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matt_zimmerStar Trek: Strange New Worlds "Through The Lens Of Time"
There was something about Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager I didn't exactly like at the time, but I appreciated in hindsight. One of the selling points of story of the week Star Trek is the variations in tone. And those shows occasionally did a super dark, terrifying episode, with little to no comfort given to the audience during or after. It's just Trek Dark. DS9 in particular excelled at this. TNG and Voyager had their good dark stories, but more often than not (especially on Voyager) they couldn't quite stick the landings.
I see a lot of "Empok Nor" and "The Ship" in this episode. And people die because of bad decision making. I mean the ONLY reason the red shirt prison guard died is because his reaction to the creature that was Gamble was rash and stupid. The away team got as messed up as they did because they refused to do the rational thing and abandon the mission, even after they were ordered to (Twice!).
I mentioned there is no built-in-comfort in these types of stories. Which is why it's frustrating Pelia with her big personality and Carol Kane's fake accent are given "somber" moments they are. When she talking about the "heebie jeebies" in that specific voice, it's not scary, it's unintentionally funny.
The irony is that Pelia works great to release the tension at the end. Her ending monologue is kind of ridiculously torpid for that specific character, but when she asks the dude if she ought to do a second take, the comical nature of the character saves the moment, if not her entire role in the episode.
A lot of the horror Trek episodes refuse to have easy answers. If there is a high-concept sci-fi mystery attached it is usually left unresolved to make things THAT much scarier for both the viewer AND the survivors. I have to say as far as that kind of Trek horror goes, this is probably one of the best examples I've ever seen. The tension, the gross-outs, the terror, and the unsettling, unrelenting sense of foreboding and impending doom is upped to the Nth Degree for this outing.
M'Benga's defense of Gamble is heartbreaking, but I think Sam, Pelia, and Scotty had it right that he had actually been gone the entire time. I dunno. I don't feel based upon what we saw that anything was preventable once the orbs and his eyes exploded. And I might be wrong. And the uncertainty of that adds to the horror and ambiguity as well. Part of me hates every inch of the horror episodes. And this specific horror episode pushed EVERY single correct button at all times (Pelia's goofy accent excepted). Very effective horror episode of Star Trek. This franchise will never be confused for Alien. But even without scenarios or endings that dire and depressing, things can still get fucked up on the old Starship Enterprise, and good on a bad week. I prefer the weeks with Q fuckery myself, but I cover my eyes during these episodes, peeking through my fingers every time because I cannot look away. ****1/2.
