Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1, Episode 1 - "The Broken Circle"
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 opens with an explosive episode that shows off Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Nurse Christine Chapel's (Jess Bush) surprisingly awesome fighting skills. Early in "The Broken Circle," Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) sets out on a solo mission to help his former First Officer, Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), leaving Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) in command of the USS Enterprise. Despite orders to remain at Starbase 1 and undergo inspections, Spock commandeers the Enterprise to respond to a distress signal sent from the edge of Klingon space by former Chief of Security, La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong).
The first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 fills in some of the backstories of Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel, adding more dimension to their characters. Both served in the Klingon War, which apparently required them to be more than just healers. When they go up against Klingon warriors in this episode, M'Benga and Chapel both display fighting skills that would have required extensive training. In addition to their combat abilities, M'Benga developed a super serum of sorts during the war that temporarily gives a person enhanced strength. Their fighting skills combined with their creation of an experimental strength drug, suggest M'Benga and Chapel don't always play by Starfleet's rules.
Strange New Worlds’ M’Benga and Chapel Break Star Trek’s Doctor Rules
Doctors in the 24th century swear an oath to do no harm, but Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel break that oath to some eye-popping damage to the Klingons in thrilling fight sequences. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's premiere pits M'Benga and Chapel against battle-hardened Klingons, and the Enterprise physicians come out victorious. When M'Benga and Chapel are forcibly taken onto an old Starfleet vessel that has been taken over by the Klingons, they must fight their way out. Before M'Benga and Chapel dive into the fight, M'Benga pulls out two small vials of green liquid he apparently always keeps on him. When the pair each takes a sip, they gain enhanced strength.
Even without taking M'Benga's super serum into consideration, M'Benga and Chapel clearly know how to fight. They hold their own against battle-trained Klingons, and display fighting skills far superior to that of any of the doctors from previous Star Trek shows. Though Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) displayed skills with a phaser and a ship's weapons system in Star Trek: Picard season 3, it was nothing like the level of brutal hand-to-hand fighting M'Benga and Chapel display in "The Broken Circle." The episode awesomely showcases Babs Olusamnokun's real-life mastery of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Jess Bush relishes doing her own stunts and stage combat.
Strange New Worlds Needs To Explain M’Benga’s Super Drug
Dr. M'Benga's super-strength serum raises many questions that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will need to answer. Whether M'Benga created this drug on his own or was ordered to create it by someone else, Starfleet would not want it to end up in the wrong hands. M'Benga and Chapel have apparently used the drug before, but it's unclear who else knows of its existence. It's questionable if M'Benga's super drug has been approved by Starfleet or the Federation, and M'Benga's use of it in this episode likely breaks multiple Starfleet rules.
Drugs with results like this rarely come without potential risks and adverse side effects, so future episodes of Strange New Worlds could show the consequences of using this serum. The existence of the drug also raises questions about how exactly M'Benga created it and what ingredients he used. Wherever Star Trek: Strange New Worlds takes this story next, at least we'll always have the awesome scene of Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel singlehandedly taking down Klingon warriors.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.