3.12: Chosen Realm

[Dave]

A rescue mission proves disastrous for the Enterprise, causing Archer to sabotage his own ship with it is boarded by the Triannons.

The story tackles religious extremism and features Conor O'Farrell and Gregory Wagrowski as guest stars.

More falling ratings aboard Enterprise?

 

[Dave]

This episode brings out every cliché Star Trek ever used before in it's attempt to show that Religious Extremism is a very bad thing, right up to the total anihilation of a world as the Grande Finalé.

I have but one nit. These Triannons seem like intelligent types. They quickly learn to communicate with humans, to operate the Enterprise weapon systems, and to identify faulty EPS manifolds, delete files containing data on the Spheres and to hack into Archer's personal logs. So, how come they don't know what a Transporter is? D'Jamat read all the Captain's logs right up to the present, so he must have skipped all those references when they used the Transporter to escape from hostile aliens!

Actually, I do have more nits, but what's the point, Michelle Erica Green puts it better than I could in her comments here: http://www.treknation.com/reviews/enterprise/chosen_realm.shtml

Like her, I also found the treatment of the subject of religious freedom here too superficial. It is stupid to be fighting over a Tuesday or a Wednesday. But in the real world things are never that simple. I study my Family's history. I have ancestors who were Covenanters, and ancestors who were Hueguenots. (Do Google searches) They were persecuted simply because they persisted in demanding the freedoms which every one of us enjoys today.

That's 3 episodes in a row I didn't really like, that's not very promising.

 

[ray gower]

But it is a known fact- Every lumpy headed monkey, no matter how primitive, will know instinctively how to speak American and how a Federation starship works in such detail that one wonders why humans went through 5000 years thinking the wheel was a neat trick!

As for the 'moralality' play, this shrieked of US politics and will have crossed the line of insulting for more than a few devout religious orders and the intelligence of everybodyelse.

While religious wars often do boil down to something as simple as reading the Psalms in English or Latin, the people who are fighting those wars from conviction can and will argue the details to great length. Yet none of this was brought out, simply giving us, 'Religion is bad!'.

I don't recall TOS, created in an age where McCarthyism was still rife and the US was being pummelled in Vietnam, was ever this blatent with its 'Klingons under the bed' stories!

It is not as if it really made a serious point at the end either, or certainly not one that makes Enterprise's own intended endeavour look any less like double standards.

I suspect Enterprise has lost another few hundred thousand viewers from the way the subject was handled, if not for the story.

Then we did want Enterprise to be more controvercial didn't we?

 

[KatDonovan]

Originally posted by ray gower
this shrieked of US politics

Really? I must have missed that part. Care to elaborate?

 

[ray gower]

Watched a George Bush interview recently, or the ongoing episodes of the Iraq War committee?

Yes, I might be a little over the top in the accusation, but not by a wide margin

 

[Dave]

There is a rise in Right Wing Christian groups in America. In America Islam is also the fastest growing religion. Anyone not see a problem arising?

Then you have the Arab-Israeli problems coming to a head again only this week. The USA is NOT even handed in it's dealings in that region, and it being the worlds superpower, that does count for a lot of the problem.

But the idea given by this Star Trek episode that somehow we are all the same really and we should stop fighting over pointless differences is erroneous.

Ray mentioned "something as simple as reading the Psalms in English or Latin." Actually, it was not about the language, it was about ignorance and power. The illiterate were forced certain ideas by those in authority. When they could think for themselves and read and print material themselves, they could then express their own opinions. Those in power obviously didn't want that.

Not just Religious freedom, but the freedom to think anything we want, (even the 'Flat-Earth Society') is something many of us take for granted.

If the moral of the story had been 'Tolerance' then I could have accepted it, but the moral appeared to be that it doesn't matter.

 

[KatDonovan]

Originally posted by ray gower
Watched a George Bush interview recently, or the ongoing episodes of the Iraq War committee?

Yes, actually I have. Still don't see the connection tho.

Lets see...Trip and Travis scan another sphere. The Triannons see the shuttle exit the cloaking barrier and hatch a plot. The Enterprise receive a distress call from the Triannons and come to the rescue. Find out the aliens worship the spheres. Triannons take over Enterprise with biological weapon (killing one crewmember), to use the ship to enforce their beliefs. Triannons consider anyone who disagrees with them inferior (sounds like the Nazis, my opinion tho). Archer uses his wits to get to a place where he can strike back. Talks one of the Triannons into helping Phlox neutralize the chemical agent. Enterprise crew retake ship. Take Triannons home, show them what their conflict has resulted in. End Credits.

Nope, still don't see it. Guess I'm just not that type. I watch Enterprise for the entertainment value. Thought that was the point. But, to each his own.

 

[ray gower]

It was not the story, which was much as expected.

It was the highly superficial and dismissive way in which the Triannons religion and those that follow it was treated, which was very much in the fashion the tattling press and current political sound bites are regarding the Muslim religions. Which at present, considering current events, is at best insensitive.

It would not have taken a great deal of effort to show a little of why they think as they do and thereby yield a slightly more balanced view.

I've no objection to my entertainment trying to broach potentially controversial subjects. But no matter how the 'It is only entertainment' banner is waved, it does have a moral responsibility not to inflame opinion, if not to attempt to spread understanding.

Then if the plot had followed the abortion plot, it would probably have caused an even bigger war in the US between pro and anti-abortion lobbies?

 

[Dave]

KatDonovan -- are you saying that you didn't see the hit-me-with-a-sledgehammer moral in this story?

Or, that you don't see how that relates to the US governments attitude to foreign affairs?

Star Trek has always mirrored the current attitude of the society at the time the series was on air. Kirk was a product of the Cold War. Klingons were nasty Russians, Romulans were sneaky Chinese. His shoot-first-ask-questions-later policy was the same as that of the government in power. Though the Starfleet way could often be opposite to that of the government of the day.

The 'Omega Glory' TOS with the Kohms (communists) armed by the Klingons and Yangs (Yankees) armed by the Federation, was a parallel of the Vietnam War. In the '60's Star Trek could say things that an ordinary drama would never be allowed. It could actually attack American Government policy.

Picard represents a totally different governmental era in thinking from Kirk with his diplomatic solution to everything, and with Troi as a Ships Councellor was very '80's.

Archer reacting to a '9/11' type attack by the Xindii on Florida is no different. We have even had the not-all-Xindii-are-bad-Xindii episode. And this was the religious-extremism-will-kill-us-all episode.

But TOS did all of this much better. 'Let This Be Your Last Battlefield' had the same ending as 'Chosen Realm' ENT, but the moral came across much stronger because the difference between Bele and Lokai was so purely visual, not some stupid trivial one concerning a missing day.