Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (TV Series) Memento Mori (2022) User Reviews

"How good are you at sewing?"

[bosporan · 8/10 · 26 May 2022]

Another fine episode in the traditional Star Trek style. This time La'an Noonien-Singh is in the limelight during an early encounter with the reptilian Gorn, due to her traumatised experience with them as a child.

All the elements are there, a colony mysteriously attacked, a crippled Enterprise and crew members in jeopardy. Desperate times call for desperate measures and ultimately the 'Pike manoeuvre' is born.

Sure there are some dodgy plot flow choices, some contrived danger and a whiff of Deus ex, but again this is ST at its best. A thoroughly exciting, entertaining and enjoyable episode.

Gorn, but not forgotten.....

[finnmacc-92343 · 9/10 · 26 May 2022]

A fantastic episode.

I love that the story and action take centre stage but the writers are building a fantastic backstop of each of the characters.

Lovely interactions between the main crew and I love that there are other crew we already know and who have a voice.

A classic episode told well that reminds me of Wrath of Khan.

[9.0] Memento Mori

[jimmyishere-37748 · 9/10 · 26 May 2022]

Nice episode with many action scenes along with much destruction. Really happy Strange New Worlds is getting to it, and hasn't become a new STD.

Episode 4 is the best at date and I'm looking forward for more.

Memento, indeed!

[thinkMovies · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

I never thought the powers that be would ever return true Star Trek to us, but they have. For that I am truly thankful.

Single-episode story arcs, ensemble cast with more crew visible and heard, intelligent story, great balance between action and character development, great sets that are a 2022 evolution, respectful of the 1966 design of the original Enterprise in the essence of details, including the Captain's chair.

This is TOS bravado with TNG thoughtfulness. Pike is his own man but also a cross between Kirk and Picard.

This fourth episode solidifies the above, offered in the previous three, and promises the series will only get better --and it is already great!

S01E04, Memento mori, turns the explorers into hunted prey, reminiscent of a submarine trying to avoid the destroyers above, but does so in a perfectly believable scientific setting, in a brown dwarf being devoured by a black hole. The Pike maneuver saves the day and the Federation now has a new enemy lurking in distances too close for comfort.

A solid 10/10 - and I never give 10's.

[codefool · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

Basically, a Star Trek episode that can bring a tear to my eye deserves a 10.

This is Star Trek. Real Star Trek. Sacrifice, courage, growth, and a heroes journey.

This is the Star Trek we've - at least I've - been waiting for.

The cast is settling into their roles. Some of the wisecracking of the senior officers is - finally - being scorned by Pike. Pike is still a little more cavalier than I'd like, but he's getting some good lines and finally starting to act like a Captain (who loves and has believes in his ship.)

This episode is fantastic. Extremely well written and (except for Ortegas) is well acted. The direction here takes on a faster tempo than usual, with excellent camera work, and just a little-more-than-usual Alexander Courage TOS theme music mixed in.

The crew truly has a whatever-it-takes approach to problem solving, which is what we want to see - the crew solving problems.

As usual, Trek flies loose with the laws of physics but at least they're in the ballpark, so that can be easily forgiven.

Four episodes in and this is the best one yet.

A solid 10/10.

Wonderful

[optimus_spbla · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

Great episode! I was concerned that knowing the futures of Pike, Spock and others would take some of the sense of urgency aww, but we were on the edge of our seats through the second half. Very well done, love the actors, love the characters, love the chemistry. THIS felt like Star Trek on steroids! Love the way the antagonists were handled, very mysterious. Well done, show-runners!

This show is going so well, Paramount, definitely the best so far from "new" Trek. Please, please don't mess it up by injecting current-day politics into it like you've done with Discovery!

Got the Linguistics wrong

[sigelm · 8/10 · 27 May 2022]

I'll focus solely on my field of interest: For a brief moment, we see the page with English alphabet and to each letter a combination of lights is assigned. So each combination of lights represents one letter and that is how La'an's brother figured out what Gorn say to each other. Only that the Gorn do not speak English so even if they used an alphabetic system (minimal chances for that really), the young man could not have concluded what individual bunch of letters put together mean. It would have been more logical if they made a page where a combination of lights would represent words as the boy could have figured out some basic meanings of a few basic words.

Amazing

[joaopedrofederle · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

This series continues to delight week after week. If you call yourself a Star Trek fan and don't find episodes like these fantastic, maybe you gotta rethink what is it that you like about it. Is it the nostalgia of watching it in your youth, or is it the feeling you had that you were smarter than your peers because you watched the 'heady' sci-fi series of the time. Because this is straight up classic Trek. A submarine battle in space. Problem solving trough logic and science. Danger, tension and terror evercome trough teamwork, debate and creativity.

Great Episode!!!

[warjo2611 · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

I have always said a galaxy is too big to have one bad ass foe, and Starfleet is too big to have just the Borg as ther only bad ass nemesis. Another great job of writing and directing. BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!!

Worth watching

[vsek · 7/10 · 27 May 2022]

This is the counter for (DISCOVERY/PICARD) producers obsessed with trauma in "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds":

Pike - is burdened by knowing he will be crippled in an accident in the future

Number One - was secretly from a race of genetically altered people (a concept banned in Starfleet) and had to hide it to not be kicked out of Starfleet

La'an - was bullied growing up because her ancestor was a genetically engineered madman, as a child she survived a bloody massacre by the Gorn, lost her brother

Uhura - Parents and Brother were killed in a shuttle accident

M'Benga - keeps his terminally ill daughter in the transporter buffer to extend her life

Other than that it was a decent episode. It relies too much on the "you have to trust me" trope but it's not distracting too much yet. Officers on the flagship should render professional opinions and give facts. There is no need for a captain to "trust" a security officer when she is voicing her opinion (that it's the Gorn attacking).

Also the ready room meeting was a bit strange. Pike doesn't seem to demand options from his officers but just says "be vigilant, get creative, we survive this by working together". So no plan and everyone just leaves?

And the sassy navigator is a bit much. Pike decides they drop the torpedo manually on the enemy and her response is "now we're talking!" Just tone it down please, this is not holidays on blow with your best friends but your job on the flagship of the fleet. Sentences like "space really wants us dead!" don't help at all.

These are not dealbreakers, like the absense of local anesthesia when sewing open wounds or La'an criticising Spock for using correct technical terminology.

And of course we get another mind-meld because CBS execs think that has to be in Star Trek. We delve into the mind of La'an to examine above mentioned trauma, just like in "Star Trek: Picard". It get's a bit tedious.

And oh no - Michael Burnham makes an appearance. I was afraid of that. Any mention of "Star Trek: Discovery" doesn't go over well with me.

Besides all that the atmosphere was great and it felt appropriately dangerous for the crew. It wasn't the best episode ever and not a 10/10 by a long shot - but a good watch.

This goes to show you don't need a big galaxy destroying anomaly to create tension.

Just do yourself a favour and skip those 10/10 reviews written by the people/bots that also praised Picard and Discovery to the skies.

Please keep this going!

[philhemstock-11782 · 9/10 · 26 May 2022]

I'm stunned. 4 episodes in and I can say for certain that I'm really liking this show!

This is the modern star trek I've been waiting for. Discovery and Picard are both cringy awfulness that pander too much to the woke community. This actually feels like a series of old. I already remember the names of the key crew! I struggle doing that after 4 series of Discovery!!

Ortega reminds me a lot of Tom Paris in the early Voyager seasons, a little cocky and loose for be a ships pilot. But if her character develops in a similar way then we'll end up with a cracking bridge crew all round.

Pike and Spock are great, really love how they interact and behave.

Please keep it coming, don't let it slip.

Why is there a smart ass officer on the bridge?

[Geekfreak13 · 6/10 · 26 May 2022]

Pike need to put Ortegas in her place.

Some of you will think it is alright to have a character like that on a bridge.

Remember this is a Military ship, no Captain will put up with this type of behavior on a bridge.

I am curious to why the writers decided to make the character sarcastic.

They need to fix this, it is very distracting.

The rest of the episode is good.

Millennial Sass

[Rob-O-Cop · 5/10 · 6 July 2022]

Loving Pike's 'best dad on the block' character but could do without the millennial smart ar$e comments. They're kind of a modern equivalent to a cheesy dad joke and just feel out of place, and certainly the lip given to high ranking officers is hard to believe.

"How good are you at sewing", "Aces" (?????)

And then cut to the doctor doing all the sewing because Nurse Christine isn't aces at sewing ??

Terrible dialog from a subordinate that undermines the pro vibe of a star ship and one of many in the first few episodes that fall flat.

That's the fault here, transferring 2022 mannerisms into a star trek space.

Ortegas with her brooklyn street cred just seems wrong.

The stories are ok and certainly better than discovery's mess, but they could be better.

Pike and Spock are really holding this together but only just.

The Pike Maneuver

[liamaher · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

EPIC AGAIN - Fantastic episode - Season High of a Season that is 4/4 on Good Episodes

I actually think that MAY be the BEST EPISODE of modern Trek - including only Disco, Picard, and SNW - That episode was better than any IMHO - great standard being upheld here

La'an is a fantastic character - real, proper Starfleet - no nonsense - imperfect for sure - but the kind of officer that Kirk, or Sisko, or Picard would have relished having in combat - So far, she is the breakout character for me - superb

The writing and the dialogue - fantastic - no serious complaints at all here - impressed as hell

Spock and La'an in the shuttle - great scene, and the mind meld was great, except for ONE THING :(

PLEASE DONT BRING BURNHAM INTO STRANGE NEW WORLDS _ PLEASE - Sod off AND LEAVE DISCO where it is - seriously -

The Pike Maneuver - love it! Solid!

The Gorn will be back - bring it - From what La'an has told us, definitely wanna see these lads get a good smack or two

I like Ortegas myself, i have seen some complaints - yes - but i just like her!

If i had to pick one character that i dislike - Chapel - and merely because she IS CHAPEL - she doesnt seem like her TOS character - if they had just left well enough alone and had her as an original character - id be happier.

Breathtaking

[kythia · 10/10 · 26 May 2022]

I don't understand how something so incredibly perfect could come from the same people who ran Discovery and recently Picard into the ground.

Memento Mori manages to surpass its already incredible previous episodes -- by a wide margin. Its breathtakingly beautiful. The actors, the story, the CGI.

Perfection.

Please give me more!

Memorial Day Episode

[bugganeer · 10/10 · 27 May 2022]

Whether or or not intended to be release for Memorial day, it works. It was wild for me because I was stationed on a ship called Puget Sound. We lost a crewmember in '88.

Touching tribute

[Hillius · 8/10 · 28 May 2022]

In this well timed episode of SNW right before Memorial Day weekend, the crew are marking StarFleet Rmembrance Day during which they also remember their fallen and wear badges on their uniform to remember past vessels on which they have served.

Singh is the focused cast member this week, as the Enterprise encounters the Gorn when investigating a colony under mysterious attack. After they are attacked during a vulnerable moment, the Enterprise and crew must dodge the enemy while flying blind, damaged and without any feasible offense. Singh must bravely confront her past trauma in order to unlock the key to defeating this enemy which so far has only been barely introduced, but are deadly and relentless. The crew must collaborate together in order to make it through along with character growth, the first real combat situation with casualties and battle damage, but the crew manage to save the day at the last moment with a new legendary Starship maneuver.

Chemistry between characters is building, but not quite there yet, though certain characters are becoming more likable. Uhura's genius has already been established and this repetition felt cumbersome here. Writing is quite good, but comedy could stand more polishing as mouthiness and quips are no substitute for wit and well timed off the cuff remarks that Deforest Kelly could do so well. Ethan Peck is an excellent incarnation of Spock, and the show could do with a bit more Starfleet discipline, but is quickly becoming a weekly favorite.

.

Great

[nuge16 · 10/10 · 27 May 2022]

Great episodes so far, very much like tos and tng. First new trek series I've actually watched all episodes since voyager. Looking forward to the rest, hope they keep this format.

Hemmer is an Aenar!?

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 27 May 2022]

I should have figured it out before this, a blind Andorian. That gives it away immediately...

Actually I found it quite refreshing that whoever came up with the character dug deep into Enterprise' past to pull an Aenar out of their back pockets and even give them a major part...

So far I have watched four of these Strange New World episodes and it looks like they have really gone back to episodic storytelling, or rather "planet of the week" storytelling.

This one was pretty good.

I don't know, I like it when Star Trek has a Mythos underneath the episodic stories, like Discovery had the Red Angel, Enterprise had the Xindi, Deep Space Nine had the Dominion and the Jem Had'ar...

But even those shows had occasional, I guess you could call them "filler" episodes, but they were actually planet of the week episodes.

Of course in Deep Space Nine, with 26 episodes per season you can have episodic stories and Mythos at the same time.

But when the shows have 10 episodes or less per season, you have to make a choice: is this going to be a 10 episode arc? Or is this going to be a 10 episode Jaunt through the galaxy?

This is the first time we have gone back to the style of the original series, but we also have the improved modern day filming techniques. I have just watched a few of the original series episodes without the enhanced special effects. And even in high definition, some of the shots of the Enterprise look pretty bad... but this was 1965 and they were producing photographic special effects on a very low budget, so when you look at what they had done back then it was actually amazing.

The CGI in this show is used as a pallet and a paint brush rather than just making weird looking spaceships and aliens... and the end result is photographically realistic. So I really don't have any complaints about CGI being used in this show.

Face it, in the original series, they used Papier Mâché to create a Berserker that gobbled up planets, and by the time they were done filming it, we believed it.

In this episode we get to meet an original series adversary. Not going to say who that is, it gets revealed pretty early on. We learn some interesting things about that adversary.

Just like last week we learned a lot about Number One and where she came from....

Ironically we have Nurse Chapel and Number One in the same show, but being portrayed by two different actresses... I think they should have used Rebecca Romjin to play both parts, just like Majel Lee Hudec Roddenberry played both Number One and Nurse Chapel in TOS (but never at the same time).

But I had to come in here and say something about the appearance of an Aenar in the show. Now THAT is "mining the appendices"...

One thing that kind of disappointed me was that I was expecting "Vina" from Talos IV to show up now and then, but that hasn't happened and it doesn't look like it will happen this season...

Memento Mori

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 26 May 2022]

Another enjoyable old school Star Trek episode. This time featuring the Gorn, well the Gorn ship.

It also fleshes out the character of La'an Noonien-Singh who has encountered the Gorn previously and was traumatised by it.

The cat and mouse between the Enterprise and the Gorn ship did bring to mind the Star Trek movies such as The Wrath of Khan.

While Captain Pike shows his leadership skills and resolve. You always have to wonder just how much of this is high stakes for him when he knows that he will survive the experience.

Star Trek is back!

[ruff1969 · 10/10 · 27 May 2022]

This is without a doubt the best series since TNG. Back to just good quality episodes rather than some long drawn-out season of "chapters". And the best thing about this one compared to Discovery... NO CRYING AND WHISPERING! Just excitement, action, and fun!

Plenty of action

[lor_ · 25 July 2023]

Chong recognizes the unseen enemy, the Gorn attacking the enterprise -she has experience with them and takes a hard line, ruthless attitude toward this enemy, and Captain Pike relies upon her. Tense episode has many scares using horror movie motifs, which are quite effective in this action-packed story, with no time out for repartee or comic relief.

Special effects add the adventure/thrills in a visceral segment. Not showing the face of the enemy is not a budget constraint but rather increases the sense of dread.

Script fortunately gives the other crew members significant input into evading and conquering the enemy, as well as sharing the heroism, while it's up to Pike to make all the split-second tough decisions.

Quite good considering the rules of the show

[pjdickinson-27822 · 7/10 · 26 May 2022]

This week on Women In Space the woman of the week is the Security Officer, La'an. The episode is actually quite good but the inclusivity through exclusion agenda of this show (and every other New Trek show) is on display, as usual. As last week and the week before any male human character of a certain demographic, other than Pike, is toast if he speaks. Putting aside the ever present gender and racial politics, this was a good story although can we stop with the tragic past trope? It's going to become as ridiculous as the crying on Discovery.

Wisecracks and Feeeelings

[Rapojad · 4/10 · 20 August 2022]

I've been a ST fan since childhood, and I really want to like this show, but it suffers from the same problems as the other recent ST shows: too much time is devoted to people talking about their feelings, and people are generally so undisciplined that it seems far-fetched that they survive any encounter with anything difficult.

The bridge crew is idiotically wisecracking in the midst of a crisis, when they're not verbally freaking out. The Ortegas character can't seem to carry out a single order without making some sort of supposedly witty remark. Crew members are disrespectful to the captain, order him around without explaining why he should do what they recommend (and yes, this is true even when there's time for them to explain). They recycle the ST:D "Burnham knows the Klingons are dangerous from her personal tragedy but no one will take her seriously" into the "Noonien-Singh knows the Gorn are dangerous from her personal tragedy but no one will take her seriously". I guess I should be happy Noonien-Singh didn't actually *mutiny* like Burnam did. And that conversation with Noonien-Singh about how the crew "needs hope" ... blech. How saccharine. That goes double for the captain's sappy speech to the crew just before they do "the Pike maneuver". The goofily ebullient Uhura/pointlessly irascible Hemmer scenes contributed little or nothing, and seemed to go on forever. I had to laugh when Number 1 responded to Chapel's joke about how painful a procedure would be with "Who says something like that?". Who indeed? I had that reaction to most of the dialogue in this episode.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Watching this show made me want to re-watch The Last Ship (2014) to see a more reasonable depiction of how a ship's crew behaves in a crisis.

Honestly, it seems like the writers are so incapable of coming up with a plot that involves actual *events* that they have to have scenes in which next to nothing happens other than people emoting at each other. Dear writers: you're not Shakespeare, and neither is /Star Trek/. It's supposed to be science fiction: things are supposed to *happen*, people are supposed to *solve problems*, there's supposed to be a "sense of wonder". Even if it were supposed to be like Shakespeare, too many of the new ST shows read like they're written by a bunch of middle school students who imagine that adults are just middle school students with jobs.

It works

[markanthonypowell · 10/10 · 27 May 2022]

They've done enough story telling and character development to go balls to the wall with this episode. It still has heart and feeling, surrounded by battle. I've never been much for the movie style battle scenes, but this was played well. It shows the wit and determination of the crew and the smarts of it's lead cast. I'm anxious to watch how this episode continues to build on it's relationships going forward and how well we tell the story next week considering the Enterprise's outcome this week. A good character plot should be on order. Keep it up CBS.