I would have preferred that Pulaski challenged not Picard and Data (who couldn’t really riposte the way Spock did against McCoy), but Picard and Riker or Picard and Worf.

I think Pulaski was the better doctor, but Crusher the better person.

I tear up every single time. 

The problem was really more about what they were aiming for, and how they didn’t realize the problem with it.

Yes this was something I noticed about VOY at the time - Janeway’s character was completely inconsistent, almost like she had multiple personalities or something. I tried re-watching S1 recently and you can see it happening pretty quickly too - initially she has this sort of expansive, “We can do it!” personality and…

Remember that episode of Voyager when that discount Vulcan went through Pon Farr and tried to fuck Torres? In the process he mind melded with her, and gave her Pon Farr and she tried to rape Paris? Then Tuvok had the bright idea of having the Vulcan fuck a hologram on the holodeck.

You know what though, because he’s so narcissistic and fragile, barring him being sent to jail by NYS, Trump will absolutely continue to hold rallies, commanding his base and being a big force in repub politics for a long time.

Roddenberry was a product of his time and though his vision gifted something of wonder to the world, he was messy in its execution.

Since constitutionally he would be a private citizen on inauguration day, I guess we can arrest him for impersonating a federal officer and go from there...

True..but it’s at least character development. She was an ass. I love TNG but let’s be honest - the first 4, possibly 5 seasons gave them no character development. Troi got the most - eventually exploring a command role, a family trauma involving a lost sister, and a relationship with Worf. Poor Crusher though? She…

Enterprise’s problems are way more complicated than just the “boys’ club.” I’m not disagreeing with anything you said, just trying to illustrate that Enterprise failed because of a confluence of different events.

One of my favorite examples of the pitfalls of trying to be progressive while still mired in current day social norms is the skant. After decades of fans questioning why Uhura was wearing a ridiculously impractical (although very attractive) miniskirt while on duty in a quasi military setting, Roddenberry decided to…

Here’s my take on Kes. She didn’t start out as the sex object but the writers sexualized her by making her sole character trait “Neelix’s girl.

“Blake fell short of that standard and he has paid a very heavy price for it.”

The problem that Crusher had, which is one that’s kinda shared by all of Star Trek’s doctors, is that their role in the episodes is almost always “be a doctor”, which isn’t something that gives a lot of prominent screentime.

Whether misogynist or not, Roddenberry was pretty renowned for being sex-obsessed, and I feel like Star Trek usually did better at issues other than women. However, I would also say that even though we would consider Uhura’s role to be “token” were it made today, that dramatically undersells its importance at the time.

All I need to know about Janeway is that she murdered Tuvix and never thought twice about it.

Not really a shock, it’s common knowledge that the first film was a rolling storm of chaos behind the scenes with gigantic rewrites coming hot during production. I think most fans know the princesses were not the stars when the film first began production.

Great write-up. One thing that I think is worth noting is that there were several supporting characters that helped bridge the gap for some of the representation issues in TNG. I think that the main cast was meant to be relatable to people of the period, and the supporting characters really helped drive a more progress…

Uhm...yeah. I’m shocked how glossed over Rick Berman is on the creep totem pole! I always thought he was a hack but didn’t realize the extent of his sexual objectification of actresses until reading this article.