Protocol 12 Opens Up The Darkest Corners Of The Star Trek Universe

This article discusses spoilers from the latest episode of "Strange New Worlds."

Gene Roddenberry envisioned "Star Trek" as a utopian paradise, famously mandating that "The Original Series" contain an absolute minimum of conflict — none of it originating from within the Federation itself. After all, why would enlightened beings in the distant future ever come up against problems that we're still dealing with in our own imperfect, capitalist reality? But as the years went by, the franchise gatekeepers began to realize a simple truth: Even in a world as aspirational as "Trek," one can't truly depict an idealized society without exploring some of the darker corners of the universe, as well. Cautionary tales are usually much more potent than cut-and-dried, heavy-handed, moralistic screeds.

"Strange New Worlds" has never been afraid of directly confronting that underlying darkness, but perhaps never to the extent that the latest episode of season 2 addresses. The harrowing hour, titled "Under The Cloak of War," actually picks up right where the Klingon-heavy season premiere, "The Broken Circle," left off. In that episode, we discover that the ship's doctor, Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), had previously served in the Federation war against the formidable foes alongside Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush). Confronted once again with the threat of Klingons, the pair of pacifists are backed into a corner with no choice but to inject themselves with a previously-unseen vial of what seems like adrenaline — allowing them to transcend their ordinary limits and engage the warrior race in hand-to-hand combat for a limited amount of time.

While that storyline treated their decision with appropriate weight and ambiguity, the latest episode defines that substance as Protocol 12. Combined with the triggering flashbacks to their active service, "Strange New Worlds" goes even further than "Star Trek" has gone before.

To understand the controversy of using Protocol 12, a highly illegal and dangerous stimulant developed by M'Benga himself, one must first understand the dire circumstances that made it such a temptation in the first place. Episode 8 makes this painfully clear with Nurse Chapel's previous deployment on the moon of J'Gal — first referenced by M'Benga in the season premiere and met with a skeptical Klingon's reply that, "If you had served on J'Gal, you'd be dead." We finally see the truth of those words in uncomfortably close quarters, when Chapel first meets M'Benga in the midst of one of the bloodiest engagements in the entire Klingon War. Opposing forces led by General Dak'Rah, the "Butcher of J'Gal," wage a merciless campaign against Federation civilians and soldiers alike. And as casualties mount, one of the more desperate commandos resorts to demanding M'Benga supply his team with Protocol 12 to help even the playing field.

Citing regulations, health concerns, and his own reformed path as a healer who has put his killing ways behind him, M'Benga flatly denies this request ... but it's obvious that war has changed the good doctor. We already saw what the serum could do in episode 1, enhancing his and Chapel's combat skills at the expense of taking a heavy toll on their delicate psychological balance. When the death and destruction become too much to bear, M'Benga makes the awful choice to abandon his post and fight on the front lines himself — with the strong implication of resorting to the use of Protocol 12 himself, symbolizing all the ways conflict and killing transforms even the best people into the worst versions of themselves.

With Protocol 12, "Strange New Worlds" introduces a new, potent, and tragic addition to "Trek" lore.