M'Benga is The Butcher of J'Gal + He kills Dak'Rah - Star Trek Strange New Worlds S02E08

[@samconner2011]

M’Benga reminds me of a Miles O’Brien statement when talking to a Cardassian about combat in the Federation-Cardassian war…”I don’t hate you, Cardassian. I hate what you made me become.”

[@dwrdwlsn5]

In war, truth is the first casualty. Innocence is the second.

[@danielshottopics8187]

That's True.

[@victorpradha9946]

@@dwrdwlsn5 You can say the same for politics.

[@dwrdwlsn5]

@@victorpradha9946 Diplomacy is war carried on in a different battlefield. - Von Clausewitz

[@charleslennonbaker]

@@victorpradha9946 politics are lies that everyone agrees with.

[@jackvearncombe9892]

M’benga trying his hardest to get out of the situation is so strong of him, he says so many times to go away but you can only ask so many times.

[@krane15]

All I can think of is bullies. They think you're insisting they move away because you're afraid of them. In fact, the strategic retreat is because you're afraid for them.

[@BravosReviews]

Absolutely incredible performances. How the show can span from such serious and complex subjects as this to doing literal musicals and cartoons back to back is an amazing range for all of the creatives here.

[@Shuttlebay4]

Yeah I agree. SNW is a real mixed bag - and I love it for that.

[@krane15]

If you say so. I see it as a futile attempt to retain some semblance to its original purpose.

[@AP-qs2zf]

​@@krane15go watch TOS😂

[@DoctorCVC]

SNW feels very faithful to TOS in many ways, but this episode felt like a DS9 episode in the BEST way possible. I could just imagine Sisko breaking the 4th wall to deliver M’benga’s final speech.

[@Shuttlebay4]

"I can live with it"

[@tonyhart3615]

Honestly, that's my hope for M'Benga. Have him persist beyond the series and become a kind of Federation Garak/Tain type figure. A great, pervasive, lurking, oppressive force that follows Section 31s every step. A great, snarling wolf, lurking behind them in the deepest darkness, keeping them honest. Murder if you need to. Doom entire worlds if necessary. Bribe, steal, poison and burn. But hold true to the dream of the Federation, or the wolf will come for you...

[@krane15]

I can't. And if he ever did those would be the episodes I'd have on my ban watch list. Just as I that half dozen from Star Gate. ST should have learned from that franchise's dismal failure when they tried to change perspective in STU.

[@ffnbbq]

My interpretation is Dak'Rah deliberately started and escalated the confrontation in the hope that he would be able to die an honourable death in battle, as would have been expected of a Klingon. He seemed at peace when he died.

[@krane15]

He didn't understand until it was too late.

[@themocaw]

I mean, Chapel didn't lie. Rah did come to M'benga. M'benga didn't want to talk. Rah pushed the issue. The knife did belong to the Butcher of J'Gal.

[@Clonest]

it was an accident!......he tripped and fell on this legendary blade i was only showing him! 😆

[@jdunn813]

The best lies are the truth. Sounds like something Garak might say.

[@matiasrocha317]

Babs Olusanmokun is great in this role . His performances playing Dr M'Benga is fantastic across the series 🖖🖖🖖 .

[@harryc1971]

Still waiting for Bones to show up, but he plays a great character on this show.

[@dwrdwlsn5]

@@harryc1971 I am sure we will get McCoy sometime, but Mbenga is an incredible character with an awesome actor who can literally kick butt.

[@harryc1971]

@@dwrdwlsn5 yeah... he is very good and i actually like the character, much as i am looking foward to seeing Bones again it is currently Bab's show. Issue is TOS legacy characters are so popular they will take the attention off the new ones, Kirk will always demand more attention when he shows up etc. Now Scotty is here, he ain't going anywhere and will as we know eventually take over engineering.

[@MrPineeeapppless]

@@harryc1971 you have to remember though, SNW takes place 5 years before TOS began. They only just found scotty..

[@pcgentile]

Honestly when M'Benga said "I am the Butcher or J'Gal", even though I knew everything leading up to it pointed towards it, I said "What the fuck!!!" out loud.

[@MikeOxiner]

SNW has the modern HD treatment to the classic TOS flair. The music crescendos, the dramatics, it’s absolutely wonderful so far.

[@allature]

I love Nurse Chapel's response to the situation. She's not shocked, not angry. She just looks at the body with quiet disdain, as if she were thinking about ho long it would take to scrub the blood off the floor.

[@arashinoakumyo3535]

This is why you always show respect the medic…..They know how to carve you like a pumpkin AND fix you after.

[@ZJBorg]

I would guess this will be revisited in future seasons. Namely whatever trauma or truth is revealed would lead to M’Benga stepping down as chief medical officer and being replaced by a certain old country doctor….

[@M3T2W01f]

A doctor, not a butcher.

[@robboyte1101]

No, it would be Dr. Boyce from "The Cage", to be followed by whoever was the CMO in the 2nd pilot.

[@ZJBorg]

@@robboyte1101 Boyce was on Pike’s staff and CMO prior to M’Benga (events of the Cage happened several years prior to Strange New Worlds). They could still easily bring in McCoy and just establish that he didn’t start as the chief medical officer

[@robboyte1101]

@@ZJBorg When was that established in this Trek iteration? If it was in STD, then OK. (I've never watched that series.) Also, the 2nd pilot also had a different CMO. But then again, that was James R. Kirk, not James T.

[@ZJBorg]

@@robboyte1101 it was in STD. I didn’t really watch that show either but they established some time has passed (in SNW they revisit Rigel 7 mission several years later that had just gone wrong in Cage). I know the second pilot had a different CMO But McCoy could easily be established as being a staff doctor underneath him (or they retcon it)

[@LGranthamsHeir]

3:40 - 3:53 The good doctor knew Klingon anatomy well. He aimed his mek'leth straight into Dak'Rah's two hearts.

[@themocaw]

Dk'tahg. Mek'leth is a one-handed saber with a blunted tip.

[@kyleyuen245]

Well he is the Butcher of J'Gal

[@erikberg8098]

Crazy that our good doctor was turned into Jason Borne during the war

[@KarlSanathos]

actually from what he says to the andorian officer it is clear that he became a doctor after he had the most hand to hand kills.

[@TheMadSentinel]

"James T. Kirk, that's Joseph M'Benga!"

[@koboDresden]

This general was more unnerving than the Duras sisters and Gowrons' eyes put together.

[@basedsoothsayer]

wut

[@joegrimes9232]

Im a huge Trek fan and this THIS IS Perfect.

[@billcapehart5238]

I hadn't noticed before: Chappel was in the room (same side as the divider) as Dak'Rah & M'Benga

[@Shuttlebay4]

It's jarring to see such a dark side to a Starfleet officer, but it's also interesting and brings a lot of depth with it to M'benga. It also sparks conversation around the rights and wrongs, PTSD, etc - and that is what Star Trek does so well.

[@Perebynis]

One of the darker episodes of Star Trek, for sure. Nurse Chapel was always on M`Bengas side of the partition wall. Unlike us, she has seen it all.

[@vincible45]

I’ve got an idea; As Mbenga isnt part of the crew by the time Kirk is in charge, Paramount can do a spinoff Greys Anatomy style starring him as CMO on different starships

[@robyeone7976]

That would be fun👍🏿

[@tabathaswinburne4314]

He is part of the crew in Kirk’s time he’s just not CMO anymore

[@matthewhallberg8256]

Fun fact, Gene Roddenberry had that EXACT idea 50 years ago, it just never got off the ground

[@shawnr771]

Dr MBenga was in at least two episodes of TOS.

[@diosnelfrica7589]

M'Benga here went full Fremen. Muad'dib would have been proud of you Jamis.

[@jaimebabb9968]

I do hope that they follow up on this in Season 3. I suspect that we're going to get to learn why M'Benga is playing second fiddle to Dr. McCoy by the time TOS rolls around.

[@isessogroup]

The creativity and range of this series has been such a pleasant experience... episode to episode is such a delight to take the journey...

[@Redskizzers]

Do they ever address in cannon why starfleet never uses security cameras? It just seems like they would solve so many problems...

[@kehreazerith3016]

I think it makes sense for there to be no cameras inside a medical space where patients are in view

[@readhistory2023]

In STOS they have them. In the STOS episode Court Marshall they have security video of the bridge and it even zooms in on the action. In Wrath Of Khan they review engineering security cams to determine Spock transferred his essence to McCoy. The reality it depends on the writer whether they have them or not.

[@darman12able]

@@readhistory2023exactly, it’s like how they use the computer to locate someone who shouldn’t be either alive or on the ship by isolating their heartbeat against the other noises on the ship and heartbeats of everyone who should be on the ship but never use that method to locate an infiltrator or someone hiding on the ship again.

[@thecursor1]

CLASSIC TREK in this scene

[@brianbeans2190]

Powerful episode. Really dark too.

[@drockjr]

M'Benga/ Babs makes the role great. His whispers are enough.

[@davepeters1311]

this feels like if TOS did DS9's "Duet". Another reason why SNW is some of the best star trek.

[@Temeraire101]

M'Begna actor is really good.

[@Hobbie375]

Love that they wove the theme from the Undiscovered Country into this scene

[@TheJPinder]

The doctor gets the best most character driven story arcs

[@Headloser]

OOOKKKAAYYY. Didn't see that one coming, I really got to get the entire series 1 and 2 to catch up.

[@fletcherchambers7175]

On a second viewing... La'an casts a look that feels to me like she doesn't quite buy the story... But she's not going to say so.

[@BaldursPicketFence]

Yup she knew what really happened, but she’s no snitch.

[@greyeagle7713]

1:47 Pay heed, Sto'Vo'Kor! A warrior approaches!

[@darthroden]

Don't worry Dr. M'Benga, Phlox still has a higher body count.

[@DavidHeffron78]

It's a shame Starfleet lost CCTV technology.

[@VigilanteAgumon]

Except for that scene in Star Trek III.

[@EpicBeard815]

Observation rooms don't typically have CCTV

[@yellowprime8491]

Medical privacy.

[@DavidHeffron78]

@@brummyuk2151 it's the future.

[@barneyrubble4293]

@@brummyuk2151 What privacy reasons? You're in a med bay, wouldn't you want every detail recorded so that you could go back later and diagnose something or capture something novel for scientific purposes? No, what's more likely is that visual recording is something that's turned on or off as needed (because recording everything is 1. Inefficient and 2. Invasive).

[@TheLejonell]

Wtf I've never heard of this spin-off like what I'm gonna have to check this out bc the acting in this scene is nerve wracking in the best possible way

[@noahbrown6970]

Oh man, its incredible. Its technically spun off from Discovery, but its like 99% its own thing. Feels like someone took the best bits from TOS, DS9, and the Kelvin movies and mashed them together hahaha

[@Spawny500]

Great scene!

[@deathstrike]

The way we saw the scene with M'Benga and Dak'Rah was deliberately obscured, but the Klingon General possibly set up M'Benga to help him perform the Hegh'bat or "Klingon Ritual Su***de". In STTNG, Worf after being paralyzed, felt he would no longer to be able to be a warrior, and burden those around him asked Riker to help him commit su**ide. So Dak'Rah fought with M'Benga and the knife ended up killing him. It was an honorable death. But it was a very undeserving one. Dak'R'ah was a monster and deserved if not a dishonorable death, at least a lifetime in Rura Penthe. M'Benga was right, he didn't pay for his crimes. But perhaps M'Benga realized that to condemn the entire Klingon Empire and the Federation to unceasing warfare was not a better alternative. The Klingons would consider the matter closed and Dak'Rah died honorably so no shame to his family. But the pain M'Benga has to keep is the saddest of all. The pain of what he did, and what Dak'Rah did.

[@deathstrike]

Edit: I wish the writers would get the lore right. Klingon blood is pink or lavender, not red. At the time, it was to give Star Trek movies featuring Klingon battles a PG rating.

[@RossMalagarie]

in 2024 where every street corner has a camera, almost every front door has a camera, almost every person walks with a camera with them, but in the year what, every room doesn't have a camera recording all audio and video for security and investigative reasons?

[@Jason.W.]

Don’t Klingons have redundant internal organs? They just die like that?

[@samuraitabernac3050]

They reject a lot of common sense medical care

[@ffnbbq]

Klingons die just as easily as humans, or are only as strong as humans depend on the dramatic needs of the story. Like how the crew of DS9 deal with the dozens of Klingon boarding parties in Way of the Warrior.

[@VigilanteAgumon]

As a doctor, M'Benga most likely knows about Klingon anatomy and where exactly to stab.

[@joeallen9104]

Redundant internal organs in practice just means that there's more that can go wrong.

[@DaSuDanesi]

@@VigilanteAgumon Not to mention, his experience as the *actual* Butcher of J'Gal.

[@ethanmoulton3157]

My favorite thing is when someone can lie by telling the truth

[@RobertP-zk8vh]

in star trek they always made the federation out to just forgive all the wars but some of the wars are brutal and humans just cant forget, starfleet is a military org.

[@spencerhardy1586]

Nurse Chapel knived that Klingon

[@G4b3st3r]

I guess Dak'Rah didn't have Cutty to speak for him.

[@BradleyMabe]

There's a Southern aphorism: "He needed killing"; if ever there was an appropriate acting analog ...

[@joshuas1960]

Raspy dude needs some help with the audio. He's difficult to understand without raising the volume to ridiculously high and I'm not deaf.

[@davidlawrenz2061]

Was JGal an imposter or a true klingon? His blood was red.

[@eric57016]

Im confused. Did the dr use the knife he had or did the klingon draw his own?

[@billcapehart5238]

Only M'Benga and Chappel can say...

[@dddrrmm]

The doctor was the real Butcher of J'Gal who killed the other three klingons back during the war. The "ambassador" had claimed he was the Butcher to get Starfleet to trust him. The doctor used the same knife and since the ambassador had already claimed the killings, everyone assumes it was his knife.

[@showxating9885]

Interesting take, the last line about what's in someone's heart. If you truly know someone, you know that there are exceptional situations, objects and people who can flip that individual's personality 180°. Simply look at the stereotypical divorced couple. Unfortunately there are too many people who, as the clown says, want to watch the world burn. They'll throw away everything they have, who they are, their accomplishments, friends and family, purely out of spite to hurt their ex. That's intrinsically, and unfortunately, part of the human condition. The rich thought, philosophy, technology, literature come from a love of learning, and pure dedication. That's everything. More than most people give their significant other. That's one fat, nasty ball of emotions.

[@eric57016]

Ok great ep but wouldnt star fleet forensics be bette4.

[@kingbeauregard]

Okay, what I don't get is, why does anyone think that Dak'Rah came there in peace, and M'Benga attacked him? Here is what we know about the two: Dak'Rah: is willing to slaughter civilians by the thousand; lies about his past for the sake of his reputation. M'Benga: is generally disinclined to kill; the one person in the cosmos who knows the truth about Dak'Rah. Which of the two has both the motive and casual willingness to kill? Which of the two spent the entire episode trying to avoid a confrontation?

[@jeffjr84]

we saw it in discovery. we saw what they did. he deserved it. it was also wrong. he surely deserved it though

[@pirobot668beta]

I thought Klingon blood looked pinkish/purple...

[@karsondegoey2671]

Is Dr M'benga going to be getting mouth full once the klingon gets wise

[@hughsmith7504]

They probably wrote a song about how a lowly healer killed the Great Coward of J'gal!

[@danielball959]

He killed Dak'Rah in honorable battle, if anything M'Benga may have picked up points with the Klingons for giving the man a good ending and trip to Sto'vo'Kor.

[@MM22966]

Good acting, but that SOOOO did not sound like a Klingon talking.

[@user-vf6vs8vo4u]

At no point in the episode, even in this scene, does the Klingon seem to realize just how much of a threat M'Benga is. His warrior instincts seem to have really failed him. I get the impression he really believed what he was saying, that the lie he told so many times about what happened that night, he had come to believe himself as it was less paniful than the truth.

[@ThePathStrider]

Klingons from this time period are not the same as those from The Next Generation era. They think butchers and thugs are warriors, and mistake glory for honour.

[@matdavey1]

M'Benga himself makes the point that a lie told to yourself often enough, become the truth.

[@andrewcormack-foster3790]

M'Benga first asks him to politely leave, but Dak'Rah does not and invades his space, going further to put a hand on M'Benga's shoulder. Show respect as well as grace, but above all LISTEN! (Or alternatively, Dak'Rah just stabbed himself because of the shame of not being able to live up to the epitaph and title... so?)

[@RagnarKorg3141]

Killing an ambassador isn't really a good message from Starfleet

[@Ocelot1962]

So, why do the SNW Klingon's look like TNG Klingons when TOS Klingons looked like humans due to genetic engineering? And was there ever an explanation for why ST Discovery Klingons, pre TOS and pre Enterprise, looked like hairless lizards?

[@Jesse-xz7br]

To quote Commander Worf when asked the same question in DS9 "we dont speak about it"

[@dwrdwlsn5]

From what I understand, no. it is assumed that the 'human looking' ones are Augmented Klingons or descended from Augmented. At least that is what Enterprise gave us. Klingons got a huge retcon with The Motion Picture to make them more alien, then Star Trek III added a lot more depth. TNG Worf was an extension of that. (Can you BLAME them for not talking about it? Not a pleasant subject!) Discovery was just weird. It MIGHT be that they are all religious fanatics and altered their appearance to look like T'Kuvma, but that is probably just me grasping at straws. Supposedly, they cut their hair to prove their devotion to Khaless or T'Kuvma but again, that is thin. So, I am going to repeat myself. Discovery was just weird.

[@danielball959]

@@dwrdwlsn5 There are other possibilities we don't get (or haven't yet) for the variation. Remember in Enterprise, the Klingons were soo good at Biotech and genetics they could code current information into a courier's DNA, without making the courier sick, and extract it at the recipient end without killing him. That is some seriously skilled biotech right there. Maybe T'Kuvma's bunch were still trying to cure teh Augment virus and went the other way, maybe they were a sign of a sort of 'genetic makeup styling fad' that proved unsuccessful in the long run. Lots of alternative explanations, really, especially if you accept the Klingons as an Older empire, one that's had many cycles of rise and fall on the interstellar stage.

[@dazzwsmith]

It really frustrates me that this series has some really good episodes like this and some utter dross like the musical episode.

[@thebeybladearmory]

Did she lie for him?

[@AndyCutright]

She lied?

[@misterlau5246]

We don't know. It seems so

[@downunderrob]

Yep.

[@StarRider587]

No, she didn't. She's somewhat covering for M'Benga, but she isn't lying when she says that M'Benga didn't start the fight, and that the Klingon attacked him first. You can kind of see that through the blurry window, but the exact specifics of the scuffle are left intentionally vague, at least for now. I have a feeling this will come back to bite him next season, and his guilt regarding being pushed to violence after so many years could factor in to his decision to step down as chief medical officer.

[@misterlau5246]

@@StarRider587 if the knife wasn't covered with DNA of the Klingon mbenga slayed, and the ambassador was considered the author, it would be very difficult to exonerate the doctor. "security to sickbay" that would have been a better procedure. Can't mbenga leave the place? What we saw in the pertinent scene can be taken from your point of view,, like when the ambassador, I don't remember 🤔 something like 😠 🤬 human, you can dot wonders to show, later in the series what really happened, it could be both ways, it's blurry, it can be addressed later, CONSEQUENCES..

[@knicknac95]

She interpreted data in a manner that gave a different perspective

[@LGranthamsHeir]

3:30 - 3:53 Was it so easy to kill a great Klingon warrior? I missed the hand-to-hand combat where Worf fought and killed Duras and Gowron 😒

[@danieldickson8591]

Maybe he wanted to be killed?

[@mikhailhutchcraft7711]

The Klingons always got their asses handed to them though. Remember the Way of the Warrior?

[@emdee8840]

I know, right? It's so unbelievable, like on DS9 when they would have scrawny, petite Kira pounding on Klingons and Cardassians. Just implausible.

[@mikhailhutchcraft7711]

@@emdee8840 honestly none of them save Worf and Odo should've been able to go toe-to-toe with the Klingons yet they somehow did

[@ffnbbq]

​@@mikhailhutchcraft7711It's a common scifi trope, that Star Trek also uses, but remember how Quark described the Starfleet soldiers on AR-558 and how well they held out against a superior foe literally engineered for war.

[@cariganpintalba9498]

Hate to say it but this guy does not sound like a Klingon.

[@LinKongDa]

There are no cameras around? Seriously? there are more cameras in Korean motels in 2023 then the whole police station and you tell me a STAR TREK medical bay has NO CAMERA running? seriously?!

[@TransoceanicOutreach]

Mr Benga is my favourite....'actor'. 12 inches of pure talent.

[@krane15]

The lesson here is that when someone insist you leave them alone, its best to take that advice and put as much space between you and them as possible. I've noticed that women tend to make that mistake in their relationships and live to regret it. Some people never learn.

[@codename495]

Women don’t often make that mistake, more often they tell people to leave them alone, then they pay for it anyway. And if you’re trying to justify a man or a woman or anyone lashing out at another person in anger you’re wrong. Hurting people out of anger is weakness.

[@nashshaffer6235]

M’Benga murdered that Klingon….period!!!

[@robertmaheu7583]

a klingon would not act like this at all hed revel in the blood bath and the glory of the day no matter how many he killed. like dumb writing

[@kirstymiller9332]

What is that make up 🤯

[@SMunro]

Wow. Chapel lied. Thats so unstarfleet.

[@nomes7918]

Did she though?

[@joec9693]

Technically not quite a lie and technically Chapel is not a member of Starfleet at this time. She is a civilian serving on a federation vessel but not a member of Starfleet (That is why her uniform is a white jumpsuit and not a blue science division uniform.) She won't join Starfleet officially until later in life.

[@TOK150]

Do klingons still represent MAGA people?

[@davecoz4227]

Gotta say, that's the worst Klingon make up I've ever seen on a star trek show, even TOS is better.

[@Tounushi]

Sorry, but the dreads don't sit right with me. I'm used to the DS9 era style of voluminous curly hair. At least it isn't the flat wig they had in the 80s...

[@Timeward76]

DS9 is over 100 years in the future. Klingon cultural trends shifted a little in the mean time. Even just 20 years is enough to change the trends of hairstyle.

[@yellowprime8491]

Might have been intentional. He had a Starfleet Delta tattooed on his face. The Ambassador may have changed his hair style to be "less Klingon" to better ingratiate himself with The Federation.

[@marks47]

Yeah, I don't recognize that guy as a Klingon either.

[@duudde3266]

So the good doctor is a war criminal and a cold blooded murder... But because he's from the US:: sorry, the "federation" , somehow his actions were justified and moral 😂😂😂😂

[@pearsegallagher9832]

i.....dont think you watched the episode

[@artymixon5316]

This garbage is why I quit watching new trek ,federation officers do not kill in cold blood for vengeance

[@joeallen9104]

Who asked you?

[@linxde1]

Even when they suffer PTSD?

[@Baffled_King]

Worf killed Duras after Duras murdered his wife.

[@wesker100000000]

You remember star trek 3 kirk lost his son, angry. The klignons wanted genesis, kirk decided to blow up the enterprise and the klignons who boarded it, then after he killed their leader who he kicked off him who then fell to his death. Spock in star trek 5 literally used the cannon in a bird of prey to kill that weird giant alien after his brother sacrificed himself to save them. Picard gunned down many Borg in the holo room in first contact. Also dating back further shock almost killed kirk when he went crazy on that planet. Had bones not interviened spock would be facing court Marshall. This has happened throughout star trek, it's always been there.

[@Pathfinfer11]

Jadzia did in ds9.

[@michaelgeraci5711]

My god this is bad. The makeup is absolutely terrible. The melodrama is laughably over the top. It’s a pity they stopped making Star Trek 20 years ago.

[@peaveyst7]

cry harder

[@mikhailhutchcraft7711]

ST still exists

[@neuronsactivated]

Star Trek Lives. Star Trek endures. You can stop watching anytime you care to.

[@TheDude1764]

It’s the only thing these ‘modern audiences’ can comprehend or relate to. 😂 ‘Soft serve’ for the ‘soft brained.’