What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[Lord Garth]

I think a "Natural" Phenomenon would've been the way to go. No one caused it. Lots of people took advantage of it, however. And a lot of people wanted scapegoats.

That's what I would've gone with.

 

[MikHutch]

Yeah, another war or convenient timeline reset or both would have been annoying. The Scream is goofy but hey, at least it was original and in Trek these days that's almost as scarce as a Bigfoot sighting.

New trek had original ideas. Just not always food

 

[Lord Garth]

"It's what TOS did!" doesn't automatically make it good. Wave the TOS Flag all you want. I have a TOS username.

Second of all, it's an extreme exaggeration of "What TOS did!" Charlie X never caused starships all across the entire galaxy to explode. If he were that powerful, the galaxy would've been history long before he turned 17. Su'Kal isn't Charlie X.

 

[Citiprime]

I'm also in the camp that find's the explanation for "The Burn" was ridiculous. Just imagine, in-universe, the Federation ambassador having to explain that information to the Klingons, Tellarites, or even Federation members that have endured slavery and oppression and the level of "WTF?" stares they would get when they tried to convince them that the near century of hardship was caused by the depression of a child.

I think a "Natural" Phenomenon would've been the way to go. No one caused it. Lots of people took advantage of it, however. And a lot of people wanted scapegoats.

That's what I would've gone with.

I think that probably is the right path. I actually think it might even have been better to have left it a mystery. Maybe do Star Trek meets HBO's The Leftovers and have some weird phenomenon that Federation science cannot explain, and show how that shakes these characters and institutions that have been set up to be able to deal with these things scientifically and rationally to their core.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

New trek had original ideas. Just not always food

Well, who would really want to eat those weird little cubes anyway?

 

[cooleddie74]

Speak for yourself. Rumor has it some of those were sour and came in fun shapes.

 

[MikHutch]

Well, who would really want to eat those weird little cubes anyway?

You never know

 

[Tallguy]

Maybe the conglomerates and corporations that are drowning our planet in C02 and damaging our environment (The Burn itself being a clear allegory for Climate Change) could do well to take note of the sound of screaming children. Gonna be a lot of them in the future if we don't do something.

Interesting take. TNG did the "Warp drive is spoiling space" and it lasted for about 10 minutes. When it finally went away it wasn't because people gave up warp drive (oil and coal) it was because there was a technological solution. And even before that it was "Wellllll, don't use it unless you NEED to." *cough* (They keep needing to.)

Now the Burn comes along and they show us that all of the galaxy devolves into a hellscape without dilithium (oil and coal).

I only watched it once and I had covid at the time: It was just dilithium, right? Not matter / anti-matter? Or did they tie those together? I realize that there could be a lot tied up in interstellar trade. (I argued that the TNG thing could spell the end to "post-scarcity" in the Fed.) But limitless clean energy wasn't at risk, was it? Again, I watched it once and the only thing that made a (good) impression on me was Booker.

New trek had original ideas. Just not always food

Tranya, Romulan ale, Saurian brandy...

I have a TOS username.

Of course, Captain Garth.

 

[BillJ]

Chapel in TOS is just plain awful.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm also in the camp that find's the explanation for "The Burn" was ridiculous. Just imagine, in-universe, the Federation ambassador having to explain that information to the Klingons, Tellarites, or even Federation members that have endured slavery and oppression and the level of "WTF?" stares they would get when they tried to convince them that the near century of hardship was caused by the depression of a child.

Why would this be difficult? They have dealt with a progenitor race, as well as multiple other oddities across the galaxy but this is the line that they wouldn't get?

I love how dismissive this attitude is. "Depression of a child" as if that is some small thing that no one ever has experienced and cannot be extremely debilitating at times. As well as the fact that it wasn't just "depression" but also grief, trauma and loss of attachment.

Shit that can completely undo a child by human standards. But no, it's just Federation BS...SMH.

 

[Farscape One]

Why would this be difficult? They have dealt with a progenitor race, as well as multiple other oddities across the galaxy but this is the line that they wouldn't get?

I love how dismissive this attitude is. "Depression of a child" as if that is some small thing that no one ever has experienced and cannot be extremely debilitating at times. As well as the fact that it wasn't just "depression" but also grief, trauma and loss of attachment.

Shit that can completely undo a child by human standards. But no, it's just Federation BS...SMH.

It's not that we think the depression and grief of a child is a small thing. It's that it caused a galactic wide event. And not because Su'Kal was a Q, or a Charlie Evans, or a Thasian, or any other super powerful being the franchise has done. It was a Kelpian from an essentially giant ball of dilithium in space.

I might have bought it if that affected the star system that the planet was in. But the entire frakking galaxy?!

Calling this stupid is honestly being kind.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I only watched it once and I had covid at the time: It was just dilithium, right?

‘Twas just the dilithium, yes.

It’s just my take and of course I’m super wrong, probably, but in the Burn I couldn’t help see Climate Change, and a civilisation brought to it’s knees by a sudden famine of necessary resources.

Like you though, it’s been ages since I saw it.

 

[fireproof78]

It's not that we think the depression and grief of a child is a small thing. It's that it caused a galactic wide event. And not because Su'Kal was a Q, or a Charlie Evans, or a Thasian, or any other super powerful being the franchise has done. It was a Kelpian from an essentially giant ball of dilithium in space.

I might have bought it if that affected the star system that the planet was in. But the entire frakking galaxy?!

Calling this stupid is honestly being kind.

Honestly, agree to disagree because I don't have the energy to argue.

Calling it stupid strikes me as absurd reasoning with Trek's history.

Regardless, I don't think the Federation will struggle with explaining it to other powers.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

As well as the fact that it wasn't just "depression" but also grief, trauma and loss of attachment.

People seem to forget as well that the whole effect was amplified by:

A) The dilithium rich planet
B) Weird environmental effects

It’s honestly no more stupid than a dozen things I can name off the top of my head from Star Trek elsewhere.

 

[Tallguy]

Regardless, I don't think the Federation will struggle with explaining it to other powers.

They might struggle with stopping the wholesale extermination of the Kelpian race.

 

[fireproof78]

They might struggle with stopping the wholesale extermination of the Kelpian race.

They might.

But then, that might be something dramatic to explore in this...dramatic television show that occasionally does social commentary. It might result in conflict between characters.

And I don't know about you but I certainly don't want that.

 

[Farscape One]

Honestly, agree to disagree because I don't have the energy to argue.

Calling it stupid strikes me as absurd reasoning with Trek's history.

Regardless, I don't think the Federation will struggle with explaining it to other powers.

Agree to disagree works with me.


However, I do stand by my phrasing of calling it stupid. I have defended many episodes that many have considered ridiculous or idiotic. But there is a line where a plot point or reason just goes past my ability of defending the material. ("Rascals", "Sub Rosa", "THESE ARE THE VOYAGES...", and others.) For me, this was one of those times.

 

[Tallguy]

Whatever you think of Rascals (I LOVE Rascals!) it wasn't a a galaxy wide century long event caused by the circumstances of a single person.

Man, you find out that the universe is THAT random, makes you not want to get out of bed in the morning.

Don't the Romulans run their warp engines on NOT dilithium? Was that addressed?

 

[herofhyrule]

Don't the Romulans run their warp engines on NOT dilithium? Was that addressed?

All we know is that Romulan ships during a specific time period use artificial singularities in someway. We don't know if they still do by the time of the Burn, and it's never stated that they don't also use dilithium.

 

[BillJ]

It's not that we think the depression and grief of a child is a small thing. It's that it caused a galactic wide event. And not because Su'Kal was a Q, or a Charlie Evans, or a Thasian, or any other super powerful being the franchise has done. It was a Kelpian from an essentially giant ball of dilithium in space.

I might have bought it if that affected the star system that the planet was in. But the entire frakking galaxy?!

Calling this stupid is honestly being kind.

So I take it this child created some type of subspace phenomenon? Because at the speed of light, it would've taken decades or centuries to affect all the Federation.