"The Host" - it really bothers me that in this episode they don't really talk about consent. The way the Trill Symbionts are in this episode looks a lot like they use the hosts as slaves and that isn't addressed in the episode and Dr Crusher doesn't ask too many questions even though you might expect a Starfleet doctor to have a lot of questions about ethics. The Goa'uld in Stargate are the same concept for an alien, but done much better because the ethics aren't glossed over.
Consent and lack thereof, definitely. The plotting also has major gaffes - even within the same scene - like how they run into major draaaaaaaama with the shuttle, it's starting to break up, they can't use the tractor beam, transporting will kill Odan, but somehow Riker casually says without the previous hint of urgency that he'll just casually pilot it back to the ship manually as if they just got back from picking dandelions to make a liver tonic with.
Worse, the handling of body swapping and how Beverly has inconsistent cringeworthy dialogue. It'd have been almost tolerable before Beverly states her final line, which adds too much context above and beyond banging for a Trill. Especially when, in INS, she says nobody cares about boobie size and how (physical attraction in general, apparently), one has to wonder about any number of things - lack of consistency in TNG where some was needed aside.
TROI: And have you noticed how your boobs have started to firm up?
CRUSHER: Not that we care about such things in this day and age.
versus
KAREEL: Yes. It seems as though everything has turned out for the best. And yes, I am still Odan, and I still love you. I cannot imagine that ever changing.
CRUSHER: I am glad that you're all right.
KAREEL: Is there to be nothing more?
CRUSHER: Perhaps it is a human failing, but we are not accustomed to these kinds of changes. I can't keep up. How long will you have this host? What would the next one be? I can't live with that kind of uncertainty. Perhaps, someday, our ability to love won't be so limited.
There's a bunch of oversimplified monolithic claims, all in one go! Granted, it's 7 years between scripts and this episode isn't really memorable... But Odan's antics may be why Dax said this:
DAX: It's a weakness of the young, and although a Trill host may have these feelings occasionally, it is our wish to live on a higher plane, to try to rise above these kinds of temptations.
(Key phrase: "try to"?
)
