Sat 17 May 2025

I'm starting a new series where I recount the TV show and movies that were formative in my life. Not only in my childhood (although that will be heavily emphasized), but even recent days.

As I mentioned in a recent post, there were some scenes in Star Trek that deeply marked me when I was younger.

ST:TNG: The First duty

In this episode, Wesley Crusher is faced with peer pressure as he attempts to balance his duty to society with his desire to please and honor the peers that inspired him. He has a new family in Starfleet Academy and finds himself opposed to his "old" family of The Enterprise, particularly his former captain.

The words that Picard speaks in this episode rang in my ears for decades, and have rang only louder in the light of our shallow, influence-chasing culture as of late:

[Ready room]

PICARD: Come.
WESLEY: Captain.
PICARD: Can you tell me what manoeuvre this is?
(on the PADD we see five ships go into a circle, cross each other's paths and light up a five pointed star)
WESLEY: It's a Kolvoord Starburst, sir.
PICARD: Five ships crossing within ten metres of each other and igniting their plasma trails. One of the most spectacular and difficult demonstrations of precision flying. It hasn't been performed at the Academy team in over a hundred years. Do you know why?
WESLEY: It was banned by the Academy following a training accident, sir.
PICARD: An accident in which all five cadets lost their lives.
I think that Nicholas Locarno wanted to end his Academy career in a blaze of glory. That he convinced the four of you to learn the Kolvoord Starburst for the commencement demonstration. If it worked, you would thrill the assembled guests and Locarno would graduate as a living legend. Only it didn't work, and Joshua Albert paid the price.
Am I correct?
Cadet, I asked you a question. Am I correct?
WESLEY: I choose not to answer, sir.
PICARD: You choose not to answer?
But you've already given an answer to the inquiry, and that answer was a lie.
WESLEY: I said the accident occurred after the loop. It did.
PICARD: What you neglected to mention was that following the loop your team attempted a manoeuvre that was the direct cause of the crash. You told the truth up to a point. But a lie of omission is still a lie.
...
PICARD: ...And then later when I decided to make you an acting ensign, I was convinced you could be an outstanding officer. I've never questioned that conviction, until now.

The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth.
Whether it's scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth.
It is the guiding principle upon which Starfleet is based.
If you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened you don't deserve to wear that uniform.
I'm going to make this simple for you, Mister Crusher.
Either you come forward and tell Admiral Brand what really took place, or I will.
WESLEY: Captain
PICARD: Dismissed.

DSC: Through the Valley of Shadows

This is obviously a much more recent episode (2019), which I only saw a couple years ago at the earliest. Still, the words that Pike utters after seeing his (horrifying) future were extremely poignant to me. He dealt with the horror of seeing his radiation-mangled face by reminding himself of who he is, and recalling the duty, purpose, and values of his life in the midst of a reeling revelation.

TENAVIK: When the future becomes the past, the present will be unlocked. Come.
PIKE: Well, what do I do?
TENAVIK: You must see for yourself. But it is for you, alone.
A warning, Captain. The present is a veil between anticipation and horror. Lift the veil, and madness may follow.
(Pike sees the future: the accident, the radiation leak, his immobile form and disfigured face)
TENAVIK: You may still choose to walk away from this future. But if you take the crystal, your fate will be sealed, forever. There will be no escaping it.
PIKE: (to himself) You're a Starfleet captain. You believe in service, sacrifice, compassion… and love.
(to Tenavik) No. I'm not going to abandon the things that made me what I am because of a future… that contains an ending I hadn't foreseen for myself.
No. Give it to me.
TENAVIK: I honor you, captain.

100 Days to Offload 2025 - Day 30

Category: Entertainment Tagged: 100DaysToOffload Entertainment Ethics Life Non-religious post Non-technical post Philosophy Science Fiction