Entertainment
Star Trek Almost Had Its Own January 6th Controversy
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star Trek has always been known for its very progressive politics. Because of this, it wasn’t that surprising to see the January 6th attack on America’s Capitol portrayed in Strange New Worlds as part of the events that ultimately led to World War III. The message is so clear that even Geordi LaForge can see it: that this attack by supporters of Donald Trump is part of a regressive, backwards way of thinking that we’ll need to leave in the past in order to achieve our own Utopian future.
Interestingly, however, an earlier series almost had its own January 6th-style controversy. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Hunted,” we meet Roga Danar, a super-soldier who has been enhanced by the same government that tries to forcibly exile him. Eventually, he liberates some of his fellow soldiers and storms the Capitol of the planet that betrayed him. This attack was going to involve violence and bloodshed, but a dramatic final confrontation was cut for budgetary reasons. Nonetheless, the episode ends with Picard beaming away, basically encouraging the armed insurrectionists to either force their demands to be met or topple the corrupt government altogether.
You Say You Want A Revolution
“The Hunted” is an unconventional TNG episode that begins with the Enterprise visiting a planet petitioning for Federation membership. The planetary PM asks Picard to apprehend a runaway fugitive. The Enterprise crew manages to do so, but not before the mystery man nearly holds off the forces of the Federation flagship on his own. Counselor Troi discovers that this man, Roga Danar, is a super-soldier who was enhanced by his government, but they forcibly relocated him and his fellow soldiers after the war ended. He eventually escapes, frees some fellow soldiers, and confronts the prime minister, demanding to be allowed home. Picard beams away due to the Prime Directive, leaving the PM to fight for himself.
Obviously, this Next Generation episode premiered decades before the January 6th attack on the American Capitol. In retrospect, though, it’s fascinating to note some of the surface-level similarities. Both the fictional story and the real-life incident involved those who felt wronged by their elected leaders invading and occupying government spaces. In each instance, those doing the occupying were armed and dangerous. Unlike the January 6th attack, nobody died during the climax of “The Hunted,” but only because of budget cuts. Both episode director Cliff Bole and showrunner Michael Piller later confirmed that the episode was originally going to end with a big, Rambo-style confrontation where the invaders opened fire on government forces.
The Beginning Of The End (Of The World)
More interesting, however, is Picard’s decision to beam away, leaving the corrupt Prime Minister and his staff to their fates. This is very much in line with Star Trek’s Prime Directive, but it’s wild that we don’t know what happens after the end of the episode. For all we know, Roga Danar and his men are just systemically executing government forces by the time Picard gets back to the bridge. This Next Generation episode seemingly endorses the idea of letting such civil conflicts work themselves out. Decades later, however, Strange New Worlds would take the opposite stance on January 6th, implying it’s important for government authorities to quell these conflicts in the name of peace and unity.
That’s not necessarily as crazy as it seems, of course. Star Trek’s perspective on various issues often changes owing to different creators taking the reins and different ideas becoming more mainstream and acceptable. “The Hunted” was a loose allegory for Vietnam, but the writers and producers didn’t let that keep them from crafting a standalone story that made no definitive, sweeping statements about geopolitics. By contrast, Strange New Worlds devoted its first episode to making the January 6th attacks and, by extension, Donald Trump, a canonical part of the events that nearly destroyed the world.
Making Trump the cause of World War III? Hey, nobody ever accused the NuTrek writers of subtlety!