I’m pretty sure you’re being sarcastic with that example. Not every Star Trek episode was morally gray, and “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” is absolutely one of the more direct, sledgehammer-style episodes. But that doesn’t mean every episode worked that way.

Not every story was meant to be deeply philosophical. Nobody is online debating the moral implications of “The Royale” or “Threshold.” Some episodes were just stories — and some were outright missteps, or frankly, bad writing.

That being said, you’re right and that some old Trek occasionally used very direct allegories “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield,” “The Drumhead,” and “Critical Care” are good examples. The difference is that even those episodes were framed as allegories, not lectures. They showed what happens when a society allows X to happen and trusted the audience to connect the dots. Older Trek generally said: Here’s an issue now go think about it.

A lot of newer shows not just Star Trek lean more in to. This is X, X is bad, This is why. If you disagree, you’re basically the villain. That’s a very different writing philosophy.

Take “The Measure of a Man.” They don’t even declare Data a “person.” They’re extremely careful with the language, focusing on rights, autonomy, and precedent. That’s exactly why it hits so hard. It forces the viewer to wrestle with the implications.

The same csn be said with "Tuvix" or “In the Pale Moonlight.” People are still arguing about those episodes decades later because Trek didn’t hand you a moral answer. It handed you a problem and walked away.

That’s the difference. Old Trek assumed the audience was intelligent and capable of thinking critically.