mal, moved to witches.liveI'm being lazy today and watching an episode I know I adore
I guess they were still on a pretty tight budget though since Kivas Fajo's ship cargo/hangar bay looks identical to that of the Enterprise
this is one of the few Data-centered episodes that I really like, partially ofc b/c of the guest star Saul Rubinek, who is fantastic
I love watching the evolution of Data's morals during this episode
tbh it's a good question "whose dreadful idea was it to enlist you in starfleet in the first place?"
and data's only answer is "my skills seemed appropriate to the..."
"I am at war with no one"
this line pretty excellently outlines how starfleet's role as an organization supposedly dedicated to "exploration" is at odds with its role as the defense arm of the federation
it's funny how their design for Fajo to make him seem alien amounted to "lets scribble on the side of his face with sharpie"
one of the good things about this episode is that data rejects the liberal notion of nonviolence, that violence is only acceptable in direct self-defence
rather, data decides that it is acceptable to use violence against someone who threatens you and/or others at an uncertain point in the future (ie IRL fascists who aren't necessarily actively point a gun at you but whose politics do pose a threat to you and/or others)
"I cannot permit this to continue"
this should be our reaction to injustice everywhere, whether it is perpetrated by the state or by private entities
the only significant flaw in this episode is the fucking cop-out by the writers at the end where they introduce doubt as to whether data was actually going to kill him when he says "perhaps something happened during transport" when asked about his weapon being discharged
like is data lying or is there some vague way that he could have been firing a lethal weapon at fajo and not intended to kill him?
it's just mealy-mouthed made-for-tv bullshit
I like your shoelaces@mal
It's probably more about not having to have Data face consequences from Starfleet for logically trying to kill a criminal with a rap sheet as long as the Kessel Run who poisoned a planet's water supply, kidnapped him, faked his death, melted his uniform to force him to put on the pajamas he picked out for him, and just killed a woman for doing the decent thing. 1/2
It's probably more about not having to have Data face consequences from Starfleet for logically trying to kill a criminal with a rap sheet as long as the Kessel Run who poisoned a planet's water supply, kidnapped him, faked his death, melted his uniform to force him to put on the pajamas he picked out for him, and just killed a woman for doing the decent thing. 1/2
Because you know how much fallout Worf got for murdering a candidate for leadership of a sovereign empire in a fit of rage because the guy had killed his baby mama because she found out he'd framed Worf's father for treason. 2/2
3/2 oh wait no, wasn't it Duras's father who did the framing and Duras was just complicit in covering up the scandal by publicly shaming Worf's family for generations?
tbh the whole drama with worf and his family dishonor is something I don't bother remembering the details of lol
@mal
The stupid part is that Worf's honor was restored by Gowron in recognition of his service in the Klingon Civil War, and then almost immediately after he was reassigned to DS9, Gowron basically dissolved the House of Mogh in retribution for siding with the Federation when the Empire withdrew from the treaty, and left it like that even after Worf was part of the group that exposed the Wormtongueing Founder that caused the flared tensions.
The stupid part is that Worf's honor was restored by Gowron in recognition of his service in the Klingon Civil War, and then almost immediately after he was reassigned to DS9, Gowron basically dissolved the House of Mogh in retribution for siding with the Federation when the Empire withdrew from the treaty, and left it like that even after Worf was part of the group that exposed the Wormtongueing Founder that caused the flared tensions.
yeah well we couldn't have worf being well connected to the empire being a way to *resolve* plotlines could we?
TNG had an arc for Worf and the Empire. They wrapped up their arc when they probably had a good idea they weren't going to be going much longer (I think Redemption is the season 5/6 bridge and I believe they were planning to end at eight seasons at the time), and then DS9 brought in him and the Empire and they were like, "wait, that alienation from his race was the best part of his character".
sure but data isn't really supposed to lie to his superior officer, or at least, definitely not out of self-interest
Cop, arrest thyself@mal Donny from Frasier turned out to be a bad bad man