Welcome back to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds! Season 3 is kicking off with the exciting conclusion to the season two finale, “Hegemony.” It’s everything you could want in a Star Trek opener. We’ve got action! We’ve got excitement! There’s Gorn! There’s more homage to the Alien franchise! It’s a lot to take in, so let’s get started with my review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II.”
Alien Vibes Galore!
As I mentioned in my review for “Hegemony,” I appreciate this continued homage to the Alien franchise that we get in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II.” We have so many more aesthetic nods and inversions of aspects of the Alien series. The incubation chamber evokes a deleted scene from Alien where we see victims of the xenomorph being used as vessels for incubation. Chapel & Spock’s biohazard suits are effectively the Starfleet version of the space suits worn by Kane, Lambert, and Dallas on LV-426 in Alien. My girl Ortegas is basically Newt in that the final fight of Aliens. I was fully expecting La’an to go full Ripley on the Gorn in that one.
Finally, the Gorn piloting mechanism looks like an inversion of the seat where we find the “Engineer” in both Alien and Prometheus. The aesthetic touches are effectively disturbing if the audience hasn’t seen any of the Alien films, and are effective intertextual visual cues for those who have seen those films. This aspect of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II,” works to enhance the tension and excitement for the season opener.
Solving the Batel Problem
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II” not only gives us white-knuckle excitement with the escape from the Gorn ship, but we get a good dose of medical drama as well. Chapel is acting chief medical officer while M’Benga is off the ship. While not a doctor, her experience as a field medic gives her the tools she needs to tend to the high-pressure situation we’re in with Batel’s unusual case.
Captain Batel is incredibly brave, valuing the lives of the crew above her own, telling Chapel to do what she must to prevent the worst. Even with that in mind, Chapel has a good bedside manner, making Batel smile with her “Sleeping Beauty” comment. It’s a small thing, but it’s a good character moment for Christine. Giving care to a patient is as much about carrying out the medical treatment as it is about making sure the patient feels cared for. It shows Chapel’s genuine warmth and further emphasizes her competency as a medical officer.
If You Can’t Beat Them…
The solution she and Spock arrive at is an interesting and unexpected one. Feeding and neutralizing the Gorn is the 23rd century version of the adage, “Feed a cold.” In this case, the Gorn is the cold. While the procedure occurs off-screen, the lead-up to it gives us a bit of body horror with the pulsating Gorn pustules about to erupt in a disgusting display. As a horror fan, I have a stronger stomach than most, but even I felt a bit queasy looking at that. The body horror, however, is an effective mechanism, heightening an already tense scene and allowing the viewer to feel the tension Chapel is feeling. I do wish we could have seen the actual procedure, but I can’t argue with the results. More on this a bit later.
Here Today, Gorn Tomorrow?
The solution to our Gorn problem in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II” is bold. Radiating the Enterprise until it practically blows is a new one, and the idea that Gorn will now experience a long hibernation cycle due to the flashes of light triggered is fascinating. I hope we explore more about how the Gorn work, but as Pike says, are we just postponing a fight with the Gorn until later? When is “later”? The end of the season, or are we done until Kirk fights a Gorn in the famous episode, “Arena” in Star Trek: The Original Series? I’m not sure which. Would love to hear your ideas in the comments section!
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II” is an exciting start to the long-overdue third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Aside from solving our Gorn problem, we have some of the earliest signs of Scotty as the engineering miracle worker under pressure. It’s a nice touch of what’s to come in Star Trek: The Original Series, and Martin Quinn is positively charming as our young Montgomery Scott.
#MORETEGAS?
I am quite happy that I finally get a little bit of #MORETEGAS in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II.” I love her sass, even amid danger, and her ability to muscle through, even when she is gravely wounded. We see her courage here, which, as a war veteran, has never been in question. However, I am still frustrated that all we really know about Erica Ortegas is that she flies the ship. I want some more time and backstory for my girl, please and thank you!
Finally, one of the best things about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II” is that we get to see a bit of a softer side of Pike. Una famously described Pike as “utterly unsentimental…except when it comes to horses.” However, here we have a Pike actually expressing emotion and being sentimental about something, or someone, other than a horse. We don’t often get to see Captains as anything but stoic and sober-minded.
Here we see a man about to lose the woman he loves. Anson Mount sells it well and shows him to be a Captain who doesn’t just lead with his mind, but he has a soft heart, too. I like that in my captains. Especially considering that Pike fits the bill as a stereotypical man’s man, it’s wonderful to show him as not only strong, but soft and caring too. More positive masculinity, please and thank you!
What did you think of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 1 “Hegemony, Part II”? Leave me a comment and let’s talk Trek.
The next episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will air on July 24, 2025, on Paramount+.
