"Symbiosis" aged remarkably well

[Orphalesion]

The Ornarans and Brekkians asked for help from the Enterprise. Any action taken to further that end is not a violation of the Prime Directive, because the PD allows Starfleet to respond to requests for aid.

Therefore, transporting the feliciium and passengers on board the ship, then letting them hash out their disagreements, is explicitly allowed.

But again, in my opinion every action after the drugs were on board (something they had not planned for, they just wanted to rescue the crews) was interference in some way or the other.
Choosing "inaction" for the worst possible outcome in that situation seems to me like trying to squirt milk back into a cow.
And to me it showed the bad side of the Prime Directive.
As much as I prefer Picard over Kirk, I agree with @Qonundrum Kirk would have actually helped those people. Then again this is Season 1 Picard, a guy who dislikes any occurrences of "people" in his general vicinity.

 

[flandry84]

I simply cannot see Picard allowing an entire global population be skullfucked-in perpetuity by these maggots.

And the Ornarans who were intelligent enough to be (just about) a space going race recover enough to finally analyse just what had gone before then well....

 

[Charles Phipps]

I simply cannot see Picard allowing an entire global population be skullfucked-in perpetuity by these maggots.

And the Ornarans who were intelligent enough to be (just about) a space going race recover enough to finally analyse just what had gone before then well....

I mean....that is the ending isn't it?

Picard denies them the repair parts to do another shipment so that after this batch, the Ornarans will detox and they WILL find out when they don't die.

And yeah, the implications are they will be quite mad at the Sackler family.

 

[Qonundrum]

I mean....that is the ending isn't it?

Picard denies them the repair parts to do another shipment so that after this batch, the Ornarans will detox and they WILL find out when they don't die.

And yeah, the implications are they will be quite mad at the Sackler family.

Yeah, but the detox process - given the proceedings of the episode - would be rough and possibly fatal. Even Dr Crusher states there is a physical dependency, not just psychological. Assuming the Onarans' detox process doesn't lead to anarchy for those who recovery sooner than others (and those who do die because of going off cold turkey)... the sequel almost writes itself. Well, two sequels - the Brekkians' could be less predictable. Or less complex, especially if they figured out how to repair and reverse-engineer the technology needed to go back and forth between their planets... it was sad enough when TNG left open endings...

The story's ending is hilarious, too:

PICARD: And we may never know. Resume. Mister La Forge, take us out of orbit.
LAFORGE: Destination, sir?
PICARD: I don't care. Let's just get some distance between us and this system.
LAFORGE: Aye, sir. Course nine seven zero mark three one eight. Speed, warp three.
RIKER: Where will that take us, Mister La Forge?
LAFORGE: The Opraline system.
RIKER: An interesting choice. Why?
LAFORGE: Curiosity. We've never been there.
PICARD: Engage.

So Picard isn't curious to fathom out how these two societies he's popsicle sticked-up about will turn out, but wants to mosey in some unknown area of space to gawk at a bunch of barren planets for a few minutes and find that there never had been any life developed as no planet ever developed the conditions necessary (or if by beaming down he introduces bacteria that causes life to develop, how's that for a prime directive twist...) Not to mention, 970.318 makes little sense if it's setting a course based on the direction from two 360 degree-planes at right-angles to one another as they'd spin round and round like a pop song from 1985...

 

[Ragitsu]

This episode would have aged even better if no one had cared - or cared enough - about the drug addiction crisis unless it affected a certain majority of the planet's population. Y'know...just like in real life (though, in our case, you swap "planet" for "nation").

 

[dupersuper]

As much as I prefer Picard over Kirk, I agree with @Qonundrum Kirk would have actually helped those people. Then again this is Season 1 Picard, a guy who dislikes any occurrences of "people" in his general vicinity.

It's not like Picard gets much more reasonable regarding the prime directive. See the season 7 episode Homeward. In comparison, Symbiosis is actually pretty light.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Post-DS9 you can actually read realpolitic into the actions of Picard.

The Federation telling the Onarans about their condition or giving them medicine to get off their super smack could be viewed as an act of hostility to the Brekkians. However, by simply doing NOTHING they have no reason for the latter to be hostile to the Federation or believe they have done wrong.

However, that's definitely not the kind of devious political gamemanship the Federation is supposed to engage in.

 

[at Quark's]

In itself the story isn't bad at all. Picard gets beaten with the PD over his head by the Brekkians, but finds a way to turn the argument around in their face. It's just that the 'Drugs are Bad and We're Showing You By An Analogy.... in Spaaaaace!!" part is so heavy handed.

As for not providing the Ornarans any relief when they go cold turkey or telling hem that they don't sufffer from a lethal plague but are simply addicted, I think Picard believes his hands are bound by the PD. He can simply refuse them to repair their ships, leaving them in no different situation than what would have happened had he never come to the solar system in the first place - save for the delivery of that one last shipment, perhaps.

As for how severe the suffering will be on Ornara, that's hard to tell. They are suffering from withdrawal but this is made a whole lot harder because they believe these are symptoms that will lead to them dying. Will that lead them to commit mass suicide, or will hit simply lead to them expecting to die, and then find out after a few days they didn't die and the symptoms are becoming less severe? Can't tell.

 

[flandry84]

Or what if Picard emulated the DEA and visited Brekkia armed with a hold full of weed killer or whatever.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Or what if Picard emulated the DEA and visited Brekkia armed with a hold full of weed killer or whatever.

I mean, the point is they DONT make sense as drug lords but DO make sense as Moderna.

 

[Tenacity]

Yeah, but the detox process - given the proceedings of the episode - would be rough and possibly fatal.

And there would be those who post detox would still want access to the drug.

 

[Orphalesion]

I simply cannot see Picard allowing an entire global population be skullfucked-in perpetuity by these maggots.

I'm confused...are you saying I'm suggesting that Picard should help the Brekkians? No, they are fucked, their culture is about to collapse.I'm not going to say that every single Brekkian deserves that fate (that would be nonsense) but for their civilization as a whole it would be quite karmic.
I'm just saying he should have told the Ornarans that they aren't dying, just experiencing withdrawal, to lessen the chaos and suffering that will be experienced during the withdrawal period.

I mean, the point is they DONT make sense as drug lords but DO make sense as Moderna.

They even look like corrupt corporate executives with their 1980s pastels.

 

[flandry84]

And then what?
The freighter crew return home and tell everybody that a friendly alien told them the plague was a hoax and they should become...well...anti-vaxx?
Good luck with that.

 

[Charles Phipps]

And then what?
The freighter crew return home and tell everybody that a friendly alien told them the plague was a hoax and they should become well...anti-vaxx?
Good luck with that.

Probably why Picard cut off their supply. It's going to be a nasty THE PURGE style thing on their world but I fully also believe it will recover with most of its population and go on a murder spree.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Brekkians had better hope that the Ornarans' spaceflight technology is limited to the kind of (unarmed) freighter we saw in this episode.

Like I said, once the Ornarans find out what the Brekkians had been doing to them - and they WILL find out - they will come looking for blood. The Ornarans are like wounded animals - once cornered, God only knows what they're capable of.

So if Ornara has any kind of weapons capability, in due course there won't be a piece of Brekka left that's bigger than a ing matchstick.

 

[Mojochi]

Despite a few hiccups, I still enjoy this episode, for several reasons, not the least of which is a TWoK reunion of Judson Scott & Merritt Butrick, both doing wonderful jobs with their new characters.

On the dilemma, I'd say Picard was both right & wrong. In refusing the coils, he's right that it's cultural interference. Had the D not been there, the Ornaran ship would've been destroyed, & the faltering of those 2 cultures' socio-economic status-quo would've already begun. Only through the happenstance of the D responding was it averted. In order to minimize the effects of interference, you limit your aid, much like he did.

Where he's wrong is that in responding to the distress signal, and saving the Ornarans, he's already rendering aid, which in itself is interference, that I assume we all agree is rightful. However, when they claim to have a plague, it becomes a contagion protocol (admittedly TNG is very naive on bringing unknown biologicals aboard)

Once they admitted the Ornarans to their medical treatment, & Crusher began diagnostics, with the intent to discover and possibly treat the illness' infected, they took on certain medical responsibilities.

She even allows them to take their own "Medicine" under her supervision, monitoring its effects. At this point, they are knowingly under her professional care, & medical ethics demand that any ministrations she's provided or permitted, diagnoses/treatments she's determined, or information pertinent to wit, is all binding to divulge to the patients, despite the Brekkians wanting it withheld. That interference is already damage done, when choosing to respond to distress signals this way. To withhold it is playing God on them and violating medical ethics. Hell, half the parties were already told anyhow.

You tell them they aren't fatally sick, & give them the info about the nature of their symptoms. You then broker the most peaceful & efficient situation to rid yourself of them & their issues, giving them nothing else, taking them nowhere. I wouldn't have even helped deliver them & their shipment.

Send a ship, dipshits, & take a hike. Work this shit out yourselves. If you come to some compromise among yourselves, and contact us together, asking for aid, I'll submit the request through the proper channels & the UFP can determine if they will do so... but today? You're gonna stop getting your shit on my shoes, just because I was kind enough to save your sorry asses.

 

[Mojochi]

And then what?

They go home. The ships eventually stop transporting the supply. All Hell breaks loose & they find out they survive the recovery anyhow... just like it was about to go before the D stumbled upon them, & Starfleet stays TF out of it, unless there's a concerted effort from both to request aid from the UFP.

OR, the Ornaran ships fail & can't get to their supply, & the Brekkians "Find" a solution that keeps the status quo going like shipping it themselves, only now the Ornarans know the truth of the medical treatment, & can choose to either act on it or not. It was still the rightful act for the D crew to inform them, as part of helping save their lives & tend to their health needs

 

[at Quark's]

Probably why Picard cut off their supply. It's going to be a nasty THE PURGE style thing on their world but I fully also believe it will recover with most of its population and go on a murder spree.

How, exactly? With that one (or perhaps two) barely functional ships they have left and that could break down at any moment? They'd first need to detox, then rebuild society, then start regaining their technological knowledge and finally construction of a fleet before they can even come to that.

By that time, cooler heads might have prevailed. Or not. But at least it gives the Brekkians ample time to prepare as well.

 

[Charles Phipps]

How, exactly? With that one (or perhaps two) barely functional ships they have left and that could break down at any moment? They'd first need to detox, then rebuild society, then start regaining their technological knowledge and finally construction of a fleet before they can even come to that.

By that time, cooler heads might have prevailed. Or not. But at least it gives the Brekkians ample time to prepare as well.

True. That might end up being the best outcome for everyone. I think the novels had a much more cynical take on subjects, though, which is very common for them.

Apparently, in the novelverse, the Onarians eventually rebuilt themselves but by that time the Brekkians had started selling drugs to several other planets and hired security.

 

[UssGlenn]

Will that lead them to commit mass suicide, or will hit simply lead to them expecting to die, and then find out after a few days they didn't die and the symptoms are becoming less severe? Can't tell.

Keep in mind, not everyone will begin detoxing at the same time, depending on how medication is distributed. The first few people will make it all the way through before most of the population starts. That will allow them to put 2 and 2 together before mass panic sets in.