Star Trek Retro Review: "Symbiosis" | Labor Episodes

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#startrek #startrekthenextgeneration #startrektng #review #labor #laborrights #workers #workersrights

[@TV4Fun2]

Fun fact, Merritt Butrick, who played David Marcus and T'Jon in this episode, had AIDS and couldn't afford health insurance. They gave him this role to try and help him out with some money so he could actually afford healthcare. He died less than a year after filming this episode, at the age of 29.

[@KevinMooretoons]

The stories one hears about actors getting bit parts just so they can get health care are always effed up. When Angela Lansbury died last year, it was frequently noted that she got Golden Age Hollywood film stars roles on Murder She Wrote so they could still get SAG points for medical coverage. If only there was some kind of, I dunno, national health care system universally available so a person's employment status didn't determine if they could get treated for cancer or some shit.

[@johnhall3570]

Not exactly my definition of a “Fun Fact”, but interesting all the same.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh shit, that's so sad. What the heck

[@kevinkeeney9418]

@@johnhall3570 And relevant to Steve's point.

[@harrybehemoth2751]

Not that fun.

[@alissapyrich1891]

Great re-interpretation. Warms my bleak, shriveled Gen X heart. Workers of the world unite.

[@itsOasus]

You forgot the last part of that George Carlin bit. "The Poor are there just to scare the shit outta the middle class. Keep em showin up at those JOBS!"

[@OpinionsNoOneCaresAbout]

Which explains why the Brekkians couldn't fight off the Breen later. Sorry, should I not be making Lower Decks references?

[@BongoSeason]

It reminds me that I need to watch that still, so it has served a purpose today.

[@Malrottian]

Steve will despise you, but a lot of the rest of us love it.

[@formlessone8246]

Two years before the Lower Decks episode was made, Ross Scott made a video about this episode ("Symbiosis: a Star Trek Apocalypse" if you want to look it up), and his video was less a review and more about how much of the real story was left untold. He called it: because Picard saved the shipment of drugs, he interfered whether he wanted to or not. The addicts had one last shipment to carefully dole out to delay withdrawal not knowing they were going to live, but with the potential hope that society will survive in a transformed state. The planet of pill pushers on the other hand... Ross also noticed they fit the bill as rich billionaire stand-ins and pointed out that they have no useful skills beyond making this one drug. No other industries, and no understanding in the episode of what it will mean for them in the long run to be cut off from their labor force. They were screwed. They probably tried going to the Green or something to try and get the help the Federation refused them, and got smashed when their deceptive tactics didn't go so well on a superior civilization. It's a cool video. You should check it out.

[@Malrottian]

I always found the title of the episode to be one of the best things about it. It's a good misdirect. 'Parasite' would have made it a paper-thin episode.

[@fariesz6786]

to be fair, in common language we understand "symbiosis" to mean something different than what it means in biology. the latter (usually) uses a more literal interpretation: together-living, as in, any system where two groups of organisms meaningfully interact. "mutualism" - the case they mutually benefit from each other - is the biological term for what we usually understand as "symbiosis." meanwhile parasitism is in biological lingo just one form of symbiosis, as are commensialism or food competition.

[@GeeVanderplas]

Symbiosis is any of three types of interaction between two organisms, parasitism (one benefits, the other suffers), commensalism (one benefits, the other is neutral), mutualism (both benefit). So while colloquially the term symbiosis is used to denote the latter, it is technically correct in this case.

[@elisekehle8520]

This is like the one time Tasha gets to be competent and do her job well, not being forced to be an incompetent damsel in distress by the writing!

[@Gzeebo]

I love how the felicium is lentils.

[@baileyalanamartel2406]

I came here to say this :)

[@DavidNash1948]

An amazing thing, that "Prime Directive". Somehow it always lets you do what you really want to do, and with the best excuse in the Quadrant. - - "I was only following (General) Orders (#1)."

[@CliffCutterActual]

People say that Tasha's drug speech is awkward somehow, but as someone who was addicted party drugs for awhile I find it to be a surprisingly honest description

[@ariadnavigo]

Steve... you're not alone! I've always read this episode as centered on exploitation *via* drugs, but the latter not really being the main theme (despite the blatant D.A.R.E scene between Tasha and Wesley... oh, the 80s). Maybe I never thought of it from a labor POV per se, but as a metaphor for cultural submission in a way that the US has done to Central America, for example. But the labor angle is nice too! Exploitation comes in many forms and this episode reminds us to beware of it encroaching upon our freedoms. Great episode! Love from Spain!

[@creativerealms]

Honestly if Tasha was speaking from experience, that she used drugs because of the failed colony when grew up in that scene might have been better.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@creativerealms tbh that's always exactly how I interpreted that scene! And honestly that's even more tragic, cos it'd be childhood usage because of how awful the planet is. Definitely far more interesting than her just looking-down on behaviour she saw others engage-in on the planet.

[@TrueYellowDart]

I’m sure there’s fanfic out there but my head canon is that the addicted society endures the withdrawal and, since they’re the ones with the massive skill set amongst their population, rapidly advance their society and leave the dealers in the dust, either as vassal state or maybe just leaving them as an isolated rock in space.

[@julietardos5044]

100% All the Brekkians know how to do is grow and process the drug. They would be at the Onarans' mercy after the Onarans sober up. The Onarans would probably end up in a Renaissance-like explosion of technology, science, and art, while the Brekkians would starve, many would die, and they'd have to scramble back up from scratch.

[@fisheyenomiko]

That's kind of what happened with the Kelpians in "Disco"... (-:

[@DanielleSalerno831]

OK if anyone knows of any goof fanfic regarding what could happen to these two societies after the events of this episode, please share! I think that sounds super interesting!

[@kaitlyn__L]

In this case your headcanon exactly agrees with official canon :)

[@mr.bojangles6111]

There's probably fanfic, of course, but this follow-up was covered in Lower Decks in the episode "Trusted Sources." The Brekkans were doing pretty well once they got over the withdrawal - running marathons and everything! The Onarans, not so much (though there was a mitigating circumstance in the episode beyond their control...)

[@sunchaser32]

I think this episode is really prophetic. This came out like 88 or so, 7 or 8 years before Oxy-contin. So a company knowingly produces a drug hat had the original use of helping people but was so addictive that they were able to make fortunes worth of money off of the people who became addicted. Once they knew they continued business as usual letting people suffer so they could continue to prosper. And to think when I watched this episode as a child I thought how could the Onarans let themselves be fooled, that seems impossible...

[@bobmathis-friedman6742]

I was actually discussing a recent Strange New Worlds episode dealing with similar issues, and...recalling "Symbiosis"...marked it as a drug-related metaphor(but reversed, themtically), but the guys I discussed it with didn't see it. It's good that you've posted this analysis, to help connect the dots for them.

[@MarcSGA]

I liked the Lower Decks revisit which was about the risks of automation so uh… I guess it was also a labour rights thing? Poor Ornara, indirectly involved in weird plots that are tangentially about labour that were kind of the low points of their individual series.

[@SamAlexander1]

They filmed an episode of Reading Rainbow during the filming of Symbiosis. It's on KZbin somewhere, but I have it on VHS, recorded it when it originally aired in the 80s. Some good classic Trek actors in this episode.

[@sirB0nes]

I had a feeling this episode would be TNG's entry in this set of reviews (another candidate being "The Quality of Life"). But I'm not so sure that the labor angle was completely unintended by the writers of the episode: it's right there; even watching the episode as a kid, I remember thinking that. Maybe it just feels subtle in comparison to the Just Say No angle.

[@marcusmohr9827]

Thanks

[@Bethos1247-Arne]

I remember watching this episode in the original run and despite the "just say no scene" I liked it and found the solution quite clever. Never saw it as worker's rights episode but ot does make sense. Even if the makers never intended it, once the artist released his art, everyone is allowed to interpret. The artist's intention become just his opinion or own meaning. This is Steve Shives back to his form, adding insightful commentary to classic trek. (It is so weird that TNG, which was the NEW trek back then, is now a classic.)

[@thegreenmanofnorwich]

"Parasitic" is my preferred description than exploitative. I kind of liked the description that addicted people eventually need their poison of choice just to feel the way that they did before starting. The dialogue may be a bit clunky, but it's not a bad point.

[@kjodleken8810]

*zooms in* Ah, yes. Felicium. Otherwise known as red lentils.

[@DanielleSalerno831]

Talk about hitting the target by missing the mark, lol. I always find these episodes interesting, where it is clear what they are going for, and even though they dont quite succeed, they kinda sorta manage to hit a different target, unwittingly. I feel like there is a similar thing going on with the TNG Season 5 episode, The Outcast (controversial episode, but they went for gay allegory and ended up with more of a trans/NB allegory, even if the ending ruined it). Always interesting! Thanks

[@seraphonica]

"you think that's a threat? he can't even grow proper facial hair!" and that's when Riker decided to prove him wrong.

[@CaptainAndy]

It’s one of those episodes that really hammers home the Utopianism of ‘Star Trek’ by inventing alien cultures to embody problems that exist in the present day real world.

[@slayerstenis]

Don't work for drugs! Join the Federation and you get them for free!

[@slayerstenis]

@@john.premose Everybody in the Federation is on drugs just as it is establish in that first Star Trek pilot: The Bong

[@tbeller80]

Thank you Uncle Billy!

[@dano8902]

Given the rabid anti-union sentiment that was being advanced by the right during the Reagan administration, and continues to this day, one has to wonder if the simplistic labor message eclipsed by the "don't do drugs" one was intentional. Might have been the only way to slip it past the studio execs? Just a thought.

[@AnonymousAnarchist2]

It was. Star Trek was always an excuse to slip awareness of class warfare into the zeitgist.

[@seandobbins2231]

​@john.premose let's keep in mind that how the planet became United Earth involved another world war that caused a post atomic horror, a significant percentage of the world population died, the world economy mostly collapsed, all the lawyers were killed, resulting in a justice system without representation or jury, and the world's military became controlled by drugs, all of which took decades to fix. And that's not even including the Eugenics Wars or Bell Riots. Can we reach the sort of peace depicted in Star Trek? Sure, I don't think that's ever been a question. The question has been what's it going to cost us to obtain it? The best answer is hopefully with a lot less bloodshed.

[@nataschavisser573]

Love how the Breckians look like 1970s disco singers.

[@alanpennie8013]

Disco sucks in the world of TNG.

[@patrickdodds7162]

God help me, I love TNG season 1. It wore its heart on its sleeve and despite the goofiness and sometimes hardcore wrongheadedness (hello, "Code of Honor"!) it comes off as imaginative, alive and PASSIONATE. I'll put up with all the old school preachy Trek (which I honestly miss), than TNG's limp, passionless and sterile seventh season.

[@TheFranchiseCA]

I appreciate someone being willing to openly vouch for TNG S1. I don't completely agree, but the more I think about it the less I disagree.

[@benstutley2904]

Hi Steve, just a quick thanks and appreciation for the spoiler warnings :) - I know It's my own fault- I've had plenty of time to catch up! but you're definitely saving me from some panic pause moments :) Love your work, all the Best Dude! :)

[@camortie]

Steve I know that you are not fond of the series but you could have mentioned that lower decks did return to breca and onara towards the end of season 3, where they found that onara was a thriving afiction free society and breca had become a target of the breen.

[@jancecharlesaustin3733]

I loved this episode. I first saw it while I was way strung out. It was part of why I sought treatment actually. That and the character Regis from The Witcher series 😂

[@erf3176]

A monopoly on alcohol by the state has been a thing in many societies. The state controlled beer production as far back as Ancient Egypt. Often this control is just because it is a profitable product. But there are examples like Imperial Russia where vodka production was controlled by the government to dull the workers. Make them too drunk, violent, disfunctional and stupid to challenge the state.

[@kaitlyn__L]

The rum ration was to keep sailors in line too, especially when you consider alcohol withdrawals can directly kill a person. That's basically ketracel-white levels of fucked-up. But also no wonder so many crews mutinied and became pirates, so they could run the ship democratically and have equal access to the booze. In that historical-parallel way, I'm glad we saw more than one Jem'Hadar rebellion in more than one way.

[@georgelionon9050]

@@kaitlyn__L However note, that "grog" what the sailors had was basically the source of fresh water, it was much more watered down than "rum" we know today and the alcohol was kept in there to keep it from fouling. IMO here this doesnt work out fully, the grog didn't keep them on drugs on purpose, but the amount of water (grog) was limited for a ship and a crucial resource to get the whole crew to the destination.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Russia continued the Vodka policy during the soviet era to this day.

[@Stephen5000]

I’ve been trying to think of what are good Labor-related episodes of Star Trek. I thought Steve was only going to do 1 episode of TNG, so I was wondering why he was doing this episode over Quality of Life, but happily I was mistaken. For DS9, the obvious choice is Bar Association, but I think Profit and Lace could also work (not that anyone would use that episode) Looking at Voyager - their 7th season had a surprising number of work-related episodes: the obvious is Workforce, but there is also Critical Care, about a medical workplace, and Author, Author - which is appropriate to the current strike

[@julietardos5044]

Critical Care is one of my favorite Voyager episodes. It's got politics, it's got humor, it's got mystery, it's got Gregory Itzin.

[@DanielleSalerno831]

I always forget about Critical Care, but I love that episode and I think it's an example of when Voyager can really work!

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@julietardos5044 I love the way Picardo relishes the Doctor's revenge scene in _Critical Care_

[@julietardos5044]

@@kaitlyn__L Yeah. Different attitude, but some similarities with Data in The Most Toys when he starts to shoot Fajo (or however you spell it).

[@JonSonOfJoe]

This episode always hits me weird when I watch it. Picard's choice to leave without assisting with the withdrawal symptoms kinda feels like the conservative mindset of "helping yourself" out of tough situations without assistance or bootstrap pulling through addiction. It just rubs me the wrong way.

[@DoctorProph3t]

It’s not like they’re given the equal choice of helping or not, the prime directive and other factors left them with not much choice.

[@tbeller80]

@@DoctorProph3t the problem is that Picard didn't really pull out his PD card until the moral outrage became a factor. Prior to learning about the exploitation he was willing to repair their ships. It's only when he needs some way to screw the drug dealers does he go back on a decision he already agreed to in the name of the Prime Directive. SFDebris has made this point numerous times that if Picard and the gang adhered to the PD as strictly as its written, they should never have saved the people on the ship in the first place. The ship going down in flames and both planets needing to figure out their next move would be their "natural development."

[@alanpennie8013]

Yeah. Picard is just being callous and uncaring and using The PD as justification.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

I wonder how the other planet will survive without delivery of everything? Would they even be capable to feed themselfs? It's a mutual dependency after all.

[@empatheticrambo4890]

“The Game” is also a drug TNG episode. Love that one simply because it was the first TNG episode I ever saw thanks to random cable viewing one day

[@darth-imperius]

I'm with Beverly on this one. This is when Picard made me hate the prime directive.

[@njb1126]

Interstellar love boat… you know captain Picard does look a bit like captain stubing

[@fariesz6786]

i like the take, but i think what enables that take is also what makes this episode one of the better anti-drug shows from that period overall: they focus more on the social and economic mechanics, instead of giving us the typical young kid gets tempted, encounters horrible consequences / person who has been ruined by drugs, realises he (it was usually a he) can "just say no." also Tasha's comment is not unimportant bc she's a person of authority who _is_ a functional and successful member of the establishment reminding us that things aren't as simple as just saying no (and afaik she's not reined in by a more authoritative figure but i don't remember for certain) not saying it's a great anti-drug episode. it's first season TNG, it's an anti-drug episode from the 80s.. but taking those into account, it's better than many other shows that were just glorified unreflected PSAs.

[@joearnold6881]

As a socialist and a former long term opiate addict, yeah it’s def better as a workers’ rights allegory… tho the causes of the opiate crisis in particular do fit

[@kaitlyn__L]

I do wish Picard had allowed Crusher to give them some stuff to help with the withdrawals... Especially since their later appearance said the planet was basically in withdrawals for YEARS before they felt normal again. It's breezed-over in the episode in question but that's pretty heavy!

[@allanolley4874]

@@kaitlyn__L Note actual withdrawal from real drugs can be deadly in some cases, so given the apparent power of the drug it seems credible that some died without means to moderate withdrawal symptoms.

[@DawnDavidson]

@@kaitlyn__LYeah, pretty cruel, but also on brand for the Reagan era.

[@johnpotts8308]

I always remember this for being a "Why the Prime Directive Works" episode - though probably that's because, being in Season 1, Gene was still in charge and therefore, of course the Prime Directive works. Did like Picard pointing out how the drug pushers liked the PD just fine when it meant he couldn't tell the addicts their scam but not when it meant the Feds wouldn't be transporting the drugs for them either.

[@williamblakehall5566]

An interesting thorn in the Federation's side might be a race which combines Brekka (this episode) with Ardana from the ST:TOS episode "The Cloud Minders." That is to say, the aristocracy keeps repressing its working class AND gets rich by acting as a "pusher" to at least one other world. They might keep bugging the Federation with "We are worthy of the Federation, we have achieved so much!" only for the Federation to reply "Who cares? The price you ask is too horrible."

[@firehawk128]

At least the Cerritos followed up 20 years later!

[@bezzie9]

This was a missed opportunity to use lower deck clips. "And then he left." lol

[@bonnieechmalian2158]

Hi Steve. Maybe you could make a series of videos about individual characters, like a Riker video, a Spock video, etc. Just a suggestion. I enjoy watching your Star Trek videos!

[@kurathchibicrystalkitty5146]

I'd forgotten how much the Prime Directive is used as a reason not to do helpful and/or plot-solving things, especially in early TNG.

[@alanpennie8013]

It's extremely frustrating. The only thing The PD should inhibit is transfer of warp technology, though I can see scope for slippage in what is to count as warp tech.

[@stepheng1523]

They made her shoot an episode AFTER they killed her off? That's cold

[@julietardos5044]

She asked to leave.

[@simonpeteradkins]

​@@julietardos5044Asking to leave is different from asking for your character to be killed off. And this is something the Trek had problems with women asking for a break. Michelle Nichols was replaced in "The Doomsday Machine" as a threat; Denise Crosby's and Terry Farrell's characters were killed. Meanwhile, George Takei was able to come back from *The Green Berets* despite delays.

[@savagegardenrox]

Do you suppose the CIA saw this episode and felt a little too... seen?

[@nathanaelrobinson4831]

***Medical ethics!*** In this episode, a doctor withholds diagnoses from her patients, but consults both her boss and the people who prescribed and supply medication to her patients. The Prime Directive is a weak excuse for a system that will maintain their illness based on the idea that they are too primitive. ETA: let's not forget that this episode came out when the Reagan administration was dithering on AIDS research, in order to appease conservative allies, and was actively defaulting on payments to the World Health Organization.

[@julietardos5044]

Merritt Butrick had AIDS while filming this and died from it less than a year later. IMHO, Picard used the PD as an excuse to break the parasitic relationship between the planets. I don't think it actually applies here.

[@tbeller80]

Also, Picard and Crusher never mention the Prime Directive to the drug addicts, only to the suppliers. The latter think they're going to get away with murder until the last minute when Picard says "fine, I'll use the PD on both of you and not fix the ships and screw you both."

[@gkarenko9593]

It fit his just say no to drugs message. It is easier to say no if there are no drugs for anything.

[@fisheyenomiko]

I've never seen this episode; was that Tasha's actual explanation for why people use drugs? Cuz if so, that's a hell of a lot more progressive and sympathetic than how a lot of contemporary media talked about drugs.

[@formlessone8246]

They go a step further and explain that she came from a war torn colony where r*** gangs roam looking for victims... She knows why people do drugs because she has personally seen people escape into addiction. They visit her home planet later in the show, and while they couldn't show all the things she talked about, it's pretty hellish.

[@jmarquiso]

Dont forget the Opium Wars

[@ProgressiveRoxx]

I think a closer real world analogy would be that of the Opiod epidemic. After all both treatments were originally taken for legitimate medical reasons, in both cases the addictive properties were obfuscated or downright lied about and in both cases the people who knowingly addicted an entire group of sick people to a drug they produced for their own financial benefit pretty much got away with it.

[@sunchaser32]

Saw this after I posted. Totally agree.

[@shawnholbrook7278]

Reminds me of some of the old Sci-Fi I read. Here is a problem that we have, outlined in story form so you can hear it and see it. Now, what are you going to do about that? My God we need unions, no-one does charity or even fair labor practices any more. Accountability, please.

[@TheLittleMako]

I've been playing a lot of the Lancer TTRPG recently, and I've always found it useful to describe the galactic government in that setting, Union, as 'basically the Federation'. Revisiting this episode of TNG made it click to me that there's actually a key difference between the two - Union doesn't have the prime directive. If the events in this episode played out in Lancer, the Brekkians and Ornarans could expect a visit from Union's Department of Justice and Human Rights real soon. Someone could probably make the case that the Federation's "Utopia, but we're hands off about it" vs Union's "We are actively spreading utopia" says something about the eras in which each were written.

[@JoannaHancock-d1v]

This take was spot on! But Speaking of the prime directive episodes, I would love to get your take on the TNG episode "Homeward". That one rubbed me the wrong way because the way they pulled out and swung the prime directive around, rather clumsily, and it seemed forced and used to drive the plot and drama. Letting an entire people and culture die off under the guise of not interfering in the cultural development seemed rather heavy handed, especially in the way we have seen the prime directive ignored in other episodes.

[@thestreamingmeanie8931]

It could also be said that this episode comments on the way in which the upper class fuels the addictions of the working class by providing drugs, alcohol, etc and uses those addictions to demonize them afterwards.

[@allanolley4874]

Technically from the point of view of biological classification of life patterns parasitism is a form of symbiosis and the Brekkians relationship with Ornarians is certainly parasitic so it is technically correct.🤓 However I think clearly the title is meant to be ironic, their relationship looks symbiotic (in the sense of mutualism a mutually beneficial living arrangement), but is actually parasitic (one side benefits at the expense of other other), the episode title is an ironic description of that situation because symbiosis in ordinary language connotes mutualism. Note that capital/wealth/money role in labour is not quite nothing, or at least nothing in the same way Felicium does nothing. The money organizes the labour, a factory is built because workers hang out in the same area doing a thing the money/capital/investment is what lead to that coordination. The money can come from a private investor, or can be a public work (government project) or it can be funded by some collective of the workers (like a co-op). The other alternatives are some kind of collective voluntary effort with everyone pitching in for free and organizing themselves and a project done by dragooning in people at gun point and organizing via threat of force. Money is not nothing because if it were that would imply that spontaneous voluntary communal effort would be as easy or easier which does not seem to be the case and likewise that if you wanted to get people to do stuff at gun point there would be no need to like give marching orders, monitor progress and so on those would be nothing and so require no effort. This is not to say that capital is non-exploitative or a fair mutual exchange etc. Arguably it illustrates how powerful and in need of reigning in and control by popular governance such forces are. In a system where the money (company, capitalist etc.) organizes the labour the money decides which factory gets built which has both immediate and long term effects. Even should the means of production come under government or collective ownership etc. what comes under their ownership is the factory that was decided to be built by the money,. So the power of the money may not just unfairly or exploitatively enjoying the current fruits of production but influences (although not fully determining) what will be produced in the future.

[@allanolley4874]

I kind of like the "well Brekkians we're not going to tell the Ornarians what you've done but we are not going to help you keep doing it" resolution. Nice sort of riddle solution ending, I found it more or less satisfying. However on reflection and reading comments here I can see that the Prime Directive motivation is weak. Usually the PD really takes hold for worlds that are not yet interstellar. Here whether or not the notion is sound the idea is that merely informing aliens of the existence of aliens etc. may potentially transform or destroy the society, they will start worshipping them as gods etc. However they treat the Brekkians and Ornarians as interstellar species, so that does not apply. Offering basic medical aid and the like to non-allied but warp capable (interstellar) worlds is not seen as interference in most other episodes. The Ornarians are going to learn the truth about Felicium soon enough, the idea of a narcotic does not seem like it would be some total revelation to them and so on. There was no reason for Picard not to let Beverly tell the Ornarians the truth and distribute some methadone or the like. So the central conflict is uncompelling since it lacks much internal coherence and externally is likewise not very plausible/gripping.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@allanolley4874 it doesn't just evaporate once a society develops sufficient space-travel, communication, etc technology - it just switches to saying they can't interfere in internal politics rather than the wider "evolution of the species". Trade is allowed when it is considered that the culture can responsibly use the knowledge/supplies, and when it would not lend favour to one particular side in internal politics. The Federation can trade with the Klingon Empire, but it can't send supplies to one specific side during the Klingon Civil War. The Federation can send aid to Bajor to rebuild, but can't supply The Circle. Nor were they allowed to try and suppress The Circle (Sisko just disobeyed orders and the PD there). Even in Season 7 with Kespritt, the Federation Council thinks they can be responsible-enough to get mildly involved. But Riker and Picard see how delicate the balance of power is, and that they're not ready. It's a fuzzy line and there's certainly going to be disagreements between some captains, but it's worded vague enough to always be at the captain's discretion. In this particular case it's Picard's judgment that even rendering aid would help prop-up one side of the current arrangement and suppress the other, especially after he realises it will sooner or later end on its own while their assistance could keep it going for generations more. Essentially he _is_ picking a side, but using the PD as legal justification because it's the one which would've happened had they not been there that day.

[@allanolley4874]

​@@kaitlyn__L I didn't say it evaporated I said it really takes hold for non-warp capable worlds, as in it is still at work to a lesser degree for interstellar species. Also I didn't said the motivation from the prime directive was non-existence I said it was "weak" and everything in your interpretation seems consistent with that, its a judgement call and a lot of people would disagree with Picard's judgement. So I'm unclear what we disagree about.

[@Uncfunk]

After watching this episode, you'll never look at red lentils the same way again.

[@oke518]

I think the parallels can be drawn even a bit more if you look at Picard because of his position of power and the prime directive being laws he can be viewed as a pretty accurate portrayal of politicians oh we don't agree with how things are we don't agree and feel for all those in this bad situation and have the power to change things for the better but it's not our place"

[@brianoconnell6459]

Meanwhile, we're lorded over here by fear. How many here are one paycheck away from living on the streets? Look at the fentanyl crisis. Now you're facing homelessness with a zombifying drug in wide distribution facing you.

[@creativerealms]

I was trying to figure out what the labor episode of TNG was since DS9s and Voyager's is obvious. I guess this is the only episode that fits, no mater how loosly.

[@WFierce]

Man, the lengths some people will go to get some dried red lentils.

[@shawnholbrook7278]

Yup, I love good ol' America.

[@TraceyTra-kv1xe]

There are three forms of symbiotic relationships Both benifit One benefits and the other is not affected One benefits and the other suffers. So it is a symbiotic relationship, just not one of the two good ones

[@NWAWskeptic]

A subtle detail that bothered me when I saw it during its original airing is when Picard refuses to help them fix their ships, both planets people react in sad, pensive acceptance instead of a more realistic righteousness outrage. Angry at being left to certainly die in their minds while this advanced alien ship just lets it happen. While their anger would be pretty impotent as any real threat, at least have them both tell Picard he is a cruel jerk and threaten him to never show his face on either planet. At least have Picard pay some price for his decision.

[@FoldinBoxes]

Hey Steve, minor request. Can you add something like "TNG 1x22" to the title of all of your episode reviews? Helps to see the season/episode in the title and may also help you with the YT algorithm.

[@rmeddy]

I know you don't like Lower Deck but follow up bit to this episode had me cracking up.

[@argolake8623]

It’s symbiosis in the ecological sense, which is an umbrella term covering both mutualism and parasitism (and others). Mutualism is the colloquial meaning of symbiosis, where both species benefit. This is parasitism, where one species benefits at the expense of another. Ohhh does this mean that the title of Parasite has a double meaning? I’ve never seen it.

[@Theoddert]

Lol I've never seen a still of that scene with the filecium and thats clearly chickpeas. My man beams aboard with a reall bad hankering for some chickpea soup

[@brianoconnell6459]

Back in the day it was practically required that every show have an anti drug episode, remember that episode of Saved By The Bell, or Cartoon All Stars To The Rescue?

[@comentedonakeyboard]

The superobvious on the nose message in this episode is a good ilustration how pointless messages in fiction are.

[@jasonbelcher2224]

I agree this episode doesn't effectively carry the anti-drug message it intended. Network TV in the Reagan 1980's had already inundated the public with "very special episodes", and the scene between Tasha Yar and Wesley Crusher screamed "PREACHY PLATITUDES!" even when it debuted in 1988. I find, however, this episode unwittingly prophetic to America's 21st Century opioid problems, particularly considering how Sackler deliberately manipulated, enabled and exploited people's addictions for profit, leaving devastation and death in the wake.

[@AnonymousAnarchist2]

Wow. I do love TNG.

[@kaitlyn__L]

9:50 to 10:07 is pretty much the "opiate of the masses" idea. I like your linking of this episode to the wider topic of exploitative labour practices, rather than the drugs-PSA focus the script itself seems to have.

[@SavageGreywolf]

The Prime Directive going from nuanced principle to dogmatic law was a mistake from minute one.

[@saint-g7449]

Drugs are bad. Mmmkay.

[@harrybehemoth2751]

So, I didn't love the musical episode of SNW, but if you and Jason sing your entire review on Saturday that will completely make up for my disappointment.

[@penguinodave]

Anyone know . Do the replicators make those ? Like maybe at quarks or somewhere dodgy ?

[@m.h.6470]

It is so strange, that they named the episode symbiosis. A symbiosis is for the BENEFIT of both organisms involved. This is clearly no symbiosis, but a parasitic relationship: One side reaps the benefits, while the other side is usually lulled into a false sense of security or well being.

[@georgelionon9050]

I guess if they named it "parasites" a) it would give too much away what develops in the plot, b) calling people that is kinda... awkward. But its not a great title, so much I agree.

[@julietardos5044]

If we fast forward a year or two and go back to visit, we would find that the Onarans have gone through withdrawals, and they still have their industries and so are doing all right, while the Brekkians have nothing. I don't think that the Prime Directive actually applies in this situation, and that Picard was deliberately using it as an excuse to break the exploitative relationship between the two peoples.

[@samwill7259]

Isn't exploitation like, the ONLY labor issue? It's a wide umbrella

[@georgelionon9050]

What the analogy misses a bit what is it the ownership class gives the worker class to escape their misery temporarily? Social control works here different by the myth of the "job creator". Or by the illusion of "you could become ownershipclass tomorrow if you just win that lottery, it could be anyone, (but it wont change the overall system)" And all other kind of lies working class have been told over centuries, like wealth tripping down, bla .. and I'm sure if anyone reads this some of them will "oh you are so wrong these lies are truths" indoctrinated over both ears.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

Drugs are bad, mkay? Anyway, I like the episode overall, but Wesley's question/Tasha's speech is...REALLY REALLY REALLY forced and awkward. I'm not saying it should be outright deleted, but it should at least be changed to sound like how real people talk rather than a public service announcement.

[@scaper8]

I'm not saying it was bad, alright. I'm just saying I saw better scenes from my elementary school D.A.R.E. VHSs, okay.

[@IrocZIV]

Maybe not the best episode, but it was memorable.

[@Jifuryu]

Best episode of season one?

[@adamparra3973]

"Don't do drugs" Ya, this episode scared me to never to try drugs. I didn't take pain relievers till I got married and my wife offered me some. I only ever took prescribed meds.

[@themindfulbeing]

You had me at drugs

[@X2Magneto]

I always hated this episode. It falls under the same umbrella Dear Doctor and Cogenitor do, in that its an episode that pretends that 1) the Prime Directive isn't a vague and nebulous concept usually subject to the whims of any one writer and 2) that the characters really give a shit about it and totally don't break it basically all the time. This episode like those others are cheap manipulations

[@georgelionon9050]

Totally. I'm not sure if the Brekians are a pre-warp society or post. But if it is the first, but they have local space colonization going on, and the tech to detect them already, the Enterprise as all Federation ships should stay the hell away from the whole solar system if they would abide to the directive. But here they have no issue at all flying around there, beaming them onboard and so on. Nothing should be remotely allowed in the directive, but then when its convenient to avoid a stance.. oh no the directive..

[@beepboop204]

[@ChrisMWalker]

This episode makes me wish they’d have explored the Jemhadar not actually needing Ketrosel White and having just been addicted to it by design by the Founders.

[@MatthewOstergren]

You sound more like a Marxist every day Steve. I am proud of you. Keep it up.

[@nblankensh]

So, you all got any of that sweet sweet money?

[@uvp5000]

This was the best TNG episode, not the least bit shrill, obnoxious, boring, and the most gripping episode dwarfing "The Best of Both Worlds Part 1". Insofar as one people exploiting the physical dependence of another, it is the only episode offered in the franchise, and that is worth noting. When the Jem'Hadar run out of Ketracel-white, ... uh, I mean, felicium with the Oamarans, from the Brekkans, we are treated to a morality play. The only episode exploring this, ever. Another TNG season 1 masterpiece. Paraphrasing Picard: "Make it slow."

[@griffruby8756]

One aspect of this episode that earns my respect is that for once (almost never otherwise happens) the Prime Directive is actually taken seriously. It's the freakin' Prime Directive, for crying out loud, the most important Law of Starfleet and the Federation! But where do we ever see that? Here, Bread and Circuses, and the barest handful of others throughout the entire franchise. Everywhere else it is as if it simply does not exist or else can be glibly brushed aside for any of an ever-expanding batch of utterly lame and specious excuses, all of which really boil down to Plot Armor: None of our established leads can ever die (unless the actor is leaving the show and their contract is up). How many Star Trek stories would just not be possible if the Prime Directive were seriously and concientiouly followed, and how many more would have been simply made more difficult and challenging? I know of no episode that better showcases the beauty and value of the Prime Directive than this one. We see that it is utterly fair and cuts both ways. While the dirty secret of the elite is protected, the elite is in no way enabled to continue their dirty and corrupt arrangement.

[@richardsaunders9412]

It does work better as a Don't Do Drugs

[@huttone]

I''m all out of drugs I'm so lost without them .........

[@lincolnnoronha4128]

I am not a fan of capitalism, but I think you are over simplefying things

[@lincolnnoronha4128]

@@L33Reacts lol

[@ProxyExpy]

This episode is terrible, its not the worst but thats only because season 1 is so awful.

[@Frederick1917O]

idic