What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[Mytran]

Picard likes to ride horses like Kirk.

Edit: Ninja'd.

Kirk is a horse?

 

[scotpens]

Kirk is a horse?

Yeah, but not a very good one.

 

[Swedish Borg]

Yeah, but not a very good one.

....

That saurian brandy...

 

[Amasov]

We're told that Data doesn't have emotions again and again... but the truth is he's not played like someone without emotion, not at all. He's played like someone with Asperger's Syndrome.

Ironically the kid in "Hero Worship" does a better impression of what Data is purported to be than Spiner himself. Is it misdirection or Spiner deliberately including emotion? I can't believe it's bad acting since Spiner is a pretty good actor.

There's another possibility, maybe they realized that if they played Data without emotion people would have trouble relating to him, so they cheated and created this mishmash or a character that smiles all the time, changes his tone of voice depending on the circumstances, but is sort of awkward around people, and often seems like a fish out of water;... And keep making silly mistakes and silly assumptions.

And when people who don't know better see this, they tell themselves: "This is what an android is supposed to be like."

I think because Data often doesn't exhibit strong emotions like anger or laughter outside of a malfunction (which was often the reason for him experiencing those emotions), he's considered to be emotionless, which I think is totally inaccurate. The fact that he even lifts an eyebrow when he finds something to be curious is an emotional response to external stimuli. The irony of it all is that I found Data to be the most emotional of the entire crew.

You could even say the same of the EMH on Voyager. I credit Picardo for what he did with the character in making it, arguably, the best character on the show. But, early on, the people behind the scenes seem to think in order to successfully portray a character with no emotions is to make them not have a sense of humor. The doctor was annoyed almost all the time in the first few seasons of the show, which, again, is an emotion!

 

[Mytran]

Yeah, but not a very good one.

Kirk is a horse

 

[tesral]

You could even say the same of the EMH on Voyager. I credit Picardo for what he did with the character in making it, arguably, the best character on the show. But, early on, the people behind the scenes seem to think in order to successfully portray a character with no emotions is to make them not have a sense of humor. The doctor was annoyed almost all the time in the first few seasons of the show, which, again, is an emotion!

Humor is an emotional response. Often in mentally damaged people a lack of humor is one of the primary signs of that damage.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The doctor was annoyed almost all the time in the first few seasons of the show

And with good reason...

 

[dupersuper]

I think because Data often doesn't exhibit strong emotions like anger or laughter outside of a malfunction (which was often the reason for him experiencing those emotions), he's considered to be emotionless, which I think is totally inaccurate. The fact that he even lifts an eyebrow when he finds something to be curious is an emotional response to external stimuli. The irony of it all is that I found Data to be the most emotional of the entire crew.

You could even say the same of the EMH on Voyager. I credit Picardo for what he did with the character in making it, arguably, the best character on the show. But, early on, the people behind the scenes seem to think in order to successfully portray a character with no emotions is to make them not have a sense of humor. The doctor was annoyed almost all the time in the first few seasons of the show, which, again, is an emotion!

Was the EMH ever said to be emotionless? I never got the impression that was the idea.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

The EMH is explicitly intended to be a sort of copy of Zimmerman himself. His general attitude is constantly annoyed because Zimmerman is constantly annoyed. He was even openly called out for his grumpy bedside manner which is kind of the opposite of calling him emotionless.

 

[Swedish Borg]

The EMH is explicitly intended to be a sort of copy of Zimmerman himself. His general attitude is constantly annoyed because Zimmerman is constantly annoyed. He was even openly called out for his grumpy bedside manner which is kind of the opposite of calling him emotionless.

Yes, that was his state in the beginning but he evolved toward sociability after two or three seasons.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Yes, that was his state in the beginning but he evolved toward sociability after two or three seasons.

I never meant to say otherwise. The point was simply that he was intended to have a human emotional response all along. Even to the point that they explicitly based his personality on a specific human and then got frustrated by that personality's emotional responses on a regular basis. So much so, even, that Starfleet embarked on a project to make a new EMH based on the personality of someone more likable. Not so that it would have no emotions, but so that it would have better emotions.

 

[Amasov]

Here's another: I think the Dominion War, itself, is absolutely uninteresting. I feel like I always hear fans talk about what a great story it was, but, I didn't care for it one bit.

 

[tesral]

Here's another: I think the Dominion War, itself, is absolutely uninteresting. I feel like I always hear fans talk about what a great story it was, but, I didn't care for it one bit.

I don't like war stories myself. Trek is best at people stories.

 

[Farscape One]

The Dominion War had some great people stories... dealing with protracted trauma, loss, recovery from losing limbs, realizing you are becoming a collaborator, genocide, going against your ethics and conscience and become party to murder to serve a greater good, etc.

The Dominion War told a lot of great stories that would be much more difficult to tell in another setting. And to DS9's credit, it didn't show it as 'good vs. evil' and good will win. It showed that everyone loses in war.

And I know people have made the argument that war should not be in STAR TREK and would be against Roddenberry's ideals, but a LOT of the people who first brought STAR TREK to life served in a war.

And few things would challenge those ideals like a war setting. Anyone can be moral when everything is fine. But if it is never challenged, are you really moral or just resting on laurels?

The Dominion War was an extension of what DS9 was about at the core... challenging and reaffirming the ideals the franchise was built on.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

I would go so far as to say the Dominion War had some of the absolute best people stories in Trek history. In the Pale Moonlight, It's only a Paper Moon, Rocks and Shoals, the entire Damar subplot that was spread across the last five or six episodes, Waltz and Valiant are all easily equal to and just as personal as episodes like The Visitor or The Sound of Her Voice or Wrongs Darker than Death or Night or Duet.

 

[Coops]

Animated Star Trek is silly.

 

[JesterFace]

recovery from losing limbs

Losing a limb must be horrible in our time and also in the future, but....
Was it a bit too much of a problem in the case of technology at the level it is during DS9, a new leg could just be "plugged in". Nog really went into a difficult place after losing his leg but Nog was also in a much better (although fictional) place where his injury could be repared.

Animated Star Trek is silly.

I can't take animated stuff very seriously.

 

[Vger23]

The Dominion War was an extension of what DS9 was about at the core... challenging and reaffirming the ideals the franchise was built on.

I think the Dominion War was a great arc for DS9, and certainly cemented the series as one that took risks and broke away from the old formula. And I also agree that it gave the writers every opportunity to explore some serious character elements that they otherwise might not have been able to do.

I think the DW was awesome because it was unique and different for Trek at that time. But...that said...unfortunately, by now, we've seen multiple drawn-out "war" plotlines (ENT S3 and DSC S1), and it's become a bit of a tired trope.

I think Trek needs to keep looking for that "next envelope push" to remain fresh. I like what PIC has done thus far, which is focus on a set of broken characters outside the structure of Starfleet. It's not perfect, but it's another "push" for the franchise to get out of the standard formula.

Animated Star Trek is silly.

I can't take animated stuff very seriously.

Agreed. I don't hate it. I just don't care about it.

 

[Shawnster]

Q is not related to Trelane, apart from a couple of superficial mannerisms shared. Or Trelane (with his green glowing progenitors) was faking it in an overly-elaborate way. Naah, they're nowhere near the same. Especially as Trelane got his history wrong (or the show took place in the 27th century, which would then allow Trelane's namedropping of Napoleon to be accurate since he's being a galactic peeping tom from 900 light years away... no worries, in a few weeks Khan says they're only sleeping for two centuries, which then makes TOS anachronistic in the opposite direction instead... there's no way to stitch that continuity together. Apart from fanon headcanon of the time travel episode after "Naked Time" causing an alteration of history that nobody would know because they're part of the timeline... which all seems a tad unintentional too... unless it wasn't, how's that for a controversy? )

I used to think as you do, but there is a YouTube video from Lore Reloaded that makes a very convincing point in favor of Trelane being a Q.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Basically, it's never stated that the Q flat out do not use technology. It's also shown in SOG that Trelane can still use his abilities even after the mirror is destroyed. The Q do procreate as evidenced in both TNG and VOY. Q are not bound by linear time. Trelane could be a young Q.

I never bought the idea of Trelane being a Q but that YouTube at least made me open to the idea

I think because Data often doesn't exhibit strong emotions like anger or laughter outside of a malfunction (which was often the reason for him experiencing those emotions), he's considered to be emotionless, which I think is totally inaccurate.

Well, that, plus the fact we're told repeatedly Data lacks emotions to the point he's actually given an emotion chip that he didn't have for several seasons.

 

[Coops]

I don’t think there’s any connection between Trelane and Q because the writers weren’t aware of what would happen in the future/ weren’t trying to connect to the past.

However, in my head I’m very happy to go along with it as it makes for a nice bit of continuity (even if it wasn’t planned).