You don’t need me to tell you that the 60s were a decade of political and social upheaval, a rejection of society’s norms that saw a radical change to daily life for many Americans. One of those areas of change was in women’s rights, going from a place of subservience to independence. Part of Star Trek’s enduring appeal is in its ability to mine stories based on the events of the day and place them in a sci-fi context, and this week’s episodes contain the most overt examples of this phenomenon.

Before I started watching Star Trek I envisioned a show that would deal with aliens and new, exotic worlds on a weekly basis. So far, that hasn’t been the case. Instead, the show has mostly dealt with existential conundrums within its sci-fi trappings. Of course, the grounded concepts are probably the result of the show’s limited budget – this is a network TV show in the 60s, after all. The results have been mostly great so far, but it’s tempered my expectations going forward.