Off-Topic discussion - Star Trek

Since there are a couple threads for other fantasy/sci-fi genres, I thought I would start this one. This is a place to discuss plots and plot holes, theories, content, and maybe technology in general.

I am a casual Star Trek watcher, and I recently found a new TV channel that plays Star Trek every night. Last night they showed the episode of Next Generation where the Enterprise goes to the planet where they found Data, and they find Lore and bring him back.

Lore makes a plan with the Crystal Entity that he will drop the shields to transport something large out to space, that the Enterprise will then blow-up, showing the Enterprise's destructive power and scaring the entity away, but in reality the transport will give a reason to lower the shields, allowing the Crystal Entity to destroy the Enterprise.

Of course, Wesley sees that it's Lore acting like Data to perform this plan, and there is a fight between Data and Lore where Data flings Lore into the transporter, which Wesley activates. Picard and Riker show up and they congratulate themselves on a job well done.

It left me with two questions:

They just transported a sentient being out into space. Don't they feel a little bit bad about that? It seems to me if they are really that compassionate and evolved, they aught to at least transport him back to the brig for some kind of investigation.

If the shields had to be down for the transporter to work, why didn't the entity attack when they transported Lore? I mean, it was just sitting there waiting for him to do that.

We're you watching a channel called H&I, heroes and icons? They should be at that episode because they played the big goodbye the other night.

For some odd reason the characters in Star Trek have never been all that sympathetic to robots that are perceived as a threat to human/alien life. They have a wonderful sentient android friend, you would think they'd care more.

As for transporter and shield based problems, it's just feels like a convenient plot device to create drama most of the time.

The real question is, doesn't Brent Spiner play an amazing bad guy? He is awesome!

Maybe they didn't want to make Wesley feel bad about the moral ramifications of his decision. Right now I'm picturing an edited out scene where they all have dinner and talk about how terrible that was... without Wesley there, of course.

Yes Brent Spiner is quite an actor!

Evil Evie wrote:

We're you watching a channel called H&I, heroes and icons? They should be at that episode because they played the big goodbye the other night.

H&I, yes. Didn't even know we had it until we had to re-program the channels the other day.

Evil Evie wrote:

As for transporter and shield based problems, it's just feels like a convenient plot device to create drama most of the time.  

Yeah, that's always been a barrier to me really enjoying Star Trek sometimes. I really love some of the interactions and hypotheticals they get into, but I hate the episodes where things are resolved by some engineering trick. I hate when Scotty or Jeordi pulls something out of thier ass at the eleventh hour. It's not like you can say "Hey, warp cores don't work like that!" (Although my brother's college did teach a course on Star Trek, so maybe one of those students could. Or someone who's read The Physics of Star Trek.)

It’s unfortunately something that we also see now with a certain palace...

We've been watching the Star Trek Voyager on BBC America. Love all the Star Trek show and movies. Except for Enterprise, couldn't get into that one.

We need a new Star Trek based series.

G0lden wrote:

We need a new Star Trek based series.

Guess what?

Just watched "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for the first time since it was in the theatre. Imdb says Michelle Yeoh is part of this new series.

Outlier wrote:

Yeah, that's always been a barrier to me really enjoying Star Trek sometimes. I really love some of the interactions and hypotheticals they get into, but I hate the episodes where things are resolved by some engineering trick. I hate when Scotty or Jeordi pulls something out of thier ass at the eleventh hour. It's not like you can say "Hey, warp cores don't work like that!" (Although my brother's college did teach a course on Star Trek, so maybe one of those students could. Or someone who's read The Physics of Star Trek.)

It’s unfortunately something that we also see now with a certain palace...

Me and my brother have always enjoyed those little inconsistencies in the original series and trying to explain them. He's going into engineering and you should see his collection of books on the physics/other stuff of Star Trek. I just haven't analyzed the next gen enough to really get into any deeper of a discussion yet.

Can't wait for Star Trek Discovery.

Spiner and Stewart were theater actors long before the TV series.  I felt they put more effort into their speech and expressions for this reason.

Stewart plays an aging Professor Xavier in "Logan." Very sad, reminds me of my late father.

Spiner was also in the tv series Night Court and of course ID4

Evil Evie wrote:

Me and my brother have always enjoyed those little inconsistencies in the original series and trying to explain them. He's going into engineering and you should see his collection of books on the physics/other stuff of Star Trek. I just haven't analyzed the next gen enough to really get into any deeper of a discussion yet.

Can't wait for Star Trek Discovery.

That is very interesting that some people actually understand the "tech bla" of Star Trek and try to explain it. I always thought they just babbled random technical sounding nonsense.

Yes we do need a new Star Trek series. Something that is better than Enterprice or the new movies. Although I like Zachary Quinto.
My favorite characters are Worf and Odo. Although I like Lwaxana Troi too. She is so much fun every time she appears.
We're watching Next Gen with our oldest daughter now and it is fun to go through all of it again and see how she reacts.

I was really impressed by the "Enterprise" episodes that revolved around Vulcan and Sarek and that whole society change.

As a Latter-Day Saint who has heard the tale of the Restoration many times, the story of the Restoration of Sarek's teaches had a very familiar feel and I thought they handled it very well too. (Not always the case when Big Name media attempts religion.)

Sifra wrote:

That is very interesting that some people actually understand the "tech bla" of Star Trek and try to explain it. I always thought they just babbled random technical sounding nonsense.

Seems like I remember reading somewhere that towards the end of the next generation run the writers would just write "techno-speak" in the scripts and let the cast ad-lib.

Never underestimate the ability of hardcore fans to make sense of just about anything.

I'm so excited, just learned that a young Sarek is apparently going to be in the new series!

Historically, I'd been quite the fan for a number of years, grew up watching reruns of TOS (alongside Buck Rogers), and dreamed long and hard about careening through the stars exploring the universe... I still remember riding my bike trying to contain my excitement 3 weeks before Next Gen was to come out, I think I still have the comic I saw the promo ad for it a few months before, and thinking how awesome the new Enterprise looked.... and also remember looking at that ad a year later wondering why the ship looked so funny and different from the show...

DS9 kind of ruined things for me a bit. Sucked the life right out of it going from 'exploring new worlds' to 'exploring old politics'... I gave it a earnest shot, watched until the end of TNG and tried to get into Voyager, and aside from Neelix and the Doctor, I had a really hard time liking it after that.

I didn't get to see Enterprise when it was fresh and new, didn't get to see any Trek until Enterprise was on Netflix, aside from the movies.  Have to say, I actually like Enterprise a bit, as it got back into the 'exploration' of TOS, sort of, but it was still a break from the head canon I had for things between 'Oooba Dooba' and 'Carbomite'.

Anyway, that all said, I have a few totes full of First Contact MIB figures (not in the boxes anymore, due to the glue they used back then was garbage). Joke being on me as they were never going to be collectable.  The kids will love playing with them though.

I saw the first episode of Picard and would like to see more, but don't want to navigate the gauntlet CBS has set up to have a chance to see it.  I saw an episode of Discovery the other night and am not as impressed... that ship just "flips" my off switch. The characters seemed too fake as well, but I don't know the series well enough to really say what I was seeing was typical or some side affect of some plot device I missed somewhere in the episode (which happens way to often, now that I think of it! lol)

I've collected a large amount of fan-spoofs, star trek/wars mashups, and the like, I love seeing how others see various aspects of the series and characters. One of my favorites:

I think Discovery was weird at first, and then boring as it focussed too much on Michael, but I like the newer episodes.

... And then there's also "Lower Decks".

LOVE Star Trek!!!

Picard was amazing, but then again I adore Patrick Stewart.

Discovery I love, but the last episode left me a bit short... hope it gets better.

Lower Decks took me FOREVER to get started on cause those first few seconds killed it for me. Once I got past that though I love the show! Even made micros of me in the uniform

Now for the older ones...

TOS - Grew up on this series, like it alot, but not something I watch over and over.

TNG - OVER AND OVER AND OVER, love this show!!! Except some of the first season... not much of a Yar fan. Great episodes: Parallels, Starship Mine and The Inner Light.

VOG - Also love! This one I watch over and over! Best episodes... hmmm, The 37's and Scorpion.

DS9 - Another love for me, especially Quark! Though my favorites are when Sisko goes to find the orb of the Emissary and when Dax visits with her past hosts.

ENT - This one also took me a while to get started... almost like a car in cold weather. Once I got more into the series I started liking it. Not a total love, but still really good.

TAS - Finally watched all of the animated series. Great series, but like the original series not something I'd watch over and over.

Looking forward to Strange New Worlds and Prodigy

Oh! The Short Treks were adorable, of course I ADORED the tribbles

What are ya'll's favorite Trek shows and movies!

Don't even get me started on the movies, this post is long enough Watched and love most of the movies!

I had to go see what lower decks was about, and looked at some other videos on youtube. I ended up nauseous, and not sure if I wantnto be a trek fan anymore. Somehow it seems like something has gotten lost...

I used to be a big enough fan I was going to change my jeep to an LCARS inspired dash and whatnot, these new shows are... I really dont know what it is... Too much.... Stuff.... Riker in charge of hundreds of CG ships that are stated as being OP, against another fleet of sorta romulans... Its Gungans vs Droids all over again...

Two show I forgot to mention in my last which SCREAM Star Trek:

The Orville - This show has an old school feel mixed with a little bit of right now feel. Great show and really funny!

Galaxy Quest - If you haven't seen this and like Trek it is a must. Even Trek actors say it's a great 'Trek' movie. I adore this funny movie! Also, fun to see them change out bad words when the lips still say the REALLY bad ones.

Didn't really get into Orville; it's an entertaining enough TNG clone, or perhaps a The Next Phase clone had The Next Phase happened, but I think I miss the claim to/affection of science and the gradually emerging sense of the Enterprise existing against the background of an established larger world... though really for the most part it was DS9 that developed that, wasn't it? And we still never really got to see solar system infrastructure or how people on earth live until Picard, which I would consider a failure for how much it reveled in gore and violence (seriously, pulling an eyeball out of a living person just so we can want Seven to dispatch that f*ck on the spot...) -- in general I miss the luxury liner/cruise ship aesthetic that they threw overboard for DS9 and avoided ever since in favour of grey metal and dark rooms. Now with Discovery there's so much meaningful hoarse whispering and close-ups going in those dark rooms it's just getting silly. They curse; they snap at each other; they're just not the competent, responsible adults you'd expect on a Starfleet ship. But like every other episode is entertaining enough. Just don't get me started on the magic mushroom drive. Or the way they keep Evil Empress around indefinitely as if she wasn't a mass murdering tyrant.

Edit~that said, Discovery's third season still does the most interesting things since forever, by far...

I did like Galaxy Quest, and wish they would have followed though on the series that was rumored. It was good old fun, left grand politics out of the story had a old fashioned baddie that was dynamic enough to be semi believable but not "well, he's wrong but justified" as is popular these days.

Just give me young kirk, or Data with his chip just installed, or young riker, or Worf, or Han Solo in a small ship running into small conundrums, having to use reasonable logic to get through a situation with a little grit and determination. Give me buck rogers having to use old school fighting and flying skill to survive another episode. None of this "I'ze gots feelz eye's and badazz ships and cannot be beaten! Im good because I told you so and they are bad because they said so and I got a smart person that can technobabble her way out of a black hole."

Its been a long time since Ive really enjoyed angood sci fi show. Now that I think of it, it was firefly... And I didnt even know about it until a decade had passed.

Ignore me, Im just a cranky old troll. Lol.