At the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, Captain Pike found himself facing a seemingly impossible choice as the USS Enterprise stood alone against a Gorn armada. The Gorn had captured several of Pike's crew members, but Starfleet ordered the Enterprise to withdraw.
At the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, it was Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) who faced an impossible choice as he stood against a Borg cube. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) had been assimilated by the Borg, and Riker was forced to order the USS Enterprise-D to fire at the cube, knowing it could mean the death of his friend and captain.
Captain Pike Beating The Gorn Calls Back To How Star Trek: The Next Generation Beat The Borg
Pike's Crew Putting The Gorn To Sleep Is Just Like What Picard's Crew Did To The Borg
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3's premiere, Captain Pike looks to his crew for help in devising a solution to combat the Gorn and rescue his people. Every crew member on the bridge offers their ideas, and, with a combination of research and ingenuity, they come up with a plan to force the Gorn into an early hibernation.
Essentially, Pike and his crew put the Gorn to sleep, just as Captain Picard and his USS Enterprise-D crew did with the Borg back in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II." After Picard was rescued from the Borg cube, he managed to say the word "sleep," which Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) correctly interpreted as a plan of action.
Data then sent the Borg an order to regenerate, effectively putting them to sleep. It was a surprisingly simple Deus ex Machina in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II," and Data made it look easy. However, in "Hegemony, Part II," the crew of Pike's Enterprise has more difficulty and conjures a more dynamic solution to their Gorn problem.
Why Strange New Worlds’ Solution To Beating The Gorn Was Better Than TNG’s
Captain Pike's Crew Beat The Gorn By Working Together To Form A Risky & Complex Plan
After the jaw-dropping cliffhanger at the end of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I," even Star Trek: The Next Generation's writers didn't know how the story was going to end. While their solution was clever, Data ultimately had no trouble putting the Borg to sleep after hearing Picard's suggestion.
The plan to send the Gorn into hibernation in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds consists of a lot more moving parts and some dangerously close calls. Future Enterprise Chief Engineer Lt. Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn) makes the ship invisible to the Gorn's sensors and then uses the ship to trigger the Gorn's hibernation.
Ensign Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) notices a pattern in the Gorn's movements and helps connect their hibernation with the phenomena of coronal mass ejections.
Not only does this plan expose the ship's crew to dangerous levels of radiation, but all of this is also taking place while Lt. La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) leads her away team's fight to escape from the bowels of the Gorn ship. It's intense and a little insane, but once again, Captain Pike's unwavering faith in his crew is proven to be entirely justified.
Captain Pike's plan ultimately feels more thorough and thought-out than the one implemented in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In "Hegemony, Part II," every major character contributes to the success of the plan, whether from the bridge, engineering, sickbay, or the Gorn ship. It all feels more fast-paced and risky than the events of "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II."
Strange New Worlds’ Gorn 2-Parter Is Their Version Of TNG’s Classic Borg Cliffhanger
Both Star Trek 2-Parters Have A Lot In Common
Ultimately, the Gorn two-parter spanning Star Trek: Strange New Worlds seasons 2 and 3 has a lot in common with Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Best of Both Worlds." Both stories involve powerful alien foes that threaten the United Federation of Planets, and in both cases, the Enterprise is woefully outgunned.
The words "to be continued" appeared on the screen.
"The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" and "Hegemony, Part I" both ended with the commanders of the Enterprise staring down enemy ships and facing a devastating loss if they made the wrong call. As the words "to be continued" appeared on the screen, it was unclear how Commander Riker or Captain Pike were going to get out of their respective crises.
Captain Picard, too, must undergo surgery to remove the Borg cybernetic parts, but this surgery takes place off-screen without any complications.
In many ways, "Hegemony" is Strange New Worlds' answer to TNG's "Best of Both Worlds." While "Best of Both Worlds" may deliver a stronger first part to its two-parter, "Hegemony" more successfully sticks the landing. Still, both episodes wonderfully showcase the Enterprise and its impressive crew, and "Hegemony" jump-starts what is sure to be a thrilling season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
