We’ve got a seriously deadly game of “Cat & Mouse” this week on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We get a bit of backstory on Strange New Worlds’ most mysterious character, a fresh take on an Original Series enemy, and we’re doing a bit of space surfing out of a black hole. There’s a lot of stuff to unpack in this week’s episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Brace for impact as we discuss episode 1×04, “Memento Mori.”
[kofi]
Unpacking the Title
There’s a lot to unpack in this episode and it starts with the title. Memento Mori is a Latin phrase meaning, “Remember you must die.” We’ve already done quite a bit of that in this first part of the season.
Pike can’t forget what he knows about the radiation explosion that will cripple him and rob him of nearly all of his faculties. La’an says in the pilot episode that pretending like you won’t die will get you killed. We’ve really been faced with the weight of our own mortality all season.
In “Memento Mori,” it hits even harder. We’re faced with a deadly enemy called The Gorn. This is the species that killed and tortured La’an’s family and left her for dead. While we’ve not yet seen a Gorn in Strange New Worlds, we do know that Kirk faces off with one in a particularly notable episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, “Arena.”
While “Arena” is a bit comical by today’s standards, I’ve got to say that I wasn’t laughing at this week’s episode. I found myself to be genuinely stressed out the entire time. Based on La’an’s description, the Gorn are the Reavers of the Star Trek universe. And just like Reavers, I don’t want them to come anywhere near me.
Based on this episode, it looks like the Gorn are going to be our big bad this season. I’m very curious to see what our Gorn look like in this iteration of Star Trek and I’m curious to compare them to the versions we see in The Original Series, Enterprise, The Animated Series, and Lower Decks. This canon-building that we get in Star Trek is the fun part. I can’t wait for more!
“Cat & Mouse” at its Worst!
“Memento Mori” is the highest stakes episode we’ve seen all season, at least when it comes to the crew of the Enterprise. Our crew is facing an impossible situation and must make increasingly difficult choices with every move. Ones that put them in danger from external forces, but move them out of certain danger from the Gorn. There’s really not a way to have your cake and eat it too in this scenario.
I love the creative ingenuity we get from our crew in this episode. Moving into the brown dwarf was a costly move, but it’s one that spared them from certain doom from the Gorn.
The small moves and strategic things they do to avoid the Gorn while also avoiding being crushed by the brown dwarf and getting sucked into a black hole is pretty amazing. Props to the crew of the Enterprise for making it work in this dire situation. Big props to my girl Lt. Ortegas for space surfing her way out of a black hole and sneaking past the Gorn while doing it.
La’an’s Got a Secret…
…and she’s promised not to tell. But in order for Spock to be of the most help to her, they must share a mind-meld. Mind-melds in Star Trek effectively function for two reasons. The first is that they are expository. They help the audience to have a better understanding of what’s going on with the crew and with the plot of the story.
Second, they serve as a way to create an emotional connection or to promote understanding between the two characters sharing the mind-meld. I know it’s a sticky wicket to say that it creates an “emotional” connection between the characters when by nature one of the characters in a mind-meld will always be a Vulcan, but even so, the depth of understanding is what is important here.
Spock is half-human, and interestingly in this scenario, he cannot shield his thoughts from La’an. He empathizes with her situation, knowing that his adopted sister, Michael Burnham, made the ultimate sacrifice for him, as La’an’s brother did for her.
Does La’an have abilities that let her dig a little deeper during a mind-meld? Or did Spock lose a bit of control over his emotions here? We don’t have a clear answer and Spock shuts La’an out before she can find out more. We are not done with this side of the story.
La’an already knows a little bit about what the crew of the Discovery did, but I don’t think she’s connected the dots yet. I’m eager to see how this bonding moment between Spock and La’an will play out later this season.
Final Thoughts
“Memento Mori” is still stressful to me, even after multiple viewings. I think that’s a mark of good storytelling. The writers have established the Gorn as a real threat, even with their somewhat comedic appearances in past series.
One of the other highlights in this episode that is heartwarming for me is Una’s willingness to give up the much-needed plasma, as well as Dr. M’Benga’s willingness to give his own, even while he’s still up treating other patients.
I felt my heart break with Pike’s when he had to make the hard call about cutting off the lower decks in order to save the ship. Not everyone got out, but if he hadn’t shut it when he did, everyone else would have been lost. That’s a hard call that no one wants to make. The weight of that decision is not lost on me.
Finally, this episode takes place on “Remembrance Day,” which happens to coincide with Memorial Day in the US. It adds a layer of weight to the emotional depth of the episode. Considering the horrific events of Uvalde, Texas this week, the theme makes “Memento Mori” have an even greater, if unintentional gravitas. We have to remember, and we must do everything in our power to prevent these kinds of losses again.
The next episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will air on June 2, 2022, on Paramount+.