1x13 All the World's a Stage

[7.7/10] Starfleet officers spend a lot of time wringing their hands about the prime directive (or General Order 1, if you’re a classic). And I think there’s a good reason for it -- humility. The rule protects against thinking that just because you’re technologically superior, you know what’s best for another culture or community. Sometimes it gets taken to extremes, but there’s a sound principle behind the guardrail.

But “All the World’s a Stage” suggests maybe they, and we, take it too far. The technology that could change a civilization overnight, the way it did for the Diviner’s people, shouldn’t be distributed out lightly. But the ideals that Starfleet is founded on -- exploration, courage, helping the helpless -- are ones any society is ready to hear. The notion that a stranded Starfleet ensign could be an inspiration, not a contamination, is a heartening one and fits with latter-day Trek’s willingness to celebrate the ethos of the franchise as much as deconstruct it.

Yet, there’s some deconstruction here too. I like how it’s dramatized through Dal seeing a group of pretenders, play-acting as members of “Starflight” with low key embarrassing results, and viewing it as a mirror of his own efforts to live up to the standard. He worries his crew’s attempts may be just as misaimed and misguided. Especially when his only encounter with an actual member of Starfleet led to disaster, it’s reasonable for Dal to wonder if he and his chums are doing any better than the imitative locals are.

By god, those locals are fun though! The idea of a planet full of aliens who had an encounter with Starfleet and chose to imitate them was an idea the DS9 writers had for an anniversary episode (paying tribute to “A Piece of the Action” from TOS) but ultimately discarded. It’s such a blast to see it realized here.

“All the World’s a Stage” is itself a loving (if ribbing) tribute to the 1960s Star Trek series. Hearing the cast do their best exaggerated Shatner impression, watching the locals put on stage plays that reimagine the adventures of Kirk’s Enterprise, and listening to the amusingly off translations of crew member names and even famous hand signals is a pure delight. In truth, the “Enderpridians” are a little cheesy, especially when they’re busting out Captain Kirk’s famous style of fisticuffs and practically worshiping the ground his crew walked on. But they’re a fun kind of cheesy, one that shows affection for those old stories, even as the show pokes fun at the locals (and by extension, the fans) who get obsessive or misinterpret those venerable stories.

What I appreciate most is that the show ultimately redeems them, and shows both their potential and Dal’s when displaying what they’re capable of. For all the silliness that the Enderpridians represent, they also represent the best of Starfleet’s guiding principles in any setting. It spurred their Dr. McCoy equivalent to discover new treatments for ailments, to cause a young Uhura admirer to explore and be brave, and for all of them to have hope even in the darkness.

In truth, it doesn’t make much sense that Dal and Holo-Janeway are just able to nigh-magically retrofit the bridge of the Protostar to the point that the locals can pilot it like it’s the 2300s Enterprise. But it’s still rousing to see them do so. Their success in helping Dal rescue his friends is an affirmation that even if these aliens miss some of the finer details, getting the core of Starfleet’s (or Starflight’s) mission is what matters, and the inspiration they’re taking to heart makes them, and Dal, more ready for what the Federation has in store than the prime directive might have anticipated.

It’s also a nice moment for Jankom Pog. He is frustrated with not being able to fix the Living Construct, and so feels like a failure who doesn’t want to go on the away mission. But when push comes to shove, he shows the bravery to try to fix the broken shuttlecraft that’s causing the problems for the local community, even when it puts his life on the line. His is a simple arc, but an effective one.

Plus hey, holy continuity nod, Batman! Not only is the shuttle that’s causing problems for the locals the Galileo, which is the most prominent recurring craft for Kirk’s Enterprise. But the redshirt who got stuck on the planet is none other than Ensign Garrovick, the young officer who helped Captain Kirk square off against a deadly smoke monster in “Obsession” and whose father had served with the captain years earlier. So much of this episode is a sop to fans of the 1960s series, and the specific references and easter eggs here reinforce that.

Still, at the end of the day, what I like most isn’t just the homage paid to those classic stories, but the idea that what’s important from them is their central ideas, separate and apart from anything that plays as silly or campy today. They’re enough to inspire these aliens, and the crew of the Protostar to do greater things and seek to become better people. That spirit lives on, and suggests that they, and we, may be ready for more than the prime directive might have us believe.

Seeing Dal take that lesson to heart, seeing the good in the Enderpridians and his own crew at the same time, lands this one in a great place. The realization that they can uphold the values of Starfleet, even if they’re not officially part of Starfleet, with or without the Protostar, is a strong lesson and worthwhile moral for Prodigy. The tribute, and the takeaway dovetail together wonderfully in the early high water mark for this batch of episodes.