{"id":5013,"date":"2015-10-19T13:00:04","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T20:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5013"},"modified":"2015-10-12T12:09:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T19:09:02","slug":"mark-watches-the-next-generation-s05e13-the-masterpiece-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/10\/mark-watches-the-next-generation-s05e13-the-masterpiece-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘The Next Generation’: S05E13 – The Masterpiece Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of The Next Generation<\/i>, the Enterprise<\/i> tries to save a colony from destruction, but may risk destroying it just by intervening. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of eugenics, ableism, racism<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Holy shit, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this was a fantastic<\/i> episode, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s both haunting and illuminating. This is also the kind of story that could<\/i> have plummeted into a mess of themes, messages, and plots, But for something so drastic, intense, and brutal, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Masterpiece Society\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is remarkably subtle. It shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work as well as it does, but HERE WE ARE.<\/p>\n

I think what this episode does best is show us the hypocrisy of Moab IV\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beauty. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not enough that the idea is creepy all by itself; we see how genetic engineering (and, by that logic, breeding) produces a society that will always<\/i> be inherently flawed and tragic. And yet, in the midst of this? AN ETHICAL CONUNDRUM AS WELL. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all quite layered and complex, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another part of this journey that makes it so rewarding.<\/p>\n

So let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk first about Moab IV. On the surface, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a beautiful place, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of peace between the people who live in this community, and the society appears to be thriving. And for all intents and purposes, it was<\/i> thriving, right up until a stellar core fragment (I honestly have no idea what the hell that thing was, and at this point, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even bother to understand some of the scientific lingo thrown at me) risks the whole arrangement. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the problem with this kind of organized society, right from the start: to someone else, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a dystopia. While Troi and some of the others saw the good in Moab IV, it became obvious and apparent that this place was not<\/i> what it seemed.<\/p>\n

Most of that is demonstrated through Geordi. The ableism thrown his way is astounding, of course, especially since Aaron and Hannah are so casual about how they feel towards disability. In their world, there simply isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t any existence of any<\/i> disability. And to them? A life with disability in it is not worth living. They speak of suffering and pain, unaware of the very idea that one can be disabled and<\/i> experience happiness. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter that Geordi has found a way to cope with his blindness, and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been able to contribute to world in a positive way. In the end? The disability is a flaw, and it shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exist.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, The Next Generation<\/i> shreds this logic to pieces, not only by having Geordi exist, but to have him exist so simply<\/i> next to all of these people. It exposes a massive problem within the world of Moab IV: there is no spontaneity. There is no need. There is no adversity. There are no situations that can give birth to the kind of thinking that Geordi is used to, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Hannah has so much trouble thinking of a solution to Moab\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impending disasters. Truthfully, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably never had<\/i> to live through a disaster in her entire life. But what I love most about this is that the show is definitively stating that our experiences in life absolutely<\/i> affect our thinking. Geordi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience as a blind man who wears a VISOR is what helps him determine a way to save Moab IV. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniable!<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a secondary threat that sits quietly in the background of this episode, one that shows that Moab IV was always<\/i> going to be destroyed. I found it appropriate that the Prime Directive was brought up again because this is one hell of a disaster to deal with. The Enterprise<\/i> were obligated to reach out to Moab IV to warn them, and I found that to be an ethical move. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even argue that Troi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s developing affection for Aaron was all that<\/i> influential either. While I understand her guilt over her feelings, I think that if she hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t had chemistry with Aaron, Hannah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story still would have happened. At the same time, I think the point is that each of the Enterprise<\/i> crew members were always<\/i> going to affect these people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives. Attraction happens. Curiosity is a part of human nature, even in genetically engineered humans.<\/p>\n

I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why this is one of the few episodes where a suddenly-developed romantic relationship actually makes sense within the story. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s usually a tired storytelling device because it happens so frequently within the Star Trek<\/i> universe, and the lack of serialization as a whole means you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often get a satisfying story. But Troi and Aaron had undeniable chemistry to me, and I think there was a need to introduce an ethical conundrum that was emotional. Plus, that scene in the lift between Picard and Troi? Utterly captivating and one of the best things this season, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so raw<\/i>, and we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t often get to see Troi like that.<\/p>\n

So what does this all mean for Moab IV? It means that change is inevitable. For a society that has never had a single aspect of their lives largely unplanned, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve now been dealt a serious blow to the order of their existence. The more I think about how this place was designed, the more eerie it seems to me. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll reiterate what I said in the video: does this episode imply that there are only so many artists allowed? Does no one break away from their programming? Are positions filled generationally?) And I think that eeriness is exploited throughout \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Masterpiece Society\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so that at the end of the story, we understood why Moab IV had<\/i> to change. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something inherently wrong with this kind of engineering, and random chance exposed that to us. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it! Random occurrences in the universe put the Enterprise<\/i> on the path to disrupting this community, and if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all it takes? Then maybe it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as strong as they thought it was. At the very least, it was flawed enough that twenty-four people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including Hannah \u00e2\u20ac\u201c were willing to toss it all away, just so they could pursue a life away from their programming.<\/p>\n

If there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s any flaw here in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Masterpiece Society,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d though, I think we can find it in Data, Dr. Crusher, and Martin. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still perplexed that an episode of this show that addresses genetically programmed humans did not invoke a comparison to Data even once<\/i>. It seems like a massive oversight on the part of the writers. Hell, he and Dr. Crusher are barely in this episode at all. Where was she? Wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t she want to study these medical oddities? And while this last issue probably comes down to casting, I think that Martin is easily the worst written character in the bunch. Granted, I understand why he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s written as a one-note, antagonistic force, but when you give that role to a black man? You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re invoking the Angry Black Dude trope effortlessly, and it comes across as pretty glaring as Martin continues to angrily disagree with literally everything. He never smiles, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s verbally aggressive, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just unfortunate at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Masterpiece Society\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>.
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at Borderlands Books, Book Riot Live, and Windycon this fall! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Kings, <\/i>season 1 of\u00c2\u00a0Sense8<\/em>, season 1 of\u00c2\u00a0Agent Carter<\/em>, seasons 1 & 2 of\u00c2\u00a0The 100<\/em>, Death Note<\/em>, and\u00c2\u00a0Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"