Yup, that was the one.
Most hated plot device
- Thread starter Navboyry
- Start date
Wasn't there a Next Generation episode where LaForge and the non-player characters were assigned to solve some technobabble problem, and at the end of the episode LaForge reports to Picard that they know how to solve it, and implementing this solution is going to require a research team of (call it 47) specialists working for (something like 7) years? I recall Picard accepting this and commending LaForge on his efforts, at least.
I've created one custom Trek race, which is currently petitioning to join the Federation, and there are some societal issues in terms of membership. One of them is that although piracy is illegal, mercenaries are not.
Amen to that. TNG's annoying tendency to introduce everyone as the absolute best at X was really annoying. Everyone they met's work was 'required reading' when they were at the academy. Why not meet a scientist whose work isn't crusty old stuff? how about, even, a scientist whose work is currently required reading at the academy?
Why not have some crew who are just a little bit ordinary - rather than there being a waiting list for Starfleet's best and brightest waiting to serve on the ship. Does it even seem wise to put all your best people in one ship? especially one which gets into trouble so often?
Well, not most hated, but one of the biggest cliches, committed more by TOS, is the captain being old friends with almost all of the starship captains and commodores he meets! Always seemed Kirk knew almost all of them on a first-name basis! Geez! -- RR
That tops my list too. As often as the Holodeck threatens the safety of the drew you'd think they'd take the damn thing off-line.
This one never bothered me too much, but the use of it STV was horrible. Sure, they wanted a Captain with Kirk's experience, but his ship was a disaster. It would have made more sense in those circumstances to transfer Kirk to a different ship for that mission. That one has always bugged me.
A number of them spring to mind:
- Magical Borg nanopowers that function only as well as the scriptwriter wishes
- Transporter breakee in forward, transporter fixee in reverse
- Upholding the Prime Directive one week, and mangling it the next—again, all according to that writer's whim
- Technobabble problem, technobabble solution ... that is, an hour of BS packaged as sci-fi
- Concentrated blast of BS through the main deflector dish
- Inverse phasing/reversing polarity
10. Nothing Really Matters. The crew can go through hell, lose half the ship, and everything will still be fine by the end of the hour.
9. Only Two Solutions to Technobabble. 1. Crank up the Power. 2. Reverse the Polarity.
8. Deflector Dish -- Swiss Army Knife of the Future. How many problems can be solved by emitting some strange particle? How many different particles can be emitted?
7. Kiss of Death. Since I've fallen in love with you or discovered that we're related, you're going to die.
6. All Aliens are humanoid. Where are the super-intelligent gases, or insects? Hell, I'll take a lizard at this point. Why do they all breathe oxygen and live at 1G? IDIC anyone?
5. The Nerfing of the Borg. In the 1990's, one cube could blow up an entire fleet. By 2000, the same cube could get thrashed by a single ship using one deflector pulse. Which begs the question of whether the Borg Queen ever worked for the Chicago Cubs.
4. Starfleet is the Center of the Universe. If you aren't trying to join them, you're trying to blow them up.
3. All Alien species have exactly One Culture, even when raised in a different location, by different species.
2. The Transporter: The cause and solution to all Trek Problems.
1. Help My Holodeck is Trying to Kill Me.
9. Only Two Solutions to Technobabble. 1. Crank up the Power. 2. Reverse the Polarity.
8. Deflector Dish -- Swiss Army Knife of the Future. How many problems can be solved by emitting some strange particle? How many different particles can be emitted?
7. Kiss of Death. Since I've fallen in love with you or discovered that we're related, you're going to die.
6. All Aliens are humanoid. Where are the super-intelligent gases, or insects? Hell, I'll take a lizard at this point. Why do they all breathe oxygen and live at 1G? IDIC anyone?
5. The Nerfing of the Borg. In the 1990's, one cube could blow up an entire fleet. By 2000, the same cube could get thrashed by a single ship using one deflector pulse. Which begs the question of whether the Borg Queen ever worked for the Chicago Cubs.
4. Starfleet is the Center of the Universe. If you aren't trying to join them, you're trying to blow them up.
3. All Alien species have exactly One Culture, even when raised in a different location, by different species.
2. The Transporter: The cause and solution to all Trek Problems.
1. Help My Holodeck is Trying to Kill Me.
And people are rarely affected in the long term by whatever has happened (or who has died).
9. Only Two Solutions to Technobabble. 1. Crank up the Power. 2. Reverse the Polarity.[/quote]
You left out the technobabble has been polarized and we have to depolarize it so it will work. Oh, and it's going to take us 3 hours to fix but we won't figure out the solution until 30 seconds before the ship is going to blow up.
8. Deflector Dish -- Swiss Army Knife of the Future.[.quote]
All of them.
The corollary: Humans are so anatomically flexible that we can have sex with anyone from anywhere.
Can't get much more IDIC'er than ENT's Xindi.
No other part of the galaxy is more coveted.
And many of them are remarkably similar to our own cultures.
The Wal-Mart brand of the Swiss Army Knife of the Future.
Just
And people are rarely affected in the long term by whatever has happened (or who has died).
You left out the technobabble has been polarized and we have to depolarize it so it will work. Oh, and it's going to take us 3 hours to fix but we won't figure out the solution until 30 seconds before the ship is going to blow up.
All of them.
The corollary: Humans are so anatomically flexible that we can have sex with anyone from anywhere.
Can't get much more IDIC'er than ENT's Xindi.
Location. Location. Location. No other part of the universe is more feared or coveted.
And many of them are remarkably similar to our own cultures.
The Wal-Mart brand of the Swiss Army Knife of the Future.
Try reasoning with it. Talk to it.
I wish they would do an entire trek episode just inside the deflector dish. With everything that has gone on that has used that certain plot, it might be a really interesting show.
I was wondering if the deflector would get mentioned. I'm kind of hesitant about humanoid aliens. Yeah, it's a plot convenience, but it's one that can't be resolved easily within time and budget concerns. Same reason we see ships in service for decades, even centuries.
I'm kind of hesitant about humanoid aliens. Yeah, it's a plot convenience, but it's one that can't be resolved easily within time and budget concerns. Same reason we see ships in service for decades, even centuries.
TOS reused the "OH MY GOD ITS SOME SORT OF ENERGY BEING" plot at least 5 or 6 times.
Ouch! -- that ain't just a mere plot device, that's the foundational premise behind the whole franchise!
Zetar
Immunity Syndrome (at least until they find the amoeba)
What are some others?
I have decided to put together a full list. These episodes either are solely based on energy beings, or one is present at some point.
Errand of Mercy
Day of the Dove
The Squire of Gothos
Who Morns for Adonais?
Metamorphosis
Obsession
Wolf in the Fold
Immunity Syndrome
And The Children Shall Lead
The Lights of Zetar
Charlie X
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Good list! Also the Thasians from "Charlie X"
ah yes forgot about them.
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