Star Trek often ridicules science?

But it works. They weren’t trying to write a series that would still be cross-examined 40 years later and fit in with a complicated tapestry of future history, they were trying to write an imaginative TV series and incidentally trying to keep costs down by using stuff that already existed on backlots.

Something that struck me was, the slave costumes would be a rather simple and yet subtle touch at a Trek convention. Grey t-shirt with that chain symbol, gray paints, dark shoes, and you’re ready to go! And you could always add a sword to help people “get it.”

Just a nitpick.

One wonders how much of the episode Roddenberry actually had anything to do with, given the contrast between B&C’s generally positive portrayal of Christianity and Roddenberry’s supposed anti-religion beliefs. Look at Kirk’s face, the tone of his voice, when he utters the line “Wouldn’t it be something to watch, to be a part of? To see it happen all over again?” It’s perhaps the Shat’s best moment as an actor – he conveys an almost startling impression of awe and reverence. Combined with the above-mentioned line from “Who Mourns For Adonis,” it does offer some evidence that the 23rd century may not be as entirely free of faith as some “humanists” may like to think.

It would be interesting to key some of Roddenberry’s famous anti-religion quotes to the specific times in his life when he expressed them, and put them back into the context to get the whole story. Might be illuminating.

In either Whitfield’s The Making of Star Trek or Gerrold’s The World of Star Trek there’s a line about there being an assumption that universal translators are “sewn into the pants leg” of uniforms (no idea where they are on Starfleet miniskirts) and are constantly translating alien/foreign languages into something understandable by the crew. Trek at least tried to address this issue but they were inconsistent about it.

I do think the anti-religious bent in TOS and much of later Trek (see TNG’s “Who Watches the Watchers”) is very clear and DS9’s approach was kind of the exception that proves the rule. In any case, this is definitely one of my favorite episodes.