Boldly Returning: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Unleashes an Epic Star Trek: TOS Episode Remake

Summary

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 cleverly borrows from a classic TOS episode, "The Devil in the Dark," to explore the impact of resource extraction on alien life.

The episode exemplifies a narrative focused on characters, weaving together themes of mining sabotage, hallucinations, and the presence of extraterrestrial beings to accentuate the emotions of loss and understanding. Spock likely drew inspiration from Uhura's actions in Strange New Worlds, which showcased the profound impact of empathy in fostering effective communication.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 featured a subtle reimagining of Star Trek: The Original Series. Both the original and new versions depict the USS Enterprise arriving at a mining operation where workers are under attack by an invisible enemy. In the TOS episode "The Devil in the Dark," Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock investigate the deaths occurring in the mines of Janus VI, where over 50 miners have been killed by an unidentified creature known as the Horta. Through a mind meld, Spock discovers that the Horta is sabotaging the mine to protect her offspring from being harmed.

In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 6 titled "Lost in Translation," Captain Christopher Pike assists the USS Farragut, led by Lt. James T. Kirk, in resolving the mysterious sabotage that has halted the deuterium mine in Bannon's Nebula. Meanwhile, Ensign Nyota Uhura experiences unsettling hallucinations, which she later realizes are messages from extraterrestrial beings residing in the nebula. These beings are trying to convey that the Federation's mining operation is causing harm to them and should be ceased.

Strange New Worlds Season 2 Did A Stealth Remake Of A Classic Star Trek: TOS Episode

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds "Lost in Translation" ingeniously incorporates elements from Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Devil in the Dark" to bring a fresh perspective to the story. Just as the miners on Janus VI unknowingly caused harm to the Horta's offspring, the aliens in Bannon's Nebula suffer due to Starfleet's ignorance during the mining of deuterium. Both the Horta and the nebula aliens struggle to communicate their distress until someone from the Enterprise interprets their signals and comes to their rescue. These parallel narratives explore the detrimental consequences of depleting natural resources and emphasize the importance of valuing all forms of life, even those that are not fully understood.

While Star Trek: The Original Series presents a thought-provoking yet relatively traditional tale, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds transcends it to cater to a contemporary audience. TOS starts with the death of a miner, alerting Kirk and Spock to something sinister in the mines. The subsequent investigation uncovers the Horta as the culprit, driven by a desire to protect her eggs. In contrast, Strange New Worlds skillfully develops a character-driven narrative, linking the mining sabotage, Uhura's hallucinations, and the existence of the aliens in a gradual and compelling manner, all within the context of Uhura's grief. Additionally, the aliens' direct mental contact serves as a deliberate subversion of Spock's mind meld, with the unknown entity assertively explaining itself instead of waiting to be probed.

Did Spock in Star Trek: TOS Learn From Uhura’s Empathy In Strange New Worlds?

Was Spock's ability to empathize with the Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series possibly influenced by Ensign Uhura's actions in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? Despite the Horta's silicon-based existence, which differs from carbon-based life as we know it, Spock realizes its existence and chooses to communicate with it through a mind meld, a method similar to how the aliens in the Bannon's Nebula communicate with Uhura. In Strange New Worlds, both Spock and Uhura serve on Pike's Enterprise, and in the end of "Lost in Translation," they discuss recent events together, suggesting that Uhura's experiences may have inspired Spock.

However, the key factor in both episodes is James T. Kirk. In Star Trek: The Original Series, Kirk intervenes when Spock enters the Horta's cave with a phaser, after Kirk's own attempt to communicate ends inconclusively. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Wesley's Kirk believes in the validity of Uhura's visions and aids in investigating their origin before encouraging her to report their findings to Captain Pike. James Kirk's profound empathy is evident in both instances, influencing Spock and Uhura to actively seek the truth.