When I saw the episode for the first time, I only knew Spock's parents by TOS movies, so for me it was "Fine, the old man took a younger wife", which was absolutely not original. For me, Sarek and Amanda were both old. When I finally saw Journey to Babel with a relatively young Sarek and an already aging Amanda, it was immediately more interesting.
Imagine that! Personally, I don't see how that could've happened. O'Brien was the Brit in the Engine Room ... that was it. What Scotty would've busied himself with, I haven't the remotest idea. Thank Providence for unanswered prayers, I say! But still, I felt bad for Jimmy Doohan, because he did seem to be held back in his career more than most of the TOS Second Bananas.
Yeah, this. I know the in-story idea was to give him something nice and a ride to the retirement colony, and the meta idea was to imply that Scotty is still out there doing his thing... but it did feel rather more like a burial at sea with the recipient still alive, didn't it?But it's the end of the episode I really didn't find convincing. Already during the course of the episode it had been made clear how alone he felt in the 24th Century.
So what's the solution? Give the man a shuttlecraft, get him off the ship and let him handle the ultimate loneliness he will surely encounter boxed into a small shuttle among the stars.
Somewhat, yes. But he didn't say it was a good *episode*, he said it was a good way of bringing an old cast member back. And he's right, and if the episode had been well done *aside* from that, it could have been awesome.
Ah, but Scotty wouldn't have known that until she straightened him out on them matter, and that could have been amusing.
IIRC, no age of that Dyson Sphere was mentioned, so I presume it was very, very old and built long before the star was dying.
Unfortunately, such amazing discoveries mostly served as a backdrop for the story. You all remember Picard's awe in "The Chase"?
PICARD: I never thought I would see a Kurlan naiskos. Fifth Dynasty? Well, the overall configuration is certainly Fifth Dynasty. The surface ornamentation. Green polychrome over the eyes, and the eyes themselves are closed. This is third Dynasty. From the workshop of the Master of Tarquin Hill.
PICARD: Will, the Master of Tarquin Hill designed ceramic objects that were three hundred years ahead of their time. All we know of him is the work. His name has never been discovered. This object is over twelve thousand years old.
RIKER: The planet Kurl? It's a hell of a long way outside Federation territory.
PICARD: Indeed. I thought your study of Kurlan artefacts was done long ago.
GALEN: I happened to be in the neighbourhood last summer. I couldn't resist. Go ahead.
PICARD: You mean it's complete?
(Picard raises the top half of the pot to reveal a cluster of little pots inside it)
PICARD: Will, the Kurlan civilisation believed that an individual was a community of individuals. Inside us are many voices, each with its own desires, its own style, its own view of the world. The Kurlan civilisation died out thousands of years ago. It is extraordinarily rare to find a figurine intact. Professor, this is an incredible find.
Well, what happened to this priceless you-could-probably-buy-a-planet-with-it relic?
http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd2130.jpg
Picard just left it behind in the wreckage of the Enterprise...
Bob
Frankly, I think Scotty's participation in "Relics" hadn't been entirely thought through.
In the holodeck scene Picard tried to connect to Scotty. Well, his Stargazer was a ship design Scotty had probably mostly seen blueprints of in the 23rd Century, so it might have been interesting for Scotty to learn how the actual ship performed.
But it's the end of the episode I really didn't find convincing. Already during the course of the episode it had been made clear how alone he felt in the 24th Century.
So what's the solution? Give the man a shuttlecraft, get him off the ship and let him handle the ultimate loneliness he will surely encounter boxed into a small shuttle among the stars.
Bob
