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posted ago by jennyfrutex ago by jennyfrutex +65 / -0

I love science fiction; I've been watching Voyager off and on for a while now. Season 4 episode 17, "Retrospect," would absolutely never be written today. But it's great. A lot of progressives today hate this episode.

Brief synopsis: A member of the crew accuses an alien merchant of attacking her. The captain insists on investigating fully, getting the entire story from everyone involved, including the accused. The accused insists that even the accusations will ruin his life. At first, evidence suggests he is guilty, and he flees when they try to take him into custody. Then closer inspection of the evidence proves that the crewmember was mistaken and he was innocent. When they try to catch him and tell him they're sorry, they were mistaken, he commits suicide, because his career and life are over.

-It's a pretty thinly-veiled allegory for the importance of due process even in cases of sexual assault. Barely even a veil, honestly.

-The only reason they could even do it back then (aired in 1998), I bet, was because the captain was female, too. But her approach was faultless: she wanted all the information, and she insisted on investigation of the scene and interviews with everyone before blindly believing either party.

-True to his word, the accused man was ruined by even the accusation of assault.

-The accuser (who had acted in good faith; her memories had been fractured) was furious and called for the accused to suffer. But in the end, when she realized that her mistake, despite being honest, led to the death of an innocent man, she felt deeply remorseful.

TL;DR

Back in 1998, Star Trek Voyager was surprisingly based, whether they knew it or not.

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jennyfrutex [S] 2 points ago +2 / -0

I remember enjoying Enterprise when it was on! I grew up on Voyager and TNG, and I've seen all the original series movies. And now, rewatching as an adult, I have a new appreciation for the clever writing and interesting characters.

I have zero interest in the new Picard series yelling at me about racism. But the review of it on Red Letter Media is pure gold.