Poll of the Week: Should It Be A Long Road?

[Randal Shayne]

It’s been my experience that Star Trek: Enterprise does not get the love it deserves. Certainly there were some problems, but it often raised intriguing moral and philosophical dilemmas for the viewer to digest- something every Star Trek should have. Indeed, while many opportunities were missed, some were seized brilliantly. Specifically, the fourth season featured some extremely intriguing episodes on a variety of issues. One of these issues was racial bigotry. While this is not a new approach for Star Trek, a particular argument within the episode “Home” strikes me as disturbingly relevant, even if it is quite disagreeable. Before becoming truly obnoxious, a bar patron confronts Reed, Mayweather and Phlox, shortly after the Enterprise returns from its mission in the Expanse. The loudmouth, obviously a hurt individual, questions the rationale of Starfleet’s mission. Was it a good idea to go galavanting about the galaxy, and to not only announce the existence of humanity, but to offer the coordinates for the home planet of the human species?

The Xindi attack on Earth, naturally, played a part in increasing xenophobia within the population, but while the argument may be biased, the man’s point of view is at least comprehensible. 

This week’s poll asks you to consider how you would approach the earliest organized Starfleet operations. Would you put forward a trusting hand, as Enterprise did, and risk having it swatted away, or worse, bringing about a tragedy, all the while hoping for the best? Or do you agree more with the bar patron’s perspective? Would you be more reserved with your expansion, judiciously choosing when and with whom to make contact, as the Vulcans advised? Give us your vote here, and let us know your thoughts and perspectives in the comments section below!