The Son'a

[The Overlord]

We have talked a lot about the Baku on the this forum, but I thought it might be interesting to look at the Son'a.

These guys are not very interesting, their most heinous acts happen off screen and they seemed like a really poor follow up to the Borg.

The revelation they were really Ba'ku were not handled well (and brought up a million questions). Were the Son'a supposed to sympathetic or just evil, because you can argue the Son'a had a valid claim to the planet, but all the off screen villainy is supposed to render them unsympathetic.

It seems like they should have done something different with them: either make them more evil and give them no real connection to the Ba'ku, they are merely monstrous invaders who want to steal the secrets of eternal youth or make them more sympathetic to play up the gray nature of the moral dilemma that supposed to be at the heart of the film or get rid of them altogether and give the conflict just between the Federation and the Ba'ku.

 

[sonak]

We have talked a lot about the Baku on the this forum, but I thought it might be interesting to look at the Son'a.

These guys are not very interesting, their most heinous acts happen off screen and they seemed like a really poor follow up to the Borg.

The revelation they were really Ba'ku were not handled well (and brought up a million questions). Were the Son'a supposed to sympathetic or just evil, because you can argue the Son'a had a valid claim to the planet, but all the off screen villainy is supposed to render them unsympathetic.

It seems like they should have done something different with them: either make them more evil and give them no real connection to the Ba'ku, they are merely monstrous invaders who want to steal the secrets of eternal youth or make them more sympathetic to play up the gray nature of the moral dilemma that supposed to be at the heart of the film or get rid of them altogether and give the conflict just between the Federation and the Ba'ku.

They are not supposed to be sympathetic, they are supposed to be one-dimensional bad guys. Unfortunately, the premise of INS is so poorly thought out that they end up being sympathetic and you wind up thinking "hey, why are we as viewers supposed to be rooting for the Baku?"


I agree that making the Son'a part of the Baku was a huge mistake. It gave the Son'a even MORE of a case that they were in the right by giving them equal claim to the planet. Had the Son'a not been part of the Baku, but instead generic invaders, and had the Baku been native to the planet, the premise would have been a little better.(though the movie would have still been poor)

 

[DonIago]

Unless we're not -supposed- to be entirely sympathetic towards the presumed "Good Guys".

 

[Commishsleer]

It wasn't the Baku or Sona's planet of origin so I don't have sympathy or like either.

In fact I barely liked the Enterprise crew in this one.

Was that the producers plan ? If so they succeeded magnificiently with me at least.

Picard was defending the right of one group of settlers to kick another group of settlers off the planet. Non-Federation citizens. I don't even think Kirk would have gotten involved.

But Picard jumped in because it seemed on the surface the Baku's leader was hot stuff. I remember the episode where he forcibly moved the Native Americans from their Spiritual home in Cardassian space. I felt a tonne more sympathy for the Native Americans.

 

[sonak]

It wasn't the Baku or Sona's planet of origin so I don't have sympathy or like either.

In fact I barely liked the Enterprise crew in this one.

Was that the producers plan ? If so they succeeded magnificiently with me at least.

Picard was defending the right of one group of settlers to kick another group of settlers off the planet. Non-Federation citizens. I don't even think Kirk would have gotten involved.

But Picard jumped in because it seemed on the surface the Baku's leader was hot stuff. I remember the episode where he forcibly moved the Native Americans from their Spiritual home in Cardassian space. I felt a tonne more sympathy for the Native Americans.

yeah, juxtaposing "journey's end" with "insurrection" really makes Picard look bad. Every argument he makes in "journey's end" can be turned against himself in "insurrection."

 

[R. Star]

Really the most menacing thing Ruafo does the first half of the movie is bleed on Picard's carpet. Leaving aside all the other plot holes, they really weren't that bad as far as Trek villains go. Oh there's the off screen stuff, but they seem to do everything they can to keep the Baku alive. First the holoship thing, then the tag beaming them out. It's only after Picard starts threatening his plans that he says screw em all, deploy the collector. Which his trusted lieutenant then rebels.

Really is too bad about all those Sona who won't survive the next ten years while the radiation heals them normally either. But mentioning that would get in the way of the generic happy ending.

 

[DonIago]

I suppose it's possible the Son'a lied to Dougherty and they actually can be rejuvenated via normal exposure...they just wanted a faster resolution.

Might be kind of cool if one or more Son'a joined Starfleet in the future and had to get past their species' reputation, though I suppose we've already seen variations on that theme.

 

[sonak]

Really the most menacing thing Ruafo does the first half of the movie is bleed on Picard's carpet. Leaving aside all the other plot holes, they really weren't that bad as far as Trek villains go. Oh there's the off screen stuff, but they seem to do everything they can to keep the Baku alive. First the holoship thing, then the tag beaming them out. It's only after Picard starts threatening his plans that he says screw em all, deploy the collector. Which his trusted lieutenant then rebels.

Really is too bad about all those Sona who won't survive the next ten years while the radiation heals them normally either. But mentioning that would get in the way of the generic happy ending.

the whole reason they had to add so much OFF screen villainy for them(they're drug smugglers! They're slavers! They're conquerors! etc.) is because ON screen they don't really do much that's villainous until the very end, and only after Picard has screwed the whole situation up.

 

[Khan444]

Insurrection made no freaking sense, its actually my most hated Star Trek movie. Picard and his crew act way out of character, directly contradicting their actions in a similar situation in the TV show. The people we're supposed to care about are a bunch of selfish self-righteous assholes who you hate. I knew how badly that this movie failed when I sympathized more with the "villains" than the "heroes." The fact that this was occurring at around the same time as the Dominion War over in DS9 made the Enterprise crew's actions even more idiotic.

 

[T'Girl]

Were the Son'a supposed to sympathetic or just evil ...

A bit of both, the Sona were the evil bastard who were going to provide the people of the federation with a wonderful omni-medical treatment.

Don't get me wrong, the Sona cared nothing for the huge number of people who would benefit from their actions, the Sona were basically thinking solely of themselves first, and a little revenge upon the families who cast them out second.

Inspite of that billions and billion of people across the federation would have had their lives inproved.

(Until Picard started making decisions for the entire federation all by himself)

 

[Khan444]

Were the Son'a supposed to sympathetic or just evil ...

A bit of both, the Sona were the evil bastard who were going to provide the people of the federation with a wonderful omni-medical treatment.

Don't get me wrong, the Sona cared nothing for the huge number of people who would benefit from their actions, the Sona were basically thinking solely of themselves first, and a little revenge upon the families who cast them out second.

Inspite of that billions and billion of people across the federation would have had their lives inproved.

(Until Picard started making decisions for the entire federation all by himself)

And that decision directly contradicts his actions in Journey's End.

 

[sonak]

Insurrection made no freaking sense, its actually my most hated Star Trek movie. Picard and his crew act way out of character, directly contradicting their actions in a similar situation in the TV show. The people we're supposed to care about are a bunch of selfish self-righteous assholes who you hate. I knew how badly that this movie failed when I sympathized more with the "villains" than the "heroes." The fact that this was occurring at around the same time as the Dominion War over in DS9 made the Enterprise crew's actions even more idiotic.

I like this post

 

[The Overlord]

Were the Son'a supposed to sympathetic or just evil ...

A bit of both, the Sona were the evil bastard who were going to provide the people of the federation with a wonderful omni-medical treatment.

Don't get me wrong, the Sona cared nothing for the huge number of people who would benefit from their actions, the Sona were basically thinking solely of themselves first, and a little revenge upon the families who cast them out second.

Inspite of that billions and billion of people across the federation would have had their lives inproved.

(Until Picard started making decisions for the entire federation all by himself)

I think the "little bit of both" approach was the problem, the movie tried to make the Son'a vile, but ended up making them unintentionally sympathetic, so they end being completely bland and generic. They were not supposed to be sympathetic, but nothing about them was scary or menacing. Having their vilest deeds happen off screen did very little to make them menacing. They were just there. Either making them very intentionally sympathetic or making them very evil, would have been better.

Seriously Ru'afo barely did anything besides moan and complain during the film, he is one of the most forgettable villains in a Star Trek film.

 

[T'Girl]

so they end being completely bland and generic

One of the reasons I like Insurrection (more so than most) is that it is more complex than the average Trek movie, Who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are isn't as obvious as it would first seem. The plot isn't black and white.

The movie could have been made simplistic but it wasn't, straight forward things like who the planet belongs too could have been easy by making the Baku indigenous to the planet instead of interstellar immigrants.

Soon after the Baku figured out the planet's special properties, they could have used their warp ships to spread the word to the galaxy, they didn't.

What's the morality of moving several hundred people in order to help multiple billions?

Instead of spoon feeding the audience, we're allowed to pick sides on our own. based on our own thoughts and beliefs. I like that.

 

[Commishsleer]

so they end being completely bland and generic

One of the reasons I like Insurrection (more so than most) is that it is more complex than the average Trek movie, Who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are isn't as obvious as it would first seem. The plot isn't black and white.

The movie could have been made simplistic but it wasn't, straight forward things like who the planet belongs too could have been easy by making the Baku indigenous to the planet instead of interstellar immigrants.

Soon after the Baku figured out the planet's special properties, they could have used their warp ships to spread the word to the galaxy, they didn't.

What's the morality of moving several hundred people in order to help multiple billions?

Instead of spoon feeding the audience, we're allowed to pick sides on our own. based on our own thoughts and beliefs. I like that.

That would be OK except that Picard and crew seem to believe in the rightness of the Baku and how wonderful they were in their idealic paradise - wanting to come back and be some of the selective few allowed to share in eternal life.

I want my heroes to stand up for what is right. I don't want to have to go to the trouble to think for myself

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Some interesting discussions here that I'd never really considered before, especially about the fact that both the Ba'ku and Son'a have legitimate claims to the planet and the healing rings, the only thing that makes one seem "unworthy" is their startling similarity to Jocelyn Wildenstein (that and none of the Son'a seem willing to bang Picard).

On paper the Son'a look like a decent enough villan (excusing their Ba'ku roots), its just such a shame they never really lived up to their potential. But I did like their ships, its a shame we never saw them in DS9 since the Son'a were said to be involved with the Dominion--the species concept could've been redeemed somewhat.

 

[Commishsleer]

As a Star Trek fan I would prefer Picard to have been inspired by what happened in "Journey's End" to not repeat forced relocation of colonists only to see at the end that the PD was right and that the Federation should have not have interfered with internal politics.

However I can see why the general public might just prefer to see Picard winning over a very attractive woman instead of understanding the PD. And I believe that INS made a decent enough profit at least to support another TNG movie.

 

[DonIago]

I wonder whether TPTB were intending for this to be a morally complicated situation where Our Heroes aren't necessarily very heroic, or whether they intended it to be a fairly straightforward scenario.

 

[sonak]

I wonder whether TPTB were intending for this to be a morally complicated situation where Our Heroes aren't necessarily very heroic, or whether they intended it to be a fairly straightforward scenario.

no, T'Girl and others are giving the writer(there was only one) too much credit. Piller wasn't trying to create a dilemma, he was making a simple morality play. Unfortunately, he couldn't write a decent one.(incidentally, some members of the cast, like Brent Spiner, objected to the premise and brought it up a few times during the filming.)

 

[T'Girl]

As a Star Trek fan I would prefer Picard to have been inspired by what happened in "Journey's End" to not repeat forced relocation of colonists only to see at the end that the PD was right and that the Federation should have not have interfered with internal politics.

It would be easy to see the events of Jouney's End being a prime factor in Picard's thinking during Insurrection. Add to that the fact that Picard obviously found the Baku lifestyle to be personally appealing.

If Insurrection had taken place prior to Journey's End, combined with the Baku being a group of people that Picard could not (for some reason) personally identify with, Picard just might have assisted in the Baku's removal.

[T'Girl and others are giving the writer (there was only one) too much credit.

All right then, I like the way it accidently turn out.

What "the writer intended" has never been very important to me personally, for me what actually arrives on screen is what I go off.