Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 7
"What Is Starfleet?"
Writer: Kathryn Lyn, Alan B. McElroy
Director: Sharon Lewis
Cast: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun, Martin Quinn, Rebecca Romijn
Strange New Worlds swung for the fences this week with a gutsy format flip: a full-on, in-universe documentary made by Umberto "Beto" Ortegas — Erica's kid brother — shadowing the Enterprise to answer one loaded question: what is Starfleet, really? He doesn't come aboard as a neutral observer; he arrives with a chip on his shoulder and a thesis to prove. Beto blames Starfleet for "taking" his sister away and nearly losing her in the Gorn chaos, and his early interviews are all elbows — prodding La'an about the cost of violence, cornering Pike about following orders, and hitting Uhura with a stinging personal reveal on camera. It's a pointed reminder that not everyone in the galaxy, or even in Starfleet's orbit, sees the organization as a shining force for good.
His film unfolds as the Enterprise takes on a morally knotty assignment: ferrying classified "cargo" to war-torn Lutani VII, locked in a brutal conflict with its sister world, Kasar. The cargo turns out to be a Jikaru — an enormous, sentient space-going lifeform that the Lutani have painfully modified into a living weapon capable of unleashing devastating energy bursts. The mechanics are sci-fi cool, but the ethics are ugly: a neural dampener that's basically a shock collar, a plan to unleash a thinking creature on a battlefield, and orders that ask the Enterprise to be the middleman. It's the kind of mission that gives ammo to Beto's thesis — and he's rolling the whole time.
When the transfer goes sideways, Pike's first instinct is classic cowboy problem-solving — lasso the runaway "bronco" — but the crew keeps finding red flags. Spock and Chapel get hurt in the chaos, M'Benga uncovers how deeply the Jikaru has been reprogrammed, and the team realizes they're not escorting aid; they're abetting cruelty. This is where Uhura steps into the spotlight. She pushes for communication over coercion, ultimately making a perilous connection and learning the truth: the creature is suffering and wants release, but begs that its children be protected. Pike listens — not to a directive, but to a person he trusts — and chooses compassion over clean, easy obedience. The Enterprise honors the Jikaru's wish and safeguards its offspring by turning the planet into a protected sanctuary, a decision that doesn't sit well with their would-be clients.
And that's the crack in Beto's lens. Uhura, who's been both patient and understandably frustrated with his tactics, finally calls him on the real motive powering his movie: anger at an institution that "took" his sister from him. The mission he's filming doesn't let Starfleet off the hook — it shows its contradictions, its failures, its bureaucracy — but it also reveals that the heart of Starfleet isn't a logo or a charter. It's people making hard, human choices in the moment. That realization reframes Beto's narrative: interviews that began as tripwires become testimonies; the montage that could have been a take-down turns into a portrait of individuals — Pike, Spock, Uhura, M'Benga, Una, La'an, even Ortegas herself — choosing to live up to ideals rather than hide behind them.
The episode never pretends the galaxy buys into the Federation fairy tale. Lutani leadership treats the Jikaru like a tool; Beto's early monologue wonders if a "federation" is just an empire with better PR; even some of the crew bristle at the mission's optics. Those notes matter. They keep the hour honest about how Starfleet can look from the outside — armed ships, classified orders, collateral damage — and why scrutiny is essential. By the end, though, the camera catches something sturdier than propaganda: a captain who'll bend orders to protect a life, a communications officer who believes listening is action, and a brother who recognizes that his sister didn't vanish into an institution — she chose a family that challenges her to be better. That's a pretty Trek answer to the title's challenge.
As a weekly outing, it's a brisk, thoughtful swing that lets the cast play in a fresh sandbox while slipping in chewy Trek questions about war, consent, journalism, and empathy. And yes, it's fun — the documentary flourishes, the "is it aid or empire?" debate, and a big, mythic space creature give it pop. But what lingers is the pivot in Beto's film: he sets out to indict a monolith and winds up spotlighting the messy, principled people inside it. In other words, it's not that Starfleet makes the people; the people make Starfleet. "What Is Starfleet?" proves that even in the harshest light, the heart of the Federation shines through — and that's Strange New Worlds at its very best.
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