Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Finale Echoes A Perfect Next Generation Episode
This post contains major spoilers for the season 2 finale of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
As I watched the season 2 finale of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," titled "Hegemony," it took until the closing five minutes for me to ask: "How are they going to resolve this?" The Enterprise is locked in combat with a fleet of Gorn ships. Those reptilian predators have abducted key members of the crew. Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano) is on borrowed time before a Gorn chestburster kills her while Captain Pike (Anson Mount) can't decide whether to push on and save his people or obey Starfleet and retreat.
Half a minute before the credits rolled, the answer hit me — the resolution isn't coming, at least not yet. Sure enough, the episode ends with a title card "To Be Continued..." Those are words once synonymous with TV, but streaming has put them out of fashion.
By ending on a cliffhanger, "Hegemony" echoes one of the greatest "Star Trek" episodes: "The Next Generation" season 3 finale/season 4 premiere, "The Best of Both Worlds." That episode saw Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) abducted and assimilated by the Borg, becoming Locutus. The rest of the Enterprise-D crew, now led by Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), scrambled to save him and the Federation before the Borg's invasion could begin in earnest. Both "Hegemony" and "The Best of Both Worlds" leave their leads in dire straits and the audience wanting more.
The Best of Both Worlds's legacy
In 2016, The Washington Post called "The Best of Both Worlds" the best "Star Trek" episode (not just "Next Generation," to be clear) and the greatest cliffhanger in TV history. The Hollywood Reporter also credits "The Best of Both Worlds" with "saving 'Star Trek.'"
Why is this such a famous episode? For one, it came at the right time. "Next Generation" had an unspectacular debut season. It had gradually improved, but "Best of Both Worlds" was the headline grabber it needed. A cliffhanger season finale like this was unprecedented, having never been done in "Star Trek" before. That naturally attracted attention that only spread in a positive feedback loop; fans spent all of summer 1990 speculating on what would happen in "Part 2." How would Picard be saved? Would he be saved? Would Riker become the new Captain of the Enterprise?
It helped that the episode (written by the late series Showrunner Michael Piller) was really dang good; it melded gripping suspense with character drama. The Borg provided terrifying dread that no other "Star Trek" villain could conjure. "The Best of Both Worlds" proved that "The Next Generation" could reach spectacular heights. So, audiences stuck around even after the cliffhanger was over because they wanted to see more of what this show could do.
A cliffhanger ending takes confidence. It will only land if you've got your audience invested beforehand. Otherwise, they'll feel cheated and may not return for part two. Since it worked out for Piller and "The Best of Both Worlds," "Star Trek" kept trying to recapture the magic. All the subsequent "Next Generation" season finales end on cliffhangers, as do several in "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Enterprise." "Hegemony" is just the latest example.
A dark mirror
The ending of "Hegemony" invokes "The Best of Both Worlds" in more ways than one. The Gorn have been built up as the grave new threat to the Federation, akin to the handling of the Borg on "Next Generation." The endings also share the same hook for their cliffhangers; members of the Enterprise crew have been abducted, with their fates hanging in the balance. Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) are safe — they both show up in "The Original Series." La'an (Christina Chong) or Ortegas (Melissa Navia), though? We don't know if they'll end up Gorn chow or not. Remember, there was no guarantee that Locutus of Borg could be restored into Picard for the original viewers of "The Best of Both Worlds."
The thing everyone remembers about "The Best of Both Worlds" is Picard being assimilated by the Borg. However, the lead of the episode is really Riker; he's questioning if he can rise to the challenge of captaincy and the resulting events are his trial by fire. That character arc is another reason why the cliffhanger ending works. "Part 1" ends when the Enterprise bridge crew sees Locutus on the view screen. After one-by-one close-ups, the camera settles on Riker, whipping 90 degrees around him and zooming in on his face. Without an ounce of hesitation, he orders: "Mr. Worf — Fire."
"Hegemony" employs similar direction, but with opposite meaning. As the Enterprise is shellacked by the Gorn, Pike remains paralyzed by indecision. The bridge crew asks him for their orders, but he doesn't reply. The episode ends with a close-up of Pike's uncertain face, his mind racing through the possibilities. Pike's expression is like an inverted echo of Riker's.
Falling off a cliffhanger
Will the "Hegemony" cliffhanger land as intended? It's important to remember that the wait will be a lot longer. There was only a three-month gap (June 18 to September 24, 1990) between "Best of Both Worlds" Parts 1 and 2. "Strange New Worlds," on the other hand, had a year-long gap between seasons 1 and 2 (the former premiered May 5, 2022, and the latter June 15, 2023). The wait for season 3 might be even longer owing to the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes. Don't expect quick resolutions unless the people who write and act them out are fairly compensated.
The longer gap means speculation about the ending will go on for a lot longer. That means more time for people to set themselves up for disappointment. Fandom is also very different now than it was in the 1990s. It's mostly online, where echo chambers act to metastasize extreme reactions to art. Rumors also spread easier in the digital age. "Strange New Worlds" fans will likely be hyper-analyzing leaked set photos or rumors about actors leaving the series, all to piece together the inevitable conclusion to this ending. In doing so, they might rob themselves of some enjoyment when "Strange New Worlds" season 3 finally comes around.
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is streaming on Paramount+.