Every once in a while, a very special episode of television comes along, and it should always be celebrated. This isn’t the kind of “very special episode” where parents sit down with their kids and talk about the dangers of going home with strangers or doing drugs. This kind of special episode is all about making sure that eyes are absolutely glued to the screen from beginning to end.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsmanaged to come up with one of those kinds of episodes in just its fourth installment of the new series. The best news of all is that this particular episode comes after theprevious episode ofStrange New Worldsleft a bit to be desired. It turns out the series made quite the comeback with its follow-up.
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The title of the fourth episode of the newStar Trekspinoff definitely hinted that something big was coming. “Memento Mori” is a phrase and a theme that has been used in television a lot, but it seems as if there have been few episodes that managed to really embody the phrase the way thatStrange New Worldsmanaged. The Latin phrase translates to “remember that you must die.” While this was certainly a hint that people were indeed going to lose their lives, it also has an interesting history behind it that hinted at what else audiences might have in store.
Hubris On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
The legend behind this particular phase is that in ancient Rome, slaves would be trailing behind famous generals during parades and whispering Memento Mori. The point of this was to let even the most lauded and successful warriors in the land understand that sooner or later, they were going to meet their end. That theme certainly shows up early and often in this particular episode of Strange New Worlds and best of all, the idea presents itself in a way that it couldapply to both the Enterpriseand its crew as well as its adversaries.
In the end, there’s a definite statement as to who it applies to more, but the fact that it’s a little open-ended is why this episode is as good as it is. It also needs to be pointed out thatAnson Mount did another great job as a Captain Pikethat has the usual belief in the fact that his crew and his ship are almost unbeatable. At the same time, he quickly understands that he’s not quite as powerful as he might have thought when the show began. He also tends to realize quite quickly that the adversary he’s going up against are quite formidable.
This episode is the first real introduction of a race that has been hinted at since the start ofStrange New Worlds. The Gorn have finally arrived and it turns out that their introduction likely means they are going to have at least some sort of presence throughout the rest of the season. For those who are notStar Trekoriginal series fans, this particular race of lizard-humanoid hybrids was first introducedwhen Captain James T. Kirk did battlewith one. That battle has become one of the more iconic ones in the franchise, even if it is a bit comical when looking back at it today.
The Gorn have largely been a bit of an afterthought, perhaps because its hard to make a lizard race walking on two legs not look a little odd no matter how good the special effects are. That’s also allowed canon for all the shows to basically make the race one of those no one in Star Fleet knows that much about. The mystery behind this kind of alien also made them theperfect boogeyman forStrange New Worlds.
The program does a very good job of making them a boogeyman as well because it’s not afraid to make it very clear that crew members died in the confrontation with The Gorn. It adds heft to the episode as a whole, especially considering that it started off by pointing out that people have already lost their lives in service to Star Fleet. Talking about the people who have died in such a real way feels like something new to the Star Trek universe, even if fans know that death has absolutely happened before. The franchise has largely painted over that realization. This time around it was the focus.
Dive Dive Dive!
There was a ton to like aboutthis episode ofStar Trek: Strange New Worldsbut one of the most interesting decisions by the writers and showrunner that really paid off was the idea to take a starship and put it in a situation that was incredibly reminiscent of a story set in a submarine. The Enterprise took quite a lot of damage in the initial volley against The Gorn and that led to the crew needing to use their scanners and other devices much in the same way submarines use radar. There were even quite a few scenes where Spock was peeking into a device that did indeed look like something that could be found on a sub.
The submarine theme of the episode even went so far as to knock out the environmental controls so that it was hot inside the ship, making everyone appear sweaty in a way that people could expect them to look when they are inside the hull of a heated tub miles beneath the surface of the water. The finishing touch on this effect was when the Enterprise found itself inside a brown dwarf star, that had a gravitational effect of crushing ships, much like going deeper underwater. All of this combined to pull off the look and feel of this part of the show quite well, and it was quite entertaining.
Overall, there was just a ton to like about what this week’s installment ofStar Trek: Strange New Worldshad to offer. It was the kind of episode that should make viewers excited to see what comes from the rest of the season.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsairs every Thursday on Paramount Plus
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