In the eleventh episode of the fifth episode of The Next Generation<\/i>, Data saves a child from a collapsing spaceship, only to discover that the child has grown attached to him. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For PTSD\/trauma, death<\/b><\/p>\n
This is the kind of episode that could only really be done on Star Trek<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve often talked about the aesthetic choices that the show has made, especially with The Next Generation<\/i>, and I think \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hero Worship\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is exactly in line with that style. While there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one \u00e2\u20ac\u0153action\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sequence during the climax, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largely a quiet, subtle, and crushing story about how one kid deals with his own trauma. There aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t many huge plot twists; it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t rely on a boisterous premise; and Joshua Harris\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s acting is never over the top.<\/p>\n
So how does this work so well? For me, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the respect given to the story and<\/i> PTSD that makes this such a worthy episode in the Star Trek <\/i>canon. Timothy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience is horrific; he watches people die in front of him, is convinced that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the cause of the accident on his ship, and is left as the sole survivor of a disaster. When he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rescued by Data, he sees the android as stability for him, initially choosing to face his fears whenever Data is around. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s through this experience that Timothy sees Data\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s abilities and<\/i> learns of his lack of human emotions.<\/p>\n
And it suddenly seems like the perfect<\/i> means for Timothy to deal with the guilt and sadness that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taken over his heart. Seriously, bless Joshua Harris; this kid is not only adorable, but his imitations of Data are both eerie and hilarious. On top of that, though, is an air of sadness, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the things that makes \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hero Worship\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so good. The show does not try to ignore how dreary this all can be. The kid lost everything<\/i>, and as Troi puts it, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to reconstruct his identity in the wake of such a loss. For those of us who have experienced trauma at a young age \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and I count myself as one of them \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we often know how familiar this sounds. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weird to think back on myself as a kid and be able to see<\/i> myself doing this very thing. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m aware of how I began to change in the wake of my trauma and how that affected who I am today.<\/p>\n
While a non-human character is at the center of Timothy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s transformation, I think you can still see a human-like curiosity to Data\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions. He seeks out his friend Geordi in order to better understand how human children deal with trauma. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s open to Deanna Troi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suggestions. And when he speaks to Timothy, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying quite hard to get what this kid is going through. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely when the show utterly breaks out hearts. Much like the scene between him and Spock in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Data talks with Timothy about how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d trade pretty much anything to get to be human for even a moment. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the kid needs to understand that humanity is the good and the bad all wrapped up into one. You get to enjoy the purity of an ice cream sundae, and you get to suffer through the worst of it.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what helps Timothy to get better, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a cure. I appreciated so much that the end of this episode did not give us an overjoyed, perfectly-fixed kid. Truthfully, that kid has a long journey ahead of him. But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got support. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got an understanding of the difficulty of being alive. And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got a chance to deal with his pain in a healthy environment, which is all I could ask for in a situation like this.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hero Worship\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>. In the eleventh episode of the fifth episode of The Next Generation, Data saves a child from a collapsing spaceship, only to discover that the child has grown attached to him. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star … Continue reading
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