So name a Star Trek moment that you just didn't "get".

[tharpdevenport]

Now that I'm thinking about thigs, I don't get why we have -- in particularly I'm thinking of TNG, though not exclusive to the series -- multiple version of a hand-held phaser.

I don't recall the Type-A and Type-B phasers to have any differences aisde from size. And then there is the phaser rifle. What the hell does it do that the others can't? I can't recall seeing it do anything special.

So I don't get why we have moments where a phaser rifle is necessary and why we had some moments (early on) where a Type-A was used instead.

They stopped using the Type-A Phasers because they updated them to be too small. The beam looked like it was shooting out of the fingers instead of a device.

That doesn't address my post and we never got an in-verse explination for the Type-A's disappearance. It appeared in at least two later season episodes, "The Minds Eye" (Geordi used it to try and make the brainwashed assasination) and in "In the Flesh", suggesting it was still in use.

I distinctly remember them being callked Type-A and Type-B (maybe that was on the Playmates packaging and notes), but online I see Type-1 and Type-2.

 

[Richard Baker]

There was no 'in universe' explanation about why they stopped using the Type 1/A/cricket Phaser- the reason I gave was from an interview with the people creating the show.

We also have never had an in universe description of the differences between the different phaser models- in any of the series aside from (TOS) Captain Tracy mentioning that the Phaser 2's had swappable power packs- he wanted extras sent down to him along with the Phasers. Logically bigger is more powerful but we never see much difference in what they can do on screen. They do whatever the script needs them to do.

 

[kirkfan]

There was no 'in universe' explanation about why they stopped using the Type 1/A/cricket Phaser- the reason I gave was from an interview with the people creating the show.

We also have never had an in universe description of the differences between the different phaser models- in any of the series aside from (TOS) Captain Tracy mentioning that the Phaser 2's had swappable power packs- he wanted extras sent down to him along with the Phasers. Logically bigger is more powerful but we never see much difference in what they can do on screen. They do whatever the script needs them to do.

The type 2 wounds the Horta, the type 1 does not.

 

[tharpdevenport]

There was no 'in universe' explanation about why they stopped using the Type 1/A/cricket Phaser- the reason I gave was from an interview with the people creating the show.

We also have never had an in universe description of the differences between the different phaser models- in any of the series aside from (TOS) Captain Tracy mentioning that the Phaser 2's had swappable power packs- he wanted extras sent down to him along with the Phasers. Logically bigger is more powerful but we never see much difference in what they can do on screen. They do whatever the script needs them to do.

The type 2 wounds the Horta, the type 1 does not.

There doesn't seem to be any rhym or reason to this other than a throw-away comment. I still don't know for the lfie of me, from watching all of TNG, D.S.9. and Voyager (that last one was painful though) know what the two phasers and rifle do differently from each other. The phaser rifle seems to serve no other purpose than looking more dangerous and harking back to the old phaser rifle from TOS.



Which reminds me, I seem to recall instances from the spin-off series where the power crystal in a phaser would run low or out, leaving somebody without a phaser arm. Rare, but I recall it.

Why?

If today we can carry extra gun clips with us, why can't an officer carry a spare power crystal with him, especially if he knows he'll likely be in a fight.



It's been a long time since I've seen "Encoutner at Farpoint", but didn't one of them (Riker?) use a Type-1 phaser (not that the type matters here, I was just specifying) and shoot out a continuous blue beam to leavitate somebody? If I am thinking correctly, wouldn't this be a great weapon in a battle? Pushing away and throwing away enemies.


And now that I have it on my mind, I recall one of the TOS Trek films having one or two breif scenes showing personnel pushing hover carts with stuff on them. If this ability exists, why doesn't it get used more often? Or ever again.


Here's a silly one: if Ro was forced to remove her earing, why then was Worf allowed to wear a sash? Unless I've forgotten and he had to take that off, too.



And now that I got my mind just tearing things to pieces, if you can't see (except that one moment in ST:TUC) a cloaked ship or detect it (unless using a tacyon field) but the ship is only invisible and not like the experimental cloak in "the Pegasus", how the Enterprise just doesn't bombard at spaced intervals torpedos armed with some kind of material, like paint for example, that only serve to blow the material into space, which would hit the cloaked shi panjd make the outline visible, especially if it misses but the ship still has to pass threw some of the material. Some for a bombardment of gasses. There must be any number of clever ways to find a ship cloaked.


I'm thinking too much about it. I must stop now.

 

[Dales]

carol striping down to her bra and panties in star trek 12.

the kirk death scene in the same film as well.

 

[kirkfan]

carol striping down to her bra and panties in star trek 12.

the kirk death scene in the same film as well.

It was embarrassing to watch.

 

[galleywest]

Which reminds me, I seem to recall instances from the spin-off series where the power crystal in a phaser would run low or out, leaving somebody without a phaser arm. Rare, but I recall it.

Why?

If today we can carry extra gun clips with us, why can't an officer carry a spare power crystal with him, especially if he knows he'll likely be in a fight.

Because: no pockets!!

 

[Nightdiamond]

If Starfleet is so accepting and sexism has been eliminated, then why couldn't women be allowed to be promoted to captain?

There was a glass ceiling in TOS, women couldn't go beyond 1st officer--and we only saw one--in a pilot that was abandoned and then remade into a episode.


Voyager spends a year and a half traveling away from the Kazon sector. And yet in Basics, and yet it's as if they never left the system, with Chakotay turning around and going back to rescue his "son".

Or why Seska thought being with Kazon gave her a better chance of getting home than Voyager.

 

[kirkfan]

If Starfleet is so accepting and sexism has been eliminated, then why couldn't women be allowed to be promoted to captain?

There was a glass ceiling in TOS, women couldn't go beyond 1st officer--and we only saw one--in a pilot that was abandoned and then remade into a episode.


Voyager spends a year and a half traveling away from the Kazon sector. And yet in Basics, and yet it's as if they never left the system, with Chakotay turning around and going back to rescue his "son".

Or why Seska thought being with Kazon gave her a better chance of getting home than Voyager.

I am not sure Seska's intentions were to get home at that point. Just acquire technology and become the real power behind the throne seemed to be her ambition.

 

[tafkats]

In Justice, they say that Wesley has committed a crime because he was in a punishment zone at the time he stepped on some plant and for a while they are unwilling to take Wesley away because that would violate a law, but even if by any chance Wesley was still in a punishment zone the moment they beam him away, the people doing the beaming will be on the ship, which couldn't possibly be in a punishment zone and therefore according to the laws of the planet they will have committed no crime.

I thought it wasn't the planet's laws they'd be breaking, but rather Federation laws -- or at least Starfleet regulations about respecting the laws of sovereign cultures.

 

[kirkfan]

In Justice, they say that Wesley has committed a crime because he was in a punishment zone at the time he stepped on some plant and for a while they are unwilling to take Wesley away because that would violate a law, but even if by any chance Wesley was still in a punishment zone the moment they beam him away, the people doing the beaming will be on the ship, which couldn't possibly be in a punishment zone and therefore according to the laws of the planet they will have committed no crime.

I thought it wasn't the planet's laws they'd be breaking, but rather Federation laws -- or at least Starfleet regulations about respecting the laws of sovereign cultures.

Ok, I'll repeat then: The people doing the beaming wouldn't be violating the laws of the planet and therefore wouldn't be breaking starfleet regulations about respecting those laws.

Is it clearer this way?

 

[T'Girl]

Here's a silly one: if Ro was forced to remove her earing, why then was Worf allowed to wear a sash? Unless I've forgotten and he had to take that off, too.

My take is that Riker didn't realize that what Ro was wearing was a religious symbol, he thought it just a large fashion ornament and so instructed Ro to remove it. Riker didn't want Ro on the ship at all and wasn't going to cut her any slack.

Ok, I'll repeat then: The people doing the beaming wouldn't be violating the laws of the planet and therefore wouldn't be breaking starfleet regulations about respecting those laws.

Simply beaming up someone who has violated a local law likely is prohibited by 24th century Starfleet.

There was a glass ceiling in TOS, women couldn't go beyond 1st officer--and we only saw one--in a pilot that was abandoned and then remade into a episode.

Number One's exact rank was unclear, but we never saw a female Starfleet officer during TOS with a rank above Lieutenant, nor a female Federation official above a under secretary.

 

[Tiberius]

^ Well, no, if the Borg assimilate someone, they haven't killed or destroyed them. Not literally, anyway. An assimilated life form is still, technically, alive, it hasn't been eliminated.

Elimination would be if a Borg fires a disruptor and vaporizes you. Not the same thing as assimilation.

Assimilate a non-Borg and you have reduced the ranks of the non-Borg and increased the ranks of the Borg.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Here's a silly one: if Ro was forced to remove her earing, why then was Worf allowed to wear a sash? Unless I've forgotten and he had to take that off, too.

My take is that Riker didn't realize that what Ro was wearing was a religious symbol, he thought it just a large fashion ornament and so instructed Ro to remove it. Riker didn't want Ro on the ship at all and wasn't going to cut her any slack.

Maybe, but it still seems odd. Just a scene or two later he's telling Picard, very emphatically, that he intends to holds Ro to the highest standard and that people won't want to serve with her, indicating to me he's read her file and should be familiar with her, so shouldn't he know? And what's to stop her from informing him.

And a handful of scenes later where is he and Ro? At a conference with Troi, who is wearing one of her skin-tight, cleavage-heavy uni's that indicate in no way what so ever she's a Starfleet officer. The only thing that gives her away as such, is the communicator pin, which is independant of her uni-boob outfit. Surely that cant' be regulation -- 'cause when what's his name took over the Enterprise for the two-parter "Chain of Command", he insisted Troi where a proper Starfleet uniform.


And now that I think of it: what about his beard? Aside from Admiral Doughtery in Insurrection, I can't recall another Starfleet officer with a beard.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I don't recall the Type-A and Type-B phasers to have any differences aisde from size. And then there is the phaser rifle. What the hell does it do that the others can't? I can't recall seeing it do anything special.

So I don't get why we have moments where a phaser rifle is necessary and why we had some moments (early on) where a Type-A was used instead.

I've always wondered about that. In the original series, I don't think a real difference in their performance was shown. One seemed to be equally powerful as the other.*

The little phasers were intended to be worn more subtly, so as not to adertise in certain situations that they were armed. That I get (although Ron Tracy was armed with the pistol type, apparently, while encountering a primitive society ).

*Having said that, we never saw a type 1 phaser set to overload...maybe there was a difference in that the 1's couldn't do that?

 

[2takesfrakes]

It's actually pretty (easy) to get. It conveniently gets Decker out of the way so Kirk doesn't have to relinquish command of the Enterprise now that the crisis is over or be a dick to Decker and say "I'm staying in command anyway Decker....deal with it."

Well, that's right. Any character who poses a threat to the format of The Original Series or its movies, has to die. Edith Keeler cast her spell on Kirk, which maybe meant that he wouldn't keep running the ship. That's a big "no, no," so Edith payed the price by being hit with a MACK TRUCK!!! Later, of course, Miramanee gets pregnant with "Kirok's" child, which means that he might abandon ship. So ... she gets stoned to death. Decker presents a challenge to Kirk's command in the movies, so ... he's dissolved into a lens flare for his usurping command of ENTERPRISE. Gillian Taylor would've had to die horribly, too, except she had the good sense to not be attracted to old men with no neck, a nappy rug and wears a girdle. So, she kissed him on the cheek and let him hope a little, but ... she didn't threaten the STAR TREK format, so she got rewarded with whale watching, instead.

People have told me that the novelization actually paints (Decker) as a transhumanist who always was fascinated with the idea of ascension and a merger of human and machine.

However that is also the novelization that says most of humanity consists now as "New Men" in mass minds and such with Kirk and the rest of Starfleet being "primitives" so take that as you will.

And anyway, I think, novelizations and the expanded universe are no excuse to not put important characterization into the movie. A movie should stand on its own. It's like this one time when my friend told me he liked Qui-Gon Jin in Phentom Menace "because he's so badass in the books" Well that's fine and dandy, but in the movie he's an idiot.

Personally when I saw Phantom Menace first I thought Decker was merging with V'Ger to piss off Kirk...somehow.

I'm not sure I agree with the Phantom Menace part. True, the character of Qui-Gon is incredibly thin and he's often not believable, but he's enjoyable to watch as the leper with the most fingers in that Feature Picture.

As to your opinions regarding novelisations, I am in complete agreement with you, there, sir! Expecting someone to be that hardcore to buy all of this extraneous merchandise - which rarely has to do with who wrote the script - just to understand what the movie was about is pretty weak stuff. Especially when the novels often don't coincide with what actually got shown in the movie, because these authors decide to put their own stamp on it, so as not to feel like hired hands, I guess, or whatever. "I am an Artist ..." yeah, well ... between these shitty novels and incompetent scripts, audiences keep rewarding the shit with piles of Easy Money. So ... maybe there's a reason to the madness, after all.

 

[enterprisecvn65]

I didn't "get" why Decker was so quick and eager to voluntarily dissolve himself in a merger with V'GER in The Motion Picture, without first questioning the necessity of it, in light of the new information they had. V'GER came to Earth expecting a machine-god and was fully prepared to join with it, somehow on a machine's level. Now, all of a sudden, V'GER finds out it's been in error all of this time and doesn't even contend with that imperfection. It just pretends like it knew all along, basically, by unplugging itself, so that a Human would have to complete its programming, instead.

This last-minute switching of gears, while remaining true to its original plan - this odd insistence on physically joining - when it had the resources to conjure up an infinite number of alternative options makes no sense, whatsoever. And having Decker buy into this switch without motivation of any kind doesn't either. V'GER was in the wrong, the Humans had the upper hand and V'GER should've bowed to these inferiors and cooperated fully. And yet, its compulsion to join with something ... anything, or anyone, at this point ... is the only motivation driving the conclusion. The visual is spectacular and holds up, even today. But I don't get it ...

Aside from my quip about it being easy to get because it conveniently removes Decker without killing him and allows Kirk to reclaim command of the Enterprise for good, I will admit it is kind of odd how Decker goes from zero to this being his life's ambition so quickly.

I mean he's realized the truth of V'ger for all of maybe two minutes and then suddenly he's telling Kirk that as much as Kirk wanted the Enterprise, he wants "this"......despite the fact there is no clear cut answer as to what "this" is going to be.

Didn't Decker want the Enterprise just as much as Kirk? Wasn't that the reason why he resented Kirk so much? Suddenly the fact he might be reinstated as Captain once this V'ger thing is over doesn't matter to him at all? Even if it wasn't the Enterprise he would have almost assuredly gotten another ship.

Maybe his love for Ilea blinded him.......Who knows. But it did become his obsession pretty quickly with little solid info.

 

[eyeresist]

As to your opinions regarding novelisations, I am in complete agreement with you, there, sir! Expecting someone to be that hardcore to buy all of this extraneous merchandise - which rarely has to do with who wrote the script - just to understand what the movie was about is pretty weak stuff. Especially when the novels often don't coincide with what actually got shown in the movie, because these authors decide to put their own stamp on it, so as not to feel like hired hands, I guess, or whatever. "I am an Artist ..."

People writing novelisations don't have a finished film to work from, just a script (which can change in all sorts of ways on its way to the screen) and maybe some concept art. They also have to add scenes because a movie directly turned into a novel would be rather short.

 

[Nightdiamond]

If Starfleet is so accepting and sexism has been eliminated, then why couldn't women be allowed to be promoted to captain?

There was a glass ceiling in TOS, women couldn't go beyond 1st officer--and we only saw one--in a pilot that was abandoned and then remade into a episode.


Voyager spends a year and a half traveling away from the Kazon sector. And yet in Basics, and yet it's as if they never left the system, with Chakotay turning around and going back to rescue his "son".

Or why Seska thought being with Kazon gave her a better chance of getting home than Voyager.

I am not sure Seska's intentions were to get home at that point. Just acquire technology and become the real power behind the throne seemed to be her ambition.

Well, that it makes even more of thing I don't get.

She's from the Alpha Quadrant like the others, right? Assuming she thinks normally, she misses home and wants to get back too. She even said she wanted to get home as soon as possible.

So her answer is to run to the Kazon, get pregnant by the "Madge" and live with a totally alien species that doesn't even have replicator technology or transporters, over 70 years away from home?

There was a glass ceiling in TOS, women couldn't go beyond 1st officer--and we only saw one--in a pilot that was abandoned and then remade into a episode.

Number One's exact rank was unclear, but we never saw a female Starfleet officer during TOS with a rank above Lieutenant, nor a female Federation official above a under secretary.

I never did either, except maybe one with a rank of Lt Commander, if I saw it correctly. Even the cage was never meant to air except for turning it into rehashed episode.

Women were glorified secretaries. Yet humanity was supposed to be so evolved beyond barring people based on certain qualities.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Dr. Ann Mulhall was a lieutenant commander.