“A Classic Star Trek Conundrum”

None | Light | Moderate | Heavy | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Language | ||||
Violence | ||||
Sex | ||||
Nudity |
What You Need To Know:
The sixth episode of STRANGE NEW WORLDS poses a classic philosophical conundrum. At what cost will a society pay to achieve its utopian status? The episode explores Pike’s complicated feelings toward his former girlfriend and his fear for the Enterprise’s future. Captain Pike reinforces his pro-life stance against human sacrifice. The acting and writing is grippingly spectacular. However, the sixth episode of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS contains false alien religion, violence, implied premarital sex, and a depressing ending. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.
Content:
Strong moral, pro-life worldview as hero refuses to allow a child sacrifice, Enterprise doctor inquires into alien society’s advanced medical expertise, and doctor values the free and paramount exchange of medical knowledge, but alien society believes in the occult practice of one child burdening the suffering of an entire planet, the aliens worship the “First Servant” as a messianic figure, and the aliens are free of disease and poverty, but they sacrifice children into a machine that keeps the planet a pristine paradise, and alien father rebels against his people to save his son
One or two “h” obscenities
Enterprise crew destroys an alien warship when it fires on them; alien guard defects from his position and trues to murder the queen, guard shoots other men and flees the scene, Enterprise officer stuns the guard to death, a defector steals an alien child and tries to flee the Enterprise unscathed, ship holds a shuttlecraft in a tractor beam, the craft self-destructs into oblivion, child is found inside a secret compartment on the Enterprise, Captain discovers child corpses, a life-absorption machine starts to spread its needles inside unwilling child participant
Implied fornication when a man and woman cuddle in bed, they also kiss
Man is shirtless while he speaks with his former girlfriend, who’s wearing a nightgown
No alcohol use
No smoking or drugs; and,
Aliens hide a terrible secret from others.
More Detail:
In the B-plot, Doctor M’Benga heals the First Servant and Gamal in the medical bay. The First Servant reveals that his people’s medicine far exceeds the capabilities of Federation technology. M’Benga inquires Gamal about Majalis’ advanced technology. Out of curiosity, the First Servant hacks into the sick bay’s unencrypted firewall. He discovers M’Benga’s secret daughter Rukiya, whose illness can’t be treated by Starfleet medicine. The First Servant could have healed the Rukiya then and there. Instead, she gets cured by a deus ex machina in Episode 8. The boy and Rukya bond together, but the boy is summoned back to his home planet.
On Majalis, Captain Pike and Alora catch up on their previous engagement. Alora checks on her bodyguards, but one man tries to assassinate her. The defector kills another guard and flees into the palace grounds. The rogue guard holds Alora hostage. Alora shanks a knife into the man’s chest in self-defense. Later that night, Pike shares his “future doomsday” dreams with Alora. Alora reassures him that the future is in his control. Pike accepts Alora’s invitation to watch the “ascension ceremony” for the First Servant.
In the C-plot, Cadet Uhura grapples with the basics of cyber security. Uhura researches the crashed warship from the opening scene, but discovers it harbors a secret language. Against her better judgment, Uhura ignores Starfleet protocols and scans the wreckage. Back on the bridge, she deciphers that Alora’s people are not as innocent as they seem.
The sixth episode’s downbeat conclusion leaves a lot to be desired. Firstly, Pike is supposed to be a “boy scout.” In previous episodes, he almost sacrificed his life to save his crew mates. This episode’s story would have been more compelling if the ending were more positive and victorious.
“Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” poses a classic philosophical conundrum: At what terrible cost will a society pay to achieve its utopian status? The episode explores Pike’s complicated feelings toward his former girlfriend and his fear for the Enterprise’s future. Captain Pike reinforces his pro-life stance against the death cult of the alien planet. The acting between the Enterprise crew and the aliens in this episode is grippingly spectacular. However, the sixth episode of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS contains some false alien religion, violence, brief foul language, implied premarital sex. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.