Streaming service Paramount Plus releases the 23nd episode of the Star Trek prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet. Christine Horn (Snowfall, BMF) guest stars. 
Stardate 2449.1: Captain Batel suffers from a resurgence of the Gorn-implanted tissue, a condition for which there seems to be little hope of recovery. Dr. M’Benga’s search for a solution leads him to a plant that exists only on Kenfori, a single Federation colony, albeit one that was abandoned when that planet fell into Klingon territory during the war. Rather than asking for Starfleet’s permission – while will likely be denied – Captain Pike plans to mount a mission to retrieve the plant from Kenfori without informing Starfleet Command, taking only M’Benga with him. Kenfori turns out to be covered with a dense jungle surrounding an abandoned Federation research facility. Inside, the plant is easy enough to find, but so are unmistakable signs of something that feeds on humans and Klingons alike. Orbiting Kenfori on the Federation’s side of the line of demarcation, the Enterprise finds a cloaked Klingon ship, which launches its own shuttle to the surface. Upon arriving, the Klingons destroy Pike’s shuttle, trapping the captain and M’Benga. The Klingons’ mission is personal: their landing party is led by Bytha, the daughter of Dak’Rah, claiming a blood feud with M’Benga. But neither landing party was aware that mutated vegetation has turned the stranded colonists left on both sides of the conflict into zombie-like predators; they, in turn, can increase their numbers by biting and infecting any visitors to the planet. To retrieve Pike and M’Benga, the Enterprise crew has to risk breaking the tenuous treaty with the Klingons to get closer to Kenfori, but Number One insists on doing this as stealthily as possible – unaware that Ortegas, still carrying baggage from her time in the Klingon war, is always ready to pick a fight with the Klingons, even if it violates direct orders.
written by Onitra Johnson & Bill Wolkoff
directed by Dan Liu
music by Nami Melumad
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds main theme by Jeff Russo
Cast: Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Ethan Peck (Lt. Spock), Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel), Christina Chong (Lt. La’an Noonien Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Ensign Uhura), Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M’Benga), Martin Quinn (Lt. Scott), Rebecca Romijn (Commander Una Chin-Riley), Christine Horn (Bytha), Melanie Scrofano (Captain Batel), Chris Myers (Ensign Campbell), Ishan Dave (Lt. Scannell)
LogBook entry by Earl Green