First Aired: October 5th, 1987
Summary
The Enterprise comes upon the remains of the crew of the S.S. Tsiolkovsky, who they discover have suffered an epidemic which impairs judgement similarly to intoxication when Geordi brings the epidemic aboard the Enterprise after touching one of the afflicted aboard the Tsiolkovsky. Many drunken antics ensue which very nearly get them all killed, including young Wesley Crusher taking control of the ship from the engineering room in a blaze of drunken bravado.
Note: This post contains discussion of rape and rape culture. Please take caution before reading if these topics might cause problems for you!
Drunk in Love?
While I don't know the actual numbers, it feels like at least half of this episode consisted of crew members drunkenly flirting with one another or...progressing past flirting. While an amusing concept, the way it played out was actually deeply disturbing to me in a number of ways. Let's take a closer look at just what happened here.
Please Call the Drunken Vixen Trope a Cab
You don't need to look very far to find examples in media of drunk female characters seducing male characters. In fact, it's become a stereotype deeply ingrained in popular culture. Saying that this episode took that stereotype and ran with it is an understatement. Without fail every single female character who became afflicted by the condition turned into a vixen almost immediately, from the sultry disembodied voice at the beginning seducing the bridge to Doctor Crusher torn at the final hour between finding a cure and finding the fastest way to undo Captain Picard's zippers and buttons.
While often played off as a joke, this stereotype has very real and very awful effects within the context of rape culture. It leads people (read: rapists) to believe that drunk women are fair game to take to bed despite having their judgement impaired, because they believe that the alcohol is just lowering their inhibitions. However, someone who is not in full control cannot consent, and promoting otherwise is incredibly dangerous. Which brings me to my next point.
Tasha and Data, Get Out Of That Tree!
Please no more k-i-s-s-i-n-g. While the reveal of more background on Lieutenant Yar was great, I cannot possibly think of a worse situation to reveal it in. Telling Data about her rough life before Starfleet (and possible rape as a child) to explain why he should have sex with her has harmful implications that the solution to a woman's trauma is sex with a man, even if some of that trauma was sex with men. Considering many survivors of rape and sexual abuse use sex as a form of self harm, this line of reasoning becomes even more harmful.
What's more, she was, effectively, drunk--so was Data. I don't fault the characters, of course, because it's stated numerous times throughout the episode that the epidemic is only like intoxication and in fact inhibits judgement far more completely. Those in charge of the show, however, were (presumably) sober when they wrote the script, as well as every other step involved in making it a reality. There's plenty of heavy debate about who is at fault when two drunk people have sex and one or both would not have done so if they were sober, but I think we can all agree that writing that situation is inexcusable.
Doctor Crusher, Get a Grip!
While Doctor Crusher does manage to stay far enough "above the influence" to make a cure, she does have her slip-ups with Captain Picard. What makes her stand out, though, is what she said to him. Specifically, this line: "You owe me something...you do realize that, don't you?" A word of advice: if anyone says that to you in real life as a way of asking you to get intimate with them, please run the other way. Guilting someone into sex is coercion and, by extension, a rape tactic. Again, I fault the team behind the show, not these poor misused characters.
Data Giving Too Much Data
To close on a lighter note, I'd just like to point out that this episode also gave more information about Data's...functions than anyone ever needed to know. I mean seriously, why would anyone take the time and effort to make an android "fully functional" anyway?
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