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I just finished watching the “Darmok” episode of TNG. I remembered the plot immediately, but this time I found myself crying unexpectedly in the closing scenes. When I looked to see what others were saying, I found a lot of memes and making fun of or light of this episode. But I found the episode so moving. A supplement to the Kirk episode with Gorn. Here, Dathon risks and loses his life for the chance at connection. Riker unwittingly ensures the man’s death because he was trying to save Picard. And Picard here in the closing image, honors the Dathon’s life, sacrifice, and their shared connection.

I watched this episode last night. And this ending had me. We work and work toward progress, but freedom is never protected. We must stay vigilant...in the 24th century and much more so now.

From "The Drumhead" (29 April 1991) by Jeri Taylor; [text pasted from Wikiquotes]

Picard: We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, is all ancient history. Then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly, it threatens to start all over again.

Worf: I believed her. I... helped her. I did not see her for what she was.

Picard: Mr. Worf, villains who twirl their moustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged.

Worf: I think... after yesterday people will not be so ready to trust her.

This episode right here had me gutted the first time I saw it it and considered the homophobia represented in this scene. And today again as I contemplate the transphobia. It's "The Host" from TNG where Beverly Crusher falls deeply in love with a Trill symbiont in a male humanoid host. Despite difficulty, she loves him when he must abruptly enter a temporary human male host, but when the symbiont enters a more permanent female host, Beverly's affect completely changes. The way she looks at her transforms to emotional absence. It's so very sad. And her pathetic excuse when rejecting her former and now female lover:

"Perhaps it is a human failing, but we are not accustomed to these kinds of changes. I can't keep up. How long will you have this host? What would the next one be? I can't live with that kind of uncertainty. Perhaps someday our ability to love won't be so limited."