WHY WE LIKE IT: Uhura is so glamorous, isn't she?
WHY WE DON'T: Strange New Worlds is all changes of pace now.
REVIEW: No, but really. It seems like every Strange New Worlds episode now is some kind of genre emulation (I loved Subspace Rhapsody, but its success seems to have a lot to answer for). In this case, a spurious scientific explanation is given for presenting the episode is black and white, something about special radiation that screws with eyesight. And then it turns out the planet Una, M'Benga and Uhura (I guess they filmed this in the same block as The Griffin Incident) have to land on looks 1940s Earth. It's the Film Noir planet. It looks cool enough, and I like that the colorlessness has an effect on the plot (Uhura almost gives away the game in an interrogation by referencing a color), but it doesn't really make sense that the Enterprise scenes are also in black and white as it's supposed to be outside the system (and indeed, when the shuttle finally leaves the system, color returns for a final shot). So it feels like a very precious directorial choice to me. They wanted to shoot one in black and white, so they found some silly reason to do it.
But then, there isn't a whole lot of logic to any of it. Granted, if you're going to do a Noir story, then it makes sense that you'd make the plot convoluted, just as it is in many of the most famous Noir films like The Maltese Falcon. But it asks a lot of us within the Trek context. We have to believe the crew doesn't know what the natives of this Klingon-occupied planet even look like, but easily dress up appropriately. Not even sure why they'd choose to hide in plain sight and go to a city. A city that just happens to have the facility that can take down the sensor shield that surrounds the planet. It seems accidental rather than a plan by the officers. We're also asked to believe that Una is a dead ringer for Nevette, a woman who is both the leader of the collaborator police force AND the resistance. M'Benga gives some facile explanation, but it's pretty silly and convenient, especially given that Nevette's mission was also to take down the shield before the Klingons make it lethal to trespassers. We're finally forced to believe that Kor, here in a governorship before that of Organia, is the same Kor from Errand of Mercy and Deep Space Nine. All these clean-shaven Klingons look off, and I don't see anything of John Colicos's performance in what Demore Barnes is doing. I can forgive NuTrek for ignoring the Augment virus (damn Temporal Cold War, amirite?), but this would have worked much better if they'd just called him by another name. What's even the point except as a nerdy reference that's just going to upset the nerds?
I WAS interested in seeing what a Klingon-occupied planet looked like, and it's Fascism 101, no matter the Honor ascribed to the culture. As usual, Klingon War veteran M'Benga is our guide, and Una decides to break the Prime Directive to help the resistance. Maybe it doesn't apply where the Klingons are concerned, since the planet's development has already been subverted. Her final solution is pretty cool, too. Uhura is definitely the MVP here. Celia Rose Gooding, of course, looks glamorous - which is a key Uhura trait - and gets all the best scenes during Kor's interrogation of her. She withstands the agonizer and gets an education in covert work that will serve her well in Mirror, Mirror, I should think. She's really good at Klingon, which is proper. Sad to think she'll have lost it all by Star Trek VI... Another favorite moment is the Klingons walking in singing a very recognizable song (from several DS9 episodes) and the natives tapping to a different beat as a means of passive resistance.
The B-plot aboard ship is also Noir, playing on La'an's recent bouts of paranoia, second-guessing herself as she finds hidden transmissions sent through a wayward probe and worries about ship's security and her own state of mind. A wild goose chase ensues where she goes to each crew member and, as it turns out, rumbles something real but benign. Nice to see Ortegas and Scotty still friends, but Pike is acting very weird, almost like he's been told to "play it Noir". It's just not him. But ultimately, it's about following technobabble rather than clues, so it's not very interesting. For that matter, the style drains the fun out of the A-plot, too. Sure, it gives the characters a chance to reflect on their lives (Una growing up on the other side of a rebellion, M'Benga's war stories, etc.), but it's all so dour.
LESSON: Starfleet missions aren't always black and white.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-Low: Style over substance, with bonkers logic and a lot of boring scenes.
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