Two factions stand on either side of an invisible line, secretly sending troops across to attack the other as war is right on the edge of happening. Henry Alonso Myers and Maja Vrvilo lead the season finale, of sorts, for Strange New World’s second season. “Hegemony” offers a reasonable enough story even if it is just a simple one. I quite like it, and I’ll get onto why in a minute, but those last few minutes had me stereotypically swearing in the creative ways I’m sure Pelia eventually got used to.

On the edge of Fed-space, Captain Batel is working with Nurse Chapel to inoculate the people of Parnassus Beta. Chapel is tagging along on the Cayuga as she’s ready (ready ready) for her fellowship. It seems like a normal mid-western town as the people of Parnassus Beta smile and run around while the Cayuga’s crew provides aid. Then Scotty shows up and brings the lizard people. Batel sends out the distress signal, Enterprise is okayed to survey, a demarcation line is drawn, and war with the Gorn is imminent.

I was on the edge of my seat for 90% of the episode enjoying the drama, the tension, the… Well, I’ll admit it could have been done a little differently. It is a story about the relationships between Pike and Batel as well as between Chapel and S’chn T’gai. It is a Gorn episode and we have La’an right there, why isn’t she sort of the focus or the one leading the crew when they touch down on Parnassus Beta? Answers on a postcard please, I don’t fully get why we should care about Batel until it is revealed in Scotty’s crashed shuttle.

I would have also preferred to have felt like Vrvilo directed the episode instead of looking at the great big book of Ridley Scott-isms. To say “Hegemony” is inspired by Alien would be like saying the color purple needs a little bit of blue in it. We’re not fully going for the suspense of “All Those Who Wander,” but we’re certainly looking to do those quick dark shots of horrible-looking creatures scuttling around, hissing, eating, and generally being baby Xenomorphs. Even the tail bit on the Cayuga seems like a deleted scene from Alien: Isolation.

The last time the crew of the Enterprise met the Gorn, we saw how ineffective their weapons and tactics were against them. They had to employ guerrilla fighting tactics, trapping and isolating them before eventually being able to take them on. Any explanation or fan-made calculator based on throwaway lines in previous episodes along with the stardates (as stated in each episode) would put “All Those Who Wander” before “Hegemony” and likewise other episodes, so I won’t stress it too much. Though generally understood it has been months since we last saw the Gorn.

Weapons and tactics have been updated with the threat of war on the horizon against a foe with superior power. That doesn’t mean it is easy, they are natural hunters, but it offers the crew the ability to fight back as the Gorn take over Parnassus Beta, holding Batel and co hostage. Not only that, the planet is behind the demarcation line. Knowingly crossing it is considered an act of war by one side. This is where the episode is good, it is wrapping up stories as Erica was unable to join the landing party for “Among the Lotus Eaters,” but she’s needed here to cross the line.

There are lots of great stories wrapping up or being put in place to be continued into the next season. Those that know, know what I’m about to get into. Nonetheless, you have Erica getting that away mission she was denied, you have Spock and Chapel actually doing something to prove their interest in each other that I don’t hate, and you have a young Lieutenant junior grade Montgomery Scott bodging things together like an Art Attack project when you only have morning spit and printer paper. Neil Buchanan would love that reference, probably.

I’ll admit, I wanted to come into this episode (knowing Martin Quinn’s involvement) and wanted to tear Hollywood a new one for the accent. I can’t, I just can’t do it. He’s great, I love him. He’s not over the top, not cartoonish and he doesn’t excessively roll his Rs. He’s great and I (believe it or not) want to see more Scotty. I want to see more Scotty not because Pelia wanted to kill him when he was in the academy but because he’s good and I like him as is.

“Hegemony” did a lot to make me find those bits I’ve moaned about already, the Spock-Chapel relationship, Scotty being a cartoon played by a Canadian (or Englishman in J.J.-Trek), and little bits generally surrounding relationships, to be good or at least better. The fight with the Xenomorph in a space suit on the destroyed deck of the Cayuga is hokey, but it is very Alien too with the backing of the last season of Spock’s pining. The piece that stuck a fork in my back was that bloody ending, if you can call it that.

Then came the “To Be Continued…” line and therein lies the problem. As the actor’s strike comes to a close following a months-long strike between writers and actors against the studios, the well-oiled machine of Hollywood, the intended smooth production shifting between seasons is interrupted. It makes the “To Be Continued…” a bitter pill to swallow. I don’t blame the actors and writers; writers and background/supporting actors specifically need a living wage, and the game has changed since their contracts were last looked at. I’m glad they fought the absolute nonsense that studios were pushing.

Coming in I didn’t know that we were heading into a “Best of Both Worlds” style episode, though the difference there is that it is only a three-month gap. In March, filming was delayed indefinitely due to the writer’s strike, and we’re only a week or two past the actor’s strike coming to a close. Reports suggest via cast and crew social media posts from this week that they are only just getting started as this article goes out. We have to wait a year and a half maybe because CEOs of studios like smoking cigars rolled in $100 bills and dipped in gold?

The ending would have worked if the smooth transition had gone on. Again I’m not blaming anyone but those at the top, but it is just annoying how it worked out. It was a fine episode up to that point, maybe needing a line or two to stop questions, but it was overall an enjoyable episode. It was paced well, made the Gorn a threat despite the fact we’ve devalued their horror appeal within this iteration, and had me on the edge of my seat despite the fact we know our main crew isn’t in harm’s way. We knew Chapel survived as she’s on Kirk’s Enterprise.

I really wanted to enjoy “Hegemony” a lot. I think as an episode it used almost everything this season was building towards and setting up what is yet to come with a third season. As I’ve said, a war is on the horizon. It might not be the Dominion War just yet, but if the team can somehow keep up the solid writing of this season and last, Strange New Worlds could fight DS9 for its title as the best-written show in the franchise (that features a war). I’ve loved this season, with the odd exception.

Ultimately, “Hegemony” is a great episode let down by outside forces making its “To Be Continued…” ending in a bit of a letdown for now. With the cast and crew elevating the tensions of an otherwise paint-by-numbers story and direction taking cues from Ridley Scott, it does all it needs to and then stumbles on that final hurdle. War with the Gorn, a segmented cast, and a whole lot of tension heading into the next season sounds like a great place to kick off. It is just disappointing that we have no idea when that might be with production quite literally getting off the ground now.

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SNW "Hegemony"

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• A Scotty that isn't cartoonish, actually personable.
• A proper finale full of tension and intrigue, 90% anyway.

Cons

• That end really putting a damper on a great episode.
• A couple of lines in there to clear up questions wouldn't have gone amiss.