Diverting the meteor isn't breaking the rule. that was just the insane take on it from TNG. In TOS they definitely save lower tech species when they can.
Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x02 - "New Eden"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
One can argue that the Prime Directive might not apply in some situations so long as the native pre-warp civilization isn't aware of your presence. Captain Picard would most likely take very virulent issue with that stance but I can't imagine Pike or Kirk or even Janeway standing by and allowing a planet to be destroyed if Starfleet technology can be used from a safe distance and without the planet's society even knowing about it.
Pike would not have left the New Eden system without doing something. He may be a by-the-book officer but he's not a heartless jerk when innocent lives are at stake.
Pike would not have left the New Eden system without doing something. He may be a by-the-book officer but he's not a heartless jerk when innocent lives are at stake.
I don't think this is necessarily true. In the case of Masterpiece Society, the colony was set up by humans who already had spaceships. And the 37 were high tech and aware of aliens. neither applies to Terraasylum.
Spock would be Michael Grayson too? Weird.
Too much Connelly, though.
If Connelly stays gone, then I'm giving the next episode of DSC a 20 out of 10.
If Connelly comes back, I'm giving the next episode of STD a -20 out of 10.
If Connelly comes back, I'm giving the next episode of STD a -20 out of 10.
Sybock's name would be Larry.
Sarek's kids would be Larry, Michael, and Michael.
Populations in virgin territory usually double every 20 to 25 years. So 11,000 actually seems about right to me.
Enjoyed it tremendously. Only complaint is not enough Connelly.....
I actually thought that the religion aspect was very respectfully done. If this were Doctor Who, there would be some side comment about how all religion is a load of BS. As a Who fan of faith, it got really tiresome during the Moffat years.
-Jason
I actually thought that the religion aspect was very respectfully done. If this were Doctor Who, there would be some side comment about how all religion is a load of BS. As a Who fan of faith, it got really tiresome during the Moffat years.
-Jason
I know it's been discussed, but the interpretation of the Prime Directive in this episode was 100% nonsense.
These people are humans from Earth who were kidnapped by an alien force without their knowledge or consent and deposited on a far off planet.
They aren't a separate society that must be left alone to develop. While the intent of that mysterious alien force might have been benevolent, that's irrelevant. They are humans who were forcibly removed from Earth and it's a moral imperative to reintegrate them into the society they were stripped away from. Or at least to give them the information and let them make the decision on their own.
The analogy here is, imagine a five year old who was kidnapped from her home. Heck, maybe her house was on fire and someone "rescued" her. She was then raised in an entirely different family. But, decades later, her real family was found and identified. You're telling me that she should be deprived of this information because she's living with the only family she's ever really known? Please!!
The episode, while reasonably enjoyable, was flawed to its core based on this ridiculous nonsense.
These people are humans from Earth who were kidnapped by an alien force without their knowledge or consent and deposited on a far off planet.
They aren't a separate society that must be left alone to develop. While the intent of that mysterious alien force might have been benevolent, that's irrelevant. They are humans who were forcibly removed from Earth and it's a moral imperative to reintegrate them into the society they were stripped away from. Or at least to give them the information and let them make the decision on their own.
The analogy here is, imagine a five year old who was kidnapped from her home. Heck, maybe her house was on fire and someone "rescued" her. She was then raised in an entirely different family. But, decades later, her real family was found and identified. You're telling me that she should be deprived of this information because she's living with the only family she's ever really known? Please!!
The episode, while reasonably enjoyable, was flawed to its core based on this ridiculous nonsense.
Earth 2053 doesn't exist anymore.
None of these people are from Earth 2053, and would qualm at being returned there.
Thousands of them thrive on new Eden 2257, but would drown on Earth 2257, as New Eden died if half of them went home to Earth.
Although...
Earth still has Luddite zones, where they can live a similar life to what they had on New Eden, or they could build a new colony much closer to earth than this, which begs the question why return to earth space if they are not going to take advantage of the amenities?
And if they put any thought into it, they'd realize they were obligated to.
This place has been safe from these meteor rains not just for the past 200 years, but quite possibly millennia, because the heroes are quick to establish that the rain will cause global devastation yet they also can see the globe isn't devastated yet.
The only possible conclusion is that the heroes themselves are the cause of the meteor rain. Either directly, in that their arrival disrupted the cosmic balance (just like their arrival was what pushed Reno's new home into that pulsar the previous week). Or then indirectly, in that these Red Disasters are happening exclusively because Earth now has this ship that can deal with them. I mean, none were happening before; the timing, as Pike so rightly pointed out, cannot be a coincidence.
Timo Saloniemi
But he's probably nobody's loved one.
"There is this evil alternate universe that spits out even worse copies of the dead people we were quietly satified we wouldn't have to deal with. And where Dr Carol Marcus may have yet another accent.. Hawaiian this time."
"Let's not go there"
Nah it made sense. And I don't think DSC is the first Star Trek series to do that with other human cultures.
Thing is - New Eden is neither a natural, nor a stable society.
By all accounts, this current society is doomed to die out anyway - currently they live in a post-nuclear age society, still leeching off from the stuff brought back from Earth. Their current religious rule only works as a transitional rule - if the population grows, they'll have to form completely new, different ways of organizing themselves. They lack modern factories, fabric, materials they all have currently in use - I didn't saw any coal or iron mines, nor domesticated animals. They'd pretty soon degrade to a stone-age era society witout artificial help. And if they continue to live off from their 21st century knowledge - that doesn't count as an "own" society either. All of that completely ignoring things like genetic diversity.
Like the Ba'Ku - the Prime Directive doesn't apply in this case. But that doesn't mean you can just haul them off the planet carelessly either.
Personally, I would advocate for carefully re-establishing contact wit humanity - and then re-settle them to a human colony planet, where they could individually decide to leave "New" New Eden, or stay in their society, but now contact to the rest of Earth.
That being said - this is probably something that needs to be done in a few hundred years in the future, considering how far they are away (and only the Discovery with the spore drive can reach them) - and if, by that time, they truly have forgotten Earth and reverted to a middle-age society, the situation would be completely different again.
John Logan (Die hard TNG fan) gave us ST:NEM - and remember the scene with the Romulan Fighter flying through the corridors of the Scimitar? That was thought up by both Logan and Spiner and they BOTH thought it was a great scene.
Fans or non-fans, we've all seen the extremes before. Why not get some of both into a room with a large comfy soda and sofa dispenser and have them merge the best of sci-fi with the best of drama. There's no reason intelligently made sci-fi can't have a Buffy flair if we're thinking more of the show as it stands instead of all the shows it's been influenced by, that's where the sign of quality begins.
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