The explanation for all this is messy in predictably Star Trek fashion. Apparently, all the attempted medical treatments meant to save Batel’s life—Una’s Illyrian blood, Gorn DNA, and the Chimera Blossom—have somehow combined to make her something greater than she was before, a near-mythical being known as the Beholder whose sole purpose is to protect the universe from pure evil that is the Vezda. (Don’t ask how Batel is Marie, herself, and also the statue on Vadia IX; the idea of interdimensionality apparently covers a multitude of sins.) That she is both now and apparently has always been the Beholder is a bit of timey-wimey gobbledygook worthy of that franchise featuring the time-traveling Doctor that Pelia once hung out with, but it gives her sacrifice the sort of cosmic and fated scope that feels of a piece with Pike’s.
Her actual face-off with Vezda Gamble is fairly anticlimactic, involving little more than glowing extremities and beams of light conquering swirls of darkness. What’s more interesting is the episode’s middle segment, a filmstrip version of the life that Pike and Batel might have been able to have together in a different world. We see them celebrate anniversaries, get a dog, and have a daughter. Pike’s disfigurement is magically averted, and the pair grow old together, hosting family dinners and celebrating their daughter’s engagement. Much like the season 1 episode “A Quality of Mercy,” it’s another bittersweet glimpse at a life not lived, because Strange New Worlds loves dangling the prospect of Pike somehow getting the second chance we’re all so desperate to give him in front of us. Although here, the alternate reality is really meant for Marie, a reminder of the love and possibility of the universe she’s about to sacrifice herself to save.
There’s something almost painfully romantic in the idea that Pike and Batel are both slaves to destinies they didn’t choose and can’t control, and that any happiness they’ve managed to steal—including the time-bending regular life they get the chance to spend together in the moment before Batel imprisons the Vezda wearing Gamble’s body—is all the sweeter for it. I’ve had my fair share of issues with the way this relationship has been presented onscreen, but Strange New Worlds manages to make the pair seem positively star-crossed here, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I am extremely into it. (Plus, even as an old man in an imagined reality, Pike still has great hair!) It doesn’t hurt that Anson Mount sells the heck out of Pike’s layered devastation; no other character is as equipped to know why Marie has to do what she has to do, or to understand what it’s costing her to embrace her fate. In a season where he really hasn’t had as much to do as many of us (read: me) likely hoped, it’s a very satisfying reminder of why both Mount’s Pike is the beating heart of this series.
Thankfully, not everything about “New Life and New Civilizations” is doom and gloom, and the hour balances Batel’s sacrifice and Pike’s grief by centering another relationship: The bromance of Kirk and Spock. A big chunk of season 3 has revealed in the act of putting the future Enterprise bridge crew from Star Trek: The Original Series together as often as possible, but has, thankfully, had a surprisingly deft touch when it comes to building the foundations for Kirk and Spock’s friendship. This episode is less subtle about their connection, full of obvious metaphors involving mind melds, piloting two ships in perfect harmony, and playing chess, but thankfully, Paul Wesley and Ethan Peck’s believable chemistry and easy banter mean that it’s charming instead of annoying.
The episode ends on an optimistic note, with the Enterprise once more heading off to seek, you guessed it, “New Life and New Civilizations” in uncharted regions of space. It’s a more bittersweet conclusion than previous seasons have offered, as a visibly dejected Pike reflects on memory, grief and the idea that the people we love never really leave us. (He can’t even bring himself to say hsi famous “Hit it” catchphrase.) But as his bridge crew comes together to bolster him for their next adventure, it’s a surprisingly lovely moment of community and affection, a reminder that none of us goes through the worst things that happen to us alone. And it’s hard to think of a more Star Trek-appropriate lesson than that. Onward to season 4.
