I want to re-watch Trek, but am looking for organize my watch-throughs thematically. I just can´t handle 24-episode seasons. 1
I’m interested to see how TNG handles societal conflict within the framework of externally-mediated diplomacy (a Trek staple), aka negotiations. I’m not looking for EVERY episode with diplomacy in it, just the ones where two or more parties are being mediated by a third party. Episodes with only two parties (First contact stories if it is only Star Fleet and the other civ) do not belong on the list.
The episodes don´t necessarily have to be “formal negotiations,” either. I remember an episode where Ryker negotiated for the rights of males on a planet rather capably using only his winning smile, hairy chest, an ever-abiding curiosity about foreign cultures. Since there were three parties (males, females, and Ryker)², it would go on the list.
Legal disputes handled authoritatively by a court of law (Measure of a Man) would also not be on this list.
Thank you so much!
Footnotes:
- If anyone has a central clearing house for Trek playlists (or their favorite selective playlist) please let me know what it is.
- Actually four parties, if you include the shipwrecked alpha chads.
Symbiosis: The crew must mediate between a planet of addicts and another planet of dealers.
Loud as a Whisper: The crew are ferrying a famous mediator to a warzone, but after his aides are killed the crew must step in.
The Vengeance Factor: The crew must mediate between the queen of a planet and a group of rebels who left the planet 100 years ago
The Price: The crew host negotiations for control of a wormhole
The Outrageous Okona: The crew rescue a charming rogue, but two angry fathers show up looking for him.
Too Short a Season: The crew deals with the ramifications of a badly botched diplomatic negotiation that was handled decades earlier by the guest-starring badmiral.