Re-writing Season 3

[adamisme]

So I'll do a proper thread and not a loose ramble that made no sense.

Let me say I loved season 3 from start to finish, but as with everything, not everyone agrees with your opinion. So that being said, if you had the chance to rewrite the season, what would you have done?

 

[James Cole]

Quadruple the budget to bring it in line with a SNW season. And give the writing staff a six weeks hiatus in production between the filming of seasons 2 and 3.

But realistically, change the episode act structure to 4-3-3, so the last two episodes have more room to breathe and "Dominion" isn't such an obvious stall for budget.

 

[Lord Garth]

I wouldn't have changed what they had. I would've added to it, which would've required more than 10 episodes, but I wouldn't have outright changed anything.

• Laris was dropped just like that. I would've had more of her in it.
• The Changelings and Dominion should've been mentioned sooner.
• An update from Worf about the state of the Klingon Empire. So all the Major AQ Powers are accounted for.

This doesn't have to do with the actual story itself, but I would've had a larger time-gap in-universe between Seasons 2 and 3. More time for Seven to be in Starfleet and more time for Picard to be with Laris romantically.

EDITED TO ADD: Also an explanation for why Seven and Raffi broke up and how they're okay with being Captain and First Officer at the end. I think that covers everything.

 

[HotRod]

-Leave Data dead and incorporate his daughter into the storyline in his place. I like Spiner, but let the dead, stay dead.

-Ditch the Borg entirely and throw away the whole "Mystery box" around Jack. Make Jack just a regular, if resourceful, human being without being a "Mary Sue."

-Get off that damn planet with the alien market.

-Incorporate more characters from the previous seasons.

-Ditch the "Federation is going to be destroyed" plot. Every season doesn't need a galaxy threatening event.

-Forget the Enterprise-F. If you're going to show us an Enterprise, show us the Enterprise-E, instead of making it a punchline.

-With respect to Bill Krause, who might be the best "amateur" model maker out there, get rid of the whole Titan-A nonsense. If you need a ship with a connection to Riker, just make it the Titan and avoid the whole refit calamity.

-Don't rely so heavily on nostalgia and don't lift plots and scenes from previous Trek. We didn't need yet another Nebula battle, rehash of WoK. Try something original.

-Don't build up interesting characters, just to kill them off rather unceremoniously. Looking at you, Shaw.

 

[Mudd]

Quadruple the budget to bring it in line with a SNW season.

So they could just piss away more money?

 

[tomalak301]

I would have liked them to do more with the Changeling stuff rather than shift to the Borg as fast as they did. My favorite episode was the one with Ro mainly because it felt like a sequel to Preemptive Strike and had the vibe of Conspiracy. Considering Season 2 was also about the Borg (At least half of it), having that be the season 3 plot as well and not mention Jurati (people say the show did but it was a blink and you miss it scene) seemed like a missed opportunity and maybe a little repetitive.

 

[grimorie]

EDITED TO ADD: Also an explanation for why Seven and Raffi broke up and how they're okay with being Captain and First Officer at the end. I think that covers everything.

I agree with everything you wrote Lord Garth, but especially this -- this was the whiplash, a line would have sufficed why they broke up.

I know time and money was the reason why Janeway wasn't in the show but, really, I wish she was especially since she was the one who put the Borg Queen in such dire straits.

 

[Danny99]

The Borg have been done to death, plus why would the Changelings become second fiddle to a weakened queen?

I liked that the Dominion didn't just quit because of one link that Odo and the Female Changeling did.

I don't know what to do with Jack without the Borg storyline, but he was well acted.

 

[Lord Garth]

The Borg have been done to death, plus why would the Changelings become second fiddle to a weakened queen?\

To be fair, it's not so much the Changelings in general, just Vadic working for the Borg, and some rouge Changelings unhappy with the peace with the Federation. I think how they handled the Dominion here is pretty much how they would've handled it in an actual TNG Movie. They went with the most easily understandable, easily explainable thing about the Dominion to people who didn't watch DS9: Shape-Shifters. It would've been a mistake to have The Dominion be the main or final villain. I don't think the final TNG enemy should be a DS9 adversary. I'm glad Vadic was an independent bounty hunter working for someone else.

I know time and money was the reason why Janeway wasn't in the show but, really, I wish she was especially since she was the one who put the Borg Queen in such dire straits.

After I made the first post, I couldn't believe I forgot to mention Janeway. I thought the multiple times she was mentioned were all leading up to her making an appearance. She should've shown up somewhere, as it made sense. Though, I'm glad it wasn't on the Enterprise-F!

With respect to Bill Krause, who might be the best "amateur" model maker out there, get rid of the whole Titan-A nonsense.

I like the front view and profile view of the Titan-A/Enterprise-G. The back with the over-stacked impulse engines is what gets me. Waaaayyyyy too busy. Not a deal-breaker, but still.

 

[donners22]

In broad terms, I would have liked to have seen much greater respect for the past two seasons, and far less reliance on nostalgia.

For instance:
- Feature Laris
- Don't bring back Data or Q
- Certainly don't bring back the Enterprise D (which, incidentally, would have saved enough money for more meaningful appearances
- Flesh out the changeling aspect, rather than it being some decoy which is tossed away

I'd also like to step back a bit further and not have Jurati and Rios disposed of in such a shallow fashion.

 

[Paul755]

Honestly, I’m changing very little and most of what I would change is in the post-script scenes.

I would have had Raffi join Worf as his partner, spying and fighting crime across the Galaxy.

Replace Tuvok with “Commodore” Shaw for the Seven of Nine promotion scene. Maybe include a scene of the two working their shit out and getting past it. But leave Shaw a grouch.

I would have left the Titan the Titan.

finally, I would write out some (but not all) of the easter eggs. Stuff like Kirk’s body being in possession of S31. That one in particular just asks a million more questions that will likely never be answered.

 

[Danny99]

I like the front view and profile view of the Titan-A/Enterprise-G. The back with the over-stacked impulse engines is what gets me. Waaaayyyyy too busy. Not a deal-breaker, but still.

I hated that bridge layout. Dark, spread out, command chairs on a podium. The LCARS looked great, but it was just too much negative.

 

[fireproof78]

In broad terms, I would have liked to have seen much greater respect for the past two seasons, and far less reliance on nostalgia.

For instance:
- Feature Laris
- Don't bring back Data or Q
- Certainly don't bring back the Enterprise D (which, incidentally, would have saved enough money for more meaningful appearances
- Flesh out the changeling aspect, rather than it being some decoy which is tossed away

I'd also like to step back a bit further and not have Jurati and Rios disposed of in such a shallow fashion.

This sums up my feelings. There was a lot of story potential and I was genuinely interested in the Changeling plot. It had some freaking stakes to consequences from Star Trek's history. Using it's continuity to actually build the world. It did and Worf and Raffi did such an interesting job with the spycraft. I liked it. And then...well, yeah.

Also, keep Shaw alive, keep the Titan the Titan, don't bother with an Enterprise cameo and have the crew jump on to Riker's ship, take over the ship from Ro, and take on the fleet.

 

[thribs]

i would keep the Changelings as they were in DS9. Weirdly, these new ones were worse than the originals.

 

[grimorie]

I’m on the otherside where I do like the Titan becoming the Enterprise, I do agree with the Borg Queen plot because I felt since Voyager the Borg was a Janeway and Seven thing.

 

[thribs]

I would also have the Enterprise being the ship that was being decommissioned and during the final battle, the E would break off and go after the D. E vs D would be the icing of the cake.

 

[Danny99]

If there was going to be a ship named Enterprise at the end, I would have preferred that the Titan been named differently or just been so damaged so severely that it had to be decommissioned and a new vessel would be the Enterprise-G.

 

[drt]

Changelings or Borg? Choose one.

Enterprise-G should have been USS Picard, the "name is important" line becomes even more poignant.

 

[Lord Garth]

Wait a minute. Something else. I can't believe I didn't mention this earlier.

"We shall make it a threesome!" No, Terry. Just, no! Even Riker knew that sounded horrible. "Do you even hear yourself?!" If Legacy gets greenlit, please don't do that again.

Beats out, "And you have noticed you how your boobs have started to firm up?"

 

[Campe]

• Kept Laris around
• Kept Data dead
• Kept the Borg away
• Kept the Titan the Titan at the end
• Made a plot that actually withstands some scrutiny
• Used nostalgia sparingly and less as a crutch
• Have some urgency (“Frontier Day is hours away”… but for three episodes.)
• Have some actual stakes… that might mean killing off a TNG regular