{"id":4308,"date":"2014-12-23T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-12-23T21:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4308"},"modified":"2014-12-15T09:39:14","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T17:39:14","slug":"mark-watches-star-trek-s03e10-platos-stepchildren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2014\/12\/mark-watches-star-trek-s03e10-platos-stepchildren\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Star Trek’: S03E10 – Plato’s Stepchildren"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the tenth episode of the third season of\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>, the\u00c2\u00a0Enterprise<\/i> answers a distress call and discovers a brutal utopia. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of oppression, racism, consent<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Okay, let me get this out of the way: I was misinformed about Kirk and Uhura\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kiss in this episode, though that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t negate the impact of this moment. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S HUGE. But someone mentioned it on a panel at a SF\/F convention I was at this year, and all they said was that it was the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153first\u00e2\u20ac\u009d interracial kiss on television, which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t true. (Emergency – Ward 10<\/i>,\u00c2\u00a0The Wild Wild West,\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>and\u00c2\u00a0I Spy<\/i> all had interracial kisses before this one.)<\/p>\n

ANYWAY I HAVE LOTS TO TALK ABOUT, I LIKED THIS EPISODE.<\/p>\n

Control<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite that I found a lot of the acting and extended sequences of telepathic control to be unintentionally hilarious, I think that what the Platonians do is\u00c2\u00a0horrifying<\/i>. To the credit of the show, it was clear to me that they were meant to be frightening and that we were meant to look upon them with disgust and fear. Even the kisses themselves \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ones that both Uhura and Nurse Chapel had actually fantasized about \u00e2\u20ac\u201c were not portrayed as romantic moments. WHICH IS EXCEEDINGLY RARE IN SCIENCE FICTION. Sci fi narratives generally have problems portraying consent because \u00e2\u20ac\u201c surprise! \u00e2\u20ac\u201c our greater culture at large has issues with consent. But the brutal way in which the Platonians use their psychokinetic powers is demonstrative of how they gain\u00c2\u00a0joy<\/i> from seeing others suffer.<\/p>\n

Well, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153others\u00e2\u20ac\u009d denotes Alexander and\u00c2\u00a0only<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Alexander. I am going to be perpetually destroyed by his character, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get to that later. But this entire utopia is an exercise in sadism, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of amazing to me how openly the writers portrayed this. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no mincing words here; when Kirk and Alexander finally vocalize their criticisms of Platonian society, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s straight to the point. These people feel more alive by denying life to Alexander. And yet? They believe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found a utopia. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so important to me that they call their world a utopia and that this juxtaposition is so blatant. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter what they intended with this place; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a utopia if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re openly brutalizing even one member of their society.<\/p>\n

ACTUALLY, LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S JUST TALK ABOUT ALEXANDER BECAUSE HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S THE BEST PART OF THIS EPISODE.<\/p>\n

Alexander<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spoken of this before in relation to this show, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so great that this episode doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore Alexander\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s marginalization at the hands of the Platonians. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d even say that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tantamount to the plot; you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have this episode without him, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even nearly as good as it is if you remove him from the story. Now, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious that\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i> truly does imagine itself in a future where bigotry and oppression no longer exist on Earth, and while that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s normally something I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d roll my eyes at, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do that here. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got an interracial kiss onscreen; you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a very explicit condemnation of nonconsensual acts; you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a little person in an emotionally significant role that acknowledges the historical marginalization of people like him.<\/p>\n

Seriously,\u00c2\u00a0Michael Dunn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s acting in this episode is incredible. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got such a heartbreaking story to portray. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spent untold years as the abused servant of these sadistic jerks who liken themselves after Plato. (Though Parmen even outright admits that they had to adjust their commitment to Plato so they could justify their behavior!!! THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE THE WORST.) And throughout it all, the Platonians repeatedly told him that he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0special<\/i>, that he was a\u00c2\u00a0freak<\/i>. As if he needed them to point that out! There are multiple layers of bigotry going on here, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Plato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Stepchildren\u00e2\u20ac\u009d shows us them all. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I liked this so much. Alexander\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is remarkably complex, and when you get down to it, this was all about saving him from this oppressive system. How often do you see something like that?<\/p>\n

Parmen<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot about this episode that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unfortunately absurd, and if it weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for the stronger elements, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 forcing Spock to flamenco dance around Kirk\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head has to be one of the weirdest things\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i> has ever done. Until they started to legitimately harm Spock (OH MY GOD, SPOCK LAUGHING AND CRYING,\u00c2\u00a0WHY IS THIS SO DISTURBING<\/i>), this was a little bit too silly for me. And look, I love a bit of camp (or a lot of it, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s be honest) in my media, but this didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem like an intentional thing. Maybe it was scarier at the time it aired, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Spock and Kirk dancing! And singing!<\/p>\n

But then it got REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE. Forcing Spock to feel emotions? Tormenting Kirk through humiliation? Controlling members of the crew to act out their disgusting sexual proclivities? NO, THANK YOU. YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE AWFUL, PLATONIANS.<\/p>\n

This was a solid episode, though, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so thrilled that Alexander got to leave. The ending is a little weak. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just going to\u00c2\u00a0ask<\/i> Parmen not to be a bigot anymore? Okay\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll work. Sure. Regardless, this just made me want an entire miniseries that is Alexander\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience traveling the universe for the first time. Also, go make that Spock\/Hobbit<\/i> crossover, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. GO MAKE IT HAPPEN.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Plato\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Stepchildren\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
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\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next two Double Features are now in the schedule! I will be watching <\/b>The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i><\/b> and then <\/b>Leverage<\/i><\/b>. <\/b>Commission away!
\n– I will be at quite a few conventions and will be hosting events throughout 2015, so check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"