Season 5, Episode 3 “The Crying Game and Scorpion" with BackTrekking

We're taking a different path this week as we feature a special episode of the BackTrekking podcast, hosted by Ka1iban and Gooey Fame! BackTrekking examines the real-world inspirations behind classic Trek episodes and this week we're putting the 1992 classic film "The Crying Game" up against the Voyager two-parter "Scorpion, Pts. 1 & 2"!

You already know the story. There's a scorpion that needs a ride and a frog willing to oblige. Halfway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog and they both start to drown, but they also have enough time for one last exchange:

Frog: Why would you sting me? You've killed us both!

Scorpion: I can't help it; it's in my nature.

Are we all slaves to our nature? Or does that only apply to arachnids who need to bum a lift somewhere? That's the question debated by the two pieces of media we're looking at today. "The Crying Game" is a 1992 film about LGBTQ culture in '90s London that was directed by a straight man and features a nominally straight male protagonist. "Scorpion" is about a peaceful exploration ship that is making its way home by facilitating a war between two of the galaxy's greatest foes. Being "true to yourself" is difficult when you're not sure who you really are, and none of us can ever be sure that we're actually the frog and not the scorpion.

On this episode, we talk about the ethics of interventionism, the necessity of writing "bad" characters, collectivism vs. individuality, making the tough decisions, subverting expectations, fluid space, Leo da V, we confess our professional shortcomings, another Pop-In(tm) about Sonic the Hedgehog, Kal tells his Crying Game story, and DAVE!

FYI: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE FOR GROWN-UPS ON THIS EPISODE

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