Season Seven Preamble

XKCD recently ran a strip that references Darmok, and even though I should know better, I ventured over to the forums and checked out the thread for it. Here are some of the gems that the hipster-geeks had to say about it:

"To me, this was one of most irritating of all Star Trek episodes. I mean, isn't every language intrinsically built on referents and idioms? The whole premise that a universal translator exists but doesn't work because of this makes no sense at all. Bothers me to this day."

"I just always thought that those aliens would never have actually been able to develop a warp capable society with a language where trying to describe even the most basic concept took a fifteen minute story, at best. Electric circuits, mater/anti-mater reactors, warp fields, yeah right. They'd be lucky to be able to describe fire or the wheel to each other."

"How would they even tell each other, or their children, who "Darmok" was, or what and where Tanagra is, or what a freaking TREE is? If they can teach their children language, their language CANNOT work this way!"

There's even an external link to another page that gives a systematic breakdown as to why the language in the episode doesn't work. It bothers me that all of these condemnations seem to be operating on the assumption that Tamarian language acquisition works the same way it does for humans, when we are given no reason to believe that it does. For all we know, Tamarians get a memory transfer in the womb so that all of the stories in their language immediately have personal significance. Of course, the episode itself doesn't go there, but that's because it isn't particularly relevant to the story it is trying to tell.

The idiom language is a writing tool used to bring language back as a hurdle in a first contact scenario in a universe that has universal translators. On top of that, it opens the door to the dramatic use of narratives with personal meaning as a starting point for developing common ground. The nitpicks feel like their authors are really digging for a way to be dissatisfied with an element of the story, especially considering that they need to go outside of the episode (and, for the most part, to other Trek series) to find evidence.

When the rebuttal to each of the arguments can be "maybe, just maybe, these aliens from another planet don't work the same way humans do," it is hard to avoid coming to the conclusion that the people putting them forth simply don't want to like the episode. And it's a real shame, because I consider it to be one of the greatest episodes of any TV show, ever.

My last couple of reviews, including the end-of-season evaluation, have been perhaps a bit unfair. I am frustrated with Voyager, but maybe it is more because it is not being the show I want it to be than because the show itself is bad. Reading that thread has helped remind me of my original purpose in giving Voyager a chance, and has reinvigorated me for the task of reviewing the season ahead.