7 Ups & 1 Down From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.1 — Hegemony, Part II

3. UP — Two-Fingered Salute

They certainly didn't make things easy for Erica Ortegas this episode. Her resilience in the face of the almost insurmountable was a sight to behold. Released from the digestion pod aboard the destroyer, she had already lost two fingers. With the help of Doctor M'Benga, she managed to shrug off that fact like it was just another Tuesday, cracking jokes with Sam Kirk.

For Ortegas, the rest of Hegemony, Part II was one big eff you to the Gorn. Or, in translation for her British colleague, it was a V-sign, palm facing inwards, with her remaining digits. Even after being pierced through the stomach and hoisted into the air at the end of a Gorn claw, Ortegas continued to do her duty, though at a heavy cost in blood. If there could be any doubt as to who flew the ship, it was dispelled.

La'an also got to stick two fingers up to the relentless lizards, using the knowledge she'd gleaned as a child on one of their breeding planets. The chief of security then provided one of the best lines of the episode in (not-yet-)deadpan reply to Doctor M'Benga's worthy attempt at reassurance — "Yeah, but here's not great either, is it?" Tough to argue with that logic!