Month: April 2023

What separates the Borg Queen from Michael Burnham?

What separates the Borg Queen from Michael Burnham? On the surface the Borg Queen is composed of an archetype of a matriarch repeatedly referred to as the greatest evil Starfleet has encountered. Before Captain Janeway intentionally locates the Borg in Star Trek: Voyager’s “Scorpion,” (1997) she research previous Captain’s logs, JANEWAY: I’ve been looking through … [Read more…]

Trauma and Post-Modern Subtext in Star Trek

B’Elanna Torres, martyrologies, the resolve of violence superstructures to persist as their own solutions – just as the competing martyrologies-imposed doctrines of violence, so, too, did Lt. Torres imposed violence upon herself in “Extreme Risk” as the solution to coming to terms with the holodeck grotesque imagery she created upon learning of the fate of … [Read more…]

Leadership, Rom, and Abundant Kindness

Elaborating for a strictly psycho-social explication, Rom’s strength of character no doubt was born from his brother’s, Quark’s, extensive, intentional, and constant derision. Countless times Quark called Rom “an idiot” while only sometimes – sometimes – annotating “but I love him.” Rom was forced to confront Quark a number of times, including when Quark attempted … [Read more…]

Geordi La Forge and Kindness

In Star Trek: Insurrection, we see what was always just underneath the surface as Geordi La Forge sees the sunrise for the first time and is clearly almost crying. His eyes had completely regenerated from the metaphasic particles on the planet. However, the recaptured youth of spirit that, for the others, enhances their clarity of … [Read more…]

Deviance, Occupation, and Terrans

When the crew of Discovery crosses into the mirror universe, they embark on a path of willingness to cross moral boundaries. This is largely at the guidance of Lorca, who for reasons later discovered has his own primary deviance to tally for the benefit of the limited few that does not include Michael and the … [Read more…]

Seven of Nine and Unexpected Kindness

Seven of Nine is established in Star Trek: Picard’s “Stardust City Rag” (2020) as a mother figure; loving and in the continuous pain of having lost who she refers to as “my child,” Icheb, to Bjayzl and those who murder Borg (and former Borg) for their cybernetic implants. This is not the first time we … [Read more…]

Star Trek, Ecology, and Green SciFi

Imagine a Star Trek future where the Xindi-Avian species did not become extinct. The Xindi still went on to become Starfleet allies thanks to Captain Archer, and as seen in the future through crewman Daniels’s; a future where some Avians – presumably with other Xindi – migrated to Earth, flying above San Francisco liberated in … [Read more…]

Star Trek Discovery’s Saru and Kindness

In the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, the Saru we meet more closely resembles a cynical capitalist. However, his distance and appearance of reproach – his stern disposition – comes from a place of loss and heartbreak. A more adroit observation of Saru is that he was astute under pressure, having lost Captain Georgiou … [Read more…]

Violence, Art, and Star Trek: Picard (season 1)

Do not tell us violence is part of life. You can reflect violence without seeking to replicate it. To indulge in violence only reflects that the artist does not understand violence and how it intersects life. There is no common interest in gratuitous violence for the course of the matter and to do so is … [Read more…]