The crew of the Enterprise confronts trauma from the Klingon-Federation War when their current mission requires them to transport a Klingon defector turned ambassador to his next mission.
Last week, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds presented fans with one of the most fun episodes of Star Trek in sometime when the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos from Lower Decks crossed over with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise on Strange New Worlds. The episode was fun and lighthearted. This week, Strange New Worlds takes the complete opposite tone with a dark tale about several deep war related themes. When the Enterprise is ordered to transport Ambassador Dak’Rah to Starbase 12, the veterans of the Klingon-Federation War have a difficult time coming to grips with the reality of their situation. Dak’Rah defected from the Klingon Empire and joined the Federation. Dak’Rah is also known as “the Butcher of J’Gal” for slaughtering his own men before he defected. Although he claims to be ashamed and disgusted by the atrocities of the Klingons, Dr. M’Benga, Nurse Chapel, and Lt. Ortega harbor doubts acquired from their service in the war. Redemption, justice, and the effect of war are all themes highlighted in this powerful and impactful episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The character of Dak’Rah, the Klingon defector turned Federation ambassador,
- Nurse Chapel’s arrival on the moon of J’Gal,
- Dr. M’Benga’s complicated history as a member of Starfleet’s Black Ops,
- The cost, consequences, and horrors of war the episode illustrates,
- The truth behind Dak’Rah’s defection to the Federation, and
- The ambiguous nature of the conclusion of the episode and the discussion it creates.
Theme music licensed from MediaMusicNow.
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Welcome to Warp Trails. This weekly show reviews each episode of Star Trek, from Discovery to Picard and Lower Decks, the latest incarnations of Star Trek airing on CBS All Access, and discusses Star Trek news. Your hosts are Dennis and Beth Keithly, a husband and wife team living in Texas. Beth is an old school fan of Star Trek whose fandom is grounded in The Original Series. Meanwhile, Dennis is a relatively more recent fan who traces his fandom to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. Since they met, Dennis and Beth made consumption of Star Trek content part of their weekly routine. The have also named four of their past six pets after Star Trek characters.
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