Shoulda separated the saucer?

[Sketcher]

I don't know the specific episodes to use an example, but wonder if using the battle bridge set for whatever other bridge of the week set, also contributed to them not separating the saucer.

 

[DonIago]

You may need to shoot new footage with the separate saucer and stardrive models if you don’t have sufficient stock footage of them.

That was my point.

 

[AntonyF]

It's not necessarily pejorative, but it does try to point out elements of lore that aren't actually canon even though they're so commonly repeated people assume they must be. ... it was something that had just been repeated often enough people assumed it was canon and treated it that way. Thus, fanon.

Ahh. Pulaski was mean to Data! I likened it to a Star Trek Mandela effect. Fanon feels more inkeeping.

 

[CoveTom]

The original idea, as presented in the first season, of separating the saucer section to get people out of danger, seems to have been dropped pretty quickly, probably to avoid slowing down the story. And also because of the visual effects expense of doing so.

From the second season on, it seems sort of retconned to be that you only separate the saucer section in an extreme emergency, such as an impending warp core breach (i.e., Generations) or in rare circumstances when there is a tactical advantage to doing so (i.e., "Best of Both Worlds"). For better or for worse, it seems that it is accepted and expected that the civilians, even children, on board the ship are going to be along for the ride regardless of how dangerous the situation is.

 

[somebuddyX]

I always think of fanon as the group version of head canon and I don't think of it as a negative so much but as an important distinction between it and canon. People will make assumptions or theories and spread them and they can be so compelling they take on such a life of their own that they can be taken for gospel, or you start to rationalize and explain every production issue, and I'm guilty of that. I guess I'm just saying it's okay to have that distinction. The cool thing is when fanon does become canon like Enterprise naming the founders of the Federation or Discovery with Ni'var

 

[CoveTom]

There are many things over the year that have become accepted as fact when they were never once stated on screen. For example, is there anything anywhere at all that says that Will Decker was Matt Decker's son? I certainly don't recall that being stated anywhere on screen ever. Yet, it is accepted as absolute fact by Trek fans. That to me is fanon.

 

[The Wormhole]

Not TNG, but I do think it would have made more sense if the USS Odyssey on DS9 had left its saucer behind at the station and the secondary hull went into the Gamma Quadrant. As it is, there is a line in the episode saying all non-essential personnel are being off-loaded (the basic purpose of saucer separation) and they used a set for the bridge which was significantly smaller than what you'd think a Galaxy class ship should have, which wouldn't be as glaring if that were indeed the battle bridge.

For example, is there anything anywhere at all that says that Will Decker was Matt Decker's son? I certainly don't recall that being stated anywhere on screen ever.

That has never been stated onscreen, yet somehow has some sort of official status to the point the box for the VHS release of The Doomsday Machine actually states Matt Decker is Will Decker's father.

 

[DonIago]

I agree that it would have been cool if only the stardrive section of Odyssey had gone on the rescue mission, but, as it was, I appreciated them including the line about evacuating non-essential personnel. As evidenced, it was a very sensible decision on Keogh's part. I wish we could have seen more of him before that mission.