What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[eschaton]

It's both a Star Trek and a wider Science Fiction opinion but...

I like humanoid aliens. Sure on occassion Star Trek got pretty lame with them (*cough* Bajorans *cough*) but overall I like the humanoid aliens in Trek and Star Wars (and to be clear I count things like Caitians and Wookies as humanoid)
A lot of people are always calling for more "alien" Aliens, but half of the time those "more alien" aliens just end up being some sort of blob/energy swirl or insects (ooooh so alien, it's definitely not like I can go outside right now and see heaps of insects )
I do like non-humanoid aliens too on occasion, but I think I'll always prefer the humanoid ones.

When it comes down to it, you more or less have two options for how to treat aliens in SF: Either you treat them as characters, or you treat them as a plot device.

There are absolutely proper reasons in a story to treat aliens as a plot device. A lot of first-contact scenario stories fall in this. The point of the aliens in the story is to see how the human characters react and change due to the presence of aliens - or puzzle out establishing communications, or alternatively defeating the bug-eyed monster.

But if you treat aliens as characters, you need to make them relatable in some way. And this is harder in TV/film than in novels. After all, in a novel you can actually have the starfish/spider alien a POV character, and seeing the internal monologue of the alien can make it much easier to relate to them. Even if not, it's much more important for the alien character to think/speak like a human, than to actually look like a human.

But in filmed media, you generally need something which can not only talk/think like a human, but also preferably something which has a face, and can emote. Barring animation, puppetry, or expensive mocap CGI, this likely means human actors with some crap glued to them.

 

[at Quark's]

After rewatching Power Play (TNG) it just struck me how Deanna's skills are primed to the optimum range to get them into trouble rather than out of it. Strong enough to detect something that is unusual, but not strong enough to warn them of the danger.

They detect the wreckage of the USS Essex, a ship that disappeared there over 2 centuries ago. Because the conditions on the planet are bad, Picard is satisfied with just relaying the location to starfleet and informing them that they have ' solved the mystery of Captain Shumar and the Essex' . But then Deanna feels something, prompting her to say: "I'm not sure we have", and things all go downhill from there.

Had her gifts been weaker, she would have felt nothing, and the ship would have continued merrily on its way. Had her gifts been stronger, she would have been able to tell immediately that there were a bunch of disembodied criminals down there... and the ship would have continued merrily on its way.

I wonder why Picard never realised this and after that, just kicked her off the ship at the first starbase in range.

 

[cooleddie74]

Iggy Pop is the best Vorta in DS9 except for Jeffrey Combs. Wait, did I say controversial?

 

[The Knappos]

Damar was better before his redemption arc

 

[Elias Vaughn]

Iggy Pop is the best Vorta in DS9 except for Jeffrey Combs. Wait, did I say controversial?

Did Iggy Pop play Kilana? Because if not then you're wrong.

 

[cooleddie74]

I can see this forum's reputation for cunning is well-earned.

 

[fireproof78]

Damar was better before his redemption arc

Damar's arc was good before he shot Ziyal. He became insufferable after that until he started his redemption arc.

 

[dupersuper]

Writers need to come up with plausible conflicts between people, not fighting with a device that isn't working.

As some one with the job I have, fighting with technology that's not working is extremely relatable...

Even VGR, which features the refreshingly alien Tuvok, Neelix, and Kes, has to have B'Elanna Torres as a human-Klingon hybrid. I'd also argue that Seven remains something other than fully human for the rest of her life.

Don't forget Naomi Wildman.

 

[Vale]

Damar was better before his redemption arc

Dukat was better before he went insane and became moustache-twirlingly evil.

 

[1001001]

Dukat was better before he went insane and became moustache-twirlingly evil.

Yeah, they took one of the most compelling antagonists of the series and turned him into a cartoon.

 

[eschaton]

Dukat was better before he went insane and became moustache-twirlingly evil.

That's not a controversial take, it's a universal one.

I think Dukat should have had Damar's "redemption arc" - but with the twist he never really changed, only that he saw it advantageous to switch over to the other side. Then, he dies, and gets remembered as the hero of Cardassia - and the whole cast has to deal with it. Sometimes history makes heroes out of monsters after all.

 

[Sci]

I don't have a problem with the direction they took Dukat in. He was always an irredeemable bastard, and his direction post-"Waltz" just stripped away the audience's ability to pretend to themselves he was ever anything else.

ETA:

Here's my controversial Dukat opinion. The first name the novels gave him, "Skrain," is good.

(Damar's full name was established as Corat Damar, FYI.)

 

[fireproof78]

I liked Dukat all the way through. I guess that's my controversial opinion of the day.

 

[kkt]

As some one with the job I have, fighting with technology that's not working is extremely relatable....

Relatable, but I wouldn't watch a TV show about it happening to someone else.

 

[cooleddie74]

The "Dukat was a hero" fan theory is one of the most laughable theories in the history of the Trek franchise. He had a few noble and good moments here and there but he was always a bad guy.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

The "Dukat was a hero" fan theory is one of the most laughable theories in the history of the Trek franchise. He had a few noble and good moments here and there but he was always a bad guy.

Hell, in the end, Dukat was just a mustache-twirling RKO villain. Of course, the same could be said of Kai Winn.

 

[Sci]

Hell, in the end, Dukat was just a mustache-twirling RKO villain. Of course, the same could be said of Kai Winn.

I mean, they were both fascists, and they both embraced religions that let them feel justified in their fascistic impulses. Which is a thing that happens all the time in real life.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Strong visual continuity benefits fans of the new series who go back to check out the older series just as much as it benefits fans of the older series who are watching the new series.

 

[cooleddie74]

I wouldn't call that controversial, but...

 

[Vale]

The "Dukat was a hero" fan theory is one of the most laughable theories in the history of the Trek franchise. He had a few noble and good moments here and there but he was always a bad guy.

Yes, but a sane bad guy. I harbour no illusions about whether Dukat was redeemable or not; he was a monster. However, the complex monster with relatable elements is much more interesting to me than the quasi-religious whackjob Dukat became. Prior to "Waltz" I looked forward to Dukat appearing, it gave the episodes an extra frisson; but after that he became boring.