It’s common for terrible acts to go unpunished. There are lots of movies and shows where the bad guy wins. Many where you can’t even tell who the bad guy is. But they’re still good stories.
That's kind of my point though, the show failed to make any statement about it, including this one. In fact, what you say here would have been an exceptional statement to make, especially considering the post-9/11 backdrop of this season's arc. Instead they were just like, "ANYWAY, time for some timetravel shenanigans" or whatever the next season was doing, I don't recall. That absence of comment is the failure the show makes is what I'm really saying.
I think the character decisions were motivated, intentionally difficult to wrestle with and especially relevant for the time it was made. I think what makes the show unforgivable for it however, is the complete lack of consequences for those transgressions.
And before someone brings up DS9 and In the Pale Moonlight, I would point out that that entire episode was doing the work of questioning and condemning decisions just like this. It's what ENT was missing.
I’m reading it for the first time this year, downloaded for free from Gutenberg.org.
Grabbed it right after watching Muppet Christmas Carol and once I finish I’ll watch Spirited. Scrooged is of course saved for Christmas Eve.
Also been thinking about throwing into the mix that one episode of Real Ghostbusters where they go back in time and unwittingly catch the three ghosts which screws up the timeline because of the unrepentant Scrooge that results.
My friend keeps telling me that if I loved Shadows, which I did, then I definitely need to check out Wellington. I trust him, he’s far more discerning than I am.
“Tell Bari Weiss. I want her to know it was me.”