Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season One Episode 8: The Elysian Kingdom

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season One
Episode 8: The Elysian Kingdom


The Elysian Kingdom

So we finally get the conclusion to the Dr. M'Bengas daughter storyline.  It's a fun, heartwarming storyline, but at the same time I personally am glad it ended at this point, as dragging it out further could have been a burden on the series.  So we get to see all the main cast playing alternate characters.  Trek has done this before, but never this soon in the series (see TOS Mirror, Mirror, DS9 Far Beyond The Stars and Our Man Bashir, VOY The Killing Game 1/2, et. al.)  Putting it all inside the fantasy world of the storybook M'Benga reads to his daughter is interesting.  This episode is one of the first times in the series Christina Chong really gets to flex her acting skills (and singing ability).  The somewhat cerebral nature of the plot is quite TOS at times, M'Bengas struggle with his daughter, trying to figure out (with Hemmer's help) how the ship and nebula and M'Bengas daughter are connected to their current situation and how to get out of the situation.  Also Bruce Horak (Hemmer) obviously enjoyed hamming it up as the "wizard with the magic of science" in this episode.  M'Bengas choice at the end to let his daughter go to save her, and then seeing her as a grownup is poignant, sad, and touching.  A satisfactory end to the storyline.  Good episode!  (even though no one but M'Benga -and Hemmer?- remembers).


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