Yep, A Classic Star Trek Episode Inspired That Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Cliffhanger
The final episode of the second season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," called "Hegemony" (August 10, 2023), took place at a remote human colony called Parnassus Beta and involved a violent border dispute between the U.S.S. Enterprise and a species of evil reptiles called the Gorn. The colony is on a contested planet, and the Gorn are eager to exterminate the human "pests." The Enterprise charges to the rescue, and the bulk of the episode is action sequences, starship battles, and hand-to-hand combat. Spock (Ethan Peck) murders a Gorn by stabbing it in the skull. On a mere visceral level, it's terribly exciting.
The episode ends with the Enterprise crew back on board the ship after a stressful conflict below. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) has received orders from Starfleet Command to leave the colony behind and get out of the Gorn's way. The order came, however, right when Pike received the news that the Gorn had kidnapped hundreds of colonists. Pike can obey orders, flee with his crew, and survive the way, or disobey orders, attack the Gorn ship, and rescue the colonists. What will his decision be? Cut to black. "To be continued" appears on the screen. Audiences will have to wait until season 3 to learn what Pike chose.
"Hegemony" is the most recent example of a long-held "Star Trek" tradition of ending its seasons on cliffhangers. Both "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Voyager" ended four of their respective seven seasons on cliffhangers. The most famous cliffhanger was probably "The Best of Both Worlds," the Picard/Borg episode that bridged "TNG" seasons 3 and 4.
In a recent interview with Vulture, "Strange New Worlds" showrunner Henry Alonso Myers revealed that the resemblance "Hegemony" bore to "The Best of Both Worlds" was no accident.
The Best of Both Worlds
"The Best of Both Worlds," perhaps the most famous episode of "Next Generation," saw the invasion of a race of unthinking cyborgs called the Borg. While trying to hold back a Borg ship, Picard (Patrick Stewart) is kidnapped and assimilated. He is implanted with Borg machinery and renamed Locutus, a speaker from the otherwise mentally united cyber-beings. The first half ends with Picard, fully Borged out and robbed of his identity, announcing that the Borg are about to destroy the Enterprise. Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) gives the order to fire all weapons. Cut to black. "To be continued." Those alive at the time recall shrieking in frustration that we would have to wait all summer to see the conclusion.
Myers knows that frustration well, and aimed to emulate it with "Hegemony." As he said:
"The entire intent of doing ["Hegemony"] that way was that we were thinking about the great 'Next Generation' two-parter, 'The Best of Both Worlds.' It's a fantastic end of the season, and it shocks the hell out of you, like, 'I have to wait until the next season to see the next part!' That's all we were trying to do. It was just, let's surprise everyone, and have this be a 'Best of Both Worlds,' let's hold ourselves up to that level. We wanted people to be shocked and delighted because I remember experiencing that when I was younger, being blown away and loving it."
Myers was born in 1972 and had just turned 18 when "Best of Both Worlds" aired. He shares a whole generation's delighted aggravation.
The longest summer of all time
For the record, the first part of "Best of Both Worlds" aired on June 18, 1990, and the second part on September 24, 1990. That's about 14 weeks, in total. As all Trekkies can tell you, however, it felt two times as long. That wasn't just a summer vacation. It was purgatory. Myers knew how long it felt, and even spitballed the actual hiatus as much longer than it actually was. He also revealed that he and the other "Strange New Worlds" writers haven't yet planned a conclusion for "Hegemony." Myers thought this might prove to be a dramatic advantage. He said:
"At the time I felt like it was eight years, but it was probably yeah, between five and six months. But one thing I've learned as a writer is that if I don't know what's going to happen, the people who watch it also won't know what's going to happen. Now, in this case, I have actually done a bit of thinking about how it will move forward. But when we broke it, we tried to break it without committing specifically to it. It's just better if you don't because that way you don't leave obvious clues about what's coming."
So anyone scanning "Hegemony" for hints as to what "Part II" might contain, save your time. Not even Myers knows. It's far more fun to theorize, anyway. Indeed, in that tradition, let's float some baseless theories.
How exciting would it be if Pike decides not to rescue the colonists? Like, his instinct would be to charge to the rescue, but he knows that the Enterprise would be destroyed. He would have to justify his judiciousness, and likely upset his eager crew. Not all starship captains can be heroes 100 percent of the time.