Strange New Worlds Confirms A Harsh Star Trek Truth
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 7, "What Is Starfleet?," Umberto "Beto" Ortegas (Mynor Luken) explores the question posed by the episode's title, asking "what separates the Federation from an empire." Beto points out that Starfleet officers often act as soldiers, and he questions whether that makes them colonizers.
Shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Discovery have dealt with the darker aspects of Starfleet and the Federation before, but Strange New Worlds addesses the tough questions head on. "What Is Starfleet?" arrives at the perhaps oversimplified conclusion that the people "make Starfleet what it is," but the episode also confirms that every Starfleet officer must be prepared to fight if a situation calls for it.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Confirms That Everyone In Starfleet Must Fight
Starfleet's primary mission may be one of exploration, but nearly all of its ships are equipped with plenty of weapons and armaments. In Beto's documentary, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) recites the oath taken by Starfleet officers, which includes a promise to "defend its security," meaning officers must always be prepared to engage in combat.
Dr. M'Benga works as a healer now, but he served on the front lines during the war with the Klingons, earning a reputation as a formidable warrior. In "What Is Starfleet?," Beto asks M'Benga directly about some of the more questionable choices he has made, but the doctor remains tight-lipped about the darker aspects of his past.
Although Dr. M'Benga's primary role on the Enterprise is to serve as the ship's Chief Medical Officer, he has helped train several officers in combat. "What Is Starfleet?" also shows La'an performing a weapons training exercise, emphasizing the obvious combat training Starfleet officers engage in.
Starfleet Doesn’t Seek War, But Will Fight If They Have To
Throughout Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 7, Beto asks questions regarding the Enterprise's arsenal of weapons and the combat skills of its crew. La'an insists that it would be "stupid" for the Enterprise to go anywhere unarmed, considering how "unpredictable" unexplored space can be.
In "What Is Starfleet?," Starfleet order the Enterprise to get involved in a lopsided war between the Lutani and the Kasar, but the episode doesn't provide much context on this war. Instead, the story shifts its focus to the plight of the Jikaru, a creature that the Lutani have altered to become a makeshift weapon.
"What Is Starfleet?" could have went a bit deeper with its exploration of the Federation and its involvement in intergalactic conflicts, but Star Trek: Strange New Worlds tends to take a more optimistic approach. Still, the episode asks some interesting questions and ultimately acknowledges that Starfleet has more in common with a military organization than its officers would sometimes like to admit.
The "Bachelor In Paradise" Finale Was A Wild Ride And Honestly Made Me Believe In Love
Editor's Note: I hope this goes without saying, but SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
After 10 long and emotionally chaotic weeks, this season of Bachelor in Paradise came to an end this week and it was a wild, but worthwhile, ride.
For longtime Bachelor Nation fans, the tenth and most recent season of BIP was unpredictable not just because of the cast members’ dramatic ups and downs within their friendships and relationships but also because of the twists and turns implemented by production.
The show, hosted by Jesse Palmer, typically encourages contestants to find romantic connections, and in classic Bachelor fashion, if they don’t receive a rose each week, then they face being eliminated. But this summer BIP added a few new elements: Instead of filming on the beach in Mexico, Season 10 was shot in Costa Rica; in addition to casting familiar faces from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, fan favorites from The Golden Bachelor and The Golden Bachelorette also appeared on the beach; and about halfway through the season the show introduced a potential $500,000 prize for the winning couple, which meant for the first time they would have to compete in challenges and go up against their fellow cast members.
Plus, the whole season was littered with personal drama.
At the very beginning of the season, exes Susie Evans and Justin Glaze stirred up a bit of chaos when they both showed up to Paradise and tried to build connections with other people while still respecting one another as friends. This didn’t go well and resulted in Justin choosing Susie over his actual connection with Lexi Young at a rose ceremony because he wanted Susie to have the opportunity to stay on the show. Susie rejected the rose and all three of them went home.
There was also all of the commotion regarding Jeremy Simon and Bailey Taylor Brown’s relationship.
Before Susie left Costa Rica she went on one date with Jeremy and evidently left an impression because when Jeremy later spiraled over Bailey going on a date with Andrew Spencer, he asked production to call Susie and ask her to come back to Paradise. She declined but Jeremy continued to talk about his interest in Susie, ultimately resulting in fellow cast member Brian Autz telling Bailey about the degree of Jeremy’s feelings for another woman.
Not to mention, Sean McLaughlin’s failed voting strategy (which some referred to as an attempted coup) ended up backfiring completely and getting the rest of the cast to vote against him.
Clearly, the stakes were high on this season of BIP and all of this led up to this week's finale.
First, we watched the final rose ceremony where Bailey, Jeremy, Keith Gordon, and Kathy Swarts were eliminated. It was a sad goodbye, but it was time to move things right along to get a little closer to finding out who was going to go home with half a million dollars.
The next morning, Jesse explained the rules of a daunting physical challenge for the final three couples — Dale Moss and Kat Izzo, Andrew Spencer and Alexe Godin, and Spencer Conley and Jess Edwards. Standing on platforms above a pool of water, each couple was strapped into harnesses and held onto handles that were tethered to heavy weights. After lasting for more than 40 minutes, Andrew and Alexe beat out their competitors, locking in their safety to advance to the final round of the journey.
In another surprise twist, there was a final cocktail party where the rest of the couples from the season who had already been voted off returned to help decide whether Dale and Kat or Spencer and Jess should be given the opportunity to also move forward into the final round.
The former couples voted and, of course, Sean didn’t hesitate to use his time back in Paradise to drop some bombs and cause some havoc. Addressing all of the current and former contestants before voting took place, Sean told the group that he had spoken with a mutual friend of Kat’s ex, and she had apparently shared that she didn’t plan on actually falling in love on BIP. According to Sean, Kat said she only wanted to appear on the show to bolster her career. This sent Kat into a tailspin, denying all of Sean’s allegations and spending the rest of the night crying in her hotel room.
On the final morning in Paradise after the chaos of the cocktail party, Jesse revealed that Spencer and Jess were chosen to move forward to the final round, leaving Dale and Kat behind.
Then the remaining couples were faced with their final test: Separated from one another, Andrew, Alexe, Spencer, and Jess were individually presented with the choice to either take $250,000 in cash or meet their partner in a suite. Viewers were about to find out, were the final contestants really there for love or money?
Andrew’s choice was clear — he barely entertained taking the money and waited for Alexe in a suite overlooking the cash prize. Even though Alexe deliberated taking the money to pay off her student loans, something Andrew told cameras he wouldn’t be offended by, she ended up walking up the stairs to the suite and choosing Andrew over the cash. He was so elated and happily surprised that he even cried tears of joy; their playful and meaningful connection exudes through the screen.
Just when they thought their journey was over, Jesse appeared and offered the couple the option to choose from three envelopes on a silver platter; in each envelope was a different amount of money they could potentially walk away with. They chose an envelope containing $125,000. When it was all said and done, Andrew asked Alexe to be his girlfriend and the two of them couldn’t have seemed happier.
Lastly, Spencer also didn’t hesitate to choose Jess over the $250,000. Earlier in the episode we even saw him looking at engagement rings, so there was no question Spencer was going to prioritize his relationship with Jess over the money.
The question was, would Jess reciprocate? Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long to see that her answer was also to choose Spencer instead of the cash prize. After giving the couple a minute, Jesse also approached them with a silver platter of three envelopes to choose from. Not only did they walk away with a check for $190,000, but Spencer also took the finale to the next level when he got down on one knee and proposed to Jess. To everyone’s joy and relief, she said yes!
Both couples are still together to this day, as are Bailey and Jeremy, as well as Dale and Kat. If this season of Bachelor in Paradise taught us anything, it’s that love is real.
So, did you watch this season of Bachelor in Paradise? I need to know your thoughts! And if you haven't already, you can catch up on every episode of this season now on Hulu!
