Can you list all the flaws with "The Borg"?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by KamenRiderBlade, Jul 25, 2019.

  1. KamenRiderBlade

    KamenRiderBlade Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Generation Tech is doing it's 10 Flaws of ___ Alien species.

    Can you list all the flaws with "The Borg" that they didn't cover?
     
  2. Qonundrum

    Qonundrum Vice Admiral Admiral

    Why a Borg would build in shapes other than the most practical... he makes a fun point about the primitive shapes, a cube is the easiest to construct.

    Point 1a/1b: The Borg move slowly for many reasons - they know they are invincible and the mummy-like pace scares their prey. And they don't react to anything that isn't seen as a threat, in part due to analyzing and collecting data - I'd guess. Hence a sacrificial lamb to go down first, as means to analyze phaser frequencies and adapt within claimed 1 or 2 shots and never the script-convenient 6 or 120 shots, but regardless of that the sacrificial lamb thing sorta goes against their philosophy of elevating life forms. Why they don't have scanners that can detect what might be a weapon...

    When it comes to Stafleet, however, it becomes a broken record spun while sleepscripting because the Borg should have seen them as "threat" ever since Q Who, but never did... Never mind the bigger flaw in that they never send one additional cube per additional attack since each attack shows Starfleet getting nearly wiped out each time.

    Yes, I wrote that before he did his Simpsons guy gig as I stop the playback to puke up some of my patentedly bad commentary. I also got in my rebuttal to that even before seeing that, because the scripts took clever conveniences since day one but still shrouded just enough to keep the sense of threat and fear going. At least early on. So I still win because he then goes into hand to hand combat, which goes back to the same flaw (the scripting and how it's trying to shroud its weaknesses!)

    He just brought up T1000. Different circumstances and contexts that have no direct correlation.

    Ditto for Robocop.

    Why doesn't he whiz on "The Mummy" for not drinking 2 cases of Jolt cola before going after his victims?

    But, yeah, what he points out almost justifies the Queen and how she deals with disobedient drones in that Unimatrix Zero extravaganza (read: "The worst Borg story, ever")...


    Point 2: Okay, interesting point. Bad vision being why they move slowly. Followed by nonsense about T3 or whatever. Why is he so quick to throw in a parallel beforehand? Ditto for Robocop and note they're both using visual HUD in perfect English. At least for Robocop it makes sense, there's a dude in there. Borg philosophy is also sufficiently different as a gestalt that they're all equal so chuck any of them first for data acquisition (since he was going back to his previous point, so shall I).

    Point 3: Singular and dispassionate mindset, which explains a lot - warts and all. Even Guinan (or was it Q) spelt it out early on. The essence of what they are always remains. Also, bad and convenient script writing dilutes them, acting as if previous stories never took place for pesky continuity.

    The Borg have no need for creativity, hence the encyclopedia entry for a name.

    Still, why would the Borg stop? That goes against their stated premise of elevating other lifeforms. Sidestepping lame political joke, just like I had during point 1.

    Point 4a/4b: He mentioned what I did in point 2, if not earlier. With bizarre analogy about copulating with cousins, okey doke... All the technological bits are removed so there's no way he can still communicate with the collective except for pure fantasy and the movie was making a joke out of so many other things ("to hell with our orders", etc). Otherwise why isn't J-L sprouting new Borg bits in a waking state the way they had for Seven? (Their keeping memories isn't an issue, it's sorta expected as they all remembered...) But being 90s Trek, the over-reliance on anything Borg technology-related as a plot device is justifiably aggravating for (insert drumroll here) scripting.

    And as he was also discussing the sleep mode vulnerabilities, check this out: https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=mac os x sleep vulnerabilities

    It's technology. Sleep mode and other vulnerabilities exist for all platforms.

    Point 5: Same thing as point 4. Not all vulnerabilities are known or thought of at the same time, even for the Borg and it's 8088054678548976874876784867458765487645GHz combined processing speed.

    Point 6: Gag me with a spoon, the word is "technology" - not just its first syllable "tech", which alone is a prefix that branches out into different categories. Imagine if 90s Trek had characters saying valley hipster "tech" instead of nerdy evolved "technology". No need, 10s Trek has devolved just enough for the 21st century slang to sluice through. Wait, what was his point again? Lemme smash that play botton before I spout lamentable slang from the 70s or earlier...

    No need. Borg stopped being credible by 1996 as less ways to make technology feel authentic but far closer to pure fantasy took the forefront. It's also why they became less effective as plot staples for VOY's sweeps week episodes onward.

    I hit play anyway. Lo and behold, he mentions that worst ever episode. Unimatrix Zero. The episode that plays cheap allegory to the internet while hosting a slew of even newer and even bigger continuity problems, which are inevitable for any show with a recurring baddie. The technobabble was atrocious...

    oh, yup, he mentioned the generic genetic flaw thing and the rest. I was laughing on the day that episode came out, haven't stopped since. Even with his overview. Again, script contrivances.

    "To cut a long story short" - there's a song about that...

    Point 7: Pathogens, woohoo! I vaguely recall how they were able to transmit that was via a way that didn't add up... technology and biology so intertwined doesn't always follow that methods of transport are just as wishy washy willy nilly.

    Point 8: Okay he disses DSC. Yet never follows up (maybe it's solar powered, the hub is close to a star?) before seguing to his point of weaknesses. Of which he's right, the master control function leaving individual hubs useless is apocryphal to the Borg collective mindset, and proving TREK hasn't learned much since "I, Mudd". Except seeing androids in shower curtains and tight sweatsuit pants are a hot more hawt than looking at mummified walking car radiators.

    Point 9: No way, he's going to say the bloody obvious about battle tactics (e.g. one cube per invasion, rinse and repeat?) I noticed the sphere, they could have gone back farther in time (they knew they were going to prevent first contact so why not just go anywhere in time and from a farther distance and before the attack and then *ding* humans are gone or all Borg... sigh. But let me hit "play"... oh, it's the same thing we've all said a thousand times before. :D )

    Point 10: Same thing, another number. How can they underestimate when they clearly don't adapt in favor of script narrative, which goes back to numerous points - starting with, amusingly enough, point 1. :D

    Some of his videos are admittedly cool but that one only had point 8 in its favor, referring to the master control hub convenient "destroy it all" plot device (poor scripting) and not, believe it or not, his amusing yet unanswered segue into DSC.
     
  3. Tenacity

    Tenacity Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The Borg are lead by a egotistic prima donna, definitely a flaw.
     
  4. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I quit watching Generation Tech after they put out a video saying the idea of a woman captain and a woman first officer aboard the USS Shenzhou was unrealistic -- as though we hadn't gotten half a million male captain/male first officer combos over the years.
     
  5. Nakita Akita

    Nakita Akita Commodore Commodore

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    I'm pretty sure if they were both young and hot, it could have worked.
     
  6. Kor

    Kor Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Borg are hideous, an aesthetic contradiction of their drive for perfection.

    Kor
     
  7. Boris Skrbic

    Boris Skrbic Commodore Commodore

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    Yes: “The Borg” episode doesn’t exist.
     
  8. KamenRiderBlade

    KamenRiderBlade Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Do you really want to do this?
    James T. Kirk & Spock = Male Captain & Male 1st Officer
    Jean Luc Picard & William T. Riker = Male Captain & Male 1st Officer
    Benjamin Lafayette Sisko & Kira Nerys = Male Captain & Female 1st Officer
    Kathryn Janeway & Chakotay = Female Captain & Male 1st Officer
    Jonathan Archer & T'Pol = Male Captain & Female 1st Officer

    We got 2x Male Captain & Male 1st Officer combos in the Franchise of various Star Trek: Series until Discovery.

    You're being WAY too Hyperbolic.
     
  9. Nightdiamond

    Nightdiamond Commodore Commodore

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    Yep, and every since then it was their Achille's heel.
     
  10. Haggis and tatties

    Haggis and tatties Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The can't run. lol
     
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  11. Tim Thomason

    Tim Thomason Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Way more than that:
    * USS Antares - Ramart & Nellis
    * Bok's marauder - Bok & Kazago
    * USS Defiant - Sisko & Worf
    * USS Discovery -
    ** Lorca & Saru
    ** Pike & Saru
    * ISS Enterprise NX-01 - Forrest & Archer
    * ISS Enterprise NCC-1701 - Pike & Kirk
    * USS Enterprise -
    ** April & Pike
    ** Pike & Spock (alternate)
    ** Kirk & Thelin (alternate)
    ** Decker & Sonak (assigned)
    ** Spock & Sulu
    * USS Enterprise-D -
    ** Picard & Kurn
    ** Jellico & Data
    * USS Equinox - Ransom & Burke
    * USS Essex - Shumar & Mullen
    * ECS Fortunate - Keene & Ryan
    * IKS Gr'oth - Koloth & Korax
    * USS Hood - DeSoto & Riker
    * IKS Klothos - Kor & Kaz
    * Narada - Nero & Ayel
    * USS Okinawa - Leyton & Sisko
    * IKS Pagh - Kargan & Riker
    * USS Relativity - Braxton & Ducane
    * USS Reliant - Terrell & Chekov
    * IKS Rotarran - Martok & Worf
    * USS Saratoga - Vulcan Captain & Sisko
    * USS Sutherland - Data & Hobson
    * IKS Toh'Kaht - Tel-Peh & Hon-Tihl
    * USS Voyager - Tuvok & Paris

    ...but yeah, the number is still under 500,000. But the hyperbole does illuminate a correct point.
     
  12. KamenRiderBlade

    KamenRiderBlade Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    If you're talking about "On-Screen Portrayals", even in minor cases, sure. But that isn't the entire frigging fleet. Nowhere close. In the greater Fictional World of Star Trek, there are plenty of Male + female pairings for Captain & 1st Officer mixes.

    And Star Trek Discovery: started with Captain Georgiou and Michael Burnham. But then they decided to kill of Captain Georgiou.

    I was really upset that they killed off the first Asian Captain and first Asian Female Captain in a mainline Star Trek.

    Michelle Yeoh is an amazing actress and they wouldn't give her a long tenure in the "Captain's chair". We only got to see her in there for 2 eps which sucsk.
     
  13. Farscape One

    Farscape One Vice Admiral Admiral

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    To be fair...

    With the Antares, that was his navigator. We don't know if he doubled as XO.

    With Bok's ship, that's an unfair addition since at that point, Ferengi women weren't even allowed to wear clothes, much less serve on a ship.

    With Decker, we never got to see him with Sonak since he died in the transporter. Besides, he was science officer... not necessarily would double as XO like Spock did.

    With Equinox, we don't know if there was an XO before Burke... could have been a woman, maybe one of the 39 who died in that first week. I find it hard to believe a Lt. would be an XO... Lt. Cmdr., sure.

    With the Sutherland, Data was only put there while the blockade was happening.
     
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  14. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    No one claimed it was "the entire frigging fleet." But Star Trek has a lot of ships that have male COs and male XOs. To say it's implausible for the Shenzhou to have had a female CO and a female XO without holding episodes with male COs and male XOs to the same standard is hypocrisy and sexism.

    Sure, there have been more male/female command pairings since Deep Space Nine premiered in 1993. Thank goodness. But there have still been plenty of male/male command pairings, and Generation Tech was being sexist and hypocritical when it claimed it was implausible for there to be a female/female command pairing.

    That is totally fair.
     
  15. Tenacity

    Tenacity Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I believe a necessary one. It didn't have to be a queen, but the Borg needed to have a exploitable weakness. A enemy that is next to undefeatable doesn't (in my mind) make for good story telling.
    Generation Tech does insert dead-pan humor into their videos, the ongoing killer dolphin references for one, I think Sci this is what you ran into.
     
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