BackTrekking returns again to look back at the real-world inspirations of classic Trek episodes!

Some episodes of Trek are so iconic, they define what a generation considers to be "Star Trek". TOS had "The Trouble With Tribbles", "The Naked Time", "Arena", and more. TNG has "The Best of Both Worlds", "The Measure of a Man", "The Inner Light", and of course "Darmok".

"Darmok" features an alien race that communicates by cultural allusion who kidnap Captain Picard to a desert planet where he must partake in a symbolic hunting ritual to further the comity of their two species. Let's see Battlestar Galactica do that. Plus, it's quintessentially TNG; if Captain Kirk had to fight an electric triceratops, he'd have drop-kicked it on arrival and then lectured Paul Winfield about respecting the Federation's sovereignty. This is a plot that could only work with Jean-Luc Picard in the lead, throwing himself fully into trying to comprehend the incomprehensible, because it would mean a net gain of understanding in the universe. Hilariously, his mission to understand Dathon and the Children of Tama nearly fails at the outset simply because he refuses a proferred knife, assuming it to be a token of hostility. Classic JL.

"Darmok" may be one of the most famous examples of the classic "man and blank are stranded together and must ally or perish", but there's another nearly forgotten version of the tale that contains just as much warmth and optimism as Trek's take. "Enemy Mine" is a nearly forgotten film and, at first glance, it's not hard to see why: outdated special effects, corny dialogue, and a climax lifted straight out of an '80s action film. But, what promises to be a clash between stellar enemies becomes a tale of survival, friendship, and family, where our heroes must overcome not only linguistic separation but biology and societal programming, as well. Just keep Mickey Mouse's name out your mouth.

On this episode, we talk about the inconvenient persistence of tribalism, the misleading marketing campaign behind Enemy Mine and the film's troubled production, Louis Gossett Jr.'s skill in bringing Jerry to life, the peerless talents of Patrick Stewart and Paul Winfield, the complications of the Tamarian language, the film's surprisingly progressive take on intersexuality, and the importance of history and myth in bringing people together. We also discuss Robert Duncan McNeill's unrealized movie stardom, Dennis Quaid as the Chris Pratt of the '80s, glass bubble-based technology, magical negro aliens, googling "darmok", the point of an XO, autotune for words, a little Picard talk, a quick Pop-In(tm), Kal tells his Paul Winfield story, and our dice are trying to kill the show!

LOL Gilgamesh

Get "Enemy Mine" on Blu-ray!
https://amzn.to/3734P2c

Join us in the Just Enough Trope Discord!
https://discord.gg/EAx5VGX

Tweet at the show or your hosts with your suggestions for future episodes!
http://www.twitter.com/backtrekking
http://www.twitter.com/ka1iban
http://www.twitter.com/gooeyfame

Check out the other shows on the Just Enough Trope network!
http://www.justenoughtrope.com

Theme: Disco Medusae Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/