Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 307 “What is Starfleet?” Review: Beyond the Utopian Façade

Review: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode 7 “What is Starfleet?”

In a move that easily differentiates this episode from the other 956 entries in the Star Trek franchise, “What is Starfleet?” presents viewers with a documentary-style look at what the Federation aims to be versus what it can appear to be, set against the backdrop of a particularly complex, morally challenging mission facing the Enterprise crew.  

Asking the Tough Questions

Beto Ortegas (Mynor Lüken), who was given the green light earlier in the season to create a documentary about the Federation by filming basically anywhere and anywhen he wants on the Enterprise, finally has a product to show. That product is a spotlight on what Starfleet stands for, based in a documentary about the Enterprise’s mission to escort what is essentially a bioweapon used in a foreign war, which presents a broad array of emotions, perspectives, and tough decisions for the Enterprise crew – and it’s all on camera. 

“What separates the Federation from an empire?

…Are they explorers as they claim, or soldiers as they appear?”

– Beto in the beginning of his documentary. 

Initially, Beto paints Starfleet as an aggressive galactic power that spreads its will throughout space. For example, he describes the Enterprise as a weapon of war, not a tool of exploration, and Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) as a thug who bullies anyone who opposes him. The documentary begins almost like a conspiracy theorist’s idea of what the Federation actually does and stands for, instead of what the organization publicly describes itself as. 

Like any good documentarian, Beto interviews various Enterprise crewmembers as the story moves along to gain perspective on the mission, what they do in their jobs, and how they tackle the more challenging aspects of life in service to Starfleet. To his credit, Beto isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions – like when he asks La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) how it feels to kill someone, or if Doctor Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) has ever deleted footage from the sickbay’s recording system – a thinly veiled indicator that Beto thinks M’Benga did indeed kill the Klingon ambassador back in “Under the Cloak of War.” Beto even notes in the documentary how M’Benga is a war veteran whose service record is largely redacted.

Beto’s interviews with Spock and Nyoto Uhura (Celina Rose Gooding) offer some of the most compelling character-building moments in this episode. He presses Spock on his dual Vulcan and human nature, exploring how his mixed heritage shaped his upbringing and his life now on the Enterprise – a topic that has rarely been a pleasant one for the science officer. For Uhura, Beto’s questioning uncovers a shocking on-camera revelation: one of Uhura’s friends from Starfleet Academy, Elena Cho, recently died in an encounter with the Gorn. This somber truth stands in stark contrast to Uhura’s portrayal as a steadfast Federation loyalist with no easy answers for Starfleet’s more ambiguous actions during wartime.

As the documentary progresses, we learn more about the Enterprise’s mission. The non-Federation planet Lutani VII was attacked by its sister planet, Kasar, and the Kasar are executing what is essentially a genocide of the Lutani people. Pike and his crew must escort an enormous piece of livestock – a space-traveling creature that must get to Lutani VII from the oceanic moon Tychus-B. This livestock, a Jikaru, will apparently help the Lutani rebuilding efforts, and can potentially cause some trouble if left unchecked, so it has a neural collar on it to prevent it from going out of control. 

Why Starfleet is helping one side in this conflict is unclear, as certain parts of Pike’s conversation with Starfleet Command is redacted, and it’s clear the captain isn’t thrilled with his orders. As we see in the documentary, Beto doesn’t hold back in making himself a key player in the story by questioning Starfleet’s motives. At one point, we see him query his romantic interest, Uhura, about why the Federation is helping one combatant in this war, and even calls the actions of the Enterprise crew that of “colonizers,” something to which Uhura takes great offense. 

Just before the Enterprise can tractor the Jikaru and take it to Lutani VII, a Lutani ship arrives and fruitlessly engages the Jikaru. Meanwhile, the Jikaru shoots a radiation blast in self defense and Spock, simultaneously, feels the creature’s aggression via a tenuous kind of mind link. Just before dying in sickbay, a survivor from the destroyed Lutani ship begs the Starfleet crew to not let her people use the Jikaru, calling such treatment a “terrible mistake.” Why would a member of the Lutani race sabotage what is supposedly a helpful resource for their planet? 

That alarming message aside, the Enterprise crew has bigger problems. The Jikaru rids itself of its neural inhibitor – or rather, its shock collar, as Nurse Chapel describes it – and proceeds on its own; knowing the destructive power of the creature, Pike needs to balance the needs of the mission with the needs of this lifeform. No matter what, Pike knows he can’t let the creature fall into the wrong hands. The idealistic Uhura, true to her communications officer role, opines the crew should try talking to the creature, but that’s easier said than done, especially when the creature turns on the Enterprise after Pike and crew unsuccessfully tries to reactivate its neural collar.

A neural link between Spock and the Jikaru is the crew’s last chance to try and gain control, or at least some kind of understanding, with the dangerous creature. Stationed on the Galileo with the creature between it and the Enterprise, Spock attempts the dangerous action. Before he can make any progress, a Lutani warship warps in and causes havoc. Dr. Trunn Voor (Shaun Majumder) of the Lutani Institute of Science accuses Pike of taking the creature back to the Federation, and the Jikaru isn’t too happy to see the warship, which damages the link with Spock and injures everyone on the shuttle, which provides a bit of war videography for Beto’s documentary. 

The incident was not without its benefits, however. Thanks to readings taken by the shuttlecraft, Dr. M’Benga realizes the Jikaru’s brain chemistry was purposefully altered to focus on violence and destruction, which also caused her pain. Feeling sympathetic for the creature, Uhura volunteers to try and communicate with it one more time. This time, an understanding is achieved; in a sobering moment, the young communicator realizes the Jikaru wants to be destroyed by gracefully flinging itself into the nearby sun instead of living as a weapon. So, that’s what the Enterprise helps it do. 

In her last moments, the Jikaru tells Uhura she has children whose brain chemistry hasn’t been altered, and Pike promises to keep her children safe. To top off the mission, Pike dresses down Dr. Voor and admonishes him and the other Lutani for turning the Jikaru into a creature of destruction. 

When all is said and done, Uhura and Beto have a thought-provoking conversation about how Beto approached the documentary – how he was acting as a naysayer to Federation ideals. Uhura, for her part, agrees no one should take anything at face value and that it’s healthy to question motivations. She maintains, however, that the Federation is in the best position to spread aid to the galaxy. Moreover, Uhura breaks down Beto’s motivations: he is mad at Starfleet for taking his sister, Erica, away from home, which is a powerful revelation for the young man. His experience filming this particular mission has given him much to think about. 

Finally, this documentary helps reveal more about the emotions Ortegas is grappling with in the aftermath of her Gorn encounter. The young helmsman had gotten used to feeling on top of the world, in control of her life by joining Starfleet. Her almost dying at the hands of the Gorn turned her world upside down, and it’s taking a while to adjust to that maturation of her worldview. Erica is cognizant, though, that the best place for her to be is on the Enterprise with her friends. 

In that vein, Beto’s documentary ends with various crewmembers asserting how the camaraderie aboard the ship and their shared belief in their ongoing mission is an incredibly strong positive force in their lives. This scene ends the documentary on a positive note about the Federation, much different than how the film began.

What is Starfleet, anyway?

“What is Starfleet?” is more than just a unique episode thanks to its documentary format; it is an entirely appropriate Star Trek story because it challenges the core tenets of the franchise while ultimately reaffirming them. The documentary format serves as a powerful storytelling device, allowing viewers to see Starfleet not as a monolithic, utopian organization, but as a group of individuals grappling with difficult decisions and moral gray areas. This internal critique, embodied by Beto Ortega’s skeptical lens, forces the characters – and by extension, the audience – to confront whether Starfleet truly lives up to its ideals.

By shining a spotlight on the ambiguities of the Jikaru mission – from the redacted orders to the decision to help one side of a conflict – the episode delves into the complexities of power and intervention. However, it’s in the resolution that the episode truly demonstrates what makes Starfleet special. Despite the film’s initial cynicism, the film shows the crew ultimately choosing compassion and empathy by seeking to understand the suffering of the Jikaru and honor its final wish. This pivot from a seemingly cold, militaristic operation to an act of profound mercy is the very essence of Star Trek, proving that exploration, understanding, and ethical responsibility are the true measures of a crew’s worth.

Beyond its clever format and strong story, the episode also shines in its character work. The documentary style offers an intimate, almost voyeuristic look into the lives of the Enterprise crew, allowing for a level of focus and personal reflection rarely seen in the show. We get a deeper understanding of each character’s motivations and struggles. By forcing the crew to articulate their beliefs and confront their doubts on camera, the episode provides some of the most powerful and intriguing character moments of the season thus far.

“What is Starfleet?” is a successful experiment from a show that likes to experiment. There’s not much more we can ask than that. 

Stray Thoughts:

• The graphic near the beginning of Beto’s documentary notes the Enterprise’s weapons, including six phaser banks, two photon torpedo tubes, and a hull deflector shield – the latter of which isn’t an offensive capacity, but rather a defensive measure, no?

New episodes stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

---

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: Section 31, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Prodigy, and more.

You can follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and X.