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Jul 27, 2023 · Under the Cloak of War: Directed by Jeffrey W. Byrd. With Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong. Captain Pike and his crew welcome a Klingon defector aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, but his presence triggers the revelation of some shocking secrets.
- (3.6K)
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Jeffrey W. Byrd
- 2023-07-27
- Overview
- Summary
- Memorable quotes
- Log entries
- Background information
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Captain Pike and his crew welcome a Klingon defector aboard the USS Enterprise, but his presence triggers the revelation of some shocking secrets.
Teaser
The USS Enterprise arrives in the Prospero system, which has been under Federation jurisdiction since the end of the Klingon War, to rendezvous with the USS Kelcie Mae, which is carrying a special visitor – a Federation ambassador. The Prospero system's three planets have been fighting one another for years, but the ambassador has managed to arrange a cease fire, and now the Enterprise is transporting the ambassador to Starbase 12. The ambassador is Dak'Rah, a former Klingon general who defected to the Federation during the war. "Rah", as he prefers to be called (as formal Klingon names are a "mouthful"), is greeted in the transporter room by Captain Pike, Una, and La'an. Rah comments on the unusual sound of the boatswain's whistle greeting his arrival. Pike explains it as a tradition dating back to Earth's seafaring days, and it had become a custom on the Enterprise for greeting distinguished guests. Rah thinks it similar to "rolling the red carpet out", and Pike confirms, saying he wished to extend every courtesy the ship had to offer. He indicates that La'an is ready to escort him to his quarters, but Rah asks for a tour of the ship, having heard many things about the Federation flagship. Una and La'an exchange uneasy glances at that. On the bridge, Ortegas – presently holding the conn – is uneasy as well. Uhura lists Rah's diplomatic achievements, including the Summit of Scorpi X, the Klingon Free-Trade Agreement, and the Perez Accords, and believes that a former enemy speaking on Starfleet's behalf has been an effective voice. Ortegas, however, believes it could be a "long con" so the Klingons could steal Federation secrets. She lists his military actions, such as the slaughter at Lembatta V, the siege of Starbase Zetta, and the colony on Athos. Uhura realizes it was a sore subject, but Ortegas assures her she was right, and she didn't know what he was about – only the stories she had heard, about how he had killed his own men to cover his retreat, and that the Klingons called him the "Butcher of J'Gal". As she is saying the last, Rah – accompanied by Pike, Una, and La'an – steps onto the bridge. Ortegas, realizing what is happening, comes awkwardly to attention. Rah's first comment was to admire the view through the viewscreen. A Bird-of-Prey was not meant to take in its surroundings, and though Klingons would never admit it, he thinks the Federation has better ships. Pike points out that Starfleet ships were primarily intended for exploration, but Rah thinks the Enterprise in particular is "fun to fly". Una indicates Ortegas, the senior helm officer. He compliments the ship, and expresses the belief that it was in good hands. Ortegas replies that she does her best. Rah continues on with the tour, not wishing to distract the bridge crew from their duties. In the crew lounge, Spock and Mitchell are attempting to reproduce raktajino, a caffeinated beverage popular on Qo'noS, in anticipation of Rah's arrival. They are still struggling with the coding, as the sample they have made so far has come out cold, and Spock hopes to work out the trouble in time. Mitchell sees Rah enter and tells Spock he didn't have as much time as he hoped. Pike mentions Spock had a "surprise" in anticipation for his arrival. Spock has been attempting to reproduce raktajino. Una explains that Spock had been able to parley with a Klingon captain during a recent mission and procured the recipe; Spock adds that the experience made him curious about Klingon culture. Rah believes there was nothing to be curious about, dismissing his people as warmongers limited by ideology. Spock realizes he has breached a complicated subject, and apologizes. Rah apologizes in turn, saying his distaste for the past colors his words, and offers to try the raktajino. The cup comes out scalding hot, burning Rah's hand, but he takes it in good stride, saying Klingons had a high tolerance for pain. Pike asks for his indulgence, and escorts him to sickbay. Both Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel look up to see Rah enter, and another nurse applies the dermal regenerator. M'Benga has a particularly stricken look on his face. Seeing it, Chapel offers to handle things, and the doctor enters his office, his heart racing as his memories of J'Gal resurface.
Act One
A few years earlier, during the war, Chapel is aboard shuttlecraft 12648 approaching the moon of J'Gal, with the battle raging around them. The shuttle is unable to land due to Klingon disruptor fire, so they have to beam Chapel down while in transit. She is beamed down to a field hospital, where she is greeted by the chief medical officer, Commander Buck Martinez. The hospital is both understaffed and under-equipped, and none of Martinez's requests for resupply have gone through. He also mentions asking "Joseph", who does a lot around there. Chapel requests to meet with the head nurse, but Martinez gives her an unpleasant surprise: she is the head nurse. She had the most experience on anyone on the staff, Martinez explains, and he couldn't wait for roster rotations, so he did what he had to – and it had cost him a case of Romulan ale. The hospital then takes fire, and Martinez tells her one got "used to it"; they scrambled the sensors, but the Klingons knew where they were, and it wouldn't take long for them to get a lock. He calls their camp "Tent City" and tells her to get settled, but she doesn't have long to do that, as the wounded begin beaming in. Chapel goes right to work, directing patients to where they were needed. One particularly bad case, a man named Alvarado, leads her to call for a doctor, and M'Benga is the one who answers. Alvarado has severe internal bleeding and trauma to all major organs, but they had no internal organ regenerator. Chapel insists something had to be done to keep the wounded until the relief convoy arrived. M'Benga tells her that the worst cases are kept inside the transporter's pattern buffer, and shows her how. Alvarado is preserved inside the buffer, clearing the pad for more patients. Back in the present, M'Benga is working on one of the biobeds, which has not been working the same since the Gorn attack on Finibus III. Pike enters, asking if he had any Deltan parsley in his stock. M'Benga procures the herb, warning that it was deadly in excessive amounts, but Pike counters that it was delicious in small amounts. M'Benga thinks he could have just called or sent a yeoman, but Pike wanted to check in with the doctor personally, knowing that he and Chapel had both been on J'Gal, where Rah had earned his reputation. A minor protest had broken out during the last transport, and Pike was under direct orders that veterans of the war had to interact with Rah. Pike intends to make the ambassador welcome, but he doesn't wish to do so at the personal expense of anyone on the crew. M'Benga assures him he's fine, as does Chapel when she enters behind him. Chapel notes the Federation's ultimate goal was to make peace with its enemies, but Pike points out that it was also an organization that waged war with the Klingons. He had his orders from "pretty up high", and as part of the effort, he was hosting a dinner for Rah that evening. M'Benga and Chapel both assure him they will be there. Once Pike leaves, however, their bluff facade fades; M'Benga in particular looks haunted. Chapel thinks they can still back out, but M'Benga refuses, saying he has had worse than "polite conversation", and doesn't want to give Rah the satisfaction of chasing him from the captain's table. When Chapel tells him "we got this", his memory goes back to J'Gal, where he and Chapel were working to save the life of an ensign named Inman. While in surgery, he goes into cardiac arrest, and with no equipment, M'Benga urges Chapel to manually stimulate his heart. M'Benga tells her "we got this", and urges her to repeat it with him, like a chant. Inman's heartbeat returns, and M'Benga calls for a dermal team to take over, as he and Chapel go to their next patients.
Act Two
M'Benga heads down the corridor to Pike's quarters, and sees Ortegas pacing furiously outside. Ortegas is incensed that the "Butcher of J'Gal" is inside being treated "like he's the freaking Dalai Lama". She admits she has a "bad poker face" when she doesn't like someone, and intends to back out. M'Benga asks why she didn't just say no to Pike's invitation, and Ortegas asks him the same. M'Benga thinks there is a chance that Rah (whom he identifies first as "general", then as "ambassador") has genuinely reformed. Ortegas is certain Rah is pretending, and doesn't want to play along. "Sometimes you pretend something long enough, it becomes the truth," M'Benga muses, before suggesting that they pretend the war didn't bother them… at least for that night. Ortegas calls it putting on the "Starfleet face", and M'Benga thinks it a good face… plus, he adds, Pike made jambalaya with Deltan parsley. Rah is regaling the captain's table about his recent negotiations in the Prospero system when M'Benga and Ortegas enter. Spock and Chapel are in the midst of a word game, but Chapel, seeing M'Benga's face, is distracted, and Spock can see that she was under duress. Uhura asks whether it was true that most diplomatic negotiations involved drinking bloodwine in excess. Rah tells her that peace was not a destination, but a journey, a state of mind. Spock offers to help if Chapel wants to talk, but Chapel bluntly tells him to change the subject. Chapel does, however, wish Rah would stop talking about the "amazing peace" he's managed, and Spock does have a solution to that. He approaches, and asks the ambassador if he is familiar with Sun Tzu's The Art of War, which Rah considers a "most inspired Human masterpiece". Spock admits he would like to hear his thoughts comparing it to the Klingon text mL'parmaq Qoj. Rah enthusiastically takes up the topic, mentioning that it was often required reading, and he had been introduced to it when he was seven years old. M'Benga quietly moves away and pours himself a drink. Chapel asks him to make it two, and thinks it even better when M'Benga says his was a double. She asks why they were even there, and M'Benga replies they were there because their captain needed them. She then asks why it was so hard to explain the war to people who weren't there. M'Benga's memories go back to J'Gal, speaking with Ensign Inman after surgery. Inman looks haunted, saying that General Dak'Rah's men would not let him die. M'Benga urges him to focus on his recovery, and asks how his chest feels. Inman feels like someone had squeezed his heart with their fingers, and M'Benga smiles as he reveals someone did. He asks where the ensign was from, and he replies he was from New Angeles on Luna, which they always just called "the Moon". M'Benga goes to check on other patients, but asks to hear more about it when he returns. Outside, he is approached by Va'Al Trask, a battle-scarred Andorian black ops lieutenant. Trask knows that M'Benga has a history as a fighter, with the most confirmed kills in hand-to-hand combat, and asks for his help to eliminate General Dak'Rah, who had given orders to kill anyone who was not a Klingon soldier. Trask tells him that civilians – Klingon and Human alike – were being killed by his troops. M'Benga replies that he was just a doctor now, preferring to save lives instead of take them. Trask then asks about Protocol 12, the stimulant M'Benga designed, but M'Benga refuses, saying that it turned out filling one's body with adrenaline and pain inhibitors was bad for their health. Trask insists, saying his team needed an edge. Returning to the present, Rah talks about the peace negotiations to end the Klingon War, and recalls that the chancellor had asked how a Klingon was speaking on behalf of the Federation. Pike thinks it a good question, and asks how he answered. Rah replied that he simply told the truth of who and what he was, and his belief that J'Gal had changed him. "J'Gal changed a lot of us," M'Benga says quietly, getting Rah's attention. The doctor confirms he had been there during the final conflict, and Chapel also brings up the colony on Athos. Rah believes they both understand his pain, calling the fighting on Athos in particular "without merit", pointless. Pike expresses his belief that war was never the ideal option. Ortegas, distrustful, asks if the stories about how he escaped were true. Rah replies simply that they had all been pushed to their limits, then raises his glass in a toast to the survivors of J'Gal. Ortegas, however, retorts with "tlhIngan maH taHjaj" – "remain Klingon", their battle cry during the war. She recalls hearing it constantly over the comms, and then "boom, all of your friends are dead." Una tells her to stand down, but she remains standing, staring defiantly. Rah is unperturbed, saying he has heard worse, but wishes only to make up for his past deeds, and connect to others who need healing, like her. Ortegas is not having it, and leaves without another word. Chapel says she needs to check on her, and uses that as a reason to leave as well. Pike apologizes, but Rah assures him he bears no grudge. Uhura notes that his philosophy sounded much like Aenar existentialism. Pike, seeing M'Benga's hands clenching on the arm of his chair, quietly suggests he help Chapel to calm down Ortegas. M'Benga, seeing what he is doing, agrees, and makes his way out. As M'Benga makes to leave, Rah catches him by the arm, much to his shock. He mentions that La'an had told him that she and the doctor practiced "full contact mok'bara", and wonders if they might arrange a session. M'Benga says he would check his schedule. Back on J'Gal during the war, Inman leaves his bed and sits outside, watching the weapons fire. When M'Benga approaches, telling him he should be in bed, Inman asks what they were doing there. M'Benga asks why he joined Starfleet, and Inman replies he had hoped to explore, to learn – none of the things he was doing at present, in other words. M'Benga had joined to learn how to heal people, and calls the war a disease eating at the heart of the Federation. If they allowed the Klingons to conquer every colony in the sector, they wouldn't stop and return to Qo'noS. He tells Inman that they had to remember that they were fighting for those they loved back home, hoping they wouldn't be changed by it… but if they didn't fight, they didn't win, and the "disease" takes over. "We have to fight so the people we love have a chance to live in peace," he says. "That's Starfleet."
"Just because he's Klingon…"
"Trust me, I know Klingons. This guy with the peace treaties, that's not Klingon."
- Uhura and Ortegas, discussing Ambassador Dak'Rah
"In anticipation of your visit, we are attempting to produce a popular caffeinated beverage from Qo'noS."
"On a recent mission, Spock was able to parley with a Klingon captain and procure a recipe."
"I must admit, it has ignited a curiosity in me. A desire to experience more of your culture."
•Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2259
•Chief medical officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Title
•The title was originally revealed in CTV Sci-Fi Channel programming guide on 21 July 2023, where it was scheduled to air after "Those Old Scientists" on 27 July 2023.
Cast and characters
•Clint Howard previously appeared as Balok in TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver", Grady in DS9: "Past Tense, Part II", Muk in ENT: "Acquisition", and an Orion in DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?". Howard has the distinction of being the actor whose appearances span the longest time interval in the franchise – fifty-six years, having filmed "The Corbomite Maneuver" in early-June 1966 and "Under the Cloak of War" in May 2022.
Continuity
•In addition to previous Strange New Worlds episodes, the episode recap includes clips from the Star Trek: Discovery episode "Battle at the Binary Stars", featuring Chris Obi as T'Kuvma. •This episode builds on M'Benga and Chapel's Klingon War backstory, first introduced in "The Broken Circle". •Several flashbacks are depicted in the episode, which featured Chapel's arrival and introduction to M'Benga on the moon of J'Gal, through their eventual evacuation. •While the dates of the Klingon War spanned from 2256 and 2257, the exact date of the events visited in the episode were merely intertitled as having occurred "a few years ago". •The vial M'Benga provided himself and Chapel to aide in their handily dispatching a number of enemy captors aboard NCC-1279 in "The Broken Circle" is revealed to be a substance M'Benga created called "Protocol 12".
Starring
•Anson Mount as Christopher Pike •Ethan Peck as Spock •Jess Bush as Christine Chapel •Christina Chong as La'an Noonien-Singh •Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura •Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas •Babs Olusanmokun as Joseph M'Benga And\t •Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley
Guest starring
•Robert Wisdom as Dak'Rah •Clint Howard as Buck Martinez
Co-starring
•Saida Ali as Jix •Ryan Allen as Polk •Carolyne Das as Lead Pilot •Rong Fu as Jenna Mitchell •Kyle Gatehouse as Lieutenant Va'Al Trask •Jose Gutierrez-Solana as Ensign Alvarado •Brendan Jeffers as Ensign Inman •Alex Kapp as USS Enterprise Computer •Vanessa Smythe as Harper
Jul 28, 2023 · Dr. Joseph M’Benga and Nurse Christine Chapel notice the group from a distance, and the doctor’s expression displays an uncharacteristic blend of anger, panic, and fear. M’Benga retreats to his office, collapsing to the floor and grasping at his chest.*. 'Under the Cloak of War'. StarTrek.com.
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Jul 27, 2023 · The story of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 8, “Under the Cloak of War” unfolds in parallel timelines. In the “present day”, the Enterprise pays host to a visiting Klingon dignitary. In the flashbacks, viewers get to see the first meeting between Nurse Chapel and Dr. M’Benga, when she’s assigned to the Moon of J ...
- Core Features Writer/TV & Movie Reviewer
Jul 27, 2023 · Reviews Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 8 Review – Under the Cloak of War. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds tries its hand at a war story in an hour that takes us back to the ...
Aug 4, 2023 · The “Under the Cloak of War” director praises Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for once again, showing a different perspective to events laid out in The Original Series. “Now with Strange New Worlds, it’s the same thing with Spock and T’Pring,” Byrd highlights. “I remember on set talking to Ethan Peck and Jess [Bush] and we were ...
Jul 27, 2023 · Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 8 “Under the Cloak of War” Star Trek: Strange New Worlds switches gears in a big way from its hilarious crossover episode last week to ...
