While investigating a strange rock donut portal, McCoy, OD’d on space molly, leaps back in time and butterfly effects the Federation’s very existence away.  To put things right, Kirk and Spock go back in time to stop McCoy from getting the Sports Almanac and ruining the future.  It’s the episode that that puts Roddenberry’s hopeful vision of the future front and center in stark contrast with 1930’s Depression-era New York.

When Klingons take control of Organia, a strategic planet between them and the Federation, Kirk rolls in to make the argument that while they, too, are basically colonizers, they’re not as bad as those other colonizers.  Does the Federation’s lack of effort around trying to understand both the Organians and Klingons make war too easy?  Shouldn’t war be the last resort?

When Klingons take control of Organia, a strategic planet between them and the Federation, Kirk rolls in to make the argument that while they, too, are basically colonizers, they’re not as bad as those other colonizers.  Does the Federation’s lack of effort around trying to understand both the Organians and Klingons make war too easy?  Shouldn’t war be the last resort?

While visiting Planet Disney Ranch, the crew of the Enterprise get so high on flower spores that only a good ol’ fashioned Star Trek Fight will do. Are humans destined to work toward paradise forever? And why does this show spend so much energy on this “paradise” narrative?

Once again the Enterprise rolls up on a planet and starts calling all the shots like they own the place. Aren’t we supposed to first seek to understand different cultures and build an approach based on compassion and empathy? We’re not sure they got this one quite right.

The Enterprise encounters a sleeper ship full of GMO people from the eugenics wars of the 1990’s. Khan and the GMOs take over the Enterprise, but in the end Kirk dumps them on Ceti Alpha V. Is this wild west cowboy diplomacy out of place in 2267? Why all the admiration for GMO people anyway? And how does Khan remember Chekov in #TWOK if Chekov wasn’t even part of the cast yet?

Kirk is marched back to #Starfleet to defend his actions that led to the apparent death of Lt Cmdr Finney. Does Kirk’s prosecutor being a former fuck buddy create a conflict of interest? What’s a pod, where is it, what does it do, and why would you eject it? Why is Spock fucking off playing chess again? Why are there buttons & switches on the command chair anyway?