Episode Discussion / Star Trek: Strange New Worlds / 2x08 "Under the Cloak Of War"

A dramatic rumination on the scars of war which questions whether someone can ever be absolved of their most heinous sins. At least that's what the episode is aiming for. It gets there better than I would ever have expected the SNW writers to be capable of but there's still much to be desired. The ultimate note this ends on isn't one of hope or optimism but pessimism. Mbenga just gets away with premeditated murder for reasons the episode wants us to believe were, if not noble, then at least acceptable.

MBenga's victim was a war criminal, one seeking to reform himself in the aftermath of his crimes by becoming a respected ambassador for peace. Mbenga, a field medic during the war directly effected by the former's actions, left mentally scarred by acts he did in response. It's all good set up. However the ending is ultimately anti-Trek in nature. This is an ending Gene Rodenberry would have cut and replaced with an aspirational note showing MBenga struggling but ultimately rising above his petty desire for "justice" in the form of vengeance. Maybe he does still stab him but then he'd follow that by using every medical trick in his arsenal to save the Klingon's life. He'd throw himself on the mercy of his captain and plead forgiveness for his transgression and be given punishment but still a second chance for fixing his grievous mistake. The episode could have ended with Mbenga and the Klingon having some deep, bedside conversation in the med bay that left it ambivalent as to the moral quandary but hopeful that this is a world where even these mortal enemies can resolve their differences.

Instead Mbenga shanks the dude and gets away with it, with Nurse Chapel strait up lying to Pike that she saw the whole thing when all she saw were blurry silhouettes through frosted glass. Even worse we have an epilogue where Mbenga presents his vigilante style reasoning as if he was morally right to kill the ambassador. If this were some other IP this would have been a good episode however it fails as a Star Trek episode because it doesn't even try to present an attempt at aspirational resolution. The message is killing someone you believe to be evil is acceptable, due process and redemption be damned. That's just not what Star Trek is supposed to be about.

All in all a competent episode but it's DNA is just not Star Trek.