Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 3 – “Shuttle to Kenfori”Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 3, has a subtle callback to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Directed by Dan Liu, and written by Onitra Johnson and Bill Wolkoff, “Shuttle to Kenfori” is the follow-up to Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) covering up his assassination of Klingon Ambassador Dak’Rah (Robert Wisdom) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.
Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Dr. M’Benga’s mission to Kenfori to find a Chimera Blossom to save Captain Marie Batel’s (Melanie Scorfano) life saw them attacked by zombies and by a Klingon named Bytha (Christine Horn). Bytha, the daughter of Ambassador Dak’Rah, sought to avenge her family’s honor by killing M’Benga.
However, how Bytha tracked Dr. M’Benga to Kenfori is a fascinating nod to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which saw Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) utilize a clever piece of technology to rescue Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) from the Klingon prison planet, Rura Penthe.
How Dr. M’Benga Was Tracked By A Klingon In Strange New Worlds Is A Callback To Star Trek VI
Beware R’ongovians Buying You Drinks
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 3, Bytha reveals that she paid a R’ongovian to place a Veridium tracker in Dr. M’Benga’s drink so she could find him. This incident took place during the Federation Centennial celebration at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 2, “Wedding Bell Blues.”
Related
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 3 Ending Explained: Captain Pike Learns Dr. M’Benga’s Klingon Sins
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 resolves an open question from season 2 regarding Dr. M’Benga assassinating a Klingon Ambassador.
After Trelane (Rhys Darby) left and restored reality to normal, a R’ongovian offered to buy Dr. M’Benga a drink. According to Bytha, the R’ongovian placed a Veridium tracker in the olives of M’Benga’s cocktail, which is why, the Klingon claimed, “You should never eat the olives.”
R’ongovians were introduced in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 5, “Spock Amok”.
Veridium is a callback to the black Veridium patch Spock placed on Captain Kirk’s shoulder before Kirk and Dr. McCoy beamed onto Klingon Chancellor Gorkon’s (David Warner) flagship in Star Trek VI. The Veridium patch stayed on Kirk’s uniform, allowing Spock to follow his Captain’s movements and ultimately rescue Jim and Bones from Rura Penthe.
Veridium Was Also Used In Star Trek: Picard Season 1
Commodore Oh Used Veridium On Dr. Agnes Jurati
Over a century after Strange New Worlds and Star Trek VI, Veridium is still used to clandestinely track people. In Star Trek: Picard season 1, Commodore Oh (Tamlyn Tomita) used Veridium to track Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill). The Veridium in the unsuspecting Jurati’s system allowed Narek (Harry Treadaway) and Commodore Oh to follow Admiral Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) motley crew to Coppelius.
Coppelius was the secret homeworld of Soji (Isa Briones) and a race of synthetics created from Lt. Commander Data’s (Brent Spiner) positronic neuron that the Romulans wanted to destroy.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds takes place 32 years before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and Spock using Veridium to track and save Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy. Perhaps after Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) learned of what happened on Kenfori, the Vulcan retained the information about the Klingon, Dr. M’Benga, and Veridium, and used it himself decades later.
