Stephen Miller Has a Truly Rancid Star Trek Opinion

“We’re near the Badlands, Captain,” one character, a half-Klingon, half-Jem’Hadar woman, remarks to the academy’s chancellor, played by Holly Hunter. “Subspace instability may be creeping in, and we’re the first to chart it.” Another crew member, presumably a science officer from her uniform, enters the scene. “This would make an excellent practical study module for the spacial harmonics lab, Captain,” she tells the others. “Alright, but let’s not total the ship on the first try,” Hunter replies.

That’s it. I rewatched the clip a few times to make sure I hadn’t missed something more subtle. Even casual fans know that Star Trek is famous for its progressive themes and messages, but this clip didn’t even have that. It’s literally just three characters talking about spacial anomalies. I’ve seen nearly identical scenes dozens of times in the hundreds of Trek episodes that have been aired over the last six decades. Nor can it be said to be “beyond parody”—Trek’s reliance on “technobabble” for the sake of plot advancement has been widely parodied for decades.

Miller apparently saw something that had eluded me and issued a call to action. “Tragic,” the top White House official declared. “But it’s not too late for [Paramount] to save the franchise. Step 1: Reconcile with [William Shatner] and give him total creative control.” He did not elaborate on any further steps, as if the rest of them were simply too self-evident to mention.