‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘A Taste of Armageddon’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

When one thinks of social commentary in this day and age, one’s mind immediately turns to the horror genre. Because scary stories often manage to provide their audience with thoughtful tales that have plenty to say about our world and the human condition, and we flock to them for that reason. But this is a Retro Recap of Star Trek, a saga that has little to do with ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night, so why mention horror in the same breath as the Enterprise? Simply because this is a series that was a pioneer in its own right when it comes to social commentary since this saga found ways to examine our world as well, and oddly enough, the next episode in this storied saga, has plenty to say about something that is still relevant in this day and age; war.
​
For America is at war now, and has been for roughly twenty years and it was at war when ‘A Taste of Armageddon’ premiered in 1967 since Vietnam was raging on and it becomes quickly apparent in this episode that the series wanted to question not only the danger and complacency that can come with prolonged war, but also our inability to understand and comprehend the horrors of it. Now the commentary on complacency was easy to spot, since the people of Eminiar VII made it clear that they adapted to 500 years of war by allowing computers to take over the dirty details of the conflict and it was quite fascinating to also see how attacks from their enemy were just commonplace to their people, something as routine as having breakfast, really.

But the secondary message present here took a little more time to dive into, and it is honestly what fascinates me the most. Because by having computers handle the conflict, and in turn using the data from the attacks to select people to die as ‘casualties of war’, the people of this planet have in essence stepped away from a fundamental fact about war in that; it’s a horrible and messy business. And while that seems like a fairly pedestrian and soft message to inject in here, the detachment and indifference present from the people here, strikes a chord with how we view war now. For in many ways, we see conflict from afar, through the lens of a news network’s camera and on Twitter and that allows for us to feel a safety net and disregard the danger that people are in when they pick up their weapons and I suppose what’s eerie is that this really hasn’t changed much in 53 years, since the Vietnam War was also televised and told from afar.

However, while all of that is fascinating in its own right and relevant in so many ways, what matters more here is that Jim Kirk is the voice of reason in this tale, and he simply isn’t good in the slightest with people treating conflict as no big deal. He expects and demands that they understand what is at stake here and it is quite wonderful to see him go the extra mile to put an end to this conflict, not only to save his crew, but millions of lives in the future. And while his methods are questionable from a Starfleet Regulation standpoint (more on that in a moment), the ends do indeed justify the means since he is able to accomplish the impossible and bring generations of enemies to the bargaining table and well, the best part about Jim’s journey in this tale is that the message his efforts broadcast out is simple, in that, we need to value human life and find better ways to handle our differences.

Yet, I made mention of the fact that Kirk’s bold act does indeed raise some eyebrows when it comes to this story and well, I say that simply because he kind of, sort of, breaks the Prime Directive in this story by getting directly involved in the natural path of these two worlds. But at the same time, the preservation of life does take precedence over anything else, and with his crew threatened and people dying in a fairly unnatural manner, one can kind of look away when it comes to this fundamental rule of Starfleet. But all nerdy complaints aside, let’s be honest, this was a magnificent episode through and through, one that truly gives the audience a lot to chew upon, and one that gives you pause long after its come to an end when you think about what it would take for an entire society to be good with using euthanasia as a means to end war. If anything, it was just great to see a Sci-Fi story that wasn’t focused on a dirty or dystopian future or action and adventure over depth and I do hope that someone else views this story down the line and opts to put together a Sci-Fi in this intelligent vein, just so that horror doesn’t get to hog all of the social commentary. Until next time. 

---