Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 2x04 "Among the Lotus Eaters"

Written by Kirsten Beyer & Davy Perez

Directed by Eduardo Sanchez

LoglineReturning to a planet that dredges up tragic memories, Captain Pike and his landing party find themselves forgetting everything, including their own identities as he confronts a ghost from his past.

IcePenguino ,

Memory loss is one of the scariest things in the known universe. This is a horror episode to me.

deepthaw ,

Similar to how we refer to TOS episodes as “The Nazi Planet” and “The Gangster Planet” this one will be “The Alzheimer’s Planet.”

Disgustoid ,

Wow, these SNW writers really bring it each week, don’t they? Not to say every episode is perfect but I’ve found every single one to be very entertaining and exactly what I want out of Star Trek in 2023. The combination of standalone stories mixed with underlying character development and arcs is perfect.

As for this week, the idea of encountering a planet that could make you forget everything was weirdly creepy, if not a bit implausible. Even if this wasn’t her showcase episode, I grinned at Ortega’s “I AM THE PILOT!” moment. Also enjoyed the away team being out of sorts on the planet which I thought was well done and not an action overdose like the season opener.

Schal330 ,

Wow, these SNW writers really bring it each week, don’t they?

Don’t they just! Genuinely excited whenever I fire up the episodes and watch the intro everytime (love the intro music!)

Disgustoid ,

I know the feeling! SNW’s theme and opening credits definitely bring back memories of eagerly looking forward to TNG every week. It’s easily my favorite Trek theme since TNG.

theothersparrow ,
@theothersparrow@lemmy.one avatar

SNW really is a masterclass in balancing episodic and narrative storytelling.

I’d love to attend a workshop/lecture with Goldsman, Myers, et al.

GummySquirrel ,
@GummySquirrel@startrek.website avatar

I’ve been waiting for the crew explore a new planet. Hoping there’s more of these episodes than less

ComptitiveSubset ,

This episode belongs together with the better episodes of TNG. I liked it a lot.

crazycanadianloon ,

Ok, at the risk of sounding like a filthy casual, it’s only now when I’m digging into Memory Alpha that I realized we’re finally getting visualization of what Pike was so miserable about in TOS the Cage. I was like, why does Rigel VII sound so familiar…

This is the kind of retcon I live for!!

TeaHands ,
@TeaHands@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve been watching Trek since I was basically a baby but don’t have anywhere near the depth of knowledge of most people posting here. We are still valid!

deepthaw ,

I like that the original away mission failing wasn’t some weird magical thing - it was just a mission that went bad in a fairly mundane way.

sabremows ,
@sabremows@meow.social avatar

I'm primarily curious about Batel's job responsibilities. Her main job seems to be as a JAG officer but she also has a field command on the Cayuga?

ValueSubtracted OP Mod ,
@ValueSubtracted@startrek.website avatar

She was in command of the Cayuga in “A Quality of Mercy” as well - it seems that’s her regular gig, and she was assigned Una’s prosecution because…well, that’s how Starfleet rolls, I guess.

InverseParallax ,

I think she was asked by starfleet since she was close, then asked to do jag duty (?!) As a test of her fitness for higher command, which she should have passed.

TheGayTramp ,
@TheGayTramp@lemmy.ca avatar

Everyone knows that ship captains are the best lawyers. That’s why starfleet keeps using them as attorneys in all their trials

milkisklim ,

Maybe the Cayuga performs a support mission? It can do standard starship stuff but also specializes in social work, like diplomacy, legal services, law enforcement, politics, etc

TheGayTramp ,
@TheGayTramp@lemmy.ca avatar

Even if that were the case and the Cayuga is a flying legal-aid clinic it doesn’t make much sense to put the lawyer in charge. You’d have a regular command officer trained to fly spaceships running the ship, and Batel would be like the chief counsel or whatever aboard. But they also did it weird with Crusher too when they made her the captain of a hospital ship. Again, you’d have a ship-captain-type-person flying the thing, and a doctor in charge of the doctoring

polymorphist_neuroid ,

OK, can someone help me out? I had major deja-vu with the scene where Spock tells Ortegas she can’t go on the field trip away mission. Wasn’t there another episode where Ortegas was about to get to go on an away mission and got told she couldn’t at the last minute? Or did I maybe see that scene in a preview or something?

ValueSubtracted OP Mod ,
@ValueSubtracted@startrek.website avatar

That scene was shown at one of the major conventions last year, so you may have seen it then.

r2vq ,
@r2vq@lemmy.ca avatar

It was shared late last year as a preview. YouTube

TeaHands ,
@TeaHands@lemmy.world avatar

Really enjoyed this episode, it didn’t make the most sense at times but made up for it with an extremely disturbing core concept. And there is comfort in the idea that even without a significant portion of our memories, we’re still “us”.

I’m confused about one thing though and maybe I just missed something so someone can enlighten me. If the palace is so well-protected that just literally being inside it for ten minutes is enough to completely reverse the memory loss, why was Pike first affected by it while standing in the palace? Is it just that they weren’t in there for very long during their first encounter with Zac, and the symptoms caught up with him, or did I miss something about how that worked?

Argonne ,

Yeah this episode didn’t make much sense. Outside of the disturbing concept and well directed drama, this episode felt pretty weak

TeaHands ,
@TeaHands@lemmy.world avatar

It didn’t really bother me, still thought it was a very good episode, but I am glad it’s not just me being stupid!

Jon-H558 ,

I mean its a little far fetched a simple helmet protects the kmal yet the enterprise hull let it through no problems (until pack modulates the shield), but wont let that get in the way of a good story.

echo ,

their helmets are made of a special ore that blocks the radiation. it’s a goofy explanation, but there is a reason why they act differently than the enterprise hull

sarcasticsunrise ,
@sarcasticsunrise@lemmy.world avatar

Nothing to add pertaining to this last FANTASTIC episode; I really just wanted to say I appreciate everyone posting here. After Reddit, I thought these kind of threads were done for, but here we are. So even if no one reads this, thank you and much love 🙏

gibberish_driftwood ,

I’ve only managed to see this episode once, but something I didn’t understand was Spock’s decision to try and hide in the debris field. At this point they believed the planet was the source of the problem, but it seemed mostly a guess that the debris field might shield them.

Wouldn’t the most logical action have been to get as far away from the planet as reasonably possible until the effects appeared to subside? I know Una made a point that they had crew down there, but it’s not as if they can’t return more cautiously and with a clearer understanding of what’s happening. You’re also helpless to help your landing party if you’re completely incapacitated yourself.

Have I missed something important?

apprehensively_human ,

I kept yelling at my TV. Leave orbit! Get out and regroup!

TeaHands ,
@TeaHands@lemmy.world avatar

That’s what I expected them to do as well, but I’m no science officer.

theothersparrow ,
@theothersparrow@lemmy.one avatar

My headcanon is that the radiation had already begun affecting his decision-making.

It’s a stretch, I know.

StillPaisleyCat ,
@StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website avatar

I don’t think it’s a bad headcanon.

We do know that the first landing went wildly wrong quickly. It’s possible that the judgement and short term memories of Pike and Spock of that landing were affected by more than trauma and shock.

There was individual variation in how rapidly the effects presented. We saw that La’an experienced some early tinnitus shortly after the shuttle landed.

On the ship, Spock wasn’t necessarily correct in his inference given he was already experiencing some cognitive impairment by that point.

FelipeFelop ,
@FelipeFelop@feddit.uk avatar

They could have retreated, sent shuttles on short duration missions to locate the crew but that would not have made a very interesting story.

In universe, I think they were all already affected at that point and showed poor judgement.

crazycanadianloon ,

I think it’s not just because Una pointed out there was crew down there but specifically told Spock they had to (should) stay close. He took it literally as a command whereas he really should have evaluated it for himself.

autojourno ,

He recommended to the First Officer that they retreat from the planet and she gave him an order not to do that. She went to sick bay after but I don’t think command was formally transferred to him.

So he looked for an alternative that would keep them safe while still executing a superior officer’s instructions, and he got it wrong by misunderstanding compounds in the debris that he’d never encountered before. If he’d been right about the debris it would have been a genius move. As it was, he followed orders and looked for non-suicidal way to do that.

deepthaw ,

This episode should have started in media res, with the away team already on planet and having lost their memories. Once we got the explainer as to what was happening, then we could return to the Enterprise to show the growing crisis there, and finally wrap everything up as the episode already did.

IonAddis ,
@IonAddis@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, the more I think about it, I think you’re right. It’s possible they didn’t because they wanted to bookend it with stuff about the pilot.

The episode as well was a decent one-episode-and-done thing, with a few threads they left open to explore later. But I agree that if they’d begun with the memory loss and cages, and worked backwards from there, it would have been “cooler” and more emotionally effective.

The episode wasn’t a bad one. It wasn’t a great one. It was solid. Given how many fans have said they want Trek like this, it’s probably serviceable and “good enough” for the season.

I’m looking forward to some cooler episodes, though. The first 3 spoiled me, I liked them a lot.

bobfett ,

No.... I juste have a hate for most of the Trek episodes starting with a catastrophic situation and a blackout with a "XX hours ago..." captions...

Top easy writing.... At least, they build the tension here

Voyager763 ,

I couldn’t agree more. It feels like lazy storytelling, and I actually appreciated this episode for not resorting to that kind of fakery. It’s setup was strong enough to be its own thing. I respect that a lot.

theinspectorst ,
@theinspectorst@kbin.social avatar

At the start of the episode, when Ortegas was getting ready for the away mission, I thought this episode would have the scene from the start of the season 2 trailer where she (gleefully) pilots a shuttle down to a planet.

At least we know she will eventually get to go on an away mission!

Tired8281 ,

I don’t understand that dude, needling the dude with no memory who was beating on him, then acting all surprised when that same dude puts a gun on him. Like, what was he trying to do? It seemed like he was trying to get Pike to kill him, but then he wasn’t. Wtf?

FelipeFelop ,
@FelipeFelop@feddit.uk avatar

It was implied that the trauma of being left behind, the things that happened to him when he lost his memory, the memory of those things when he entered the castle and the things he did to become ruler caused to him to become insane.

crazycanadianloon ,

The way I read the scene was that he was so high off his power that he thought with the tables turned and Pike having no power that he would have the upper hand. But Pike managed to subdue him and High Lord Zacarias was all of a sudden staring down the barrel of a phaser rifle and all of a sudden wasn’t so confident that the Pike he knew, who would lower the weapon once the combatant was subdued, was still there. I think the sudden switch was just an “OH shit, what have I done?” moment.

tdriley ,
@tdriley@mas.to avatar

@Tired8281 @crazycanadianloon yeh that’s my interpretation. For a moment it looks like Pike has not recovered enough to remember he shouldn’t kill someone when he has the upper hand. Zac suddenly changes demeanor when he realises Pike might not show any mercy.

G59 ,

Can the writers stop making La’an suffer? she can’t catch a break lol

Disgustoid ,

Miles O’Brien: “First time?”

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