Plants versus Zombies. Returning for his third episode of Strange New Worlds since “Memento Mori” and “Lost in Translation,” Dan Liu comes back to Star Trek after episodes 5 and 6 of Picard’s third season. While staff writer and story editor Onitra Johnson returns for her third of four episodes, co-writing this time out with season 1, 2, and now 3 writer, Bill Wolkoff. Wolkoff previously wrote “Those Old Scientists” and “Ghosts of Illyria,” with Johnson writing “Lost in Translation,” as well as the wonderfully weird period piece “The Elysian Kingdom.”

Ok, back in the swing of things, the Enterprise has been sent off on some basic science mission, one last run out for Captain Pike and Captain Batel to be a normal couple before she departs. That’s until Chris finds Batel face-down and unresponsive in his quarters; the Gorn parasite has returned like cancer. The exact phrases used surround the idea of an aggressive sort of cancer, particularly that it “was in full remission” and that it is aggressive in how it attacks her body. However, there is good news and bad news.

Good news, Spock found a magic plant; bad news, it’s in the Klingon War DMZ on a planet full of carnivorous zombies. Off the books, black ops, minimal comms, a Klingon buoy saying “turn-back or die,” and a Captain hell-bent on saving the person he loves from Gorn-based death. Are we back to serious episodes quickly enough? Stepping a little bit back to “Under The Cloak of War,” Dr M’Benga is faced with the consequences to his killing of Dak’Rah, Pike is lost in his passion for Batel, and Ortegas is being a lot more vocal.

We’ll get onto the classic NWA strap match with knives (I.E., what killed Bruiser Brody), but first, I think we need to talk about Ortegas since I skimmed over her story last time out. As a result of the Gorn attack and the escape where she was very traumatically (for her, not us) bleeding out, and her training with her brother during “Wedding Bell Blues,” she’s showing a lot of emotion. A lot of aggression, in particular. She’s willing to take a lot of risks and even speak up when she’s not expected to.

It’s actually something that I’ve been having conversations about a lot lately, mostly discussing Discovery and its inability to be Star Trek. The thing that is off with Discovery, other than the awful Klingons, is the fact that everyone on that ship acts like angry, spoiled children who are trying to make a name for themselves in Starfleet instead of what The Federation/Starfleet is about, professionals working together for the greater good. Erica isn’t being professional here, but we can see why. Not that this makes it much better.

There is even a bit later on in “Shuttle to Kenfori” that feels like a jump and a half, but also of the whole episode. Her story here is that M’Benga and Pike are on an unofficial (off-the-books) away mission, and Una asks senior officers for ideas for a rescue due to a lack of comms. After Spock suggests a slow method, Erica speaks up about a risky but much quicker solution. Everyone’s already in a demilitarized zone, breaking several treaties. Her method is loud and fast, while Spock’s is slow (4-6 hours) and stealthy.

So what is Captain Feelings and his murder buddy doing? Spock and M’Benga know of a flower that only originates on this one planet in the DMZ, which is treated like a cure-all, with those two offering to go pick it up. That’s until Pike pushes in and tells Spock to park it. Captain Sexy Hair is the leader of this mission to save his dearly beloved. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I don’t get the Batel thing, mostly because I can see through the idea that it gives us something to feel for Pike, knowing his future.

Cutting a long story short, the two land on the planet, they walk to a former Federation science outpost before the war where the flower was being cultivated and studied, and just to make it weirder, there is nothing alive on the planet. This is where I need to grumble about needing another line to fix something. M’Benga says, in the middle of the forest/jungle of Kenfori, “No, Captain, I mean no life signs. All flora, no fauna…;” put simply, all plant life, no animal life such as birds, reptiles, or otherwise.

To cut off someone wanting to be smart, yes, there are plants that thrive without animals, but most ecosystems we broadly understand to support human life use a lot of things like pollination or birds to spread seeds. My point is that it is a very dense forest/jungle that naturally (seemingly) supports humanoid life, so how is it this overgrown without typical methods to spread the seeds? Jungles and forests somewhat need fauna (animals) to survive and thrive. Yes, I’m arguing about the science of an episode with a zombie plant.

I will say, “Shuttle to Kenfori” is a fine episode if you aren’t too concerned about the science of plants versus zombies and M’Benga versus Klingons, but it is Star Trek, and we both know Trekkies are an anal bunch. My point is made by the previous paragraph and a half. Though I think this is the first time or first time in a long time that Star Trek is touching actual Walking Dead-style zombies – Picard called the Borg zombie-like in First Contact, Enterprise had the crew act like zombies through sci-fi nonsense, Lower Decks played with the idea here or there, and let’s not talk about Voyager.

There is a touch of “sci-fi nonsense” as I just put it, but from the movements to the way Liu shoots the scenes on Kenfori, it is very typical zombie fare. Even if M’Benga hates to use such a word for the walking dead. Honestly, as I write this, I don’t know how I feel about the whole “Z-word” thing infesting Star Trek, possibly because it allows for an easy cop-out of otherwise interesting stories. If anything, that’s my problem with “Shuttle to Kenfori” the most, the metaphors and iconography feel like anything else. Anything that doesn’t need to be Star Trek.

As an episode of TV, it is fine. There is plenty of action and some emotion, but where I’m left saying the most Star Trek occurs is in Erica’s storyline. The reason I’m not instantly jumping to bemoan Strange New Worlds as the new Discovery yet is that, very minor spoiler, there are consequences to the actions of Erica, not just of the crew but of Erica as an individual. There is a lot more done to stamp out unprofessional or behavior that is ill-befitting of an officer. However, I’ll bemoan that it wasn’t really insubordination.

The majority of the episode focuses on Pike’s quest to save Batel, which proves to be a back door into M’Benga’s troubles killing Ambassador Dak’Rah in “Under The Cloak of War.” I will say that it’s not terrible as a concept, but there is certainly something more I think could/should be done. Maybe a line or two, or a few extra minutes to sit with the emotions. I won’t spoil too much, but details have been hidden (as this mission will be from Starfleet), and now a Klingon wants to kill M’Benga in ritual combat to restore honor.

If you think “restore honor,” “ritual combat,” and talk of Klingons is a spoiler for Star Trek, I’m sure there is a blank piece of paper in a printer somewhere that you’ll find is much more your speed of entertainment. At an alright pace, we get into the action scene of the combat, and it is, as I’ve put it, a classic NWA strap match. For me, it’s all fine, and that’s where I’m sort of ambivalent about it all. It hits the right beats and does all the typical things you expect, but something is off.

Personally, I think it is the zombies. As we’ve said, Enterprise in particular had an episode that was very “zombie-like,” and I do mean the hyphen and “like” in there. For the Enterprise episode, it was zombie-minded sci-fi nonsense where the crew were ripping the ship to bits looking for tech – here, the zombies are nameless, long-dead, mindless walking dead that want to eat people, be it Klingon or Human. Dawn and Shaun of the Dead-style zombies, quite simply.

Maybe in an episode of Lower Decks, I wouldn’t mind this so much, because that’s not meant to be taken as seriously, though obviously is taken seriously. Meanwhile, here it doesn’t feel like Star Trek at all. If anything, it feels like a space version of The Walking Dead, and I do mean after Tovah Feldshuh played Deanna and the whole Alexandria business. I’m not saying it is a bad episode or that it isn’t completely Star Trek.

In fact, that’s something I’ve heard some argue with “Wedding Bell Blues” because they hate fun, but “Shuttle to Kenfori” either isn’t giving enough time for the emotions to hit quite as well. Or, it is using basic 2010s zombies as a cheap get-out for high drama in an episode that otherwise wouldn’t have or need it. If the zombies weren’t a thing and we spent more time exploring the ethical side of M’Benga’s actions leading up to the fight, I think that would have been fine as is. Though it is unfair to rewrite the episode, so I’ll stop there.

What I think bothers me so much about the zombies is that they are just that. We have the twist that it is the plant and air-borne toxins that cause it, but that could have literally been anything else, and I’m drifting back into rewrites. The point I’m trying to make is that Star Trek is Sci-fi with idiots who will argue that it is hard sci-fi, but it’s really not; it just explains things in the world with “throwaway” lines. Sci-fi can be anything, so to do a Star Trek zombie episode, you kind of need a twist on that more than the throwaway line explaining why they are there.

The best zombie media does a twist on the basic idea: Shaun of the Dead is Edgar Wright’s stylized humor, Zombieland uses American humor, Corpse Bride, early Walking Dead is about the human aspect, 28 days later is that but in the UK, and Dead Set is Charlie Brooker’s comedy zombies but set around the production of a series of Big Brother. The most unique aspect of “Shuttle to Kenfori,” and its walking dead, is the makeup for the Klingon zombies that you see for a few seconds. A few seconds at most, or in the background of shallow focus shots.

Ultimately, “Shuttle to Kenfori” is a fine romp into the Klingon War DMZ with a further exploration of the dynamic that Doctor M’Benga has with the Klingons as a result. It also shows the trauma that Erica is going through as a result of the Gorn abduction and attack. The biggest problem, for me, outside the zombie nonsense, is Pike’s reaction to M’Benga in the overgrown science lab; it feels a step too camp for an episode trying to be so serious.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

SNW “Shuttle to Kenfori”

6

Score

6.0/10

Pros

• Ok, I don't mind a serious episode after the last.
• Do we still need Spock-Chapel?
• Erica's story building.

Cons

• Do we need actual Zombies in Star Trek?
• In 45+ minutes, what felt unique?
• The world is strange mostly because it is hard to make sense of.