Chris Connor reviews the eighth episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2…
After the success of its crossover with Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds picks up its main narrative with an episode focusing on the conflict with the Klingons, something touched upon in the season premiere. ‘Under the Cloak of War’ sees a former Klingon Dak’Rah General, now acting as an ambassador of peace beamed aboard the Enterprise as a special guest.
This irks Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) and Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), who experienced Klingon brutality first hand at the Battle of J’gal. Much of the Enterprise who have encountered Klingons, namely Chapel, M’benga and Erica Ortegas view Dak’Rah with some scepticism about his intentions and whether he really is the envy of peace he claims he is. This gives the episode a simmering feel of tension and mistrust leaving it until late to confront their suspicions head-on, adding further questions of morality and the politics of war.
The episode cleverly juxtaposes the present-day Enterprise with Chapel and M’benga’s first interactions on the battlefield and experiences with the Klingons, with heavy use of flashbacks. They never feel forced and helps flesh out the experiences of both with the pair excelling in both the battlefield driven sequences and illustrating their clear discomfort and showing elements of PTSD in the present. It is a far more character driven episode than some of the previous elements but all the better for it, giving two characters who have been more on the fringes in this second season their moment in the spotlight with the pair more than up to the task delivering one of its darkest and politically charged episodes to date.
While it may be an abrupt tonal shift from the previous episode, ‘Under the Cloak of War’ is another stellar episode for Strange New Worlds as it prepares to wind up its second season. It gives some of the Enterprise crew more of their moment in the spotlight, giving some extra background to M’benga and Chapel before their time on the Enterprise and setting up some interesting dynamics for the final couple of episodes and beyond.
Ultimately the episode shows the price of war and how it differently affects those that are caught in the crossfire and contains some of the strongest performances across the show dealing with the aftermath of atrocities and the lengths people are capable of going to. We can only hope that Strange New Worlds manages to bring the quality level of the past couple of episodes into the final two episodes of a season which has been one to remember.
Chris Connor
