Strange New Worlds Season 2 Ep 8 is the eighth instalment of the second season of an American scifi space opera television drama created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet for the streaming service Paramount+. A spin-off of the Discovery series, Strange New Worlds features the USS Enterprise captained by Christopher Pike and set a decade before the events in the original Star Trek TV series.
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Entitled “Under the Cloak of War”, Strange New Worlds Season 2 Ep 8 is a ball of confusion that tries its best to be a commentary about war but instead seems to condone vigilante justice and murder! How else to interpret the manner in which M’Benga’s murder of the Klingon ambassador Dak’Rah as somehow heroic? We watched that closing sequence quite a few times but the episode only showed us the action from outside the medical centre from Chapel’s perspective. It is that ambiguity that is disturbing.
That said, this entry has been built up rather nicely in the previous episodes with allusions to past shared history of M’Benga and Chapel during the Klingon war. Remember that Pike and the Enterprise were far away during the war and only returned to Earth after the war was over – as depicted in Discovery Season 2. Presumably, this focus on M’Benga’s PTSD was part of his character development but still there’s some concern that he allowed his hatred of Dak’Rah to bypass due process and assume the role of judge, jury and executioner!
In the final analysis, while it is commendable that Strange New Worlds Season 2 Ep 8 took some risks in plot and characterisation, we hope that this moral lapse will be addressed in subsequent episodes (or seasons) as surely, this ambiguity needs to be resolved. Thought-provoking and for that reason, recommended.
Now streaming on Amazon | Read our analyses of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
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