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3 things that did work in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ “Among the Lotus Eaters”

By Chad Porto

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 30: (L-R) Jess Bush, Bruce Horak, Celia Rose Gooding, Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Babs Olusanmokun, Alex Kurtzman, Christina Chong, Melissa Navia, Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, Aaron Baiers, guest, and Trevor Roth attend the New York premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on April 30, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Hatnim Lee/WireImage)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 30: (L-R) Jess Bush, Bruce Horak, Celia Rose Gooding, Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Babs Olusanmokun, Alex Kurtzman, Christina Chong, Melissa Navia, Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman, Aaron Baiers, guest, and Trevor Roth attend the New York premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on April 30, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Hatnim Lee/WireImage) /
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ latest episode “Among the Lotus Eaters” wasn’t great but it had its moments.

In “Among the Lotus Eaters”, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ latest episode, we got an over-involved, super-complicated memory loss episode that felt like everyone was repeating themselves throughout the episode and never making any headway. Throw in a contrite melodramatic relationship hiccup, and a memory-loss storyline that doesn’t completely make sense, and we have “Among the Lotus Eaters”, arguably the worst episode Strange New Worlds has produced.

Granted, it’s still better than a lot of modern Star Trek, so there’s that. And this isn’t a knock on the series, every show has a dud or two…dozen. So Strange New Worlds was bound to have there.

Yet, dud or not, there are still some things to like about this episode, and here are three.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ “Among the Lotus Eaters” didn’t click but it still had some nice elements.

An abandoned crew member

The concept of leaving a man behind is one that you don’t expect to hear, but in “Among the Lotus Eaters”, it’s revealed that’s exactly what happened. Forced to flee Rigel VII, Pike, and crew leave three crew members behind, thought dead. One of them wasn’t, however, and it ended up biting Pike in the rear later in the episode. It’s an under-explored concept in Star Trek and one that should be shown more of.

The away team

I think my Final Fantasy party of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds characters would have to include Christoper Pike, Joseph M’Benga, and La’an Noonien Singh. Those are my three favorite characters from the show, and seeing them get to hang out with one another and do their thing was delightful. I’d like a better story for them, sure but it was still neat seeing them pair off.

Call back central

Getting to actually see Rigel VII, the very first planet ever referenced by name in the history of the franchise was a pretty neat thing to behold.

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