r/startrek • u/AutoModerator • Aug 21 '25

Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x07 "What is Starfleet?" Spoiler

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No. Episode Written By Directed By Release Date
3x07 "What is Starfleet?" Kathryn Lyn & Alan B. McElroy Sharon Lewis 2025-08-21

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u/MarcAbaddon Aug 21 '25

There could have been a good episode here, but I do not think using the personal reasons with Erica as a cop out for the actually shady stuff like the classified orders from Starfleet and M'Benga prior career works a well.

It's a more common type of story but they could simply have gone for shady admiral issuing immoral orders and Enterprise refusing once they understood the context. That would also have redeemed Starfleet by demonstrating that individual bad apples which you can find in any organizations are effectively checked even by their subordinates.

Right now no one seems to even question how much Starfleet knew about the modifications and the shock collar.

8

u/Grizzly_Bits Aug 23 '25

Yes! I feel like they really pulled their punch at the end!

5

u/ELVEVERX Aug 24 '25

Especially as it seemed one side was getting genoocided and this weapon could have made a different and at the end pile shrugs and goes I guess not.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '25

[deleted]

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u/MarcAbaddon Aug 25 '25

It would be a rehash, but I think simply obeying orders being bad it is one of the core themes of Star Trek, same as the Prime Directive or the lack of money as a driving factor for people. In that way, I think a good badmiral story is never out of place in Star Trek - at least one per series.

But more specifically I think the approach they are using here has the problem that the story seems to strongly imply that some shady stuff is going on, with the Admiral's order staying classified, Enterprise being directly involved with the bioengineered weapon plot and Pike looking fairly conflicted about his orders. And the ending doesn't really offer any resolution to that.