I think he just likes that name. I've always wondered about that.
A question about the episode "Threshold"
- Thread starter LastStarDate
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Sometimes we writers are our own worst critics and tend to be harder on ourselves than others are.
He might have used the name as a self-mock.
--Ted
I think he was thumbing his nose at the critics; if you look at his Braga Productions logo, it has an explosion on it. Personally, I thought that was funny; because one of my observations about DS-9 is that I wish they would just blow something up -- blow anything up -- which I appreciated about VOY.
I rather loathed the bad science (Trek, let alone real) of tranwarp and evolution more.
But they could have done a "bootstrap" on it all, since they were going to reset the events anyway: have the discovery of transwarp be the result of the discovery of transwarp. Have Tom Paris mutate into a strange alien, copulate with the Captain if need be, and then, in his mutated state, invent transwarp. Bringing the invention back to the beginning of the episode shouldn't be that hard: if transwarp really takes you everywhere at once, it might just as well take you everywhen.
Were transwarp its own cause and effect, then finding a cure to Tom and Janeway's newly found lizardom would also make transwarp disappear in a puff of magic. Which is what it should have been from the beginning...
Timo Saloniemi
But they could have done a "bootstrap" on it all, since they were going to reset the events anyway: have the discovery of transwarp be the result of the discovery of transwarp. Have Tom Paris mutate into a strange alien, copulate with the Captain if need be, and then, in his mutated state, invent transwarp. Bringing the invention back to the beginning of the episode shouldn't be that hard: if transwarp really takes you everywhere at once, it might just as well take you everywhen.
Were transwarp its own cause and effect, then finding a cure to Tom and Janeway's newly found lizardom would also make transwarp disappear in a puff of magic. Which is what it should have been from the beginning...
Timo Saloniemi
Why is it that everybody is outraged about Paris and Janeway getting it on as lizards? This is what the whole uproar is really about.
Now for the sake of provocation, if they could devolve them, why not do the same to the babies instead of abandoning them? I find parental defection more shocking than the mating itself. They didn't know better then. But those who only collected the parents passed judgement and buried the token of their "shame". Besides, I know Janeway may have had kids even at a later age, what with 24th century medicine (not to mention today's), but I wonder if she ever could've had regrets about her offspring, imagine them as humans... whoever the sire is.
Now for the sake of provocation, if they could devolve them, why not do the same to the babies instead of abandoning them? I find parental defection more shocking than the mating itself. They didn't know better then. But those who only collected the parents passed judgement and buried the token of their "shame". Besides, I know Janeway may have had kids even at a later age, what with 24th century medicine (not to mention today's), but I wonder if she ever could've had regrets about her offspring, imagine them as humans... whoever the sire is.
Its the last 10 minutes of this episode that kill it.
Star Trek is full of ridiculous premises, that isn't the main problem -the episode just feels rushed. The final scenes read and play like they were written the night before. Braga must have really been in a pinch that day. Voyager often gets tarred with the plot-reset button, but Braga is bashing his fists on it in the last scenes. From Lizard to Human in a line of dialogue.
Instantly. EVERYTHING IS BACK TO NORMAL?...and Chakotay just leaves the kids on the planet?
Its the tacked-on this-is-a-character-building-moment-for-paris bullshit in the last five minutes takes it over the top.
Crap.
Star Trek is full of ridiculous premises, that isn't the main problem -the episode just feels rushed. The final scenes read and play like they were written the night before. Braga must have really been in a pinch that day. Voyager often gets tarred with the plot-reset button, but Braga is bashing his fists on it in the last scenes. From Lizard to Human in a line of dialogue.
Instantly. EVERYTHING IS BACK TO NORMAL?...and Chakotay just leaves the kids on the planet? Its the tacked-on this-is-a-character-building-moment-for-paris bullshit in the last five minutes takes it over the top.
Crap.
I do not believe that leaving the babies on the planet poses a problem. If they do not mate with each other then they will all die and that is it. If they do mate with each other then they will be gone in a couple of generations since that tiny of a breeding population cannot survive very long
Introducing a foreign organism into an ecosystem could have serious repercussions.
American Bullfrog, anyone?
American Bullfrog, anyone?
So you guys really see the devolveable Janeway-Paris offspring of shame as parasites that need to die off?
Very humane. 
There was a lot wrong with the episode, from the concept of warp 10, to the incorrect portrayal of evolution, but it's one of those episodes that's so bad it's fun to watch. The only credable aspect was Robert Duncan McNeal's strong acting as that bizarre mutant thing.
Sure. We've already evolved from reptilians or something. I doubt evolution loops the loop. Unless that so-called evolution really was the opposite.
True, to this day a pepperoni, mushroom and olive pizza reminds me of Tom Paris. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
As for bad episodes nothing in Trek history has yet to top Spock's Brain.
Nah, "Spock's Brain" is the Plan 9 From Outer Space of Star Trek - so bad it's hilarious. TOS had several worse episodes.
I've always thought TNG's "Genesis" is far worse than "Threshold", yet it attracts nothing like the same flak. Maybe the fact "Threshold" is a Voy episode is the main reason it attracts so much more crap, when really it's nowhere near as bad as it's painted. To each their own, I suppose.
I've always thought TNG's "Genesis" is far worse than "Threshold", yet it attracts nothing like the same flak. Maybe the fact "Threshold" is a Voy episode is the main reason it attracts so much more crap, when really it's nowhere near as bad as it's painted. To each their own, I suppose.
Although ... the episode WAS kicked out of canon.I like the way they "cure" him with antimatter and he doesn't explode like a Warp Core breach!
The later season ('Day of Honor' episode) confirms that by Torres stating: 'We don't know anything about TW technology. Playing around with it could be dangerous.'
And Tom stating something along the lines of not flying through TW before (in the same episode).
So technically speaking the episode happened yes. However, is it part of canon? Unfortunately no.
I'd personally want it to be, but alas, it's been kicked out of canon and it stuck like that in later seasons.
You speak in terms of "kicked out of canon." The way you're using the word, there's no reason why each individual shouldn't come up with their own "canon" regardless of which episodes/movies Paramount actually produced. I, for example, don't accept that Kirk died on Veridian III and in fact was brought back to life by a Romulan-Borg alliance...cf. Shatnerverse novels, The Return specifically...
In Star Trek lexicon "Spocks Brain" is the equivalent of a regular TV show "Jumping the Shark" Every Star Trek series has had it's own Spocks Brain episode. In my humble opinion "Threshold" was Voyagers Spocks Brain. However, when you consider that Star Trek TOS, TNG, DS-9, Voyager and Enterprise combined for about 28 total seasons, and 10 feature films and just a few episodes and films fell a little short, it's really not that big of a deal. It just proves how totally cool the Trek Universe is...
Sure. We've already evolved from reptilians or something. I doubt evolution loops the loop. Unless that so-called evolution really was the opposite.
Evolution is about fitting in to your environment. I don't recall Voyager ever changing the oxygen content of the air into whatever-it-was that Mutant!Tom was suddenly only able to breathe...
Plecostomus
Commodore
There is no episode titled Threshold. At all. Period, the end. Move along now, nothing more to discuss here.
Ok, excuse me ignorance, but I am brand new here... what on earth is this 'canon' thing you talk about??? Lol, I'm lost!
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