During this interminable down time we've examined what works and what doesn't, bringing us herein to what's necessary, wrapped in a prayer for the one good planet we know: Earth. Without exceptional proof to the contrary we are alone in the universe, blinking and aware in our solitary island of intelligence. Should life escape to fill the stars, only from everything we hold dear will it rise. Yet even as the many promises beckon from this unity, nevertheless empire singularly engages precious resources towards a bellicose waste, a nightmare of xenophobia dressed up as a desirable solution.

TOS arrived in an era facing smoldering racism and senseless war. The creation of Roddenberry certainly began no protest but sought to illustrate it in an elevated way. For example in "A Taste of Armageddon" we saw that it's not that war can be made clean, to make it acceptable. It's rather that even sanitized war still abandons hope that the civilized can deny the savage inside each one of us - if only for today. At its core war always remains "a very messy business" and we are compelled to direct those powers and resources we can towards rightfully securing it as "a thing to be avoided" for as long as possible.

So now, similarly facing its own era of senseless war, featuring social problems exacerbated on a global scale, the best the efforts of "Enterprise" have provided to amend things resemble a disgusting smear of decontamination gel. Having reached the potential of their current position, has the production team nevertheless taken leave of their responsibility? They must be aware of the looming situation, making their inattention less excusable oversight and more the neglect of a plea - delivered, received, but ignored. The needs of the planet simply must trump the needs of any corporation; although it seems in their own interest to maintain quality demands on their best product.

Perhaps the argument festers thusly: should our approach of unexceptional titillation be abandoned surely we'll never survive to see successful syndication! Yet I'll bet it can't be cheap to dress up a revenue stream and still pretend it's a respectable dream (TPTB, by ignoring his example, ironically ape Kirk: "I didn't start it … but I'm likely to finish it"). Next week NX-01 sails again and obviously we can't expect results soon - but we do expect results. The opportunity - no, the historic opportunity - for such geo-social leverage rarely comes.

Trek suffers when it settles for adequacy. For shame should it squander this chance.