When Pike meets one of the people fated to die in the accident that will one day ravage him, he decides to take action to change that future. Immediately, a version of himself from farther in the future appears with a warning to do nothing... and a time crystal to show him the consequences if he doesn't listen. Pike is transported seven years into the future, into a critical conflict with the Romulans that was meant to have gone very differently had Pike not been present.
Strange New Worlds opens each episode with Pike giving the same narration that Captain Kirk gave more than 50 years ago. In the most famous line of that speech is the phrase "to boldly go." And that sure is what this episode of Strange New Worlds does: it has confidence at every turn.
It has the confidence to dare play with one of the most iconic episodes of the entire original series, "Balance of Terror." Sure, some of the dialogue from that 1966 classic hasn't aged perfectly, but the episode's clever adaptation of a cat-and-mouse submarine battle, its bold stance against racial bigotry, its message about humanity on both sides of a war, and its highlighting of the costs of war -- that all still plays wonderfully. Episodes like "Balance of Terror" are the reason why Star Trek built a fandom devoted enough for us to still have Star Trek today.
Revisiting that episode is not a light-hearted romp like Deep Space Nine's journey back into "The Trouble With Tribbles." There was frankly little to gain and a lot to lose here. But Strange New Worlds found ways to honor the major elements of the original episode -- sometimes by recreating it faithfully (with an amazing boost by modern production values), and sometimes by remixing elements of the old into a new form. I can't say for sure how this all plays to a viewer who has no knowledge of "Balance of Terror," but I found it delightful.
"A Quality of Mercy" shows confidence in its main characters, in allowing some of them to look bad. I know I've come to love the cast of Strange New Worlds -- to a shocking degree in so few episodes. So yes, they did have goodwill to spare. And yet, it's still risky to let any version of Ortegas, even one from an alternate reality, voice ugly racism. (In "Balance of Terror," they let a guest star be the heel.) It's risky to state point blank that, as much as we love Christopher Pike, he is absolutely the wrong captain for this place and time, this mission.
The episode shows confidence in its casting of Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk, and in particular how he plays the part. We've had another Kirk since William Shatner, of course. But Chris Pine's take on the iconic character really comes quite close to impersonation. Paul Wesley barely channels Shatner at all. He doesn't look much like him. He barely sounds like him. He doesn't have much of the same physicality. And yet, through the alchemy of perfect writing and a performance that somehow exudes the right attitude, I really do immediately accept this as James T. Kirk.
The series shows confidence in taking another one of its ongoing character stories off the board. After resolving the subplot of Dr. M'Benga's daughter just weeks ago, this episode declares once and for all that Pike will never again try to avoid his future fate. His destiny was fixed, of course, so long as the series wants to remain in continuity with the bulk of the Star Trek franchise. Nevertheless, you could easily imagine a show that would tease this along for ages, perhaps giving us an episode every season in which Pike flirts with the idea of cheating fate. Instead, the writers are confident they can find more new stories for their characters.
So yes, all these risky swings show how much confidence Strange New Worlds has in itself by now. And deservedly so, because all that is good about the episode and more. Ethan Peck is superb here; Pike's conversation with Spock upon returning to his original time is a highlight of the entire season. The memorable Romulan theme from the original series is deployed to great effect in the musical score. The cliffhanger with Una is a compelling place to suspend the story (even if it's essentially the same cliffhanger that Lower Decks last gave us). And praise must be given to the costuming department, who in this episode give us re-imagined versions of the classic Romulan uniforms and the movie-era Starfleet uniform.
My favorite episode of the season remains the deliriously fun "Spock Amok." But "A Quality of Mercy" is a nearly-as-strong A-, and sends out this excellent season as one of the best first seasons for any Star Trek series. (I think the only plausible competition comes from Lower Decks and the original series itself.)
I expect the wait for season two will feel long indeed....
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