Never to be seen/heard from/used again

[UnknownSample]

I remember now what I think the thing was with Voyager (and getting around the warp 5 restriction). "Organic gel packs". Basically, they throw the word "organic" into the technobabble to connect in the viewers' minds with organically grown food etc., with organic farming being less environmentally bad or damaging. Oh, it's"organic" warp drive, so it's harmless now. I have to admit though, it's effective enough as smoke-and-mirrors BS to get them out of a tight spot. They probably could not have done better. The gel packs are strange and interesting enough to sell it. How they function as machinery, though, I have no clue.

 

[FormerLurker]

I thought they were "bio-neural gel-paks" because biological circuitry operates faster than the metal, synthetic ones. Ah, what do I know?

 

[Search4]

Yes, biological systems always react faster than electronic... Oh wait...

 

[Richard Baker]

I think the whole idea about the bio-neural gel-packs was to give the writers some story possibilities. IIRC the Voyager Writer's Bible mentioned that the ship might even be able to 'Dream'.

 

[uniderth]

I think the whole idea about the bio-neural gel-packs was to give the writers some story possibilities. IIRC the Voyager Writer's Bible mentioned that the ship might even be able to 'Dream'.

Which of course, like most of Voyager's potential, never got used.

 

[Elder Knight]

Pfffft. Ellison butted heads with Frank Sinatra. Gene Roddenberry is small potatoes compared to that.

One might call Ellison a persistent butthead!

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I think the whole idea about the bio-neural gel-packs was to give the writers some story possibilities. IIRC the Voyager Writer's Bible mentioned that the ship might even be able to 'Dream'.

Which of course, like most of Voyager's potential, never got used.

Not even in lit?

 

[uniderth]

Not even in lit?

Never touch the stuff.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Never touch the stuff.

Well, I generally wouldn't read VOY lit either. Matter of fact, I don't think I ever have. I tend towards TOS 5YM, but I have read a couple of DS9 books as a teen.

 

[Richard Baker]

The shows designers usually through in a bunch of stuff into the backstory and ship design which would be excellent to use in an episode that never gets touched.
Captain's Yacht anyone? Only once in a movie, but TV producers have to keep a cap on budgets so they would substitute a shuttle instead. Voyager had these cool hexagonal hatches under the primary hull- those were for service bottle suits to exit from the ship with. Voyager also had a second- back up Warp Core. It was not just a plug in and go, but it could get operational in a couple of days. It is on every ships MSD but nobody remembered it both times Voyager lost it's primary warp core. More drama if they are in danger of being stranded. The shows creators had a lot of things which would have been great to see in a show, but the episode writers either were unfamiliar with them or the show runners wanted to keep thongs simple, predictable and on a budget.

 

[BillJ]

Well, I generally wouldn't read VOY lit either.

I'm not much of a Voyager fan, but Kirsten Beyer has done some solid work with the novel relaunch.

 

[Cyke101]

In both cases, Paramount came down hard on them for these ideas, stating that you just don't mess with the viewscreen. Which seems really strange these days, given they've let Abrams replace it with a windshield.

Also, Ron Moore claims he'd been trying to introduce the holo-communicator since he first joined DS9, but it was always met with high resistance. It was only grudgingly allowed in For the Uniform for the convenience of having Kenneth Marshall (Eddington) on set with Avery Brooks and having the two of them play off each other (you don't get that with the way viewscreen conversations are filmed).

Such a holo-communicator makes so much sense, though, but I suppose hindsight with today's capabilities play into that. Still, Trek is supposed to be forward thinking. The benefit of having Brooks and Eddington play off each other directly was a good innovation; imagine if TWOK had Montalban and Shatner facing off in the bridge. The plot would've been intact, but seeing them interact would be a major draw for the movie.

If there's one thing that irks me in modern-day sci-fi (TV, film, even video games), it's that all holograms and projections are supposed to flicker occasionally by default like in Star Wars, no matter how advanced the technology. Surely resolution and screen consistency would've been fixed well before the episode.

 

[fenwyk79]

Talos IV - never discussed or mentioned again after "The Cage". Are the Talosians still living? Is the planet still under general quarantine under punishment of death? Somehow I can't imagine the 'enlightened' Federation of the late 24th century executing someone. But, this has never been addressed. I always thought it would make a great episode to follow-up on the Talos IV. It would be interesting to note if the Borg or Dominion ever encountered the Talosians.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Talos IV - never discussed or mentioned again after "The Cage".

What about "The Menagerie"?

 

[fenwyk79]

What about "The Menagerie"?

True, but I don't really count that as it's basically just "insert" "The Cage" for much of it.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

The Husnock. Since Kevin Uxbridge killed 'em all in 2366, ENT missed an opportunity

 

[JD]

Such a holo-communicator makes so much sense, though, but I suppose hindsight with today's capabilities play into that. Still, Trek is supposed to be forward thinking. The benefit of having Brooks and Eddington play off each other directly was a good innovation; imagine if TWOK had Montalban and Shatner facing off in the bridge. The plot would've been intact, but seeing them interact would be a major draw for the movie.

If there's one thing that irks me in modern-day sci-fi (TV, film, even video games), it's that all holograms and projections are supposed to flicker occasionally by default like in Star Wars, no matter how advanced the technology. Surely resolution and screen consistency would've been fixed well before the episode.

I think some of the books have used the holographic communicator.

Talos IV - never discussed or mentioned again after "The Cage". Are the Talosians still living? Is the planet still under general quarantine under punishment of death? Somehow I can't imagine the 'enlightened' Federation of the late 24th century executing someone. But, this has never been addressed. I always thought it would make a great episode to follow-up on the Talos IV. It would be interesting to note if the Borg or Dominion ever encountered the Talosians.

There is a storyline involving the Talosians and the Dominion in the Marvel comics Starfleet Academy series.

One of the things I love the most about the books and comics is that they picked up a lot of balls that the shows and movies dropped.

 

[The Wormhole]

The Husnock. Since Kevin Uxbridge killed 'em all in 2366, ENT missed an opportunity

Thankfully there's always Discovery.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Whether or not that's the case, the assertion was:



Yet to be given an example. The Ilia probe wasn't depicted as a race. The only races of androids we met in TOS were obviously artificial on the inside.

Rayna is another on off android that passed as human. Even Kirk was fooled

 

[Tenacity]

Talos IV - never discussed or mentioned again after "The Cage".

There was Turnabout Intruder and the mention of a death penalty, although apparently general order seven had been renumbered to four.

Somehow I can't imagine the 'enlightened' Federation of the late 24th century executing someone.

I can.

Outside of Picard and his merry crew, Starfleet commonly appears to be quite pragmatic, as does the federation council.