I enjoyed this episode a lot. Although, it's frustrating that the show insists on maintaining a 1990's style policy of using on awkward alien metaphors in place of real representation in many cases. It muddies the message.
At least some of these alien metaphors don't act as plain substitutes, but paint a role reversal of sorts, thus do serve a purpose of switching the our perspective a bit. I like that side of it. We've seen, in a strange way, what vile bigotry against straight and cis people could look like, for one, which even wrapped in the vile Moclan misogyny still has its potential to make a point about bigotry itself, and its destructive absurdity, that a non-fictional portrayal would not. Because we're too fricking used to the latter. I hope I am not, and even I got something out of that, even if it was just gratification. And on an Earth that should have hypothetically moved forward, a realistic take may imply growing out our worst is impossible, so implying we'll remain oppressive for perpetuity is not a thing to put in an optimistic show.
I think there's a value in
also doing it that way, as evidenced by how moving this episode ended up being, and I'm even glad that instead of having the Moclans be the backward holdover in the Planetary Union that refuses to move forward (which would still be an awkward alien metaphor), their not usual and somewhat secret form of bigotry is unique to their culture and species, and in a way alien to both us the audience, all of us, and the in-universe Union leadership. (And that was born out of the dumbest joke in the opening episode, “male-only” species was such a self-contradiction, so either way they've grown out of their past ridiculousness with this episode.).
But no question that odd alien takes should be there as a
complement to real representation, not
replacing it completely, and the show should
show the Earth has moved forward overtly. If you use real people around you as sources of inspiration to do your story, no matter how good, have the courtesy of including them who helped your perspective. If the rest of the Planetary Union is good, show it. Don't just tell us about it, let alone just imply it. You can do two things at the same time. Did Admiral Howland have a trans daughter to go home to she had to betray to protect the fragile Union, in a way nobody around her had in centuries? Nobody else from that meeting had someone to look odd at afterwards, friend, colleague, spouse?
But the show hasn't ended yet.
