Comment on Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Lower Decks | 5x10 "The New Next Generation"
data1701d@startrek.website 1 day ago
I feel like I’ve been pulled off Ketracel white cold turkey. So many good episodes. My ultimate conclusion is the best episode is probably season 3 finale, with season 4 finale very close behind.
The Rutherford thing was weird - they could have written in a bit more foreshadowing. I’m gonna tell myself it’s a way to make Eugene Cordero’s makeup easier for a live action film. 😉
andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 1 day ago
Overall, I think it was foreshadowed enough. In the first episode of the season, we see him having transitioned entirely to inorganic parts to fully bury his emotions, and in the end of this we see him deciding to go the other way. And I liked it.
I’m often a little critical of what seem like anti-transhumanist takes that assume organic parts are inherently superior, and mechanization is a defilement of god’s creation. But in this case, I didn’t feel like his choice was that. It felt like – and this is a complicated comparison, so follow me – an examination of what is often called “detransitioning”.
I say “often called” because I don’t think a transgender person adopting a prior gender presentation IS “detransitioning”. I think it’s just transitioning further. There’s a sort of irony, to me, in the taboo within trans-allyship toward transitioning back towards a prior gender expression, because bigots will always say that anyone who does so is proof that their transition was a mistake, and then claim that every transition is a mistake. I think this is ironic, because I celebrate anyone living their truth, and truths are complicated, and they change as we change.
Which is to say that I like cyborg Rutherford. And I also like non-cyborg Rutherford. And if Rutherford got cybernetics again or got biopunk mods, I think I’d like that Rutherford too.
I hope we do get to see more of all these characters.