“I wonder who it’s from?!”

they’ve never given enough thought to Star Trek to consider that some random Tumblr screen grab isn’t accurate.

I don’t know if it’s perfectly captioned, but I clearly remember that moment in DS9 when Dax’s old war buddy reacts to her gender and name change with a repeated big hug and corrected name…so… I’m not sure what we’re getting at here?

how Kor treated Jadzia Dax.

For anyone who wasn’t there, this moment was revolutionary, at the time.

“What should I even say if my friend comes out to me as Transgender?!” wasn’t something everyone knew an answer to.

Having any character (Klingon or otherwise) handle learning that their friend’s gender has changed, and react in a healthy way, on screen, on prime time television, was an important positive moment for a lot of clueless future-ally scifi fans.

The single ship thing is annoying and stupid - except, of course, when…

Haven’t seen season 3

Uhhhh… Just so you know, most of us consider Season 3 the good one.

I enjoyed all three, but S3 was particularly a beautiful love letter to TNG.

Your assertion that any sci-fi at all isn’t political is a particularly bold one.

But it’s a fascinating thought, so I’m going on an unrequested quest:

Here’s my attempt at “let’s name a hard science fiction that isn’t making a political statement”.

Perhaps…

• “Frankenstein” is about grave robbing and biology horror and in no way an analogy for mistreatment of neurodivergent individuals.
• “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” is about a cool submarine and not about an ultra rich man’s extreme rejection of modern societal norms bending the world of those around him.
• “The Martian” was about the cold hard science of a man surviving on Mars, and not all about humanity briefly overcoming our national rivalries to do the human thing and being one person home safely.
• “The Robot” is just about a time traveling robot, and not a sad prediction of mankind’s likelihood to erradicate ourselves leaving only our automation to remember us by.
• “Bicentenial Man” is about robotics advances and has nothing to do with marginalized people fighting to have their human rights acknowledged.
• “The Expanse” is just about how dangerous space is, and not at all about how humanity tends to break off into adversarial groups.
• “Snow piercer” is about a cool train in the cold.

Okay, now I’m not even trying anymore, lol. (Snow piercer is blatantly deeply political, no matter how much I love the cool science train.)

I’m coming up short, arguing myself out of my best ideas, so far.

Hang on, I’ve got two:

• “Around the world in 80 days” is arguably at least slightly more about globe trotting and less about putting up with a rich employer’s bullshit.
• “Journey to the Center of the Earth” is mostly about cool caves and dinosaurs?!

I should reread these two, but I don’t remember many political messages.

(Edit. I bet someone is going to point out the political messages I missed in 80 Days and Journey. Considering how political I remember 20,000 Leagues being, I wonder if I just misremember the other two…)

So yeah, taken independently it’s a better relationship image than most relationships in most shows, but in the context it’s pretty horrible.

Absolutely. I think a lot of the audience realize that if they weren’t a gay couple, we would see them with their shirts off together at every opportunity.

The silver lining is that the actors are so attractive and doing such a beautiful and convincing job, that the omission makes the show runners look prudish and silly.

Section 31 is pretty badass, right?

I have to say, I hated that. It feels like C suite “promote our upcoming show” meddling, to me.

“When I have a problem that phasers can’t solve, I just kiss a beautiful alien. Then suddenly, I have a completely different problem!” - Jason Tiberius Kirk

Edit: I may have drifted into the Kelvin timeline…

but the most the gay couple gets is sitting next to each other, brushing teeth and a small kiss

While you’re absolutely right, I think the record should show that tooth brushing scene is one of the sexiest scenes in television history. Those two have some serious on-screen chemistry.

The only issue disco has ever actually had is their serialized episodes.

And not spending enough on light bulbs in some episodes. I wondered if my TV was broken, at one point. Lol.

This is perfect. Thank you for this.