By Chris Snellgrove
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Star Wars is a franchise that commented explicitly on Vietnam, with creator George Lucas as soon as specifying that the Ewoks preventing in opposition to a technologically superior power symbolized the Viet Cong. Nevertheless, exterior of Authentic Sequence episode “A Non-public Little Warfare,” rival sci-fi franchise Star Trek hardly ever touched on Vietnam or its controversies. That each one modified with The Subsequent Technology episode “The Hunted,” which showrunner Michael Piller confirmed was constructed across the theme of “how society treats its returning veterans.”
In case you want a quick refresher, “The Hunted” is an episode the place the Enterprise investigates a planet that desires to affix the Federation, however the planet wants assist monitoring down an escaped prisoner named Roga Danar. It seems that he’s a former soldier enhanced by the planetary authorities to combat on their behalf, however he and different such troops had been faraway from society after the warfare as a result of they had been too aggressive. Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology head honcho Piller confirmed this was an allegory for the Vietnam Warfare and what number of Americans handled returning troopers who they noticed as too barbaric to re-enter regular society.
Apparently, this Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology episode provided a really totally different perspective on Vietnam than the TOS episode “A Non-public Little Warfare,” which had Kirk obliquely referencing the battle with the road “Do you bear in mind the Twentieth-century brush wars on the Asian continent?” That episode featured Klingons arming a primitive tribe with superior weapons and Kirk making the bonkers resolution to repair the state of affairs by guaranteeing that the rival tribe is equally well-armed. Whereas Dr. McCoy objects to this concept, Kirk’s closing resolution is fascinating as a result of it looks as if the commonly leftish present was explicitly endorsing America’s controversial participation in Vietnam.
Quick ahead to “The Hunted,” and also you get a later Star Trek episode that also doesn’t criticize Vietnam…no less than, not the position performed by the American authorities. Although the planetary authorities on this episode is corrupt, the story principally serves as a critique of American society and its reluctance to welcome again Vietnam troopers, a lot of whom had been cursed at and spat upon after they anticipated to be handled like returning heroes.
Picard ends the episode by telling the planet it may possibly reapply for Federation membership after it figures out easy methods to deal with their veterans. That is basically telling viewers that the longer term utopia of Star Trek is barely achievable after we work out easy methods to deal with veterans of Vietnam and different wars as soon as they return to society. It’s clearly greater than a bit preachy, however what had been you anticipating from the hippie franchise that’s all about saving the world, one endangered whale at a time?
Trying again on this Star Trek episode, Michael Piller famous that Roga Danar (the fugitive former soldier who symbolized Vietnam veterans) “bringing the Enterprise to its knees is a bit onerous to imagine” however that he finally loved this episode. We’ve got to agree: “The Hunted” is the right instance of a preachy episode that didn’t let its message maintain the author from delivering an entertaining hour full of each motion and introspection. And Danar is a killer character that we’d like to see once more, probably headlining his personal spinoff film…one that may, simply would possibly, lastly get the style of Part 31 out of our mouths.
