#doesn’t have to be st related but I am thinking about a Vulcan losing their temper for the first and their phaser is just. gone.

[theshadowrealmitself]

Current thoughts: Nervous Human that slips away any weapons from those who look like they’re gonna lose their temper (Humans and aliens alike) and stashes them away in odd spots

Several people annoyed by this, but not one suspects that person

[calliecat93]

ST: The Next Generation S3 Watchthrough Episodes 22-25

The Most Toys: Dear TNG writers, I know that the show has been over for about 30 years now and this is therefore redundant to say, but… can you please quit doing bad things to Data?! He doesn’t deserve bad things! So Data gets kidnapped by a manchild/lunatic to add to his ‘collection’. Kinda reminds me of that two-parter in Superman: TAS that introduced Lobo… except Fajo somehow pisses me off even more than the bad guy there. Kinda makes me think of the bad guy from The Squire of Gothos in TOS except somehow more detestable. At least that guy was more or less a spoiled child, Fajo has no excuse. Anyways, Fajo’s obsession with Data comes of as… insanely creepy. It gives me very bad vibes and I was thoroughly uncomfortable. Though at least Data, in his Data way, wasn’t at all complacent and remained as inquisitive as ever, so at least he maintained some sense of agency unlike in say The Schizoid Man. That all said, the episode was good. The crew’s reactions to thinking that Data was dead all made sense and scenes like Geordi and Wesley going through his things and Picard giving an order to Data before remembering that he’s not there anymore… those were heavy. And again as painful as it was to watch, Data at least trying to retain any agency was appreciated especially at the end. I’m glad that he didn’t have to kill, but seeing him finally put Fajo in his place was especially after he killed Varria as callously as he did was extremely gratifying. Another solid episode overall… but again, please let Data have happier things up ahead. 3.5/5.

Sarek: You can only imagine how wide my eyes got when I was going down the episode list and saw this one. I know that Sarek has mixed reception due to the issues between him and Spock and IDK if Discovery is going to change my opinion or not, but I find him to be a very interesting character. Journey to Babel kind of had this sense that he’s a hardass not that different from his son tbh, and those similarities and being displeased with Spock’s life choices made things difficult. but Sarek did still care about him, IDT he’d have gone through the effort of going to Kirk in hopes of recovering Spock’s katra when he had no reason to believe that Spock did the transfer and even outright saying at the end that his logic is more or less impaired when Spock is concerned if he didn’t, and The Voyage Home had him outright finally tell him that he made the right choice and that he was wrong in the way only Vulcans can say things. There was just kind of this feeling that he realized that he had been wrong and regretted it and wanted to make amends… but didn’t know how and it took Spock dying to finally do so. He’s not necessarily a good parent, a lot of Spock’s issues are due to him not understanding his struggles, and yeah more or less disowning him for several years was shitty, but he’s not even close to the worst and he at least tried to make it right and I can respect that. If anything though, Sarek was at least shown to be a capable ambassador and genuinely loved and was good to Amanda. So seeing him in TNG and thankfully still played by Mark Lenard, I was interested to see what they’d do with him and how he’d interact with the new cast. The result?

Sarek, did hiding your heart condition in Journey to Babel teaches you nothing about revealing vital medical information?! Is this just a Vulcan thing?! Anyways, the revelations here were… sad. Sarek has essentially the Vulcan version of Alzheimer’s which is causing him to be unable to control his emotions. Which for a Vulcan… that has to be outright horrific. Not to mention it’s causing rising, unprovoked violent responses from the crew like Crusher outright slapping her own son. To no one’s surprise, Sarek’s the reason why, albeit he’s causing it unintentionally. While Mark Lenard has been excellent as Sarek alll across the board especially in the films, he gets to do a lot more here due to Sarek’s unstable emotional control and he is just fantastic. The whole confrontation with Picard was truly excellent acting from both him and Patrick Stewart. Sarek truly feels unhinged and it is both horrifying and just sad to watch especially to how dignified and composed he was in TOS. The mind-meld with Picard may help in the short-term, but... it’s likely inevitable that he won’t last much longer. My only real complaint is that Spock and Amanda are saved as a brief mention and technically not even by Sarek but by Picard enduring the aftereffects of the mind-meld, though it does reflect Sarek’s mindset/emotions. Seriously Picard-as-Sarek reflecting how much he loved them and regretting not being able to ever truly express it or outright say it… it’s just heart-breaking, thoug it does confirm everything I had already thought so that’s good~ Still, this was a great episode! I’m glad to finally have some Vulcans again, Sarek was very well done, and the entire episode is very well acted especially the previously mentioned confrontation and everything involving the mind-meld especially after when Picard loses it. I know that Spock will show up at some point in TNG so I hope that this episode comes back up because Dear Lord please allow Spock that closure before he has to be sent to AOS. Regardless this was excellent~! Thanks for reaching my expectaitons TNG~! 4.5/5.

Menage a Troi: Oh great, another Lwaxana episode… albeit she actually has my sympathy in this one cause a Ferengi is pursuing her. I might find the woman annoying, but considering what we know of how Ferengi treat women, no one deserves that. So… if anything I am fair or at least try to be, so I will say that Lwaxana is better in this episode. She’s still obnoxious, but with the aforementioned horrid way that Ferengi treats women (seriously the nudity part was an utterly unnecessary show), refusing to be treated as property, and her genuine love and concern for Deanna make her much more likable. She certainly didn’t deserve to be treated the way she did. Troi being sick of being talked down to as a child and her mother butting into her romantic life no matter how well-intentioned instead of just letting her take it at her own pace and when she’s content as she is now is very relatable as well. Look I’ve grown to like Riker/Troi and I’m all for them getting back together… but they should do so if and when they’re ready, not be pushed into that direction. Still overall, didn’t care for this one. It’s better than Lwaxana’s first two episodes, but still makes me uncomfortable in other ways that aren’t funny, and the fact that she’s still pursuing Picard and he gets forced to go along with it at the end (albeit Patrick Stewart getting to go full Shakespearian was the funniest part of the whole episode) still doesn’t sit right with me. The Wesley subplot was also utterly wasted, feeling like it was just shoved in there and he did nothing to deserve promotion to Ensign. Yes, he gave up his chance to go to the Academy when he has his aha moment, but he did barely anything all season or the last two seasons to have earned it, or at least shoving it into this episode made it feel undeserved. Wesley himself is fine as a character, he’s nowhere near as bad as some make him out to be, but the concept of his character is just… not suited for ST. But the was funnier than the past two and Lwaxana has her better traits higlighted such as her intelligence and acting skills. If anything she does genuienly love her daughter and is not a helpless victim. Majel Barrett also owns it, I can respect that. 2.5/5.

Transfiguration: Okay, so we have an injured alien known only as John Doe wo is both amnesic and has some impressive regenererative abilities. He also turns out to have mass power such as powerful healing abilities as his body is udnergoign some kind of rapid change,. Meanwhile, Geordi gets some kid of sudden confidence boost and is finally making progress with his love life. If I’m gonna be honest… I don’t have anything to really say on this one. It was fine, but I don’t really have any thoughts regarding it otherwise. There’s this sense of spirituality in there and the ending makes it feel like religious opression. The Zalkonians killing their own kind who undergo the transformation just to maintian their power… yeah that was… yeah. Anyway, it was fine. I felt bad for John Doe and Crusher was good. All I’ve really got to say for this one. 3/5.

Alright, one more to go! Next time I’ll only be covering two episodes, the S3 finale and the S4 premiere. But they’re the same story so…. I’ve heard good things about this one, so we’ll see if it delivers.

[alltingfinns]

For the July celebration of Sherlock’s Ten Year Jubilee I am continuing what I was already doing the rewatch:

“Look at you and John.” Superquickly “What about us?”

The theme of this episode is John and Sherlock being defensive about their relationship.

(Okay that is John’s theme in general, but Sherlock isn’t usually.)

Wait, did Henry and Sherlock just decide to ignore that John went off on his own? Both of them?

They do play with some classic horror staples like the scary sound with an innocent origin and jump scares.

Ohh, that sideways glance at John as he dismisses the hound, not realizing that Sherlock lied when he said he didn’t see it.

The way the scene is filmed whenever there’s a closeup of Sherlock with John in the picture almost looks like they are separated and then superimposed. Sherlock’s doubts are separating them.

Spock as a Vulcan was not free from feelings but rather constantly keeping them under check. He also claimed to be quoting an ancestor when saying that “whatever remains” quote, so a descendent of Doyle? SH is canonically fictional in the ST universe.

Getting sidetracked.

John had much better patient relation with Henry. Why did he think repeating Sherlock’s name was going to help?

John looks pissed.

“Look for the dog/woman” (I am not even attempting to write out the French) classic crime novel theme with a canine twist. Usually it’s about looking for motive though.

A bit silly that they don’t notice the man who screamed “NOTHING WRONG!” pointing at them just a minute later.

Still don’t get quite why John is so pissed before Sherlock tells him to leave him alone. Sherlock is upset and not handling it well but John takes it personally?

Maybe the emotion got to him too?

For the first time I saw “diana” in Henry’s flashback. His memory is clearing up.

All those other guys, just looky-loos? Except they came in their cars which isn’t the most discreet peeping tool out in the moor, so are they waiting their turn?

Sherlock knows John’s type but still doesn’t realize that he belongs to it.

Henry’s like “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten the ironic cable package”

“Only a nutter if you’re wrong”

Aww, even when things are rough John is more concerned with Sherlock than the case. His music even chimes in.

But here comes the party crasher.

Frankland is almost too obvious with that sabotage.

Omg! The Netflix subtitle referred to them as “sambo”! A serious couple who live together! It’s like whoever’s translating this thought there’s no point in being subtle about the “live-in PA” implications.

Yeah, no, John. Frankland may have fooled you with his schtick but he clearly knows who Henry’s therapist (and other weak points) is.

And then not at all subtly implicating Stapleton. I think someone went to the same deflecting-guilt coach as the president!

Look on the bright side John, for once the girl thought you had a thing for a guy that wasn’t Sherlock.

He really likes standing on that cliff. (When you are tall but still want to be tall.)

“Oh look you’ve got damp” is about my level of small talk.

Act eccentric enough and you can sneak out some sugar without raising questions.

Between Sherlock standing dramatically in high places and spotting John looking concerned in a cemetery...

UMQRA didn’t lead anywhere but sex.

A serious discussion about their friendship and Sherlock’s humanity in a cemetery...

Sherlock technically doesn’t insult John, he just calls him not a genius. Still doesn’t mean that John is average (or less) in intellect.

Sherlock, dear Sherlock. It really seemed more plausible to you that John was in on some Mycroft conspiracy to call Lestrade Greg, than the possibility that it is his given name?

I’m assuming this is where the mystrade ship set sail since it’s the first real connection of any kind between the characters.

Not your handler.

And again John shows his cleverness with appreciation from Sherlock.

The tenderness in “you don’t have to keep apologizing”.

Oh poor John. If you don’t take sugar in your coffee it can taste outright nasty when it’s added, especially if there’s no milk. But Sherlock just pouts the slightest bit and John weakens.

The Sherlock mirror was going to put the dog down but couldn’t.

I don’t get the denial about Sherlock being autistic when they have John mention aspergers. Of course the stigma is so strong you have plenty of people saying aspergers isn’t autism at all, which is sort of like saying hay fever isn’t pollen allergy.

It’s plot convenient that they go to Baskerville but is it just for the literally lab condition? He does analyze the sugar there.

John smiles a bit at “could be dangerous”. At this point that sentence should be engraved in their wedding rings.

I wonder what he promised Mycroft in return. “No fat jokes for a week.” “A year.” “Fine.”

You really feel for Henry.

The aerosol is dispersed in a room with the warning “Keep out! Unless you want a cold.” COVID-19 premonitions in my 2012 episode of Sherlock?

Also, how many others were unwitting test subjects?

Clearly light sensitivity is a symptom. Obviously didn’t come up in Dewer’s Hollow.

John trying to call Sherlock with the John music, ahh.

There’s almost no time between “can you see it” and Sherlock’s appearance so he must have been close by.

Sherlock has at least the morsel of decency to look guilty when John says he was wrong.

Why is everything about the bunny the absolute funniest thing?

A jellyfish!

Also Sherlock sneaking glances at John while doing lab work...

I had to look up Aequorea Victoria because I almost thought they picked it for the Victorian reference, but it is best known as a source for GFP (green fluorescent protein). They did their homework.

It may be a bit silly, but I really like the mind palace sequence.

It only works because Sherlock at some point read about CIA classified projects. I feel this is an untapped bit of his background. How much work has he done for his brother?

He figures out that Barrymore feel such a familiarity with Tatcher that he would refer to her by Maggie.

Aerosol Dispersal, how is that not what you focus on, Sherlock?

People make fun of the “top secret sweaters” but 1) people print sweaters for the silliest reasons and 2) it probably started out as a team name thing for the scientists involved before things went haywire and the project shut down. The project H.O.U.N.D. may have been a collective team name that ended up attached to the disaster. They made those sweaters thinking they were going to do a lot of other projects which they presumably didn’t.

Goddammit, Sherlock! You know a mind altering fear drug is around and you tell Lestrade to bring a gun? All John said was that Henry attacked her, although I guess he heard Louise saying gun.

There was a lot that I had no further comment on.

“Why not kill me?” “Because he needed to discredit you.”

:|

Don’t know if I’d look so relieved by the idea of dying from an explosion. But it does look like he’d rather die than face it, and he may have been tired from the secret keeping and the conspiracy upon conspiracy.

Sherlock did see why they didn’t put the dog down, but this episode in general enforces the “playing Sherlock Holmes” for John’s benefit. It’s possible that his main takeaway from their fight was that John doesn’t like him having feelings.

Ahh, I see. I guessed John figured out that Sherlock “drugged” him back when he was angry about sugar. The realization now is that Sherlock locked him in the lab.

It’s so mean and so funny. I feel bad for laughing and yet I do.

Okay here he calls John average.

John wants him to admit being wrong but Sherlock fears that he will lose John’s interest then. “Won’t happen again.”

Poop jokes! Kind of feel that was specifically to take advantage of the “go see a man about a dog”.

Wonder what’s on Moriarty’s mind?

[perlukafarinn]

Prompt: star trek-related destiel? Could be AU, canon-verse-but-magically-transported-to-st-verse, or just discussing and/or watching star trek :)

(I went with fusion, with Dean as Kirk and Cas as Spock. Also there’s pon farr, because how could I not.)

Dean’s first officer has been avoiding him for five days.

He’s showing up for his shifts, of course, because Cas is nothing if not a consummate professional but he won’t look at Dean, not even when he is speaking to him directly. He will also turn and walk the other way if they see each other in the hallways, and if he’s in the cafeteria when Dean enters he will immediately leave.

Dean is sick of it and, if he’s being honest, a little hurt. He’s not sure what he did to justify such treatment; he hasn’t broken the prime directive in months and the last three away missions they did he avoided life threatening situations all together. 

On top of it, he’s apparently been acting off around other members of the crew, although not avoiding them outright. He’s been short with them, once even snapping at poor Ensign Kline. 

When he brings it up with Sam, his chief medical officer and pain-in-the-ass little brother, he gets no definite answers.

“Commander Castiel is... dealing with something,” is Sam’s cryptic answer. “Look, just ask him about it. I can’t tell you anything that will violate doctor-patient confidentiality.”

Dean takes notice of that. “Cas is sick?”

“No, it’s-” Sam sighs. “Seriously, talk to him. If you ask him straight out, he’ll probably tell you. You’re his best friend.”

“Nice way he has of showing it,” Dean mutters.

Still, Sam isn’t wrong often. Dean heads down to Cas’ quarters and knocks, praying that he can’t somehow sense him on the other side of the door with his Vulcan mojo and ignore him.

A few moments later, the door slides open. Something has to be wrong with Cas, because Dean can actually see surprise flickering across his face before being replaced by the usual deadpan expression. 

“Captain,” Cas greets.

“Commander,” Dean says dryly. “Can I come in?”

Cas wants to refuse him, Dean can tell, but he apparently can’t think of a good enough reason to because he inclines his head slightly and steps out of the way.

Dean enters. The room is even warmer than Cas usually keeps it, the air stale and stifling. Maybe Cas is coming down with a cold? 

“I’m gonna cut right to the chase,” Dean says, turning around. He frowns when he notices that Cas has both hands behind his back, his forearms tense as if he’s clenching his fists. “You’ve been acting strange lately and I’m not the only one who’s noticed.”

Cas takes a few moments to respond. “If any complaints have been lodged against me-”

Dean holds up his hand. “It’s nothing like that. I’m here as your friend, not your captain.”

“Very well. As my friend, I expect you to respect my privacy.”

Dean waits but Cas is apparently done talking. He considers saying to hell with it and just ordering Cas to tell him what’s wrong, but he can’t abuse his position like that no matter how badly he wants to. 

“Cas, come on, you’re obviously upset about something. And don’t,” he adds quickly, “say that Vulcans don’t get upset. We both know that’s bullshit.”

“Then I am not sure what you want me to tell you.”

“Tell me what’s wrong!” Dean swallows. “Was it something I did?”

Cas pales. “Dean, no!” He seems taken aback in the next moment at his own outburst. “No, I - it was nothing you did, I assure you.”

“Then what is it?”

“It... has to do with biology.”

Dean narrows his eyes, confused at the unexpected answer. “What kind of biology?”

“Vulcan biology.”

“You mean the biology of Vulcans?”

Cas exhales slowly, looking very much like he’s second-guessing his decision to entrust Dean with this delicate information. “Yes. It is a deeply private matter, one that is rarely shared with outsiders.”

This is becoming more confusing by the second. Dean knows that Vulcans are a secretive bunch but what could possibly require such secrecy? 

A thought suddenly strikes him. 

“This is about sex, isn’t it?”

Cas purses his lips, his nostrils flaring slightly. He seems to be seriously regretting telling Dean anything, and Dean is half-expecting him to kick him out of his quarters, but he doesn’t.

Instead, he tells him everything. About pon farr. and his need to return home and take a mate. His lack of a mate, since his intended broke their bond some years ago (and Dean has to take a moment there because what the hell, Cas was engaged?). 

The fact that if he doesn’t find a mate in time, the fever will kill him, which is especially scary since it would take more than three weeks for them to reach Vulcan.

“So?” Dean says. “Surely they don’t have to be a Vulcan, just look at your parents. Can’t you find someone on board the Enterprise to mate with you? I can think of more than a few who’d be happy to volunteer.”

“Dean-” Cas catches himself. “Captain, I appreciate your efforts to help but it would be highly inappropriate to solicit any member of the crew in this way, as I outrank them and they might find themselves compelled to agree.”

“Then we’ll dock at the nearest station and you’ll find someone there.” Dean throws up his hands, desperate now. He can’t let Cas die, just because they’re too far from his home planet. “Or, hell, I’ll do it, just as long as-”

Cas slams into him, cutting him off short. Dean blinks, disoriented at finding himself suddenly pinned against the wall with six feet of pissed off and horny Vulcan pressed against him (and hello, that is definitely not a phaser in his pants). 

“Cas?” Dean tries. He reaches up his hand, closing it over Cas’ currently grasping tightly at his collar. “You okay?”

“You have no idea what you are offering,” Cas says. It looks like it pains him to speak, and it occurs suddenly to Dean that he’s been holding back this entire conversation. 

“Hey, it’s just sex.” Dean smiles, though it probably looks half-hearted at best. “Believe it or not, I’ve done it before.”

“But it would not be just sex,” Cas tells him. “Pon farr is... a difficult time. We lose control, revert to an animalistic state. I cannot guarantee I won’t hurt you.”

Dean shifts. He’s feeling a little more affected by Cas’ proximity than he wants to let on, and this talk about animalistic sex sure isn’t helping matters. “Maybe I don’t mind it a little rough.”

Cas makes a pained noise that has no right to sound as sexy as it does.

“It also involves a mental connection, as well as physical one,” he says after a moment to gather himself. “I would need to form a bond with your mind.”

“We’ve mindmelded before,” Dean reminds him. “You told me our minds were compatible.”

Cas stares at him. Dean tugs at his hand, finally prying his fingers from clutching his shirt. He doesn’t let go of it, and Cas doesn’t pull away either.

“It would be more than a simple mindmeld. I may not be able to break it myself. We would be connected in a profound, permanent way, never again completely alone.”

And if that isn’t the scariest, most wonderful thing Dean can think of. He searches Cas’ eyes for some idea of how he feels about it, sees no sign of repulsion or despair, nothing but desperation for Dean to understand.

“Would that be so bad?” 

He doesn’t get an answer. Not a verbal one, anyway, because Cas is too busy sticking his tongue down his throat. Dean responds enthusiastically, pressing his fingers against Cas’ as well in a simultaneous human and Vulcan kiss.

Cas is the one to pull away, leaving Dean breathless and a little dizzy.

“Dean, are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Dean reassures him. “I am so, so sure.”

It isn’t exactly a declaration of love but it’s as close as Dean’s emotionally repressed ass is gonna get. Besides, Cas will soon be inside his mind and he’ll know exactly what he means. 

Cas kisses him again, even more desperate and heated than before. Then he is grabbing Dean and lifting him, fingers digging into his thighs. Dean automatically wraps his legs around his waist, allowing Cas to carry him across the room, to his bed where he lays him down.

He keeps standing, staring down at Dean with darkened eyes and a deep green flush on his cheeks. He has rarely looked so alien. Or so hot.

This is gonna be an interesting night.

*

Pon farr, apparently, can last anywhere from three days up to a week. Cas’ lasts six.

Not that Dean is complaining. 

[blue-mint-winter]

ST Voy s2e13 Prototype

B’Elanna episode! She repairs a robot they found floating in space and that’s when trouble starts.

I am not convinced the Pralor and Cravic robots classify as sentient life forms even by Star Trek standards. They seem closer to TOS machines like that deadly probe Kirk found.

B’Elanna was so relatable in this ep.

The whole ep was very enjoyable with the two sides of argument. I like how it shows that caution and having full information is necessary to make a good choice. Because just having good intentions won’t matter if your decision has bad consequences.

Chakotay bringing up to Paris how they can’t afford to lose another shuttle, what a hypocrite, he’s the one who lost a shuttle first when he used it for his own personal business. Paris lost a shuttle when he was sent on a vital mission to gather food!

s2e14 Alliances

Ship is constantly under attacj by Kazons, so Chakotay suggests to Janeway to stop clinging to principles and start an alliance.

I like how she went to Tuvok for advice. Their friendship is great :)

I love how in this ep Janeway keeps to her principles and is fair, even when dealing with untrustworthy people like Kazons.

Neelix’s contacts come in handy. Too bad the alliance with Trabe didn’t work out well. But at least they were trying to do something good and bring peace to the quadrant. No one said it’s going to be easy.

Seska is still scheming with Culluh and tells him he’s her baby daddy. Lol.

Some idiot traitor is sending info to Seska now.

s2e15 Threshold

I heard this was infamously weird episode, but for the most part it wasn’t?

It’s a Paris ep about the historical breakthrough when they figure out how to go warp 10 or transwarp.

I like that Neelix helped Paris figure out the solution to ship breaking apart in transwarp.

Janeway didn’t want Paris to do the test flight because of small medical risks of complications and we get  a small reminder of their personal relationship because she’s his father’s friend.

In this ep there’s some spotlight on Paris’ issues, insecurity and feeling like a failure.

Alright, so the weirdness comes with the consequences of the successful transwarp travel. Paris is going through accelerated evolution, kidnaps Janeway and they turn into swamp amphibian creatures. It makes absolutely zero sense!!!! That’s not how evolution works. Doesn’t it depend on environment and how life adapts to it for the best chance of survival? Why and how being a space-faring race should result in humans becoming amphibians? It looks like they went down the evolutionary ladder, not up.

Farscape did future possible more evolved human quite better (that episode with 3 Crichtons) and that show was so much weirder than ST.

s2e16 Meld

There was a murder and Tuvok Holmes is on the case!

Aaaand they find insurmountable evidence and the murderer confesses. Suder is simply a sociopath?

But the ep continues because Tuvok needs to understand the logic of murder. And he’s a stupidly good person so he wants to help rehabilitate Suder and performs a mind meld to help him control his violent impulses.

Again, unintended consequences! Tuvok starts losing control over himself.

That holodeck program with super annoying Neelix and Tuvok choking him out was hardcore. I think this ep shows how Vulcans can be very scary without their usual restraint.

Real Neelix added a pinch of humour to the ep with his research into ancient Vulcan naked festivals. Tell us more Neelix!

Janeway gets insulted second time in a row (first “evolving” Paris, now emotionally unbalanced Tuvok). She’s really forgiving and understanding. Best captain:)

There’s a question what’s a moral way to deal with a murderer in their situation, if he should be executed. Janeway keeps to her principles so Suder gets confined to his quarters. However, I agree that it just makes him a freeloader on the ship with limited resources. They need everyone to pull their weight so there must be some way he can work without endangering others. Wasn’t Paris wearing a tracking/controlling device when he was in a penal colony and doing some kind of community work? They need to figure something similar out.

Anyway, no more dangerous mind melds for Tuvok.

[mswyrr]

DSC 2x02 “New Eden” and the handling of religion

That was an excellent episode. I think it’s my favorite of the whole show so far, actually. It was operating on all levels really well and managed to tie them together into a coherent thematic whole. I’ll write more later, but I wanted to talk about the themes right now.

Thematically, the key for me is the moment when Tilly says she needs Michael there because Michael would “yes, and” her - to build upon an idea, pass it back and forth, explore. Discover. Make sense of the universe.

This episode manages something delicate, which is to respect the ways people explore, make sense of the world, and discover, while maintaining the centrality of the pursuit of scientific inquiry. At the end Jacob’s faith in scientific inquiry is rewarded, he receives the generator, and the light of scientific knowledge literally shines forth from the church’s stained glass windows.

Quite a powerful symbol visually. The light is knowledge, but it can shine out through the specific cultural lenses of people... and this relates to the Prime Directive too, yes? Because, as these people grow in knowledge culturally and scientifically, by the time they reach warp drive capacity they will have something beautiful and unique to share with the rest of the galaxy. From out of the meaning they’ve made facing down war, death, survival, struggle and seeking knowledge in the specific ways they have.

Their context and perspective will one day become part of the dance of civilizations that the Vulcan concept of “infinite diversity in infinite combinations” celebrates. Their way of making meaning will shape how people decide to deal with coming conflicts and grief in ways we cannot predict. Ways that might prove vital to the future. Because, as we learned in S1 and as we saw in this episode, trauma, war, and death remain things all mortal beings have to feel their way through.

Feel and sing and pray and research. The condition of being mortal is both objective facts and inner experiences and feelings that require a place too.

All of this works so well because the episode does the thing I wanted the recent episode of Doctor Who that dealt with the religion of the Ux to do, which is show reason at work in it.

It has an important moment where we see the work of reasoning that went into building the shared faith and culture of New Eden: we see the holy book, which is carefully pieced together and shaped from multiple traditions. After being pulled from the trauma of World War III, a diverse group of people used their reason and faiths to make sense of the world and find a way to live together in peace.

Scientific inquiry is hard work and a beautiful endeavor: we see that in Tilly. In Jacob’s faith. In Michael’s advocacy for his faith being rewarded. The reasoning involved in creating meaning through faith that can enable people to live in peace is also intellectual labor and its results can save lives too, though.

The argument of the episode is basically just: don’t cut off or demean lines of thinking or inquiry, don’t shut ways of forming meaning down. They can have results. People who came from war can create peace. The light of scientific knowledge can shine out of the stained glass windows.

It’s ST, so the highest good is scientific inquiry and that is as it should be. It is the thing that we can all perceive and test and agree upon. (VACCINATE YOUR KIDS lol). It forms a foundation upon which we can work together across disagreements in other realms. But that common ground doesn’t have to become authoritarian and demand everyone have the same perspective, the same cultural context and meaning.

For what it was trying to do I think it was framed just right. It reminded me of the moment on DS9 where Sisko is talking to his son Jake:

JAKE: How could anyone be so stupid? SISKO: It's easy to look back seven centuries and judge what was right and wrong. JAKE: But the same thing is happening now with all this stuff about the Celestial Temple in the wormhole. It's dumb. SISKO: No, it's not. You've got to realize something, Jake. For over fifty years, the one thing that allowed the Bajorans to survive the Cardassian occupation was their faith. The Prophets were their only source of hope and courage. JAKE: But there were no Prophets. They were just some aliens that you found in the wormhole. SISKO: To those aliens, the future is no more difficult to see than the past. Why shouldn't they be considered Prophets? JAKE: Are you serious? SISKO: My point is, it's a matter of interpretation. It may not be what you believe, but that doesn't make it wrong. If you start to think that way, you'll be acting just like Vedek Winn, only from the other side. We can't afford to think that way, Jake. We'd lose everything we've worked for here.

As long as everyone can understand the wormhole aliens/Prophets in terms of certain shared physical properties (and the political and social consequences of those), the realm of interpretation doesn’t have to be foreclosed. Would the Bajorans have survived without seeing them as the Prophets and investing in that shared meaning? Possibly; there are many ways to create meaning. But the fact is that it did bind them together. And it isn’t a lie, it’s a perspective/interpretation on shared information.

I can know all there is to know about the scientific mechanics of being in love and yet there’s still room to write love poetry about the person I am in love with. To feel the mystery of that experience. The *living* of the experience of life is a felt thing, and feelings and interpretations are big and vary and their knowledge can transform or save our lives. Because choosing to live requires creating meaning, having hope, investing faith in something. Whether it’s political systems, forms of inquiry, other people, art, or religious practices.

Choosing to live and wanting life--throwing our fragile mortal selves forward into an unknown future, coping with the pain and fear of life--presents us all with challenges to navigate in terms of how we feel and understand.

The fact that this episode reminded me of DS9, which I consider the most subtle and humane of the Trek series, really just says everything I need to about how it totally blew me away.