At long last, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is back, and finally giving us the thrills and action Star Trek fans have waited two years for!
When we last left the crew of the Enterprise, they were on a rescue mission to save both colonists and a Starfleet crew captained by Captain Pike’s old flame Batel (Melanie Scrofano), who were under attack by the Gorn. They found Batel, but she’d been infested with Gorn eggs. The final scene had Pike being ordered to retreat despite several crew members being held captive by the Gorn.
So, after so long a wait, how do we proceed?
On the hunt
“Hegemony Part II” wastes no time with setup, picking up right where we left off. With the Gorn closing in, the crew throws out ideas, including using a torpedo as a tracking device on the ship, which will require them to ram the Gorn ship. It works and the Enterprise escapes.
Chapel sees to the injured Bartel, sedating her only for her system to go into shock as she’s allergic to cryostasis, meaning she has less than a day to live. Admiral April orders Pike to stand down, saying the Federation can’t risk a conflict with the Gorn over some non-Federation citizens. Pike fires back that the Gorn will continue to push into Federation space, and by the time the Federation recognizes the threat, it’d be too late. April gives “official” orders to monitor the borders, but off the record, told Pike he was free to punch back.
On the Gorn ship, La’An, Ortegas, Sam Kirk, and M’Benga pull themselves out of disgusting cocoons; the Gorn’s “engine room” is a digestive system, either to fuel the ship or just for nutrition. La’An fights off memories of her Gorn experiences as Sam finds a pack of weapons. "Everyone who is still alive gets home,” La’An declares.
Meanwhile, young Montgomery Scott gets experience trying to meet an impossible deadline as he deals with the tracking device. Peila hilariously encourages him by acting like the ship is about to explode, which forces him to solve the problem in seconds. A couple of Gorn probes fly by to show that the masking device worked.
Races against time
Chapel and Spock go over Bartel’s scans and learn she's likely going to die from the infection. Spock finds time to apologize to Chapel for their argument, and she admits she's still going for her three-month study. Eventually, they hit on the idea of using Illyrian blood to bolster Bartel's system enough to get through surgery.
Back on the Gorn ship, the quartet’s plan (to use the term generously) is to steal a smaller ship to get the prisoners out. Number One and Uhura brief Pike on how the Gorn go into hibernation cycles, and that they’re about to embark on a cycle of aggression. Una can tell Pike is distracted by Bartel. The ship tracks the Gorn to the radiation field, which is too dangerous to follow. They're stunned to see the Gorn ship hang between two stars, then vanish, using the sun’s gravity to make an undetectable warp and basically cloaking their homeworld from the rest of the galaxy.
A massive Gorn fleet heads into space, and Pike has the tough choice of abandoning the crew or warning the Federation. He's forced to do the latter, leaving a communications buoy. Chapel and Spock operate on Bartel while the Enterprise follows the armada, hopelessly outgunned.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, Episode 1 recap: "Hegemony, Part II"
Cue Pike getting a brainstorm: Using the star to create a stellar flare that will trigger the Gorn’s hibernation cycle. Scotty argues it's impossible, with Perila coming up with a way to magnetize the shields to protect them from the flare.
Another brainstorm has Spock and Chapel realize that rather than treat Bartel, they’ll overfeed the Gorn elements and flush them out. M’Benga gives La’An a pep talk on keeping herself cool and La’An manages to work the Gorn’s version of computer systems to get the transporter buffer codes which will allow the Enterprise to save the colonists. Of course, the Gorn pick just this moment to attack.
The firefight lets La’An exorcise her demons as she blows away a Gorn about to feed on Ortegas. The Enterprise launches its own attack on the Gorn ship, the shields drawing in the star’s energies while a wounded Ortegas pilots a Gorn shuttle through the main ship in an intense sequence. La’An is able to communicate with the Enterprise and tells them to beam the captives out of the Gorn ship as the Gorn are forced to retreat under the stellar assault. While Una is happy about the Gorn going into hibernation, Pike worries that they're just making it someone else’s problem.
Chapel bids Spock goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. Pike checks on a stable Bartel in sickbay, defending what he did to save her as the Enterprise flies off.
This episode was just pure action from start to finish, a terrific, thrilling ride with enough good character beats to keep it going. It was worth the wait for Strange New Worlds fans. "Hegemony, Part II" kicks off season 3 in a wild way that hints at even crazier things ahead.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+.
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