Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATIONS?

[Bad Bishop]

Old question # 829:

After emerging from stasis in "Relics" (season 6), Scotty seemed unaware that Kirk was dead.

But Scotty would have known after the events in Kirk's last film (Star Trek Generations).

I haven't seen either the episode or the film in years. Is there a convenient explanation for this apparent inconsistency?

 

[Noname Given]

Bad Bishop said:
Old question # 829:

After emerging from stasis in "Relics" (season 6), Scotty seemed unaware that Kirk was dead.

But Scotty would have known after the events in Kirk's last film (Star Trek Generations).

I haven't seen either the episode or the film in years. Is there a convenient explanation for this apparent inconsistency?

Simple Solution: Scotty was mentally disoriented for a short time after being reintigrated from the tranporter pattern buffer after 78 years. He had a short/sudden memory lapse.

 

[golakers]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

Geordi's treatment of Scotty is what pisses me off about this episode.

Isn't Scott supposed to be a Starfleet legend? Geordi shows no respect, no sense of history and doesn't even seem awed by the possible the most famous chief engineer in Starfleet history.

Poor writing.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Besides, Scotty wasn't even supposed to *be* in Generations. Leonard Nimoy was going to play Spock, but turned it down, and so all lines involving Spock were given to Scotty.

(Same goes for Chekov. It was supposed to be McCoy, but De Kelley was too ill to appear. So McCoy "became" Chekov in the script)

 

[Timo]

Isn't Scott supposed to be a Starfleet legend? Geordi shows no respect, no sense of history and doesn't even seem awed by the possible the most famous chief engineer in Starfleet history.
Poor writing.

Naah. Scotty was an asshole - a civilian poking at things he didn't understand the first thing about and had no permission to mess with, and had the gall to act insulted when he was slapped on the wrists.

Sure, he was an affable asshole, and probably more in need of a drinking buddy (and a bit of time to think) than of a security detail or Crusher's attentions, but LaForge was really bending over backward for him and this still wasn't enough. It's a military vessel on a mission, and Scotty should understand military discipline.

Besides, what evidence do we have that Scotty was a particularly famous engineer? For all we know, the Chief Engineer of USS Lexington saved the galaxy two times more than Scotty did, and the CEO of USS Miranda wrote ten times the amount of groundbreaking tech literature. Sure, he was rather nice as far as freak show specimens go, but just because he's a man from the past doesn't mean he has the right to disrupt starship operations.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Good Will Riker]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

golakers said:
Geordi's treatment of Scotty is what pisses me off about this episode.

Isn't Scott supposed to be a Starfleet legend? Geordi shows no respect, no sense of history and doesn't even seem awed by the possible the most famous chief engineer in Starfleet history.

Poor writing.

You should post more golakers.

We miss you.

 

[data68]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

I solve this problem by just considering "Generations" to be apocryphal.

 

[TGTheodore]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

golakers said:
Geordi's treatment of Scotty is what pisses me off about this episode.

Isn't Scott supposed to be a Starfleet legend? Geordi shows no respect, no sense of history and doesn't even seem awed by the possible the most famous chief engineer in Starfleet history.

Poor writing.

Nope. I've never seen any sequence in post-TOS that led me to believe that Scotty was a Starfleet legend.

Just because WE know him doesn't mean he was the Starfleet Engineering Guru of All Time. Kirk, Spock and McCoy all gained notoriety through appearances and allusions in dialogue, but no line of dialogue has ever led me to believe the "second four" became famous within the Starfleet history.

--Ted

 

[Christopher]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

Even if Scotty was a significant historical figure, I'm sure he wasn't the only important engineer in Starfleet history. The fans are too quick to assume that these seven people would be singled out for attention or devotion in their reality just as much as we single them out. But in their reality, they aren't the stars of a television show, they're one crew out of hundreds. They may be acclaimed for their accomplishments, but not worshipped as veritable gods.

And even if Geordi did have a sense of history, that didn't mean he was going to be happy about having a guy who was hopelessly behind the times butting in on his job in the middle of a crisis. Besides, not everybody does have a sense of history. It's not mandated by law or anything.

 

[Bad Bishop]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

data68 said:
I solve this problem by just considering "Generations" to be apocryphal.

I think that's a wise approach to the entire STAR TREK saga. Everyone--producers, writers, actors, fans--should feel free to dismiss stories that don't serve well after the passage of years.

 

[siskokid888]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

^May be convenient, but is not much fun. Like I've said before, a big part of the fun of Trek is reconciling things like this, and it is such a rich fictional universe that there is much to draw from.

 

[Neopeius]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

golakers said:
Geordi's treatment of Scotty is what pisses me off about this episode.

Isn't Scott supposed to be a Starfleet legend? Geordi shows no respect, no sense of history and doesn't even seem awed by the possible the most famous chief engineer in Starfleet history.

Poor writing.

One of the many, many, many problems with one of the worst episodes of TNG.

 

[Orac]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

Scotty forgot Kirk was dead because of senile dementia, that's why he was being shipped off to the Federation Rest Home prior to the events in Relics.

 

[Timo]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

...Whatever. Why should LaForge look up to the senile old fool? He's the better Chief Engineer by far.

So Scotty kept the ship going no matter what. Big deal. LaForge does the same, with a bigger and more complex ship, and serves as a technobabble generator and general problem solver on the side. LaForge's Starfleet career moves faster. He is more popular with women. He doesn't need to lie about his repair times. And he sees through walls.

Somebody in the E-D crew might have considered Kirk a pretty cool visitor to the ship. Spock was nice to have around, too. But that Scotty wasn't revered as god is quite refreshing, really. And something of a tribute to the unpretentious TOS spirit of "farmboys and country doctors in space"...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Orac]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

^I agree with most of the points you make except for the one about LaForge being more successful with women, the only time he scored was when his self confidence was boosted by an alien, Scotty probably could have given him some advice in that area.

 

[Ethros]

Noname Given said:
Simple Solution: Scotty was mentally disoriented for a short time after being reintigrated from the tranporter pattern buffer after 78 years. He had a short/sudden memory lapse.

What I always thought. Or another explanation could be he just meant it as a tribute to the great captain. Like even though he 'died' on the Enterprise-B, Scotty jokingly commented he wouldn't have been surprised if Kirk had found a way to cheat death and return to Starfleet yet again

 

[Darth_Pazuzu]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

Actually, in William Shatner's The Return, there is an attempt to reconcile the line from Relics with the events of Generations, via a line from Deanna Troi.

 

[Scottys Bagpipes]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

Darth_Pazuzu said:
Actually, in William Shatner's The Return, there is an attempt to reconcile the line from Relics with the events of Generations, via a line from Deanna Troi.

Oh, what line? I don't recall anything like that, but haven't read the Return for awhile.

 

[golakers]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

Good Will Riker said:

golakers said:
Geordi's treatment of Scotty is what pisses me off about this episode.

Isn't Scott supposed to be a Starfleet legend? Geordi shows no respect, no sense of history and doesn't even seem awed by the possible the most famous chief engineer in Starfleet history.

Poor writing.

You should post more golakers.

We miss you.

Thanks GWR. I'm here a few times a week poking around, but real life sorta took over. Glad to see some good ol' faces still around.

best,

golakers

 

[Jack Bauer]

Re: Can "Relics" be reconciled with events in ST: GENERATION

Scotty was in a pattern buffer for nearly 8 decades.Some of his patterndegraded and he suffered some temporary memory loss.