In the Babylon 5 season 4 episode, “The Deconstruction of Falling Stars,” (1997) we are given a possible image that takes place a million years into the future where humans have evolved into beings of light. They have not forgotten the trials of the Babylon 5 station or its crew. They leave the solar system … [Read more…]
Michael Eddington is either loved or hated. Many (perhaps most) feel his betrayal of Starfleet as an agent for the Maquis was an emotive betrayal corresponding to matters deeply entrenched in the outlaying ethics of Starfleet ideas, goals, and the fight against oppression in the larger galactic equation. However, Eddington was not wrong when he … [Read more…]
In a 1986 Good Morning America interview promoting the prime time show, Spencer, Avery Brooks was asked about another role he was playing in Uncle Tom’s Cabin for Showtime. The interviewer stated it was “against type casting, a very unusual thing” to which Avery Brooks replied, “No, not really. You know, I’m an artist. So … [Read more…]
Tuvok was not without his forays into romance outside of the strict, sacred bond he held with his wife, T’Pel, in the Alpha Quadrant. True, there were manufactured instances of romance, such as in “Body and Soul” (2000) when Tom Paris prescribed Tuvok time in the holodeck with a hologram of his wife in order … [Read more…]
Sylvia Tilly projects herself as a trusted ally early in the series when she immediately befriends Michael Burnham who at that point is still thought of through a negative light by everyone in Starfleet. Tilly’s key source of the literacy of kindness is how she weaponizes friendship. Tilly bonds with everyone on Discovery, not just … [Read more…]
Data is repeatedly referred to as successfully emulating humanity, though he would rarely agree according to his own self-assessment. Data went beyond human traits to capture and characterize exaggerated forms of basic kindness for which the crew was largely reminded of their own inner value. Data liberally exhumed these traits of kindness for all species … [Read more…]
“I think no one can deny the seed of violence remains within each of us. We must recognize that, because that violence is capable of consuming each of us.” – Jean-Luc Picard In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Violations,” (1992) Counselor Deanna Troi is subject to forced thought insertion. What is highly important … [Read more…]
The heart of the Bajoran resistance was to cripple, stun, defeat, and alienate any element present of the Cardassian occupation. When Captain Sisko orders Colonel Kira to assist Damar with his struggling Cardassian uprising against the Dominion she is at first taken back. It is laughable. At the first instance of the suggestion and on … [Read more…]
There is a highly reasonable, shared pattern of reluctant leadership for Captain Sisko and Captain Archer between the Deep Space Nine episode “In the Pale Moonlight” (1998) and Enterprise’s “Damage” (2004). As Archer tells Dr. Phlox, amid almost complete destruction of the Enterprise, “I’m about to step over a line. A line I thought I … [Read more…]
The holodeck, or holosuites, offer a grand rejection of reality. However, it is through that dismissal of the restraints of reality that we see the crews of Voyager and Deep Space Nine inject themselves into a cascade of criminal conduct. In the Voyager episode “Worst Case Scenario” (1997) and the Deep Space Nine episode “Badda-Bing, … [Read more…]