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Posted in: CBS, Review, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Anson Mount, Christina Chong, Ethan Peck, GORN, Review, star trek, strange new worlds
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S01E04 Review: Gorn, But Not Forgotten
We're starting to find out how brilliant of a tactician Capt. Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is becoming in the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Memento Mori". Fans only got a taste of his ingenuity and thinking on his feet at the ship level in the second episode "Children of the Comet," but the latest really blows it away as it shows once again what made the series and by extension, the franchise so special in its scrappy and resourceful nature. In many ways as, an audience, we're often spoiled by what technology allows us to do, and what separates quality science fiction from the rest is finding the perseverance and resolve to see problems through on a personal, intimate & human ways. This is your minor spoilers warning.
"Memento Mori" starts off a bit somberly as Pike announces a day of remembrance for those lost during the act of duty, which centers more on La'an (Christina Chong) who becomes pensive about losing a loved one. While forgoing her commemorative pin, the Enterprise security chief insists on showing her continued strength by her lack of emotion… which doesn't go unnoticed. A distress signal summons them for a rescue mission that sees another ship decimated from a mysterious threat, which later turns out to be an ambush by a legacy adversary in the Gorn. While we don't physically see those flying the ships, they're opportunistic nearly crippling the Enterprise during their initial attack mid-rescue.
The rest of the episode becomes a fascinating cerebral chess match as Pike uses his existing environment the best way he can, which The Original Series' fans likely would appreciate. Aside from La'an trying to overcome the abilities of her sworn enemy, we also see Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Hemmer (Bruce Horak) trapped in engineering with one of them physically compromised & in the sickbay, first officer Una (Rebecca Romijn) critically-wounded with M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Chapel (Jess Bush) trying their best to triage her with diminished ship resources.
No one is wasted as everyone has their equal parts to play particularly the bridge crew with Pike, Spock (Ethan Peck), La'an, and Ortegas (Melissa Navia) working so well as a cohesive unit off of each other. Outside of TOS, the Gorn weren't explored much within Star Trek lore, and even as a faceless enemy in "Memento Mori", the showrunners scored major points making them even more badass. Directed by Dan Liu and written by Davy Perez and Beau DeMayo, it's not a stretch to say the episode offers the best in ship-to-ship tactical combat in the Paramount+ era.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 4 "Memento Mori"
9/10
No one is wasted as everyone has their equal parts to play particularly the bridge crew with Anson Mount's Pike, Ethan Peck's Spock, Christina Chong's La’an, and Melissa Navia's Ortegas working so well as a cohesive unit, playing off of each other. Outside of TOS, the Gorn weren’t explored much within Star Trek lore, and even as a faceless enemy in “Memento Mori”, the showrunners scored bonus points making them even more badass. Directed by Dan Liu and written by Davy Perez and Beau DeMayo, it’s not a stretch to say the episode offers the best in ship-to-ship tactical combat in the Paramount+ era so far.
Credits
Director
Dan Liu
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