The meaning of the title "Starship Mine"

[marsh8472]

Because the word "mine" has so many meanings I wasn't sure what the title "Starship Mine" meant or how they picked it. Maybe it's mentioned in a reference source somewhere

fight for control over the enterprise, possession
"something that belongs to me" -saying the enterprise belongs to someone, probably picard

referring to the trilithium resin as a precious resource to be extracted
"an excavation made in the earth for the purpose of extracting ores, coal, precious stones, etc. "
"an abundant source; store"
"to use, especially a natural resource"
"to remove (a natural resource) from its source without attempting to replenish it."

in the context of the traps Picard set up that Kelsey's team kept running into
"a subterranean passage made to extend under an enemy's works or position, as for the purpose of securing access or of depositing explosives for blowing up a military position. "
"a device containing an explosive designed to destroy ships, vehicles, or personnel, usually laid beneath the ground or in water"
"a tunnel or sap dug to undermine a fortification"

or some other definition?

 

[DonIago]

Memory Alpha doesn't comment on the origins of the name, but I've always thought of the "mine" in the sense of a naval or landmine, though I'll grant that may not make a ton of sense in this context.

 

[Tosk]

I always took it purely as another way of saying 'my starship'. Like Enemy Mine.

 

[Timo]

Indeed, the scifi movie by that latter name was fairly recent at the time. And while the film used the word mine in two senses, there being a very personal enemy for our protagonist but also some physical digging going on there, there's no obligation for the TNG episode to do so. My bet is that the title specifically ties to the 1985 flick, making genre-savvy audiences (or at least the inventor of the title) chuckle, but is not supposed to "hold a meaning".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Forbin]

I've never thought it was anything other than Picard defending his ship - as in, my ship; this ship is mine.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I always took it as a combination of the two competing motivations of the episode, Picard saying "this ship is mine" and defending it and the criminals mining the ship for resources.

 

[Forbin]

I always took it as a combination of the two competing motivations of the episode, Picard saying "this ship is mine" and defending it and the criminals mining the ship for resources.

Hm. Could be. The author may have been thinking that.

 

[Sakonna]

I always thought they were unsuccessfully trying to get a double meaning with it. One meaning being the possessiveness angle (Picard claiming the ship as mine, the would-be thieves doing the same), and the other being a play on explosiveness/destruction, the "mine" of the title invoking land mines, which resonates in this episode with the deadliness of the baryon sweep, the explosion Picard sets off, the various assaults, etc.

But my main takeaway was always: weird title, they did not successfully find whatever it is they were going for with that.

 

[Mojochi]

I honestly never thought to credit it with any intentional double entendre, but I suppose it's possible. I only ever took it to mean the possessive struggle. It's a long used stylistic titling practice

Besides, the ship isn't a mine, or mined, & it's pretty thin to call the thieves siphoning some resin a mining operation. Any of those uses of the word mine would suggest that some explosive was intentionally embedded. That's not really anyone's intent imho

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Besides, the ship isn't a mine, or mined, & it's pretty thin to call the thieves siphoning some resin a mining operation. Any of those uses of the word mine would suggest that some explosive was intentionally embedded. That's not really anyone's intent imho

That's an overly literal take on it.

When you say someone is a "gold mine of information" it doesn't mean you're planning to obtain the information by chipping away at him with a pick-axe. Well, it might if you're in the mob or something. Likewise, data-mining doesn't involve many explosives, one would hope.

One meaning of mining is to "delve into an abundant source to extract something of value", which is precisely what they were doing here by stealing the trilithium from the Enterprise.

 

[JesterFace]

 

[JesterFace]

My native tongue isn't English and I've always thought of this episode title as something like the Enterprise is the mine where the terrorists ”dig” the thing they want.

 

[Nakita Akita]

I thought that it was that Picard is possessive of HIS ship.
As Picard thinking "this is mine and you fools can't have it."

 

[DonIago]

^What I don't like about this interpretation is that to me "Starship Mine" then sounds like something a five year-old would say...

 

[thribs]

Die Hard in space works better.

 

[Sakonna]

^What I don't like about this interpretation is that to me "Starship Mine" then sounds like something a five year-old would say...

And thus, the problem with the title. I think that's my ultimate conclusion, they thought they were doing a clever title that nodded to many different interpretations. So many interpretations that none of them quite work and the title then becomes stupid.

Love the episode, though!

 

[DonIago]

I do enjoy the episode even as I feel it (unintentionally?) laid the groundwork for questionable decisions to come...

It's better than some of the odd episode names VOY came up with, though...

 

[phantomeagle]

I think it was because of not only the booby traps in place, but the deadly Baryon Sweep that was chasing them as they headed to ten forward.

 

[Nakita Akita]

And thus, the problem with the title. I think that's my ultimate conclusion, they thought they were doing a clever title that nodded to many different interpretations. So many interpretations that none of them quite work and the title then becomes stupid.

Love the episode, though!

Picard in his wrap around shirt and riding boots

 

[Sakonna]

It's better than some of the odd episode names VOY came up with, though...

VOY had their moments ("Course: Oblivion", "Infinite Regress"), but ugh, those titles, so bland and uninspired. Though I suppose TNG was working in the same wheelhouse of brief, frequently-one-word titles, they were just A. better at it, and B. benefiting from being the first Trek show of that era. But I love me a good "Ties Of Blood And Water" or "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky" or "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad," I appreciate the Trek that goes for the grandiose with their titles.

 

[DonIago]

"Treachery, Faith and the Great River"

 

[Mojochi]

That's an overly literal take on it.

When you say someone is a "gold mine of information" it doesn't mean you're planning to obtain the information by chipping away at him with a pick-axe. Well, it might if you're in the mob or something. Likewise, data-mining doesn't involve many explosives, one would hope.

One meaning of mining is to "delve into an abundant source to extract something of value", which is precisely what they were doing here by stealing the trilithium from the Enterprise.

Ok, sure, & if they had called the episode Starship Gold Mine, or Starship Mining, we could better infer that interpretation, but even in the metaphorical sense, mining something really suggests an active unearthing, like it needs to be searched & discovered, in order to be obtained. They aren't really doing that. It's by far more a starship heist than mining by any definition

^What I don't like about this interpretation is that to me "Starship Mine" then sounds like something a five year-old would say...

But it's not like they're the only ones to have ever titled something that way. It's a pretty common phrasing, like Enemy Mine, or Mycroft referring to Cumberbatch's Sherlock as "Brother Mine"

I'm not saying it's a good title. TNG is notoriously bad at titles IMHO. If they'd had another "A Matter of" episode, I'd have choked on it lol