While on a dangerous humanitarian mission, the crew of the USS Enterprise stumbles into a harrowing game of leverage with the quadrant’s deadliest space pirate. And I’m not even going to bury the lede on where it ends up: we’re getting Sybok.
This is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 1, episode 7, “The Serene Squall.” I liked it. I really did. I enjoyed this episode a lot, and I feel like the more they lean into the episodic nature of the series, the more fun it gets. Is it the greatest episode of Star Trek of all time? No. But it’s a fun one, and it’s got a last card I can’t wait to see played.
T’Pring Is Really Trying
The episode starts with T’Pring, and we get to see her again. Anytime you see Gia Sandhu in the role, I’m very much happy about that. She’s amazing as the character, and oddly enough she brings an emotion to the Vulcan characters. I don’t mean that in a negative way. I mean you feel all of her passion. Passion for her people, passion for her job, passion for Spock. You begin to really get it, and it really does break the heart when you think of “Amok Time.”
Yeah. Anyway.
For the most part she’s trying to study what it means to be human. She’s conjecturing that Spock holds value in his human qualities, ergo she has to come to understand those human qualities as well. And she’s doing a great job of being the fiancée, the future wife, who says, you know what, I really want us to be able to connect, and whatever it takes for me to connect on that level with you, I’m willing to do it. Gung-ho. Good for you, T’Pring.
So Spock gets somewhat ambushed. She calls him up and she’s pretty much like, hey, so I’ve been reading all these really dirty human books about sexuality. Some of them are science books, some of them are this, some of them are that. And Spock’s like, what? It’s funny. If he could be taken by surprise, he’s taken by surprise. What you end up with is the idea that she’s really trying. Period.
Then you get this really interesting Chapel and Spock interaction, where Spock’s like, hey, you want to help me with my relationship again? And she’s like, the last time I tried to do that you took it a little bit too seriously. He’s like, no, no, really, I could use the help. So she says all right, fine. She listens to him, she talks to him, and ultimately she tells him: look, she’s trying. You and her need to work together, and it may not hurt you to be a little more experimentational.
Okay. All right. I understand.
The Edge of Federation Space
Then we’re introduced to the character of Dr. Aspen, who is actually a very interesting character: someone trying to help some colonists who have been stranded on the edge of Federation space.
That introduces the concept that there is an edge of Federation space, and I’m completely blown away by it. I think that idea is brilliant. I don’t know why we haven’t seen it sooner. I know Star Wars has the Outer Rim territories, where lawlessness has taken over. But to see that at this point in time there are areas that aren’t as well policed, if you will, as the rest of the galaxy? I find that fascinating. You get a little bit of that rough and tumble space in Enterprise, and later on in Discovery in the future, with the Orion Syndicate and whatnot. We haven’t really seen much of what it looks like.
It’s very much looking like a humanitarian mission. Dr. Aspen is caring for these people, and there’s about 200-ish of them. And they know full well what they’re doing. Pike even says at one point that if we go in here, we’re going in alone. There’s very little help. Spock reminds him they do drop signal buoys to help get their signal back to Federation space, so at the very least they can communicate. Those only go so far. The big thing for them is really just figuring out what being by yourself on the edge of Federation space means.
See, now, isn’t this a five-year mission? That’s my question. I know the Enterprise is on its five-year mission during Kirk’s time in the original series, and that’s supposed to be unexplored space. I’m presupposing there’s a difference between unexplored space and non-Federation space. Unexplored space is nobody’s. It’s up for grabs, it’s who you introduce yourself to and who you meet. But then there’s non-Federation space, where it’s someone’s, or it’s…
I don’t know, man.
Blind Date
When they arrive, they arrive to find wreckage. Investigating further, there’s no sign of colonists in it, so clearly they’ve been taken somewhere. There also seems to be some evidence of tampering. Someone from the outside, a third party if you will, who Dr. Aspen has warned them about in this area of space. And that’s the Serene Squall, a pirate ship.
Exciting. Pirates. You get this really terrible pirate impression out of Pike, the whole “arr, then there be pirates here” thing, and it’s just very funny.
Then the ship starts following the trail, and this is a really awesome part. Pike’s like, hey, let’s be very careful, let’s try to stay close. And she’s like, how close do you want me to be, first date or third date? And he goes, “blind date.” I thought it was a great line. It’s super creative. I like it.
So Erica is doing her best. Love me some Ortegas. She’s sitting there behind the wheel, if you will, working through all the little teeny tiny things, and that’s when they get hit with the laser beams. One of the asteroids that hits the shields ignites this laser net. Very Tholian looking. In fact, I would have put money that this was Tholian technology, stolen technology maybe, something some pirates had gotten their hands on.
Spock and the captain have to figure out how to escape this thing. Spock’s like, yeah, we can narrow it down to these two asteroids, and we have to shoot one of them to bring the cage down. That’s when Ortegas asks what happens if we hit the wrong one. He explains it, and she goes, “kaboom, got it.”
And Spock has no way of telling which one’s the right one. Pike’s like, just come on, man, pick something. So he makes a guess. You can tell he hates this decision. He hates this decision. But he does it, and he’s right. Yay.
Because plot armor. No, no, no, come on, let’s be fair. But you kind of wonder sometimes with this series, don’t you? We know Spock’s never going to die, so there’s really no stakes in terms of how he’s going to end up. And we all know how Pike’s going to end up one day.
Sorry. This is the kind of crazy thought I have when I watch this show.
It’s a Trap
They make it through the asteroid field, and eventually they find the other colony ship. Pike leads a group over, they investigate, only to find out it’s a trap. That’s right, once more, Admiral Ackbar: it’s a trap. He was right.
And that’s when the real plot thickens. Dr. Aspen is actually the captain of the Serene Squall. Boom. Talk about a turnabout. I was like, what, man? (Can we talk about that eye tattoo, by the way? I’m totally digging it.) I was sitting there going, what is happening here, why would you do this? Of course, pirates are gonna pirate. It’s a flimsy reason, but who cares.
So you get the classic. The pirates take over the ship, everybody sit down, and everyone’s doing their best to solve some problems.
This entire time, Aspen has been trying to get into Spock’s head. Being friends with him. But the truth is Aspen has been using his plight with humanity, and his lack of emotional connection to things that are Vulcan, for the purposes of trying to use him. Period. So he’s got to deal with that.
And at the end of the day, is Aspen right? Does he put too much stock in being human? There’s one really interesting beat where Aspen says, you know, why do you have to be human or Vulcan? Be something new. Be both things. I thought that was good. I get it. I totally get it. Speak your truth. I 100 percent understand. It’s a very good approach to a very complicated type of situation, and ultimately I like what Aspen had to say.
Remember, Pike Cooks
Meanwhile, on the other ship, Pike has been captured, and this is hilarious. He’s talking to what I assume is their XO, some sort of an Orion who looks almost like a Scottish Orion. He’s got this Furiosa black paint across his eyes and this big, giant, shaggy, bushy red beard and red hair, the whole nine yards.
Pike’s working this guy, and come to find out nobody on the ship likes this dude. So Pike and Una are like, okay, it’s time for us to infiltrate, time for us to use the plan. She’s like, do you mean? And he’s like, oh yeah.
I’m not going to spoil everything. Watch the episode. It’s a fun little inside joke of a name, and I’ll talk about it more on Trek Talk Tuesday, but I want you to see it first.
It’s just so funny, though. They go to give him food and he’s like, you call this food? Remember, Pike cooks. So he says, look, how about this, let me make your crew a meal. He’s trying to get into their heads the whole time. And it’s not only that the crew doesn’t like the XO. They don’t like his plans either. Pike’s telling him, yeah, you should totally sell us to the Klingons, and the crew doesn’t like the Klingons. They don’t like dealing with them. They may or may not like slavery, who knows, but at the end of the day they don’t like dealing with the Klingons, that’s for sure.
That’s really what’s going on over there. Pike’s saying we have to get into their heads, because if you can cause a mutiny of some sort, then there’s a chance on that ship.
We’re Getting Sybok
Back on the Enterprise, Aspen contacts the one person who might care that Spock has been taken, because Aspen has an ulterior motive. You’d think pirates are in it to get the Enterprise and sell it for parts and scrap, but Aspen doesn’t even want money. What Aspen wants is a Vulcan criminal husband released. And that’s when Spock realizes who they’re talking about.
For those of you playing at home, Sybok was created in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. It’s the one that, notoriously and infamously, William Shatner directed. It’s not the greatest entry in the motion picture franchise. They go find God beyond the barrier at the center of the universe, and you’re like, okay, fine, I get it.
I’m actually very excited for this concept. I like when you dig into areas like that, because when Star Trek V came out people were like, what? Half brother? We’ve never heard a half brother mentioned before. Well, there you go. And I bet you that when him and Sybok meet, Spock will be the one to tell Sybok about Burnham. Sybok may not like Burnham, and that’s fine. I don’t know the situation. But I can’t wait to see what happens, because I feel like it’s going to be an interesting encounter.
This is also one of the first major plot points that feels like it goes beyond our episodic status. We’ve always said that even though the show is episodic, if somebody gets a scar, guess what, next episode that scar is there. So there’s definitely something to be said for the characters having their own universe and their own feeling of being lived in. I’m interested to see what they’re going to do with it. I’m interested to see if this leads to maybe a two-parter or something bigger. I would really like to see where this goes.
The Verdict
Strange New Worlds “The Serene Squall” lands at a 7 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.
It’s not a bad episode. I thought it was a good episode. It was passable. There was nothing exceptional or incredible about it, but it was a decent episode. It was an episode of Star Trek, come on.
I think it’s more member berries than anything. I feel like in last week’s episode you got more of the series’ own voice, and this one is more of a return to form. It lets everybody know, hey, it’s cool, I’m glad you like what we’ve been doing, here’s a little more of the traditional stuff you’re used to. The quirky alien thing and whatnot.
I feel like this is where I’d land if I was to actually sit back and go through Next Generation episodes like I do these, one at a time, through the entire series. And who knows, that might be something on the horizon, depending on how busy things get. Although right now I’m having trouble just getting Trek Talk Tuesday out on time. I’m going to get these scheduling issues fixed, I promise.
So yeah, man. I liked the episode. I think they’re doing some interesting things. It wasn’t incredible or stellar, but I’m here for it.
Drop a comment on the video above and let me know what you thought about the episode. I’d love to hear your take. And leave your questions there for Trek Talk Tuesday, because we’re going to talk about them then.
