While the Captain is away, the rest of the crew stop a potential war? The Broken Circle is an intriguing and exciting premiere of the new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We are diving into spoilers for the episode; you have been warned. Engage? Make It So? Hit It? Make The Ship Go?
Captain Pike briefly appears in the series opening but exits the episode for a good reason. While he is gone, Spock runs the ship, which can only mean one thing. Of course, something has to occur to change up the tedious maintenance happening on the USS Enterprise. The crew receives a signal from their former crew member La’an Noonien-Singh, who needs their help. Spock follows his ‘gut feeling’ and disobeys orders from his superiors. One of the funniest moments is when he can’t decide what to say when flying out with the crew. It’s easily one of the funniest moments in the series so far.
What looks to be a simple meetup to help La’an turns into something much more. La’an explains her intel to the rest of the crew, and a potential war with Klingons could occur. I was surprised by this reveal, as something on the scale of this potentially happening would occur later in a season. Not so much as an opening to a new season. I love this series; it keeps me engaged and on my toes about what could occur next. I am not too familiar with the timeline of Star Trek, so maybe the war does end up happening soon.
Jess Bush & Babs Olusanmokun as Christine Chapel & Joseph M’Benga
While helping sick people on the planet, Chapel & M’Benga are forced away from the others. They discover a hidden starship and figure out the ship that would be used to start the war. Chapel & M’Benga take on many opposing Klingons to warn the Enterprise of the intentions of the starship they were on. We see moments of rage from M’Benga during the fight sequences, reminding us of his hardship of losing his daughter last season. She is in a better place now, but that pain still holds onto him. Both of them were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, and thankfully they were saved at the last moment. They were beamed aboard, and it seemed Chapel wouldn’t make it. Spock showed visible emotion and was about to lose control when she finally breathed again. What does this mean? Wouldn’t you like to know?
The crew of the Enterprise was able to destroy the rogue starship before a Klingon ship could be attacked by it, thus, preventing the war. As expected, the Klingon didn’t believe the truth from Spock, so our Vulcan had to drink with them to show he was trustworthy. You could tell Ethan Peck, who plays Spock, was having fun with this scene. I wish that maybe more trouble would have been thrown at the crew of the USS Enterprise after what they pulled. However, there are more important things to concern us for what lies ahead.
Jess Bush & Christina Chong as Christine Chapel & La’an Noonien-Singh
This season’s premiere makes it feel like the show never left, and I appreciate that no significant time jump has occurred. The major cliffhanger is mentioned, but that relates to Pike’s exit earlier in the episode, and that isn’t lost on the crew of what is happening to Una. You feel more connected with the crew here and their caring for one another. That is why they all felt they had to help La’an as soon as they knew she needed them. The Broken Circle title could refer to multiple things, but I felt it related to our characters. Una being arrested out of nowhere broke the circle essentially built in season one. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has some complex and surprising moments in store this season, and this was just the tip of the iceberg.
The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 premiere “The Broken Circle” is available now on Paramount+