“Among the Lotus Eaters”
What They Say:
Returning to a planet that dredges up tragic memories, Captain Pike and his landing party find themselves forgetting everything, including their own identities as he confronts a ghost from his past.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Strange New Worlds gives us a very TOS-y episode this week while also establishing plenty of ongoing plot material. The show has been really good in capturing that story of the week mindset that a lot of fans have missed from the current slate of shows and while there are the usual logic issues you have to ignore with some of this, trying to tell a complex setting and story in under an hour while balancing all the character needs, it’s easy enough to just enjoy the basics of it. It’s also an episode that does some character focus in a good way with it being partially on Pike but also giving Ortegas some time – albeit not a backstory episode which was a plus because I just want to see more of her.
The main story focuses on the Enterprise being dispatched to Rigel VII which is the location of a past mission a few years ago (and referenced previously) where Pike lost a trio of crewmembers on an away mission. The mission was one that was to a bronze-age kind of industrial world in development but because of the nature of the atmosphere they weren’t and didn’t prepare enough and the mission went badly – so much so that Spock almost died on it. Their retreat caused them to lose three members but it also looks like some of their gear was left behind unknowingly. When a new scan of the world was done recently, it revealed the Starfleet delta symbol in one of the castle gardens and that means Pike screwed up even more than they realized. So they get the courtesy call to go and fix their mistake.
The mission is one that’s complicated on-world by the fact that people lose their memories after a few hours and it becomes more of a problem as time goes on. They lose track of time initially with some tinnitus-like effects (which is hell on people like me that have it because the use of the sound essentially activates mine into overdrive). The away mission has Pike bringing La’An and M’Benga with him as both can handle themselves without phasers and do the physical thing – not something M’Benga is happy to be known for – but it doesn’t become much of an issue as the nature of the world subdues them over time. What makes it worse, however, is that it turns out one of the previous away team members survived unbeknownst to Pike and essentially used his knowledge and minor skills to set himself up as a ruler as he figured out the trick to avoid losing his memories.
The episode does well in showing the trio blanking on time and finding themselves thrown into the field as workers and manual laborers while learning some of the local customs through an older man named Luq and it humanizes things if you don’t think through the reality too far of raising kids, families, and so forth. Pike’s naturally doing his best even after losing memories to resist and it leads to a good sequence of confrontation and discovery while also helping him to work through some of the guilt he felt – though certainly a new layer of guilt was added because of the stranded crewmember. It is, admittedly, not a terribly memorable storyline overall but it touches on Pike’s past as referenced in The Cage storyline with what he lost prior to that and helps to flesh out the timeline and dangers a bit more.
The Ortegas part of the story is that she’s excited to be brought onto the mission to pilot down to the surface as they needed someone with skill. She’s rarely away mission material but once she gets the chance she’s all-in on it, and then disappointed to be kept on the Enterprise to deal with navigating the asteroids and other material that rings the planet. The ship as the b-plot gets to deal with the Rigel VII issue impacting them as well as they stayed longer than last time and it’s enjoyable to watch as Ortegas loses her memory but rediscovers herself through the ship’s computer and uses the natural talent and muscle memory to save the day in that cocky way that is definitely in the tradition of characters like Hikaru Sulu and Tom Paris.
The more interesting plot to me was the C-plot where we get the fallout from the trial coming through in subtle ways. Since Captain Batel was involved in that, she and Pike are still trying to maintain their relationship but we see that because of that, some above who dislike Pike are punishing him through her, such as her being passed over for a commodore position. Pike’s guilt over that, and knowing his future even though she’s helped him deal with that a bit, has him pushing her away when they do get some brief time together. It does wrap around easily at the end with what he learns from his away mission, but the complexity of a captain’s life is handled well here as the two can understand each other and the ongoing interruptions. But both also have additional weight impacting them and touching on that was really nice done. Plus, Melanie Scrofano with the costume and hair design here so perfectly captures an updated 1960s TOS vibe that makes me wish we had a spinoff to follow her.
In Summary:
This show continues to scratch a very welcome itch for me as it provides larger continuity and context but works a standalone piece. I do hope for more episodes with everyone together as these first four have spread the main cast around a lot and without a lot of interaction between them. The smaller pairings and dynamics work well but it feels very isolated with how they all are. It’s perhaps a bit of the sophomore blues thing but it’s not diminishing my enjoyment at all and it’s not just repeating the same thing it did in the first season. The small things are what spark my imagination here, such as what we get with Batel, and just the little nods and overall building of this period from fresh eyes with time to invest in it makes me smile a whole lot.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Paramount+
