It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first pl

[T'Girl]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The wormhole itself wasn't really harmful.

They seemed to be experiencing a type of time distortion, and it appeared to be be increasing. So there was a danger of remaining in the wormhole effect for a protracted period of time.

 

[Ithekro]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The time distortion might be real physics taking over due to the subspace field not being intact.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

As per Decker's dialog, they had 22.5 seconds to go by their clocks inside the wormhole from soon after they entered it, assuming they would escape the wormhole when they fell to sublight. The only damage that the ship sustained from being in the wormhole was psychological damage to the crew. The carbon units are very finely-tuned instruments.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Phhhhhooooo-tonnnnnn...torrrrrrr-peeeee-dooooooeeeeeessssss....

 

[GNDN18]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

I understand that "show, don't tell" is the preference in story-telling, especially film. Exposition - whether through dialogue or images - is a predicate to the audience's engagement. I was mystified by this wormhole thing, having never heard of such a thing in 1979. It seemed dangerous, but I was clueless as to what it was or how it would affect the crew. Then the asteroid (those I had heard about) was pulled into this weird thing that made everyone move in slow motion. Coupled with the distorted dialogue, I really felt like the whole production was working hard to make me feel dumb.

The photon torpedo fired, the asteroid blowed up real good, and everyone was safe. I guess.

I understand that tension between Kirk and Decker needed to shown; Kirk's hubris and fallibility will work into the plot, too. But a dodgy transporter accident and now this McGuffin worked against itself.

 

[golddragon71]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The problem is when Kirk ordered Phasers and Decker countermanded it Decker made it seem at the time that trying to use the phasers would have blown up the ship all on their own. when he explains the reason however "...when they went into anti-matter imbalance, the phasers were automatically cut-off." That means that had Chekov gone ahead and attempted to fire the phasers....nothing would have happened he probably would've gotten an error message "WARNING: PHASERS INOPERATIVE!"

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The problem is when Kirk ordered Phasers and Decker countermanded it Decker made it seem at the time that trying to use the phasers would have blown up the ship all on their own. when he explains the reason however "...when they went into anti-matter imbalance, the phasers were automatically cut-off." That means that had Chekov gone ahead and attempted to fire the phasers....nothing would have happened he probably would've gotten an error message "WARNING: PHASERS INOPERATIVE!"

And, first of all, they would have wasted time towards destroying the asteroid, time that they didn't have to spare. And, second of all, given that numerous critical systems had already failed in the rush to launch, both before and after leaving dry dock, there was a question of what exactly would happen, had they even attempted to fire phasers. Further malfunctions and loss of control of the ship could have compounded the disaster, and the loss of the ability to target or fire photon torpedoes would have been fatal.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

But... but... the first artificial wormhole was created by Dax's ex in "Rejoined"!

 

[T'Girl]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Phhhhhooooo-tonnnnnn...torrrrrrr-peeeee-dooooooeeeeeessssss....

Chekov: "Oy vey."

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

But... but... the first artificial wormhole was created by Dax's ex in "Rejoined"!

LOL, I think they meant first artificially created wormhole made on purpose.

 

[Maurice]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

But a dodgy transporter accident and now this McGuffin worked against itself.

That word doesn't mean what you think it means.

 

[martok2112]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

This was my guess as to what the imbalance was and how it created the wormhole:

There was an imbalance of the plasma flow (need further simulation on the flow sensors) to the nacelles causing distorted warp field which is what created the wormhole.

Whenever my friends and I played the old FASA Star Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator game, our rule was that if the warp engines did not have equal power points available to them, (say 20 pts in the port engine, and 18 in the starboard) there was a percentage chance that the ship could enter a wormhole if it tried to warp off the board. The chance was determined by the severity of the engine imbalance.

 

[cgervasi]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

It's interesting that Kirk knew exactly what was going on as soon as he saw the viewscreen, perhaps the wormhole effect isn't all that unusual and he'd encounter it before.

He already knew what to do to counteract it.

I'd say it was unusual, because engines probably are not used much period, when they're in a condition that could create such a wormhole. But yeah, I agree that Kirk seemed mentally prepared for the possibility it would happen under the circumstances, I'd say just from his years of experience. Too bad he hadn't really brushed up on the refit power systems.

As for counteracting it, there was nothing to be done except wait it out until they fell to sublight speed. The wormhole itself wasn't really harmful. It was the asteroid that fell in ahead, or more precisely the imminent impact with it because navigational deflectors were down, that was the source of danger.

I agree with Corporal Captain's assessment. The wormhole is a condition analogous to a plane going into aerodynamic stall or wires in a device arcing. This type of wormhole is a rare failure mode for warp drive that officers typically only see once once or twice in their lives outside of a simulation.

 

[GNDN18]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

But a dodgy transporter accident and now this McGuffin worked against itself.

That word doesn't mean what you think it means.

Maurice, I agree that I used that word incorrectly. My understanding came from a review of Pulp Fiction, where the suitcase with the golden light was described as such. I took that to mean that the goal the characters are striving for is not as important as the conflict and resolution. Maybe it's a million dollars, or cocaine. Whatever it might have been, it drove the characters to risk everything.

That's not the wormhole, not in this context. My point though is that, as a plot contrivance meant to get Kirk, Decker, and McCoy from one place to another, it doesn't work very efficiently. I should understand what the threat is in order to buy into the resolution.

Ruk chases Kirk through the tunnels of Exo III. Kirk slips, Ruk glares, fade out. Fade in, Ruk saves Kirk. The threat works because I understand the danger of a bottomless pit and, moreover, it was foreshadowed earlier by a suspicious death at that precipice and followed on by Ruk's epiphany and destruction.

The wormhole, on the other hand, was unknown to me; I didn't know that an engine imbalance would cause one; I'm distracted by this and miss the point of Decker saving the day.

So it's not a McGuffin. What is it? And, in your opinion, did it work dramatically or not?

 

[cgervasi]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The wormhole was unknown to me; I didn't know that an engine imbalance would cause one; I'm distracted by this and miss the point of Decker saving the day.

So it's not a McGuffin. What is it? And, in your opinion, did it work dramatically or not?

I was confused by it too, esp because it seemed like they achieved warp 1 without a problem, at least for a few second.

I don't know if it would have been better, though, to go through a bunch of dialog to explain what's happening to the audience even though it seems like the characters should already know.

 

[GNDN18]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

I don't know if it would have been better, though, to go through a bunch of dialog to explain what's happening to the audience even though it seems like the characters should already know.

That's what frustrates me: more exposition would not have been helpful.

I can't rewrite and reshoot the scene, but I wish that the drama could have been more straightforward. Collins, Shatner, and Kelley did a really good job of expressing the conflict between Kirk and Decker, as McCoy was suspicious of his friend's motives and command judgment. The scene following the wormhole was one of the few emotionally satisfying exchanges in the film.

As effective as it was, its impact was blunted by the technobabble (there, I said it), set up.

 

[Nebusj]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

I don't know if it would have been better, though, to go through a bunch of dialog to explain what's happening to the audience even though it seems like the characters should already know.

Seriously? Two-thirds of the movie's dialogue to that point has been iterations of ``the warp drive is untested and we do not know exactly what will happen when it's put to warp speed'', and you believe the warp drive malfunction needs more explanation?

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The concept of the warps causing a wormhole was also revisited early in DC comics's first Star Trek series, in an issue set between II and III, that had Kirk create a wormhole to foil a Klingon plot or something like that. When he requests Scotty to create one using the warp imbalance, Scotty is mostly reluctant because the engines were already still somewhat damaged from the battles with Khan.


Here's a summary of that issue.

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Wormhole_Connection

 

[Maurice]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The wormhole and the transporter accident are both plot devices used to illustrate how unready the Enterprise is and how dangerous it is to try to use it untested. The Wormhole is also used to demonstrate how ill-equipped Kirk is for the job and the danger he himself poses.

 

[GNDN18]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The wormhole and the transporter accident are both plot devices used to illustrate how unready the Enterprise is and how dangerous it is to try to use it untested. The Wormhole is also used to demonstrate how ill-equipped Kirk is for the job and the danger he himself poses.

Do you think these plot devices work?