No Trek series is ever truly a Trek series until they do a time travel episode*. So, Strange New Worlds choice to introduce James T. Kirk to the series by sending an alternate future Kirk back to the past with La’an – in an episode that also tackled the always interesting “What happens if you kill baby Hitler?” quandary as well, this time with Khan – was a stroke of genius in and of itself. This way, folks inclined to whinge about a new actor taking on the iconic William Shatner role have less of a leg to stand on with their complaints (this wasn’t the real Kirk, after all, and the brief glimpse we got of him at the end of the episode wasn’t much to stake a character portrayal on), and fans of Strange New Worlds finally get an episode that not only showcases La’an coming to terms with her murky familial history (which is, of course, different from her Gorn-induced childhood trauma, which the series is certainly going to continue unpacking over the teased upcoming Gorn War arc) but also lets us take a moment to better understand how humanity’s painful past can help build a better future (which, I know, isn’t necessarily a great trope, but it’s certainly one Trek as been in favor of since the TOS days with the sensational “City on the Edge of Forever”).
*A note about the episode’s title, which is the opening line of Macbeth’s most famous speech in Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy. While there’s not a clear through-line from the contents of the speech to the contents of this episode, my best guess would be the piece that comes mid-speech: “And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death,” a phrase that hints not only at the disaster that will be unleashed by Khan in the past of La’an’s present, but also spells out precisely how our Romulan time traveler will die at the close of the episode. Since this isn’t a Shakespeare 101 course (and I took a whole lot of Shakespeare back in my university days), I’ll stop my title deep-dive there, but it’s an interesting choice for this particular episode, especially as the speech is, at its heart, a rumination on death as a construct when compared to living a full life.
La’an has always been one of the more interesting characters for me in the series. While it’s not exactly novel to have a character on a Trek series who has some major past trauma in their life that impacts them in the present – for good (La’an makes for a great Security Chief largely because she is able to compartmentalize any emotional response and blockade herself off from making personal connections, allowing her the emotional and mental capacity to do her job without the influence of personal relationships) and ill (the lack of personal connections means that La’an is also less effective in her role – and as a human being – because she can’t allow herself to understand the connections necessary to bond with those around her and understand why they behave the way they do – case in point, Pelia’s penchant for “borrowing” key antiquities over time to stem her own sense of loneliness) – La’an’s situation is wholly unique to the Trek tapestry. Not only does La’an have to contend with being the sole survivor of a Gorn hatchery – having watched everyone she knew as a child, including her family, die in front of her, she also has to grapple with the legacy of being a descendant of one of the most horrific individuals who ever lived on Earth. And to be confronted with not only the chance to go to a universe where she can escape her familial shame, while also being able to avoid facing any connection to her own tragic past, in a new world that allows her to potentially stay with a James T. Kirk she can connect with on a personal level? That must have been all kinds of tempting for her.
What worked so well in this episode – outside of Christina Chong’s incredible tour de force performance as La’an – was that the episode never took the easy way out. Sure, we all knew La’an was going to figure out a way to solve the situation (and I’m betting a lot of us guessed it would be by using that momentum throwing move M’Benga used on her at the start of the episode). And we knew that she would end up back “home” on her Enterprise before it was done. And I’m also willing to bet a lot of us foresaw alternate Kirk getting killed off in the process (a common trope in time travel stories where two people from different timelines interact to right the wrongs). But I applaud the episode for making La’an do the work on her way to her personal revelation. Do I think they wholly sold the romantic elements of the story? Not really – they needed another episode or so to get that foundation laid properly – but everything else? Yes. La’an went through the necessary emotional steps to get to the point where, when faced with the choice between killing Khan and going to a future where she could truly live as she wished or making the choice to condemn so many for the good of the future, she made the only choice she could. And I wholly believed she would do the right thing. We saw the temptation of a world where she could simply live as herself without constantly getting stares and hearing jeers at her family name. We know that when she returns, she won’t be able to talk to others about her personal journey and what she lost in the process, which is devastating for someone who so needs to be able to emotionally connect with others at this stage of her nascent emotional development. And we saw her process that a better future for the universe was far more important that a better future for her. It’s a choice Trek has had others make in the past – “City on the Edge of Forever,” for one – and we know they’ll make the right choice in the end, but it’s about the journey it takes the character to reach that realization, and the ultimate fallout for them once they return to their present, changed but now in pain.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer praise for Chong’s performance. La’an, until this point, has been defined by her professionalism and her traumatic past, both of which Chong has been excellent at portraying. But this time, we got to see the full gamut of emotions laid bare for a normally buttoned-up character as she was forced to reckon with her own internal fears and emotional blocks. Seeing Chong slowly open La’an to not only trust Kirk but to trust herself was just incredible to watch. While I’m not anticipating the series letting us see this smiling and laughing La’an in the near future – remember, the Gorn are coming – I’m hopeful we’ll get to see her come out of her shell a bit more. We know she had a close, personal relationship with Una (one that appears to have mended itself after their falling out last season – although her refusal to attend the welcome back party might indicate it’s still in the process of fully getting back to where it should be), but she’s been hesitant to open up to anyone else on the ship. Maybe this heartbreak will be the impetus to get her out there socializing a bit more – trusting those around her on a personal level. But either way, this was a wonderful showcase for La’an and Chong, and I’m excited to see what else the series tests both with in the coming weeks.
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