{"id":5236,"date":"2017-01-05T07:30:52","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T07:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/26-Melora"},"modified":"2017-01-05T07:30:52","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T07:30:52","slug":"26-melora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/05\/26-melora\/","title":{"rendered":"2.6 — \u201cMelora\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

2.6 — \u201cMelora\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> A new Ensign comes to the station from a low-gravity world. She needs accommodations because the station design does not accommodate her physical needs. Early friction with the crew gives way to romance as she spends time with Doctor Bashir. An unwelcome visitor finds Quark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> “”Melora” has a lot of well-intentioned elements that may come together better in theory than in practice. The writer, Evan Carlos Somers, is paraplegic, and spent DS9\u2019s first season on staff as a writer\u2019s guild intern, where he had trouble navigating the marginally accessible production offices and even less accessible set. Somers was offended by the portrayal of disability in TNG 5.16, \u201cEthics,\u201d in which Worf chooses the path of suicide rather than attempting to live with a spinal injury that would limit his physical mobility. We were also offended: https:\/\/plus.google.com\/112507191344108443039\/posts\/2Yi2wnh3fvQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Somers wanted to show some of the difficulties persons with disabilities face navigating the physical environment and with the reactions of even well-intentioned people who don\u2019t have a strong understanding of disability. He also wanted to depict a person who is offered an opportunity to shed a personal disability at high cost, but comes to realize that acceptance, self love, and reconciliation are for her a better path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He seized on a character idea for a mobility-impaired crewperson who who was supposed to be the original science officer, until budget considerations intervened and the character of Jadzia Dax was developed as a replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And it works up to a point. Somers\u2019 script was rewritten by the staff several times before production, and some of the original nuance was lost. While I cannot fault the guest star for her gusto in scenes where she is arguing with the restaurateur in Klingon or doing graceful wire work despite a necessarily limited rig and shooting schedule, her early scenes confronting the staff on the station come off as inexplicably anxious, and the senior staff come off as unfairly maligned. I was glad to see Bashir confront Melora in her quarters, because having a disability is not carte blanche to be a jerk. I was confused when this turned into an entry point for romance, which seems like a stretch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The trouble is, if this stuff isn\u2019t done carefully it can seem cheesy and exploitative. Melora’s character feels inconsistent as she veers from sullen and reserved to chatty and grandiose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s a lot going on with the romantic subplot and the Quark revenge story. Isn’t technology supposed to prevent anyone bringing a weapon aboard the station? When Fallit Kot executes Melora aboard the shuttle (never mind that they take it back a few scenes later), it\u2019s a truly shocking moment, and an unprecedented intrusion of casual violence into the Star Trek franchise. Is the Ceti eel scene in TWoK comparable? Gene Roddenberry must have been rolling in his grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3 of 5 aerial pirouettes.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/memory-alpha.wikia.com\/wiki\/Melora<\/a>