It has been brought up in this thread and in a way it is a WTF moment. In DS9 there are humans living in the Demilitarized Zone near Cardassian space. Why are they there, well, maybe they like the scenery but.... Why won't they leave even if their lives might be in danger?
Same reason the aqueduct people didn't leave until Data showed them the stun setting and the this is not setting
Can we use various contexts when it comes to WTF moments. I see them as being good and bad, but the original post was more leaning on the "Why the heck did the writers do this" type and not "Holy Crap I can't believe that just happened" type. I guess I can do both The Good WTF moment: DS9 being surrendered to the Dominion and the episode ends with the fleet moving away from it. The good guys lost and we had to wait a whole summer and 6 episodes to see if they would actually win again. The Bad WTF moment: Beverly Crusher and the Candle. Evidently that episode aired on this day 29 (?) years ago. Before I came here I just thought the episode was average. The strong distaste for it on forums like this one kind of surprised me at the time.
This is definitely a thread for the weird that can actually make you laugh and the moments that disturb you. And the somewhere in between too.
Well, then I think the Candle scene in Sub Rosa qualifies. I've never seen anyone get that aroused by a candle before.
"It's easy to be a saint in Paradise." I mean, it's not as though humans have physically "evolved" into superior creatures by the 24th century; it's just that human society has progressed. But human nature hasn't changed, and its darker aspects can still surface under the right conditions. As even Picard acknowledged on TNG: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
And who could forget Admiral Henry's legendary line: "..." Never before or since has an actor on Trek with no lines communicated with such devastating effect.
I'm not sure I want to know, Greg. Now, back to the Trek WTF moments. In the moments that have made me laugh and say, "WTF" let me add the prank calling of Armus on Lower Decks. That was WTFery of genius.
Human history shows that people often resist being displaced from their homes, even in the face of danger. This is a very common reaction. Not entirely logical perhaps, but very, very human.
Ah, but you didn't specify Star Trek in your original statement. You just said you'd never seen anyone get aroused by a candle before! BODY OF EVIDENCE (1993), btw. A pretty bad "erotic thriller" in the vein of BASIC INSTINCT.
I think it matters less why they're there and more why the Federation wants to have its cake and eat it to. It tells them, "There's a treaty. Colonia IV is in Cardassian territory. Deal with it." and "These are Federation citizens that we're required to protect." No. They're not. Not unless you ABSOLUTELY want another war with Cardassia. The Federation failed to tell them straight out, "Colonies with Federation citizens now finding themselves in Cardassian space have a Federation Standard Year to return to Federation space, beyond which time their citizenship will be considered renounced."
^I thought it was understood that any colonists choosing to remain on the worlds which changed hands as a result of the treaty would consequently be considered citizens of the power that now claimed those worlds. What I wish we'd seen was any of the formerly-Cardassian worlds that became Federation property as a result of the treaty.
BODY OF EVIDENCE... Madonna's character was into a form of bondage and pain. Candle wax was one of those things.
Candle wax is pretty damn minor in the scheme of things. Picard and Beverly would think they're being edgy doing that while Riker and Troi have the mask, strap and chains out.
You want pure kink, just watch Dax and Worf. The only Trek couple whose wedding night involved the groom being beaten up by the wedding party.
Kirk, Scotty and Chekov setting the self destruct for the Enterprise or the moment Valeris tells Kirk his son is dead.