In the eleventh episode of the third season of The Next Generation, the Enterprise helps catch an escaped prisoner who is not who he seems to be. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
Trigger Warning: For talk of brainwashing/manipulation, ableism.
Good lord, what’s with this week’s batch of episodes? THEY’RE ALL SO DISTURBING. And “The Hunted” is no exception, taking on the massive, ambitious idea of abandoned war veterans and military brainwashing, and IT’S SO FUCKED UP.
And James Cromwell was on the show, what the hell is going on.
The Angosians
This show is also getting better at rapidly distilling worldbuiling down to something that’ll fit within an episode without cluttering it up. In order to understand what a horrible thing the Angosians did to their soldiers – the ones who actually helped bring peace to their nation – we have to have a juxtaposition. A hypocrisy. In this case, we spend a lot of time in the early scenes with Nayrok learning how organized, reasonable, and rational the Angosians have become. In Riker’s eyes, they’re “stuffy,” so organized and formal that he has no desire to spend much time with them. So how did this culture spring out of such a vicious war? How did the Angosians overcome their vices and build a society that celebrates art and the intellect?
Exploitation
I thought it was pretty cool of the show to have Picard name the Angosians as “oppressors” of Roga Danar and the other soldiers like them because… well, I can’t think of a better word to describe what they did to these people. After taking volunteer soldiers and physically altering them while also brainwashing them to be the perfect fighter, they abandoned them. It was far easier for the Angosians to put these people on a literal separate planet than to do anything to help them integrate back into society. That’s not to say that this wouldn’t be a challenge. Of course, anyone whose mind reads all dangerous situations as life-threatening and responds as such to them is going to stand out in a place like Angosian society. (And I feel like there’s a subtle commentary in here about how those with mental disabilities have difficulty in our culture as well, but I think I’m just projecting that onto the show.) But why are they not worthy of attention? Why did the government so willingly abandon them and refuse to help them recover or change or adjust?
Thus, the reference in the title is blurred. Initially, Roga is the hunted; the Enterprise is told to catch him with little context of what he did to land in prison in the first place. And when they do discover that he didn’t really do anything at all? Roga is “the hunted” but for an entirely different reason. He’s an outlier, a reminder of who the Angosians used to be, and he’s outcast from their world because of it. Never mind that he very well may have helped create their world, and never mind that what he did probably gave him PTSD. The Angosians find any way they can to put these soldiers in a place that keeps them out of sight and out of mind.
The Dilemma
So what exactly can these people do about Roga Danar? The Angosians are not part of the Federation, so they have no right to refuse Nayrok’s demands. It’s not like Roga isn’t as he’s described; over the course of this episode, we see just how prone to violence he is. (Though it’s all in a very specific context, I should say. He’s fighting for his own freedom, so I don’t think it’s a generalized proclivity for violence, and I think it’s important to state that.) But even when Nayrok more or less confirms Roga’s story, though with far less sympathy, the Enterprise can’t do much at all. They’ve got no legal grounds. Morally, they’re all certain that Roga has been horribly mistreated, but they’re still left without much to do that could be significantly helpful.
I think that you could argue that Roga’s escape from the Enterprise (one of the most absurdly awe-inspiring things this show has ever done, honesty) is what set in motion the eventual stalemate at the end of the episode. I get the sense that Roga knew that he’d have to force Nayrok’s hand, and the only way to do that was to gain some sort of upper hand over him. After freeing his fellow soldiers from Lunar V, he uses the power of numbers in order to gain leverage. (Oh, that word is now associated with only one beautiful, beautiful thing.) But what then?
The Star Trek canon is full of incomplete stories. Sometimes, that’s because the writing for an episode is… abysmal. Let’s just be honest with ourselves! But the open-ended nature of “The Hunted” makes sense because Picard finds his way to help the veterans: by doing absolutely nothing. He could tell that Roga’s men had the upper hand, so he simply denies the Angosian application for the Federation, assuring that Nayrok does not get what he wants, and leaving these people to figure out this mess themselves. In one sense, I see Picard thinking that the Angosians deserving whatever fate they get at the hands of the veterans. But there’s an optimism in his choice because ultimately, he believes that these people will figure out this dilemma themselves and the Angosian society will be better for it. It’s the polar opposite of the ending of the last episode because it posits that a superior future – one where the veterans receive the care they need – is entirely possible.
I can dig that.
The video for “The Hunted” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S. this summer and fall Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of The Legend of Korra, series 8 of Doctor Who, and Kings. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
