Great episode. Wish there was more time to explore the planet with the away team. Also, what does Una do again? I can already see why Spock replaces her as first officer....

At the start of the episode, when Ortegas was getting ready for the away mission, I thought this episode would have the scene from the start of the season 2 trailer where she (gleefully) pilots a shuttle down to a planet.

At least we know she will eventually get to go on an away mission!

Really enjoyed this episode, it didn't make the most sense at times but made up for it with an extremely disturbing core concept. And there is comfort in the idea that even without a significant portion of our memories, we're still "us".

I'm confused about one thing though and maybe I just missed something so someone can enlighten me. If the palace is so well-protected that just literally being inside it for ten minutes is enough to completely reverse the memory loss, why was Pike first affected by it while standing in the palace? Is it just that they weren't in there for very long during their first encounter with Zac, and the symptoms caught up with him, or did I miss something about how that worked?

I'm a bit undecided about this episode.

Stuff that I liked:

• a strange new(-ish) world
• everyone got something to do, unlike last week
• once again some funny Spock moments
• the visuals on this show are stunning once again. The planet looked nice, the external VFX in the debris field of two celestial bodies that orbited Rigel VII several centuries ago looked nice, the Enterprise interiors look so nice.

Stuff that I didn't like:

• I'm not a fan of forced relationship dramas. Plus, from the pilot episode I got the feeling that Pike and Batel (does she even have a first name yet?) are only friends with benefits, but now Batel storms off after Pike says he wants to take it easy? Weird.
• how can a society or any sort of structure be maintained if you can't remember anything? The whole premise felt a bit off.
• the writing for Ortegas was weak. Her personal log at the beginning of the episode sounded like it was written by ChatGPT. And the stuff towards the end of the episode wasn't great either. The actor did the best she could with what she was given but the writing really didn't do her any favors.

I've only managed to see this episode once, but something I didn't understand was Spock's decision to try and hide in the debris field. At this point they believed the planet was the source of the problem, but it seemed mostly a guess that the debris field might shield them.

Wouldn't the most logical action have been to get as far away from the planet as reasonably possible until the effects appeared to subside? I know Una made a point that they had crew down there, but it's not as if they can't return more cautiously and with a clearer understanding of what's happening. You're also helpless to help your landing party if you're completely incapacitated yourself.

Have I missed something important?

Damn I love this show. I can't help but wonder if Hemmer would have been affected differently by the radiation if he wasn't a gorn egg popsicle.

Outside of Pike and Batel's relationship, are there any points in this episode that look to connect to anything else in the currently ongoing plotline in SNW? I didn't really notice anything, it seems like this might be the most standalone episode.

OK, can someone help me out? I had major deja-vu with the scene where Spock tells Ortegas she can't go on the ~~field trip~~ away mission. Wasn't there another episode where Ortegas was about to get to go on an away mission and got told she couldn't at the last minute? Or did I maybe see that scene in a preview or something?

Who voiced the computer? It sounds like Kate Mulgrew

It's bugged me a little in previous episodes, but in this episode it really bugged me that the entire medical staff seems to be M'Benga and Chapel - I know it's normal for Trek for the staffs to appear small but normally either it's been a plot point (Voy), others mentioned if not seen (DS9) or that we occasionally see them (TNG, DIS, TOS). It'd be nice just to see a few others about.

Enjoyed this very much, the tone was very creepy. Reminded me of the psychological horror episodes only TNG really did.

• Still somewhat annoyed that there is no seat belt on the shuttle, even if it is to maintain continuity with TOS. M'Benga looked like he was going to bang his head and get a concussion when they were landing.

• La'an: They won't see us coming.
  Zac: We totally saw you from the other side of the planet a hemisphere away.

• What was Zac trying to accomplish? He lured them there with the Starfleet Delta, but he was not going to hitch a ride home. He expected whatever ship that comes to inspect to... forget and go away, or suffer some disastrous result when the crew become unable to function? Why not just stay low and be king if he wasn't planning to leave?