Unusual New Worlds Season 3 Episode 3 Plunges Star Trek Straight Into The Final Of Us

Be careful, redshirts! This text comprises spoilers for “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds” season 3, episode 3, “Shuttle to Kenfori.” 

“Star Trek” normally and “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds” particularly would not hesitate to attract inspiration from different genres. The truth is, “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 Demise” 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 state of affairs every 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 latest popular culture phenomenon: HBO’s post-apocalyptic juggernaut sequence “The Final of Us.”

Seeking 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 midst 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 really outlandish medical remedies, however the episode definitely makes Kenfori seem to be the “Star Trek” model of the Cordyceps-infested “The Final of Us” Earth. And actually? Season 3 of the very best “Star Trek” present in many years makes this unlikely mixture work surprisingly nicely.

The apocalyptic occasion of “The Final of Us” is a model of the parasitic Cordyceps fungus, which begins taking up the brains of the contaminated. The Cordyceps makes its victims behave very like conventional zombies and assault folks with the intention to unfold the an infection earlier than finally 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, fundamental characters Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) traverse this merciless however stunning world on a mission which will or might not save humanity, combating the darkish aspect of human nature on the best way. Season 2 introduces one other, very completely different duo mission, in addition to a key ingredient from Naughty Canine’s video games: The surprisingly scientifically correct fungus spores that permit the airborne unfold of the an infection. 

It is easy 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 making an attempt to outlive moss-infected zombies. They even find an apocalyptic log not not like 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 like “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.