The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast 15-16 "Who Watches the Watchers": Jeffrey Morris on the Prime Directive and Star Trek's Future

Recorded live at STLV, filmmaker and author Jeffrey Morris returns to The Trek Files with a 1989 research report on the landmark Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Who Watches the Watchers." The production notes scrutinize everything from radiation exposure and memory modification to the logic of sending Riker and Troi undercover, and even question whether Picard telling a Mintakan to "shoot me" feels a little too much like a Kirk move.

Morris calls "Who Watches the Watchers" not his favorite or even the best episode of Star Trek, but the most important: a story about a society struggling out of superstition and fear, and Picard's determination not to push it backward. Drawing from his book "A Future Askew," Morris and Larry Nemecek consider whether our own civilization is approaching a similar crossroads, retreating from science, diplomacy and accumulated knowledge at precisely the moment we need them most. 

From the Prime Directive to fandom activism to the responsibilities of ordinary people, the discussion comes back to a simple idea: Star Trek was never really promising us better gadgets. It was imagining what might happen if humanity finally chose to grow up.

Document of the week:

• David Paige Research Report — "Who Watches the Watchers," Second Draft Outline — June 19, 1989

Additional references:

• Jeffrey Morris — A Future Askew: Urgent Essays Inspired by the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek
• "Who Watches the Watchers"
• Michael Okuda
• The Making of Star Trek