Amph [NERRRD] Observations, rhetorical questions, comments & 55 Years of Star Trek (General Thread)

So what did I watch of Star Trek in the last 28ish hours?

Well there's "Broken Bow", the first episode of Enterprise which is all kinds of awesome. Jolene Blalock is actually really fantastic as T'Pol. Suffice it to say, she is able to play Subcommander T'Pol as the ethereal point in Vulcans where they can have no emotions and yet show hints of emotions and I think she nails the sweet spot in between. While the episode takes awhile to pick up the last half where the Enterprise crew has to go rescue the Klingon is all kinds of awesome. And when Trip, Archer, T'Pol and Traviss are on Mos Eisely and meet a bunch of wierdo aliens. There's a great bit where Trip gets up in someone's grill about how they are treating their child but T'Pol tells him that's just how the species weans their young on Earth atmosphere and it shows the gulf of knowledge between the Earthlings and the galaxy at large. Also of note "a farmer named Moore" is the human who has First Contact with the Klingons and I believe that is a shout out to Ron Moore who wrote a lot of Klingon episodes. The only false note the episode strikes is the decon chamber scene between T'Pol and Trip. Like, seriously, what in the heck? Otherwise, it's actually really great in every scene. Like there's an awesome bit where Travis and Reed are scanning for Vulcan life signs and they can't get a lock on any of them, and Travis just looks at the door and sees T'Pol banging on the entrance and he just says "I found her!" Trust me, it's way funny if you watch the episode.

And then there's DS9's blood oath which has a lot of classic TOS Klingons on a final mission for revenge and they rope Dax into it because Curson was a part of their blood oath. Great performances across the board, especially Terri Farrell as Jazdia. She has an awesome moment when she goes into the bad guy compound and goes "Excuse me, are the tennis courts around here?" and then knocks a goon out. Great stuff involving Klingons and every old man Klingon in this episode was in a TOS episode, which is really fun. Also did anyone notice the hairstyles for Kira and Dax in S1-S2 of DS9 were really unflattering? they definitely got someone better on the hair and makeup department in Season 3-7.

And then I saw about 90% of Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. Like I said, Space channel is showing all of the Star Trek movies so I kinda had to watch it. Great performance by Shatner in this movie, actually, because he's in full Kirk Hero Mode while Spock is in the midst of a murder mystery. Also I kinda love seeing the Klingons as the antagonists but the twist at the end as to who is behind the conspiracy is really great. I could have watched "Generations" on Space channel but I skipped out on it to watch 3 eps of ENT and TOS instead.

Then Enterprise "Demons/Terra Prime" which has a fantastic performance by Peter Weller as an alien-hating Earthling. While I dig him as the Evil Exposition Admiral in Star Trek Into Darkness I think his performance in this 2-parter is freakin' great and way better than him as Admiral Evil in STID. For the official record, this is the official Enterprise finale. "These are the Voyages" is just a TNG bonus episode. But this is a great wrap up of ENT because it has the crew of the NX-01 dealing with home grown terrorists. There's actually a moment when one of Paxton's goons is relating Fake News about the Vulcans and World War 3. It all seems very apt to our current culture, even though this episode aired in 2005. But I guess, sadly, bigotry transcends any year. Which is why we need Star Trek to point it out. Also there's a subplot with Travis and his Reporter Girlfriend which is just kinda weird and feels like filler but most of the Series Finale 2 parter is great. Basically, Paxton and his goons are the Alt. Right Nu Nazi movement. But, as mentioned, this episode aired in 2005.

The TOS "Errand of Mercy" which is the first appearance of the Klingons in Star Trek history. It's excessively chatty, even by TOS standards which is saying something, but the Klingons appear fully formed into Star Trek as conquering warriors. Although about 80% of the episode's action takes place off screen, which is kinda frustrating. Also Spock seems to be cosplaying as Frodo Baggins, I think it's the cape. And the Klingon commander, Kor (who is one of the Klingons in DS9 Blood Oath) keeps chattering about a mind scanning device that the Klingons have but that was never brought up again so I guess he was just BS-ing. But, anyway, this episode is what settles the peace between the Federation and the Klingons. So if you wanna know how the warring between the Federation and the Klingons end in Star Trek: Discovery, spoiler alert, watch "Errand of Mercy".

It took me about 4 hours to watch 3 eps of Star Trek. Don't ask why.

And then I turned back on Space channel and caught the last 5 minutes of Star Trek: First Contact. Picard's very chase cheek kiss with Lilly legitimately is really rather heartfelt. And then Cochrane downs some booze and grooves out with the Vulcans which is exceptionally awesome. And then I watched Star Trek: Insurrection to the point where Picard, Data and Worf are singing Gilbert and Sullivan. Which is actually kind of hilarious and the last thing I saw because the movie doesn't get any better than that.

I still have not found the Webster/TNG crossover episode. I am annoyed. Maybe I will flat out buy Webester Season 6 on DVD to see it.

So I'm gonnna read some Star Trek comix and go to bed because there's a certain Star Trek TeeVee show on in about 14 hours. BRB.

 

Star Trek VI is my favorite Star Trek movie, as my avatar can attest to.

 

Considering her Troi devoted episodes put me to sleep, I find her comments amusing. DS9 is the superior show anyways.

 

To be fair, I believe Aron Eisenberg said something like that about DS9's set too. DS9 was super serious, while the set on Voyager had a very light and joking mood when he guest starred there.

 

Every time someone tried to crack a joke Avery Brooks gave them his death glare.

 

Yeah Michael Dorn said that when he joined DS9 in season four, the cast was basically running on fumes. The difference in atmosphere between the TNG set and the DS9 set was apparently really, really striking.

 

Well, they just came out with an Honest Trailer for ST:TNG.

 

That was great and I really have to watch the Crusher / ghost episode again but I think Honest Trailers really hit the main best parts of it.

 

My DVR did not record correctly so I did not get the last ten minutes or so of Discovery. I have to say it was good. If they just broadcast it instead of charging for a subscription I'd continue to watch this show.

 

Awesomely in-depth explanation piece from Star Trek dot com that, yes, everybody is supposed to be wearing Starfleet insigna delta symbols, even in TOS and before and onward

http://www.startrek.com/article/starfleet-insignia-explained

 

So I just discovered this amazing video:

 

Hmm, so apparently the song is two decades old and not, as I thought, cooked up by this particular Youtube user...so probably old news to everyone here. Oh well.

 

Pretty sweet.

 

I'm sure it's been brought up in many nerd discussions already but...the Defiant is about what, one-third the size of your typical Federation starship and has a much smaller crew requirement...and it's just as powerful and durable as the much bigger ships. Why not build nothing but Defiants?

 

On top of what T2Q said, it's also about ideology. It's sorta like Mace said, they're keepers of the peace, not soldiers. Starfleet is not about war, so they don't build vessels of war. They are about deep space exploration, and they want to provide comfort and amusement for their crew, so they can stay sane on long missions. This means holodecks, arboreta, and other amenities for the crew.

The Defiant was created as a response to the Borg threat, supposedly Starfleet's first true warship design.

 

So does that mean that the Romulans and Klingons never posed a major threat to the Federation if they thought they could make do without dedicated warships?

 

Not necessarily. It depends on how you look at it. They may have posed a major threat, but the Federation insisted on sticking to their values, anyway.

I don't think either faction ever smashed Starfleet the way the Borg did at Wolf 359, which is what inspired the creation of the Defiant-class.

In the alternate universe of Yesterday's Enterprise, however, we see that the Federation is at war with the Klingons, and Picard mentions that the war is going badly for the Federation, much worse than is widely known, and we see that the Enterprise itself is slightly different, having been adapted for war. The bridge is different, everything is darker, the uniforms are more militaristic, Troi is nowhere to be found (perhaps counselors have no place on Starfleet vessels in this AU), everyone is armed, there are no children aboard, rations were used instead of replicators to save power, Picard orders a "battle alert" (compared to the red alert of the normal timeline) and Picard refers to his ship as a battleship. And so on. So it seems in this AU timeline things are a bit different by necessity, just as the Defiant was deemed necessary.

Despite the changes we see in Yesterday's Enterprise, the Federation is still losing badly (half the fleet has been lost) and even Starfleet Command believes defeat is inevitable, despite calling in every ship available, even old and outdated vessels. So maybe if it really came to all out war with the Klingons or Romulans, two empires dedicated to war and conquest, maybe the Federation wouldn't do so well. Maybe they'd wish they had built ships better designed for war.

From an OOU perspective, one would ask how they can compete militarily with two empires dedicated to war. Fans have come up with lots of answers, from economic factors to superior ideals winning out, to the Federation being just that good, just that ingenious, to be able to defeat enemies dedicated to war despite not being dedicated to war themselves. We see the Federation use superior science! to win time and time again, always coming up with some technological solution to the problem. Using science is a big theme for the series. On top of that, there's also Kirk's third option and Scotty's juggling act, and similar heroic actions from the rest of their generally brilliant personnel.

 

Starfleet may not build dedicated warships most of the time, but their exploration vessels are capable of sterilizing planets and besting most other species' craft in single combat (notwithstanding things like the extremely inconsistent use of the Klingon BoP model). The heavy armament of ships such as Enterprise and Voyager were often commented upon by other civilizations they encountered, sometimes those who were skeptical of peaceful intentions or wanted to steal or buy such technology.

 

Beware the lie “We come in peace...”

 

Ugh. That's not to say I like how Discovery handled the concept.

 

Just to introduce myself to this thread.
I watch TOS on our barely color tv in the 70s when only 3 channels existed.o
Loved it! Blew my young mailable mind away! Watched all the other sci fi stuff, Space 1999, Star Wars too.
When TNG came out I hated it. Nothing would replace the original. It’s Dr Whoish special effects did not impress me. But as I watched it more, the more I was hooked once again. In fact I watched it late at night as my wife and I dated.
Liked DS9 but grew tired of the lack of “vision” hated Voyager, too metaphysical. Still do to this day.
For the nost part I enjoyed all the movies, with the obvious top being Wrath. Next gen movies were meh.
Loved the JJ reboot. Except for the dumbing down of physical laws for drama sake. I’ve enjoyed all of the new movies.
Then I watched Star Trek discover on cbs. Before it I swore I wouldn’t fall for the paying to watch on all access. But something drove me to just do it. So here I am once again addicted to a newer much more expensive series with tonight being the fall finale.
Only dilemma I have now is do I pay for the 2 months between episodes? Help me Obi-wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope!