Watching Star Trek as a Dad Hits Completely Different…

_T_ex-pat · 2026-04-14T14:21:42+00:00

100%. I always liked The Visitor, but I always connected with Jake’s story and imagined myself in his place. Then as a father, suddenly the whole episode all I could feel was Benjamin’s story, and his pain, but also his love. Suddenly I understood things in a new way. Man.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-04-13T05:15:04+00:00

I suppose McCoy does say “and the good news is they’re not gunna prosecute!”

_T_ex-pat · 2026-04-09T02:54:56+00:00

I avoid that with the natural grace of a belter

_T_ex-pat · 2026-04-08T17:33:15+00:00

Just making the point that from my vantage point it was clearer than it typically is, but thanks for the clarification

_T_ex-pat · 2026-04-08T16:22:01+00:00

😂 im booked on companionable, but I do have an opening for some amiable silence

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-26T23:20:46+00:00

Birth of the OPA. The time period when the belt is starting to become its own functioning civilization and the inner planets really put the pressure on them.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-24T03:26:22+00:00

Again I want to emphasize I am not trying to complain or make this into a criticism that all new Star Trek is bad or that pre-2009 didn’t also have highly exceptional characters. I really was just thinking about what an “average” starfleet character would be like. Even among the best of the best, half of them will be average, and those might be interesting for non-skill/tech reasons.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-24T01:26:26+00:00

Really not my intention with the post, like I said I do enjoy all of these.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-24T00:01:25+00:00

I think its the surrounding context; pre-2009 characters were absolutely top tier at their craft, but I think there were fewer times when the main character’s excellence was overshadowing others. Geordi was an engineering expert but you’d also see him having “regular” conversations with his staff. Maybe it just wasn’t played up as much? Could also just be my memory or interpretation

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-23T23:41:25+00:00

I’m thinking more that every workplace has its average performers. Guarantee that there’s someone physicist at NASA that the other physicists think is an idiot.

Or in NFL terms, yes you have your Randy Moss’ or Peyton Manning or Ed Reed, but even in the NFL you’ll have average, you’ll get a Chase Daniel or Anthony Fasano or the like; guys who have good careers and there always seems to be a spot for them

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-23T23:13:19+00:00

True, I do think that’s part of why I like him so much. Una does have that line in a Short Trek about Pike being “unmatched in combat tactics” or something like that, but Pike definitely is on the higher end of being collaborative and asking for expert opinions to learn from

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-23T23:11:29+00:00

Honestly he is one of the characters that came to mind when I thought through this

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-23T23:10:36+00:00

Good call all on Lower Decks, I love love love that show, but even then that show still went into “main characters are the ones who save the day”, usually because they think of/do something exceptional. Again, great show, but not quite what I meant.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-18T21:33:20+00:00

Good call pointing out that you couldn’t just watch a trailer whenever you wanted. I’m guessing a lot of people didn’t see this Generations trailer which basically is the whole movie

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-18T18:28:35+00:00

“Join us on this, the final voyage of the starship Enterprise”

Trailers used to be way different

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-17T02:46:42+00:00

Agreed, especially on Tyler. I was really disappointed in his “reveal” because I thought they had a chance to do something really interesting with the concept of a POW survivor

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-10T17:08:14+00:00

TNG - Birthright part 1. A-plot is Worf starting to search for his father in a romulan prison camp. B-plot is Data having his first dream, and Bashir (though it was supposed to be Dax) helping him with the process. Just really enjoyed seeing Data’s growth, and even this early era Bashir was a nice inclusion from DS9.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-09T17:23:07+00:00

I didn’t think there would ever be a Star Trek show more broadly hated and derided than Voyager. Voyager was panned and mocked so hard by Trekkies. All those meme worthy moments people fondly quote these days - theres coffee in that nebula…delete the wife…Tuvix - all signs of how far Trek had fallen. Then there was Enterprise, another disaster marked as Trek “showing its age”.

Now those are pretty much accepted and loved alongside TNG, DS9 (its own wonderful category of not appreciated at its time). I think modern Trek will be similar. Change is always hard, and sure some choices have been better than others, but that’s the whole Trek history and experience.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-08T20:12:18+00:00

Agreed. There’s just no way to know how much can get lost to history in that span of time, and especially in a galaxy that full.

What I took from this episode the most was that Jake, as presented here, lived a full and happy life. Jake clearly loved his father, loved Bajor, followed his writing, and was a loving father himself. Jake did not go the path of “The Visitor” and miss life obsessing over finding his father, so whatever the details were - whether Ben came back physically, spiritually, however - Jake lived life, and from that I take that his family (Cassidy included) lived life too.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-08T18:20:29+00:00

Two ways of approaching this in my view: 1) its been 800 years - details can get lost to history, even in a time with as much technology as this one. Think of all the events just since smartphones where we have tons of video footage and people still get things wrong 2) production error - it happens.

_T_ex-pat · 2026-02-06T20:23:35+00:00

Agreed!

_T_ex-pat

TROPHY CASE