A few Voyager Memories/Thoughts

[stardream]

This is weird. I have never had this happen before in my personal history of TV watching. I have had instances where I went back and started to go through a series that I HAD liked back in the day and decided I had changed my mind and it wasn't really all that great (had nothing to do with a series being 'dated' for whatever that's worth). This is the first time I've gone in the other direction.

I was lukewarm about Voyager when it first aired. Didn't hate it. I watched it because it was part of the Star Trek franchise. At first it was a little weird because they couldn't just call up Starfleet Command to ask for directions or for whatever they needed and I admit that while I was all for a female Captain the sight of that petite woman barking orders was a bit disconcerting and I have no idea why. I liked the characters but I would sometimes not be able to watch it and not feel like I had missed much.

This time around though Janeway seems much more natural as the Captain right off the bat and I really like this cast of characters a lot more than I did the first time around. If they were 'real' I would probably want to hang with this crew more than I would with any of the others.

I think part of my initial reaction might have been I was winding up watching DS9 at the time and I liked the dark angsty drama of it all and Voyager, while their situation was 'dark' came across as a lighter show. This time I am watching it in a 'vacuum' on its own and something popped. I like a lot more this time around. Maybe I've just had my fill of dark angsty drama for a while.

Yes there are some episodes that no amount of time will fix but overall...I think this might turn into my favorite Star Trek Show.

This came as a complete and total surprise. I was just going to watch the series again to pass the time. This is the last thing I expected to happen.

 

[Beawild]

1) I was surprised when Carey was killed for no apparent reason.

2) I agree with Janeway on this one. Ransom's behavior was anathema with everything Starfleet stood for, killing sentient beings to use them as fuel was abhorrent to Janeway. She did almost go too far with Noah Lessing, but I can understand her frustration and anger.

3) Yes, there should have been more follow up episodes where we saw them try to fit in with the established crew.

4) Meh, it's fiction. Most TV shows have inconsistencies. I basically ignored certain nonsensical issues, like the unlimited amount of shuttles and torpedoes, and just sat back and enjoyed the show.

 

[Deks]

1. I share the grief with them just killing Carey off without any apparent reason - a buildup would have been nice.

2. I'm with Janeway on this one. While I agree she did go a bit too far at times, we have seen her doing a very similar thing in 'Year of Hell' (which probably should have been made into a full season story arc as originally intended.
It shows how she deals under relatively extreme levels of stress... and actually, unlike Ransom and some other captains, Janeway stuck with the original objectives under such circumstances. Granted, Chakotay was actually providing her with a more Starfleet way out of the situation by trying to communicate with the aliens (something she should have pursued), but I guess that even she has her limits sometimes and can get blinded (in hindsight... she DID follow-up on Chakotay's recommendation).

3. Agreed there should have been more followup on this one.

4. Easily explainable. Voyager was seen in several episodes going to uninhabitated star systems and collecting resources which they could use. It wouldn't be surprising to understand they either traded for antimatter from other races, or Torres made another crude factory for antimatter production using solar energy for powering the replicators (as opposed to the Warp core). Or they might have found another source of Omicron particles to increase their antimatter reserves (as they tried to do that in 'the Cloud'), in which case, they would have simply refilled their warp core and filled up the new torpedoes (which could have been replicated in parts, sans antimatter - unless antimatter they produced themselves or traded).

Same principle applies to shuttles. They would have likely salvaged some, but those that were not recoverable or completely destroyed would need to have been rebuilt from the ground up (in which case, we come back to the idea of collecting resources in uninhabited star systems, potentially using solar energy to power replicators and replicate spare parts and necessary components, which are later assembled - or simple trading for raw materials from other races they encountered off-screen).

 

[Sybok Was Wrong]

I quit watching "Star Trek:Voyager" during its run in the 2nd Season. I was getting burned out on Star Trek.

In the last year, I've felt it's time for a new "Star Trek" series, but it doesn't seem one is coming.

Amazon had the entire "Star Trek:Voyager" set 70% off a little while back, so I bought a set to fill that craving.

Without competing series (DS9,B5, TNG reruns) airing at the same time to compare, it's easier to just enjoy "Voyager" for what it is.

Without your own critical expectations, when a new, ongoing show comes out, you can enjoy "Voyager" on its own merits. (After all, this is a TV series long out of production. What's done is done-here it is).

I can watch this show without the 90's "Franchise fatugue". What I've watched to date is a well acted, well produced, good-looking show (its aged very well), with intelligent scripts, maybe too much reliance on sf technology & science for my taste- but whatever. The cast is really good together.

Interestingly, you can still sense a bit of "tiredness" to the whole proceedings, even watching it on its own all these years later. That may have something to do with the behind the scenes personell, tho.

Reading Trekbbs & other sites would have you believe VOY is not a good show. Nonsense. I'm glad I c bought this set and am enjoying it very much!

 

[stardream]

I quit watching "Star Trek:Voyager" during its run in the 2nd Season. I was getting burned out on Star Trek.

In the last year, I've felt it's time for a new "Star Trek" series, but it doesn't seem one is coming.

Amazon had the entire "Star Trek:Voyager" set 70% off a little while back, so I bought a set to fill that craving.

Without competing series (DS9,B5, TNG reruns) airing at the same time to compare, it's easier to just enjoy "Voyager" for what it is.

Without your own critical expectations, when a new, ongoing show comes out, you can enjoy "Voyager" on its own merits. (After all, this is a TV series long out of production. What's done is done-here it is).

I can watch this show without the 90's "Franchise fatugue". What I've watched to date is a well acted, well produced, good-looking show (its aged very well), with intelligent scripts, maybe too much reliance on sf technology & science for my taste- but whatever. The cast is really good together.

Interestingly, you can still sense a bit of "tiredness" to the whole proceedings, even watching it on its own all these years later. That may have something to do with the behind the scenes personell, tho.

Reading Trekbbs & other sites would have you believe VOY is not a good show. Nonsense. I'm glad I c bought this set and am enjoying it very much!

I had much the same thoughts. At the time I kept comparing it to DS9 which I enjoyed but now watching it in a 'vacuum' if you will without the other Star Trek shows I am surprised at how much I missed the first time around simply because I was too busy nitpicking and contrasting and comparing. I missed the good stuff by focusing on the negatives.

For me, personally, it got better.

 

[MacLeod]

Same principle applies to shuttles. They would have likely salvaged some, but those that were not recoverable or completely destroyed would need to have been rebuilt from the ground up (in which case, we come back to the idea of collecting resources in uninhabited star systems, potentially using solar energy to power replicators and replicate spare parts and necessary components, which are later assembled - or simple trading for raw materials from other races they encountered off-screen).

Except we are told in dailouge that they have NO WAY of replacing their torpedeos. If they can't replace a torpdeo which is bascially just a tube with an engine and some M/AM. How can they replace something more complex than say a shuttlecraft?

You could argue that it was a stupid line to put in and perhaps it was, but replciators have their limits. Now as a writer if you realise you have written yourself into a box then you simply write your way out of it not just ignore the box. The sin is not so much the line but ignoring it instead of addressing it in either by means of dialouge or a montage of them creating something to alieveate the problem. It treats your audiance with borderline contempt that they can't remember something which you highlighted to them as a means of saying this ship is cut off from home/limited resources has to be careful how they use what they have etc... Which was part of the premise of the show.

 

[Lynx]

Same principle applies to shuttles. They would have likely salvaged some, but those that were not recoverable or completely destroyed would need to have been rebuilt from the ground up (in which case, we come back to the idea of collecting resources in uninhabited star systems, potentially using solar energy to power replicators and replicate spare parts and necessary components, which are later assembled - or simple trading for raw materials from other races they encountered off-screen).

Except we are told in dailouge that they have NO WAY of replacing their torpedeos. If they can't replace a torpdeo which is bascially just a tube with an engine and some M/AM. How can they replace something more complex than say a shuttlecraft?

You could argue that it was a stupid line to put in and perhaps it was, but replciators have their limits. Now as a writer if you realise you have written yourself into a box then you simply write your way out of it not just ignore the box. The sin is not so much the line but ignoring it instead of addressing it in either by means of dialouge or a montage of them creating something to alieveate the problem. It treats your audiance with borderline contempt that they can't remember something which you highlighted to them as a means of saying this ship is cut off from home/limited resources has to be careful how they use what they have etc... Which was part of the premise of the show.

Unfortunately, the writers did that a lot of times.

They came up with some unrealistic stuff (like the Ocampa nine year lifespan and that they could only give birth to a child once a lifetime) and some other things which was contradicted later on (like the constant waste of torpedoes and shuttles) and when they finally found out that it didn't work, it was just "never mind, let's keep rolling down the line, the viewers won't notice".

So it's up to us who like the show to find out possible explanations, like The Shuttle and Torpedo Building Team.

 

[MacLeod]

Same principle applies to shuttles. They would have likely salvaged some, but those that were not recoverable or completely destroyed would need to have been rebuilt from the ground up (in which case, we come back to the idea of collecting resources in uninhabited star systems, potentially using solar energy to power replicators and replicate spare parts and necessary components, which are later assembled - or simple trading for raw materials from other races they encountered off-screen).

Except we are told in dailouge that they have NO WAY of replacing their torpedeos. If they can't replace a torpdeo which is bascially just a tube with an engine and some M/AM. How can they replace something more complex than say a shuttlecraft?

You could argue that it was a stupid line to put in and perhaps it was, but replciators have their limits. Now as a writer if you realise you have written yourself into a box then you simply write your way out of it not just ignore the box. The sin is not so much the line but ignoring it instead of addressing it in either by means of dialouge or a montage of them creating something to alieveate the problem. It treats your audiance with borderline contempt that they can't remember something which you highlighted to them as a means of saying this ship is cut off from home/limited resources has to be careful how they use what they have etc... Which was part of the premise of the show.

Unfortunately, the writers did that a lot of times.

They came up with some unrealistic stuff (like the Ocampa nine year lifespan and that they could only give birth to a child once a lifetime) and some other things which was contradicted later on (like the constant waste of torpedoes and shuttles) and when they finally found out that it didn't work, it was just "never mind, let's keep rolling down the line, the viewers won't notice".

So it's up to us who like the show to find out possible explanations, like The Shuttle and Torpedo Building Team.

But a team would be useless all they could do was sit around a table drinking raktajino as they have NO WAY of replacing the torpedeos. If they could have been built onboard ship then they would have had a way of replacing but we are told that VOY has NO WAY of replacing of them.

They basically wrote VOY as TNG 2.0 paying only lip service when it suited them to the reality of where the ship was. Endless shuttles/torpedeos/crew etc are easier to rationalise in TOS/TNG/DSN, they simply either put into dock or meet with another ship.

And yes the other shows as well as many shows are at times guilty of hoping the viewers will simply ignore things they did previously. The Kes only having one child was stupid, basically every generation your population halves eventually your species will die out.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed VOY for the most part, but it could have so much more that it was.

 

[Anwar]

Except we are told in dailouge that they have NO WAY of replacing their torpedeos. If they can't replace a torpdeo which is bascially just a tube with an engine and some M/AM. How can they replace something more complex than say a shuttlecraft?

You could argue that it was a stupid line to put in and perhaps it was, but replciators have their limits. Now as a writer if you realise you have written yourself into a box then you simply write your way out of it not just ignore the box. The sin is not so much the line but ignoring it instead of addressing it in either by means of dialouge or a montage of them creating something to alieveate the problem. It treats your audiance with borderline contempt that they can't remember something which you highlighted to them as a means of saying this ship is cut off from home/limited resources has to be careful how they use what they have etc... Which was part of the premise of the show.

Unfortunately, the writers did that a lot of times.

They came up with some unrealistic stuff (like the Ocampa nine year lifespan and that they could only give birth to a child once a lifetime) and some other things which was contradicted later on (like the constant waste of torpedoes and shuttles) and when they finally found out that it didn't work, it was just "never mind, let's keep rolling down the line, the viewers won't notice".

So it's up to us who like the show to find out possible explanations, like The Shuttle and Torpedo Building Team.

But a team would be useless all they could do was sit around a table drinking raktajino as they have NO WAY of replacing the torpedeos. If they could have been built onboard ship then they would have had a way of replacing but we are told that VOY has NO WAY of replacing of them.

They basically wrote VOY as TNG 2.0 paying only lip service when it suited them to the reality of where the ship was. Endless shuttles/torpedeos/crew etc are easier to rationalise in TOS/TNG/DSN, they simply either put into dock or meet with another ship.

And yes the other shows as well as many shows are at times guilty of hoping the viewers will simply ignore things they did previously. The Kes only having one child was stupid, basically every generation your population halves eventually your species will die out.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed VOY for the most part, but it could have so much more that it was.

Like I've been saying, Voyager had conceptual problems. The whole "Single Lost Ship" thing is an inherently limited concept, but then they went and further limited themselves with unnecessary things like "We can't make more torpedoes!" and other things.

Voyager should've been a larger ship, like an old Heavy Cruiser or maybe a huge Alien Ship they got from the Caretaker. A ship fully capable of making more weapons and housing thousands of people. That way with a crew not even 200 the ship could sustain them for decades without problems.

 

[Deks]

Janeway might not have had all the information at the time on what would be needed to build new torpedoes in the field.

But let's be serious here... the torpedoes aren't that complex.
All they have to do is replicate the casing, plus the internal components or simply manufacture them onboard by processing raw materials found in suitable star systems (materials which are quite common for Starfleet by the time Voyager launched, and any ship in SF has the ability to manipulate the subatomic structure of matter via replicators or transporters, so they don't have to necessarily need to use pure energy to matter conversion as opposed harvested matter to another form of matter they need) and extract antimatter from the warp-core to fill them up - and in the same episode that Janeway says they have no way of replacing torpedoes once they are gone, they entered a nebula that has omicron particles which can augment their anti-matter reserves (so a little bit of contradiction here considering that they found a way to enhance anti-matter reserves, and they cannot make more torpedoes?).

Besides, most of the crew on Voyager usually had the comfort of falling to SF for support so early in the show... not necessarily of thinking too much outside that particular box (though this would seem VERY odd - then again, with all the things the writers dumbed down... its not exactly unrealistic).
So finding themselves so far out from home would likely prompt them to think differently.

Also, other friendly space-faring races Voyager encountered had space docks and used torpedo based technology in offence.
Its not a stretch to think they traded raw materials or even used particular facilities to make more torpedoes.

Either way, the crew made a lot of mods to the ship during the show, so its not a problem that they managed to manufacture more torpedoes and shuttles themselves (but we've seen that the Delta Flyer was built later on as a replacement for most shuttles which were relatively weak - which begs a question... why not just make 2 instead so they have a backup?).

 

[Lynx]

But a team would be useless all they could do was sit around a table drinking raktajino as they have NO WAY of replacing the torpedeos. If they could have been built onboard ship then they would have had a way of replacing but we are told that VOY has NO WAY of replacing of them.

They basically wrote VOY as TNG 2.0 paying only lip service when it suited them to the reality of where the ship was. Endless shuttles/torpedeos/crew etc are easier to rationalise in TOS/TNG/DSN, they simply either put into dock or meet with another ship.

And yes the other shows as well as many shows are at times guilty of hoping the viewers will simply ignore things they did previously. The Kes only having one child was stupid, basically every generation your population halves eventually your species will die out.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed VOY for the most part, but it could have so much more that it was.

I agree that Voyager could have been better and my opinion is that Voyager would have been much better if the writers hadn't been so sloppy and at least tried to have some continuity on the show.

but if we take the comment that they had NO WAY of replacing those torpedoes, then we must consider the fact that such things could change.

Let's say that my computer at work is knocked out by a thunderstorm or something similar. An expert is called and when he takes a look at the wreck, he says that it's NO WAY to repair that one.

But then I happen to know that computer genius who was a classmate in school. I call him, he arrives and says "maybe I can fix it".

He does that, my boss and the whole company is impressed and hire the guy as our computer expert.

Maybe B'Elanna found a way to start producing new torpedoes. As she thought about it in the shower, they couldn't show the scene where she suddenly said YES WE CAN!

She did discuss it with the captain and the idea for The Torpedo and Shuttle Building Team started there!

OK, some things are more difficult to explain or write around.

But remember that scene in "Before And After" when Benaren says something to Kes about "being his favorite daughter". Maybe the Ocampa have more than one child. Maybe Kes was one of three triplets or so.

 

[Anwar]

The premiere's storyline could've been extended a bit more.

Example: The Caretaker's own natural power (boosted by the Array) is what brought they to the Delta Quadrant. He overestimated himself and was too weak to send them back before he died. Since he couldn't find a successor (or a mate) he had a back-up plan for the Array to be automated to continue to look after the Ocampa and repel intruders.

Unfortunately, the AI wasn't programmed as well as it could've been, being a back-up and not plan A so it sees Voyager as an intruder as well.

It destroys all the Kazon camps on the surface, but Voyager manages to hide on the surface by powering down.

The next few episodes are about them fighting off Kazon survivors on the planet, working together to get by them to the Ocampa city and try to find a way to get the Array to stop seeing them as enemies.

They use an old shuttle in the city to take some Ocampa up there, and the Array recognizes them as friendlies. They reprogram the AI to not attack Voyager and explore the Array to find clues as to what to do next. The Array is their HQ as they do short-term exploring the system until they decide to leave for good.

There, and extended opening like that could last the first season.

 

[fireproof78]

Except we are told in dailouge that they have NO WAY of replacing their torpedeos. If they can't replace a torpdeo which is bascially just a tube with an engine and some M/AM. How can they replace something more complex than say a shuttlecraft?

You could argue that it was a stupid line to put in and perhaps it was, but replciators have their limits. Now as a writer if you realise you have written yourself into a box then you simply write your way out of it not just ignore the box. The sin is not so much the line but ignoring it instead of addressing it in either by means of dialouge or a montage of them creating something to alieveate the problem. It treats your audiance with borderline contempt that they can't remember something which you highlighted to them as a means of saying this ship is cut off from home/limited resources has to be careful how they use what they have etc... Which was part of the premise of the show.

Unfortunately, the writers did that a lot of times.

They came up with some unrealistic stuff (like the Ocampa nine year lifespan and that they could only give birth to a child once a lifetime) and some other things which was contradicted later on (like the constant waste of torpedoes and shuttles) and when they finally found out that it didn't work, it was just "never mind, let's keep rolling down the line, the viewers won't notice".

So it's up to us who like the show to find out possible explanations, like The Shuttle and Torpedo Building Team.

But a team would be useless all they could do was sit around a table drinking raktajino as they have NO WAY of replacing the torpedeos. If they could have been built onboard ship then they would have had a way of replacing but we are told that VOY has NO WAY of replacing of them.

They basically wrote VOY as TNG 2.0 paying only lip service when it suited them to the reality of where the ship was. Endless shuttles/torpedeos/crew etc are easier to rationalise in TOS/TNG/DSN, they simply either put into dock or meet with another ship.

And yes the other shows as well as many shows are at times guilty of hoping the viewers will simply ignore things they did previously. The Kes only having one child was stupid, basically every generation your population halves eventually your species will die out.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed VOY for the most part, but it could have so much more that it was.

This sums up my feelings, for the most part. I have not hatred towards VOY, but it really had potential to be so much more, and distinguish itself from TNG as a true spin-off, rather than continuing on in the same vein.

But, generally speaking, Macleod, I agree with you

As for memories of VOY, I read a magazine about how they did the Kazon make-up. The way it was described, made it sound like these guys would be really important to the overall plot of VOY, in some way. But, the first couple of episodes I watched, they were not there

Yeah, some of the creative choices confuse me to this day.

 

[MacLeod]

but if we take the comment that they had NO WAY of replacing those torpedoes, then we must consider the fact that such things could change.

Let's say that my computer at work is knocked out by a thunderstorm or something similar. An expert is called and when he takes a look at the wreck, he says that it's NO WAY to repair that one.

But then I happen to know that computer genius who was a classmate in school. I call him, he arrives and says "maybe I can fix it".

He does that, my boss and the whole company is impressed and hire the guy as our computer expert.

Maybe B'Elanna found a way to start producing new torpedoes. As she thought about it in the shower, they couldn't show the scene where she suddenly said YES WE CAN!

Yes but here is a simply way around that inbuild into the show, the log entry. All you need to is to add one extra line

Engineering reports they have found a way to replace our supply of photon torpedeos.

Problem fixed, takes 2 seconds of screen time. Has no real impact on the episode itself. But it shows the writers aren't treating their audiance like idiots. Who are incapable of remembering details from previous episodes.

 

[stardream]

Yeah, some of the creative choices confuse me to this day.

Problem fixed, takes 2 seconds of screen time. Has no real impact on the episode itself. But it shows the writers aren't treating their audiance like idiots. Who are incapable of remembering details from previous episodes.

I found that problem prevalent in a lot of shows, not just this one. At one time it made a bit of sense because episodes were watched ONCE, maybe twice if there was a re-run. They were made with the casual fan in mind...not for the hard core. I suppose it was assumed the viewer would not remember nor care. If so they greatly underestimated some viewers.

Casual fans didn't record them and watch them over and over and freeze frame them and zero in on certain details. They watched the episode and moved on. For the life of me I can't remember if I recorded this show or not....I know I didn't start the MUST RECORD, 'freeze frame' and keep track of every tiny detail until LOST. I did the same with BSG and found myself complaining about dangling storylines and discontinuity and plot holes...part of me wishes I hadn't done that and had just watched the show from week to week and just have gone with it. Been an 'idiot'.

An aside...It used to bug the heck out of me that they made Tom a medic. Biochemistry? Biochemistry? No one else took Biochemistry? No one else on the ship had any medical skills? Surely someone in the Maquis whom I am sure was used to living 'rough' and on the go and knew what to do when someone got hurt could be a field medic?

I made up a head canon that since his father taught survivalist training we could assume he used to go on these high adventure expeditions for fun like people do and he would drag an unwilling Tom with him who bonded with the expedition medic. Maybe he was an older man who was more of a dad than his own dad or a beautiful alien woman or a slightly older guy who lived an exciting life that Tom envied. Doesn't matter. He hung out with this person. He picked up rudimentary skills. Admiral Paris mentioned this in passing to Janeway and she remembered. I replace 'biochemistry' with this every time I think about it.

I did like the Doctor and Tom's interactions ...its just how they put them together that bothered me.

 

[Anwar]

That happens in nearly all the Trek shows. I mean, TNG had Picard just happen to be one of the Federation's experts on some kind of radiation weapon so he was the only one who could go on some secret mission.

 

[Deks]

We can then simply imagine that they found a way to do it off-screen.
Problem solved.
A lot of the stuff were not mentioned on-screen to begin with that were done in the novels (not canon, I know - but still).

 

[fireproof78]

Yeah, some of the creative choices confuse me to this day.

Problem fixed, takes 2 seconds of screen time. Has no real impact on the episode itself. But it shows the writers aren't treating their audiance like idiots. Who are incapable of remembering details from previous episodes.

I found that problem prevalent in a lot of shows, not just this one. At one time it made a bit of sense because episodes were watched ONCE, maybe twice if there was a re-run. They were made with the casual fan in mind...not for the hard core. I suppose it was assumed the viewer would not remember nor care. If so they greatly underestimated some viewers.

I will freely admit to being weird when it comes to my entertainment. I certainly don't consider myself a casual fan, but there are few (if any) episodes of VOY that I can recall watching multiple times. Yet, details, like Tom's biochem background, or that he is a fan of 20th century history, or that Voyager is supposed to be stranded, and yet the tone of the show is on an episodic basis, with little regard to being trapped far from home.

Maybe it is my faulty memory , or nostalgia, or what-have-you. But, while I consider myself a Star Trek fan, VOY never grabbed me. Yet, I remember little details about it.

I honestly wish that TV writers would not assume that the "casual fan" doesn't care about little details. Maybe it is just me, but I remember details about shows, even ones that I have seen once.

 

[MacLeod]

We can then simply imagine that they found a way to do it off-screen.
Problem solved.
A lot of the stuff were not mentioned on-screen to begin with that were done in the novels (not canon, I know - but still).

Perhaps, but ignoring the issue because it's inconvinient it's poor writing doesn't matter if it's in a book/film or TV episode. It's almost like a Deus ex machina.

It's not my fault as a viewer if they call attention to something and later ignore it, I can rightly call them on their sloppy writting. As I indicated the issue is more them ignoring the issue rather than issue itself, and addressing these issues could easily have been done via a log entry. Doesn't really impact the casual viewer but acknowledges to the segment of the audiance which pays attention to these things (and SF fans are known for paying attention to details) that we know we said this but we are changing the playing field (for lack of a better term).

Of course by the time VOY aired, internet usage was becomming far more common so the ability to perhaps get away with these things was narrowing. As newsgroups etc.. allowed people to discuss the episode perhaps far more than they could previously.

 

[Anwar]

I'm not sure if this is merely bad writing, or if it's a conceptual problem within the series framework.

The whole "Can't make more torpedoes" thing was never going to be a big issue in the series in the first place. It would either be resolved very fast or ignored. Should they have really bothered with it to begin with?