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).
“Caretaker,” Parts I and II- See this and this for a plot summary.
Aside from it getting a great series started, this two-parter is not my favorite. In general I don’t like the Ocampa, I don’t like the Kazan, and I don’t like Neelix. I’m not crazy about the Caretaker either.
What I do like is Janeway and Chakotay working together (see this, where I explain my feelings about the Maquis while discussing the two-parter “The Maquis”).
I give it three stars out of five.
“Parallax” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode, but a good one, I give it three stars out five.
“Time And Again” See this for a plot summary.
This episode is basically about nuclear energy and the dangers of using it (in the episode it’s polaric, not nuclear energy). Although it turns out that the Starfleet characters caused the accident that destroyed the planet, it’s made pretty clear that using polaric energy is very dangerous.
I give it four stars out of five.
This blog is mostly about 3 themes- Irish Republicanism, Star Trek, and opposition to bigotry, primarily in America (racism, homophobia, anti-semitism, etc.). It is mostly about Northern Ireland. It will mostly be about these issues in general and past events and will only sometimes touch on current events. Feel free to comment on the earlier posts.
About My Blog
My blog is about history, popular culture, politics and current events from a democratic socialist and Irish republican perspective. The two main topics are Northern Ireland on one hand and fighting anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia on the other. The third topic is supporting the Palestinians, and there are several minor topics. The three main topics overlap quite a bit. I have to admit that it’s not going to help me get a graduate degree, especially because it’s almost always written very casually. But there are some high-quality essays, some posts that come close to being high-quality essays, political reviews of Sci-Fi TV episodes (Star Trek and Babylon 5), and a unique kind of political, progressive poetry you won't find anywhere else. (there are also reviews of episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and reviews of Roseanne)
(The "Table of Contents" offers brief descriptions of all but the most recent posts)
(If you're really cool and link to my blog from your site/blog, let me know) (if you contact me, use the word "blog" in the subject line so I'll know it's not spam)
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