IR TV Review: STAR TREK - STRANGE NEW WORLDS - EPISODE 1 & 2 (“Hegemony Part II” & “Wedding Bell Blues”)[Paramount+-S3]
The context of reciprocation is understanding why a certain action gives rise to an equal and opposite reaction…sometimes. With the two episode premiere of Season 3 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds", the series talks to its legacy but also about moving forward. One of the main points in the two separate episodes is the possibility of loss and how it affects how people deal with certain situations. Of course at the end of the last season with the .cliffhanger, the big context was the romance between Spock and Nurse Chapel which is one of the high points of the series because the writers know how to play but it also how to not quite give into it. The new season leans completely into this but also withdraws in certain ways.
Of course the premiere episode "Hegemony Part II" does need to solve (and resolve) the ending discussion of the Gorn last season. It actually does it quite well in bringing science in because what motivates what we saw at the end of last season, specifically with the offspring is nicely highlighted. and brought to bear The influx of the young Montgomery Scott does add to the fun because his humor adds a bit of liveliness like Simon Pegg did as Scotty in the reboot. What also really works well against that is how he becomes the naughty school boy in a way to Carol Kane's quirky schoolmaster. Of course there is also another key romance. In this episode, however it is really Jess Bush and Christina Chong who really shine since their characters are going through very different things.
Chapel might be having an existential crisis of sorts while Spock is more in a crisis of a human kind. Pike on the other hand is wrestling with what is important in his life. It is in no specific context that with the end of the 5th season we might see where his journey takes a shift. Right now Chapel is dealing with the center of his universe which becomes an interesting quandry. Again in this episode operates with Scott providing the bridge. Chong as Noonien Singh shows the trauma that underlies her in the Gorn. A specific progression into the belly of the beast is what shows this very starkly even as the end of the episode tries to place all the characters in a better spot.
That is why following it up in the same premiere spot with "Wedding Bell Blues" works undeniably well and incorporates a small time jump which makes sense. But it uses a interesting play from TOS series…but in a different way that is almost wistful although it is interesting to see that one character doesn't retrieve the difference later. But the episode does promote wishful thinking in an interesting way and what could be but also what might be lost forever or at least buried (which by the way “Discovery” did in a similar way with one of our favorite characters in its second season).
Again the turn of events brings out the balance of logic and emotion in one of the characters in a way that is humorous but also foreboding. This is also true for many of the other characters. One does want to see them in spots of joy of course because life cannot be just one stressful situation after another. A specific moment of a bachelor party is that wonderful brief glimpse that SNW once in a while gives of its characters. But as always there is something brewing in the wings as the last shot of Episode 2 indicates even if the irony of the episode is all but whisked away.
"Hegemony Part II" A-
"Wedding Bell Blues" B
By Tim Wassberg
