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In “Strange New World”, an Enterprise landing party believes T’Pol is conspiring with a species of rock creatures on a strange class M planet.
The above description is taken from the Memory Alpha website, but it doesn’t really do the episode justice. In this one, Archer flaunts the wisdom of the Vulcans after he finds a class M planet. While the Vulcans would advise caution in the face of the unknown, Archer chooses to act like a human and sends down an away team without knowing anything about the planet (other than the fact that they can breathe the air).
The planet turns out to be pleasant enough for Trip and T’Pol to organize a camping trip. When the weather turns and their flimsy nylon tents bite the dust, the away team seeks shelter in some nearby caves. Unfortunately, the fauna of the planet has been putting out some hallucinogenic pollen. The away team has been exposed to it and starts to have visions of mysterious humanoids and secret plots. T’Pol is unaffected by the pollen by comes under the suspicion of Trip who never thought that the Vulcans had humanity’s best interests at heart.
Strange New World is one of the episodes where it feels like the concept could have been taken farther. As it stands, it’s a fairly simple episode that once again explores early Trek tropes and how they developed in-universe. In this case – what could go wrong when you send people down to an unfamiliar planet? If the grass is green and the sky is more blue than anything on Vulcan, surely everything will work out?
In this episode of the podcast, Wes and Clay discuss the difference between a plot and a story. They also break down the fact that Archer never learns his lesson, the ever-dangerous transporter, and the difference between seeing an episode for the first time and subsequent times.