Star Trek isn’t political. It’s theological.
Call anybody you want. They can’t do anything to me, not anymore, and nor can any of you. I am a human being, damn it! […] You can pulp a story but you cannot destroy an idea. Don’t you understand?…
What You Control Can’t Hurt You: Fear, Victimhood, and the Dominion
Fear takes many shapes. From cowering victim to preemptive striker, from passive aggression to dedicated isolationism, fear leads both people and societies to pretty much every extreme of reaction. Still, perhaps the most unexpected result of fear is, paradoxically, an…
Trektember: 2019 Wrap-Up (plus: Deep Space Nine Season 8?!)
Hey, guess what? We did it, for the fourth time! (Did what? If you missed the entirety of Trektember, click here) This year’s Trektember reminded me how much I really love Deep Space Nine. It isn’t a perfect television show,…
Trektember: What You Leave Behind
In my post about this episode on my own blog, I talked about how frustrated, even angry I was about the way Deep Space Nine ended when I first saw it. But I also alluded to something beautiful in it…
Trektember: Remembering Aron Eisenberg (1969-2019)
In case you haven’t heard the news, Aron Eisenberg, the actor who played Nog and who is thus the star of this episode, has died. There have been a lot of Star Trek deaths in my lifetime: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest…
Trektember: It’s Only a Paper Moon
Thanks to my gift of procrastination, I am writing this piece just days after the death of Aron Eisenberg, discussing reflections of the Divine in probably his greatest performance in by far his most well-known role, Nog. Read my tribute…
Trektember: The Seige of AR-558
Quark: Let me tell you something about hew-mons, nephew. They’re a wonderful, friendly people as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put…
Trektember: Treachery, Faith and the Great River
“Treachery, Faith and the Great River” contains, from my point of view, the second-funniest line ever written in the entirety of the Star Trek canon. Weyoun: Let’s just say I left Cardassia because my life was in danger. Odo: From…
Trektember: The Sound of Her Voice
Star Trek doesn’t do ghost stories very often. In an intentionally pro-science, anti-supernatural universe, the unusual always has an explanation; gods are advanced shape-shifters, prophets are nonlinear aliens living inside a wormhole, and spirits do not haunt our heroes. This…
Trektember: In the Pale Moonlight
What makes for a moral dilemma? It cannot be as simple as a hero choosing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good, nor can it be the courage of one’s convictions against overwhelming odds. No; while those are worthwhile stories,…