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One Of Star Trek's Best Episodes Was Created Out Of Spite

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published

Ever learn about someone for the first time and feel an immediate kinship with them? Recently, I learned about the late, great Evan Carlos Somers, someone who wrote for the best Transformers show ever made: Beast Wars. He also wrote the episode “Melora” for Deep Space Nine, which just happens to be the greatest Star Trek show ever made (I said what I said, haters!).

What intrigued me most about Somers is that he wrote “Melora” out of spite. Part of that spite was for the Paramount production offices and the DS9 set itself. As a man in a wheelchair, Somers discovered how tough it was to get around the studio, and he made sure the wheelchair-bound Melora faced the same difficulties navigating the most famous space station in the quadrant. On top of that, he wrote “Melora” largely to wave a middle finger at the writers of “Ethics.” That’s the TNG episode where a paralyzed Worf wants to (as the kids on Starfleet Academy might say) unalive himself with the help of Commander Riker.

The Best Parking Spot On The Station

This tale is gonna need a double dose of context, so buckle up. The most notable thing about the “Melora” is that even in the 24th century, the titular Starfleet officer must use a wheelchair to move around the station. This is because she comes from a low-gravity planet, and her fancy hoverchair is incompatible with the station’s Cardassian technology. The episode was pitched and originally written (it got later rewrites) by Evan Carlos Somers, who felt that his life as a handicapped person would help him more authentically write for a wheelchair-bound character.

The big emotional thrust of the episode comes when Dr. Bashir develops a “cure” for Melora that would allow her to easily walk in Earth normal gravity. However, it would keep her from returning to her homeworld. It would also fundamentally change who she is, and she eventually decides not to go through with it just to make Bashir happy. In this way, the handicapped Somers wrote a quintessential Star Trek episode in which a character refuses to be defined by her disability and, instead, fully embraces it.

Today Is A Good Day To Die

While he was motivated to write “Melora” largely out of his desire to honestly portray the lived experience of a handicapped person, Somers also wanted to write a response to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “Ethics.” This is the episode where Worf gets paralyzed by some falling barrels, and he considers committing ritual suicide because of Klingon cultural customs. They believe if you can’t walk, you can’t fight, and if you can’t fight, you might as well be dead. Worf is unable to convince Riker to help with his assisted suicide and is unwilling to ask his son, so he reluctantly agrees to an experimental medical procedure that allows him to walk again.

In an interview with The Official Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Magazine, Evan Carlos Somers revealed that “Ethics” was an episode that “had gotten a little under my skin.” While acknowledging that Klingons have their own cultural values, he still felt that “we’re making statements with Star Trek” and that “messages and values are being broadcast loud and clear.” In this case, he “reented the message in ‘Ethics’–that Worf is worthless now that he’s disabled and therefore must kill himself.” This motivated the writing of “Melora” because “I always thought it would be nice to create a disabled character who’s accepted for what she is and doesn’t have to change.” 

In retrospect, “Melora” did have a nice message, but I find it personally hilarious that this progressive episode was written out of spite for the writers of an earlier TNG episode. Even funnier, “Ethics” was written by Ronald D. Moore, the Klingon expert who later went on to create the acclaimed Battlestar Galactica reboot.

He’s considered one of Star Trek’s best writers, but that didn’t keep a young intern-turned-writer from calling him out with one of DS9’s craziest episodes. Somers was powered by spite the same way the Enterprise is powered by the warp core, and like Scotty, he was giving it all he’s got with “Melora.” Real talk? As a cranky writer myself, that’s the kind of motivation I can get behind.

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NYT Pips hints, answers for March 25, 2026

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you’re stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you’ve ever played dominoes, you’ll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we’ve shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don’t necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO:

Wordle today: Answer, hints for March 25, 2026

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you’ll run into across the difficulty levels:

  • Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

  • Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

  • Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

  • Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

  • Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO:

NYT Strands hints, answers for March 25, 2026

Easy difficulty hints, answers for March 25 Pips

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally; 2-5, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 2-5, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 6-3, placed vertically.

Number (14): Everything in this space must add up to 14. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally; 4-4, placed horizontally.

Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically; 4-4, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for March 25 Pips

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 5-6, placed horizontally; 6-1, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 5-0, placed vertically.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-0, placed vertically; 5-6, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed vertically.

Equal (1): Everything in this orange space must be equal to 1. The answer is 6-1, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-3, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally; 3-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for March 25 Pips

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically; 1-2, placed horizontally.

Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 1-2, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed horizontally.

Equal (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 4-0, placed vertically; 0-6, placed vertically; 0-2, placed horizontally.

Less than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 0-2, placed horizontally.

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed vertically.

Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 0-3, placed vertically; 6-5, placed vertically; 6-4, placed horizontally.

Greater than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 6-4, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is -3, placed vertically; 3-0, placed vertically.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 6-5, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally.

Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 5-5, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically; 4-2, placed vertically.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

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We found the best MacBook deals during Amazons Big Spring Sale — including the MacBook Neo

Amazon’s third annual Big Spring Sale runs from March 25 to 31, and the opening day of the sale already features deals on must-have tech — including flagship Apple products. Apple just refreshed and expanded its MacBook lineup earlier this month, and some of the new Apple laptops are already on sale.

The colorful new MacBook Neo with Touch ID is a whopping — wait for it — $9 off. (Don’t forget about the Apple Store’s $100 education discount.) Of course, there are better deals to be had.

Amazon’s biggest discount thus far is going to a 15-inch M4 model with 24GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which is now $300 off — its lowest price ever. You can also score 13-inch M4 MacBook Airs starting at $899. Remember: Apple has discontinued the M4 MacBooks, so once supplies dry up, they’ll only be available on the refurbished market.

SEE ALSO:

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale is back: The best deals already live on Apple, robot vacuums, headphones, and more

The brand-new M5 MacBook Airs and M5 Pro/Max MacBook Pros are all $50 off for the Big Spring Sale, and that’s probably going to be as cheap as they get for now. (The then-new M4 models got the same discount last year.) Look for better deals in a couple of months come Prime Day.

This is just day one of the Big Spring Sale, and Mashable will be keeping track of all the latest MacBook price drops. Check back to be the first to know about the top Apple deals.

Note: Deals marked with a 🔥 have dropped to a record-low price.

Best MacBook Air deal

$949
at Amazon

$1,199
Save $250

 

Why we like it

The 13-inch M4 MacBook Air may be a last-gen laptop, but it’s still an incredibly capable ultraportable, now $250 off for its lowest-ever price. It’s faster than much pricier Windows laptops, and it has the same 12MP Center Stage webcam, Liquid Retina display, and 18-hour battery life as its new M5 counterpart. This particular model is also well future-proofed amid the ongoing RAM crunch — thanks, AI.

Read Mashable’s full review of the Apple MacBook Air (M4).

MacBook Neo deals

More MacBook Air deals

MacBook Pro deals

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Amazon Big Spring Sale 2026: Tablet deals are in full bloom with savings on the latest iPad Air

Best Big Spring Sale Tablet Deals

An Apple iPad Air with M4 chip

A Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ (WiFi) tablet

An Amazon Fire 7 Kids

Amazon’s Big Spring Sale kicks off on March 25. The seasonal sale, which runs through March 31, focuses on seasonal transition items – think cleaning supplies to freshen up your home and camping supples to get outdoors. However, it wouldn’t be a sale without tech deals, too.

Ahead of the sale, we’ve spotted early savings on tablets, good timing considering Apple just dropped a brand new tablet. The Apple iPad Air with M4 chip just dropped this month, and the good news is, it’s already on sale. But if iPads aren’t your thing don’t worry, there are plenty of other tablet deals to shop.

Here are all the best tablet deals to shop ahead of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale.

Best Tablet Deal

$559
at Amazon

$599
Save $40

 

Read our full review of the Apple iPad Air (M4).

Apple’s latest iPad drop is the iPad Air with M4 chip. It’s one of the retailers speediest, most efficient tablets, scoring 13,176 on the Geekbench 6 test, which puts it ahead of most laptops. When Apple released the new iPad Air, they didn’t raise the price, keeping the midrange tablet at $599. However, it already receive a price cut at Amazon.

Ahead of the Big Spring Sale, get the Apple iPad Air with M4 chip for just $559. While that’s only $40 in savings and less than 10% off its list price, it’s still a great deal considering it’s a brand new tablet.

So while we might like this deal best, if you want some bigger savings, there are plenty more deals to shop.

More tablet deals

iPads

Android

Kids tablet

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