Dammit woman, go through the black holes!

[F. King Daniel]

I was watching "Hunters" the other day, and was wondering why Janeway didn't fly Voyager through every black hole they came across. I know it's dangerous and reckless, but when you're in a hopeless situation, what's there to lose?

Assuming they survived, they may have emerged closer to home. They may also have emerged in the past, the future, another dimension, another galaxy, fluidic space or whatever - but surely that would have just made for fun "Oh shit, we made it worse" episodes?

Kirk's Enterprise collided with a "black star" and he appeared in 1960's Earth orbit. The Voyager VI probe (made mostly of tin foil) survived it's trip and emerged on the other side of the galaxy. Nero and Spock arrived in the past, around Federation space.

At the start of the series, Janeway said they'd explore any option that might get them home - but it seems as though the writers, while dropping black holes into every few episodes, forgot what they're capable of (in Star Trek's world, of course).

 

[iguana_tonante]

I was watching "Hunters" the other day, and was wondering why Janeway didn't fly Voyager through every black hole they came across. I know it's dangerous and reckless, but when you're in a hopeless situation, what's there to lose?

I'd reckon being far from home but alive is better than being dead.

 

[Picard Alpha]

I was watching "Hunters" the other day, and was wondering why Janeway didn't fly Voyager through every black hole they came across. I know it's dangerous and reckless, but when you're in a hopeless situation, what's there to lose?

I'd reckon being far from home but alive is better than being dead.

Because, secretly Janeway was ordered to the Delta Quadrant by Starfleet Command. Seven discovered this plot once, but then Janeway disabled the EMH's ethical subroutines and had the doctor make her all crazy, so it would seem to other crew and to herself like she had gone mad and that some borg component had failed her.

 

[Anwar]

It's called "Gilligan Syndrome", all routes home had to fail otherwise the show would be over.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Because this is the one time the writers understood the science and knew that black holes aren't worm holes, Fry holes, or anything else useful. You go in, you get crushed to the size of a pin, time stops, and you die. The other episods with black holes are just bad science.

 

[Eckauskas]

But it wasn't hopeless really, was it?

Seeing as they got home OK.

 

[Skywalker]

They should have gone through a wormhole so they could hang out with Crichton, Moya, and the gang.

 

[F. King Daniel]

^See? Multidimentional crossover episodes!

Because this is the one time the writers understood the science and knew that black holes aren't worm holes, Fry holes, or anything else useful. You go in, you get crushed to the size of a pin, time stops, and you die. The other episods with black holes are just bad science.

If Star Trek's gonna start caring about how things work in real life, all fun's gonna disappear in a hurry. All those bumpy headed "aliens", transporters and warp speeds are bad science, too.

 

[Kegg]

Hey you can have it both ways. Mix the stuff that doesn't make science sense with the stuff that does.

Anyway; even the language of 'black hole' is inconsistent ('black star' in TOS', 'what was once called a black hole' in TMP, and plain ol' black holes from TNG on); but even if we tried to string along a composite of how they worked from Star Trek examples...

Black holes are dangerous. They've got a good chance of crushing the heck out of you. Better to err on the side of caution.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Kirk's Enterprise collided with a "black star"

Yeah, Bill Cosby. And he didn't have insurance.

 

[froot]

Daniel, you realize your suggestion would have caused Voyager to turn into that famous episode of Ren and Stimpy called "Space Madness?"

Wait, that might have been pretty fantastic.

 

[vas2009]

^^^ omg

Janeway: Chakotay you IDIOT!

Chakotay: Just the way you like it!

 

[Mr Silver]

I suspect because theres a chance it might lead to the "JJ-Verse"...

Can you imagine how that would go down...

Janeway: "Report"!

Kim: We came through alright, decks report minimal damage, Quantum Dating has put us at around 140 years in the past, the only thing thats strange is these (points to lens flares)"

Seven Of Nine: "Captain, we must leave here as soon as possible

Janeway: "Wait...whats wrong Seven?"

Seven Of Nine: "The Borg once entered this dimension, its known as the "JJ-Verse", its a universe parallel to our own, only the technology is far more advanced for its current period of time and the Dimension is rife with these 'Optical Distortions, the Borg never returned

Janeway: "So how do you know about here?"

Seven Of Nine: "The Borg ship was destroyed by an entity known as 'Robau', he then somehow used a Borg Neural Transciever to deliver a 'Telepathic Boot Up The Ass' and warned us to never return"

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Anyway; even the language of 'black hole' is inconsistent ('black star' in TOS', 'what was once called a black hole' in TMP, and plain ol' black holes from TNG on); but even if we tried to string along a composite of how they worked from Star Trek examples...

In the case of Tomrrow Is Yesterday, the episode was produce before the term "black hole" even existed, though the actual concept had been speculated about. It's unclear whether the writers meant "black star" to indicate the idea later termed "black holes," or if the writer just thought it was a nifty sci-fi word to throw in for no reason.

 

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

It's called "Gilligan Syndrome", all routes home had to fail otherwise the show would be over.

I've never understood that argument. True for Gilligan's Island, untrue for ST:VOY. They could have easily written a storyline where Voyager made it home, say in season 5, then followed the crew as they dealt with their experiences and with the adjustment to being back home.

Then again, maybe those writers couldn't have easily written such a storyline.

 

[Anwar]

And then what would happen? The show is essentially over, unless you come up with some random storyline that had nothing to do with the past 5 seasons to try and drag out a completed story. 2 more seasons of them going around cataloging comet trails in the Alpha Quadrant?

It's like when you put together the two love interests who had a long-running "Will they or not?" relationship: Unless you do it FAST (like in the first season) they just won't be as interesting as they were because you dedicated too much time to them getting together in the first place and not left anything for AFTER they got together.

 

[Kai Winn]

Black holes are dangerous. They've got a good chance of crushing the heck out of you. Better to err on the side of caution.

that doesn't even begin to describe their devastating power. a hydrogen bomb blowing up is certainly a spectacular event and would take any starship out, but a black hole does infinetely worse things to matter, erasing it from existence once and for all. silly to suggest one could use it as a means of transportation. how comes that mining ship of nero's went trough the big one unscathed, but the little one just sucked it up?

 

[F. King Daniel]

The last black hole opened up inside Nero's ship when Spock rammed it in the Jellyfish. The Narada was being crushed into it.

The idea that black holes are a means of magical transport is an old one in sci-fi, but I have no idea where it originates. It's fantasy, but is it really any worse than the idea that all aliens are humans with useless forehead bumps?

 

[Anwar]

At least Trek gave an attempt at an explanation for why there are so many humanoids with the "Progenitors" story.

After all, Doctor Who doesn't even bother with the forehead stuff and no one complains!

 

[froot]

The last black hole opened up inside Nero's ship when Spock rammed it in the Jellyfish. The Narada was being crushed into it.

The idea that black holes are a means of magical transport is an old one in sci-fi, but I have no idea where it originates. It's fantasy, but is it really any worse than the idea that all aliens are humans with useless forehead bumps?

Those forehead bumps are useful tools given to humanoids via evolution.

After centuries of forgetting to pack spoons with their lunches, Cardassians can now just dip their foreheads into their pudding cups! They like tapioca best.