not even speaking that he was fighting with him... Considering his PTSD he should have removed himself from the situation after the dinner and be done with it. Don't know what Pike was thinking, honestly.
So, I'm not sure where this episode was going. It certainly didn't make me more sympathetic to M'Benga.
I know this episode is supposed to be about the trauma of war, but to me it was also such a close and powerful portrayal of the dynamics of relationship abuse. The specific discomfort of proximity, the gaslighting, the false concern of the abuser, the paralyzing terror of being touched, the cringy way that well-meaning people just don't get it. If this was just about war, Pike should be able to understand M'Benga's feelings better: while he wasn't in the universe for most of the Klingon War, he's seen terrible things and has lost people in battle. I don't know if I've ever seen these emotions and dynamics written and played so precisely. It was both hard to watch and maybe a little healing to watch a fictionalized version. I know that earlier in my life I would have thought that M'Benga opening up the knife box was 100% wrong, but the person I've become is glad he did, and it was helpful to see how clear that change in me is.
The choice to leave the exact events of the climax ambiguous is a fascinating one. It really asks the audience to think through the resolution's moral and emotional dimensions. Watching viewers' disagreements about what happened and what should have happened further drives home the distance between Pike's emotional landscape and M'Benga's in this episode. It makes me think that maybe there are things you really can't understand if you haven't been through them.
M'Benga as super assassin comes out of nowhere and the idea is kind of goofy (maybe it's foreshadowed by the action sequence in S2E1, but that was so stupid I tried to pretend it didn't happen). But it's TV-show dumb - clearly not planned for until this plot needed it. It makes diegetic sense that it hasn't been talked about, if not really narrative sense.
The flashback technique clued me into the key twist before it properly arrived, but it was enough of a good mystery that I still found the reveal satisfying.
Magnificent guest acting from Robert Wisdom (the ambassador) and Brendan Jeffers (the young ensign born on the moon), and, in the main cast, particularly strong turns from Jess Bush, Anson Mount, and of course Babs Olusanmokun. Jeff Byrd's direction is immaculate and Davy Perez's script is efficient and precise.
So Doc straight up murders a guy without repercussion and still keeps his job? lol ok...
They really built M'Benga up this season. Barely noticed him Season 1, easily one of the favorite characters this season with an arc that would be at home in DS9.
Unbelievable how they manage to make each episode of this season great. Unfortunately only two episodes left - they should make much longer seasons again.
Another treat of an episode. Robert Wisdom playing yet another duplicitous character brought back memories of Burn Notice. His interactions with Dr. Joseph seemed just ok at first but the ramping up was very good. Now it remains to be seen if there'll be any real drawback.
This is my favorite episode so far.
Another impressive outing. M'Benga is fast becoming a favorite of mine. His multidimensional development is easily the best of any character on the show, and the actor is up to the task. And his relationship with Chapel is right up there, too. My only beef, as in other episodes, is the way that Ortegas and Uhura continue to be included in things that should be handled by their veteran counterparts. A 22-year-old ensign at a diplomatic dinner like the one here? Give me a break. Find a way to involve these characters that isn't ridiculous.
A very difficult topic to handle but they did so very impressively.
The acting by Olusanmokun and Bush is as always on top.
An emotional episode with a surprise ending.
Shout by Morgan Aedan PearcyBlockedParent2023-08-03T23:04:05Z
This was a hard episode to watch.