‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Recap – ‘The Broken Circle’

Written by Shae Rufe

Ethan Peck as Lieutenant Spock in Episode 201 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ – ‘The Broken Circle’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Two Premiere of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. To revisit the Season One Finale, click here.
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The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is back in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for a wonderful season two, and what a start this episode was. As season one ended with a bit of a cliffhanger of sorts, with the Gorn attack leaving them a Chief Engineer down, Spock and Christine possibly being a thing, Una Chin-Riley being arrested and with La’an Noonien-Singh going on a leave of absence. This season starts us off with Captain Pike making the decision to seek out an old friend in order to help out Una, as she’s facing charges and potential expulsion from Starfleet. This leaves Spock in charge while he’s gone. Thankfully the Enterprise is in dock for some repairs and tests.
 
In the midst of the tests, UIhura gets s distress signal from La’an. She’s on a Dilithium planet mined by both the Federation and the Klingons. When Spock brings this to the attention of the Admiralty, he’s told not to investigate it. The Dilithium mines are mined every other month by the Federation, and this month it’s the Klingon’s turn. A Federation ship showing up would likely reignite the war between the Federation and Klingons. Spock insists this can’t wait. He doesn’t take ‘no’ very well.
 
So, Spock channels his inner human and decides he’s going to do what he wants and steal the Enterprise and go rescue La’an. Consequences be damned. He’s really embracing his human half and rebelling, even playing the harp, and really, what could go wrong? The Enterprise crew is always off on some whacky adventure where at least one person nearly dies every mission. It’s like a rite of passage for them. This mission is no different.
 
La’an informs them that the girl they saved from the Gorn has parents, and they’ve been found, but they’re sick. M’Benga and Christine head down and help the girl’s sick parents. And then they’re promptly kidnapped by Klingon revolutionaries that want to restart the war, using a stolen/rebuilt Starfleet Cruiser, so they can charge astronomical prices for Dilithium to both the Klingons and the Federation.

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Jess Bush and Babs Olusanmkoun as Nurse Christine Chapel and Chief Medical Officer Joseph M’Benga in Episode 201 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ – ‘The Broken Circle’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount.)

Brilliant plan, only M’Benga and Christine are former War Veterans who are not down for another one. They happily drug themselves up and fight their way to the stolen Starfleet Cruiser’s control panel and send a message to the Enterprise. Luckily, Spock and La’an have already uncovered the plot to make it look like the Federation was starting things against the Klingons. When the message comes through, however, he wasn’t expecting M’Benga and Christine to be on the stolen ship. With a message that says, ‘destroy this ship’, Spock is left in a tough place.
 
They follow the ship, just as a Klingon ship shows up, it’s a now-or-never situation and Spock holds out until the last second before ordering to fire. The ship explodes. Luckily, M’Benga and Christine are brilliant and resilient, and they leapt out of the airlock with a jet pack and a helmet that held a transmitting signal. The Enterprise picks them up, and Christine and M’Benga, are going to be okay. Spock, isn’t so sure how he feels about Christine’s condition. It’s possible he has some very strong feelings for the Ship’s Nurse.
 
Of course, these antics didn’t go unnoticed. The Klingon Ship demands answers and won’t settle for less. They don’t believe Spock at first, until they meet and share some Bloodwine together. Then, and only then, does the Klingon Captain accept what Spock said as true. A Vulcan drinking Bloodwine with a Klingon. Stranger things have happened.

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