On first viewing, this season falls flat, to the point of making you wonder whether the show lost one of its essential writers. It fares better in a second viewing, but the flaws don't fully fade. Not enough uhura or number one, and a season-opening clank of epic proportion.
-Hegemony, Part II **
Tight and dark ensemble work, as the ship is alone deep in gorn territory, scrambling to prevent a full-scale invasion of Federation space. The solution is a forgivable re-use from STARGATE: ATLANTIS...but far less pardonable is the image of pike praying over a doomed comrade. We cringed when kira did it, but this is far less justifiable.
-Wedding Bell Blues ***
Chapel shows up with new beau roger corby...and suddenly the crew is preparing for spock and chapel's wedding! Corby is the only one who knows reality is wrong, but he can't convince anyone of that fact...especially the puckish wedding planner, who turns out to be our very own...Q! Or trelane, if you will. And we will! Impishly propelled by rhys darby (FLIGHT OF THE CHOCHORDS, OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH), the episode resolves when spock is jarred by corby into an emotional outburst, and regains his senses. The icing on this cake is the voice of john de lancie as trelane's father.
-Shuttle to Kenfori **
The gorn DNA in captain batel (melanie scrofano - WYNONNA EARP, LETTERKENNY) reactivates, forcing pike to take the ship into the klingon neutral zone, for a floral cure. It's a deal with the devil which will make the gorn DNA permanent. Not bad, but the zombies and vengeful klingon feel a bit uninspired.
-A Space Adventure Hour ***
La'an is assigned with testing the experimental "holodeck", and finds herself locked into a 20th-century murder mystery with the safety protocols disabled until she solves the crime. A love letter to the show's history, as she plays a 1969 Hollywood detective investigating a campy sci fi show modeled after TREK itself. The cast stretch their chops, playing very different characters (including another fine turn by paul wesley, sending up the kirk persona). Directed by jonathan frakes, it's thoroughly charming and damn near four stars.
-Through the Lens of Time ***
An archaeological mission under the guidance of corby encounters deadly disaster, as they unknowingly awaken an ancient, malevolent non-corporeal alien who inhabits the body of nurse gamble. This triggers a body-snatching transformation in captain patel as well. The away team must navigate an extra-dimensional maze to return to safety.
-The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail ***
Enterprise races to the aid of the Farragut, which has been crippled by an outsized, unknown scavenger ship. When the ship returns, spock, chapel, uhura, and scotty are trapped aboard Farragut as the Enterprise is swallowed. Kirk is thrust into command, and reacts with recklessness and crippling uncertainty. Pelia uses 20th-century phones to re-establish ship communication. The triumph is perhaps too easy, but a fine character study foreshadowing a crew to come.
-What is Starfleet? ***
This one bangs harder on the four-star door than any other entry this season. Ortegas' civilian brother is aboard, creating a documentary. His angle is adversarial, as he questions whether the Federation is just a colonizing empire. This is a fair question, especially as nick meyer, one of the most influential creators in TREK history, willfully pushed the franchise in a "gunboat diplomacy" direction.
-Four-and-a-Half Vulcans ***
An away team has their DNA temporarily altered to become vulcan, to save a pre-warp planet where vulcans have already broken the prime directive. Using vulcan logic, the team decides to remain vulcan (though la'an feels rather more romulan than vulcan). A curious vulcan katra expert (patton oswalt - MAGNOLIA, CAPRICA), who has a steamy history with number one, is enlisted to assist. The writers went for it boldly...and it was almost great.
-Terrarium ***
Ortegas crash lands alone on a gas giant moon, on the other side of a wormhole. Its climate is hellish, and the only other castaway is an injured female gorn pilot. They must work together to survive...then the gorn is killed by la'an and a rescue team. This one is almost epicly good...it might have been four stars without uhura's cringeworthy prayer on the bridge.
-New Life and New Civilizations **
The capper to a season-long story about a race of evil aliens imprisoned for millennia, one of whom escapes, while batel has her DNA altered to become the galaxy's protector. Ancient temples, slavish fealty, epic battling...not bad, but i'm not sure what any of this has to do with science fiction. Pike sees (or "lives, a la "Inner Light") a timeline in which he and she live to old age...well, it ain't awful.
