Noname Given said:
DarKush said:
1. Vulcans-I think ENT's character assassination, all to elevate Archer and the humans, was bs. It was only the 4th season Vulcan Reformation arc that helped stopped the bleeding. But I think the Vulcan bias began actually with DS9's "Take Me Out to the Holosuite". I wish B&B had taken more from DS9 than just that.
You need to watch more TOS as ENT DID NOTHING to character assasinate Vlcans - it's actually TNG and the 24th century series that turned them into something they WERE NOT during the TOS era. If you watch the TOS episodes
Amok Time - and look at T'Pau, T'Pring, and Stonn; and even look at the actions of Sarel in
Journey to Babel you'll see ENT Vulcans (and the later DS9 Vulcan episodes) was one thing the show got right.
I don't think you can extrapolate the actions of two Vulcan individuals from "Amok Time", emotional individuals at that, to characterize an entire race. I would say the same for Sarek's perceived actions in "Journey to Babel". For all we know, Sarek's emotional responses might have been brought on by early Bendii Syndrome.
My issue with ENT Vulcans were they were haughty, arrogant, and reactionary. I felt they were characterized in a negative way to make the human characters look better, and that was wrong. Vulcans had been out in space for centuries. I think humanity could've learned something from them, but it wasn't played that way on ENT, and 9 times out of 10 the humans were proved right, and that didn't make sense to me.
Even the ENT writers knew something was out of whack, and that's why the created the Vulcan Reformation arc.
And they never should have, because the Vulcan Reformation arc only made everything worse. Go watch the TOS episodes again, especially Amok Time and T'Pau. My god, she's not "logical", she's frigid bitch that thinks humans are beneath her.
Seriously, the Vulcans are some of the most realistically portrayed species ever in the history of Trek, and what really "ruined them" (but not really) is this ridiculous insistence that all Vulcans must be Spock clones, aka sweet, nice, always calm, and never a finger shall be raised that looks threatening. (Hell, not even SPOCK was portrayed like that in TOS, look at him dissecting how bad and violent humanity is every other episode. Hmm, maybe I should say Surak-clones instead.)
Anyway, as for the Vulcans; there are Surak-clones, Spock-clones, racist bastards and bitches, rougher guys, smoothly logical and perfectly willing to kill women and men, and even fully emotional smiling guys that love to eat meat...
In short, Vulcans are DIVERSE! As species ARE! But instead just about everyone wants to see each and every Vulcan be a friggin' Surak-clone. It's a one note ridiculousness that plagues many other species that thankfully is NOT present in Vulcan, which would make them boring to boot - yet so many Star Trek fans want them to be exactly that.
You see, the only thing the first few seasons of Enterprise did wrong with the Vulcans, is that ridiculous Stigmata episode and that they all have Spock hair, especially T'Pol. (Especially considering TOS female Vulcans long hair.) Seriously, hiding that magnificent long hair of Jolene under a Spock-hair wig, is a crime to all men and hair-stylists everywhere!
Okay, other races ruined: Romulans and their foreheads and Spock-hair. (Seriously, it's bad enough all Vulcans have Spock hair, but all Romulans too? Males AND females!? Even half-human Romulan females!?)
Reducing Ferengi to one-note, comedy greedy bastards. A good many warriors among them, crewing their Marauders would be good. The Ferengi Alliance joining the Dominion War or something!
The Borg, obviously.
Species 8472 - my god! Why is it, that every species that's a genuine threat and deliciously alien, has to be reduced to understanding human-clone in no time at all?
Another species ruined; this one is actually from the comics, and hasn't been shown on screen, but it's so poignent. Enterprise-D comes across a planet, that's undergoing massive geologicaly and atmospheric changes, and find towers of very advanced technology are responsible for it. They come across one of the aliens that build it. He gets injured and they transport up to treat him. The ship arrives; the aliens are every bit as, if not more so advanced than the Federation. And they have a anti-Prime Directive! Instead of non-interference, it's INTERFERENCE. They are changing the planet's climate so the budding intelligent species on it, will evolve to counter the changes, and in the process and genetic defect that would have wiped them out in a few millennia, gets corrected. Federation is appalled, and immediately try to plot on finding a way to show this species the error of their ways. They find none... well... until Crusher finds that the species themselves are suffering from a genetic defect that will wipe them out. Picard gives them a pendantic speech that they shouldn't try to interfere in other species until they have their own in order. And the species humbly thanks Picard for his great words of wisdom (not to mention saving their species) and fly off with their proverbial tails between their legs. See! The Federation is morally superior to all! Their way is the light! Listen to the Great Picard, messiah to all speak, and thou shal be converted to the ways of the Prime Directive!
GAAAH!
How much more interesting would it have been, if there was NOT a solution, and the Enterprise would have to leave the planet and what the species was doing alone, by their own non-interference rule among other things. Indeed, how much more interesting would it have been, if these species humbled the pedantic Picard and his arrogant speech and the arrogant Enterprise/Federation, by telling (after listening to Picard's arrogance) them, "You think we do not know about this defect? You actually are so arrogant in your twisted sense of superiority, that not only did you assume we did not know of it, but you went to arrogantly flaunt your perceived superirority and morality, and tells us to go away until we've played by your rules and are on our knees worshiping your wisdom!? We've known about thise defect, and have already made the necessary steps to remove them. Within 20 generation, the defect will have evolved out of us. Now, listen to me, Picard, we considered you an advanced race like us. An advanced race knows that there may differences of opinion and moral convictions, without making either less than the other or somehow wrong. An advanced race would simply state their own conviction and your disagreement with what we were doing, and do nothing else. An advanced race would not hide their convictions while immediately plotting and scheming to find a way to get us to stop and make us pipe your tune. You are not an advanced race. You're a bunch of barbarians who like to play at being an advanced race. So I will tell you this once, Picard, get all your men on board your ship, and leave. Failure to comply, will result in your ship being reduced to a pile of scrap and be towed out of this solar system."
I still can't get over how they ruined such an amazing race so full of potential.
I think it was explained that there's only one supercontinent on Qo'nos and Vulcan, which meant only one culture/language/religion arose since there weren't separate cultures to mingle with.
Uh, no. Kahless defeated every other Klingon opposing him and united the Klingons under his rule. With Vulcans, it's Surak that did the same, but with logic, reasoning, and infinite patients. And the ones who couldn't deal with it, left and becamse the Romulans.
