| Review : |
This was a science fiction story about scientific conflict. Gegan's trial really made me think of Galileo's struggle to get the heliocentric solar system accepted (the Pope apologized in 1993) or Darwin's struggle to get evolution accepted (still ongoing in places). People like Minister Odala are very close to the types who refused to look through Galileo's telescope to see for themselves. From the late 1990s understanding of evolution, the writers got fairly close to accuracy. The hologram was actually a Gorganops, a synapsid mammal-like-reptile, not a 'crocomander' amphibian like the Eryops - which look rather like the salamanders in "Threshold". Both species were Permian, not Devonian. Current theories suggest that Dinosaurs were endothermic, but that was not widely accepted in the '90s, but they also suggest that Eryops was not related to Mammals OR Dinosaurs. Bad luck writers, but science always moves on. Still, the exothermic Voth looked absolutely right for a possible advanced Dinosaur as viewed through '90s eyes. It was also odd to see their view of mammals from the opposite side of the fence. All-in-all, I enjoyed this one. |
| Review : |
It’s amazing how Star Trek at its best holds up a mirror to our society, showing the evils both of anti-scientific ideological rejectionism and “thought policing” in the service of totalitarianism. Very few episodes of Voyager, or any other part of the Star Trek franchise, do so as well as “Distant Origin.” It’s both magnificent and chilling. I do wonder if such an episode could be made today. Given the “political correctness” that seems to suffuse the current, dismal incarnation of Star Trek, I can neither imagine the chief villain of the Voth being female nor any of the male characters being depicted in a positive way. How far we've regressed in the 22 years since this episode’s creation. |
