In which O'Brien commences to suffer, and Quark has an adventure.
Memory Alpha says: A virus infects the station's residents, making everyone unable to speak coherently. (Please click the Memory Alpha link for detailed information.)
Memory Alpha says: A virus infects the station's residents, making everyone unable to speak coherently. (Please click the Memory Alpha link for detailed information.)
My Review
Star Trek writers really like the word 'Babel,' because it's been in the title of multiple episodes, including the awesome TOS 'Journey to Babel' in which we meet Sarek and Amanda, everyone looks extra classy in dress uniform jackets, and McCoy is just elated to hear that Spock had a childhood teddy bear.
I love his eyes. Furthermore, I felt quite unnerved when I realised that in the JJTrek universe, McCoy has brown eyes and Kirk has blue; what an inversion!
This episode is the most literal use of 'Babel' in Trek, because the name originates in a Biblical story that purports to explain why people in different places speak mutually unintelligible languages. Once upon a time all the humans got together to build a great tower at a place called Babel which was going to reach Heaven and really annoy God. So God caused them all to speak different languages so they couldn't understand each other and co-operate, and the project was abandoned. I think this means the Universal Translator is an abomination, like eating shrimp, wearing poly-cotton blends, and Garak's personal life. 'Babel' also, like 'The Naked Time' and 'The Naked Now,' introduces a contagion that messes with people's minds, but to my eternal gratitude, nobody is going to get awkwardly laid.
