Strange Energies

Stardate: leg day: As second-contact formalities draw to a close on the planet Apergos, Mariner is power-washing buildings long ago covered in the soot of the Apergosian industrial revolution. But she also exposes an artifact that, once it catches the rays of the local sun, zaps Commander Ransom with strange energies. Dr. T’Ana worries that this may trigger a sudden onset of godlike powers and megalomania, but Ransom waves off her concerns, shortly before developing godlike powers and demanding the worship of the Apergosians. Ransom’s powers grow exponentially and as Mariner and T’Ana try to “cure” him of his elevation to godhood, he casually swats them aside, eventually ascending into orbit to confront the Cerritos. And what makes Ransom such an angry god? The fact that Captain Freeman and Mariner are getting along just fine.

written by Mike McMahan
directed by Jason Zurek
music by Chris Westlake

Cast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Jonathan Frakes (Capt. William T. Riker), Eric Bauza (Apergosian Bystander), Neil Casey (Casey), Phil LaMarr (Admiral Alonzo Freeman), Lauren Lapkus (Jennifer), Jessica McKenna (Barnes), Nolan North (Titan Conn Officer), Randall Park (Apergosian High Leader), Missi Pyle (Interrogator), Ben Rodgers (Stevens)

Notes: Dr. T’Ana immediately voices concerns of another incident along the lines of the tragedy of Gary Mitchell (Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before, 1966), complete with a computer display showing a ’70s-animated-series-style picture of Mitchell, and her concerns turn out not to be unfounded. There are other in-jokes pointing toward classic Trek’s second pilot epiosde as well: as Ransom is recovering, Stevens reads the poem “Nightingale Woman” to him (referencing a poem discussed by Kirk and Mitchell in the 1966 episode), and, echoing Kirk’s deadly solution to Mitchell’s dilemma, T’Ana drops a boulder on Ransom. (Unlike Kirk, T’Ana appears to be space-forklift certified.)