‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Retro Recap – ‘Darmok’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

During our time on this beautiful and wondrous planet, we’ve made some incredible strides. Such as leaving the caves and the plains of the world, to organize and socialize in cities. Plus, we’ve figured out how to soar like the birds, to the point where we have an established base in space, and we’ve cured countless diseases with science and now… we can communicate with another human being, anywhere on Earth, on a moment’s notice. But while we have indeed accomplished wonders, there is still one accolade that eludes in this age of majesty, despite having searched for it for ages. In that, we still have yet to find unity between the various cultures that populate the globe.

In fact, we still fight over which religion is the right one and who has the superior color of skin or gender (spoiler alert: no one does) and we still cannot understand or respect some of the simplest traditions that other cultures observe. Which means that sadly, we have a long way to go when it comes to finding true unity to our species. So much in fact, that creative minds have pondered upon what might finally be the catalyst for that for years on end. Which is why we’ve seen stories that feature incredible events that unite us and even that, is a bit of a stretch, since we couldn’t even handle something as simple as putting on a mask for the sake of others this past year. But some science fiction stories, have offered up some solid ideas now and again as to how to potentially unify our world and it just so happens that the next episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation offers up quite the simple one.

Which is a fascinating and welcome surprise in ‘Darmok’, since initially… this episode feels akin to nothing more than a wild first contact episode. For it brings the crew of the Enterprise face to face with a mysterious race known as The Children of Tama, who have baffled Federation diplomats for ages on end. Because they speak in a strange manner that no one has been able to decipher and while there has been peace, no one has learned about this race because of the communication barrier. A problem that Captain Jean-Luc Picard runs into as well when he speaks to their captain, Dathon, via the viewscreen, and this problem is exacerbated further when Dathon kidnaps Picard to the surface of the planet for reasons unknown. Leaving Riker and the senior staff to postulate that perhaps a contest of strength is about to take place, one that will end well for the Federation if the captain is victorious. 

But that is where this episode takes quite the philosophical and powerful turn, when we come to realize that Captain Dathon isn’t trying to get Captain Picard to take part in some kind of physical contest. He’s trying to get Jean-Luc to understand him, so these two species can finally communicate and he’s willing to risk his life to do so and well, everything that happens here is simply incredible to watch. For it takes the time to teach us that patience and understanding and communication are likely the keys to creating unity on our world. For if we can truly take the time to understand what is meaningful to people from other cultures and how said cultures operate, we can not only learn a great deal about our world but learn how much we share in, and how we aren’t different in the slightest, and once we truly see one another as equals … things will change at last.

Which makes this perhaps, one of the finest episodes to grace this series and the franchise in general. Because it truly encapsulates everything that Star Trek stands for and it says its message in such a graceful and simple way that you really are silent when this one comes to a close. Since it leaves one wondering how on earth we haven’t progressed further if the solution is so damn simple. But while the message is nice and painfully relevant in 2021, there’s plenty more to celebrate in regard to this episode as well. Because it also features some top notch acting from Patrick Stewart and Trek veteran Paul Winfield (Captain Dathon) since they masterfully sell the communication process in a wonderful manner and well, this one really is something special in the end and absolutely worth revisiting, since it ages like a fine bottle of Château Picard. Thanks to its timeless message to be kind and open to one another. Until next time.  

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