Star Trek: 10 Best Episodes Showcasing Female Empowerment
Star Trek has offered us examples of true female empowerment for decades.
When we see characters coming together to overcome the odds, it's in our nature to cheer and shout. There's something so satisfying in watching any of our favourites overcome the odds, even more so when they're helping each other.
For the most part, Star Trek has attempted to show a future of equality between the sexes, though that isn't to say it's always been perfect. The Original Series made several slips that, even when viewed through a contemporary lens, belied the promise of a better future for all.
In crafting this list, Seán and Ellie worked together to find the best examples through sixty years of Star Trek.
Across the franchise, and perhaps despite the real world around it, Trek has tried to show us examples of women in positions of power, helping each other, and not having to rely on men to get the task done. It may sound like the most obvious thing in the world - but let women do their thing - they know what they're about.
10. Una And La'an Play Enterprise Bingo
Of the two characters we're discussing here, one is as old as the Star Trek universe itself. Though this entry isn't focused on The Cage, Una Chin-Riley has been with Trek since the very beginning, offering us an example of a strong woman with agency - despite some outdated ideas at the time.
La'an and Una, as we currently know them, were both introduced (and reintroduced) as harder characters in their respective debuts. On Star Trek: Discovery, Una was the no-nonsense, straight-talking first officer of the Enterprise, a role for which she returned in Strange New Worlds. La'an was something of a protegé. She was not only inspired to join Starfleet by number one but also modelled her persona on her superior officer.
Film and television offer many examples of the hardened, loner characters through history, many of whom have met with uproarious adulation from fans. Sarah Conner evolved to become one of the archetypal heroic characters in cinema, showcasing her strength in the face of purported fate. Yet Una and La'an took another route.
Without losing any of their strength, Spock Amok depicts both characters listening to descriptions of themselves and turning them on their head. For example, Una's strength earned her the nickname 'where fun goes to die.' Rather than dwell, she and La'an decide to play a game - Enterprise Bingo - that is popular among the lower decks. This culminates in a scene of their standing outside the ship on 'the scorch,' the oldest original part of the ship still intact.
Rather than being lectured to by other crewmembers, Una and La'an take on the challenge of having fun on their own terms - earning both of them a spot on this list.