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).
“Crossfire” See this for a plot summary.
In general a non-political episode, but there’s some tiny elements of politics.
First, there’s one reference to domestic violence, but the good statement is eroded by the idea that a good sex life is a legitimate reason for someone to stay in an abusive relationship. It might seem less offensive to many considering that the victim is male and the attacker is female, but that doesn’t make it okay.
The issue of Bajor applying to join the Federation and some resistance among Bajorans to that is raised. I think I’ve briefly discussed this before. I believe that the Federation is a good thing and should be expanded and would be helpful for Bajor as they get back on their feet after the Cardassian occupation.
I give it two stars out of five.
“Return to Grace” See this for a plot summary.
A very non-political episode. There’s some discussion of bigotry- about how a half-Cardassian, half-Bajoran woman is unwelcome in both societies.
Overall a good episode, I give it three stars out of five.
“Sons of Mogh” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is largely non-political but includes one reference to the limits of multi-culturalism. Although there might be some exceptions on either side of this, customs which violate a nation’s laws should not be tolerated- there might be some customs which violate laws and should be respected anyway (the laws should be modified), and some customs which should be banned with new laws. One good example I can think of is female circumcision. I haven’t read about it in a long time, but I believe that it is wrong and should be banned.
I give it two stars out of five.
“Bar Association” See this for a plot summary.
A very political episode and one of the most progressive ST episodes made. It’s explicitly pro-union. There’s also reason to believe that the Federation and Starfleet are pro-union, as Sisko orders Odo to not interfere with the strikers and pressures Quark to negotiate with them. We also learn more about how raw Ferengi capitalism is.
The Ferengi Commerce Authority, which arrives to help Quark break the strike, is apparently able and willing to go very far. They threaten the strikers with fines against their relatives and the seizing of their financial accounts and also with death. They also openly use physical intimidation of the strikers with notorious Nausicaans and beat up someone the strike leader cares about and seem on the verge of killing the strike leader when the strike is resolved.
On the other hand, the Ferengi staff indicate that they still have a lot of respect for capitalism, talking about how they want to BECOME the exploiters and how they want to increase their profits (it wasn’t a reference to profit sharing). But that’s because they’re Ferengi.
Overall it’s very pro-labor. As usual whatever is considered “normal” for Ferengis is portrayed negatively and as in conflict with the Federation. The strikers seem to get a lot of popular support from the station’s population.
I give it four stars out of five.
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