Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Recap: Space Ghosts?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
The Griffin Incident
Season 4 Episode 2
Editor’s Rating ★★★★
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Okay, remember last recap when I noted the premiere suggested a season that would balance light and darkness? I take it back. “The Griffin Incident” is pretty much all darkness. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but what begins as a story in which three characters — specifically La’An, Spock, and, for the first time this season, frequent Enterprise visitor James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) — experience a touch of space madness goes full Event Horizon by episode’s end. Everyone gets out alive, but will they be the same after this experience?

The episode opens with a voiceover from Kirk recapping a recent shuttle trip, in the company of La’An and Spock, back from the “Future Federation Leaders” retreat. Kirk, unaware that La’An fell in love with another version of him during an adventure in an alternate timeline back in the second season, remains unaware of how awkward they are as a trio, regards this as a successful trip until they hit, in his words, a “snag”: a “mysterious signal in an uncharted region of space.” Even Kirk, who loves this sort of thing, has bad vibes. (The vibes aren’t that great inside the shuttle, either. Spock observes that La’An has been “distracted,” a complaint she brushes off.)

Following a ping, they discover the Griffin, a starship that dropped off the radar nine years ago that’s, naturally, become the focus of a lot of theorizing. “So what the hell really happened?” Kirk asked, not realizing that maybe they don’t want to know.

Whether or not what they find on the Griffin can actually be called ghosts, Kirk already seems a little haunted as the episode begins. As he empties his bag, La’An spots a Patrick O’Brien paperback (perfect Kirk reading material) and, more significantly, a wind-up robot toy Kirk has brought back for his son David. It’s a poignant moment even if, like Kirk, you don’t know what’s coming: that David and his mother Carol will not be much in his life until they reunite in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a story that does not end well for all involved. Right now, Kirk’s attempting to be as present and as loving as he can be, but his duties keep drawing him away, even when they don’t involve adventures on ruined, possibly haunted starships.

Once aboard, they find, well, nothing. “It’s like everyone took a coffee break,” La’An observes. “And never returned,” Spock adds, finishing her thought. But it doesn’t take long for them to realize that there’s something on board the Griffin that unexpectedly springs to life and fires up its life-support systems, even though it has only one hour of power left. That gives the landing party a ticking clock to figure out what’s going on, though their priorities will soon shift to simply getting away from the Griffin alive.

“Perhaps,” Spock observes, “the answers can only be uncovered by Division 12,” referring to the mysterious, X-Files-like Starfleet department that investigates, for lack of a better term, weird space shit that was first referenced in last season’s “Terrarium.” When they see what seems to be a spirit that disappears into thin air, that suggestion starts to seem dead-on.

Still, Spock attempts to do his best to explain the situation by positing the theory they saw “negatively charged ions,” which, as Kirk observes, is pretty much the same thing as a ghost. Soon they encounter other odd things, like a sealed door bearing phaser marks with Starfleet, Klingon, and Vulcan signatures. Not realizing they’re in a horror movie scenario, they attempt to open the sealed door. Kirk briefly drifts away, drawn by the sound of a crying child. After La’An brings him back, they find a sick bay filled with empty (for now) body bags. Then, still not recognizing they’re in a horror movie scenario, they decide to split up (after La’An and Spock exchange a furtive kiss). 

While La’An and Kirk stroll the corridor, Kirk attempts to ask her what seems like it will be a sensitive question, a process interrupted by a strange sound (made by a shadowy figure they don’t see), an ominous sign, just like the body bag that falls to the floor in sick bay. None of this bodes well, nor does the history of the Griffin’s chief security officer Rose Harper (Sorika Wolf), which Spock and the Kirk/La’An team begin researching separately. Harper’s left behind records detailing disturbing behavior that seem not to have been based in fact. The facts they do uncover, concerning the violent deaths of the Griffin’s crew, are, in Spock’s words, “troubling.”

Unfortunately, Spock soon finds himself locked in sick bay and unable to reach the others. What’s worse, he’s not alone. Elsewhere, La’An continues her investigation via Harper’s personal video log, an effort that takes a disturbing turn when Harper addresses her directly while Kirk sees that their shuttle has been wrecked. Things are spiraling out of control even before Spock’s former fiancée T’Pring (Gia Sandhu) shows up and La’An leaves Kirk to search for help. 

In sick bay, Spock and T’Pring (or “T’Pring”) discuss whether or not they’re real. She shares a memory with him of changing the mantra — the Vulcan equivalent of “It will guide you home” — to calm herself in a dangerous situation. Together they attempt to open the door while reminiscing about old times, until T’Pring shoots him. He wakes up strapped to a hospital bed and hears T’Pring’s conclusion that his humanity is not his weakness but his greatest strength. That sounds like a nice sentiment until T’Pring sets about removing everything that makes him Vulcan, starting with the points of his ears, which spurt green blood when she removes them with a pair of shears. 

As this unfolds, La’An attempts to work the ship’s computer but only finds more footage of Harper, who then shows up in person in desiccated, spectral form before disappearing. Harper plays on La’An’s fears that there’s something wrong with her, then surrounds her with the image of zombie-like creatures and says, “You’re one of us.” She attempts to flee, but the lift keeps bringing her to Deck 17 where, well, nothing good awaits her, just more footage of Harper apparently losing her mind and a dagger that she’s probably not in the right headspace to wield. 

Meanwhile, Kirk has his own weirdness to deal with. First the toy robot shows up, then the crying child resumes, a sound he follows until he sees that David is there and trapped behind a control panel. Kirk’s in a panic when the rescue party of Pike, Una, Erica, Nyota, and Kirk’s brother Sam (Dan Jeannotte) arrive. 

Soon, members of the Enterprise start to catch up with other members of those stranded on the Griffin. Erica and Nyota find La’An and pull her away, Kirk and Una discover the strapped-down Spock, while Sam and Kirk catch up. It looks like the day is saved. Briefly.

Then things take a dire turn. Kirk and Sam get stranded on the bridge. La’An almost kills Erica in the process of transporting her (and not accidentally), and Pike and Una team up with T’Pring to continue the process of cutting him to pieces. This can’t be real, can it? As if we needed any further confirmation that the Griffin has started to warp reality, Una then cuts herself open shortly before an apron-clad Pike cuts off his fingers. (Anson Mount, one of the least-creepy actors around, looks incredibly creepy at this moment.) On the bridge, Sam taunts his brother before getting sucked out a hole in the observation window, graphically.

It just gets worse and worse (and scarier and scarier) from here. By the end of their time on the Griffin, La’An starts to turn into Jack Torrance, stalking the others with that dagger, which she uses to stab Kirk (who still hears the crying child). It’s not until Spock uses T’Pring’s Vulcan mantra that escape starts to look possible. But the nightmare doesn’t really end until the Enterprise beams the injured Kirk and the deeply confused La’An where Pike (the real Pike) and the others (the real others) await them.

In the episode’s blessedly peaceful (up to a point) wind-down, Pike tells Dr. M’Benga he’ll be referring the case to Division 12 (which will make the seventh such referral; half of his previous referrals remain mysteries). When they reach sick bay, M’Benga shares the good news that Kirk will recover. As for Spock and La’An, M’Benga offers a different diagnosis: “Physically they’re fine. Mentally…” Then he sort of trails off. Not all the healing is taking place in sick bay, however. Chapel makes a house call to Spock’s quarters to repair his ears, after which she shares a story of her own traumatic experiences during the war. It’s clear the two still have a deep connection, even if their relationship is now strictly platonic. Still, she seems a little hurt that it’s T’Pring who appeared to him in his darkest hour. 

A bit later, La’An visits Pike, where he makes no excuses for leaving out her breakdown from his official report. To comfort her, he shares his own (possible) encounter with the supernatural. “The only thing that matters,” he tells her, “is that you survived.” Nyota offers her own words of comfort (and cookies) to Kirk, a nice gesture, but one slightly diminished by Kirk’s inability to connect with Carol and David. Then, finally, La’An watches the Griffin float lifelessly in space as the camera moves toward the ship — where Harper watches back and raises her finger in a “Shhh…” gesture.

Brrr…. There have been plenty of grim, scary episodes of Star Trek over the years, but is this the grimmest and scariest? It’s a memorable outing that, by plunging deep into the realm of horror and suggestions of the supernatural, explores the outer boundaries of the Star Trek universe. Yet, while it’s sure to be divisive, it doesn’t really push past those boundaries.

The notion of a ghost ship where visitors’ worst fears come to life isn’t exactly novel, but it’s extremely well-executed here, and in a way that feels true to all the characters involved. The visit brings Spock and Kirk’s issues to the fore, but it really does a number on La’An. As she tells Pike, Starfleet is her family. So the fate of Harper, who seems to have thought she was doing her best for her ship to the very end, resonates quite strongly with her. Is this the last we’ll see of Harper and the Griffin? Unclear, though the groundwork has certainly been laid for Division 12 to play a role in the future. But for now La’An’s mental state seems to be in a worrisome place, and one that future episodes will have to address.

Hit It!

• This episode was written by Robbie Thompson, a veteran of Supernatural, which might help explain a few things. It was directed by Axelle Carolyn, whose past credits include The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and a past working as a reporter in the world of horror, which might also help explain a few things.

• Has Spock seen Audition? Did that perhaps inspire his hallucination?

• Will we ever see Division 12?