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).
“Cogenitor” See this for a plot summary.
This is very political, or something close to political. It reminds one of slavery, especially the part about not being taught to read. In some ways, I support what Trip did- the Cogenitor had the same intellectual capacity as the other Vissians. On the other hand, if all Cogenitors were emancipated (no longer required to act as cogenitors and no longer kept ignorant), many/most/all would probably refuse to do what they had done for centuries- play an important role in reproduction. To one degree or another that would be a problem.
There’s also the tragic ending which makes me wonder if Trip did the right thing.
I give it four stars out of five.
“Regeneration” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. Something about a Borg encounter during that period in the history of Starfleet is really cool. I give it five stars out of five.
“First Flight” See this for a plot summary
A non-political episode. It does however, take us even further back in the history of Starfleet, which I like. I give it four stars.
“Bounty” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“The Expanse” See this for a plot summary.
This episode kicks off the storyline that pretty much dominates the entire 3rd season. The first 1-2 times I watched it I thought it could be described as inspired by a non-progressive response to 9/11. There’s no doubt that it was inspired by 9/11 and there is one moment that comes close to endorsing torture, and in general, at first glance it’s sort of similar to the US and the War on Terror. Based on what I remember from the last time I watched this series about 13 months ago, it’s not as bad as what I thought the first 1-2 times. It’s possible I’ll say something slightly different as I re-familiarize myself with the details, but the effort Enterprise makes to stop a future attack seems like a good one. Archer makes some effort at a diplomatic solution and engages some of the Xindi in dialogue, convincing some of them that Earth is not their enemy.
This episode, which is the last in the 2nd season, ends with Enterprise entering the Expanse to look for the Xindi, gets four stars out of five.
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