‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Recap – ‘The Elysian Kingdom’

Written by Shae Rufe

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Eight of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
​
Once upon a time, the crew of the Starship Enterprise encountered a strange nebula. When they tried to warp away from it, however, the ship wouldn’t move. This, of course, is not a good thing. The ship lurched and Erika got hurt, so the captain called for the CMO. This coincided with the Chief Medical Officer’s experimentation, in hopes of finding a cure for his very sick daughter. The experiment blew up in his face, and tired as he was, M’Benga still went to the bridge to see to his fallen crew member. However, when he arrived, things were quite different than what they had been. He was being referred to as King, and the whole crew was in Medieval attire. As though, the book he’d been reading to his daughter had somehow come to life and embodied the entire ship. With everyone stuck in this fantasy, except for M’Benga himself, it’s a mystery he has to work to solve while playing along.

It’s a rocky start as he tries to get to sickbay and find a tricorder, in hopes of scanning everyone who’s effected. And it stands, M’Benga is the only one who is himself, while everyone else is playing a part from the storybook he’s been reading Rukiya when she’s out of the buffer. The thing is, he has no idea what brought this on, and so far, everyone is exhibiting higher than normal levels of dopamine. All seems lost as to why this happened or how to fix it. M’Benga actually thinks he might be hallucinating for a hot minute, from his experiment gone wrong, until Hemmer appears, whilst being dragged away by a security team, who are apparently the bad guys. Hemmer is the only crew member that also remembers, proving there is something more going on here.

Thankfully, everyone thinks Hemmer is a sorcerer, and he’s able to use his mad science skills to keep the ruse up, playing along until they can get into Engineering and take a better look at what’s really going on. As it so happens, the Nebula is sporting an entity that created itself, because of course it did, and the Entity is why the crew believes they’re in some fantasy novel. Granted, seeing Pike act cowardly and betray M’Benga, while Erika is the lovable knight is entertaining. But there’s something off about dark sorcerer Spock and evil Queen Uhura. Entertaining, for sure, yet still odd seeing most of their characters flipped. Especially with La’an being afraid of Uhura.

---

Thankfully, nobody really gets hurt with this strange fantasy mix-up, and Hemmer uses some mad transporter skills to secure Uhura, Spock, and the security team in Cargo Bay 12, while M’Benga meets his daughter, who escaped the buffer. A scan proves that she’s no longer sick, and a communication with the Entity, through Hemmer, shows why. The Entity has cured her, but it won’t let the ship go. It was drawn to Rukiya and her loneliness because it felt that same isolation. If the ship leaves, Rukiya will get sick again. M’Benga won’t choose his crew over his daughter and vice versa. The Entity offers M’Benga another solution.
 
Rukiya can join with the Entity’s consciousness and live forever; free from sickness and able to live the life she wants. It’s not M’Benga’s decision to make, so he asks Rukiya what she wants. Of course, she chooses to live, as what is the point of living if she’s trapped in the buffer and sick. M’Benga is heartbroken, as are we all. Shortly after she leaves, Rukiya returns. She’s grown now. A few moments for M’Benga, is years for her. She’s had so much fun living and creating her own stories. She’s happy. And she’s named the Entity, Debra.

She makes M’Benga promise to go live his life and be happy too. They’ll meet again, she’s sure of it. With his promise, the ship and crew are returned to normal. However, he’s now the only one who truly remembers what’s happened. Even the security footage is scrubbed clean. And really? Perhaps that is for the best.

---

Powered by JustWatch