With this episode, Strange New Worlds has cemented itself as the dark, bold, and progressive Star Trek that we have been waiting for.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Meets Alien In All Those Who Wander
Warning: Spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 9
The Enterprise crew has had numerous life threatening encounters throughout the first year of their five year mission, but this encounter might just be the most precarious one of them all. As the crew celebrates the culmination of their first year and the graduation of their ensigns, who are now to become lieutenants, Pike receives notification of a new mission to recover a Starfleet ship from a cold deserted planet. Assuming that the mission will be fairly easy, Pike agrees and takes the newly graduated ensigns with him.
When they arrive to the planet, they quickly find the ship, but also blood. La’an, quickly identifies the culprit, the Gorn that killed her family. Chapel finds two survivors, and she and M’Benga start treating them. La’an and Hemmer are trying to find the Gorn to be able to fight them, but they are proven to be difficult. La’an and Hemmer discover that the Gorn are growing inside the bodies of the survivors of the ship, which explains all the blood around the ship.
In a scene straight out of the iconic Alien, Chapel’s patient quickly has multiple Gorn explode from his chest and kill one of the ensigns. The newborn Gorns quickly spread throughout the ship.
Ethan Peck as Spock and Jesse James Keitel as Dr. Aspen of the Paramount+ original series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. Photo Cr: Marni Grossman/Paramount+ ©2022 ViacomCBS. All Rights Reserved.
The Gorn are growing fast, and will kill everyone on sight. As they try to figure out how to kill them, Hemmer is infected and the ensigns that were brought to the planet. The severity of the situation catches up to Pike, and La’an takes charge, using the moment to avenge her family. As the Gorn are finally killed, it is too late to save Hemmer, as more Gorn will explode from his chest at any moment, not wanting more people to die, Hemmer sacrifices himself by jumping off the ship and into the mountains.
A devastated Uhura looks on, as she considered him to be a father figure to her. Devastated, the crew finally returns to the Enterprise, where they honor those they lost.
This episode was an homage to the Alien franchise and the bloodiest episode in Star Trek history. While in Star Trek Picard, the episode “Absolute Candor” was the most violent one presented in the series, by showing someone be decapitated, All Those Who Wander surpasses that due to the use of body horror, and bringing in elements reminiscent of a Monster of the Week episode.
The stakes were high, and while the old Star Trek is notorious for never killing off main characters, Strange New Worlds showcased that not one of the new crew members is safe, by killing off Hemmer in a heroic manner.
A fun Easter Egg worth mentioning is how all the characters who died in the episode were all red shirts, who are notorious of being expandable in the Star Trek universe, but there is rarely a time where a red shirt was given background information like Hemmer was. With this episode, Strange New Worlds has cemented itself as the dark, bold, and progressive Star Trek that we have been waiting for.
Rating: 5 out of 5
NEXT: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Progressive Trek We Always Wanted
About Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will feature fan favorites from season two of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock.
The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs on Paramount+.
