Dan Antion

The Plague Ship Enterprise

As if the forsythia haven’t suffered enough :(

It wouldn’t surprise anyone to discover that I’ve had the TV on a little more than normal for the past few weeks. It wouldn’t surprise anyone who knows me to learn that Star Trek has been one of the shows I’ve been watching. Nothing should surprise me about Star Trek – I’ve been watching, re-watching and periodically binging that show since the mid-60s when it launched. I wrote about the fact that I took in a roommate a couple of months early – rent free – as long as he paid for cable TV so we could watch Star Trek which had entered its first phase of syndication. Star Trek represented the best of mankind, a planet, a federation which had put its societal problems behind it, but perhaps not its medical problems.

Star Trek was famous for distancing itself from and mocking the fears and prejudices of the time in which it was filmed by showing us the absurdity of those fears in the future. The message was that humans had grown beyond these petty differences. Perhaps the most well-received such message was the revenge-of-the-nerds message that went out weekly to the fanbase of the series. Science triumphed while politicians and diplomats fumbled. But the crew of the Enterprise carried our inadequate immune systems into the future with them.

Star Trek crews battled viruses, parasites, epidemics, pandemics, natural and unnatural evolution and ill-fated medical research that made the crew sick, drunk, grow old, de-evolve and become paranoid and insane. They dealt with selfish, unethical and even criminal behavior in the pursuit of vaccines, antidotes and cures. We watched as victims died, were mistreated and threatened with destruction.

In the original series, the underlying fear might have been our fascination with space. We knew we were going there, but we didn’t know what to expect. Those of us who remember being glued to our TV sets in 1969 watching the crew of Apollo 11 land on the moon also watched the recovery and immediate isolation and quarantine of that crew – first in a mobile unit and then in an isolation chamber for 21 days. Then again, since we hadn’t yet banned biological weapons, perhaps the prospect of a war in which those weapons would be unleashed inspired a few scripts.

Being one of the nerds, I’d be remiss if I didn’t consider the number of times that computer viruses, glitches, attacks and take-overs threatened the Enterprise and / or humanity at large. One of my favorite episodes, “Contagion” is essentially a cybercrime disaster in the making. The star ship Yamato destroyed, the Enterprise, Commander Data and a Romulan warship Haakona brought to the brink of destruction by a computer “virus” that they willingly, carelessly invited into their computer system. Even more ironic is the fact that the solution was to basically reboot the android, the Enterprise and the Haakona. I guess the writers figured we’d never get beyond that solution – I can’t say we’ve proved them wrong.

While we might accept pushing Ctrl-Alt-Del on a starship command computer, some of the medical miracle cures in space, the ones that reversed aging, re-evolved spiders into engineers, returned drunk, insecure and irreverent crewmen and women back into functioning professionals and saved entire planets from death seem hard to believe. I like to think that the writers factored in the advances they expect us to make in the next few hundred years.

Along those lines, I like to think that we will learn from what we are going through right now. I like to think that we will figure our way out of this mess and that we will carry our experience forward – that we will learn from our mistakes, missteps and the practices and precautions that seem to be helping.

I was going to include a poll to find out which “virus” episode is your favorite, but there are so many. I decided to just ask you to list your favorite (if you have one) in the comments.

“You know, you can take my picture while I’m sleeping.”
Our white lilac was not impressed with the unexpected heavy wet snow on Saturday.
The Korean Dogwood was just starting to bud.
I’m not sure the squirrels living in that tree are happy.
Budding Rose of Sharon
As if the forsythia haven’t suffered enough :(
Saturday morning. Snoopy is in there. I’m guessing she isn’t happy either.
Maddie is wondering why it’s snowing in April.
Our ground cover was not happy with the frost on Sunday morning.
A different type of ground cover
A different type of ground cover
Crows in flight.
Our dogwood is starting to show its leaves. Soon that squirrel will be hidden.
Sleepy pup. Maddie loves sitting in the sun.
The Quince is starting to bloom.
It was 62°f (17°c) on Sunday. Perfect weather for a nap in the sun.

76 comments

  2. Ugh. Thankfully that particular round of snow didn’t make it up this far, though we have had a lot of morning frost.
    As for Star Trek I only have one thing to say… Long Live the Tribbles!

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  4. I was like you, staying home from school to watch each and every rocket launch and then glued to the TV for each and every Star Trek episode. I can’t say it’s my favorite, but the first one I recall is the virus that made them age. “Bones” worked so hard for cure, while all the time aging every minute!
    We’re having record heat in the 90’s and you get snow – there is no justice!! 🤔

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  5. “The Naked Time” is the one that comes to mind. A shirtless, swashbuckling Sulu menacing the crew with a sword…what’s not to like? I remember after it aired on an the Boston UHF station (channel 56), kids in my school were singing a warbling rendition of “I’ll take you home again, Kathleen,” over and over.

    Did you ever see Roddenberry’s earlier series “The Lieutenant”? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056771/

    I’d never even heard of it, until we tossed cable about 5 years ago, and I found myself channel-surfing the digital antenna offerings

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  7. Not a Trekkie, so I can’t join in on favorite episodes. 🙄

    I can comment on your beautiful spring blooms covered in heavy snow. Stunning photos, but those poor plants must be very confused! Do you blame Snoopy for staying in?

    Maddie is a constant source of “normal”, even with all her issues! Sweep away the snow, give her a bit of sunshine, and it’s nap time!

    Happy Monday Dan. Hope today is the start of a great week for you. Stay safe. I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel yet, but I thought I heard a distant whistle!
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • “I thought I heard a distant whistle!” That’s a wonderful thought, Ginger and one of my favorite sounds.

      Maddie was so happy that I cleaned the bird poop off her porch, so she could lay on the warm deck, back against the wall and looking out over her world. She really does remind us about the simple things in life.

      I think Snoopy wanted me to shovel her roof. She likes to sit up there, but I knew it was going to melt pretty quickly.

      I hope you have a great week, stay safe, stay well.

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  8. Currently, I am waiting for the IT help desk to come up with a cure for my VPN illness, virus or Monday morning crabbiness. Can’t log on to ship’s computer. Ugh!

    It’s funny. Natasha and I have been commenting on how many Star Trek episodes feel like our current situation – a deadly disease or situation that requires a time sensitive cure. We just look at one another knowingly.

    I really can’t pick a favorite because I’ve watched all of the series and there are so many. One of the Enterprise episodes (the short-lived series with Scott Bakula) that sticks in my mind is called Impulse and it revolves around the Enterprise coming across a ship filled with crazed Vulcan zombies. It seems that the Vulcans have been exposed to a compound called Trellium-D, which is a toxin to them. The ship’s Vulcan, T’Pol, is affected, but the doc finds a way to reverse the effects. Of course. I’m not going to tell you what happened to the Vulcan zombies because that part did not have a good ending

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    • When I thought about adding a poll, I realized that there were episodes on Voyager and DS9 that were also very good. This was already too Treky for many readers, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. Star Trek always portrayed us humans as having solved our longstanding problems. I wanted to find that spirit somewhere in all these plague episodes.

      As for “Contagion,” it’s classic user error, according to this old tech-support guy. They knew the Yamato was having technical problems, but they downloaded the Yamato’s logs anyway. Data’s getting corrupted was an accident, but the ship’s encounter was avoidable.

      Take care.

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      • Oh gosh, so many times Natasha and I are yelling at the TV, “Nooooo, don’t do that! Don’t beam that onto the ship! Don’t put that in the computer system! Take that damn light off the end of your gun! Jeepers!” Yes, a lot could have been avoided, but then we wouldn’t have had a show.

        BTW, 1,000 bonus points for a great post. LLAP!

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  9. Like other commenters when it comes to the original series I think the Trouble with Tribbles is my favorite virus episode, probably because they were a “cute” disease. I also like the remake of that episode on Deep Space Nine. It was on the air just the other night in fact.

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    • That was a fun episode, and it is a virus episode. I hadn’t considered that at first. I’m not sure I ever saw the remake on DS9 – I know I haven’t watched that series in its entirety, and I missed some episodes while it was running. Thanks for giving me something to search for tonight.

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  10. Wish we’d learn to take a page from the Enterprise crews’ logbooks and learn not to panic in these situations…and to believe there is a solution and we’ll all meet up in Ten Forward afterwards. Great pics, too!

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  13. Goodness, the snow. What a contrast to peaceful Maddie in the last shot. I feel sorry for those blooms that are working so hard. I was not able to watch Star Trek to any degree so I’ll sit on the side until you do a retrospective on Twilight Zone.

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  15. I hear they are making a new plague movie Covid-19. The guy producing the movie took out one of those small business loans for the filming. And he bought up all the red shirts for the ‘extras’ on the away crew. The repeated theme line ‘Scottie – one to beam back up’…

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  16. Beautiful photos, Dan. The sorrows associated with this virus weigh on my heart a lot. Someday we’ll all look back on it, like a Star Trek episode, and be able to pat ourselves on the back for what we achieved. :)

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  17. Bonus points and a sticker for the title, Dan! At the risk of being a Debby Downer, I too would like to think that something will be learned from this terrible situation. But … with every new “You can’t take our freedom by forcing us to stay home” protest that happens, my optimism in mankind’s ability to learn ANYTHING gets less and less and less… and it was already pretty low to start with because I love to study history — and the ten billion times that it gets repeated.

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  18. This is marvelous Monday pondering, Dan. As you’ve probably guessed, I’ve been re-watching some of the original series lately. I loved all the Star Trek shows, but I’m not a good Trekkie, but the episode so I had to look it up. “Operation — Annihilate!” from the original… planet Deneva… Captain Kirk’s nephew… the floppy looking parasite creatures, and the blinding cure.

    Oh, the poor flowers. I hope they can bounce back. The portrait of Maddie in the sun is so lovely and peaceful. Hugs on the wing.

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    • I had to look up all of the titles when I was trying to do the poll. There were too many of them.

      That was a good episode. I like the little back and forth between Spock & Bones.

      I hope your week is off to a good start.

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  19. I love all the different Star Trek series. We have been watching some of Voyager again. Love Seven of Nine. I am thinking of those giant viruses or bacteria that flew around the ship the the Enterprise in The Next Generation picked up from a mining colony. The one where all the crew devolve back to primitive life forms is pretty good too.

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  21. I watched Star Trek when it was first out but I don’t remember the individual episodes like you do. The only lines my husband and I say to each other (and I don’t know if I have it right, or if it was from the original series… but I bet you do 🙂) is “can you make it go?” and “Geordi makes it go.”

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  22. I think I’ve watched every original Star Trek episode 8 times. Ha ha. But that was quite a while ago. And what’s with the snow pics? I hope that’s behind you now, Dan. Stay safe and have a peaceful week. :-)

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    • We woke up to the snow on Saturday – the one day in the last month that we actually had somewhere to go! It’s gone now, and we’re back in the 50s and 60s. I’m still watching some form of Star Trek on an ongoing basis.

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  23. Dan, not a true Trekkie, but I’ve watched a few episodes over the years. No favorites though. I do like the photos of snow covering everything in sight, but, in winter, not spring. Hope your blossoms survive. Maddie in the sun makes me smile! So, I’ve learned a few things, and made adjustments & changes during these challenging times. Being a nurse practitioner, always on the look out for a virus invasion. But, now even more so as other people are not. The thought of possible carriers, without masks, in my space in the supermarket, and I wheel the cart away. Maybe Star Trek will be popular with your post, and some people will learn a lesson or two. Let’s hope so, until the all clear whistle blows. Have a good week ahead. 📚🎶 Christine

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  25. What’s that white stuff, Dan? :-) Later in the week when it’s supposed to hit 100, I’d be glad to send you ten or twenty degree, if you’d like. We haven’t gotten TV here, but have Netflix and CBS All Access, as almost all our favorite shows are on CBS (the NCIS’s and Blue Bloods). Saves a lots of money and as there aren’t any new sports on, who cares? CBS has access to all the Star Trek series and episodes, but so far my husband hasn’t seemed interested in watching them. I think it would be fun to start with the very first episode and at least go through the original series. We’ll see.

    Hope your week’s off to a great start.

    janet

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    • I think that would be a great plan, Janet. But, if you watch the original series, you need to move into Next Generation (and get past the first half of season 1)

      The snow was gone by Saturday afternoon, but I would love those 10-20 degrees. Days when the high is in the 50s are still starting out in the high 20s, so it’s not really a good day to work outside. I get about 2-3 hours in the afternoon.

      This week is off to a pretty good start – I hope yours is as well.

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  26. Hope is about all I have at this moment, Dan; for trust and Faith have jumped ship, trying to save themselves from the virus. I watched the original series so remember vaguely many of the episodes you mention. Stay safe and enjoy the warming weather.

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    • The Forsythia bounced back. Most everything seemed to take this in stride. The snow was gone by early afternoon. I brushed it off the more fragile plants. I think we only lost a couple of branches.

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  28. The one that always sticks in my mind, Dan, is the death of all the Vulcan crew on the USS Intrepid, and Spock’s reactions and responses to their deaths. if memory serves me correctly he kind of feels their suffering and deaths, which was something that Doc Mc Coy found rather strange because Vulcans were not supposed to have emotions. Loved your post. Marvellous how science fiction blazes a path before us.

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    • I remember that episode, Don. That’s when the Enterprise becomes an antibody of sorts. It is a good episode for highlighting the Spock/
      McCoy relationship. Let’s hope we can figure our collective way out of this mess.

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  30. […] Dan over at No Facilities was talking about Star Trek the other day (at least it seems like it was the other) and I ran into this bit of trivia I thought I would share. The first episodes of Star Trek were filmed on the old Andy Griffith Show backlot. There was an episode featuring Joan Collins walking alongside Captain Kirk. Notice the building? […]

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  33. I grew up reading science fiction. My dad would go thru a couple of the old Ace double novellas a week. When he’d finished them they were tossed into a cardboard box with the monthly mags like Galaxy and If. There was talk suggesting someone my age shouldn’t read such trash. Maybe those folks were judging a book by its cover, usually nude woman, alien, handsome guy in space suit. The years PK dick was making a living at 3 cents a word in the pulps were the years I absorbed hundreds of stories. Can’t say overdosing on old sci fi serves me now in this CV19 movie. In fiction as in life the interest is in the action and re-action of humans…this present situation has that in abundance. Stay healthy, stay safe.

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