Cold War w/the Romulans

[Photon]

Did you like the way TNG (re)developed the Romulans and the ensuing cold war that developed between the Empire and the Feds?
What could the writers have done differently to the Cold War arc to have made it better?

I really liked the interjecting of the nasty Romulans. It was such a good break from the alien or anaomly of week type show.

 

[Ezri]

I think an armed conflict that last a few weeks would have been better. It was a little sad to have the Romulans out of play for 70 years. That was fine. But, to have a minor problem that did not do much was a waste of time.

When DS9 came around, the Romulans were all over the place. The federation had a great deal of information about the Romulans as they had with us.

When the first time in 70 years a meeting with the Enterprise and the Romulans, only knowing nothing about each other in over 70 years was in my judgment a bad idea.

 

[flandry84]

There had to have been spies in both camps during these years,so why does the size of the new warbird seem to surprise Picard?
Doesn't starfleet have intel briefings?

 

[Anwar]

The Romulans were able to surprise the Federation in TOS with their plasma torpedo weapon and cloaking device, so the Warbird thing isn't without precedent.

And seeing as how there was no contact between the Rommies and Feds for 100 years after the first Romulan War, there being no contact for 50 years in TNG also isn't without precedent.

 

[Sec31Mike]

I don't think it was a cold war per se. Not like the cold war between the US and USSR from the 50s through the 80s where we built super weapons just to be more powerful.

Perhaps the Romulans were busy dealing with another threat, maybe the Borg nipping at their tail. The Romulans wouldn't have shared that information with the rest of the alpha quardant being proud people.

 

[Unicron]

^^ Yeah, the Romulans were only isolated for about 50 years, and they obviously had some degree of intelligence about the other powers as shown by how advanced the warbird is. I've always felt that more could be done with them. Trek isn't great with using many of its races.

 

[Vulcanian]

I liked the TNG Romulan episodes. Though I've never associated it with the Cold War.

 

[Dorothy_Zbornak]

flandry84 said:
There had to have been spies in both camps during these years,so why does the size of the new warbird seem to surprise Picard?
Doesn't starfleet have intel briefings?

There were - in "Face of the Enemy", Ensign DeSeve was an operative on Romulus in his youth and had spent the last 20 or so years there.

I believe the words used in "The Neutral Zone" were that there had been no "official" contact between the Federation and the Romulans. I.e. no official diplomatic discussions.

 

[flandry84]

Operative? I thought him to be an idealistic defector.

 

[Smiley]

One thing that irks me about the TNG Romulan episodes is that their warbirds could show up in Federation space and try to destroy the Enterprise without suffering any consequences. On the other hand, if the Enterprise put the tip of its saucer into the Neutral Zone, the Romulans would scream, "Treaty violation!"

 

[Sec31Mike]

^^^
That does sound typically Romulan

 

[Timo]

I believe the words used in "The Neutral Zone" were that there had been no "official" contact between the Federation and the Romulans. I.e. no official diplomatic discussions.]/quote]

I think the word was "direct" contact. But it's no proof that the TrekCore script backs me on this, because it is an older script version in other respects. Gotta check.

Certainly there is no wording there that would indicate absolute isolation, a complete lack of contact for fifty years. And just as certainly, there is a scarsity of material on modern Romulan developments. If Troi can put together a Romulan portfolio for Picard, it means Starfleet has at least some dirt on them, even if not all that much.

But if Data has to "extrapolate" the current state of Romulan weaponry, that's a bit alarming... Then again, Picard need not be saying that Data has to start all the way back from the Tomed incident. Perhaps Picard needs extrapolation for the past five years only, because SF Intelligence can only do so much?

That does sound typically Romulan

Could be much like North Korea. It is in the interests of others to tolerate them, and in their interests not to tolerate anybody. The "power ratio" between Romulus and Earth could be the same as between Pyongyang and Washington, too...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[nx1701g]

Smiley said:
One thing that irks me about the TNG Romulan episodes is that their warbirds could show up in Federation space and try to destroy the Enterprise without suffering any consequences. On the other hand, if the Enterprise put the tip of its saucer into the Neutral Zone, the Romulans would scream, "Treaty violation!"

OT: In the TNG Game: A Final Unity that does happen if you spend too much time in the Neutral Zone. If you violate it too long and go to a starbase it fires on you.

 

[Unicron]

^ Yeah, and after uncovering the Romulan support of the Duras faction during the Klingon civil war, using the tachyon grid, it became a standard defense against cloaked Warbirds and other vessels.