"Waiter! There's threat ganglia in my soup!"
Spoilers Star Trek: Short Treks 1x03 - "The Brightest Star"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
Unfortunately, this did nothing for me. It was shot beautifully, as always, but the story didn't work very well for me, especially with what we heard before about Saru's backstory, the Kelpian culture and physiology. I guess I could have overlooked my problems with the episode if the story at its core had grabbed me, but everything fell flat for me in this. I agree with whoever said it that casting Doug Jones as his younger self somehow felt misguided; a younger actor accompanied by Jones' narration might have worked better.
Here's hoping episode four will bring something more than just more of Mudd's silly antics.
Here's hoping episode four will bring something more than just more of Mudd's silly antics.
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Did we see any Kelpien women?
Different farms for different genders?
They produce select different meat.
Kelp.
If they eat underwater food primarily, then maybe Kelpiens are amphibious, and only recently left the ocean, on an evolutionary scale... if they haven't been husbanded by the Ba'ul to push evolution along.
If they were mammals like a cow, then it's boy + girl = one, to a few baby/ies per womb, and one boy can service hundreds of girls, which is what we do with cows, sheep and chickens.
But if they are amphibians, and only recently left the ocean, then kelpiens may breed like fish or frogs, one girl lays thousands of eggs that are fertilised by one boy.
This would make their population massive, and too replenishable, if there isn't a predator (or limited resources) to keep their population in check, if one boy and one girl can make thousands, or 10s of thousands of babies, every few months, or even once.
Also: Kelpien Caviar.
Different farms for different genders?
They produce select different meat.
Kelp.
If they eat underwater food primarily, then maybe Kelpiens are amphibious, and only recently left the ocean, on an evolutionary scale... if they haven't been husbanded by the Ba'ul to push evolution along.
If they were mammals like a cow, then it's boy + girl = one, to a few baby/ies per womb, and one boy can service hundreds of girls, which is what we do with cows, sheep and chickens.
But if they are amphibians, and only recently left the ocean, then kelpiens may breed like fish or frogs, one girl lays thousands of eggs that are fertilised by one boy.
This would make their population massive, and too replenishable, if there isn't a predator (or limited resources) to keep their population in check, if one boy and one girl can make thousands, or 10s of thousands of babies, every few months, or even once.
Also: Kelpien Caviar.
Yes, Saru's sister.
Indeed, Saru's backstory as presented here is really quite different than what was presented before. Which is IMO not a bad thing per se.
I'm more happy that Saru gets developed at all - he was one of the main ighlights of season 1, and severely underused. I'm happy if I see the writers finally got a better grasp on him, even if there are some changes on the way.
I'm just still mad that this was presented as fucking supplemental material. ONE THAT ISN'T EVEN LEGALLY AVAILABLE ON MOST OF THE WORLD. That is stuff that really, really, really would have needed to be in the show itself!
If the Baul are pre-warp... Then with a little bit of federation tech, maybe a computer virus or two to destabilize their technology and economy, or an antieugenic weapon to turn the Ba'ul into Moron vegetarians. Target damns and power stations from orbit in even an undetectable shuttle craft, and Ba'ul infrastructure could be turned back 200 years, forcing their world to go from a Utopia to Mad Max 2 in a week or two.
Or the other way.
Trick their economy, and stock market, and banks into labeling Saru the richest most powerful person on the planet, buy back all the kelpiens, and then change the law by applying even more money and pressure until Kaminar is safe for Kelpiens and co-existence is possible.
Or the other way.
Trick their economy, and stock market, and banks into labeling Saru the richest most powerful person on the planet, buy back all the kelpiens, and then change the law by applying even more money and pressure until Kaminar is safe for Kelpiens and co-existence is possible.
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This reminded me of Stargate Altantis and how some societies accepted the periodic culling by the Wraith as the norm and dressed it up in ceremony.
Did the episode mention Starfleet Academy? Because between this and "The Vulcan Hello" it's starting to look like Georgiou was cruising the galaxy, cherry-picking outcasts to be part of the USS Shenzhou crew.
Did the episode mention Starfleet Academy? Because between this and "The Vulcan Hello" it's starting to look like Georgiou was cruising the galaxy, cherry-picking outcasts to be part of the USS Shenzhou crew.
Michael leapfrogged over Saru in the command structure... Which is a kick in the pants?
I think Sarek pulled some strings to make up for his guilt at lying to her about the whole science academy thing.
Or then it's the same reason why Kirk holds higher rank than Spock: ambition mismatch. Both may be clever, but only one is driven.
What's the wording on this "pre-warp" business? Are the Ba'ul really indicated to be that? Are the inhabitants of Kaminar indicated to be that, and some other dialogue establishes the Ba'ul as inhabitants of Kaminar?
Previously, lack of warp has been no obstacle to contact. We have speculated that this is because the cavemen in question have been contacted by other aliens previously. Would this not be the case with the Ba'ul as well, basically by default? After all, they are credited with subspace transceivers here, even if not with warp drive.
Timo Saloniemi
What's the wording on this "pre-warp" business? Are the Ba'ul really indicated to be that? Are the inhabitants of Kaminar indicated to be that, and some other dialogue establishes the Ba'ul as inhabitants of Kaminar?
Previously, lack of warp has been no obstacle to contact. We have speculated that this is because the cavemen in question have been contacted by other aliens previously. Would this not be the case with the Ba'ul as well, basically by default? After all, they are credited with subspace transceivers here, even if not with warp drive.
Timo Saloniemi
They said that the Ba'ul come from the sky.
That could mean helicopters.
Or... What if the Ba'ul have wings?
If they can fly, that would make the impressive capabilities we saw in Saru last season almost ineffectual, if the Ba'ul can strike from above at 200 knots, or drop sharp rocks like it's a fragmentation mine, from before they even figured out sapience and technology.
That could mean helicopters.
Or... What if the Ba'ul have wings?
If they can fly, that would make the impressive capabilities we saw in Saru last season almost ineffectual, if the Ba'ul can strike from above at 200 knots, or drop sharp rocks like it's a fragmentation mine, from before they even figured out sapience and technology.
Which would clearly go against the prime directive: Even non-Federation species in the alpha quadrant play (more loose) by these rules. The aliens in ENT "civilisation" clearly tried to do their operations on the pre-warp civilisation undercover, so as to not be noticed by other warp capable species or even the pre-warp one to a higher degree. And as soon as it was obvious the Romulans were trying to influence the Klingon civil war in "Redemption", all gloves were off and they immediately backed off.
So it's quite an interesting concept that here another species exploits a pre-warp civilisation! Which I LOVE, there should be more of that in Trek! But at the same time, they should give us a good explanation why that doesn't happen everywhere in the galaxy (it takes only one(!) warp capable species to subjugate all pre-warp species in it's surrrounding). Say, the Ba'ul farming goes back since before they actually reached out to the galactic community the first time, and thus call dips on the Kelpians, while accept to not farm all the other known per-warp civilisations in the Alpha quadrant.
Which is honestly a concept I love! Less like a strict modern day military, more like 18th century explorers. That if someone on the way clearly has the capabilities to work on the ship, they can join. Of course there should be a thorough security invistigation, and I think in this short it's possible that Saru went to Academy before directly joining service on the ship. But IMO it makes the universe look larger, and Starfleet more inclusive by appreciating other types of education than only their strict Academy career - as long as certain conditions are met of course.
Promotion is usually earned, not just granted based on years of service. Saru has NEVER struck me as someone who should be granted command of anything. "Run Aweay" seemed to be his solution to everything, on the Shenzhou <--- That's not a trait you want in a Starship Commander, or someone high in the Command chain (IE - Your primary impulse is always 'flight' as opposed to 'fight'.)
Why? Starfleet isn't a military.
That's what the recruiters want you to think.
Well Saru was stone age. Takes time to teach 2+2 and quantum physics.
10 years after this short, Saru was aboard the Shenzu, when Burnham met Georgiou for the first time, 8 years before the battle for the Binary Stars.
Yeah, yeah - GR stated one thing BUT the manner in which TOS was presented and executed on TV said another.Why? Starfleet isn't a military.
This may be true by the 24th century when the Federation is running Family laden luxury style cruise ships in space (See TNG Season 1) - but it wasn't the case during the TOS nor I daresay the ST: D era.
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