'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Finale Review! No Fridge for Capt. Batel, and A Wee Surprise
SPOILER ALERT! My review of the Strange New Worlds season finale is here! Plus: More deadly fires in Hawaii. A no-hitter! Why have boycotters targeted Best Buy? And: Meet the queer stars of Trek
Good morning and welcome to Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Thanks for rising up with me one more time! I ask Star Trek fans to maintain orbit while we look back at history and all the day’s news, before we sail off into the final frontier!
On This Day:
It took until this day in 1776 for the British to learn of the Declaration of Independence.
The NYPD arrested David Berkowitz, the notorious Son of Sam serial killer on this day in 1977.
And the first PG-13 movie was released on this day in 1984. Do you remember its title?
Find the answer at the end of today’s newsletter!
Here Now the News:
AT LEAST 36 DEAD IN HAWAII WILDFIRES: The New York Times
CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF ECUADOR SHOT AND KILLED: CBS Miami
UTAH MAN WHO THREATENED BIDEN, HARRIS AND NYC D.A. KILLED BY FBI: Politico
PRESIDENT BIDEN ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER RESTRICTING U.S. INVESTMENT IN CHINA: The Associated Press
UKRAINE ANNOUNCES NEW BLACK SEA CORRIDOR FOR SHIPPING: Reuters
REMEMBERING GUITARIST, SINGER, COMPOSER ROBBIE ROBERTSON: NYT
TAYLOR SWIFT WILL RELEASE NEW VERSION OF “1989” IN OCTOBER: Washington Post and Rolling Stone
Politicukoos
TRUMP PLEDGES HE WON’T SIGN GOP UNITY PLEDGE, IF HE DEBATES: NBC News
TWO TRUMP AIDES FACE FEDERAL CHARGES TODAY IN FLORIDA CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE: Sun Sentinel
SPECIAL COUNSEL OBTAINED SEARCH WARRANT FOR TRUMP’S TWITTER ACCOUNT: Politico
HOUSE GOP CLAIMS IT HAS MORE EVIDENCE OF BIDEN FAMILY CORRUPTION: USA Today
“DEEPFAKES” COMPLICATE CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN TRAIL: Politico
OHIO SHOWS DEMOCRATS A PATH TO VICTORY IN 2024: A.P.
Healthwatch
DOES WINE GO BAD? HOW LONG SHOULD YOU KEEP IT AFTER OPENING? Bon Appetit
STUDY SAYS THIS MEDICATION MAY LEAD TO DEMENTIA: Jerusalem Post
4,000 STEPS A DAY CAN KEEP YOU FROM DYING FROM ANY CAUSE: Washington Post
101-YEAR-OLD DOCTOR OFFERS ADVICE FOR KEEPING YOUR BRAIN SHARP: CNBC
OMG news
PHILLIES’ MICHAEL LORENZEN THROWS NO-HITTER IN DEBUT: ESPN
MOVE OVER, BUD LIGHT: NEXT TARGET FOR “ANTI-WOKE” BOYCOTTERS IS BEST BUY: A management training opportunity for Best Buy employees representing marginalized groups is being circulated as “racist” against whites. —The Street
Trans World
JK ROWLING’S TRANSPHOBIA HAS COST HER MILLIONS: Inside the Magic
STUDY OF POST-OP TRANSGENDER PATIENTS FINDS NO REGRETS: CNN
TRUMP VOWS TO REINSTATE BAN ON TRANS MILITARY SERVICE IF RE-ELECTED: Attitude
BAKERSFIELD BOARD OF ED MEETING ERUPTS OVER “PARENTAL RIGHTS” TO NOTIFICATION REGARDING TRANS IDENTITY IN SCHOOLS: Bakersfield.com
Star Trek Corner
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t yet watched Episode 10 of Star Trek Strange New Worlds, “Hegemony,” be prepared for spoilers regarding today’s season finale now streaming on Paramount+!
MY REVIEW: What a blockbuster finale! What a cliffhanger! Anson Mount (“Capt. Christopher Pike”) delivers his strongest performance of the season after several episodes in which just his facial expressions made all the difference. This is also another opportunity to enjoy the immense talent of Jess Bush (“Nurse Christine Chapel”) and even fans of Sam Kirk (played by Dan Jeannotte) will be happy to see him conquer his fear of… THE GORN.
Yes, the Gorn are back, as promised since the season two opener, and for the first time, to the likely chagrin of some fans, we see an adult Gorn in action. No rubber suit or silly tunic, and a very menacing and quite useful scaled tail.
So, the TOS episode, “Arena,” in which Kirk and Spock have never ever heard of the Gorn, let alone met one, has been retconned, which Trek Culture’s Seán Ferrick is likely to note in this week’s “Ups and Downs” video may be the result of time travel shenanigans by the Romulans as explained in the episode, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” We’ll see!
As for the plot: Capt. Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano) and the crew of the U.S.S. Cayuga are on a priority one assignment to Parnassus Beta, helping colonists on this world just outside Federation space with supplies and vaccinations. Nurse Chapel is assisting in exchange for a lift to her fellowship with Dr. Roger Korby. Chapel beams up just before Batel receives a flirty videocall from her boyfriend, Capt. Pike. Their conversation is interrupted when a shuttlecraft crash lands and a big bad spaceship appears over the colony’s town square, a recreation of a quaint slice of Midwest America.
That choice of setting not only saved the producers some bucks but its familiarity to most viewers — a jungle gym, a sidewalk cafe, a barber shop — makes what happens next even more horrifying. The Gorn invade Parnassus Beta, and destroy the Cayuga in the process.
Admiral Robert April (“Bob” to Pike, since he was the first captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, played by Adrian Holmes) warns Pike to not fuck up relations with the Gorn since this happened over the border, especially since his girlfriend is there.
Seeing the Cayuga in pieces, unable to communicate or beam down, Pike proceeds to fuck things up by mounting a rescue mission. Erica Ortega (Melissa Navia) finally gets an away mission, piloting the shuttle to the plane tusing Han Solo’s Empire Strikes Back trick of flying amid the garbage.
Dr. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and La’An Noonian Singh (Christina Chong) are along for the ride with Sam Kirk, who in the prior season lost his shit when the Gorn came calling. He’s got a suped-up phaser this time around and a new set of balls to go with them.
La’An notes the youngling Gorn are behaving differently than before, and she would know, having survived them as a child.
And then the Enterprise crew meet a new character to conclude this season, a young man with a Scottish accent: Lt. j.g. Montgomery Scott! This legendary character from The Original Series, played by Martin Quinn — an actual Scotsman for the first time — is a delight. He is crafty, cute and clever, with some great lines written by co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers.
Scotty leads the crew to Batel, the team from the Cayuga and what’s left of the colony survivors, holed up in a blood-smeared diner. Batel offers Pike a hug then recriminations for coming to her rescue. But Pike hatches a plan to save them using Scotty’s shuttlecraft, which he engineered to masquerade as if it were operated by the Gorn.
There, that word “hatches” really comes into play as it is revealed Batel has been impregnated by the Gorn and she has maybe a day left before the hatchlings erupt from her body and kill her. Tell me that scene in Scotty’s shuttlecraft isn’t a ripoff of Alien 3 and I’ll sell you a beautiful bridge that links Manhattan to Brooklyn. It’s effective, but it’s hardly original.
Back on the Enterprise, Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Pelia (Carol Kane) pitch a plan to Spock (Ethan Peck) and Una (Rebecca Romijn) to throw the damaged saucer section of the Cayuga at the Gorn tower on the planet that is disrupting transport and communication.
Turns out, Chapel isn’t dead, but she’s about to be, because she’s on what’s left of that saucer, and Spock is en route via jetpack to attach some rockets. The look on her face when she sees the Enterprise out her window, and then Spock, is priceless.
This is the scene where canon-ites will lose their minds, because Chapel, and then Spock and Chapel, encounter a space-helmet wearing Gorn adult. Fortunately for Spock, Chapel is able to save the day with a well-aimed phaser shot. They hold hands. Cue “awwwww.”
The saucer hits the Gorn thingy and the blackout is ended. Spock and Chapel are rescued. Pike beams Batel and Scotty up to the Enterprise — wait, what? Isn’t that a bit of a risk, Chris? I mean, she’s pregnant with Gorn babies! Hoo boy. Chapel, who told Spock to “save it for later” when he finally gets to apologize (not really sure why he’s the one apologizing since it’s Chapel who broke up with him!), puts Batel in a stasis field.
But no, the show does NOT fridge Batel, even though she is on ice. “Fridging” is what fans call the habit TV producers have of killing a female character to offer motivation to a male character. And hey, Chapel lives to see another day, too, because, well, she has to, for The Original Series and several movies to work!
So all that’s left is to beam up the Cayuga and colony survivors, who are seen beaming up… but not to the Enterprise.
Rut roh.
The Gorn attack, Adm. April calls Pike to get the hell out of there, and Mount looks positively paralyzed as to what to do. His people, his girlfriend’s crew, the civilians, are prisoners, Batel has maybe hours left to live, and the ship is under intense fire, and that’s when those awful words appear:
TO BE CONTINUED…
Not since “Best of Both Worlds” has there been a cliffhanger this awesome and frustrating!
Still, I loved the episode and give it five out of five Vulcan salutes! 🖖🏻🖖🏻🖖🏻🖖🏻🖖🏻
MY CONVERSATIONS WITH QUEER STARS OF STAR TREK: This was recorded in June, prior to the writers’ and actors’ strike, and does not promote the shows in keeping with union guidelines.
I interviewed Jess Bush, Melissa Navia, Celia Rose Gooding, Wilson Cruz and Blu del Barrio on the red carpet at the Outright International gala about being queer and representation.
Also, as a special bonus, I included an exclusive Q&A session following Anthony Rapp’s performance of “Without You” off-Broadway on June 8, featuring his talk with Cruz and del Barrio, who joined him on stage!
HOW TO VIEW EVERY SEASON OF EVERY STAR TREK SERIES: Click here to subscribe to Paramount+
DID YOU GUESS CORRECTLY? The answer to the question about which movie was the first film rated PG-13, released on this day in 1984, is Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey of “Dirty Dancing” (“Nobody puts Commies in the corner!”) as well as Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell and Lea Thompson. Sure, you know her from “Back to the Future,” but did you know Thompson also directed episodes of Star Trek Picard?
That’s all for this edition! I’ll be back Monday morning with the stories you need to rise up and start your day. Until then… May your news be good news!
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