The most emblematic episode so far. To kill the main character in the first season, in such a brutal and unexpected way, is a boldness that is not seen on TV regularly. I congratulate the writers, director and editor of the episode, especially the last scene. Brillant.
Joffrey Baratheon, spoiled child, I hate you with all my strength.
The fact that the news of Megan Boone leaving the show was leaked two weeks ago lessened the impact of the finale. We all knew she was going to get shot, not Red. Beautiful montage at the end but again, we all saw it coming.
Nope, not as dope as the other comments suggest. Sure it was kinda unexpected, the ending, but this season has been such a disappointment. Elizabeth wants to kill Reddington, then a few episodes later she is fine with him, then again pissed that he doesn't share the secrets, then suddenly everything is all good in this episode suddenly.
The introduction of an old character to nudge Liz in the direction she ended up choosing. What rubbish. Any normal headed person would have just said screw this I'm done and I can finally leave with my kid so I will. The writing has gotten as bad as it can get during this season. I'm horrified to think of what they're going to do next season. At least no more horrible acting by the person who ended up dying.
Well then, that was an unexpected rollercoaster.
Damn, I always loved Harald, he's always been the unlucky guy with big ambitions that never quite work, always taken as an ally in battles to very little benefits to him, while still a great warrior and clearly loved by his people. So what ? His jealousy of Bjorn broke him so much that he behaved like a common criminal and just rape his rival's wife ?
The timeline is totally fucked up in this episode anyway. Nobody noticed her ? She seems to come out while the battle is already started. But Harald is fighting on the beach with Bjorn. So when does that happen exactly ? Conveniently the night before the battle ? Because how would he have justified that afterwards otherwise ? The whole think makes no sense.
The battles themselves are kinda ok. I very much doubt the engineering involved is historically accurate, but the action is fun.
Nice touch: Ivar and Bjorn talking on the beach, as a metaphor of generals discussing through their strategies.
But then, it's hard to follow and a lot of nonsense.
The Rus basically have a ship for every warrior on the Viking side, so do they even need any strategy ?
They keep the little prince exposed, on the spearheading ship, really ?
The strategy flashbacks in the middle make it look like the battle takes place in several steps which is apparently not the case. The attempt at having an original narrative structure really fails there.
So they manage to put a whole army in the back of the defenders, through an apparently inaccessible path. OK. Sure. But then how come the defenders had specific siege defenses on this side ? And if they were expecting it, why not attack on the mountainside instead, that would have been a pretty easy win.
And then, Ivar, manages to go through all that, pass through this line of defense, go through the whole battlefield and the wole viking army, and stab Bjorn by surprise ??? I really hope that was a metaphor for his strategic victory because it makes no sense at all.
Iceland storylines are so boring, but it sure does look beautiful... Ubbe doing all this about a christian guy when he was baptized and everything was really stupid.
Hvitserk just happened to be hanging around the one place where Ivar came to ground for a 5 minutes skirmish. A place where other VIkings, that Hvitserk should have been avoiding, were. Basically in the middle of nowhere. Also while retreating, the Rus leave Ivar behind. If he was infiltrating or something why not, but he's just coming back with Hvitserk just after. And of course, Hvitserk just goes along with it, when the only think he has ever done in his life, the thing he's now boasting about like it's his accomplishment, was done while he thought he was killing Ivar. The whole thing is just complete bullshit.
One very interesting thing though. Only Ivar recognizes that Katia looks like Freydis. So do we see her like he does and maybe in reality she does not look that much like her ?
Bjorn releases Hvitserk. Sure it was probably the best thing to do but he really doesn't learn from his mistakes... The speech was very meh.
And Hvitserk, was useless his whole life, did one thing, by mistake, while barely conscious, and now tries to act like it was his destiny and he did it on purpose... Back to being totally useless.
Sadly I'm not sure Ubbe going to Iceland will be very interesting. Iceland is the place where all storylines go to die.
A pretty empty episode.
Such a sad episode. Really had me in tears. Im glad Lagertha got the funeral she deserved and is reunited with Ragnar.
The voting part was interesting. Not sure there is anything historic about it, but fun. And it goes as expected. Clearly Harald would have lobbied. He was also the closest to the title before, many would have been under him I guess. Bjorn has no experience of power, and voting for him would have brought no benefits. Clearly the public vote means some changed their mind to get Harald's favour once the wind turned.
And that's why Kjetil was all suspicious looking. I expected worse to be honest.But it's not clear what happened. Did Harald really planned to kill Bjorn ? That seems really ungrateful and a little out of character for him. Or was it because he wasn't at the feast ? And why would Kjetil warn Bjorn ? Didn't he want him dead ? Still possible that this was all arranged by Kjetil. Including Erik's help. But maybe he would have like to be left there.
The subplot with Oleg's wife is weird. She's supposed to be at least nobility right ? So even if Oleg would do that, why would she be so enthusiastic to take part ? Unless she's a random girl he recruited just to mess with Ivar ?
Lagertha's village second battle was interesting. Obviously the guy at the gate was a lure and sacrifice, but what about the children ? Did they sent children to die as bait to lure the bandits in ?
The labyrinth fight was great, though I wonder, seeing how they barely had time to build it, how much training would they have had at manipulating the walls and traps, opening and closing paths, etc. More fire would have been smart. Lagertha's fight was ok I guess. Pretty ironic the guy wanted his honor and go to Valhalla when he was murdering a child not long ago. Very stupid of her to fight him like this, but maybe not for a viking I guess. Even more stupid to go back after, wounded like she was.
And damn, as soon as you see Hvitserk, you know she'll be crawling around and he will think she's Ivar or something. What a way to go for the last original character... And couldn't she have used her last words to say what she came to say ? The song was a little too much though. But at least Hvitserk has done something for the first time in the show. Good for him I guess.
Ivar already planning a betrayal by befriending Igor, ok, it fits. Might be a good idea too seeing Oleg's temper later. But seriously Igor doesn't know that he is supposed to be the kingdom's heir ? Nobody ever told him that ??
Olaf wants Bjorn to be King of Norway. Could be a trap, but given the guy, it's probably true. He's always been a little mystical and dreaming. Harald will probably not like it.
Hvitserk got a chance to meet his destiny, being sent in Ivar's direction, and fucks it up. Not sure when Amma became his official babysitter ?
Main story though is the bandits attack on Lagertha's village. So many questions. Like, when did it become a village ? She chose a lonely place on purpose. Where do they come from ? Are they all men released by Bjorn ? DId he released that many, as a pack like that, ready to form their own army ? That was insanely stupid. And every time we saw them there were 2-3n but now they are a whole army ?
Anyway this leads to a battle, very different from the ones we're used to as most of them are not professional warriors (or haven't been for a long time), so that's interesting. The sentinel kids were pretty good. A shocking, and very stupid way to die for Hali though.
One of the lamest reveals to a long time story build up. 8 seasons of waiting, and the episode ends up with more than half of the story being things we already knew from previous episodes with a small twist. And it was obvious that they would not reveal the identity, it's just a trend among most of the mystery & thriller shows. You have to wait to the season end for, till the very end, I'm sure.
I swear if Reddington ends up being Liz's mother because the show was told to get woke or go broke, I'm done with this show. The whole time I was waiting for the reveal that was all I could think about. It would be 8 years down the drain.
Slow but promising start.
The intro feels weird, as we had never seen before Ivar normally interacting with people and life in general.
Sadly he will not keep on traveling, there will be yet another battle for Kattegat, this part is getting a little boring. Seriously, why Kattegat ?
Apart from that, Prince Oleg seems an interesting addition. He knows how to have fun, balloons and tearing people apart. He also has a very poor opinion of women with expectation of a special relationship with Ivar... would Ivar be into that ?
I hope Bjorn would not engage in yet another battle, I'd like to see something different. Though I like Harald and would like to see him. However, Harald helping in Kattegat is not really an excuse to help him, after all Loaf helped too. Saving Bjorn's life, however...
Not sure if we should expect anything from Lagertha's part.
Another great battle. One thing to be said about Ivar, he's the best strategist there is on this show.
Again a little issue with temporality. How much time passed between the moment Ivar decided to build fortifications and the attack ? The armies were already walking to Kattegat, so that much construction was very fast.
How nice also for Lagertha and co to arrive at the minute the battle is finished...
Still not sure what to make of Freydis, she literally built Ivar. She's the one that turned his inferiority complex into a god complex, that gave him justification for all his madness. So what ? Did she actually believe it ? Or just ignored his insanity until it affected her personally ? Did she really never saw it as a possibility that he might turn against her ? She seemed smarter than that.
And here's Ivar, deserting the battle to kill a woman. How brave. How godly.
No Floki in this final episode. His whole storyline was really useless.
As was Magnus.
It was a great conclusion to the season. Bjorn finally has Kattegat, that was a long time coming.
Yet another calm before the storm episode.
Ubbe's fight duel was ok. I liked the look of Frodo, too bad we won't see him fight more. Strange moment when he recovers his faith, while still almost dying.
Judith's cancer must have been very very quick. Was Ubbe gone for more than a week ?
Freydis' reaction is strange. She built a mad man out of a rabid dog, I always thought she was aware of that and that it served her interests. Did she really think Ivar could never turn against her ? It was good while she treated him as a god, but at the first occasion where she rebels, he's pretty quick to treat her like everyone else.
Surprisingly, the event seems to have made him a little less insane. I wonder if he had the midwives killed so they can't contradict his story.
What was Hvitserk's plan at the beginning. He's alone with someone else's army. So beyond killing Ivar, what ? Did he think he'd get the throne ?
In the end there was no reason or interest in Lagertha's disappearance. Nothing justifying her being out for several episodes and she's just back and cured in a snap. Was that real life events preventing her from filming ?
Harald and Bjorn's fight was good fun.
Floki discovering that Christians have been here before him is probably mind breaking. Well, even worse than before. However even if his screaming could have provoked a cave in (not even sure), it definitely can't provoke a volcanic reaction. That twist was a long (and useless) time coming.
Another slow episode, I hope setting things up for for a nice finale.
Until now we know Ivar had been crazy, but had never seen the large scale tyranny. Now it's done. Without any surprise, Thora didn't last long.
Hvitserk's trip was not really interesting. At the sauna scene I was thinking that Ivar sent him to be the king's bitch, but not even.
Ubbe's part is probably the most interesting. Not only trying to accomplish his father's dream while avoiding bloodshed, but even finding the best solution which I hope will give us a good fight in the next episode. The scene when he's welcomed as a hero by the whole enemy army is great.
We finally found Lagertha, no real sign of where this will lead.
If the whole Iceland thing led to Floki having a little trip in Hel, that would be awesome, but I doubt it.
And finally, Ivar behaves exactly like his father did with him., so does he know he is full of shit ? Or will this make him totally go over the edge ?
Hvitsertk could have killed Ivar right now. It was an accident, he trespassed at night, creeping to his bed and he killed him before realizing who it was. Instead he does his bidding and leaves his girlfriend behind. What are the chances he can survive. If he's smart (which we haven't really seen until now), he will make alliances for him and not for Ivar.
Revisiting my opinion of Kjettil, not the nicest guy anymore, though it's clear he's been driven crazy. Honestly this should have happened 12 episodes ago, but it's more happening that the whole Floki storyline so far.
I really hoped Alfred would emprison Judith, she's clearly getting a taste for power, and if she can kill a son, why not another.
In the end, except for Iceland, nothing much happened.
A very cool vision of Hell. I liked Haemund, except he is so damn annoying always speaking in his Batman voice...
Judith getting a little too used to being the power behind the crown.
And a good battle with a good plan. Something weird though. Harald's army moved this way because they reacted to Magnus' intel. So this would make sense if Magnus was part of the plan. He's clearly not. So how did it work out so well ? Also where did Magnus learn to fight ?
One thing is not clear in the battle, where are the arrows coming from ? They seem to hit straight, that would mean they had to come from inside the melee, avoiding every people in between, ans also that an archer could stand in there and do his thing without being cut down. Also, never seen any archer during the battle.
And of course, they send the king without guard in the middle of the melee, sure.
Beginning of the episode: Ivar is getting worse
Middle: Wow, really worse
Ending: WTF he's totally insane now
I appreciate Alfred's enthusiasm, but Wessex could not survive without them ? They're five. We're talking about fighting armies and it's not like they are coming with theirs. They might be great warriors, but that's clearly not enough.
Ivar's child might turn out to be a moron. If the real father couldn't realize the danger he was in, he was probably picked because he was the village idiot.
Well, that's a stupid way to die.
"In all humility, I will accept", but the humility is instantly gone when he's told to give up.
Not sure what happened there, Judith seems to convince the guy to nominate Alfred because Aethelred doesn't want to refuse the throne. However Aethelred is still nominated, and refuse (and doesn't seem to like it).
The Lagertha/Heahmund thing seems forced and fast. I guess given the travels happening in the backround a lot of time has actually passed, however it feels like an almost instant U-turn for him.
Floki storyline is still boring.
Really not clear why Rollo would take this side.
Wait, what ? Bjorn is back ? He was just fleeing in the middle of a sandstorm, and poof now he's back.
Meaning:
- they survived the storm
- did not lose each other (though where's Sindric)
- were not chased or caught up afterwards (we still don't know why they wanted to kill them)
- were somehow able to get out of the desert back to the ships
- they were just three, so it's not even clear they used their own ships by the way, so were their other guys just waiting
- then they joined the other ships they had abandoned entering the sea
- and they get back
- without bringing anything (how does the rest of the expedition takes that ?)
That's a hell of an ellipsis ! And not clear how many months have passed. What was the point of all that then ?
Astrid's pregnant, lol, no idea who the father is. Not sure it's important anyway.
Floki's people are disappointed, well yeah, they're not high as he was.
Bjorn gets a new girl. "My son wants to sleep with your daughter", wow, I thought diplomacy was a little classier than that. Poor Torvi, though she immediately gets jumped by the brother. That's a little weird, but sure.
Ain't Alfred a little too full of himself (and as high as Floki) ?
the closing scene: literal goosebumps (and, right after, elisabeth moss appearing as the director: chef’s kiss!). i greatly appreciate the extent to which june’s anger and rage are given space instead of trying to subdue her emotions and mental states. if the show aimed at shaping a meta-narrative by foregrounding morality and forgiveness, it would not only betray its main character (june as june) by validating, at her expense, the very beliefs of christianity that left her traumatized beyond words (june as the handmaid), but it would also ring psychologically untrue to us, the viewers, who, i hope, seek the elusive notion of justice for her—not a justification for the seemingly “good” thing to do. june is hurting. she’s not yet kind. nor should she be. at present, hurt is informing her every action. and it’s okay. it’s what makes her human—not a robotic, subdued object (i.e., a handmaid). as such, the show is not fading her in any way; on the contrary, it showcases her regained, autonomous self with the harshest contours possible to give back the voice of her emotions that, for the longest time, was robbed from her. agency and self-assertion are not “kind” and soft-spoken things: june is screaming—for good reason. to reiterate: her reasons, her actions are not, nor should they be, rooted in the “good” christianity believes in—but in everything she lost (herself, her husband, her child). her scream is, hence, grief. rarely is it pretty. i can’t wait to see the rest of june’s trajectory.
Why doesn't he just run away to Canada with her ?
This episode packs so much stuff.
Aunt Lydia loves Janine, perhaps the only person she loves who at least kinda loves her back. Most significantly, it is clear that Janine is the only person capable of cracking Lydia's protective shell, letting us get a glimpse of humanity hiding within. I suspect Lydia sees Janine as a Supplicant, a prospective Aunt. This will become very significant as this series progresses into the timeline of The Testaments.
Poor Luke. This episode illustrates how far June has fallen -- pre-Handmaid June is long dead. June's ice melted the moment she heard Nick's voice. June may love Luke as much as Nick, but the only man who truly understands post-Handmaid June is Nick. This common bond, along with her unconditional love for her children, kept June alive.
The most satisfying is the aftermath of Fred and Serena. Last week's episode, when they were cheered by the Gilead sympathizers, was very disturbing to say the least. On this episode, Gilead has thrown them under the bus by sending thoughts and prayers, and hints of retribution when they return. June and Luke's justified rage notwithstanding, I look forward to Fred and Serena seeking their revenge against the Gilead.
I got goosebumps when i heard "On the Nature of Daylight" playing...
Music Choice 10/10
OMG Why do these shows wanna leave you hanging hard. The season finally was awesome, but I seriously hate when I don't have closure. This show should run in the fall so we don't have too wait lol cal is grown, mom is dead, the plane disappeared, and a plot to kill Ben! such an awesome end to the season, will definitely have you sitting on the edge of your seat until next year.
The very end was a little goofy. What happened to Grace is Cal’s fault. He even told Angelina where the extra key to the house was.
"I don't do respectability politics" - I think that sums the character up.
Everyone has to respect her while she respects nothing and no one.
She is one of the most unlikeable non-villain characters I've ever seen. And there are numerous villains I like better than her.
Well, I think I'll kick this show to the curb soon, it started out great in Season One, but all I see so far in Season 2 is a cheap SJW Mouthpiece. Not as offensive as others, but they still keep bashing in on everything which isn't either a minority or female (Who opposed to belief are actually a majority - women, not feminists...).
Additionally there is Emilys boyfriend whom I just hate - sorry, whenever I see him I can just think "how does someone go from Luke to THAT..."
Oh and the cases have been just boring...
Bjorn is in the Sahara now ? How many weeks have passed ? And it's only Sinric and Halfdan with him now. So first he abandoned most of his ships before Sicily, and now all the rest too. Where are they ? What are they doing ? Also clearly now, no much hope to bring raiding bounty back, or even to come back later in the middle of the desert to attack with vikings. So, what ? Just sightseeing ?
Second York battle. Was ok. Not as good as the first one, but the bishop was good.
Ivar is walking in his father's steps with a priest of his own.
I don't really get the Kassia thing. OK she probably wants revenge against the guy that kidnapped her. But what would her relation with the emir be beforehand, ain't she a christian religious singer ? And what would she have against the passing vikings ?
[7.7/10] One read on the blockbusters of the last twenty years is that most of them are relitigating 9/11 in some way, shape, or form. Scott Mendlson argued that part of the success of 2012’s The Avengers is that the “Battle of New York” reimagined a version of that fateful day where we were saved. Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman makes explicit visual parallels to the September 11th Attacks. Even J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness plays with similar ideas and images.
But one point made by another commentator is that most creators don’t really think the implications of these parallels through. They want to give their climaxes the flavor of these events, because it provokes a certain emotion in the audience or, more charitably, creates a sense of catharsis. Channeling real life creates an emotional shorthand for the viewer. But when you mix in triple-layer conspiracies and alien invasions and the other fantastical bric-a-brac general audiences demand, you can accidentally send a message that you don’t really intend. Making the story exciting or engrossing can have knock-on effects for your theme when you invoke the real world to get there.
That’s what I have to remind myself of when watching “Ensign Ro”, the debut of not only a new recurring character for The Next Generation, but of one of the most important species in all of Star Trek. The Bajorans would become a vital part of the franchise, and their conflict with the Cardassians, a group only introduced last season, would make up the foundation of Deep Space 9. That’s a lot of baggage to append to a single episode when revisiting a show like TNG that spurred its own sixteen-year cinematic universe.
But that is, to put it mildly, nothing compared to the baggage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict invoked by “Ensign Ro.” Make no mistake. Creatives behind the show like Executive Producer Rick Berman, head writer Michael Piller, and story editor Ronald D. Moore have all disclaimed that the Bajorans were meant to represent any single group. It’s true that you can map their struggles onto many different groups across history. But it’s plain, especially for 1991, that they are meant as a reflection of the Palestinians and, by extension, America’s approach to the Middle East.
That makes it uncomfortable when the episode reveals that a supposed Bajoran attack on a Federation colony was actually perpetrated by the Cardassians. It makes things feel squeamish when one mendacious admiral (aren’t they all?) conspires with the Cardassians to provide an excuse for Starfleet to intervene and flush out the Bajoran leader who’s been causing problems for them under false pretenses of trying to aid in the peace process. The episode flattens and dramatizes the conflicts it’s pulling from, and that’s before you get into allegations of torture and cultural exclusion and beyond.
But taken purely as a story -- with surprising final act twists and the usual unreliable representatives of Starfleet command and Captain Picard taking a moral stand against his own leaders -- the episode is great! Our heroes are forced to try to negotiate with a group of people who resent Starfleet both for its interference and non-interference. The course of finding a Bajoran leader who can answer for the attacks on the Federation colony and Cardassian civilian outposts requires navigating communities that have a very different perspective on Starfleet and using very different channels than we normally see vis-a-vis diplomacy on the Enterprise. One benefit from pulling from real life events is that it lends a distinctiveness and complexity to the international relations Picard and company have to deal with.
It also gives us the titular Ensign Ro. She is a Bajoran member of Starfleet, known for insubordination and who resents her assignment to the Enterprise at the evil admiral’s behest. In all candor, she tells Picard (and a very testy Riker) that she’s only there because it’s preferable to prison. But despite her orneriness, Ro is an asset to navigating the Bajoran conflict and community, with her willingness to call out Picard and company for their naivete.
In her initial appearance, Ro starts as an archetype I’ve grown very tired of -- the too-cool-for-school rebel who just doesn’t wanna be part of your system, man! She’s been to jail! She doesn’t follow orders! She marches to the beat of her own drum! She talks back to Picard! She doesn’t adhere to Starfleet niceties and no one’s real enough to get her! She’s got her own dry cool way of going through life, and she doesn’t care what anyone thinks about it! It’s become such a stock, flat cliché of a character type that I instantly roll my eyes at it these days.
But TNG does two things that quickly turned me around on her. For one, it has Guinan see through her posturing and get through to her. As I mentioned in “Redemption”, Guinan has a way of cutting through to the core of people and getting past their defenses. That makes her the perfect foil to Ro, someone who can call her out for claiming not to want company but sitting in a private place, and encouraging her to go to Picard and trust him with her issue rather than moping about it while confined to quarters. In short, Guinan sees through the act, and reveals the depths to Ro -- someone a little bit in pain, who feels like she doesn’t have a home, and who lashes out accordingly -- that reveal a richer character beneath the archetype.
They also tie her reactions and personal history to her complicated relationship with her people. Again, going back to “Redemption”, I’m a sucker for “child of two worlds” shtick. Ro Laren has internalized the oppression of her people. She opens up to Picard and tells him how she was ashamed of her heritage for a long time, after a tragedy and trauma with her father, and is only recently reasserting it and learning to accept it.
But to do so, she has to overcome the discrimination and ignorance that persists even in the Federation. A prickly Riker immediately demands she remove her Bajoran earring because it’s not part of the regulation uniform (something that plays as reflection of conflicts over religious dress in the U.S. military). Picard calls her “Ensign Laren” at first, not realizing that the family name comes first for Bajorans. She bristles at how the Federation breaks bread with a “respectable Bajoran” who gets invited to prestigious conferences but has little real influence over his people.
Respectability politics and the struggles of maintaining your cultural identity in a place that sees it as suspect or at least encourages you to hide it or assimilate are potent personal and political issues. They add dimensions to Ro, putting her at the intersection of multiple peoples and purposes, that make her a more compelling character.
A combination of Guinan’s encouragement and Picard’s trust sees her reveal the villainous admiral’s plan to Picard. What follows is a double-bluff, where Picard exposes the backroom dealing of his suspect commanding officer in a trap dreamed up by Ensign Ro. It makes for an exciting set piece and gives you that “Aha!” moment of craftiness for our heroes. They haven’t suddenly solved the conflict du jour or found a path toward peace, but they’ve thwarted the people who would manipulate the truth of the situation for their own ends.
That truth is a complicated one. Many of the Bajorans, including the militant leader, make no bones about a willingness to attack civilians if it makes people hear their pleas. The Cardassians are faking terror attacks to dupe Starfleet dopes into helping them do their dirty work. Rogue(?) admirals are lying to their subordinates about the peace process so as to make them pawns in a larger game. That all works as more cloak and dagger, proto-Game of Thrones-style political posturing with twists galore, but it feels more problematic as an artistic representation of real people, real conflicts, and real events.
I spoke in my review of “Darmok” of how Star Trek is something that brings people together. I still believe it. I believe in the ideas of universal brotherhood and understanding that the series evinces on a weekly basis. But what must it be like to watch this franchise as someone from Russia or China or another people analogized as some fantastical other? Sure, TNG and its predecessor would take time to humanize Romulans and Klingons and other foes, but they were made less recognizably human, more frequently villainous and untrustworthy. Even if you like the show, how must it feel to see a community you care about depicted that way?
I’m spoiled (or, more accurately, privileged) in that it’s almost never something I have to face in Star Trek. I’m a straight, cisgender, white male who lives in the United States of America. To quote Homer Simpson, “Everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are.” I can indulge in the flattery of the Federation as a metaphor not just for human potential, but for America, as the flawed but noble protagonists of the future. It’s a splash of cold water, then, to see a community you care about, that you may even identify with to some extent, as the conniving villains of the hour.
It’s then that I force myself to remember that real life is a jumping off point for these sorts of stories. I doubt that if Berman or Piller or Moore were pressed, they would confess to believing in false flag terrorism or similar conspiracy plots in real life. I suspect they’d say that while they wanted to speak to current events, the way Star Trek ought to, ultimately they just wanted to tell a good story.
But part of what a good story is does is challenge your perceptions and perspective. Roger Ebert famously referred to movies as empathy machines, for the way they can put us in the shoes of anyone and make us understand their plight and their troubles. And yet, they also give us the chance to do the reverse -- to see what it feels like to be cast as the villain, to watch our own struggles and frustrations made into the motives of the adversary, into the thing that must be overcome.
On the one hand, it can help us to see more plainly the way our favorite shows and stories can flatten or oversimplify its antagonists, even and especially when they pull from real life events, in ways that are harder to detect when we’re able to identify with the good guys. And on the other, it can challenge our assumptions on that front, to consider whether we might be the bad guys, or at least something short of what we aspire to be, when viewed through someone else’s lens.
2021-01-01T00:00:00Z2021-12-31T23:59:59Z