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

2. UP — A Mirror, Brightly

Hegemony ends on indecision as Pike turns to face the Gorn attack on the viewscreen. Hegemony, Part II culminates on a moment of decisiveness. Pike gets up from his chair, walks across the bridge to essentially the same spot, but this time turns to face his crew, backed equidistantly by stars. The two-parter becomes a mirror once more, reflecting back on itself, further breaking down its own (false) binary of first and second half.

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For Pike himself, the visual comparison serves to underscore the false dichotomy that exists between strength and weakness when it comes to leadership. Hesitation doesn't make him a bad captain. Newfound confidence doesn't make him a great one either. Like his position between the stars, there's a space to be found in between, qualities to be found with the help of his crew that aren't the absolutes of either/or. Pike is a good captain because he finds his way through.

At its end, the episode redeploys this visual imagery to great effect. As Pike and Batel touch foreheads, the scene fades out to the binary stars. The space between the two becomes the space for the Enterprise. The divide between the secular (or temporal) and the spiritual, between "what might or might not happen," between now and the future, dissolves away so long as Pike and Batel can just hold each other.

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