Synopsis: The Star Trek Scouts team defeats a meatball asteroid using a fork to cut it into tiny meaty bits.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of the importance of diversity—the inclusion of individuals with different talents and attributes, and inclusivity—the idea that everybody has a place in the universe, or in Star Trek, the multiverse.
In “Star Trek Scouts Defeat a MEATBALL Asteroid in Space – Asteroid Blaster #2” the ship’s anti-gravity mode is turned on when Star, a turtle, accidentally flips the switch on the console. The crew is having fun, they think it is like being in space. But then the asteroid alarm sounds and they need to resume their stations. JR orders Star to turn off the anti-gravity mode by switching it off on the console. Sprocket identifies the incoming asteroid as a meatball asteroid from the Noodle Nebula. The asteroid deflector wheel is spun, and the asteroid deflector launches a stop sign at the asteroid. It does not stop anything. Next, a fork will be launched at the meatball asteroid, which Sprocket tells the crew will break it up into tiny meaty bits. But before the fork is launched, the anti-gravity switch is accidentally turned on again when it is hit by a ball that JR throws to his pet that wants to play fetch. Sprocket turns on his bionic arm and uses its extension abilities to flip the anti-gravity switch off again. The fork is launched and the meatball asteroid is broken down into meaty pieces that are no longer a threat.
In this episode, when Sprocket was called upon to use his bionic arm—which allows him to do things that neither the typically able JR nor Roo could do, this can be seen as an illustration of the need for diversity and inclusivity in what Carl (C. G.) Jung called the unus mundus, one united world. Without Sprocket’s ability, which was a result of being different from the others, the crew would not have been able to regain the ship’s gravity and neutralize the threat of the meatball asteroid. Diversity can be physically and visually apparent, as in the case of Sprocket, or it can be invisible, as in the case of neurodivergent individuals. And whether diversity is visible or not, it should be respected as a necessary part of the multiverse, as reflected here. However, it should be noted that even though this episode does highlight diversity and inclusivity, it is a Euro-human male, JR, that seems to be in charge. This can be interpreted as a reinforcement of our culture’s Eurocentric, androcentric, capitalistic, monotheistic, heteronormal, neurotypical, terrestrial-focused (as opposed to oceanic based), society. It is important for all of us to realize that just from being brought up in a society we have unconsciously absorbed its inherent biases.
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