Tear Jerker / Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

The people you love the most can cause you the most pain, but it's the people you love that can mend your heart when you feel broken. That's what Hemmer's purpose was: to fix what is broken. And he did.

— Nyota Uhura, "All Those Who Wander"

Season 1

Episode 1:"Strange New Worlds"

• Every scene where Pike is shellshocked and fatalistic over having foreseen his own death.
• Spock and T'Pring's cute couple moments are undermined by how the crack that will destroy their relationship-T'Pring's unhappiness over Spock tending to pick the career option in Family Vs Career choices- are already visible.

Episode 2: "Children of the Comet"

• A minor one, but when Pike asks Uhura where she sees herself in ten years, he stops for a second, clearly thinking about his own fate.
• Uhura's backstory is a more obvious example. She was originally going to study alien languages at a college in Nairobi, where her parents taught, but both of them and her older brother were killed in a shuttle crash, and only a week before she was about to start. Even after moving in with her grandmother, Uhura struggled to process her grief. The only reason she even joined Starfleet in the first place was because she heard her grandmother, a retired Starfleet officer herself, talk about it a lot, so she ran away to join.

Episode 3:"Ghosts of Illyria"

• The Illyrian colonists are so desperate to join the Federation that they reverse the genetic modifications that cause the Federation to shun their species, only for this operation to lead to their deaths from a disease they would have otherwise survived.
• A delirious La'an cursing her Parental Substitute Number One for being an augment.

Episode 4:"Memento Mori"

• La’an spends one scene comforting a frightened mother and daughter rescued from the colony, only to be knocked out by a Gorn barrage and wake up to be told that the woman and child didn’t survive the ship taking fire.

Episode 6: "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach"

• We see a bit more on what's going on with M'Benga and his daughter. Turns out she doesn't notice coming in and out of the Transporter. From her point of view it's just one long session of her Father reading a story to her. However from his point of view this is all broken up and he has trouble keeping track of how much of the story he's reading her they've covered. Further more, the Transporter is on a timer to minimize the time she spends out of the buffer so her disease doesn't progress. She gets beamed mid-sentence as she's asking him a question, and M'Benga's face makes it clear how absolutely crushed he is by the situation.
• The First Servant's fate. Adding to that that he'd struck a friendship with M'Benga's daughter. At some point M'Benga will have to tell her that her friend is effectively dead.

Episode 7: "The Serene Squall"

• Nurse Chapel denying that she has feelings for Spock, even though she looks crushed doing so.
• Given that Spock and T'Pring are Doomed by Canon to break up, his ruse (and Stonn's appearance) are likely another nail in the relationship's coffin.
  • T'Pring tells Spock she knew that he wouldn't cheat on her and was only kissing Chapel for the sake of the ruse. Years from now, in Amok Time, we learn that T'Pring will start seeing Stonn behind Spock's back.

Episode 8: "The Elysian Kingdom"

• After spending so much of the season trying to find a way to save his daughter, M'Benga is stuck with a Sadistic Choice - either leaving her with the nebula entity that can keep her alive or keep her and forcing her fate. Ultimately, he decides to leave her with the entity so she can live her life.

Episode 9: "All Those Who Wander"

• While La'an questions Oriana about the Gorn eggs inhabiting her companion, getting increasingly aggressive as she does so, M'Benga steps in and tells her to "stop interrogating my daughter." When they both realize the slip, he quietly corrects himself to say "my patient", looking deeply pained. It's clear that, although he knows he made the right choice, the pain of losing Rukiya won't be going away anytime soon.
• When Hemmer realizes that he's been infected by the Gorn, he sacrifices himself to save the crew, walking out into the cold so the larvae won't survive.
  "Just like Andoria..."
  • While Hemmer says his goodbyes to the crew, Uhura is particularly devastated, as she had grown close to him during her Engineering rotation. Later, at his funeral, she notes that she had realized why they got along so well: the way he encouraged her to find her purpose reminded her of the way her late father would do the same growing up. She's essentially living the same loss twice.

Episode 10: "A Quality of Mercy"

• Pike has always consoled himself with the knowledge of the lives he saves with his sacrifice. Now he's faced with the downside: one of the eventual cadets who will die in that accident. Pike has to face a child knowing he can't act to save him without creating a future far worse.
• With the episode being an alternate reality version of "Balance of Terror", Lt. Stiles is replaced by Ortegas, who seems to be as vehemently Anti-Romulan as Stiles himself was. That it's Ortegas as this intolerant figure hits harder than Stiles, as we've gotten to know and admire her over the course of the season. It makes a fan wonder just what the hell she suffered because of the Romulans to make her so foul-tempered.
• Pike got lucky (or so it seemed at first); turns out the Romulan commander he faces off against was tired of war and was impressed by Pike's show of mercy. Unfortunately, his Blood Knight sub-commander secretly called in the entire Romulan fleet, leading to his ship's destruction for their hubris. The commander and his crew Face Death with Dignity, but both they and the Enterprise came so close to peace.
• Chapel's devastation from seeing Spock's horrible fate, and knowing every last heartbreaking detail about it. She's loved him for so long and now must watch him suffer so horribly. It hits harder because this is the first time we see her in this timeline, and her appearance comes immediately before we see Spock's injuries.
  Chapel: Massive cerebral trauma. Major blood loss. Spinal fractures. Radiation burns across 40% of his body. I'm not sure that he will recover from this. But if he does... he will not be the same.
  • Immediately before hand we learn that, once again, Martine and Tomlinson's relationship is doomed. In Pike's altered future, Martine instead of Tomlinson dies when the Enterprise is attacked by the Romulan fleet that also injured Spock. The newly widowered Tomlinson just stares at Pike crying his eyes out with a look on his face that just says "Why?"
• Future Pike informs his past self that every attempt to put off the accident that eventually cripples him has two major effects: war with the Romulans, and the death of Spock. Millions die in the war because Spock wasn't there to get them within a hair's breadth of peace. Even Pike can't hold back Manly Tears just thinking about it.
  "He's got things to do. Fate-of-the-galaxy type things."
• The episode ends with Una being outed as an Illyrian and being escorted off the Enterprise by security for court martial. Pike resolves to save her, but it's a major Downer Ending.

Season Two

Episode 2: Ad Astra per Aspera

• Neera Ketoul questions Admiral April about his sponsoring Una's application to Starfleet Academy, and whether he would have done so if he knew she was Illyrian. When he responds in the negative (clearly uncomfortably so), she asks if he'd ever violated The Prime Directive (multiple times, to save entire planets), and accuses him of taking the stance he would against Una out of racism. April, Una, and Pike are all visibly hurt by this exchange, with April blaming Pike for bringing Ketoul onto the case (and incidentally refusing Pike's offer of hospitality).
• We learn of Neera’s little cousin, a ten year old boy whose Illyrian heritage was accidentally outed by a childhood injury. Like La’an, he was mocked and called an Augment. However, we find out his home was vandalized and, worst of all, he and his family are carted out by Federation security in handcuffs.
• La'an thinks her personal log was how Starfleet found out about Una, making her unwittingly responsible for Una's situation, but Ketoul determines that there wasn't time for that log to be subpoenaed before the case began. Eventually Ketoul works out the identity of who outed Una and their motive: Una Chin-Riley, tired of having to lie to her comrades about who she was.
• While the episode ends on a triumphant note, and the characters have hope for the future, seasoned viewers will know that the Federation's harsh stance against genetic engineering won't change even over a century later, as we see with the treatment of Dr. Bashir and the Jack Pack, and to a degree, the XBs.

Episode 3: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

• Early in the episode, M'Benga tells La'an that she should find someone she can talk to. Thanks to time travel shenanigans, she finds that person in an alternate James T. Kirk, who she genuinely hits it off with. Then tragedy strikes when he gives his life to save her future, and Temporal Investigations tells her never to discuss the events she experienced with anyone. La'an makes up a pretense to call Kirk, asking for Sam's place of birth. Kirk confirms they were both born in Iowa and offers to get drinks with La'an if they ever wind up at a Starbase together. After the call, she breaks down crying.
  • La'an is clearly deeply scarred by her experience in the 21st century, particularly having to kill Sera in order to protect Khan, of all people, all in order to prevent an even worse future from taking place. She even starts yelling at the temporal agent who comes to retrieve the device, as after all she's been through, she can't even talk about it to anyone, just adding another layer of trauma to an already difficult life for her.
• We don't see much of the Bad Future, but from the bits and pieces we do get it's clear why the agents were so desperate to prevent it. Rather than Starfleet and the Federation, the Enterprise is part of the United Earth Fleet, which we see refuse to assist the Vulcans (what's worse is it's Kirk refusing to help Spock, an unthinkable scenario in almost any other timeline) against the Romulans, as they don't have the resources to defend themselves and another fleet.
  • The details we get of Jim's life are also quietly devastating. In this timeline, he was born on the U.S.S. Iowa, rather than the state itself, and lived most of his life in space. On their first night in Toronto, he's mesmerized by a sunset, having never seen one due to the overwhelming ash and dust from years of bombings covering the skies. He's also not particularly bothered with preserving La'an's timeline, reasoning that he and the world he knows will disappear...until La'an tells him she knows Sam. The news that his brother is alive in another timeline visibly stops Jim in his tracks, and is a factor in him changing his tune on helping her; his last words to La'an after he's shot by Sera are asking her to say hi to Sam for him.
• Kirk initially believes that the main timeline has no more right to exist than his own, but changes his mind when La'an reveals that his brother is still alive in her timeline. Little do they know that, less than a decade later, Sam will die before his time as well.

Episode 4: Among The Lotus Eaters

• Captain Batel's on a date with Pike when she gets an call from an Admiral, turns out she's been passed over for promotion to Commodore for her part in Una's trial. Pike blames himself and uses this as a reason to push her away, temporarily halting their relationship. Thankfully, the events of the episode convince him to patch things up.
• The crew are helped by a man named Luq after they get trapped on the surface. They offer to help restore his memories too, but he declines. The marks on his skin that serve as reminders that he had a family that he had lost, and he doesn't want to relive that pain again.

Episode 5: Charades

• The episode highlights just how much prejudice Spock and Amanda face in Vulcan culture. The memory Amanda shares with Spock via mind meld was a happy one for him, the first time he was accepted by his fellow Vulcan children but seeing it from Amanda's point of view he realises she was still being ostracised by the other mothers.

Episode 6: Lost in Translation

• La'an comes to help Uhura and comes face-to-face with Kirk. She's still under orders to not talk about her experience in "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", and even she did, this isn't the Kirk that she'd grown fond of. She remains tight-lipped about it, but you can see on her face it's killing her.
• Pelia puts together why Una is so hostile towards her; she's still grieving the loss of Hemmer. It turns out Hemmer was an old student of Pelia's, so she sympathizes.
• The Reveal that Starfleet's deuterium refinery is unknowingly killing off the aliens who live in the nebula. When Uhura figures it out she looks like she's about to be sick.

Episode 7: Those Old Scientists

• La'an warns Boimler not to make any attachments during his time travel, and confides that she made that mistake herself.
• Pike doesn't want a party for his birthday because it will be his first birthday where he is older than his father ever got to be. Even though he didn't have the best relationship with his dad, he'd give up years of his life for one more argument with him.
• Boimler is a Fish out of Temporal Water. It's funny at first, but soon he realizes he may be stuck in the past, and will likely be forced to live a life of solitude to avoid contaminating the timeline.
  • His bumbling is made worse when you realize that he is in the presence of his personal heroes, including the individual that inspired him to join Starfleet in the first place. He is embarrassing himself in front of the people whose opinion of him matters more than anyone else, save his friends back home.
• Boimler goes to Chapel because he's afraid he's "broken" Spock somehow, with the Vulcan smiling, laughing, and cracking jokes, and that's not how Spock is known in Boimler's time. Chapel reveals that Spock is doing all of this for her sake, and realizes this might mean their relationship has an expiration date.
  • Later, Spock tells Boimler that Chapel told him about their conversation, but not the details. It's clear that Spock is not happy that whatever Boimler said upset her.
  • Self-professed Spock megafan Boimler says he knows everything about Spock, and he has absolutely no idea that Chapel is in a relationship with him. He doesn't realize it at first, but he accidentally just told her that her relationship with Spock is so unimportant it has been completely forgotten about by history. She's less important than his pet Sehlat.

Episode 8: Under the Cloak of War

• The Federation-Klingon War still holds scars for some of the Enterprise crew and it shows, with both M’Benga and Chapel with the worst of them.
  • Ortegas as well - the usually upbeat and jovial Erica is visibly uncomfortable with Rah's arrival, and, at the dinner, eventually can't hold it back anymore, standing, delivering a blistering reminder of the scars inflicted, that the Klingons would shout the phrase "remain Klingon!" over comms in Federation Standard, and then "boom! Your friends are dead." After this, she stalks out of the dinner.
• Number One comes to Pike with a course change - she's realized that the morale on the ship has dipped dangerously low because of Rah, and has opted to plot a new course that gets him off the ship sooner. Pike is initially reluctant, believing that they should be able to allow people to make up for their pasts, but Una recognizes that while he isn't wrong to believe that, it IS wrong to try and force others to let that past go when they're not ready. Reluctantly, Pike approves the course change.

Episode 9: Subspace Rhapsody

• Whereas the other songs in the episode mostly lead to laughs, Spock's song after Chapel's is saddening and fittingly enough a Dark Reprise of hers. He sings about how he is a burden to Chapel's dreams, how he was a fool to change his views on romance and how he will never make that mistake again. Suddenly you start to realize why Spock, in his long life, never settled down or had a family.
  • He sings this in front of Uhura who is clearly a bit horrified to witness his breakdown and guilty because she'd suggested the action that triggered Chapel's song where she broke up with Spock.
• Uhura's song ''Keep Us Connected'' is her singing about how she feels alone in the universe, with the irony that her job is a communications officer.
• La'an works up the courage to admit her feelings to Kirk, and gives some details about their experience in the other timeline. After she confesses, he admits that he'd also felt a connection to her when they first spoke... but also that he's with someone, and she's pregnant. It's clearly a difficult moment for both of them; La'an is crushed at the rejection after angsting over it for so long, and Jim clearly regrets having to hurt her like that.
  • Compounding this is her earlier solo song, showing that La'an is still completely devastated over the death of the "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" timeline Kirk, still holding onto the watch they used together in their mission to repair the timeline.
• After the grand finale, everyone is gladly exchanging congratulations. Spock and Chapel briefly come face to face. Chapel is smiling. Spock isn't. And turns away. Made even sadder as, just before the end of the grand finale, Spock runs into his position next to Chapel. While he's still willing to work with her for the good of the crew, he's done with her on a personal level.

Episode 10: Hegemony

• The scene on the bridge where Spock is tirelessly scanning the wreckage of the Cayuga for survivors, chiefly Nurse Chapel. Number One has to try and get him to come to terms with the fact she's almost certainly dead (although she isn't) and then check he isn't volunteering for a dangerous mission because it's suicidal.
• Just the sight of the Cayuga, sister ship of the Enterprise and Hero of Another Story, shattered into pieces by the Gorn — and near the end, her saucer going down in flames. Alas, we hardly knew ye...