Stardate: 1997.9
Original Air Date: June 16, 2022
Writers: Beau DeMayo & Sarah Tarkoff
Director: Sydney Freeland
“Love is the only thing that makes the cold loneliness of space bearable.”
In a unique personal log from Spock’s fiancé T’Pring, we learn that she works at the Ankeshtan K’Til Vulcan Criminal Rehabilitation Center where she has completed a few productive weeks at the center helping to rehabilitate criminals as they re-enter civilized society –many of them committed acts of thievery, abuse, and murder. T’Pring reflects on her long-distance relationship with Spock, while exploring the introduction of “experimentation” of human things into their relationship in order to “spice things up” (as humans are fond of saying). When speaking via screen with Spock, T’Pring discusses her research into human sexuality –she references Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer which has a specific idea of male-focused sexuality, whereas Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying presents a female point of view. This conversation leaves Spock a bit distracted. He later turns to relationship advice from Nurse Chapel.
At any rate, the Enterprise is headed out to the edge of Federation space to an infrequently visited region of the quadrant which has devolved into the “Wild West.” This area has been known to experience raids by pirate ships, like the infamous ship known as the “Serene Squall.” Guided by a humanitarian worker named Dr. Aspen (Jesse Keitel), the Enterprise hopes to provide aid to a cohort of colonial ships that lost power some 26 days ago, and by now, malnourishment and dehydration are setting in. Dr. Aspen has been running aid missions in this sector for years and she says the colonists are as desperate as any she has ever seen. They have been stranded at this remote edge of non-Federation space for months. Who is Dr. Aspen? She used to serve as counselor on Starbase 12 before switching to humanitarian work –she knows that not everyone who needs help is lucky enough to be part of the Federation.
But when the Enterprise arrives, they find damaged colonial ships and debris with no life signs or survivors –and one of the ships is missing. Fearing the colonists have been sold into slavery, Pike orders a search for the missing colonists because outside the Federation, slavery is “upsettingly common.” Spock reminds Pike that entering non-Federation requires Starfleet approval, but at this distance it will take at least two days for a request to reach Starfleet. This sector is simply too far from Federation sub-space relays to provide rapid communication. But if the Enterprise continues onward, it will be entirely alone. Undeterred, Pike makes to call to continue onward, dropping sub-space buoys to maintain communication.
Not far away, the Enterprise picks up a faint distress signal in a nearby asteroid field. Could this be the colonists? Or is it a pirate decoy signal? Suddenly, a shrinking electromagnetic forcefield begins to expand around the asteroids and it entraps the Enterprise. Could this be the Tholians? Spock makes the call to target ship phasers at Designee 22A which winds up being the correct asteroid projecting this forcefield and it suddenly vanishes.
After escaping, Ortegas manually guides the Enterprise to find the missing colonial ship. Upon arrival, Spock detects 200 life signs in the cargo hold and 30 others throughout the ship, though the original manifest had only 200 people aboard. It would appear, therefore, that the colonists are being held prisoner inside sealed doors.
With the element of surprise still on their side, Pike, La’an, Una/Number One and others beam aboard the colonial ship only to find out this is the infamous pirate ship “The Serene Squall.” Meanwhile mercenary pirates board the Enterprise and invade the bridge. They quickly take the ship. Only Spock and Dr. Aspen manage to escape and take out a few pirates, while Nurse Chapel also continues to sneak around (she cleverly takes out a pair of pirates). They all meet up in Engineering where Spock seals the doors and transfers ship commands from the bridge to Engineering –but suddenly, Dr. Aspen betrays them and reveals herself to be “Captain Angel” of the Serene Squall as she turns on Spock and Nurse Chapel. She fabricated the whole story of missing colonists.
Angel offers Spock as a bartering chip with T’Pring in exchange for a prisoner T’Pring currently has under her purview, a Vulcan named Xaverius (pronounced “Zah-veree-yus”). Why? Because Xeverius is Angel’s lover. Spock, in desperation, attempts to persuade T’Pring not to make the transfer by claiming he has been having an affair with Nurse Chapel (they kiss on the bridge) but T’Pring claims she believes him and departs which greatly angers Angel.
Meanwhile, Pike and the landing party have managed to cook some quality food for their pirate captors and then they inspire a mutiny on The Serene Squall among the pirate crew. They commandeer the infamous pirate ship and directly attack the Enterprise after disabling its shields using “backdoor codes.” When Angel loses control, she says “the question isn’t what you are, but who you are.” Then she suddenly disappears from the ship presumably using her necklace. How is this possible? She beams to a small shuttle hidden on a nearby asteroid and speeds off into space. Will we ever see her again? In the end, Starfleet takes custody of the remaining pirates. T’Pring and Spock are reunited and they perform a “re-bonding ritual.”
In an epilogue of sorts, while discussing things with Nurse Chapel, Spock reveals his belief that Xenarius is actually an alias. Ambassador Sarek, Spock’s father, had another child out of wedlock who grew up and rejected the teachings of logic (he is one of the V’tosh ka’tur), and Spock believes Xevarius is an assumed name of someone he was told to avoid at all costs, his half-brother named Sybok (who has not appeared in Trek since the 1989 film, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier).
My Thoughts on “The Serene Squall”
This episode offers a variety of fascinating twists, as well as a penetrating examination of the Spock’s identity and the extent to which he is influenced by his emotions. Will he undergo the Kolinahr ritual before the series ends? Will he and Nurse Chapel ever acknowledge their feelings for one another? This episode gives significantly greater character depth to T’Pring and yet it also foreshadows our desire to see Spock and Nurse Chapel wind up together. However, I hope this show doesn’t descend into a bunch of romantic subplots.
Despite a few minor plot-holes, the introduction of deep-space pirates made this a fun adventure. Incidentally, the appearance of intergalactic pirates forces me to fondly recall the Harry Mudd episodes from TOS –will SNW decide to bring him back at some point? I also got a chuckle out of Pike’s pirate banter at the end, a nice throwback to some of the winking episodes of TOS which refuse to take themselves too seriously. Even the reintroduction of Sybok was terrific –these deep tracks in SNW are a lot of fun. One final question: are we to believe Captain Angel’s husband is actually Spock’s half-brother Sybok? Will we ever see Captain Angel again in the future?
Star Trek Trivia:
- Many people in Starfleet refer to Pike as a “boy scout.”
- The Kolinahr Vulcan ritual is mentioned in this episode which purges all emotions for Vulcans. Spock has not yet undergone his Kolinahr.
- The pirate gruel is referred to as an “Orion specialty” food.
- Spock’s half-brother Sybok has not been mentioned since the William Shatner-directed film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989). Gene Roddenberry, angered by decisions made in the Star Trek movies without his approval, later apparently tried to remove Sybok from Trek canon.
- Jesse Keitel, who plays Dr. Aspen/Angel is a transgender actor, giving greater depth to her character’s speeches in this episode, like “the question isn’t what you are, but who you are.”
- While making a deal with the lower-level pirate crew, Pike refers to “Alpha Braga IV,” a reference to encouraging a mutiny (Una/Number One seems to understand this reference, as well).
Prequel introductions to familiar Star Trek characters can be very ambitious, even after how far the Trek franchise has come in this regard. But adding more to Sybok would be interesting for a good number of reasons and certainly to learn more about him. Thank you for your review and trivia.