10 Times Star Trek: The Next Generation Went Woke

Nestled within season two, there is a gem of an episode that doesn't get anywhere near the attention it deserves. Loud As A Whisper is the very essence of Star Trek — delivering an optimistic, inclusive message through the lens of sci-fi, and continuing the work of positive representation. 

In Loud As A Whisper, the Enterprise is diverted to the Ramatis star system to pick up renowned mediator Riva who has been called upon to assist in peace negotiations between two warring factions on Solais V. Riva had also previously negotiated various treaties between the Federation and the Klingons and happens to be deaf. As a means of communication, Riva used a three-person telepathic chorus that acted as interpreters for his thoughts.

Playing Riva was Howie Seago, who is deaf too. It was he who pitched the idea for Loud As A Whisper to producers in the first place. As Seago related in an interview with TrekUntold, the chorus of interpreters was also his idea, based off his experience as a theatre actor. In the first draft of the script, Riva was supposed to use a mechanical device to communicate with his chorus that would then have failed, leading him to be 'taught to speak overnight'. 

Seago refused to act this, however, even if it meant losing the part, feeling that it would serve to propagate the false idea about the deaf community that children can learn to speak easily overnight. "That was the one cultural thing I could not perpetuate," Seago added to TrekUntold.

Thankfully, producers agreed with Seago who then came up with the decidedly brilliant ending that did make it to screen. In that, Riva, alone, returns for an extended stay on Solais to teach the warring factions sign language so that they can communicate with him, and in doing so, learn to communicate with each other. That's not just a positive message both for and about the deaf community, it's a lesson in diplomacy that should be adopted worldwide! It would be, as counsellor Troi said, "time well spent."