Does the replicator make roses? And if so, can I transport them to my long-suffering mother in New Jersey? As usual, I waited until the last minute to get her a gift, and I can't use being stuck in the Delta Quadrant as an excuse.
Mother's Day, as most cynics know, is a somewhat fabricated holiday expanded upon by the good people at Hallmark. But with time traditions form, and to hold one's nose at Mother's Day would be as inconsiderate as sneering at a Bajoran on the Promenade offering “Peldor Joi” at the Gratitude Festival. For a show like Star Trek, which many—rightly or wrongly—associate as a heavy dude zone, there are more than a few instances of motherhood and the maternal instinct. The first biggie I can think of is Amanda Grayson, the Earth woman who married Vulcan Ambassador Sarek to bring us Star Trek's greatest creation, Spock. We meet her on the diplomatic “Journey To Babel,” an adventure episode that does, here and there, slip into a tiny bit of Mad About You-esque familial banter. “Why did you marry her?” Spock asks his father, when the human among them is acting out in her most emotional manner. “At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do.”




The show paid it forward, of course, with the character Naomi Wildman. The half-human, half-Ktarian child was the first born on Voyager and, for whatever reason, she looked up to Seven of Nine, who would take a few minutes away from poking around the Astrometrics Lab to bond with the li'l moppet from time to time.


With that, two things for you to do. Get on the phone and tell your mother (or a mother) that you love her. Then, get in the comments and tell me who I left out!
Jordan Hoffman is a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can also be seen on Film.com, ScreenCrush and Badass Digest. On his BLOG, Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels.