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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jian" data-source="post: 9723336" data-attributes="member: 78087">So, we're still on Netflix so we can finish DS9. The last two nights were the Nog-focused two-parter (not actually a two-parter since there's an episode in between, but you know what I mean): The Siege of AR-558 and It's Only A Paper Moon.The Siege of AR-558 is a weird one because it's basically a Star Trek take on a WW2 war film, and the cliches come thick and fast - you sometimes wonder whether it's a holosuite adventure, but it clearly isn't. It's good that it's very clear that even in the utopian Federation, these things happen - Starfleet officers are posted to defend a position for months longer than they should be because Starfleet is spread so thin and pressed so hard during this war, this is definitely a dirty boots-on-the-ground war with bitter compromises and soldiers doing what they never thought they'd do, and they survive and hold despite horrendous casualties and multiple shots of PTSD all round. Seeing Lennier as a Starfleet engineer is nice. It's weird to think this is well before Iraq or Afghanistan, where war stories like this one will be common among American (and UK, etc) families. And of course it's the perfect crucible for Nog to get some truly horrible character development. Getting your leg blown off and a metric ton of PTSD will do that for you. The way Vic Fontaine helps him through his recovery is wonderful to see, and It's Only A Paper Moon is a wonderful episode. As a doctor, I'm slightly appalled at Starfleet Medical's lack of understanding of the psychological component of medicine even in the 24th century (when is telling a patient that their pain is all in their head and thus invalid ever helpful?). One thing I would say is that Vic is very clearly sapient, at least as much as other AI characters in Star Trek (Data, the Doctor, etc) and unlike some of the others he's more or less accidentally so - he's not a cutting-edge science project, he's just off-the-shelf ChatGPT with a couple of parameters changed and a great singing voice. And people can still turn him off or get him to sing on command at will! Making AI in Star Trek is far, far too easy.</blockquote>

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