Helen wrote:
- The self-important aliens in Duel
Surely I can't be the only one who *likes* the aliens in "Duel"? Or even just "Duel" in general? The episode always strikes me as a nifty, subversive take-off on _Star Trek_ (whether entirely deliberate or otherwise), and the aliens are part and parcel of that. If you watch TOS' s "Arena," the alien in it is downright sickening (and I say this as one who *does* actually consider herself a TOS fan). It's this shiningly beautiful young man in a toga giving Kirk a metaphorical pat on the head and saying "Ah, give you a few million more years and you may be as shiny and advanced and perfect as we are!" Whereas the B7 aliens *aren't* more "advanced," morally, than humans -- heck, they destroyed themselves in a horrible war! And the individul specimens we see are as cynical and prone to squabbling between themselves as anybody else in the B7 universe. Giroc, in particular, is a nasty piece of work, and ugly, to boot. Even the "super-advanced aliens" in B7 are corrupt and petty! How can you not love that? :)
-- Betty Ragan ** bragan@nrao.edu ** http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~bragan Not speaking for my employers, officially or otherwise. "Seeing a rotten picture for the special effects is like eating a tough steak for the smothered onions..." -- Isaac Asimov