Nitpicking the Future

Project Paradise Word Count: 113

Project Skye Word Count: 1084 (+599)
Project Independence Word Count: 1723

I’ve got a nit to pick with Star Trek Enterprise

So, I’ve been rematching Star Trek Enterprise in these lazy two weeks before I have to start school related stuff again, and I noticed something. In one of the episodes, there is an unexplained plot hole that (while not major), if one picks at it, it actually doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and undermines the story–and yet, this episode appeared on network TV, the collaborators (those who wrote the “story” and those who wrote the “teleplay”) were all presumably compensated for their work, and the episode continues to an important exploration into Captain Archer’s character (& Ensign Mayweather’s as well) despite the flaw. In essence, no one “nitpicked” this episode to death and rejected it even though it does inspire disbelief.

We’ve Been “Detained”

(Spoilers Ahead–if you don’t want to know the outcome of the episode, please skip down to the next section). The episode in question is “Detained” and it Captain Archer and Ensign Mayweather are captured and held in a detention center that also houses eighty-nine Suliban (a group of aliens who are predominately shown as antagonists for the series). These Suliban are normal people who have been rounded up because a group of extremists within their race have attack other races. Their only crime was being part of the same race as those in the “Cabal” (the terrorist organization). Modern day parallels notwithstanding, it is made mention that the Sultan man (Danik) and his daughter have a wife in another internment camp (who was denied the right to join her family in the episode, so that we could see how unfair all this is to these peaceful Suliban). It is made mention that there are thousands of these peaceful Suliban in internment camps all over the planet. Archer and Mayweather along with the crew of the Enterprise manage to free these eighty-nine Suliban, but what about all the other Suliban in the internment camps?

So, you’re going to tell me that Danik is going to just abandon his wife? You’re going to tell me that those other Suliban aren’t going to face reprisals for the escape of the eighty-nine, you’re going to tell me that the Enterprise just flies off and doesn’t try to help the other Suliban in the other internment camps (which is what is strongly implied), you’re going to tell me that none of these eighty-nine individuals are going to become bitter and not, at least consider, joining the Cabal for retribution on their captors/freeing the others in other internment camps (which is also strongly hinted at by Archer’s final line of dialogue)?

Picking nits

I could go on. The point I’m trying to make is that every story, no matter how well written, will have some sort of flaw to it, if you look at it hard enough. The point the writers were trying to make is that internment camps are bad. They bring out the worst in humanity and that we need to oppose them wherever and whenever they rear their ugly heads and that we need to look at our prejudices and preconceived notions that allow internment camps to exist in the first place–why condemn a group for the actions of a few, the episode ultimately asks? This is an important question–and lesson–that could have been lost if the producer (or in my case, editor) just sat around nitpicking the stories that were generated, looking for reason not to publish them, rather than seeing the best qualities of the story and looking for reasons why it should be published. Now some editors might say, “nice in theory, but I’ve got a magazine/journal/fiction website to run,” my reply would be simple: “if it worked for Star Trek . . . .”

Have a great weekend!

Sidney