SOREN: On our world these feelings are forbidden. Those who are discovered are shamed and ridiculed, and only by undergoing psychotectic therapy and having all elements of gender eliminated can they become accepted into society again. Those of us who have these urges live secret and guarded lives. We seek each other out, always hiding, always terrified of being discovered.
Like I said, this episode is a minefield and must only be approached while wearing a bomb suit and having a few redshirts on hand to use as guinea pigs. So lets step away from the message the episode is shoving at us and look at another angle. If sexual and romantic feelings are forbidden, what do these people base marriages on? They clearly couldn't take the Vulcan approach, so what else is there? The system used in The Giver?
SOREN: One of my favourites is this menellen tree. The leaves first turn pure white, and then blue, when the weather gets cold. This is called a falla bush. It produces a fragrant flower on only one day of the year.
(and finally they get down to the real purpose of the walk, with Riker trying to eat her tonsils)
Yuck, Chakoteya. Yuck.
SOREN: I am tired of lies. I am female. I was born that way. I have had those feelings, those longings, all of my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped. I do not need to be cured. What I need, and what all of those who are like me need, is your understanding and your compassion. We have not injured you in any way. And yet, we are scorned and attacked. And all because we are different. What we do is no different from what you do. We talk and laugh. We complain about work and we wonder about growing old. We talk about our families, and we worry about the future. And we cry with each other when things seem hopeless. All of the loving things that you do with each other, that is what we do. And for that we are called misfits and deviants and criminals. What right do you have to punish us? What right do you have to change us? What makes you think you can dictate how people love each other?
Part of this speech ended up in the "
Inspirational Speeches of Trek" video. As with so many "message shows" I can't argue with the intent, but I do argue with the execution of the message. Voyager in particular tried to shoehorn "message speeches" into too many episodes.
As Q once said, this is sheer arrogance. One thing about TOS that only now occurs to me is that Kirk is even more tolerant than I already thought. He never made speeches to be self-righteous (I'm looking at you, Janeway), he made speeches because he honestly wanted to help, and usually because the locals forced him to take a side.
TLDR; I don't like being whacked over the head with a clue-by-four. Never have, never will.
RIKER: Did it occur to you that she might like to stay the way she is?
NOOR: You don't understand. We have a very high success rate in treating deviants like this. And without exception, they become happier people after their treatment, and grateful that we care enough to cure them. You see, Commander, on this world, everyone wants to be normal.
Oh, the arrogance. The daily pill of The Giver springs to mind. Kirk would have a field day with these people. If people are forced to be "normal", then "normal" loses all meaning.
RIKER: There has to be. My relationship with Soren is not trivial. She's very important to me. It's my fault that this happened.
Not trivial? You had sex once, if that! You've known each other a matter of weeks! And furthermore, it's not your fault because she propositioned you!
The Fiver
J'naii: So our shuttle's in a... black hole?
Riker: No no no, nothing like that... well, yes.
It's not a black hole, and Wade missed out on a better joke. At least make reference to washing machines eating socks or something.
Soren: In my species, we don't have any specialized organs like your genders do.
Riker: So you don't have a basis for comparison?
Soren: That would be correct.
Riker: Well, let me tell you....
Is Riker that insecure about the size of his manhood? Meaningless aside, but in the novel "Imzadi" when he attended a Betazoid wedding and reluctantly stripped to fit in, the woman next to him reassured him that he had nothing to be ashamed of.
Riker: Geordi, do you have a... a BEARD?
Geordi's beard was an on-and-off thing in TNG. I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time he's had one.
Riker: I remember Argyle from such episodes as "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "Datalore." Anyways, there can only be one bearded officer on the Enterprise at a time. Regs.
This is a weak joke. Argyle was also in "Lonely Among Us" and the remastered version had a Okudagram easter egg in "Galaxy's Child". Wil Wheaton revealed that the studio asked people to write in requests for him to be a regular before Argyle had even appeared on screen. The novels revealed that he shared the role of Chief Engineer with MacDougal during the Enterprise's construction. The novels have three different accounts of how he died, and one said that his first name was Michael. The comics had a fourth death story and the first name "Terrence." Neither first name really seems to fit this guy.
Data: Sob....
Worf: What is wrong, Commander?
Data: I do not have any lines in this episode. I am useless. Useless: unneeded, ineffectual, wasted. Wasted: spoiled, shattered....
Worf: If you were any other man I would kill you where you stand!
Nice joke, but Data doesn't sob.
Picard: Maybe I can go down there and speechify on Soren's behalf.
Riker: No good. She speechified and they didn't listen.
Picard: They resisted speechifing? Those monsters!
Egads!
Riker: Well I'm going down there to do something or whatever.
Picard: But you'll be in violation of the Prime Directive.
Riker: Doesn't that just apply to pre-warp cultures?
Picard: Will, please, I think I know a little about the Prime Directive.
At this point the Prime Directive seems to cover all non-Federation worlds, so this joke doesn't work.
Memory Alpha
* By this point the creative staff had been basically forced into a corner by demands that they cover homosexuality.
* Unlike "The Masterpiece Society" or "Ethics" the staff didn't see a way to portray an alternate viewpoint. I think it would be easy: have a second J'naii character on screen who doesn't have these feelings.
* Rick Berman was against Riker kissing a male actor, even though Frakes had no problem with it.
* This episode was the first that had Geordi with a beard. The producers didn't like it. He would have one again during "Fistful of Datas" and "Quality of Life" because of his wedding.
* First appearance of a shuttle with weapons in NextGen.
* Memory Alpha has trouble reconciling Worf's statement here with the time in "Angel One" where he said Klingons like strong women. I have less trouble. You can want women to be strong while still maintaining separate and equal roles.
* The homosexual community didn't like that the word "homosexuality" wasn't even used. Others thought this was a weaselly way to get out of doing a more overt episode on the subject.
Nitpicker's Guide
* Shouldn't Picard have done more to stop Riker? He raked Worf over the coals in "Reunion" even though Worf was following Klingon custom!
* This time Phil did the stardate calculations. Twelve days have passed since "Ethics" and not only is Worf fully recovered but Geordi grew a full beard!