This was originally published in May, but I thought it was worth sharing now that SNW is back on the air. I really like this take - I personally think a lot of people’s perceptions of the message of “Arena” don’t line up with the text of the episode, but I hadn’t considered the argument presented here.
Interesting, TOS had such good yet simple moral quandaries. Don’t watch it often, but that’s what I enjoy the most.
Highlights why the Federation is so successful. Kirk doesn’t just spare a single entity, he creates reputation. This happens frequently in the shows, we do the right thing in the end. Even at personal cost. Flee in terror from our weaponized-boyscouts! Maybe another race that’s on the fence about joining hears the story and that tips the balance. Mind you, that reputation gets a life of its own. Like in VOY with the imposter-Janeway+Tuvok.
Babylon 5’s Delenn has a quote that’s springs to mind.
…Humans share one unique quality: They build communities. If the Narns or Centauri or any other race built a station like this, it would be used only by their own people. But everywhere humans go, they create communities out of diverse and sometimes hostile populations. It is a great gift, and a terrible responsibility—one that cannot be abandoned.
I like the Gorn as a recurring adversary in SNW S1. They made a great storytelling antagonist, bit of a slow boil with big payoffs.
For the most part I like them borrowing from horror elements but I think they needed to ease up on the Aliens vs Predators themes a bit. A lithe wall-walking enemy that gestates their young in hosts is enough, the predator vision and the clicks take me out of the narrative a bit.
That said, I love their slow introduction into the series. Then the ambush, when Pike realizes he’s still attached to the other ship and can’t put shields up, was awesome. (A good captain like Lorca would’ve raised shields anyways, just saiyan.)