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Episode
073
The Lights of Zetar
Scotty’s in love with a Starfleet officer on her very first deep space mission. This has good luck written all over it. Amazingly, though, something does go wrong. Beings from a long dead world threaten the Enterprise and take over Scotty’s love. Will they all survive? Find out when we crush the delicate Lights of Zetar between the pages of the Mission Log.
Mary had a Little Lamb
Did you guys get too burned for talking about sexism? Because not only is Mira Romaine – a Starfleet Lieutenant – referred to as a “girl”, Scotty totally dismisses her fears and experiences, almost mansplaining what had happened to her. With a tiny bit of a stretch, you can make a parallel to a woman reporting sexual assault – with her boyfriend saying “Oh no, that’s not what happened at all”, and then Scotty is asked about how to treat the situation. Who really has claims to Mira’s body? In the end she stakes her own claim, but meanwhile several entities also try it.
These are great points, Stacy. I kind of wish we could go back and re-examine this episode with that in mind. Hmmm.. maybe after we’re done with our first round? Seriously though – the additional insight is valuable.
Home Video Trivia:
Did you know that, for some odd reason , when this series was 1st released on DVD , during the opening establishing shot of this Episode ( on DISC #37) the Enterprise appears in Black & White –
with a purple sensor disc and warp nacelles? Yeah ! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6f1a9e1a5ac3b11aebdc38ff4b0c3985190d8dde2a774967d23003408e3f315c.png
I agree with Stacy, the sexism was rampant in this episode and I wish you guys would have addressed it more. They refer to an active duty lieutenant, a crew member of a star ship, as “the girl” multiple times. Not only was that weird because she’s a grown woman and a lieutenant, but it was weirdly alienating for Kirk to speak about a member of his own team in such a distancing way. It’s like she was no longer recognized for her position or personhood, but just as Scotty’s love interest.
And Scotty clinging to her while she was having a meeting with her superior officers was creepy, unprofessional and would realistically be humiliating for her. Maybe the actress seemed so lukewarm because she was put off by the story.
This was supposedly a story about a young woman, fresh from academy, nervous but excited for her first assignment on a star ship. She is targeted by alien life to become a host body but she manages to fight for, and almost dies for, her autonomy. But this story never manages to actually be about that. It’s about Kirk solving the mystery or Scotty being in love or whatever else. She is ignored, condescended to, controlled, and treated like a child.
I think maybe since this sexism was a little more insidious and deeper-level, it upset me more. It’s easy to cringe and laugh off “all women are illogical” nonsense lines, but the treatment of this character by the show and by the other characters is just too viscerally reflective of bs that was rampant in that era and still manages to permeate certain corners of the business world today, unacknowledged.