Favourite Much-Maligned TNG Episodes

[Joel_Kirk]

Me it reminded negatively of a lot of 19th/ early 20th century exploration literature like "She" by Henry Rider Haggard. The "classic" Non-European (here Alien) culture of "savages" led by a powerful and naturally beautiful woman. Now the Ligonian lady wasn't white like Ayesha (or evil) but it still came off as pretty similar. After all she would have killed Yar for being a rival, just like Ayesha had beautiful women murdered.
What really left me with a bad aftertaste was when one of the Ligonian (the new preferred husband of the lady) says something to the effect "See Picard, you might have the better technology but our culture is the far more refined one!" after their whole culture being portrayed as nothing but impulsive, violent and self-indulgent. "No Lt. Yar, NO VACCINE! Me big strong Alpha Male! Me thinking only with my penis!"
....that sorta seemed really racist to me, i.e. the (white, male) show runners saying "aww aren't these Ligonians cute, they think they're people!" Which is also pretty common in older, less fortunate literature.

Hmmm, I didn't see any of that. I saw a haughty man trying to get Picard to beg for his security officer...which Picard had to do....for naught.

As for where it was done in Trek: in Angel One and with the Betazoids, and Angel One struck me as the same cliche. The women of the Ligonians and Angel One struck me not as in charge because they were awesome and it was simply the way things were done on their planet, but because somebody on the writing staff seemed to get off on the idea of dominant women. In both cases (especially Angel One) the female leaders are still heavily objectified and sexualised.

I didn't see the women in Angel One sexualized. However, I did find it lame that the women were written in a way that they couldn't exist without a man by their side.

As for having planets of all light skinned r all dark skinned inhabitants.... there shouldn't have been any mono-colour planets at all, we see on Earth that that's not how it works, but I'd rather not have completely human looking "Aliens" at all. I know it was a budget thing, but still...lame... at least splatter them in purple paint or something.

Again, nothing wrong with seeing a dark-skinned culture given that we in America are ALWAYS subjected to shows with planets with predominantly white folk, and heroes who are white....(Not too mention historical figures who are whitewashed).

Aliens can look like me, a dark-skinned black man. (That's what sci-fi is all about). And, they can be powerful and technologically superior to the people of Earth. Granted, that can threatening to some folks who don't want to see darker skinned individuals in power (e.g. some white folks).

And for what its worth, Riker was probably my least favorite of the main characters. I'd rather have they had focused more on Worf, Dr. Crusher and Troi and developed those characters a bit.
But you have a point with Geordi, beyond his Visor and being unhappy in love I don't seem to be able to associate many character traits with him. Now that could be because I tend to get bored from the technical aspects of the show and he was the Chief Engineer (=Mr. Techno), but I can remember far, far less of him than of even Troi. I think Data taught him painting once and he had a sister, but that's it.

It would have been cool if he had been a sort of cyborg (recently brought back from the brink of death using experimental technology) and his character arc would have been to struggle with his humanity. A sort of mirror image to Data. Data is optimistic and setting out to discover his humanity, while Geordie is the broken character who slowly feels his humanity slipping away bit by bit.
It would have given him importance and a lot to play with once the Borg got introduced!

We agree on something: Riker wasn't ever my favorite character either. I would have liked to see more of Lt. Yar....a reason I also like 'Code of Honor' so much.

I kinda saw her an Geordi maybe hooking up since he seemed to be attracted to her. Alas, the showrunners chickened out and changed Geordi into a neutered black token and killed Yar off.

Geordi could have been a strong young character who, at the end of the final season, possibly gets his own ship and the 'girl.' He could have been the cool, confident young officer who makes mistakes, and maybe has that confidence tested....but eventually grows into a person who was under Picard's (or even Riker's) wing.

Alas, we got a joke of a Chief Engineer in TNG after the 1st season.

 

[Orphalesion]

Hmmm, I didn't see any of that. I saw a haughty man trying to get Picard to beg for his security officer...which Picard had to do....for naught.

That the thing with fiction, everybody sees it differently. Still in my eyes it had a lot of the tropes of colonial adventure literature.
It's rather unlucky that the only planet staffed with only non-European actors is a pile up of negative 19th century stereotypes of non-Europeans.

I didn't see the women in Angel One sexualized. However, I did find it lame that the women were written in a way that they couldn't exist without a man by their side.

The stranded freighter captain was all like "Aww you have seen the women here....would you leave?" That kinda made me think that it was somebody's personal fetish at work here.

Most of the aliens in Season One sucked (also see the Edo).

Again, nothing wrong with seeing a dark-skinned culture given that we in America are ALWAYS subjected to shows with planets with predominantly white folk, and heroes who are white....(Not too mention historical figures who are whitewashed).
Aliens can look like me, a dark-skinned black man. (That's what sci-fi is all about). And, they can be powerful and technologically superior to the people of Earth. Granted, that can threatening to some folks who don't want to see darker skinned individuals in power (e.g. some white folks).

It's not with the colour of alien skin I have problems with, but with the idea of a whole planet where all the inhabitants appear to look the same. Humans come in all shades, so why should aliens have only one?
The Edo (from Justice) were even more ridiculous in that department with every last one of them sporting golden blonde hair, blue eyes and the same tall, slender built, effing goldfish have more genetic variation.

I prefer it wen Aliens have more variation. Vulcans have been portrayed by African, Asian and European actors, there have been blonde Betazoids and Mediterranean looking ones.
Bajorans also displayed a lot of diversity and Klingons varied in everything from their skin and hair colour to their crests (and where predominantly dark skinned, with pale skin or blonde hair nonexistent).
Let alone that the resident El-Aurian in TNG was played by the magnificent Whoopi Goldberg.

Still I'd rather see actually alien looking aliens. You now; Andorians, Ferengi, Klingons, Wookies, Twi'leks, Vedrans, the Magog.
You want aliens that look like you, I don't want aliens that look like me or that would be able to walk down Queen Street without turning heads, different strokes for different folks. Why have a boring old human when you can have something really weird or exotic looking?
I don't even like that the Betazoids look so human, they should have either made Troi more alien or made her a human ESPer (those were established in TOS)

That being said the most imaginative makeup design in the world wouldn't have stopped the Ligonians from being pompous, self-centered and violent (let alone what they probably do with members of their own species that don't fall into the rigid gender spectrum they are implied to have) but at least the unfortunate implications wouldn't have been that obvious.

 

[Makarov]

Personally I thought Code of Honor was a lot better than Up the Long Ladder. Way better.

I didn't mind Geordie having woman problems but I would have liked to see him overcome it, as in one more episode with Leah Brahms where she dumps her husband for him. Unfortunately TNG's structure doesn't allow any long term romance. At least he sort of got two episodes with Leah Brahms, that's 1 more than most love interests ever got.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Hmmm, I didn't see any of that. I saw a haughty man trying to get Picard to beg for his security officer...which Picard had to do....for naught.

That the thing with fiction, everybody sees it differently. Still in my eyes it had a lot of the tropes of colonial adventure literature.
It's rather unlucky that the only planet staffed with only non-European actors is a pile up of negative 19th century stereotypes of non-Europeans.

I agree. Depending on one's race, ethnicity, life experiences....people will see fiction differently. For example, I saw the film "Pacific Rim" as a horrible film that was cliched in regards to story and how it portrayed the characters: The black guy died to save the white hero, the Asian female fell for the white hero on sight, and the white hero ends up with the Asian girl. (Typical Hollywood).

In regards to "Star Trek:"
Well, the Berman era had a 1950s stereotype of space exploration overall, save for Voyager. After the 1st season of TNG, aliens, extras, protagonists were majority white. In ENT, even though Archer claims that Earth put aside it's differences, his crew is majority white.

And, I didn't recall TNG stating that Ligon II was the only planet in the entire universe staffed by non-Caucasian looking people.

You have to jog my memory on that.

The universe is pretty big, not all planets are headed (or should be headed) by only Caucasian looking people. Again, that's a 1950s...or even a 1930s stereotype.

The stranded freighter captain was all like "Aww you have seen the women here....would you leave?" That kinda made me think that it was somebody's personal fetish at work here.

Most of the aliens in Season One sucked (also see the Edo).

I didn't really have a problem with the Edo, especially since they were so in a hurry to execute Wesley for his harsh crimes...

It's not with the colour of alien skin I have problems with, but with the idea of a whole planet where all the inhabitants appear to look the same. Humans come in all shades, so why should aliens have only one?

Because they're aliens...and it's fiction.

As aforementioned, sci-fi has no problem giving us predominantly white heroes or planets, so there is nothing wrong with a writer - particularly a darker skinned writer - depicting a civilization of darker skinned folk.

That's good Vulcans are depicted by different races of people, as were Romulans. Interestingly, they - in the Berman era - still couldn't put the darker skinned Tuvok with a Vulcan portrayed by an Asian or white female. The 'stick with your own kind' bit was prevalent then. (Granted, they - the writers/producers - had no problem putting Asian females (e.g. Keiko and Ogawa) with white males).

The Edo (from Justice) were even more ridiculous in that department with every last one of them sporting golden blonde hair, blue eyes and the same tall, slender built, effing goldfish have more genetic variation.

They were another variation on the aliens from the TOS episode, 'The Apple.'

I prefer it wen Aliens have more variation. Vulcans have been portrayed by African, Asian and European actors, there have been blonde Betazoids and Mediterranean looking ones.
Bajorans also displayed a lot of diversity and Klingons varied in everything from their skin and hair colour to their crests (and where predominantly dark skinned, with pale skin or blonde hair nonexistent).
Let alone that the resident El-Aurian in TNG was played by the magnificent Whoopi Goldberg.

Still I'd rather see actually alien looking aliens. You now; Andorians, Ferengi, Klingons, Wookies, Twi'leks, Vedrans, the Magog.

You want aliens that look like you, I don't want aliens that look like me or that would be able to walk down Queen Street without turning heads, different strokes for different folks. Why have a boring old human when you can have something really weird or exotic looking?

I don't even like that the Betazoids look so human, they should have either made Troi more alien or made her a human ESPer (those were established in TOS)

That being said the most imaginative makeup design in the world wouldn't have stopped the Ligonians from being pompous, self-centered and violent (let alone what they probably do with members of their own species that don't fall into the rigid gender spectrum they are implied to have) but at least the unfortunate implications wouldn't have been that obvious.

They were a proud race of people, as were other races we've seen in Trek. And, I wish we were able to see more of them and their world.

I'm sure if they were 'purple skinned' people, viewers - particularly the Caucasians watching - probably wouldn't have felt so threatened.

Personally I thought Code of Honor was a lot better than Up the Long Ladder. Way better.

I didn't mind Geordie having woman problems but I would have liked to see him overcome it, as in one more episode with Leah Brahms where she dumps her husband for him.

This.

 

[Vger23]

I'd have to say mine are "Encounter at Farpoint" and "The Royale." I actually never understood the knock on"Farpoint." I was blown away by it as a kid back in 1987 and I still think it's a cool Star Trek story today.

Enough has been said about "The Royale" at this point. One of my absolute favorites...like a comfy warm blanket every time I watch it.

 

[Orphalesion]

And, I didn't recall TNG stating that Ligon II was the only planet in the entire universe staffed by non-Caucasian looking people.

You have to jog my memory on that.

Of course it wasn't stated that Ligon was the only planet staffed solely by non-European actors, fact is it is the only lanet I can remember where all the extras were black.

The universe is pretty big, not all planets are headed (or should be headed) by only Caucasian looking people. Again, that's a 1950s...or even a 1930s stereotype.

Where was I saying that? And on stereotypes: Lutan is not just a 1930s stereotype, he's a 1830s stereotype!

I come to understand that you might be glad that the Ligonians are there at all, no matter how they are portrayed but (in my eyes) producing diversity by just showing non-European people in negative roles is not really producing diversity.
Why can't casting be colour blind, just going by charisma and acting talent?

Because they're aliens...and it's fiction.

Exactly, so they should get creative and not just put a human in a turban, have him speak in an accent and call him an alien.

As aforementioned, sci-fi has no problem giving us predominantly white heroes or planets, so there is nothing wrong with a writer - particularly a darker skinned writer - depicting a civilization of darker skinned folk.

1) The writers and directors of Code of Honour were all white. One of the directors, the one responsible for the Ligonians being portrayed by African Americans, was fired by Gene Rottenberry for acting in a racist manner towards the extras.
2) What has the writer's skin tone to do with anything? Why do you say "particularly a darker skinned writer"?
Ursula Le Guin is Caucasian and yet, according to her own statements the inhabitants of her fantasy world (Earth Sea) all display varied shades of dark skin and she often expresses dismay at adaptions not following that part of her vision.
I'm a hobby writer and pale as can be and I have written stories where the majority of the characters were non-Caucasian.
3) An alien civilization consisting solely of dark skinned people is no worse or better than a civilization full of pale skinned people, but they should take care not to make that civilization a stereotype fest:
As reference: imagine the drug addicted race in Symbiosis would have been portrayed by 100% Chinese actors, dressed in giant conical hats and each wearing a long braid and mustachios. They can't pronounce "r"s and shuffle about in single file (19th century negative stereotypes of East Asians)
Or the Hirogen by German actors in blonde wigs and leather coats. They constantly monologue about their own superiority in a loud, military style voice. (1940s negative stereotypes of Germans)
That would all just be as insulting and that was my point not what stereotype they are, but that they are.
Stereotypes have no place in Trek (at least not post TOS)

Interestingly, they - in the Berman era - still couldn't put the darker skinned Tuvok with a Vulcan portrayed by an Asian or white female. The 'stick with your own kind' bit was prevalent then.

Agree here when I saw Tuvok's wife for the first time I rolled my eyes because of that exact reason.

The Edo were another variation on the aliens from the TOS episode, 'The Apple.'

So they were unimaginative AND a ripoff, well that makes it all better....

They were a proud race of people, as were other races we've seen in Trek. And, I wish we were able to see more of them and their world.

The problem is not that they were proud but that they were completely undignified, short sighted and impulsive just the way 19th century Europeans saw the native population of the rest of the world.
Lutan was an imbecilic man-child, who doesn't get that he only got that far in the story because Picard allowed him to. And his wife had no rights at all until her temporary death nullified their marriage, and even then she was only able to barter her wealth and body to the another guy and hope he would not dump her for the next nubile blonde that comes around.

I'm sure if they were 'purple skinned' people, viewers - particularly the Caucasians watching - probably wouldn't have felt so threatened.

.....what? People felt threatened by the aliens from Code of Honour? Like really? Why?

Please don't be offended if I ask, but I heard that in the US race is a bigger issue than on our side of the pond. Was it because of that? If so than that'd just be silly of them....

Personally I thought Code of Honor was a lot better than Up the Long Ladder. Way better.

Oh yeah....the stereotypical space Irish...I had suppressed the memory. First let it be said that I, for one, do nneither look nor behave like an extra from Darby O'Gill and the Little People, thank you very much, Star Trek.
Second, just shows that any stereotype is painful.

I didn't mind Geordie having woman problems but I would have liked to see him overcome it, as in one more episode with Leah Brahms where she dumps her husband for him.

Again....what? How would that have put a positive light on Geordie? Geordie was in love with her because of a hologram that had little to do with her actual personality.
I think a better option would have been to get over her and find another girl or, if we want to get creative...have him come out as gay and find a nice guy.

Hey.....after 48 years of Trek I'm still waiting for an openly homosexual character. And I wouldn't be happy if he was a effeminate, mincing stereotype.

 

[T'Girl]

Interestingly, they - in the Berman era - still couldn't put the darker skinned Tuvok with a Vulcan portrayed by an Asian or white female. The 'stick with your own kind' bit was prevalent then.

Agree here when I saw Tuvok's wife for the first time I rolled my eyes because of that exact reason.

They did the same thing with Sisko, both of his wives were black, and he had a affair with a black alien woman. Now he did have sex (apparently) with Mirror-Dax, so there is a break in the pattern.

 

[DarthPipes]

I love The Royale. It's a lot of fun.

 

[Mr. Data]

I love The Royale. It's a lot of fun.

It was kind of like one of those holo deck episodes which are okay at best but much creepier, to me, somehow.

 

[T'Girl]

I love The Royale. It's a lot of fun.

I like it when a episode dribbles out information on the future history of Humanity (as opposed to big blocks), in this story we learn that America will have 52 states between 2033 and 2079 AD. This would include the time period of the third world war.

Data uses AD (Anno Domini ) for the years, and not CE (common era), so apparently AD is still in use in the 24th century.

The explorer ship Charybdis launched on July 23rd, 2037, and it was the 3rd manned attempt to leave our star system.

One of the definite pluses of The Royale was the dry manner of the head desk clerk ...

Riker: "We're from the United Federation of Planets."
Clerk: "Of course you are."

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I liked The Royale, too. The idea of an old Earth casino, of all things, in the midst of a hostile planet environment is much in line with something the original series might have done, i.e. The Squire of Gothos). It also shows that the writer realized he was writing for television, by not turning in some impossibly-expensive-to-film epic script.

And instead of just being a weird, out-of-nowhere idea, it was set up nicely by the tale of Colonel Ritchie, and his no doubt descent into madness and/or despair over the miscalculated good will gesture of his alien benefactors.

It all works for me!

 

[cooleddie74]

Plus, let's just be frank here: Colonel Richey's mummified corpse lying in that hotel bed for the past 283 years was a very creepy touch to add to an episode that had a lot of just plain goofy and campy elements. "The Royale" is far from perfect but it's a good little mix of humor and tragedy that feels more like a classic TOS episode than most of the Next Gen episodes that would follow and it's always a fun story to watch.

 

[Orphalesion]

The royale has a few nice bits, just what I didn't like was how many characters (the dead guy, Troi, Picard, possibly more, can't remember) commented at how badly the nvel the casino was based on was written. I'm not a fan of pulp/noir stories either but I wouldn't write something where the characters constantly comment how much it sucks.
The basic idea was nice, but it could have been better.

I have no idea if it is much maligned but I love "Night Terrors" when I first saw it as a kid I found it creepy and cool "Eyes in the Darkness....One Moon Circles.....One Moon Circles...." I love that chant!

And while I don't like the episode as a whole much, I love the scene where ummmm drunken Troi tries to seduce Riker in "The Naked Now". With her made up accent slurred like that she sounded like "Miss Swan" from MadTV (god....I'm old) it cracked me up

 

[Ghrakh]

I'm not a fan of pulp/noir stories either but I wouldn't write something where the characters constantly comment how much it sucks.

 

[T'Girl]

I'm not a fan of pulp/noir stories either but I wouldn't write something where the characters constantly comment how much it sucks.

You have to remember that in their eyes almost everything prior to the twenty-fourth century sucked.

 

[Ghrakh]

You have to remember that in their eyes almost everything prior to the twenty-fourth century sucked.

Yeah, everything except for classical music, jazz, theater, shakespeare, novels, western and detective dramas, archaeology, dance, poetry, art, etc. etc..

DATA
This is not an efficient method for the preparation of sustenance.

RIKER
You're right, Data. The ship's computer is much more efficient, but it lacks the subtlety needed for great cooking. It mixes the ingredients to precise measurements. There's no flair, no individuality, and Data, as we both know... inspiration and flair are the difference between artistry and mere competence.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Interestingly, they - in the Berman era - still couldn't put the darker skinned Tuvok with a Vulcan portrayed by an Asian or white female. The 'stick with your own kind' bit was prevalent then.

Agree here when I saw Tuvok's wife for the first time I rolled my eyes because of that exact reason.

They did the same thing with Sisko, both of his wives were black, and he had a affair with a black alien woman. Now he did have sex (apparently) with Mirror-Dax, so there is a break in the pattern.

And he did give a kiss to The Intendant, so yeah there were breaks. Albeit, small, small breaks in the pattern.

The universe is pretty big, not all planets are headed (or should be headed) by only Caucasian looking people. Again, that's a 1950s...or even a 1930s stereotype.

Where was I saying that? And on stereotypes: Lutan is not just a 1930s stereotype, he's a 1830s stereotype!

I think people throw around years randomly without knowing exactly the stereotype that were of black people in said year.
Maybe he - Lutan - is a stereotype from 1303 BC. A haughty ruler who feels entitled? From my understanding, this ruler is in "Game of Thrones"..."300"...the story of Exodus (Egyptian people who were presumably dark-skinned).

I come to understand that you might be glad that the Ligonians are there at all, no matter how they are portrayed but (in my eyes) producing diversity by just showing non-European people in negative roles is not really producing diversity.

Well, then you are incorrect in your understanding.

Why can't casting be colour blind, just going by charisma and acting talent?

Because so-called 'color blind' casting always results in the default being cast: white individuals.

1) The writers and directors of Code of Honour were all white. One of the directors, the one responsible for the Ligonians being portrayed by African Americans, was fired by Gene Rottenberry for acting in a racist manner towards the extras.

This is already known to me.

TNG overall was white, yet it always claimed to be 'evolved.' Picard could have been seen as the stereotypical white European upholding Rudyard Kipling's "White Man's Burden" trying to colonize or oversee those races who were not in the Federation.

Of course, there were token, older darker skinned folk as Admirals. Never as love interests, especially in Geordi's case.
And, like the European exploration throughout history, the Asian women (like Ogawa and Keiko) are deemed only 'white property.' Not really seen with any man of color.

2) What has the writer's skin tone to do with anything? Why do you say "particularly a darker skinned writer"?

Because writers of color will put their own experiences in their writing. Their experiences and struggles with race, discrimination, etc.

While a white writer may have characters of color, like your examples:

Ursula Le Guin is Caucasian and yet, according to her own statements the inhabitants of her fantasy world (Earth Sea) all display varied shades of dark skin and she often expresses dismay at adaptions not following that part of her vision.

I'm a hobby writer and pale as can be and I have written stories where the majority of the characters were non-Caucasian.

A white writer still has lived through white skin privilege, and doesn't have to 'experience' race as frequently.

Agree here when I saw Tuvok's wife for the first time I rolled my eyes because of that exact reason.

20th and 21st century stereotypes in play.

Lutan was an imbecilic man-child, who doesn't get that he only got that far in the story because Picard allowed him to. And his wife had no rights at all until her temporary death nullified their marriage, and even then she was only able to barter her wealth and body to the another guy and hope he would not dump her for the next nubile blonde that comes around.

I wasn't aware Lutan's right hand man was interested in blondes. He married Yareena, and the story established that he was always interested in her.

Please don't be offended if I ask, but I heard that in the US race is a bigger issue than on our side of the pond. Was it because of that? If so than that'd just be silly of them....

Not offended by your question.

America is a pretty racist country. Especially given the current events of police officers racial profiling and killing black men. (Of course, this is now coming more and more into the public eye since we are in the age of smartphones where one can video said harassment even though this has been going on for decades).

Not to mention, we - America - still have a hesitation to show interracial relationships on the big screen as the focus w/o bringing 'race' up. For example, I have yet to see a black hero opposite an Asian, Eurasian, or white female lead...or romancing said female leads without the story harping on their race.

You don't see that 'harping' with white male leads opposite white or non-white leads.

Again....what? How would that have put a positive light on Geordie? Geordie was in love with her because of a hologram that had little to do with her actual personality.

I think a better option would have been to get over her and find another girl or, if we want to get creative...have him come out as gay and find a nice guy.

It seems to be a Trek fan stereotype, especially among some white fans, to put the non-white guy as 'gay.' This has been said of Geordi as well as Harry Kim.

Yet, white heroes throughout Trek (Kirk, Riker, Picard, Tom, Data, Miles) are allowed to fall in love normally...and with women of different human and alien races.

Hell, even T'Lec from "StarGate" was able to romance women of different shades. Although, interestingly when Grace Park - the Asian female guest star - came on the show, the writers and/or casting and/or director had her fall for the white lead (i.e. Daniel).

Hey.....after 48 years of Trek I'm still waiting for an openly homosexual character. And I wouldn't be happy if he was a effeminate, mincing stereotype.

I'm all for it.

It just doesn't have to be the token non-white guy who the writers ignore continually write as losers in romance. That racist 'neutering' agenda comes off as pretty obvious.

 

[Orphalesion]

I think people throw around years randomly without knowing exactly the stereotype that were of black people in said year.
Maybe he - Lutan - is a stereotype from 1303 BC. A haughty ruler who feels entitled? From my understanding, this ruler is in "Game of Thrones"..."300"...the story of Exodus (Egyptian people who were presumably dark-skinned).

The self-involved short sighted and childish ruler of a non-European people (either in Africa or Asia) was a stereotype of Colonial Literature that ranged in from the 18th to the early 20th century. Game of Thrones, 300 and Exodus shows leaders of primitive people, while the Ligonians (presumably) must be advanced enough to be allowed onto starships (though the Prime Directive was fishy during the first series...)

Well, then you are incorrect in your understanding.

I'm apologize, I shouldn't have assumed. Though I am left to wonder what aspect of teh Ligonians you did enjoy. They are kidnappers, scheming, selfish and brutal. Just look at the scene where an innocent spectator gets accidentally killed during their death sport and nobody bats an eye.

Actually all three of the "problematic" aliens I have named have this problem. The Edo kill you for stepping on the grass and the people of Angel One disintegrate you for having different ideas from the government. And all three are shown to be "inferior" and, eventually helpless against the "mighty" Federation.

Because so-called 'color blind' casting always results in the default being cast: white individuals.

Again, probably more of a American issue. According to statements by the BBC Genevieve was played by a black actress in the show "Merlin" because Angel Coulby happened to show up at the casting and deliver exactly the performance they were looking for.
Of course that was also the series that turned her from an aristocratic lady to a chambermaid so.....also a bit unfortunate.
And wasn't the guy who plays the Human Torch in the upcoming FF4 movie a result of colour blind casting?
Personally I'd find a black Doctor in Doctor Who interesting, or a female one. Regeneration can change everything about a person, why not skin colour or sex?

Picard could have been seen as the stereotypical white European upholding Rudyard Kipling's "White Man's Burden" trying to colonize or oversee those races who were not in the Federation.

Interesting....never thought about it, there is quite a bit of colonial thinking at work here. Actually in the very thought that the Captain always has to be a human i.e. that human is the default=European and all alien species are these exotic ethnicities (and less enlightened in most cases). Just the old fear of the "Other" again....Yellow Peril etc.
Its interesting to see how SciFi shows deep reaching workings and issues in our collective psyche.

But I think that's why Code of Honour rubbed me the wrong way, because the European-colonial undercurrents (always present) were more obvious to me because it was (mostly) Europeans and non-Europeans, while in other episodes it was less obvious to me due to the aliens looking more alien or mostly/fully European. The Ligonians were, in the end, not better, but also not worse than the Edo or Angel One.

Thanks for opening my eyes to that.

Because writers of color will put their own experiences in their writing. Their experiences and struggles with race, discrimination, etc.

......
While a white writer may have characters of color, like your examples:

.....
A white writer still has lived through white skin privilege, and doesn't have to 'experience' race as frequently.

I can't claim that I know discrimination because of my skin, but I have experienced discrimination because of other things...many other things. So I can relate to discrimination and persecution, if not exactly from a racial point of view.
But I agree there is probably a lot of less obvious racism that I simply not notice.

I wasn't aware Lutan's right hand man was interested in blondes. He married Yareena, and the story established that he was always interested in her.

I was more alluding to Lutan dumping his wife for Yar that quickly, which rubbed me as another cliche racist writers often used: that black men prefer white women because black women are "less attractive" and want to take "our womens" by force (see the Victorian fear of the "Other" I have mentioned above). The storyline about non-Europeans kidnapping a (naturally blonde) European woman and the "big strong" (white) hero having to save her is a staple of colonial adventure literature and penny dreadfuls.

Now that I think about it, it was however Yar's prowess that Lutan found attractive. It might be that here I was a victim of my own prejudice (i.e. thinking that because of the dark skinned actors there must be a race issue involved) and saw racist propaganda where none was intended by the writer(s).

Still there was the abduction/forced marriage angle and the unfortunate implication that Yar, who spend her adolescence fighting for her live and against being raped on her home world would feel attraction towards someone (black, white or lime green) who abducted her. That smells of "she secretly enjoys it"
A Geordi-Tasha romance, on the other hand, would have been cute, but there was little evidence of it, just Geordi once saying that she is "as beautiful as he imagined", but a lot of characters remark that Yar is attractive, including Troi.
And I remembered something else about Geordi, he was the only one who acted decent towards Barclay in Hollow Pursuits.
Barclay, coincidentally, was also portrayed as a "neutered" loser, so it is not *just* non-European characters that get portrayed that way.

America is a pretty racist country. Especially given the current events of police officers racial profiling and killing black men. (Of course, this is now coming more and more into the public eye since we are in the age of smartphones where one can video said harassment even though this has been going on for decades).

Not to mention, we - America - still have a hesitation to show interracial relationships on the big screen as the focus w/o bringing 'race' up. For example, I have yet to see a black hero opposite an Asian, Eurasian, or white female lead...or romancing said female leads without the story harping on their race.

I see... well I won't claim that Ireland or the UK are not racist, but it doesn't appear that bad to me around here, but then again...see above...I might just not notice.

It seems to be a Trek fan stereotype, especially among some white fans, to put the non-white guy as 'gay.' This has been said of Geordi as well as Harry Kim.
Yet, white heroes throughout Trek (Kirk, Riker, Picard, Tom, Data, Miles) are allowed to fall in love normally...and with women of different human and alien races.

It is? This might however also a consequence of how these characters are portrayed i.e. as you say, less manly, permanently unlucky in love and often intimidated if a woman takes the initiative (Harry and Seven).
It's also interesting that Worf (who was portrayed by Michael Thorn after all) did have three light skinned love-interests (K'ehlyr, Troi and Jadzia). However his appearance was considerably "whitened" through the Klingon mask (which gave him a very European looking nose) and the light brown, straight hair attached to it, to the point that I was surprised when I (as a child) learned he was portrayed by an African-American actor. (Though I always preferred Troi with Worf, mainly because Worf is awesome and Riker is a wanker)

Thanks for opening my eyes to that as well, man, I had never really noticed it.

Only....please don't say that the white characters are able to fall in love "normally" meaning "heterosexual". Nothing less "normal" with being gay, just different. Just like having dark skin is not less "normal" than having light skin. (unless that wasn't your intention, then all good.)

Hey.....after 48 years of Trek I'm still waiting for an openly homosexual character. And I wouldn't be happy if he was a effeminate, mincing stereotype.

I'm all for it.

I drink to that, dude. Next Star Trek series starring an African-American captain with a North European love interest and a gay first officer

 

[jimbotron]

Based on the numerous comments regarding The Royale, I think I can conclude that it is actually a good episode. If just about everyone considers it maligned but enjoys it anyway .... wouldn't that make it good?

It's one of a few season 2 episodes I never skip.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Based on the numerous comments regarding The Royale, I think I can conclude that it is actually a good episode. If just about everyone considers it maligned but enjoys it anyway .... wouldn't that make it good?

It's one of a few season 2 episodes I never skip.

I like the American flag in it.