As our unofficial Festival of Beverly continues, Anika and Liz hang out in some caves and have very earnest discussions about terrorism. Yes, we’re discussing “The High Ground”!
- Star Trek: Picard spoilers from 00:00 to 00:59
- We are deeply unqualified to talk about the Troubles. Of course, so were the TNG writers… (Book credits: Just Another Kid by Torey Hayden and Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. If you want a review of “The High Ground” from an actual Irish person, please see this post by the always excellent Darren Mooney.)
- As a character study of Beverly Crusher, “The High Ground” is amazing. As an episode with something to say about terrorism, it … exists.
- Melinda Snodgrass was particularly good at including female characters in roles that otherwise tended to default male, and not worrying about whether or not they were “likeable”.
- When Finn talks about the moral cowardice of the Federation, he probably just watched “Lift Us Up Where Suffering Cannot Reach”.
- “The High Ground” does avoid the common American trope of romanticising the IRA.
- Yes, Beverly and Deanna are both in feminised “caring” professions, but, um, how many female CMOs have been regulars in Trek?
- The nameless boy who becomes Beverly’s apprentice
- Picard spoilers from 31:28 to 32:16
- The Beverly/Picard shippiness in this episode is OFF THE CHARTS
- Finn feels like a first draft of Chakotay
- Just gonna put this out there: the Prime Directive is bad, actually
- Picard spoilers again from 41:11 to 44:30