In Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (S2 – EP8) – Under the Cloak of War

Synopsis: In Under the Cloak of War, Captain Pike and his crew welcome a Klingon defector aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, but his presence triggers the revelation of some shocking secrets.

The Story

When the Enterprise is tasked with escorting a Klingon ambassador Dak’Rah who is credited as being the butcher of  J’gal for his part in the battle, which is one of the most well-known battles of the Federation and Klingon war because there were so few survivors. The stories about Dak’ Rah when he was a general during the battle claim that he gave the order to kill any none Klingon combatants and even ordered the deaths of his own soldiers. In his role of an Ambassador Dak’ Rah is trying to make up for his bloody past. But his presence on the Enterprise doesn’t jar to well with Dr. M’Benga and Nurse Christine Chapel who were both stationed on J’gal as medics during the battle.

The episode shows us flashes of M’Benga’s past and answers a few questions about why he is so useful when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. We learn that M’Benga was a combat soldier before he signed with Starfleet Medical. We learn that he was such an accomplished fighter in hand-to-hand combat that he was given the nickname of The Ghost. Added to this. We also learn that he developed a drug called Protocol 12 that boosts a person’s adrenaline to such levels that they don’t feel pain and can surpass normal levels of endurance. This is the drug that we saw M’Benga and Chapel use in the season two premiere episode The Broken Circle, which had fans curious about M’Benga’s past and what the drug was.

In the story. We see M’Benga and Chapel struggle with PTSD and the lasting aftereffects of being in the middle of a battlefield, which lasts a lifetime.

The Acting

Babs Olusanmokun and Jess Bush put in a fantastic acting performance in this episode as Dr. M’Benga and Nurse Chapel deal with their PTSD from having lived through a horrific battle, but also have to deal with some very bitter feelings towards Dak’ Rah as they don’t think such a cruel person can really change. Likewise, Robert Wisdom is brilliant in the role of Dak’ Rah who comes across as somewhat civilized, which contradicts his recorded war record and M’Benga’s experiences of treating the many victims that Dak’ Rah’s commands killed.

We also get a nice guest appearance from the legendary Clint Howard who has a long association with Star Trek that dates back to the original series.

Overall

Under the Cloak of War explores some pretty dark themes and doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to showing the various points of view from that of warriors to that of the people that have benefited from those warriors fighting the wars. I really liked how Chapel and M’Benga did not want to discuss the war when it was broached with them. Particularly when Spock tries to get Chapel to tell him about it. As a person that has never seen war. It’s hard to imagine the horrors that soldiers see or the difficult orders that they may have to follow. My Grandfather saw action during the Second World War. He was a supply driver and would deliver fuel between the lines and as such he did see a bit of combat but never would talk about it when the subject was broached. So Chapel’s refusal to talk about it felt like a true and authentic reaction to having seen action.

There’s a flashback near the beginning of the episode where M’Benga and Chapel first meet. They are on J’gal and a group of injured Starfleet Soldiers have just been beamed in for treatment. One of the soldiers has severe internal injuries, but because the medical facility does not have the right tools to treat him. M’Benga orders Chapel to place the soldier’s transporter pattern into the transporter buffer to be stored until he can be treated. However, later on during an attack Chapel has to wipe the transporter buffer as most of the transporters have broken down and the only functioning one is holding data in their Buffers, which needs to be deleted to make the Transporter functional. Chapel realizes that she will have to delete the soldier’s pattern, which will kill him. Knowing that it’s a case of one life-saving other lives. M’Benga makes the call for Chapel and clears the buffers. Such are the awful decisions that have to be made during such harsh times.

Overall Under the Cloak of War has to be right up there with Ad Astra Per Asrera as an exemplary example of what Star Trek can do when telling issues-based stories in such a way that they are not ramming one side of the issue or another down people’s throat. The episode is not preachy and gives an even hand to all sides of the discussion that is going on in the episode. After all, war is hell. And thankfully war is something that hopefully most of us will never know. Like anything traumatic, it leaves both physical and emotional scars that cannot be washed away or wiped clean. The discussion between Pike and M’Benga at the end of the episode is just a hint at what the wider discussions are to be had and the discussions that Generations past present and future will continue to have.

On a nicer note. I loved seeing Clint Howard in Star Trek again. As mentioned above he has a deep connection with Star Trek’s past and is well known for having appeared in many Science Fiction and Horror features. But Trek fans know him best as Balok the genius child alien from the episode The Corbomite Maneuver. In Under the Cloak of War Howard played the small but key role of Buck Martinez who is the commanding officer that Nurse Chapel meets when she beams down to J’gal. He’s the person that introduces Chapel to Dr. M’Benga.