“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” season 2 finale, “Hegemony,” things weren’t going too well. The vicious alien Gorn had abducted half of the bridge crew. War between Starfleet and the Gorn risked going hot. Captain Pike’s (Anson Mount) lover Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano) was infected with Gorn hatchlings. Pike himself was paralyzed by indecision as the Gorn ships bore down on the Enterprise; Admiral April (Adrian Holmes) called the Enterprise back to the fleet, not leaving them time to rescue their shipmates. The ship’s second in command, Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), called for orders from the helm, but Pike didn’t give them.
As chilling a place as that was to leave “Strange New Worlds” season 2, we should’ve known the Enterprise crew would rise to the job. Pike’s silent freeze up was just a pause, not a breakdown. Pike pulls a classic Starfleet trick: Obey orders, but not to the letter. Since April didn’t order them back immediately, the Enterprise stays long enough to plant a tracking beacon on the Gorn ship (disguised with a dud torpedo) and then flies off. From there, the episode’s multiple threads tie together into a pretty clean victory for the good guys.
