18:32
To most people, this episode may seem like a relatively empty, campy fluff of an episode, but to me it means more than any episode since 2017. I’ve written here before about the fact that I was born with a debilitating, extremely painful, extremely rare genetic disorder. Most people with it don’t survive childhood. I’m in my early twenties, and fighting for my life, and the prognosis is not good. Just yesterday I had an exploratory surgery to see if my advanced cancer can be treated at all.
In other words, I instantly connected deeply to Rukiya and M’Benga. Like Rukiya, my time may be running out. Like Rukiya, childhood stories (hello Star Trek!) have gotten me through the worst of times. So when an alien entity turns the Enterprise into the storybook M’Benga reads Rukiya, I was delighted. Only M’Benga and Hemmer are unaffected, and they romp through the storybook, trying to save the day.
Normally I’d summarize the whole thing, but I’m feeling particularly weak today. Let me just focus on a few things: the cast is absolutely delightful, and they clearly had a blast acting. Hemmer was a joy, and his line “THE MAGIC OF SCIENCE PREVAILS!” made my day. Christina Chong was hilarious.