Be careful, redshirts! This text incorporates spoilers for “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds” season 3, episode 3, “Shuttle to Kenfori.”
“Star Trek” usually and “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds” specifically would not hesitate to attract inspiration from different genres. In actual fact, “Unusual New Worlds” season 3 has now delivered two consecutive episodes that wink and nod to particular works of fiction. Episode 2, “Marriage ceremony Bell Blues,” introduced again William Campbell’s child-like alien Trelane (now performed by Rhys Darby of “Our Flag Means Loss of life” fame) to pose as a marriage planner for the not too long ago damaged up Spock (Ethan Peck) and Chistine Chapel (Jess Bush). The antagonist resets the scenario each time Spock refuses to conform, thus locking the half-Vulcan in a loop that appears to pay homage to “Groundhog Day.” Now, episode 3, titled “Shuttle to Kenfori,” appears to riff on a much more current popular culture phenomenon: HBO’s post-apocalyptic juggernaut collection “The Final of Us.”
Searching for the therapeutic Chimera weed, the Enterprise units course to planet Kenfori, which is a strict no-fly zone. On the floor, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Physician Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) quickly discover themselves in the course of a full-on post-apocalyptic state of affairs, the place they encounter hordes of lethal plant zombies. Granted, “Unusual New Worlds” throws in loads of franchise-specific lore about Klingon invasions and actually outlandish medical remedies, however the episode actually makes Kenfori look like the “Star Trek” model of the Cordyceps-infested “The Final of Us” Earth. And actually? Season 3 of the most effective “Star Trek” present in a long time makes this unlikely mixture work surprisingly properly.
The various parallels between Kenfori and The Final of Us
The apocalyptic occasion of “The Final of Us” is a model of the parasitic Cordyceps fungus, which begins taking on the brains of the contaminated. The Cordyceps makes its victims behave very similar to conventional zombies and assault individuals with a view to unfold the an infection earlier than ultimately mutating them into one thing far stranger. Years after the outbreak, nature has reclaimed most human settlements, and the few survivors left are struggling to get by both by themselves or in makeshift alliances. In HBO’s “The Final of Us” season 1, predominant characters Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) traverse this merciless however lovely world on a mission that will or might not save humanity, battling the darkish facet of human nature on the best way. Season 2 introduces one other, very totally different duo mission, in addition to a key factor from Naughty Canine’s video games: The surprisingly scientifically correct fungus spores that enable the airborne unfold of the an infection.
It is simple to see how “Shuttle to Kenfori” performs with comparable themes. Right here, Pike and M’Benga play the function of the contentious traveler duo exploring overgrown buildings and attempting to outlive moss-infected zombies. They even find an apocalyptic log not in contrast to those gamers discover in “The Final of Us” video games. It reveals that Kenfori’s destiny is successfully a sci-fi model of the Cordyceps an infection: The Chimera agent, which transfers very similar to “The Final of Us” spores, went haywire and prompted everybody on Kenfori to show into moss-infested hybrid creatures. Mix all this with the story of revenge, violence, and hopelessness that unfolds on the planet, and it is clear that “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds” season 3, episode 2 simply went full “The Final of Us” on its viewers … both by design or accident.
