United Earth Oceans Organization
Encyclopedia
The United Earth Oceans Organization (commonly known as "UEO") is the fictional governing body in the television series seaQuest DSV
. The UEO was first introduced in the pilot episode of the series, "To Be or Not to Be" and remained a recurring element for the duration of the series. Although never fully explained during the course of the series, it is implied that the UEO has taken the place of the United Nations
.
As explained in the first episode, following the growing colonization in the world's oceans, the expansion of mining, and "Livingston Trench" incident in which the world was almost plunged into nuclear war at the hands of the trigger-happy captain of the seaQuest DSV
, Marilyn Stark, NORPAC, a governing military body was absorbed and a new world peace was instituted in the year 2018, in which the UEO was created in order to preside over. With the formation of the UEO, the seaQuest was turned over to the UEO and became, not only the UEO's naval flagship, but also a symbol of peace, scientific exploration, and global demilitarization, as evidenced by the fact that UEO retrofitted the seaQuest to become an underwater exploration vessel in place of a solely military submarine.
Among the original members of the UEO were the United States of America, Canada
, The United Kingdom, and France
among others, as well as many other undersea "confederations", such as the newly formed Montagnard
Confederation and the Amazonian Confederation among others.
, the UEO administered negotiations regarding the ownership of the various artifacts, with seaQuest captain Nathan Bridger
representing the UEO. In "Games", Dr. Rubin Zellar attempts to use the seaQuest`s sea to air missiles to destroy UEO Headquarters in order to abolish, what he believed to be, the "illusion of peace."
While the UEO was intended to be a peaceful coalition of nations and confederations, not all members were happy with their position within the organization, such as the Montangnard Confederation, who attempted to recover the first manned capsule to reach Mars
before seaQuest could in order to bolster their position within the UEO, as depicted in "Better Than Martians." Not all individuals within the UEO were pleased with the concept either, such as Secretary General Andrea Dre, who was perceived as being a "dinosaur" from the era when money launderers and bureaucrats made policy. Dre plotted to kidnap the leaders of several confederations and coerce them to sign an amended UEO constitution. Her plan was thwarted by the crew of seaQuest however, she was impeached, and William Noyce was named temporary Secretary General until an election could be held, as seen in "The Last Lap at Luxury." He would be replaced by McGath by 2021.
While the original seaQuest was handed over to the UEO upon its formation, following its destruction in "Higher Power", UEO was forced to construct a new seaQuest to replace it at their own expense. In "And Everything Nice", an attempt is made to hijack the seaQuest in order to weaken the UEO's global presence. The attempt ultimately proved unsuccessful.
The high cost of building seaQuest-class submarines, however, would prove to be an Achilles' heel
of sorts as the UEO was unable to pool together the funds as well as the technology necessary to replace the seaQuest 4600-II after it went missing in 2022, as depicted in "Splashdown." With the seaQuest missing in action, the UEO was unable to control the explosion of commerce as well as the fallout of wealth, power, and greed following the summit of 2026 in which the UEO lifted the ban on colonial deregulation, as mentioned by Captain Oliver Hudson in the cold open
ing of "Brave New World."
The Alliance of Macronesia (formerly New Australia) began to expand their territory into the 2030s as well as their technological superiority given that Deon International furnished them with the Lysander-class subfighter, proving to be a formidable opponent to the UEO. A trade embargo was placed on Macronesia by 2032 leading to rising conflicts beneath the sea, which nearly led to a war between Macronesia and the UEO as the alliance seized control of the Nexus Colony in the heart of the Pacific Ocean
. Fortunately, the UEO was able to recover the seaQuest just prior to Macronesia's seizure of Nexus and drive the alliance out of the colony.
Later that year, the UEO charter went up for renewal. The Organization's poor handling of Macronesia and other global policies began to split public opinion on both the UEO and on Secretary General McGath, half of which believed he ran the UEO like a prison state and the other half believing him to be weak. President Bourne of the alliance plotted to assassinate McGath in order to abolish the UEO and continue his quest for world domination
, but, his attempt was thwarted, as seen in the episode ""Brainlock"." As the series drew to its end, a new world government, the elusive Asian power known as the Chaodai, began to attack both the UEO and the alliance as seen in the final episode, "Weapons of War", however, the series was canceled shortly afterwards and the final fate of the UEO is currently unknown.
(which was ultimately destroyed in the episode "The Sincerest Form of Flattery"). UEO also had a large number of hauler-type ships at its disposal.
Each member of the UEO wore the Organization's crest on their left shoulder as part of their uniform. Removal of the patch is analogous to a soldier removing his uniform.
" in what was supposed to be a utopia-like society. In "Good Soldiers", Captain Hudson compares them to the Gestapo
and is disgusted to find that Captain Bridger has apparently joined ranks with them. Section 7 personnel were brought in from all divisions of the UEO, but Army personnel were the most common followed by the Navy. There were also several Officers seen wearing US military Rank pins suggesting it may have evolved from or worked closely with US Military Intelligence
.
Sector 7 was in charge of the G.E.L.F. Colony Prison on "Dagger Island" where the UEO held all of the genetically engineered life forms created during the "Dark Period of Genetics" (aside from Dagwood, who had been assigned to the new seaQuest in a custodial assignment as seen in the episode "Daggers.")
As a matter of UEO policy, Sector 7 prisoners are not permitted to board the seaQuest.
UEO also maintained records of crimes against humanity that took place on a base that was eventually annexed by Macronesia, in which G.E.L.F.s were subjected to various forms of torture in order to determine their stamina, endurance, and regenerative abilities.
. By the second season of the series, Roy Scheider
(Captain Bridger) had felt that the series had strayed too far away from what it once was; that the UEO had become too inclined towards the military side of things than the original intention of science. Scheider explained that "I became more of a combat commander than a scientific commander and I hadn't signed up for that." Comparisons were also drawn between seaQuest DSV`s UEO and Star Trek
`s United Federation of Planets
.
SeaQuest DSV
seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction...
. The UEO was first introduced in the pilot episode of the series, "To Be or Not to Be" and remained a recurring element for the duration of the series. Although never fully explained during the course of the series, it is implied that the UEO has taken the place of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
As explained in the first episode, following the growing colonization in the world's oceans, the expansion of mining, and "Livingston Trench" incident in which the world was almost plunged into nuclear war at the hands of the trigger-happy captain of the seaQuest DSV
SeaQuest DSV 4600
The UEO seaQuest DSV 4600 and the UEO seaQuest DSV 4600-II are the two titular submarines featured in the science fiction television series "seaQuest DSV", which ran for three seasons on NBC from 1993-1996...
, Marilyn Stark, NORPAC, a governing military body was absorbed and a new world peace was instituted in the year 2018, in which the UEO was created in order to preside over. With the formation of the UEO, the seaQuest was turned over to the UEO and became, not only the UEO's naval flagship, but also a symbol of peace, scientific exploration, and global demilitarization, as evidenced by the fact that UEO retrofitted the seaQuest to become an underwater exploration vessel in place of a solely military submarine.
Among the original members of the UEO were the United States of America, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, The United Kingdom, and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
among others, as well as many other undersea "confederations", such as the newly formed Montagnard
Degar
The Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
Confederation and the Amazonian Confederation among others.
History
The UEO was the subject of much criticism in the early episodes of the series. In "Treasures of the Mind", after the seaQuest recovers the long lost Library of AlexandriaLibrary of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the...
, the UEO administered negotiations regarding the ownership of the various artifacts, with seaQuest captain Nathan Bridger
Nathan Bridger
Captain Nathan Hale Bridger was a character on the television series seaQuest DSV and was played by Roy Scheider. Within the canon of the series, Bridger was not only the commanding officer of both UEO submarines named seaQuest DSV, but was also the designer of the boats.-Early career:Bridger's...
representing the UEO. In "Games", Dr. Rubin Zellar attempts to use the seaQuest`s sea to air missiles to destroy UEO Headquarters in order to abolish, what he believed to be, the "illusion of peace."
While the UEO was intended to be a peaceful coalition of nations and confederations, not all members were happy with their position within the organization, such as the Montangnard Confederation, who attempted to recover the first manned capsule to reach Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
before seaQuest could in order to bolster their position within the UEO, as depicted in "Better Than Martians." Not all individuals within the UEO were pleased with the concept either, such as Secretary General Andrea Dre, who was perceived as being a "dinosaur" from the era when money launderers and bureaucrats made policy. Dre plotted to kidnap the leaders of several confederations and coerce them to sign an amended UEO constitution. Her plan was thwarted by the crew of seaQuest however, she was impeached, and William Noyce was named temporary Secretary General until an election could be held, as seen in "The Last Lap at Luxury." He would be replaced by McGath by 2021.
While the original seaQuest was handed over to the UEO upon its formation, following its destruction in "Higher Power", UEO was forced to construct a new seaQuest to replace it at their own expense. In "And Everything Nice", an attempt is made to hijack the seaQuest in order to weaken the UEO's global presence. The attempt ultimately proved unsuccessful.
The high cost of building seaQuest-class submarines, however, would prove to be an Achilles' heel
Achilles' heel
An Achilles’ heel is a deadly weakness in spite of overall strength, that can actually or potentially lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, metaphorical references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.- Origin :In Greek...
of sorts as the UEO was unable to pool together the funds as well as the technology necessary to replace the seaQuest 4600-II after it went missing in 2022, as depicted in "Splashdown." With the seaQuest missing in action, the UEO was unable to control the explosion of commerce as well as the fallout of wealth, power, and greed following the summit of 2026 in which the UEO lifted the ban on colonial deregulation, as mentioned by Captain Oliver Hudson in the cold open
Cold open
A cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
ing of "Brave New World."
The Alliance of Macronesia (formerly New Australia) began to expand their territory into the 2030s as well as their technological superiority given that Deon International furnished them with the Lysander-class subfighter, proving to be a formidable opponent to the UEO. A trade embargo was placed on Macronesia by 2032 leading to rising conflicts beneath the sea, which nearly led to a war between Macronesia and the UEO as the alliance seized control of the Nexus Colony in the heart of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Fortunately, the UEO was able to recover the seaQuest just prior to Macronesia's seizure of Nexus and drive the alliance out of the colony.
Later that year, the UEO charter went up for renewal. The Organization's poor handling of Macronesia and other global policies began to split public opinion on both the UEO and on Secretary General McGath, half of which believed he ran the UEO like a prison state and the other half believing him to be weak. President Bourne of the alliance plotted to assassinate McGath in order to abolish the UEO and continue his quest for world domination
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
, but, his attempt was thwarted, as seen in the episode ""Brainlock"." As the series drew to its end, a new world government, the elusive Asian power known as the Chaodai, began to attack both the UEO and the alliance as seen in the final episode, "Weapons of War", however, the series was canceled shortly afterwards and the final fate of the UEO is currently unknown.
UEO Navy
The UEO's largest division, for which the seaQuest serves as flagship. The UEO Navy was composed of various submersibles, many of which were heavily armed, such as the Navis-18 class submarine, as well as a prototype Marauder-class vessel that was operated entirely by artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
(which was ultimately destroyed in the episode "The Sincerest Form of Flattery"). UEO also had a large number of hauler-type ships at its disposal.
Each member of the UEO wore the Organization's crest on their left shoulder as part of their uniform. Removal of the patch is analogous to a soldier removing his uniform.
UEO Marines
The UEO's next next largest division, the marines serve as the UEO's main combat force. They are routinely posted as security on undersea bases and high security areas such as the G.E.L.F. Colony Prison and Verdome, the UEO Maximum security prison for dangerous and criminally insane prisoners. The seaQuest II may have also carried a contingent of marines onboard, as evidenced by such episodes as "By Any Other Name" and "Splashdown."UEO Army, Air Force, Space Force
Being primarily an undersea organization the UEOs focus was primarily the naval and marine branch, but since the UEO more or less also replaced the U.N. in terms of peace keeping it also has an Army, Air Force, and Space Force. From 2020 to late 2021 the highest ranking officer of the UEO was General Thomas, the previous was Admiral William Noyce. The UEO's highest ranking officer going from a 2 star Admiral in 2017 to a 4 star General in 2020 shows the progress the UEO made in recruiting high ranking officers from their own countries militaries into serving on attachment with the UEO.Sector/Section 7
The UEO's highest level of security, originally known as "Sector 7", but renamed to "Section 7" by late 2022, many within the organization were not overly thrilled about the idea of a "secret policeSecret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
" in what was supposed to be a utopia-like society. In "Good Soldiers", Captain Hudson compares them to the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and is disgusted to find that Captain Bridger has apparently joined ranks with them. Section 7 personnel were brought in from all divisions of the UEO, but Army personnel were the most common followed by the Navy. There were also several Officers seen wearing US military Rank pins suggesting it may have evolved from or worked closely with US Military Intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
.
Sector 7 was in charge of the G.E.L.F. Colony Prison on "Dagger Island" where the UEO held all of the genetically engineered life forms created during the "Dark Period of Genetics" (aside from Dagwood, who had been assigned to the new seaQuest in a custodial assignment as seen in the episode "Daggers.")
As a matter of UEO policy, Sector 7 prisoners are not permitted to board the seaQuest.
NORPAC
Although NORPAC is mentioned as being seaQuest's original fleet, numerous references to it crop up in future episodes, such as "NORPAC First Strike"; a communications link mentioned in "Higher Power." It could be inferred that NORPAC was absorbed into the UEO.Criticism
While the UEO was supposed to be a peaceful alliance, it was not without its share of blemishes. Captain Bridger, in particular, was not overly fond of the UEO's nervous stance on the unfamiliar, such as their choice to have an armed contingent standing by after the seaQuest had discovered an alien starship entombed in an undersea rockface. As a result, Bridger and his crew elected not to inform the UEO of the message they intended to send to the aliens homeworld, inviting them back to Earth, despite the fact that the message would be sent in the interests of mutual understanding and cooperation. Bridger was also skeptical of notifying the UEO when the seaQuest encountered an unknown force having a potentially deadly impact on the ship and the nearby Miranda Colony, claiming that the UEO would send in the nuclear fleet as their initial reaction.UEO also maintained records of crimes against humanity that took place on a base that was eventually annexed by Macronesia, in which G.E.L.F.s were subjected to various forms of torture in order to determine their stamina, endurance, and regenerative abilities.
Background
The UEO was written into the script of the seaQuest DSV pilot by series creator Rockne S. O'BannonRockne S. O'Bannon
Rockne S. O'Bannon is a television producer and writer. He is the creator of the science fiction movie Alien Nation, television shows seaQuest DSV, The Triangle and Farscape. He is married with one daughter and two sons - all three children adopted from Russia. He resides in California,...
. By the second season of the series, Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
(Captain Bridger) had felt that the series had strayed too far away from what it once was; that the UEO had become too inclined towards the military side of things than the original intention of science. Scheider explained that "I became more of a combat commander than a scientific commander and I hadn't signed up for that." Comparisons were also drawn between seaQuest DSV`s UEO and Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
`s United Federation of Planets
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
.