This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“The Passenger” See this for a plot summary.
This is another episode that is overwhelmingly just a mystery, although it’s a pretty good one (I especially like how Bashir speaks and acts differently (his face, his body language) when he is being controlled by Vantika)- I give it three stars out of five.
“Move Along Home” See this for a plot summary.
Not much political in this episode. But it is interesting, Starfleet’s first formal reception for a Gamma Quadrant alien race. The story is good, I also like the rhyme they have to say at one point as they work their way through the labyrinth. I give it three stars out of five.
“The Nagus” See this for a plot summary.
This is the first episode where we meet the Grand Nagus, the leader of the Ferengi financial empire. It’s not made very clear exactly how things work, but he’s basically the political leader of the Ferengi and works to promote Ferengi business interests, regulates who gets which market, and enforces the extreme capitalist rules of the Ferengi business community, which exist for the benefit of the most cut-throat businesspeople, not for those with ethics, not for workers, and not for consumers or the public. Also, the Grand Nagus has the power to appoint his successor, so the system is very undemocratic. It’s also common for rivals for the position to threaten each other, although it’s unclear how often such threat are acted on- but the threats themselves further indicate that Ferengis don’t have a democratic political culture.
We are also reminded that Ferengi don’t value formal education (in an earlier episode, it’s explained that children are tossed into the darwinian business community to learn about surviving economically), and the men are very sexist.
Another aspect of this episode is the development of Nog and Jake’s friendship, despite their parents discouraging them based on how Ferengi and humans usually don’t get along. This is welcome, as their friendship is one of my favorite aspects of the series, it takes the multi-culturalism of ST a bit further than usual, and it also sets the stage for Nog later becoming the first Ferengi in Starfleet.
It’s a good episode, I give it three stars out of five.
“Vortex” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is mostly about Odo’s desire to learn about where he comes from and whether or not there are others like him, a question which has a very interesting answer as his people end up being the main villains in DS9.
The alien, Croden, from the Gamma Quadrant who is sort of the center of the episode is from a society where the punishment for every single crime is very harsh. He’s also some kind of political dissident whose two wives are killed by the security forces as punishment for his dissent and who then kills the members of the security forces. This sort of thing, where it’s vague about the politics involved, isn’t as cool as it would be if they were specific about it and it was about opposing bigotry or organizing workers or something, but it does raise the general issue of human rights and is therefore pretty cool.
Odo, who was supposed to hand Croden over to the authorities on his planet, ends up allowing him and his daughter to board a Vulcan vessel to start a new life.
Overall a good episode, I give it two stars out of five.
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