‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Recap – ‘Under the Cloak of War’

Written by Shae Rufe

Babs Olusanmokun as Chief Medical Officer Joseph M’Benga in Episode 208 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ – ‘Under the Cloak of War’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 208 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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Sometimes an episode comes along, and it really hits home on some intense themes. Star Trek isn’t one to shy away from asking the deeper questions or hide a more serious conversation under the guise of a funny moment or entertaining episode. This episode, however, was not that, it was gritty and serious and tackled PTSD in a much different way. It faced the theme head on, bringing to light the horrors of war. Yes, this is a fictional show about Space explorers, but the subject of war is very real. As the show touches on the Federation war against the Klingons, it showed the darker side of surviving the war. From the perspective of those who were at one of the ugliest battles.
 
The ugly truth is that the war never ends for those who survive it. War continues. It haunts and decays and stays, only leaving behind scars that never fully heal. M’Benga, Chapel, and Ortegas know this far too well. When a Klingon Ambassador is brought onto the ship for special transport, it doesn’t go well. They fought him in the war. Their wounds are never going to heal, and they all deal with it differently. Chapel retreats into herself, pulling away from everyone but M’Benga, and expresses a desire to be left alone. Ortegas is angry, outwardly, loudly, angry and she isn’t afraid to show it, especially to the Ambassador. M’Benga experiences flashbacks and physical pain.
 
Their shared trauma may be expressed in different ways, but they all struggle nonetheless. It’s more than noticeable, especially at a forced dinner where they sit with the Captain and the Bridge crew and the Klingon Ambassador and listen to him talk about peace, knowing full well what they all experienced. M’Benga more so than anyone. M’Benga, who was on the frontlines treating the endless wave of wounded, saw the worst of it for the longest, and was still there when the Klingon’s turned, on the civilians. When countless Starfleet officers died, and innocent children were slaughtered. M’Benga who knows the truth of this Klingon War General turned false Peace Ambassador.

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Anson Mount, Robert Wisdom, and Christina Chong as Captain Christopher Pike, Ambassador Dak’Reh, and Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh in Episode 208 of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ – ‘Under the Cloak of War’. (Photo Courtesy of Paramount+.)

​Because that is the truth, Ortegas was right from the start to not trust a single word he said. Still, in the end, M’Benga ended his stint in the war with a promise to end it all, to kill the Klingon General who ordered the deaths of civilians and Starfleet soldiers alike. Starfleet was never meant to be a military that fought wars, they were supposed to be Space Explorers. And, perhaps, that is the biggest lesson of it all. What started out as something meant to bring unity and peace, turned into a force to fight war, only to go back to the same message of spreading unity and peace. Yet, there never is a way to go back. There is only going forward and hoping to learn from the past and heal the wounds.
 
The truth in it all is that unresolved trauma does not heal on its own. Complex PTSD is extremely hard to heal from, but it can be done. Triggers are always going to be there; it’s learning how to handle them that is the key. Chapel’s avoidance of her trauma will ultimately cause the downfall of her relationship with Spock. M’Benga’s unresolved trauma will never let him stop feeling guilty. Ortega’s anger will be something she has to struggle with. And still, despite their PTSD, despite everything, these three war veterans are more than just soldiers and survivors, they’re people. People who may have experienced things that broke parts of them, but they’re still people. They’re moving forward, they’re forging new paths and new memories. Their trauma doesn’t define them.
 
And perhaps, getting a little justice, doesn’t hurt either.

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