- Directed by Sharon Lewis
- Written by Alan B. McElroy
- September 10, 2026
- Paramount+
- Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Episode Cast
- Captain Christopher Pike-Anson Mount
- Commander Una Chin-Riley-Rebecca Romijn
- Lt. Spock-Ethan Peck
- Nurse Christine Chapel-Jess Bush
- Lt. La’An Noonien-Singh-Christina Chong
- Ensign Nyota Uhura-Celia Rose Gooding
- Lt. Erica Ortegas-Melissa Navia
- Dr. Joseph M’Benga-Babs Olusanmokun
- Lt. Montgomery Scott-Martin Quinn
- USS Enterprise Computer (voice)-Alex Kapp
- James T. Kirk-Paul Wesley
- Lt. George Samuel ‘Sam’ Kirk-Dan Jeannotte
- Admiral Simon Reeger-Joe Morton
- Cadet A’Sha-Bianca Nugara
- Yeoman Vanek-Ewa Wolniczek
- Turr-Currie Graham
While Pike is on the surface of a planet with an away team investigating a signal, a legendary Starfleet admiral commandeers Enterprise to pursue a mysterious vessel of unknown origin.
I groaned a little bit when Kirk (Paul Wesley) showed up yet again on Enterprise before taking command. That gripe aside, by the end I felt Orders of Magnitude was an SNW Kirk-centric episode that was more like Star Trek than any other episode has been this season. The script largely avoids putting characters with plot armor in serious jeopardy as has happened to often in this series. Director Sharon Lewis and writer Alan B. McElroy crafted a story with believable stakes that tests the characters. The actors turn in great performances with guest Joe Morton doing excellent work.
In the beginning it was hard to take episode seriously with the character lacking basic professionalism. One of the hallmarks of older Trek was a level of professionalism. There was far too much ‘very relaxed office’ than ‘we work on a military exploratory vessel’. The general attitude of the characters works much better when they learn a heroic figure is on his way to the ship.
It is a ‘bad admiral gives the crew a moral dilemma’ episode which Star Trek has done numerous times over the decades. Each series of Star Trek has had at least one episode where a Starfleet officer goes bad for one reason or another. Here it is Admiral Simon Reeger (Joe Morton) who is a living legend that comes to the Enterprise while Pike (Anson Mount) is on the surface of a planet investigating a weak emergency signal.
Morton-as-Reeger creates an initially likable character making the reveal of his true character all the more impactful. He’s a man of the people. A very likable person initially with cracks showing until there is an abrupt break. He has a charm but commanding nature.
It asks some very basic Star Trek questions and is much more philosophical than SNW has put forward lately. It looks at obsession and grief while putting Kirk between duty and doing what’s right. The story focuses on how Kirk (Paul Wesley) handles an admiral who is motivated by revenge over duty. It even dips its toes in never meeting your heroes as this outwardly friendly man of the people can get petty and vindictive to those that he believes wronged him. In hindsight some of his scenes with Kirk were him manipulating the future captain. Morton makes a very complicated character in short order.
Not only do we get a strong A Story with the admiral on the ship but the B Story is strong as well. What Pike and crew are investigating turns out to be a trap. An Andorian named Turr (Currie Graham) is leading some pirates to catch a Federation crew in the hopes of forcing them to fake transporter codes to use for piracy and smuggling.
Turr, the leader of the pirates, is an engaging villain. Currie Graham makes Turr great to watch. He is not evil to be evil. There is an intelligence to the character making him appear to have the ability to succeed. He creates a tense story occurring in a relatively small setting.
It’s completely independent of events in the A Story and solid entertainment on its own. It’s more demonstrative of the bond Pike (Anson Mount) has with the crew and how he’s able to communicate and influence them without being overt. The weak spot is when Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) starts shooting like she is some action hero. Uhura was many things, but she was not a fighter. Her strength was in her intellect.
New and underdeveloped character Cadet A’Sha (Bianca Nugara) is on the mission and gets stabbed with a toxic crystal. It was a pleasant surprise to finally see a character with an unknown future be put in danger, but this also ended her story in the series bringing into question why she was even introduced so late in the series. It does create drama and a ticking clock within the story as the crew now have only so much time to do something before she dies.
Pike, who was the main reason the show got greenlit is a minor character in B Story. Uhura is the one who takes action on several fronts while the most experienced command officer waits on her actions. Una (Rebecca Romijn) gets in some lines of concern for the cadet yet offers little to show why she recently got promoted.
I cannot remember the last time we saw Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) in this show. Often he is an underused (and unnecessary) character. Not even sure what his position on the ship is. Jeannotte and Wesley give us some of their best work together as these two brothers work through their tension but get a small story of their own that connects to the larger one involving the admiral.
Earlier in the season the writers had made Captain Kirk’s dad a terrible father. It is almost cliché for adult characters in modern television to have a bad parent or two. What we learn by the end of this episode is that all George’s family contact shortcomings and some of his other issues were not entirely his fault if his fault at all. It also serves to give a deeper look at Reeger and his true character. By the end Pappa Kirk is much more a loving father.
Despite Kreeger’s issues, George Kirk kept quiet allowing Kreeger to take credit for HIS efforts and becoming admiral. Starfleet is hinted to know the truth and swept it under the figurative rug. I find it hard to believe there were no leaks of the truth. Based on in-story dialogue, Starfleet put in less effort to cover up here than they did with Michael Burnham.
In the classic TOS episode, The City on the Edge of Forever we were introduced to the fictional drug cordrazine which, when taken in large doses, causes paranoia and other issues. M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) name drops it when he gives a safe dose to Kirk. This is not some random, ham-fisted connection to TOS but important to the plot.
Why? Kirk drops a dose in Reeger’s coffee to make him act more unhinged to give M’Benga a reason to relieve the man (and his former captain) of duty. I found it unfortunate the character of M’Benga did not go through too much in Orders of Magnitude despite his connection.
Why did Kirk really need to spike the coffee? The crew was already expressing doubt based on Kirk’s questions and offered alternatives to Reeger’s wiping out of a small settlement to get this mysterious ship. Mix that with the revelation he was likely seeking revenge based on the death of his family at the hands of the ship and him maintaining authority on Enterprise was in doubt. It does keep the episode runtime manageable over having to show his authority slowly evaporating.
How did Reeger figure out he was drugged? He makes the accusation and Kirk, then M’Benga take credit for dosing him when saying nothing would be smarter. Reeger had no authority so he could not order unnecessary tests meaning if they dragged their feet getting to a Starbase it would be just him lashing out. So why did anyone admit to it when he started making the accusation?
Orders of Magnitude is connected to the TOS episode Balance of Terror where we first meet Romulans. The ship they are pursuing is clearly meant to be THEIR ship. Lewis and McElroy never rub your face in it and I appreciate the attempt to connect. Yet the information that this uses to connect them comes off as brand-new information to the characters in Balance of Terror and not something they’ve already encountered.
That demonstrates issues with doing a prequel series. Connections done to the other show need to be carefully handled so you don’t bring into question the characters. If you view SNW and this episode as connected to TOS rather than largely independent of it, then you’re asking yourself why these characters didn’t bring up these informative events down the line. Cordrazine and a cloaked attacking ship both should have been recalled in TOS when they became relevant AGAIN via the timeline.
Star Trek has generally been consistent on how things work and this is perhaps the Trek nerd in me, but often intense radiation has prevented transporter activity and here Kirk beams into an area with intense radiation to try and disable the ship’s phasers. Never mind the aspect of beaming internally in the ship which was not a possibility in the TOS era as explained in I believe Day of the Dove. For newer viewers of Star Trek or even those that started in the TNG area this will not be annoying, but for those of us who watch Star Trek TOS on it might be bothersome.
While a fine Kirk-centric episode and a standout of the season, it should have been focused on the regular cast. Though the sets have since been struck, they were not when this show was filmed and this is an attempt by the writers to yet again make a case for Star Trek: Year One. Send Spock (Ethan Peck) to the surface and leave Una on the ship. Not like either did much this episode anyway.
Other than that, Orders of Magnitude was an excellent episode. There is genuine tension and concern over what could happen, and it was much more thoughtful than the majority of Season Four episodes so far. It got into command and grief and questions of right and wrong. It was also a good demonstration of the character of Captain Kirk in a much more TOS vein than the vein of most current Star Trek.
Warren Watched A Movie 