FantasyCon 2015

This time last week I was in the middle of FantasyCon 2015 in Nottingham, the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society. It was a really marvellous time. I'm only posting this late because of my own failings (been feeling a bit odd and tired this last week).

This year's con really had a great atmosphere and for once I really felt like I hit the right mix of socialising and going to panels and events. Dave and I got to see and talk to a lot of friends we only usually see at conventions, and there was a lovely, unexpected appearance from some friends who live locally. I also got to talk to people I've not met or chatted to before. There were a few people I could have spoken to more, but I certainly did some nodding and smiling to people in corridors. I'm not going to list names, because that would probably make for dull reading plus I would almost certainly forget someone and would feel very bad about that. If we did end up having a natter at FantasyCon then believe me I enjoyed it and it all contributed to a great weekend.

This is our haul of (mostly) free books

The programme was a fairly traditional mixture of panels, reading, launches and signings. There were various good panel discussions, including one on using history in fantasy and another about podcasting and audio books. I enjoyed seeing Juliet E. McKenna interview Brandon Sanderson as they are both authors whose work I enjoy. I attended a couple of useful workshops and fun readings (mostly featuring Emma and Peter Newman now that I think of it). Plus the book launch of Heide Goody and Iain Grant's Hellzapoppin' which featured a monk robe and audience participation in the reading. I also moderated a panel for the first time, it was about screen and script writing and the panellists were all very knowledgeable and had a lot to say, which made things easy for me.

Finally much congrats should go to the con organisers and the redcloaks, these volunteers all made sure everything ran smoothly and did a brilliant job.  I'm aware there were a few venue issues in the background, but as an attendee you couldn't tell. Also thanks to Al, who is a great giver of pep talks. We left before the BFS awards ceremony, which was a slight shame as I was a juror for two of the categories and it does feel nice to be involved.


My post on FantasyCon in 2014 can be found here.

Reunion

Episode: s4, ep 7

This episode follows on from the events of two previous episodes. Blimey, it's like this show has story arcs or summat.

Also it is super hard to find pictures from a Trek episode called "Reunion", I have scrolled through so many convention photos of the actors.

What Happens
A Klingon ship intercepts the Enterprise and Picard is hailed by K'Ehleyr, Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire. She is also Worf's ex-lover who we first encountered in The Emissary (still not of Bajor). Worf asks Picard not to make him go and meet her, citing his discommendation from Sins of The Father as the reason he shouldn't approach other Klingons. Picard doesn't accept this and orders him to do his duty. K'Ehleyr arrives with a small child, he seems to be Worf's son.
K'Ehleyr tells the senior crew that the Klingon Empire is heading for civil war because the Council leader is dying and he's come to meet with Picard. The Captain goes to see the old leader, who wants Picard to mediate between his potential successors and find out which one poisoned him. Poisoning is very un-Klingon, so whoever

did it can't succeed. Worf tells Picard it's probably Duras, the guy whose family reputation Worf protected by accepting the discommendation. Picard tells Worf he's going to investigate and mediate as asked, it's like he forgot Duras tried to have them both killed that time. Neither potential leader is happy that Picard is involved and want to get it done quick. Picard takes K'Ehleyr's advice on stretching things out. A bomb goes off, and kills two Klingons, but no one with a name or anything.
Worf spends time with the boy, Alexander. K'Ehleyr tries to get Worf to acknowledge Alexander, but Worf refuses because his dishonour will pass to his son. K'Ehleyr explains her reasons for not telling Worf, but she's realised that she does want to be with him after all. When Worf still refuses she questions him about the discommendation, but he won't tell her anything. She tries to ask Picard, but he won't tell her anything either. Gowron tries to extort K'Ehleyr, making him seem suspect. The bomb was a Romulan design, which is shocking as Romulans are deadly enemies of the Klingons, though Duras's father betrayed his people to them (which is what Worf and Picard helped cover up before).

K'Ehleyr looks into what happened when the Enterprise went to the Klingon council. She finds various records sealed by Duras. He learns that she was looking into things and confronts her. Worf brings Alexander to her quarters and finds K'Ehleyr dying. She says it wasn't Gowron and after the medical team arrives Worf leaves Alexander with them (and the corpse of his mother) and goes to Duras's ship for revenge. When Riker and Data arrive Worf kills Duras in front of them, as is his right as K'Ehleyr's mate. (Yes, that really is the word he uses to describe their relationship. And yes, I do think it's kind of dumb and sort of feel like she would've hated it)
Picard rebukes Worf over the killing, even though the Klingons have let it go. Worf explains why he's still not telling the truth about what happened. Worf acknowledges that he is Alexander's father then sends the boy to live with his foster-parents on Earth.

Oh Captain My Captain
Picard ignores Worf's request not to greet K'Ehleyr and tells him to do his duty, which will be a theme of their conversations this episode. I don't know whether Picard knows about Worf and K'Ehleyr's history. On the one hand there's no reason he should and I'm sure he would publicly profess no interest in the matter. On the other hand if it is generally known (which it might not be, Worf's pretty private) I bet that Picard knows (like how teachers actually do know the playground gossip but usually pretend that they don't) and sends Worf to greet her anyway for laughs.
Picard's diplomatic skills are required, except that in actual fact Picard is meant to play detective. It turns out Klingons are very much against secret assassinations, which makes sense as part of their culture. As the mediator seems to be largely a ceremonial role I guess Picard was probably chosen as he's the only outsider who knows the true events surrounding Worf's discommendation, and his team were the ones that figured out what actually happened. I do find it odd that Picard keeps giving Duras the benefit of the doubt when he's already tried to secretly kill Picard and Worf once. Picard tells Worf that he won't hold Duras responsible for his father's treachery, but Duras arranged to have them killed all by himself. Picard even mentioned that earlier in the episode. Admittedly he doesn't know Gowron at all, but if assassination is generally anathema to Klingons then surely this history makes Duras the prime suspect?
Picard and K'Ehleyr cook up as many ways as they can to prolong the succession ritual, including resurrecting ancient ceremonial speeches. It sounds like a deeply tedious but effective way of stalling for time. It's clear K'Ehleyr enjoys the prospect of using stuffy Klingon rituals against other Klingons. I think Picard also enjoys bringing Worf along as a disruptive presence, which suggests he might not have been totally sincere earlier when he said he understood that Worf was uncomfortable around other Klingons.
At the end Picard has to reprimand Worf for killing Duras; it might have been legal under Klingon law, but Worf is an officer and must act according to Star Fleet rules. Picard mentions having crew from 13 different planets aboard, all with different belief systems* which he respects, but everyone has agreed to serve Starfleet. The Captain's view is that if their beliefs don't allow them to do that then they should resign. This is an interesting stance on people serving as part of a multicultural crew, and the intersection of duty and belief. Or it would be if we ever actually saw any of these other crew members or the issues they might face in the course of their work. As it is, almost everyone is human -even if they're from planets besides Earth- and they all seem to share the same basic moral background with only Worf providing an Othered viewpoint.

Klingon Warrior
It turns out Worf is a dad. When he sees Alexander his eyes widen (still not as bug-eyed as Gowron).

Though, how old is Alexander? The Emissary is at end of series 2, and this is early series 4. I don't know anything about Klingon gestation or child development, but I guess this isn't a one series = one year kind of deal or Alexander would still be a baby, surely. I don't always agree with his outlook on things, but I do feel really sorry for Worf here. That's no way for a person to find out they're a parent. Much as I really like K'Ehleyr I do think it was a dick move not telling Worf he has a child. Especially as she's so insistent for Worf to claim Alexander, and even tries to guilt him into it, despite the fact that that seemed to be the very thing she was avoiding by not telling him about the boy in the first place. I get that she wasn't sure about marriage, or being in a traditional Klingon family, or even Worf himself, but it does seem like she finally made up her mind and just expected Worf to go along with that. Plus even if she didn't want Worf involved in her life, she still could've told him. I assume he couldn't have married her without her permission, and even if Klingon custom/law allows for that she's a Federation Ambassador, there would be protections in place. Besides Worf is not the sort of person who would force someone to be his wife, she wouldn't like him if he was. Worf's reaction when K'Ehleyr dies shows the depths of his feelings for her. It's all terrible timing as I'm sure she could have eventually talked him round to being part of the family and he would have liked nothing more. Worf is good at self-sacrifice and avoiding happiness.
Worf sort of bonds with Alexander, but refuses to acknowledge him as he doesn't want Alexander to be tainted by his dishonour. K'Ehleyr makes clear that she wants Alexander to choose his own path, not to be bound by Klingon traditions, which seems to confuse Worf. That was always an area where they couldn't agree. Worf watches over Alexander at the playschool and shows the boy his bat'leth. You've mostly got to feel bad for Alexander here. His mother says he doesn't spend much time with other children, so presumably she's been dragging him around with her on diplomatic business. I don't suppose he has many other people in his life. He's introduced to a strange man who starts building a bond with him. Then he sees his mother die, the man scares him with a death roar then tells him to remember the moment (as if this is the kind of thing anyone would forget.) Then the man runs off as soon as the medical team arrive, and they largely ignore him to tend to his mother's body. Finally the man, who turns out to be his father, sends him off to live with strangers. Now we've already see that they're very nice strangers, with experience of raising a Klingon boy, but it's still a dreadful thing to happen. I assume K'Ehleyr's parents aren't around?
On the professional side of things Worf is uncomfortable being around other Klingons because of his dishonoured status, but he will do his duties as normal when ordered. I believe Picard does use Worf's status to disrupt things, but he also sticks up for Worf as a member of his crew. Picard and Worf are the only people who know the truth behind Worf's dishonour and they both keep it secret as agreed. At the end Picard suggests that Worf could reveal that his dishonour is false since there's no reason to protect Duras, but Worf continues to keep the secret for the sake of the rest of the Klingon Council. Plus it sounds as though he and his secret brother have a plan to change things later. Have they been plotting?

Gowron has the buggiest eyes of any Klingon

Staff Meetings: 5
1.  K'Ehleyr explains the Klingon situation and how she thinks it could affect the Federation. Then tells Picard that he has been invited to see the dying Klingon leader alone.
2. Picard and K'Ehleyr meet with the two candidates and tell them they will be using old, long version of the succession ceremony, it could take hours or days. The candidates are angry.
3. Senior staff and K'Ehleyr meet to discuss how a Romulan bomb was planted on a Klingon ship. There is concern that a Klingon-Roumlan alliance would drastically shift power balance and make problems for the Federation. K'Ehleyr reveals Gowron's suspect conversation with her.
4. Picard talks to the two candidates about the bomb and asks for the results of their investigations, you get the sense neither really tried very hard. Worf comes in deliver the results of the Enterprise's investigation, provoking immediate disgust and anger from both candidates. Picard insists on Worf's presence and when he mentions the Romulan connection both leave to check their findings.
5. Picard rebukes Worf for killing Duras and reminds him of his duty to Starfleet. Worf receives a reprimand in his record, but Picard is glad he doesn't resign. He sympathises about K'Ehleyr and asks if Worf wants to reveal the truth about his father.

Death by Space Misadventure   ...OK, more politics than misadventure, but it does happen in space.

Those 2 unnamed Klingon guys die in the bomb blast. The one who worked for Duras had the bomb embedded in his arm, so that was a suicide, but apparently taking an enemy with you is perfectly honourable in Klingon culture.

K'Ehleyr, Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire was murdered by Duras for poking into files that he'd sealed and figuring out the truth of a secret at the heart of the Empire. It's sad because I really liked K'Ehleyr, she was smart and confident and mostly cool. She and Worf were both outsiders in Klingon society, but whereas Worf reveres the culture and tradition that he grew up without K'Ehleyr rejects and mocks those parts of it she doesn't like or finds constraining, even while it's clear that she knows a lot about it. K'Ehleyr had a strong personality and she must have been pretty badass as she worked closely with the Empire despite being half-human and also while being a single mother.

The End
Worf admits to Alexander that he is his father and they hug before Alexander is sent away. Bit sad.

* Is it one belief system per planet? That can't be how it works, just look at Earth! Plus isn't the Federation made up of a lot of planets/species/cultures? In that circumstance only 13 planets seems kind of low. Or is he just referring to the crew from non-Federation planets, like Worf?

Sense8

We have Netflix now.*

My husband and I watched Sense8 after we had both heard a fairly detailed (but not spoiler) assessment of it from a friend, so in many ways I think we went in prepared for it's strengths and flaws. It does meander, and there are some iffy plot and dialogue moments. Generally some of it is a bit odd, but you really care about the characters and that's the beauty of it. Overall it is actually kind of great, but I could understand if it is not for everyone.

The premise is an interesting one. Nothing about it that strikes me as completely novel or unusual but now that I think of it I'm not aware of much that's like this on TV before. I can think of examples in books, but even them the idea is used very differently, mental bonding across spaces using being to do with a destiny or magic or to add to a plot, rather than being about so completely and intimately about the characters themselves.

I suppose what makes it feel different is the scale of  the differences between the characters. I like the idea of people from diverse backgrounds and cultures not only being featured but treated mostly equally (as far as I could tell, I'm sure I have blind spots in this area) as characters within the story. This is a TV show with global characters and setting, and that's something that would have been harder to do in previous decades and I suspect would have been treated in a very different way. I can see other shows handling a similar concept by doing a lot of fish-out-water stuff with the non-Western characters and their countries; othering them rather than showing their lived experience in their own terms. It is refreshing to see people and places explored with little assumption of which are 'normal'. Admittedly half of the linked characters are white -two Americans and two Europeans- and there's only one of each other ethnicity in the cluster. That said as each main character has their own complete lives outside of the cluster there's plenty of diversity in the cast as a whole.

It's also good for portraying non-heterosexual characters and the premise explores gender fluidity. Of the three cluster-members in relationships two are in same-sex relationships, and those are also the only two that are are happy relationships. The sexuality of two more cluster-members hasn't been defined yet. The idea of fluid sexuality is explored in the infamous 'psychic orgy' scenes, which weren't quite as explicit as I thought they might be. The two cluster-members who are physically having sex are doing so with same sex partners, an the cluster-members who are only involved mentally two are straight guys who are experiencing this without any sign of disgust about the other men involved (though Will later gets weird at Lito for suggesting they had sex - but he's the token straight, white American guy, so I guess that's cultural or something). The premise has the potential to play with notions of gender too. Nomi is a transwoman, which informs but does not singly define her arc. Everyone else is cis, but they all experience the physicality of the others regardless of gender. So far this has been used in comedic or shock-value ways. Lito experiences many of the symptoms of menstruation/PMT (PMT is a Western cultural concept and not a globally recognised thing btw), which is played for laughs and is perhaps a little overdone. Though saying that there is a sort of joy in seeing a man dealing with it and having no idea what's happening. There's also an odd moment when Riley has a vivid recollection/flashback to being pregnant and Will gets a baby bump - that was sort of odd. Still there's potential for further exploration of how this could impact gender.

What struck me when I first heard the premise is that in many ways it's a TV show that's using a fairly light (though interesting and useful) SF concept to explore the increased connectivity between the global population. I'm not massively social online (or elsewhere if I'm honest), but on twitter I do follow people from all over the world and so I will glean bits of info here and there about their lives (and that's with the language barrier of me being mono-lingual). Those more digitally sociable and outgoing than myself can easily end up with friends, supporters and collaborators across the globe. When viewed this way the slower paced getting-to-know-you conversations that the characters have between the fights and chases are central.

While you are initially trying to figure out where a conversation is taking place (and possibly what time it is) you soon realise that it is foolish to assign such physical concepts to interactions to are largely mental. Just as a Skype conversation cannot be said to be happening in one place (unless you're being lazy and Skyping someone from across the room), so the interactions between the senseate** characters are happening in different places and yet they are together. There has never been more opportunity to find like-minded people than there is today and emotional distances can be very small despite vast geography. Being that we are still in a period of transition (one that I expect could take place across a generation or so) there are still plenty of people who will insist the friends and connections made online aren't real. There is still much focus on the idea of 'real life' being offline, but this is something that I think is changing, even as our existing social structures are still ill-equipped to deal with it. With this is mind Sense8 is very relevant. Most scripted TV shows will make concessions to the digital world, Sense8 is the main one I can think of that is exploring it.


Spoilery Thoughts (which are likely to make little sense if you haven't seen the show)

I'm assuming Capheus has not seen those Jean-Claude Van Damme Coors adverts. I hope he never sees them.

Is Kala's fiancé basically the nicest man in India? I think he might be. Breaking his heart would be like disappointing a particularly large-eyed puppy. I kind of feel like if she explained that she didn't love him he'd be pretty understanding, but then how terrible would Kala feel? She's a compassionate woman and can't handle this romcom situation.

Why would Nomi and Amanita hide in their own house for so long? Why wouldn't the people tracking Nomi not constantly watch their house? I know they figured no one would look for them there because its the last place people on the run would go, but there is a reason for that.

Poor Sun, all the men in her family are colossal jerks who do not deserve her.

I think I like Riley's dad more than her. I realise Riley's been through some crappy stuff and that probably influences the bad decisions she makes, but still I didn't warm to her so much. Also, is Riley an approved Icelandic name? It seems like they're pretty strict about that there.

I was so ready to be suspicious of Daniela, I really was. I'm not even sure why. It felt like she was fetishising Lito and Nando, but I guess the gender-switched version of that is a whole branch of the porn industry, and if they're fine with it that's the main thing.

That tough agent-guy's reaction when he thinks Amanita was on her period, so funny. He would not have acted that way if he thought she was bleeding from anywhere else. I swear some men are so phobic of menstrual blood and I don't even get why, it's not like it affects them. Admittedly I found the birth scenes a bit much, but that's a perfectly rational thing for me to be wary about.

Will is OK. In a less interesting show he'd be a really bland hero, he's mostly saved by the company he keeps. I'm not too bothered about him and Riley if I'm honest.

Wolfgang switches between me liking him and being uncertain about him. He's had a crappy upbringing too, but for some reason I feel better about some of his bad decisions than I do with Riley. Maybe it's because Wolfgang plans what he does, which considering the kind of things he does is probably worse from a moral standpoint.

The chemistry between Wolfgang and Kala is more interesting than Will and Riley, but I can't help feeling that he would be very bad for her in practice.

All the sex did not make make as uncomfortable as I thought it would. Not sure if it's because I kinda knew what to expect before watching or whether I'm growing as a person. Hopefully the latter.

I loved when they're all singing. So joyful!



*I must remember to cancel the Lovefilm subscription. Though Lovefilm (or Amazon thingamajig) is much better for films than Netflix but it's kinda crappy the way they handle TV series.

** I don't think it's spelled with an 8 in-world.

Legacy

Episode: s4, ep 6

This is like a series 1 or 2 episode and at this point I know the show can do better.

What Happens
The Enterprise receives a distress call from a malfunctioning freighter and arrives just as it explodes. The escape pod crashes onto a planet that is entirely bad neighbourhood; it's the lawless colony that Tasha Yar came from. The away team don't meet the violent response they expected, but they are intercepted by one of the two ruling factions, who say the escape pod landed in their enemies' territory. The faction offer to help retrieve the crew in exchange for weapons, Riker refuses and beams back. Picard isn't happy about things on the planet, but thinks that having already established contact they should keep in touch. The gang-leader does some homework and contacts the Enterprise, offering to help them rescue the crew-members for free. He sends as liaison Ishara Yar, sister of Tasha.
Ishara briefs the crew on the layout of the underground city and the methods of the rival gang. She expects their scepticism about her identity and offers to take a DNA test. One of the missing crew sends a broadcast saying their captors will kill them if they don't pay up. Ishara knows where the escape pod is and Geordi can use it to find where the crew are. A team beams to the pod and Ishara creates a distraction by setting off her enemies' alarms. She provides cover for the Star Fleet crew while Geordi tracks the captives. Riker has to save her. After the risks she took for them everyone is more accepting of Ishara and Dr Crusher confirms that she is Tasha's sister. Ishara calls Tasha a coward for leaving and Picard tells her about her sister's bravery.
The captives are hidden deep underground and Ishara can't lead them there because her gang-implant will alert the other faction. Data suggests a way the implant could be removed without harming her. Ishara and Data talk about Tasha and about how he makes friends. Ishara agrees to have her implant removed and says she'd like to join the Federation. The Enterpise shoots a hole in the planet (as you do) so the team can beam down near the captives. During the rescue Ishara goes to shut down the power supply for her rivals' security system. Data catches her and she reveals that her faction have people ready to move as soon as the security system goes down. Data can't let her do that as the Enterprise crew would be complicit in the resulting deaths and so he stops her. The crew members are rescued and Ishara is taken to the Enterprise. Ishara's leader demands she's returned and Picard sends her back despite Riker's preference for her to be punished. Ishara tells Data that their friendship wasn't entirely a lie.

Oh Captain, My Captain
The Enterprise was heading to an archaeological survey, and given how much Picard really likes old stuff I bet the detour to rescue some guys was an irritation. Picard's assessment of the factions running the planet is that they might have reasonable-sounding names but their behaviour is that of "urban street thugs". This is clearly something he takes a dim view of, as is missing out on archaeology no doubt.
When Ishara calls her sister a coward Picard tells her about the act of bravery that first brought Tasha to his notice. He also tells her about the bravery that led Tasha to her death. At the end Picard lets Ishara return without any further trouble. Riker queries the Captain's leniency, but Picard says they were all too quick to trust Ishara because she reminded them of Tasha and they all wanted to like her.

Riker: lover, adventure-junkie, middle-management
Riker and Data are dominating at the poker game. Riker shows Data a card trick, but Riker's hand is not faster than Data's eye and the android sees what he did. This means Data gets all the money even though Riker did complete the trick.
Riker leads all the away teams, as usual. When he puts himself in danger to rescue Ishara Picard has a stern word about taking unnecessary personal risks. I wonder if Riker enjoys taking these risks? Despite his senior position he's always on the away teams. Maybe that's why he won't accept the promotions they keep offering him? Captains are supposed to live safer than Riker does.
At the end of the episode Riker talks to Data about trust, vulnerability and balancing the benefits of closeness with the possibility of betrayal.

Does Not Compute
Ishara becomes particularly close to Data, as many visitors to the Enterprise do. You'd think having no emotions would put him at a social disadvantage, but humans seem drawn to it. She talks to him about Tasha and friendship. Data explains how his systems allow him to get accustomed to people, in what he claims is an facsimile of friendship. Data is the one who advocates most for Ishara and she tells him that she's thinking of joining Star Fleet. It's possible that in this case Data is chosen for his naivete, which is saddening. He's the one who discovers Ishara betrayal's and won't let her enact her plan, though she later tells him that their burgeoning friendship wasn't entirely a lie.
At the end Data tries to work through his feelings about Ishara by talking to Riker, all the while pretending it is just a learning experience and nothing to do with feelings that he obviously doesn't have. He claims that he's spared the emotional fallout of betrayal because he can't feel. I don't think Data realises he's lying, but he is. I am less and less convinced by Data's assertion that he doesn't feel, I believe he is repressing/deluding himself in that respect. I know what repression looks like and I suspect Data has told himself he can't feel anything and persists with this belief in the face of all evidence to the contrary. I can identify with that (of course I could be projecting). Either way, his reactions certainly seem like emotional ones, even if he wants to couch it all in computer terms. If you doubt this just look at Data's face at The End

Klingon Warrior
Worf is bad at bluffing (except for when he's not), which is why he's no good at poker. (Of course Troi was doing badly too and she apparently has the ability to tell when people are lying, except for when she can't, which is actually most of the time.) He is paranoid that Data and Riker are in cahoots, which is ridiculous because Data wouldn't do that. Of course this grumpy paranoia is entirely lacking later when Ishara starts to win everyone's trust. There's a moment when it looks like Worf may be questioning Ishara's idea to join Star Fleet, but he too is warmly respectful of her for her sister's sake. Picard is right that everyone desperately wants Ishara to be like Tasha. Still it's a bit disappointing in Worf as his job (and most frequently used character trait) is to see possible threats everywhere (and to be ignored by everyone regardless of whether his suggestions are sensible or not).
Worf warns about Dr Crusher going down to the planet, he's the only one in the whole episode to bring up the rape-gangs Tasha mentioned. His concern is well-meaning but it does single Crusher out as the only woman on the away team. There's no suggestion that anyone else is in particular danger, even though Riker is also weaker than Worf and Data, being just a human. Crusher refuses point blank to be put off, which is good. She has a job to do and is armed like everyone else.


Planet of... Urban Gangland Dystopia
What we see of the planet see is a shadowy, decaying underground city complete with random pipes that vent clouds of ominousness. We are told that the gangs are violent without actually seeing them do much. This is not to undermine Tasha's brief horror stories from series 1, but although Worf mentions rape gangs once as a security concern Ishara says nothing about that kind of thing and there's little sign of intimidation. Yes, people are shooting at each other, but it is basically a war-zone, plus the Star Fleet crew with their better phasers and undetected movement are actually more of a threat than anyone else. The gang we meet don't threaten the away team and they're stealing booze with the attitude of excitable teens rather than serious criminals. The main bad thing I noticed is that most of the non-speaking parts for gang members looked to have been filled by people of colour. Star Trek is meant to be progressive, but probably only for certain characters, everyone else can be damaging stereotypes, sure why not?
We are told part of the history of the place. Terrible unrest, civil disturbance, and weak government caused it to split from the Federation thirty years earlier. The last contact Star Fleet had was death threats issued 6 years earlier against any away teams that showed up. Isn't this kind of thing exactly what the Federation is there is prevent? I mean their totalitarian brand of utopianism surely means Star Fleet should have intervened when this place first started to go bad. After they've issued death threats to authority shouldn't that authority have swooped in with their starships? (I'm not saying I think that's the best way to react at all, it just seems like the kind of thing Star Fleet Admirals would do.) These are not pre-warp people, so there's no Prime Directive stopping anyone with enough authority from going in and forcing them to completely change their way of life.
I don't understand the present set-up. The gangs were originally issued with proximity sensors by the authorities, and took them as badges of membership, which makes sense. What I don't get is that now there are no authorities but the sensors still alert the gangs to each other's presence. Complex deceit involving an unexpected third party is required to be rid of one. Does it not occur to either of these gangs to just start recruiting people who don't have the sensors? I mean the government's been gone for over a decade (maybe two), how many more of those sensors can they even have? It doesn't make any sense.

Staff Meetings: 2
1. Ishara explains the situation with the gangs. A message from the captives is received, and Ishara tells them to take it seriously. She reveals that she knows where the crashed escape pod is.
2. Data tells Picard that Ishara will have her implant removed and wants to come away with them. Troi says that Ishara has only ever known this way of life, but she can't tell if she's definitely trustworthy and insinuates that Data likes her.

The End
After talking to Riker about how he keeps thinking about Ishara, even though he apparently can't feel anything, Data stands alone in a corridor and looks down at the implant Ishara gave him. I don't care what he says, he is hurting.

This android is sad

Kindness of Strangers

Hello! I have returned.

Well I haven't actually been anywhere, but I've not been blogging due to work and life and such (at least this time it was planned). I've seen what full-on August is like at work now, so hopefully I'll be more prepared for next year.

I thought I'd start on a positive note and mention some nice real life stuff that has happened to me. There have been some specific occasions over the past few months when total strangers have been really kind (not that they are normally horrible or anything) and I thought it was worth sharing.


I went to Homebase after work to buy seed potatoes and a paint sample (it was kinda random) but when I got to the till I discovered that I didn't have my wallet on me (I remembered almost straight away that I'd left it at home). Bit awkward, but I have a bus pass so I don't need cash to get about. When I left the shop the woman who had been behind me at the till came over to me in the car park. She said she'd overhead my predicament and asked if I needed any help or any money. Looking back I think she was concerned about whether I was really stuck and needed help getting home or something. I think my facial expressions can come off more sad/worried than I actually am. At the time I briefly wondered if she was offering to help buy my random non-essentials. Either way I thanked her for her generosity but said I was fine.

The day my first rat died (as mentioned here in July) I'd booked to give blood in the afternoon. Obviously I was pretty sad when I got to the appointment and it's possible that that combined with the heat (July was so hot!) was what made me feel faint afterwards. I had to lie down for a bit with a fan pointed at me. A woman who had also been giving blood asked how I was getting home and said she'd give me a lift rather than me waiting for the bus. The Blood Service people seemed to know her and made clear that I was texting my husband about coming home (I sensed no threat, but best to be on the safe side and all). Actually we had quite a nice chat about the city we lived in.

After the busiest day at work (by which I mean the specific day we have to come in early for and get other people in to help out with) I stumbled to the bus stop feeling a little punch drunk. In fact I missed the bus going past, so I legged it down the footpath to the next bus stop. when I got on the bus I realised I didn't have my phone on my any more. On the bus home I was making plans to phone it as soon as I got in. At home I had an answer phone message from a woman who had found my phone, she'd also added me on facebook and sent me a message there. Luckily she was doing research at the University where I work, so we exchanged some messages on facebook, arranged to meet  and she gave the phone back to me the next day.

Part of my bus pass fell out of its wallet (same bus stop where I lost my phone). I got things sorted out to get a new one, but in the meantime a letter came to me from the bus company with my missing bus pass inside. There was also a letter from a woman who said she had found it and wanted the bus company to try and get it back to me. Not found her to thank her, unlike the others.


I guess the moral of this is that people can be very nice and considerate, or possibly that I lose things.

Normal service will return shortly.

New Rats

Just a quick, happier, update after the previous sad post.

Turns out rats are harder to acquire than I'd expected and for a day I thought I might have to go to a breeder in my home town. Though if you want to buy a lizard there are a few places hereabouts that can help. I did manage to find one pet shop on this side of the city which sells rats. It is 2 bus journeys away, though only 20 mins by taxi.

Introducing our new girls...

Mai

Ty Lee

Ty Lee was very curious about me in the pet shop, climbed over the pet shop lady's hand and actually managed to briefly get on to the floor. She enjoys climbing, moving quickly and getting out of your grasp (hence the slightly awkward picture). If you have seen Avatar: the Last Airbender you will understand that she is well named.

Mai is more laid back, and seems content to hide or stay in one place unless she feels she wants to move. I chose her for the distinctive forehead marking. She likes certain safe spaces and though she's getting more friendly with us. I don't expect her to be sarcastic like her namesake, but I don't know whether rats get sarcastic or what that's like.

They are only 9 weeks old at the moment and are basically the size of mice.

Not forgetting our resident lady...

Micassa

My husband used to call her licky rat, but her enthusiasm for grooming us has reduced since she lost her friends. We're trying to make a fuss of her while she's on her own, but sometimes it seems that she tolerates our attention. We are big and weird and probably don't understand social niceties.

The new ones will be in quarantine for another week, then it will probably take a few more weeks of introductions before all three can share the big cage. Even starved for company as she is, Micassa is used to being the boss rat and she's currently twice the size of the other 2, so we have to be careful that the introductions (and inevitable fights) happen under supervision.


We are also now the proud owners of 4kg of rat and mouse food and 50ltrs of paper-based, eco-friendly cat litter, which is also suitable for rodents. Seemed best to get supplies delivered so we'll be covered even while we've got 2 cages.

Bad news and Blog Break

Hello.

There's going to be a bit of a break again, but this time I thought to mention it in advance.

In my current job summer -especially the first few weeks of August- is very, very busy and so I'd planned to have less stuff going on during this time. Theoretically I could probably have covered a lack of blogging time with some buffer posts, but that hasn't happened.

The break will be starting earlier than I'd planned (after this very post in fact) because unfortunately in the last 16 days 2 of our rats have died. This is very sad for us, especially as we'd tried to do what we thought was best the 2nd time and it didn't work out. This means that we are left with 1 rat, which is bad because they are very social creatures and need other rats around them. So at present we're trying to find out where we can get a couple more new friends for her. We're also going to move the massive cage to a different part of the house so it's easier to interact with her.

After the 1st rat died we'd thought we would get more, but had been thinking we would do so in autumn, now the timetable has been brought forward. When introducing rats you need to go through a gradual process of introduction, which can take a few weeks. I expect that will coincide with the very busy period at work I mentioned previously, so I'm likely to be a bit out of it for a while.

I'm hoping I can start blogging as usual again in late September. I'm pretty certain I had some ideas for new, different posts, but right now I forget what those were. I'm pretty tired at the moment as I was out in the garden at 11pm last night holding a torch while my husband dug a rat grave. Sorry if I have made anyone sad, it's been an emotional day.

Armin (Hidey Rat)

Erin (Explorey Rat)

Remember Me

Episode: s4, ep 5

The Lady Vanishes, but with doctors on a starship.

What Happens
Dr Crusher is excited to see her old friend and mentor, a recent widower who's retired from doctoring and is getting a lift to his new home on the Enterprise. As they reminisce the talk turns to dead spouses and remembering those you've lost. Beverley goes to visit Wesley who is doing an experiment with the engines even though Geordi wants to get the ship moving. Something happens, there's a flash, the experiment fails. When Wesley looks up his mother has left. Later Beverly visits her firend but finds his quarters are empty. The Computer has no record of him, nor does Worf. Assuming there's been a cock-up with the paperwork Worf sends a security team to search for the old doctor. Picard also doesn't know about the doctor's visit even though Beverly made the request in good time. When she checks with the starbase where he lived for years they also don't have any record of him. This spotty record-keeping is most troubling. O'Briend says he remembers Dr Crusher popping down to the transporter room, but doesn't remember her friend beaming in. Data finds Star Fleet Medical have no record of him. Then Beverly discovers that two doctors on her staff are missing, and the Computer has not record of them either.
Wesley suggests that his experiment might have caused the problem. It was something about warp bubbles and improving engine efficiency. None of the doctors were near Engineering at the time, but they'll keep looking into it. Beverly discovers she has no medical staff, which surprises only her as everyone else always thought it was just her. She thinks there should be a population of about 1,000 on board, but as far as anyone else is concerned there's only 230 people. Picard is willing to trust her as she insists there should be more people, but Beverly herself wonders if she's going insane. In sickbay a blue vortex tries to suck her in, but she resists it. No one else finds any evidence of it, and the crew numbers keep reducing with only Beverly noticing the change. She checks that her son still exists, and Wesley tells her more about the experiment. He got the info from the mystical Traveller, a really advanced alien who showed up in series 1. Beverly does recall that day they all travelled to the edge of the universe and everything got weird, she asks Wesley about contacting the Traveller, but when she turns around he's gone. Only Picard is left and Beverly monitors his vital signs until he disappears. The vortex comes back.
In Engineering Wesley and Geordi discuss another failed attempt to get Dr Crusher back. She got caught in the warp bubble when Wesley did his experiment. Wesley seems ready to give up when the Traveller phases in and says there is a solution. He explains that Beverly is trapped in a reality of her own making and will be alive as long as she thinks she is, but the bubble is collapsing around her. He advises Wesley to see past numbers to get his mother back. They can make a path for Beverly, but she must step through. The Enterprise returns to the starbase, to the exact position it was in when Dr Crusher disappeared. Meanwhile Beverly asks the Computer questions, trying to find a logical answer to her predicament. This reveals that the "universe" is shrinking around her and a purple haze creeps through the ship as it does. It is the same shape as Wesley's experiment and Beverly realises part of what's happened. Wesley and the Traveller focus and start phasing in and out, Wesley falls down with the exertion. Beverly goes down to Engineering, sees the vortex again and jumps through.


Doctor Doctor
Dr Crusher has been more present so far in this series, with reasonable secondary roles in the 2 previous episodes, and now one focused on her. I approve. You have to feel sorry for her here. She's so excited to see her old friend and the bond between them is evident in the short time they're on screen together. They're comfortable enough with each other to talk about heavy subjects, like his recent bereavement, her older one and the bad things about growing old. Of course she's concerned by his disappearance. Throughout her ordeal she's obviously distressed, but always handles things sensibly. She turns to Picard as her Captain and her friend, involves the appropriate crew members in what is initially a search party and then an investigations. She tries to check herself out medically, which is difficult, and goes to see Troi to assess her own mental state. She remains logical and practical as she can be, even as the crew dwindles around her. She has the Computer scan Picard when he's the only other one left and when she's on her own she tries to use the Computer to puzzle out what might be happening. It's only as the "universe" shrinks around her that she realises part of what's happened. Some of her realisations at the end seem a bit forced, like they're there to punctuate what the Traveller said. I did expect her to rush to Engineering a bit quicker, but I'm not surprised she makes the leap once she's there. She might have worried a little later than she should have about whether Wesley had disappeared, but I do feel as though the show often doesn't what to emphasise the relationship between the Crushers, only playing on it when convenient.
The actual situation seems a bit iffy to me. The Traveller says the reality within the warp bubble is defined by Beverly's thoughts when she went in. She realises that she was thinking about losing people when the flash happened. I'm not sure why her constructed reality has so much information about and focus on Wesley's experiment when she'd have no cause to think that was causing the issue. I also don't get why fake-Wesley mentions the Traveller, or his location. I see why it was necessary to explain things, but it doesn't make much sense coming from Beverly's thoughts alone.

Wesley
If a Star Fleet Ensign wants to conduct an experiment with warp drives, should they be allowed to use the engines of a working starship, especially just before it's scheduled to depart a starbase? If you're doing an experiment based on principles you got from a mystical alien who accidentally took an entire starship to the edge of the universe, isn't that the kind of thing you should do in a controlled environment, like a lab or something? I know you're certain it shouldn't affect anything outside the engines (of a city-sized starship that is docked in a starbase, both of which are inhabited by many people who would probably die if the engines exploded), but you got this info from a guy who said it's actually the space-time-thought continuum, which no one in your civilisation actually understands yet. Also if you absolutely have to do it on a starship (because you're just so gosh-darned precocious) shouldn't you get the Captain's permission? And set up safeguards to prevent accidents, like keeping other people (including your mother) out of the way? I personally have no science background, but these were all things that occurred to me. When Geordi (who is the Chief of Engineering) tells Wesley he needs the engines in operation, on the Captain's orders, Wesley stalls for time. This kid lacks respect for the chain of command, possibly it comes of being sort-of home-schooled by the senior crew. I doubt any other Ensigns would be allowed to take such liberties.
At the end I felt as though this episode could have paralleled The Visitor from DS9, a child desperately trying a rescue their remaining parent from a space anomaly. Except that The Visitor takes place over years and is told from Jake's point of view, plus the Siskos have a much closer relationship than the Crushers do. Then again DS9 is far more willing to be emotionally invested than TNG is. We only see Wesley's efforts in the final part of the episode, and before the Traveller arrives he seems ready to give up, even though they haven't done everything yet. We see how much effort Wesley puts into the process of getting his mother back, there isn't much emotional heft to it. We don't see how Beverly's absence affects Wesley. The Traveller keeps telling Wesley to unlock his potential and see past his self-doubt, but it doesn't mean much because Wesley's never seemed big on self-doubt before. All we've had is a few minutes of him looking concerned and saying he can't do it. It seems like the Traveller's job is to show up and tell everyone how special Wesley is. He should just marry him already (actually I'm told that happens later).


Staff Meetings: 5 (but only 1 is real to anyone besides Dr Crusher)
1. Worf and Data report being unable to find Dr Crusher's missing friend, and neither Picard nor Worf saw the relevant paperwork. Admin fail? Something is very wrong!
2. Crusher reports more missing doctors to Picard, no one can remember them but her. They are interrupted by Wesley calling them down to Engineering.
3. Picard calls Beverly to his Ready Room after she claims nearly 800 people are missing. She's concerned about her health and sanity, and suspects Picard doesn't believe her. He assures her that he does. It's kind of a nice moment. I like it when they're platonic rather than it's-complicated.
4. Geordi and Data report finding nothing unusual after Crusher's encounter with the vortex, everything they can think of has been checked. Beverly realises that now over 900 people are missing, including Worf. She tries to describe Worf without initially saying he's a Klingon.
5. (Only meeting in 'real' universe, though I suspect there were more off-screen) The Traveller tries to describe where Dr Crusher is, says he can't pull her back, but he and Wesley can make a path for her to come through on her own.

The End
Beverly lands of the floor of real-Engineering, Picard helps her up and hugs her. Beverly sees the Traveller and asks if he got her back. He says no and points to Wesley, who is just picking himself off the floor. Beverly gives Wesley a big hug and asks Picard how many are on board, he respond with the correct number including her friend. It's a nice ending, but nothing special.

Others People's Icons

I've never considered myself to have been born at the wrong time (I like history but I'm not big on idealising other time periods), but it does sometimes occur to me that my age and the circumstances of my childhood left me in a bit of a gap as far as pop culture (especially geek culture) is concerned.

I don't remember the 80s, I grew up mostly in the 90s and there was very little geekiness in my family (my dad reads SFF, but is not involved in fan stuff - in my experience there are a lot of people like that and I don't know that they get talked about much).  I didn't realise I was a geek until my late teens and didn't really explore what was out there until university. What this means is that a lot of my friends, acquaintances and people I follow on twitter have these cultural touchstones that they are very invested in. I have picked up a lot of the lingo and references, I have often seen the stuff in retrospect, but not really experienced the feels that others have.

I grew up in the Doctor Who gap. As a child I remember we had some knowledge of Doctor Who, we could identify a Dalek or the TARDIS. I remember when I was 6(ish) a group of kids running around holding rulers and saying "Exterminate" in robot voices. Scarves were also important somehow and hiding behind the sofa. I never saw Doctor Who on TV, I wasn't aware of any of the fan-made stuff, the novels, the audiobooks. To me, as a child, Doctor Who was something that used to be on TV. I enjoy Doctor Who now, to a variable extent, but it's not part of my childhood. My Doctor was the guy from the Knock-Knock joke.*

Also I've never seen E.T. all the way through, but I do mostly remember that alien from the BT adverts (it really was the perfect campaign for them when you think about it). It's probably a little sad that a lot of other people's icons are my marketing devices.

Nowhere is my growing up in the gap more evident than Star Wars and this year I've really noticed it. I first saw the original trilogy all the way through on telly when I was 17. I already knew the basics just from consuming pop culture, the references are all over the place. I seem to recall thinking it was OK, but I had no real sense of wonder or excitement. I had always lived in a world where all this already existed. I was not bothered about The Phantom Menace, I expect I saw adverts but I wasn't involved in geek culture of any kind so the whole thing passed me by. The only Star Wars film I have seen in the cinema is Episode III, because my then-boyfriend (now-husband) had a traditional of seeing the midnight screenings (I agree with my friend Greg that George Lucas was clearly trying to blind us all with that film, an effect heightened by having been awake hours longer than usual) and my Dad also wanted to see it. 

I've been trying to stay away from all the Star Wars hype this year, just gleaning bits of info from social media and podcasts. If I hear too much about it all I will be sick of it before it even comes out. Though I did hear it mentioned months ago on the store radio when I was in ASDA, the hype has escaped geek spaces and there's no real way to entirely avoid it. I don't want to seem curmudgeonly, I appreciate that others like Star Wars on a level that I'm unlikely to ever feel myself and that's fine. If anything I guess I have an advantage in that I'm not so invested as to feel anger or betrayal if it is done wrong - whatever "wrong" is. 

I don't think I have an equivalent of Star Wars or Doctor Who, something from my youth I feel that deeply about. I have things I really enjoy of course, many of them seen or read after the fact. I'm not so ignorant as I once was, and my husband has ensured that I've seen the Alien and Matrix films I missed before. I've never considered myself part of a specific fandom, but that may be because for all that I am a geek I don't think my personality leans towards that so much. Also I can be a little standoffish, wary of giving myself to people or groups. Perhaps that's something I should change? For now though it's nice to see others enjoying things so much, and even if I don't feel it myself I like to see my friends' joy and enthusiasm.


* If anyone is unfamiliar with the knock-knock joke feel free to ask.

Suddenly Human

Episode: s4, ep 4

What Happens
The Enterprise follows a distress signal to a dangerously damaged ship. It belongs to an alien race who look human besides head-ridges and whose name begins with 'T' and ends with 'ian', making them indistinguishable from most of the other alien races whose names I haven't bothered to remember. Seriously, paint them an unusual colour or something! There is no visual hook for me to describe them by. Anyway these boring-looking aliens used to be enemies and this exact set up was often a trap. Despite this an away team including the First Officer, the Chief of Medicine and the Chief of Security beams over. They find 5 youths suffering injuries from an engine malfunction and beam them straight to sickbay. Turns out one of the youths is a human teenager.
The boy is called Jono and believes he's a boring-looking alien when in fact he's a human. He won't respond to Crusher or Troi and only settles down when Picard arrives. It turns out Jono is Jeremiah Rosa, son of two colonists who were killed during an attack by the boring-looking aliens. His grandmother is an Admiral. Crusher notices injuries in the last few years and fears he might have been subject to abuse. Everyone agrees that Jono should be taken by Star Fleet and returned to human society. Troi tells Picard to bond with the kid and he reluctantly agrees, eventually letting Jono stay in his quarters.
A boring-looking alien warship arrives to collect the youths, Picard sends the 4 over but says they're keeping Jono. The boring-looking alien Captain says that Jono is his son. Everyone decides this can't be right because apparently mixed families aren't a recognised thing. Picard stalls, Crusher suggests caution and Jono is allowed a supervised visit with his father. He says that the injuries are a natural part of being a young man in the competitive environment of the boring-looking aliens. The senior crew continue to do all they can to convince Jono that he is human and humanity is great. Telling him about his dead parents makes Jono experience distressing flashbacks. Receiving a message from Admiral Grandma doesn't convince Jono. Picard bonds with him over sport then they meet up with Riker and Wesley. Jono laughs when Wesley gets ice cream in his face. They think they're close to convincing him.
That night Jono stabs Picard in the chest. The boring-looking aliens send more warships and the Captain demands the return of his son or war will resume. Riker tells boring-looking alien Captain that Jono is in custody. Picard, who is soon patched up, asks Jono why he did it. Jono is deeply conflicted; when he had fun with the humans he thought he was betraying his father and his culture. He attacked Picard so he would be put to death. Picard recovers enough to go to the Bridge just as the Enterprise is facing off against warships. He tells boring-looking alien Captain that they were wrong to ignore Jono's feelings. He will be sent back to his home and his father.


Oh Captain My Captain
Picard is in full 'get off my lawn you kids' mode at the start of the episode, shouting at the youths to be quiet. The cacophony they were making was actually a tradition of their people and I suspect that if they'd been adults Picard might have been more diplomatic about shutting them up. He is aghast when Troi suggests that he should try bonding with Jono, but accepts that the kid's disdain towards women prevents Troi from doing it. This seems like precisely the sort of thing he told Riker to deal with when they first met. I'm not sure why Picard let Jono stay in this quarters, except perhaps that he wasn't sure what else to do. I think he regrets it very quickly when Jono starts touching his things and playing loud music that isn't to Picard's taste (again not a youth thing but a cultural thing). Picard's awkward speech to Troi is hilariously unconvincing suggesting either that his speeching powers only work when he's being spontaneous or that Troi is immune to them and we're seeing the scene from her point of view. She asks him about his own childhood and it sounds like he didn't interact with other children much then, being too focused on his aim of being a Star Fleet Captain. Having seen his family home 2 episodes ago one wonders whether that was the furthest thing he could imagine from being a Luddite vineyard owner, as his father must have been.
Later in the episode Picard moves from 'get off my lawn you kids' to 'understanding mentor' via 'diffident uncle'. Seeing that Jono is having strong feelings, and deciding he doesn't want to deal with them, Picard introduces Jono to the traditionally acceptable outlet for male emotion that is sports. (I assume, I'm neither male nor into sports so this assumption is based entirely on observation.) He bonds with Jono over a game of future-racquet ball (is racquet ball basically squash?) and then takes him to 10 Forward where they sit with Riker and Wesley in an obviously contrived and very weird male-bonding double date. All is proceeded as planned, until the kid stabs Picard in his sleep.
At least at the end Picard realises what had been obvious all along: that he and his crew had unthinkingly taken a child from his family and his culture. They decided they knew what was best for the kid, plotted to coerce him into their way of thinking and acted as though it was all in the child's best interest. The show doesn't draw any explicit parallels (the kid is blonde and his father is a pinkish boring-looking-alien), but this is something that haunts human history and affects societies even today. Picard's realisation is not accompanied by an apology.

Doctor Doctor
I'm not sure how Crusher knows Jono's name when she also says he won't talk to anyone, but that's a minor niggle. It's quickly apparent that the patriarchal society Jono comes from means he (and presumably those other kids) won't take Crusher seriously. She can't like that but her focus is ensuring they're healthy so she doesn't let it stop her working. Her analysis of Jono shows old injuries and she's the one who brings up the possibility of abuse. I wonder how different this episode would have gone without the abuse concern, we're meant to think that the kid is being saved, tricked out of looking for moral grey areas.

Klingon Warrior
Worf interacts with Jono only briefly. Jono assumes the humans have captured Worf too, and is surprised to find that Worf is there willingly and taking orders from a woman. The boy claims he's no more human than Worf is, and Worf tells him he's confused. It's sort of a nice moment, but then Worf is barely in the episode again. It's a shame because the parallels between Worf and Jono are many and obvious. Jono's origin is practically the same as Worf's and whenever the crew were discussing the situation I wondered whether someone would ask Worf his opinion, or whether Worf would speak up with his own thoughts on this situation that is basically his life! I guess they didn't want to actually explore the ambiguity of the situation during the episode or it would have robbed Picard of his big realisation at the end.
I did consider that boring-looking-alien Captain taking little Jono was very similar to Sergey Rozhenko taking baby Worf, the only difference being that the Rozhenko was a third party in the conflict whereas the Captain was a combatant and did it according to his own customs. No better way to make a character seem unreasonable or suspect than by giving them unfamiliar customs (I know this isn't the point of Trek, but I still think it happens). Did the Rozhenkos contact Star Fleet or the Klingon Empire about finding Worf's family or returning him to Klingon society? I know Worf's supposed to be the last of his family (except his secret brother, shhh), but there must be maternal relatives or distant cousins who could have taken him in. I know family (presumably of the biological kind) is important to Klingons, but equally a warrior culture which is big on feuds must have societal provisions for orphans. His secret brother (shhh) was raised by family friends so it's not like blood is everything.

Counsellor Pointless
Troi's role is a bit mixed here. She's the one who suggests building trust with Jono and introducing him gradually to human culture, rather than snatching him away from the only home he can remember. That said she also seems to be all for taking him away away from the boring-looking-aliens eventually. She's from a mixed family, her background is more peaceful than Jono's (and Worf's) but you'd think she'd understand the benefits of a child being part of two cultures. Can't she tell that leaving his home is not what Jono wants? Also, can't she tell whether Jono has experienced abuse. Even if he doesn't think of it as out of the ordinary, surely she could sense if he was afraid of his father? Again this is the kind of exploration that would rob Picard of his epiphany, so we don't get to see it.
The whole anti-women thing gets Troi out of the way so Picard is forced to step in. It also means we aren't sympathetic with the boring-looking-aliens. Troi's insistence that Picard take responsibility for Jono has some amusing outcomes, and we hear about Picard's odd, lonely childhood. Troi's the one who compares dealing with Jono to parenting, not something Picard's ever shown much interest in. I don't think it would have been difficult to get someone else to care for the boy, but I think Troi wanted to shake up Picard's routine a bit. After all she's up on the Bridge helping him out with stuff all the time, probably wanted some time to actually counsel people.

Wesley

Staff Meetings: 3
1. Jono's DNA reveals that he is Jeremiah Rossa, grandson to an Admiral whose other relatives have all died in conflict. Troi advises Jono must connect with humans in general before he could possibly be returned to his family and assigns it to Picard as he's male and the only person Jono has listened to so far.
2. Picard tries to convince Troi that he shouldn't take responsibility for Jono because he's not good with children and never has been (even when he was one). Troi encourages him but is clearly in her role as Counsellor (as opposed to being his PA) because she doesn't give him the option to refuse.
3. Crusher, Picard and Troi discuss whether Jono should see his father, what is best for his emotional health and trust building with humans, and what is most diplomatic seeing as they're in boring-looking-alien territory.

Meeting Addendum: Troi and Picard are supposed to be supervising Jono's meeting with his father, just in case there is abuse. Crusher points out that abusers can have subtle influence on their victims, which is valid. So Troi and Picard stand at the opposite end of the room and stare at the wall, supervising nothing. While I appreciate that having them hover over things would have been dramatically a bad choice this doesn't really feel like a supervised encounter. I guess Troi would've said if she's sensed anything bad, though she doesn't tell anyone she sensed good stuff either.

Won't Somebody Think of the... Oh wait, that's kind of the point.
An example of how thinking about the children can still mean things go wrong. Everyone involved believes they are acting in Jono's best interests, but they are blinded by their arrogant assumption that their way is the right/only way. The concern about abuse is valid and so caution makes sense, but that doesn't entitle them to try and manipulate the kid either. Telling him the truth about his origins is fair, but that doesn't mean they should necessarily bring Admiral Grandmother into the situation before Jono's made a decision about his future. The episode doesn't resolve how Jono will cope with his resurfacing memories; what will happen with his much-bereaved grandmother (does he have her number? could they exchange emails for a while?); whether Jono will decide to explore his human background, and whether he will be allowed to. It's important stuff but outside the scope of this episode.

The End
Jono says goodbye to Picard and finally takes his gloves off, allowing himself a touch an 'alien', acknowledging Picard as like him. He also touches forehead with Picard, a custom of the boring-looking aliens, whose culture he's still part of.