Orders of Magnitude, the latest episode of Strange New Worlds, demonstrates the constraints the show is suffering from

As a piece of TV, it’s a solid action story with a (very) predictable outcome, well-performed but ultimately nothing special.

What is Orders of Magnitude about

There are many very detailed plot walkthroughs available (such as this one) so we’ll summarise. Apologies for the brevity.

Following up on a strange signal, Pike (Anson Mount), Uhura, A’Sha, Chapel, and Una are taken away from the ship in a side-plot involving “can’t be contacted for an hour” and Andorian pirates. This leaves visiting James T Kirk (Paul Wesley) the most senior officer on the ship when war hero Admiral Reeger (Joe Morton) to commandeer the ship to chase a group of aliens with advanced stealth technology (Romulans?) who have destroyed a Federation colony. As this mission progresses, Kirk grows increasingly uncomfortable before deciding the Admiral has crossed the line due to the death of his wife on the colony. We knew he would be a bad guy as he got to deliberately leave an infinitive intact when it definitely deserved to be split (see here if that means nothing).

We get lots of backstory. Kirk father served with the Admiral in his most famous battle. Dr M’Benga was on board and knows Kirk’s father was actually the hero but Reeger took the credit, persecuting Kirk Senior for the rest of his career and explaining why he never spent time with his family. Tensions rise, Kirk goes all Die Hard as he tries to sabotage the Enterprise and eventually sends Reeger into a rage, allowing M’Benga to declare him unfit for duty and avoid some unjustified mass slaughter and destruction of a planetary biosphere.

The constraints

We are clear the show is suffering a lot from its constraints and we’ve mentioned a few recently (for example here). We all know who makes it alive to the Original series. We know what happens to Pike. We don’t yet know what happens to some of the characters but already we see M’Benga paving the way for his departure. There’s also a reduced episode count and the need to tell stories (in the main) in one episode. There’s a potentially interesting arc about Kirk falling foul of Reeger and being forced out of Starfleet to be justified over the course of a few episodes a series arc. But. This show isn’t about James T Kirk? Or is it? We know the torch of command will pass from Pike to Kirk. In this episode we see Kirk’s Enterprise with Pike offstage.

Even the Andorians are defeated by Uhura’s bravery (again very much the action hero). Pike is a passenger in this episode. We also have the random new Vulcan (A’Sha) having had a few more lines than usual deciding to leave the ship. One wonders why she was introduced as a character at all.

In the end the most interesting development was La’An following rules and arresting Kirk, perhaps part of the collapse of their potential romance and why she leaves. One last thought. Reeger has an assistant with him on arrival on the ship. What if the writers had named her Yeoman Rand?

In the end it’s more analysis than the episode warrants.