What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[BillJ]

Early TNG was overall pretty bad, the first reasonably solid episodes don't occur until S2, and the first unqualified solid episodes didn't occur until S3. However there were some highlights and great efforts in S1, such as "The Big Goodbye," "Conspiracy," and "The Neutral Zone," but all lacked the polish and focused structure needed for them to stand with the upper-half of episodes from S3+.

I love seasons one and two. I really loved episodes like “The Last Outpost” and “Lonely Among Us” from early season one.

 

[Nerys Myk]

TNG is full of TOS references even if Gene didn't want to acknowledge them. He just had to claim TNG was 100% its own unique beast as part of the publicity.

That's what happens when your art department is full of nerds who grew up on TOS.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I love seasons one and two. I really loved episodes like “The Last Outpost” and “Lonely Among Us” from early season one.

"Lonely Among Us" was one of those that I thought was dreadful, right out of the gate.

"The Last Outpost" ditto. But at least the energy whips made good fodder for at least one hilarious LDS episode ("Mugato, Gumato").

But, I'm fully aware that I love quite a few generally reviled episodes. IDIC!

 

[cooleddie74]

"The Neutral Zone" is just pure gold, and Gene allowed that episode to portray Picard as too rigid and confrontational, allowing a 1990s Wall Street asshole like Offenhouse to come off as more flexible and understanding of the Romulans' behavior.

 

[BillJ]

But, I'm fully aware that I love quite a few generally reviled episodes. IDIC!

I consider “The Omega Glory” a good episode, so I have no room to argue.

 

[fireproof78]

"The Neutral Zone" is just pure gold, and Gene allowed that episode to portray Picard as too rigid and confrontational, allowing a 1990s Wall Street asshole like Offenhouse to come off as more flexible and understanding of the Romulans' behavior.

Except, it's hard to like main characters after that.

 

[Firebird]

I honestly revisit season 1 of TNG more than I do the rest of the show. Sure, it ain't great, but it gets weird - the fun kind of weird.

The rest of TNG is an improvement, but sometimes it feels really stale beyond the classic episodes. I'll take weird over stale any day.

 

[CoveTom]

Agreed, I love the "space is weird" vibes of early TNG, although, I slightly prefer Season 1.

I like both 1 and 2. Season 2 feels a little bit more "polished" to me, but the big thing is that I prefer Pulaski to Crusher and I'm only so-so on Tasha Yar.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

And is that organization effective? I don't remember them being instrumental in ending the dominion war. S31 was a major reason the war ended when it did.

We never get any indication of how effective Starfleet Intelligence is, other than the Federation doing pretty well. Though it doesn't seem like they've done a damn thing to stop Section 31. When a pair of amateur spies had to be the ones to capture and interrogate Sloan for the information that helped end the Dominion War, that's a pretty bad look!

 

[Jayson1]

Not to mention the elephant in the...er, the Klingon on the bridge.

He didn't really want Worf on the show. He even saw him as a glorified extra for I think a long time.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

When a pair of amateur spies had to be the ones to capture and interrogate Sloan for the information that helped end the Dominion War, that's a pretty bad look!

Section 31 would've gotten away with their Genetically Engineered Virus designed to wipe out "The Founders" if it wasn't for Bashir and his plot to save Odo from the virus.
That's how effective StarFleet Intelligence were.
They were either "In on the plot", or didn't know that Section 31 existed.

Take your pick as to which of those options are true.

 

[fireproof78]

We never get any indication of how effective Starfleet Intelligence is, other than the Federation doing pretty well. Though it doesn't seem like they've done a damn thing to stop Section 31. When a pair of amateur spies had to be the ones to capture and interrogate Sloan for the information that helped end the Dominion War, that's a pretty bad look!

We have limited indication of what Starfleet Intelligence does. That's the consequences of using main characters as intelligence assets.

 

[Shawnster]

The Prime Directive I assume applies to anyone who is a Federation citizen.

It's Starfleet's General Order 1. Starfleet's Prime Directive.

The common denominator is Starfleet.

Perhaps because the general citizen is not in a position to make first contact or influence a pre-warp civilization.

On the other hand, it also seems like the average citizen can easily find a warp capable ship to call their own, so why can't they influence pre-warp societies?

 

[Jayson1]

It's Starfleet's General Order 1. Starfleet's Prime Directive.

The common denominator is Starfleet.

Perhaps because the general citizen is not in a position to make first contact or influence a pre-warp civilization.

On the other hand, it also seems like the average citizen can easily find a warp capable ship to call their own, so why can't they influence pre-warp societies?

Starfleet might arrest them if caught. Or the Federation. Or maybe it's not a rule so much as if you interfere with a planet, you can do business on federation worlds. A law that isn't a law.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

The Prime Directive I assume applies to anyone who is a Federation citizen.

IMO, the Prime Directive ONLY applies to StarFleet.

The Prime Directive, also known as StarFleet Command General Order 1, the Non-Interference Directive, or the principle of non-interference, was the embodiment of one of StarFleet's most important ethical principles: noninterference with other cultures and civilizations. At its core was the philosophical concept that covered personnel should refrain from interfering in the natural, unassisted, development of societies, even if such interference was well-intentioned.

The Prime Directive was viewed as so fundamental to StarFleet that officers swore to uphold the Prime Directive, even at the cost of their own life or the lives of their crew, though the literal application of this oath rarely if ever applied. Instead, the use and interpretation of the Prime Directive was flexible and varied considerably, depending on the discretion of the captain or commanding officer.

If there were other UFP based Uniformed Services similar to StarFleet, I would assume that the same rule would apply.
If the UFP were to have the equivalent of StarMarines or StarArmy, the same rules would exist for them as well since they would be a Armed & Trained Uniformed Service as well.

But I doubt the rule would affect UFP citizens or even UFP Government Officials.

Only the Armed/Exploratory services of the UFP would be restricted.

---

Perhaps because the general citizen is not in a position to make first contact or influence a pre-warp civilization.

On the other hand, it also seems like the average citizen can easily find a warp capable ship to call their own, so why can't they influence pre-warp societies?

They could if they want to, but most UFP Citizens are content in their "Supposed Utopia" within the UFP.
They have no reason to bother with more "Primitive Societies" when they can live in the lap of Modern Luxury.

Why waste time to travel to other societies that aren't anywhere near technologically, sociologically, or evolutionarally as advanced as you are.

There's no logical reason to do that even if you could.

Nobody cares.

Short of being a Xeno-Anthropologist, there's no reason to mingle with Pre-Warp societies.

 

[fireproof78]

There's no logical reason to do that even if you could

Humans are not logical. We see this with Dr. Servin's group, as well as Alixus' colony in Deep Space Nine. Humans might well feel a different urge due to the supposed utopia of the Federation.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Humans are not logical. We see this with Dr. Servin's group, as well as Alixus' colony in Deep Space Nine. Humans might well feel a different urge due to the supposed utopia of the Federation.

Then those humans would be the "Outliers" and not the vast majority.

It would make for "Fun Stories" like when Worf's Human Brother knocked up that lady on the Primitive Planet he was supposedly observing.

 

[fireproof78]

Then those humans would be the "Outliers" and not the vast majority.

It would make for "Fun Stories" like when Worf's Human Brother knocked up that lady on the Primitive Planet he was supposedly observing.

Perhaps.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

It seems like the Prime Directive is a Starfleet rule but they've definitely come down on folks outside of Starfleet who were interfering with alien worlds, including John Gill, Nikolai Rozhenko, and even the Ferengi running a con in the Delta Quadrant. Kirk armed the tribe in A Private Little War to counter Klingon interference. They don't want it happening at all.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

It seems like the Prime Directive is a Starfleet rule but they've definitely come down on folks outside of Starfleet who were interfering with alien worlds, including John Gill, Nikolai Rozhenko, and even the Ferengi running a con in the Delta Quadrant. Kirk armed the tribe in A Private Little War to counter Klingon interference. They don't want it happening at all.

John Gill "Used to Teach at StarFleet Academy".

Spock, who studied Earth history from a text prepared by Gill, was impressed by his treatment of history as "causes and motivations rather than dates and events." James T. Kirk, who studied under Gill at Starfleet Academy, remembered him as "the kindest, gentlest man I ever knew." (TOS: "Patterns of Force")

There's no way John Gill didn't know about StarFleet's "Prime Directive" if he taught at StarFleet Academy.

His interference severely caused the Planet to change it's course of history.

And he might have "Contract Clauses" from his time teaching History at StarFleet Academy that he violated.

Before Gill died, he admitted to Kirk he was wrong to violate the Prime Directive, and commented on the irony that even historians fail to learn the lessons of history.

That could explain why Kirk & StarFleet felt the need to interfere in this case, to counter the interference by somebody that was formerly related to StarFleet.

---

Nikolai Rozhenko is also related to StarFleet Academy to some degree, even if he was a drop-out.

Nikolai attended Starfleet Academy but dropped out after one year because the rules were too stringent.

There might be something in the StarFleet Academy contract that you signed where if you violate the Prime Directive, StarFleet might come after you to either "Prosecute you" or "Clean Up your mess" that you caused should you choose to violate the Prime Directive, even after you leave StarFleet.

---

ST:VOY.S3.E05 - "False Profits"
As for the 2x Ferengi Swindler's, Janeway felt that StarFleet was Partially Responsible.

Chakotay and Paris report this to the rest of the Voyager crew, explaining how the Ferengi have used their advanced technology to exploit the local myth, which foretold that Great Sages were prophesied to come from the sky in a ball of fire. Tuvok has solved the mystery of how the Ferengi arrived in the Delta Quadrant: several years earlier, while the USS Enterprise-D was hosting negotiations for the rights to the Barzan wormhole (negotiations that collapsed when it was discovered that one of its endpoints wasn't fixed) the two Ferengi, Arridor and Kol, who were minor functionaries, became trapped in the Delta Quadrant during an ill-thought out attempt to secure it for themselves. Janeway decides that they're not going to just leave the innocent Takarians to be used and exploited any longer, feeling that the Federation is partially responsible for what has happened, since they were the ones to have hosted the negotiations in the first place. The plan is to take Arridor and Kol back to the Alpha Quadrant and turn them over to the Ferengi authorities.

That's why Janeway felt the need to interfere & clean up StarFleet's previous mess.

---

As for Kirk arming the Tyree people in "A Private Little War", apparently Kirk violated the Prime Directive earlier when he was scouting on the Planet Neural.

James T. Kirk visited Neural as a young lieutenant in 2255 and conducted a planetary survey as his first command. During this mission, he befriended the hill man Tyree and, in a technical violation of the Prime Directive, revealed that he was from another world of more advanced technology. Tyree swore himself to secrecy and proclaimed Kirk his brother, vowing never to reveal what he knew. Lieutenant Kirk then completed his survey mission and found the inhabitants to be a peaceful, low-technology civilization that was centuries or millennia from developing any advanced technology.

In 2268, a followup visit revealed that the inhabitants were now divided into warring factions, with some factions possessing flintlock firearms that were centuries beyond their level of technology. It was quickly discovered that the Klingon Empire contacted the planet in 2267 and was tampering with the natives by arming some of the warring factions while giving them gradual weapon improvements to make it appear that the natives were developing them on their own, albeit at a suspiciously accelerated rate. Fearing that the planet could fall to Klingon influence, Kirk decided to violate the Prime Directive and contact opposing factions, helping them to fight the Klingon-backed tribes.

Using an analogy derived from the "Brush Wars" of the 20th century where major powers fought their wars through smaller proxies, Kirk set up a Federation-backed faction on Neural by providing flintlocks to the hill people that were the victims of the Klingon-backed aggression.

This Prime Directive Violation seems to be Politically Motivated since there was a "Cold War" with 'The Klingons' at the time.
So Kirk probably got the Approval of Upper Brass to equal things out with "The Klingons" and their proxies since the tampering was irrevocable by "The Klingons" and James T. Kirk already violated the Prime Directive in the past with said planet.

I doubt Kirk ever got punished for this for obvious political reasons since his actions would help the UFP and stymie the Klingons influence on a primative world.
One where the UFP are in a "Cold War" with.

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The reason I bring up "Contract Clauses" with StarFleet is that once you are Affliated with "StarFleet", even if you leave the service or employ of, there might be certain rules/regulations that you are bound by for the rest of your life. Similar to how those with "Security Clearance to Classified Information" in the US, they have a LifeTime Commitment that is required, even if you retire, leave the employ of the US Government.

When a cleared individual leaves the job or employer for which they were granted access to classified information, they are formally debriefed from the program. Debriefing is an administrative process that accomplishes two main goals: it creates a formal record that the individual no longer has access to the classified information for that program; and it reminds the individual of their lifetime commitment to protect that information.

Typically, the individual is asked to sign another non-disclosure agreement (NDA), similar to that which they signed when initially briefed, and this document serves as the formal record. The debriefed individual does not lose their security clearance; they have only surrendered the need to know for information related to that particular job.

There might be something similar in the "StarFleet Contract" that you sign when you decide to join up with StarFleet or be "Employed by StarFleet" in some capacity.
That they are legally bound to the "Prime Directive", even after leaving the service or stop being Employed by StarFleet.
And this applies to the rest of the persons life as a "Life-Time Commitment".