General Trek Questions and Observations

[Ray Hardgrit]

That's definitely occured to me during the rewatch I'm doing. It seems strange that the Maquis get uniforms, while Neelix and Kes don't. I get that the Maquis crew had already signed up to serve on a starship and take orders, while Neelix prefered more autonomy, but after the first year or so the two of them are absolutely part of the crew same as anyone else. Season 3's Fair Trade seems like the ideal point for Neelix to switch to a uniform.

 

[gweeps]

TNG's Conspiracy should have been a 2-parter or at least continued later.

 

[Oddish]

Regarding uniforms and appearance, I noted that when in uniform, Neelix still had his normal hairstyle, and this made sense: sideburns and long hair are the Talaxian cultural norm. So, aren't there Federation cultures where long hair and/or beards are the norm? Even the Maquis officers all look nice and spiffy, aside from the occasional beard stubble before they joined the crew.

Also, Tom grows a beard in his brig stay in "Thirty Days", and Tuvok recommends that he shave at the end of it... what if he decides he likes the beard? It suited Riker after all.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I think he was just saying he looked scruffy, not that beards were forbidden.

 

[Oddish]

And Chakotay, a Native American, had the shortest hair on the ship. Couldn't his hair have been in braids or something? I know some of the people in "Journey's End" wore them.

 

[Orphalesion]

Eh, across all the Berman era I don't think there many (or any) restrictions on hair or beards. We have Troi with her hair down to her waist, we have Worf in the later Seasons and there was at least one background extra on TNG who had a mullet. As for beards, there were a lot of those too. The only restrictions I can discern were that you had to look neat & tidy and that the hair had to be out of your face.

And Chakotay, a Native American, had the shortest hair on the ship. Couldn't his hair have been in braids or something? I know some of the people in "Journey's End" wore them.

Because people of Native American descend aren't allowed to have short hair?

Considering he already wore it that way while being with the Marquis he probably either liked his hair that way or found it more convenient for life as a resistance fighter.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Yeah, I don't think there's any Starfleet rule that would've prevented Chakotay from having any hairstyle that Janeway had, as they're all about equality between the sexes. Though I can imagine there might have been a Berman rule. That era was kind of obsessed with hair, with actual reshoots when it didn't look right.

 

[Oddish]

Because people of Native American descend aren't allowed to have short hair?

Nothing like that. But his culture comes to mind as one in which short, neat hair is not really the norm.

 

[Orphalesion]

Yeah, I don't think there's any Starfleet rule that would've prevented Chakotay from having any hairstyle that Janeway had, as they're all about equality between the sexes. Though I can imagine there might have been a Berman rule. That era was kind of obsessed with hair, with actual reshoots when it didn't look right.

Googling Robert Beltran he seems to have had short hair most of the time, both before and after Voyager. So they would have either have to ask Beltran to grow his hair out, or put him in a wig.
But yeah I saw the hairstyle Janeway had in the scrapped scenes from the pilot. It wasn't terrible, so I agree that reshoot seems extreme, especially considering how much money they lost with it.
I also don't understand why they forced hair pieces on Marina Sirtis, she had nice hair when she was young (plus that hairstyle Troi had from seasons 1-5 in its myriad variations wasn't all that flattering, really), though I assume in her case the unusually long/voluminous hair was supposed to be part of her "alien" look.

Nothing like that. But his culture comes to mind as one in which short, neat hair is not really the norm.

I understand that, but at the same time, Chakotay is an individual and individuals don't always follow what the majority does.
Plus, Chakotay was already stereotypical enough (not helped by the fact that their 'Native American Advisor' was a white fraud) I don't think long braided hair would have helped that.

 

[Oddish]

Well then, if not him, have some other male character have a non-military look. Most of the Voyager crew seemed to be right off military recruiting posters.

 

[gweeps]

Always bothered me when that child dropped the teddy bear while everybody was evacuating the Enterprise in Generations. Or was it a doll?

 

[matthunter]

As for the crewman uniform issue - it's likely Janeway and Chakotay enforced uniform-wearing as part of the tacit "you're criminals, so we COULD have you kept in the brig for 75 years, or you put this on" deal. Whilst Neelix and Kes get the freedom to choose and - like Troi on TNG prior to Jellico - go with "informal wear is better for my job".

 

[Oddish]

I don't know if Jellico would have objected to Deanna dressing as she chose while counseling. He just wanted her to wear uniform on the bridge. And he was right.

 

[Oddish]

Just watched "Field of Fire"... and Ezri was REALLY dumb in it. After she plugs Chulak, does she...
A. Notify Odo and send an armed security team to his quarters. Notify Bashir as well. [Good idea]
B. Grab the TR-116 she just used, or a hand phaser will do, and go to his quarters to investigate. [Bad idea]
C. Go to his quarters alone and unarmed, because we KNOW people never get up after you shoot them. [Did this woman even take a combat course?! Or a trauma course for that matter?]

 

[dupersuper]

It's rare I put Voyager on (which makes me sad) and never that I put DS9 on because of the quality.

Wow. I can't imagine being that picky. It must be horrible.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Wow. I can't imagine being that picky. It must be horrible.

It's not nice.

YMMV of course. The other day I put on Blink of an Eye (VOY) and enjoyed it, but I'd have enjoyed it more if I wasn't watching it through all that murk. It'd probably be less of a problem if TNG hadn't been done, but it's always there for the comparison now.

I can't be the only one. That's why remasters exist after all.

 

[Oddish]

DS9 might be dark and gritty sometimes, but it took Trek somewhere new. The Reset button was used less, so actions had consequences. Neglected characters like Beverly Crusher, Harry Kim, and Travis Mayweather were harder to find, and Worf and O'Brien came into their own. And people ranked up in a way that made sense.

I usually watch TNG and VOY these days because binge watching on a smartphone isn't really my thing. But I look forward to reacquainting myself with it once we finally get that PS5 Paramount app.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

DS9 might be dark and gritty sometimes, but it took Trek somewhere new.

One day, no matter how far away that day is, when DS9 gets the deserved remaster treatment I'm so there.

I've seen every episode of that show once, circa 2006-07 and have very fond memories of it. Never rewatched it because it's a tough show to dip in and out of, but yes, it's a great show.

 

[gweeps]

I wish an episode like E² would have been the series finale for Enterprise.

 

[Oddish]

They actually could have made that work, as long as it actually happened. As opposed to "Endgame", which gave us a richly detailed fate of the Voyager crew, then undid it and replaced it with a whole lotta nothin'.