Logline
Commander Una Chin-Riley faces court-martial along with possible imprisonment and dishonorable dismissal from Starfleet, and her defense is in the hands of a lawyer who’s also a childhood friend with whom she had a terrible falling out.
Written by Dana Horgan
Directed by Valerie Weiss
It is a bit tiring watching my space escapism but it’s actually just highly contemporary societal issues, I know I shouldn’t expect it not to be, because this series has been highly contemporary from the very first episode, but it’s frustrating.
Almost everything about the show, from casting, effects, costumes, practical effects, vibe, directing, camerawork is all excellent.
The writing however is a straight 4/10. Not for the contemporary issues, though they contribute, but half the conversations in this series simply don’t make sense. Has anyone else noticed this?
Star Trek has always been contemporary issues wrapped in the veneer of space aliens. It’s not meant to be pure escapism.
I would say sci-fi probably has as well or story telling as a whole
Orsen Wells, Asimov etc. A lot of alagory
This was my first Star Trek Series, I’ve now realised it’s a theme. It’s certainly my least favourite aspect of the show.
The episode about child sweatshops in particular felt very accusational to me, the message seemed to be that by existing I’m causing child suffering akin to child murder, through cobalt mines and clothing sweatshops etc.
I’m reminded of that bit in The Good Place where the judge says “There’s a chicken burger that, if you eat it, means you hate gay people. And it’s so gooood! It’s not fair!” (Referring to chik-fil-a)
It’s more than a theme, it’s the entire cloth the show is cut from. It’s meant to be a vehicle for progressive, egalitarian, humanist ideals. It dares to see the world as a better place without the chains and vices of greed and capitalism and bigotry.
It’s not popcorn sci-fi. It’s a surprisingly deep show meant to make you confront biases and prejudices you may not have even realized you had.
Yes I get that, I simply find it doesn’t achieve that goal and that its attempts to do so are without subtlety and overly contemporary, I’m now watching Discovery and in S01E03 or so, Captain Lorca cites Elon Musk as a great innovator.
The show is already dated and it’s only 5 years old, that’s a major downside.
I think it’s primarily the shallow depth of the prejudice confrontation that causes the problem, I don’t remember any episodes so far which didn’t feel like primary school level metaphors for racism etc. A more tactful and/or deeper writer would perhaps cause me no issues
You’re free to stop watching.
You don’t have criticisms for things you like? I like the show, this and the writing are really the only weaknesses it has in my view. Everything else in the list I gave about it is absolutely 10/10
The Elon comment kinda comes back around, you’ll just need to keep watching and it’ll make sense. Also, that image I used above was from a TOS episode about racism being stupid all the way back in the 60s. It’s not trying to be subtle, and it never was.
And there’s STILL people who think it’s a show that glorifies and celebrates white, western colonialism and American exceptionalism. It has to be blatant because people miss the point regularly.
It has to be blatant because people miss the point regularly.
I hadn’t thought about that, it makes me think then about whether the stories could remain as blatant but have more depth. For example the court episode didn’t have any story beyond ‘Society (and Admiral April) is hypocritical and and racist’ by demonstrating it through one person’s story, and at the end of the story nothing has changed. I’m watching Discovery now and it’s going for a similarly blatant racial and cultural purity is evil antagonist so far, but it feels like it’s setting it up to be the antagonists’ folly, which would be more of an interesting story.
Society (and Admiral April) is hypocritical and and racist’ by demonstrating it through one person’s story
That’s just because it’s a prequel, and this issue continues through DS9. So they can’t change it. And that is the big weakness of much of current Trek being prequels.
Oof.
Really not trying to resort to “watch something else…” but the social commentary is pretty foundational to Trek.
I feel like The Mandalorian might be more your speed, the or maybe the Abrams reboot Trek.
What you’re saying is that you hate actually having to acknowledge that you consume stuff that causes pain and suffering and would rather just ignore it.
Correct. How do you propose I live in the modern world without a phone that uses cobalt?
There is a phrase that describes this situation: “There is no ethical consumption under capitalism”
There is nothing I can do while living in the modern world without benefitting from exploitation or encouraging evil, that’s the point of the The Good Place quote I included.
I’m already depressed about it, I don’t really want to be berated for it when there’s nothing I can do about it. I already buy all my clothes second hand, fight my phone and laptop for basic privacy rights, vote for the least evil politician I can, I don’t own a car.
You can fight the system
I really enjoyed it. Star Trek is at its strongest when it gives itself time to mull over philosophical, ethical, and social issues. This episode really knocked it out of the park. Just really well-written overall.
Measure of a woman
Ad Astra Per Aspera
A beautiful title, I remember watching the anime Ad Astra a few years back. They had a ROUGH time.
Through hardships, to the stars.
You had your playtime, acting like one of them. Accept your dismissal, take your licks and go home.
Una: No. (Why not?) Because I shouldn’t have to hide anymore. None of us should. I know I should have done better. I didn’t stand up when I should have. I’m standing up now.
YES! GIVE ME THAT STRENGTH!
So it was either dishonorable discharge OR Dishonorable discharge with 20 years in a penal colony.
That’s a rough decision.
GIVE EM HELL UNA!
So La’An has an idea that the evidence against Una might have been illegally obtained. This is going to be a really in depth court drama from Star Trek!
La’An: We need to find out who turned her in. It might well be the only way to save her.
But Uhura strictly refuses La’An’s illegal order. :|
Counselor: Admiral, it would seem that the rules of Starfleet only apply when a captain deems that they do. (Robert April: Is there a question Counsellor?)
You have shown that you have been repeatedly willing to break the very first order of starfleet and you are hailed a hero. you can break the law if you so choose. So, hiding behind order and protocol to explain why you would not have admitted Una Chin-Riley to Starfleet is a sanctimonious falsehood, is it not?
And of course the JAG gets pissed off at that type of reasoning, how convenient.
Counsellor: My client did not ask to be genetically modified. It is an Illyrian cultural practice done to children before they are even born. It is done for survival and yet she has been arrested because of a violation of a law. But the Admiral has just shown us that Starfleet regulations are are flimsy and subjective at best.
Spock’s line about what una was hiding OMG!!!
Spock: Yes, I did get the feeling that she was hiding something.
Neera: What was she hiding?
Spock: An affanity for Gibert and Sullivan musicals.
A BRITISH TAR IS A SOARING SOUL AS FREE AS A MOUNTAIN BIRD HIS ENERGETIC FIST SHOULD BE READY TO RESIST A DICTACTORIAL WORD
Spock: Perhaps. Although I think it is illogical for Starfleet to punish itself.
Neera: I’m afraid I don’t understand.
Spock: The loss of Una would be destructive to Starfleet as an organization. She is an extraordinary officer.
Una: She is a Mentor Spock: I have learned a great deal about leadership by serving under her.
M’benga: She puts the lives of her crew above her own. Always.
Spock: She is a friend.
La’An: Family. Una is Family.
And we get more into exactly That.
Counselor: Could it be that you carry your family’s augmentations, and you believe that because of them you may become dangerous?
Una: Yes, I do.
OH MY GOOOOOOD…
Counselor: There is nothing wrong with you Lieutenant, no hidden monster inside. But I do know how they make us feel. They look down at us for so long that we begin to look down at ourselves. Genetics is not our destiny despite what you may have been taught. The fear of yourself it’s not your own. It was drilled into you. You’re not born a monster. You were just born with a capacity for actions, good or ill. Just like the rest of us… i guarantee you are not the the person who leaked Una’s true identity to Starfleet.
“Ad Astra per aspera”
To the stars through hardship.
…
Una: My family, we went to the non-illyrian city. You see, some of us could pass. We could blend in, so we did. We left everyone else behind. Our families. Our friends… We left them all. I regret it to this day.
…
I wanted my crew to know who me for who I really was. I thought maybe if they did, I would finally be safe. And starfleet would finally understand Illyrian’s better.
So it was four months in between Ghosts of Illyria and last season’s finale.
Neera: She believed in the best of Starfleet, and that through it she could find salvation from the hardship and danger of her everyday life. Danger she faced just for being born an Illyrian. Dangers born on prejudice. Spurred on by laws against people like her. But through her hardhsips, Una saw the stars. Una joined Starfleet because she believed it was the only thing that could save her life. She fled persecution, and within Starfleet she sought safettu. She Asked for Asylum and Captain Pike granted it.
What an amazing courtroom episode! Did a lot of work for equality in the current moment.
I was recalling a lot of the classic courtroom episodes too, The Menagerie, Drumhead, Measure of a Man. This is top tier stuff.
I also feel relevant to our current controversies.
I loved April getting called out for bending/breaking rules.
Seems that captains of the Enterprise breaking the Prime Directive is a very old tradition indeed.
Spock’s line is perfect lying by omission when even omissions is not allowed.
When asked is she hiding something…Spock must answer yes as he knew
What is she hiding…gives a benign thing she is hiding so he has answered the question for one thing…there may be other things she is hiding …like being an Illyrian but spock does.not have to mention that as he has answered.and she does not push.
Its like dungeons and dragons playing with zone of truth
That was a beauty! I love this crew! Seeing them all back Una up made me quite emotional. I’m a soppy git.
Is it me or is SNW the best looking trek ever? Everything just looks so cool. I bloody love it.
It isn’t just you!
The visuals are crazy good, though the first few episodes of season 1 had some questionable makeup
This was an absolute gem. I don’t have much of substance to add just now (except that those dress uniforms are very nice), but after being on the whole disappointed by the season opener I am extremely pleased with this episode. Definitely one of the strongest in the show so far, which is no small feat.
I really loved the dress uniforms. Particularly the details on the collars and on the medals. I only wish they’d done a little more with the Admiral dress uniforms. Leaving them all in Federation Blue like early Discovery is a little odd.
Hm… I suppose I might get downvoted, but I thought that the episode was just okay. Don’t get me wrong, I love Star Trek episodes that aren’t action-oriented and have actual good drama, but we have done courtroom dramas already multiple times. TNG had it with Measure of a Man, which was superb at the time. Battlestar Galactica had that one space court drama that was well executed too. While this episode was maybe emotional and had the allegory on modern society, I thought the episodes borrowed too heavily from so many courtroom drama clichés (objections/“you may proceed, but treat carefully”, making someone who would otherwise be on your side be the prosecution, having the defendant lawyer make their own client look bad at the beginning, making prosecution read off a law in front of the court).
I really.dont understand the whole make the prosecution read the law cliche, is there some rule that actors can’t speak as long as a lawyer would do closing argument?
The audience would get bored if they spoke that long, at least what would be the theory. They also don’t use PowerPoints on TV…
I never watch courtroom dramas, so all the clichés worked with me 😅
I have to say, the emotional allegory on modern society felt the most like TOS / TNG to me so IDK lol. And it’s probably impossible with what, 850 hours of Star Trek over the 50+ years, to do something that hasn’t already “been done” on a show. This one had a decent (IMHO) update for a civil rights sort of POV, and did a good job of showing how you can be very high minded as a society or as a person, and yet still be hypocritical and prejudiced in a specific way. I also liked that they also were willing to step outside of the “woke strait jacket” some people claim is there, and show April not being consistent re breaking rules vs when to follow them, and saying “who this person was born as is more important than what I knew and know about them”, yet it wasn’t the “Bad White Male” trope. We all can be blinded, we all make mistakes, and we all probably aren’t completely consistent.
This was also one place where I feel like the “Federation isn’t perfect / is the bad guy” is both traditionally canonical and justified well in the show. It’s also IMHO well done and portrayed why and how the law existed, and also calls out that it’s a historical fear, not an actual current issue. It also plays well with the “Just because one law is wrong doesn’t mean you should be able to lie on an application”, though they didn’t address it fully.
I really like the look fo the dress uniforms. Surprised that they never got Pike to the stand, especially after Una confessing that she told Pike 4 months ago.
Now that the cast has been reset, I’m ready for them to explore some strange new worlds.
Surprised that they never got Pike to the stand, especially after Una confessing that she told Pike 4 months ago.
I think Pasalk was pretty out of line with his approach - his questioning essentially amounted to a criminal investigation of someone else. My knowledge of law isn’t very strong, but that seems inappropriate.
I couldn’t help but wonder whether they’re setting him up as a badmiral or it was just Chekov’s gun from the Vulcan brawl. If the latter, they did a lousy job of tying them together … I was going with option A while watching and only considered B afterward.
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In the US, wouldn’t she be able to plead the 5th?
TNG’s “The Drumhead” shows us that Federation law (or at least Starfleet Military Code of Justice) includes a similar right. Crewman Simon Tarses invokes the Seventh Guarantee when asked about his Romulan heritage.
It’s definitely possible that the Seventh Guarantee wasn’t part of the Code of Justice until after this incident, too. Maybe there’s a push for it after the United Federation of Planets v. Una Chin-Riley ruling because of the conduct of Pasalk.
It’s possible. In all cases, Batel clearly states to Pike in the mess that the interrogated person has to answer.
There’s nothing that beats the knowledge of the collective!
Honestly, the sets and costumes for SNW are setting the bar for TV shows in general, let alone star trek. Just as much as the new plots, I’ve been looking forward each week just to the visuals.
Yes, this. It’s setting a new bar. Fantastic design, well executed.
SNW seems to have hit a gestalt of not just production and costume design but also lighting and cinematography. Like TOS and early colour television, it’s making the most of the new UHD technology. Everything has come together and is reinforcing the impact.
Discovery was reaching for this in the 32nd century design, and even with the Enterprise bridge as originally built for Discovery season two. The principal ship sets from the first season were an ongoing constraint though. Costume designer a gersha Phillips found her initial attempts to put the Discovery crew into 32nd century uniforms did not stand out against the ship’s dark bridge.
It will be interesting to see if they can achieve something similar in the 32nd century with the new Starfleet Academy show.
The crew quarters with those slanted columns look really sleek.
I always thought the genetic modification ban was pretty flimsy. It wasn’t even established until DS9 since TNG had the Darwin Research Station.
I really don’t like how strict they made it in SNW. Why should humans dictate the laws for all races in the Federation? What happened to the Denobulans? Phlox said that they genetically modify themselves.
DS9 said that genetic modification was still allowed for the treatment of serious illnesses. So it doesn’t make sense for all permanent genetic modification to be banned.
Also, in DS9, genetic modification was more like performance enhancing drugs. Bashir’s modifications gave him an unfair advantage over other people. It’s kind of like someone cheating to get into a good school. But that argument also has problems since there are aliens with naturally superior abilities compared to humans. Vulcans have perfect memory, superior physical abilities, and telepathy, they would have a big advantage over humans in a lot of things. But Vulcans aren’t banned from Starfleet.
DS9 said that genetic modification was still allowed for the treatment of serious illnesses. So it doesn’t make sense for all permanent genetic modification to be banned.
The franchise is fairly consistent about genetic enhancements (i.e., augmentation) are illegal, while medical procedures are not. The Darwin station is the biggest outlier.
TNG overall never said anything about the Federation or Starfleet being against genetic modification. It wasn’t just Darwin Research Station. They didn’t say anything about it in “Masterpiece Society” either.
Dr. Bashir I Presume was the first episode that any kind of ban was ever brought up. They didn’t even say anything about a ban in “Space Seed” or “Wrath of Khan.”
Also, when Torres was pregnant in Voyager, she wanted the Doctor to modify her baby to remove Klingon traits and no one said it was illegal.
They didn’t say anything about it in “Masterpiece Society” either.
That colony wasn’t a member of the Federation, though.> Also, when Torres was pregnant in Voyager, she wanted the Doctor to modify her baby to remove Klingon traits and no one said it was illegal.
Also, when Torres was pregnant in Voyager, she wanted the Doctor to modify her baby to remove Klingon traits and no one said it was illegal.
One could argue that’s not an augmentation.
That colony wasn’t a member of the Federation, though.
But they have discussions about it in the episode and no one brought up any laws about it. Picard even says he disapproves of it personally but says nothing about it being banned.
One could argue that’s not an augmentation.
From Dr. Bashir, I Presume: “DNA resequencing for any reason other than repairing serious birth defects is illegal.”
The Doctor specifically said that many of the modifications Torres wanted to make had nothing to do with the baby’s health.
@kingofmadcows @ValueSubtracted
There was a whole episode of DS9 where Julian Bashir was under investigation because he was genetically modified 🫤🤷♂️
He was not under investigation for being genetically modified. I think a key aspect of this episode and that episode is that Julian and Una were both under investigation for concealing their status as genetically modified. Neither of them faced any penalty for having the modifications done.
It is only Mr. Bashir who is punished for seeking out and obtaining genetic modification for his developmentally delayed child. Being genetically modified isn’t a crime and I don’t think it was ever depicted as such - but having a genetic modification done is a crime. And having one done on you prevents you from joining Starfleet in some cases. Although for all we know Ilyrians are given exception to genetic modification rules as long as they’re honest about it, but no human has ever gotten an exception so Julian lied to protect his parents and to ensure he’d get into Starfleet.
Una’s testimony included a statement that her 10-year-old friend was arrested along with his parents
Which is insane. Its not my biggest problem with this episode but the revelation that the Federation has had like…violent pogroms against augments with children being arrested and what sounds like ghettos is incredibly bad? Its presented as an example of how “unfairly” augments have been treated, but that’s not unfair treatment, that’s borderline genocidal. It puts a way darker spin on the Federation than I think the writers were intending, like I don’t think even DS9 in its attempts to deconstruct utopia ever implied anything half as monstrous.
My interpretation is that since the planet had just been granted provisional Federation membership, basically the same local government was in charge.
Which actually contradicts a TNG episode where the Federation had an entire research facility dedicated to creating genetically enhanced children with super powers like immunity to disease, telekinesis, and rapid maturity.
It’s not contradictory if this happened before TNG…
Well, SNW predates DS9, right, so this seems consistent with and even complementary to continuity, unless there’s something in TOS I’m missing.
There’s a theory that every major race has gone through some version of Earth’s Eugenics Wars, or at least the most influential ones, such that the laws against genetic modification were pushed through. Other races simply didn’t care enough to protest or protest much.
As for the Denobulans, it could be that they wound up on the wrong side of the Neutral Zone after the Romulan War when borders were drawn, so they were never Federation members. This also explains why they weren’t seen between ENT and, chronologically, their appearance in PRO.
I think a lot of the species at least agree with the idea of a eugenics ban after seeing the records of how disastrous it was for Earth, regardless of their own struggles.
And don’t forget that it went badly (in different ways) for the Klingons as well.
In my opinion that might have been the perfect Star Trek episode. Well written, relevant to what we face in modern day society, and a celebration of the crew of the Enterprise as well as the world as we wish it to be. A civil rights trial for the 21st (and 23rd century). I needed to see this today.
What a beautiful episode. The message was great and it wasn’t ambiguous enough for people to really misinterpret or miss it while still remaining an indirect allegory for current times. The allegory was clearly about either homosexuality or undocumented immigrants and I appreciate that people from either group can likely relate to this episode. As a gay guy I have to say I definitely did.
Also, the scene with Spock’s “outburst” was hilarious and I loved seeing the (on the surface) emotionless Spock once again.
Overall I loved the episode and I’m very glad to see one I love after personally disliking the previous one.
I don’t think Spock was emotionless. For one, an “outburst” is emotional. That he noticed it just means he’s aware of it and used to not do it. Then, whenever he spoke of Una on the trial was super emotional. Praising her is because he likes her, not because it is logical (in the setting).
The allegory was trans people. Hence all the talk of needing to ‘pass’ to be accepted and the wonderful lil touch of Unas child cast being the colours of the Trans flag
Ah, I’d missed that detail. I was on the fence about whether or not it was a trans allegory because it didn’t initially feel like there were as many similarities in her story to being trans as there was to homosexuality and being an undocumented immigrant but upon further consideration I have to agree. Though it does seem to me like it is also about those other groups I mentioned. I suppose it’s a bit of a catch-all (which worked great).
The way Illyrians were segregated into Illyrian and non-Illyrian cities except for people who could pass echoes the Jim Crow era of US history, with black people being segregated and some of them trying to pass for white.
The refusal of service to those who were found to be Illyrian is like antisemitic attitudes in pre-war Nazi Germany, or the refusal of service to homosexuals. Most of what happened can be compared to any persecuted minority, racial or sexual.
That’s the beauty of a good metaphor. And the ugly universality of bigotry.
I don’t know how well that metaphor works since Illyrians are aliens. The Federation is already full of aliens with biology and abilities different than humans. So what if Illyrians have modifications that make them different than humans? Vulcans have two sets of eyelids and are adapted to live in harsh deserts humans can’t survive in. They’re also telepathic, three times stronger, and have perfect memory.
Does that mean the Federation is a segregated society between all different races? If they split cities between Illyrians and non-Illyrians, wouldn’t they also be splitting cities between Andorians, Vulcans, Tellarties, etc.?
But this was looking at a group of people that had been othered, while the federation had accepted race they othered Illyrians. So it does bring in 50s America or South Africa due to that othering that was alive at those times and still is (BLM being needed). It does also include the modern othering that is going on now so absolutly it speaks to the trans community, but all the same arguments apply to others (one of the the reasons I despise LGBdroptheT is as a group that was othered, a minority of the LGB minority now attempts to join the majority so they can other Trans.)
Now I can just be dismissed as woke
But the Federation has no history with the Illyrians. The Illyrians weren’t forced to live in Federation society. Their ancestors weren’t enslaved by the Federation. Their planets weren’t conquered by the Federation. As far as we know, they’re not refugees who had to flee into Federation space.
It would be different if Illyrians had always been a group within the Federation. But they chose to go to the Federation with full knowledge of the Federation’s laws. They have the choice to reject Federation membership if they wanted.
Not being citizens of the Federation does not allow Federation citizens to harass the Illyrians nor to threaten them.
And since the Federation and also the Star Fleet have an ideal of tolerance, IMHO it was a wise decision to ban augmentation (against the background of the Eugenic Wars) but to judge wisely if a single person really is a threat or not.
It is not unlikely that this is the allegory they had in mind primarily, but so much of the bigotry and hatred depicted applied to gays, blacks, jews, women and probably more groups, too.
We’re rhyming history, every generation we’re trying to overcome prejudice, oppression and hatred against a new minority, only for some to conjure up a new distinguishing feature to define a minroty to be ostracized. It feels like treading water sometimes, can’t we just cut through the bullshit in one go, but no, we have to go through all the steps, while some new group (or a subgroup of a previous group) has to endure all the pain this brings. Sometimes it feels like we’re not really getting better. But maybe we are. But it’s still too slow, it still repeats itself, and nowadays we might experience multiple such cycles in our lifetime, when at some point it took generations to get that kind of progress?
There were also parts of it that could easily be interpreted as Jim Crow era politics. Passing was a thing for Blacks as well. Splitting into two different cities reminded me of both redlining and “separate but equal.” Of course, history repeats itself, and this allegory could also be applied to Jews, Native Americans, and any other persecuted minority, including gay and trans people. Una’s whole situation could pretty easily be mapped onto a “don’t ask, don’t tell” situation as well.
Splitting into separate cities is way more reminiscent of ghettos, which is extremely dark. I don’t think the show quite grapples with how monstrous this actually is, ignoring my concerns about the gene modification stuff as a metaphor, if we take it on face value as a signifier of marginalization this is not some cultural bias the Federation needs to work through, what’s described is borderline genocidal.
I agree. It could also be read as an allegory for undocumented people - her family’s fear of going to a hospital, for me, echoed the fear that many undocumented people feel around seeking help from any organization that might be affiliated with the government
My DaystromInstitute annotations are up at: https://startrek.website/post/90038 (spoilers, naturally).
Thoughts as I watch the episode:
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Previously on Star Trek: Una is an augment, and Starfleet greatly dislikes that.
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Oh, Kid Una!
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“How can he council me when he works for you?” Good point!
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This was the ready room scene last week.
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Illyrians hiding on a poisonous planet is a nice touch.
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So, this is an allegory for Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell and similar anti-gay and discriminatory policies, isn’t it? Hiding who she is, for example. Timely.
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Damn, Batel’s boss is an asshole.
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Damn, that took awhile to get to credits.
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Oh, more case law for Starfleet!
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“I know you hate giving inspiring speeches.” Heh.
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Ortegas imagining a Vulcan conversation is hilarious.
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“I regret that you had to witness that outburst.”
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Seriously, that outburst, it was so horrifying. Not sure if I can ever emotionally recover from it.
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Oh, those dress unis! Look so much like the TOS ones while still being all modern.
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Hahaha, she’s using all the times they ignore the Prime Directive to show the hypocrisy of rules.
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The stuff about her being tried for stuff her parents did calls to mind the stuff with the DREAM act.
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Hang on, wouldn’t the fact that La’an has Khan blood flowing through her veins kind of give a possible method of pointing out how much hypocrisy there is to the law?
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“An affinity for Gilbert and Sullivan Musicals”
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Good point about how family isn’t destiny and also how the discriminated against can be led to self-loathing.
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I just noticed that the mural/engraving behind witness stand seems to show a bunch of humans, tellarites, andorians, and so on… wonder if it’s meant to show the founding of the Federation or great legal scholars of the Fed species.
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Oh shit, she turned herself in.
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“Starfleet is not a perfect organization, but it strives to be.” We all should try to live up to that.
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My Badmiral Sense is tingling.
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Ah, so an asylum loophole! Clever way of allowing her to stay in while still keeping the anti-genetics stuff still in place come Bashir and Dal’s time.
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Pike Hugs must be the best hugs.
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One of the things I really liked about it is that there was no explosive denouement (apart from PIke’s hug), and Una and Neera didn’t automagically become BFFs again at the end. 25 years is a longass time. Even excluding ideological positions, they’re strangers now. They probably won’t send each other birthday cards. They won’t send each other memes on Whatsapp. They won’t invite each other to weddings and shit.
And that’s okay. Or maybe I’m just projecting. Sometimes I see friends I haven’t spoken to in 10+ years on social media, and I think damn back then we couldn’t let a day pass without at least a text. But whatever the reason for falling out of touch, I would say I’d be glad if they’re thriving and hope things get better for them if they’re not. But no interest in rekindling the friendship or initiating contact. And that’s okay.
idk that lingering hand holding before Neera beamed away felt a little lesbian to me
Neera and Una said Happy Pride Month
Women are allowed to hold each other’s hands without sexual or romantic intent. And even if they do, there’s nothing wrong with that.
I think that was a comment on perception not permission.
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