I
actually like the first contact version of the Borg. I think they were handled OK at first on voyager, but suffered from over use.
The BORG, and the Lost potential
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actually like the first contact version of the Borg. I think they were handled OK at first on voyager, but suffered from over use.
If I didn't know anything about the Borg, when I saw First Contact, I would've been cool with the Queen idea. In that contained movie, there's nothing about it that seems like "it wouldn't be like that." But before that, though, they were very unique as a species. They should've just let that alone. Otherwise, yes ... they got overused in VOY, to where they weren't as much fun to watch, anymore. STAR TREK never looked for the right balance, unfortunately. The Klingons ended up becoming a joke, because of their overuse. The Vulcans used to be stoic and regal. Now, they're just humourless Humans with pointy ears. Q became a normal, everyday Human Being ... a Family Man, in fact ... who just happened to use magic. I understand that there's copyrights and everything and it's easier to write what you know, instead of making up stuff out of nothing. But really ... would it have killed them to actually put a little work in? These shitty assed writers needed a lot more outside help, it seems like ...
IMO - the Borg were great when they were just in effect a force of nature. Couldn't be bargained or reasoned withm - just saw something they as a collective felt they wanted/needed, and came in and took it - done.
As soon as the 'Borg Queen' was introduced that aspect of the Borg was destroyed. They were now in effect 'humanized' and the Borg Queen could be outmaneuvered/reasoned with/did have flaws, etc. They were reduced from a 'force of nature' to just another 'alien villain of the week'.
^^^That was disappointing.
As soon as the 'Borg Queen' was introduced that aspect of the Borg was destroyed. They were now in effect 'humanized' and the Borg Queen could be outmaneuvered/reasoned with/did have flaws, etc. They were reduced from a 'force of nature' to just another 'alien villain of the week'.
^^^That was disappointing.
Yeah...the only way I was okay with the concept of the Queen was if she was essentially an embodiment of the collective, and the only reason why she was a queen was to specifically tempt Data (in which either a Borg King might have been nice to see, or you imply things about Seven...). But IIRC VOY episodes shot down that workaround.
It's strange how many years passed before I thought "Why did they just send one cube?" One cube is very formidable, but it can only be in one place at one time. It can destroy like crazy, but can't occupy a planet.
The Borg worked until perhaps halfway through BoBW part 2. Piller or somebody said they'd written themselves into a corner. Putting them to sleep worked just barely, but was not at all satisfying. This all should have taken place over several episodes. There's a strange feel to the next few episodes. It was if they'd been reaching for a very high creative peak, but missed the mark in the end, and it would all be downhill from then on. A sad anti-climax.
The Borg worked until perhaps halfway through BoBW part 2. Piller or somebody said they'd written themselves into a corner. Putting them to sleep worked just barely, but was not at all satisfying. This all should have taken place over several episodes. There's a strange feel to the next few episodes. It was if they'd been reaching for a very high creative peak, but missed the mark in the end, and it would all be downhill from then on. A sad anti-climax.
I think the really good last Borg episode was TNG's 'I Borg'.
Fergetit.What about the Cardassians?
Not sustainable.
Janeway will always be the infallible character who was able to make deals with the Borg. Ugh.
You can't wrap the Borg up neatly and simply (BoBW), then keep bringing them back as hovering presences that don't care to fling more cubes at the Federation. It's as if the Borg were a dead mouse Next Gen was playing with ...
No one would blink if Kirk or Sisko pulled that off.
"I Borg" is a quality episode that expounds upon the Borg story without harming any of the audience's sense of mythology.
It is the "Descent" two-parter that begins to turn the Borg into a trainwreck. It's bad on multiple levels even before Lore appears, and then it becomes horrible.
First Contact simply ignores both of them and acts as a sequel to BoBW.
VOY should have definitely used less Borg, but that's another story altogether. The "Scorpion" story was brilliant, as was the addition of Seven. But they became way over-used for commercial reasons, especially when there wasn't anything left in the creativity tank.
Don't like to see people blaming "I Borg" though. That's a damn good episode that makes sense and has something to say. The fencing scene between JLP and Guinan is the worth the price of admission by itself.
It is the "Descent" two-parter that begins to turn the Borg into a trainwreck. It's bad on multiple levels even before Lore appears, and then it becomes horrible.
First Contact simply ignores both of them and acts as a sequel to BoBW.
VOY should have definitely used less Borg, but that's another story altogether. The "Scorpion" story was brilliant, as was the addition of Seven. But they became way over-used for commercial reasons, especially when there wasn't anything left in the creativity tank.
Don't like to see people blaming "I Borg" though. That's a damn good episode that makes sense and has something to say. The fencing scene between JLP and Guinan is the worth the price of admission by itself.
Someone would.
Yeah, if you're going to do a "force of nature" adversary, it needs to be a series arc crafted from the advent of the series. Either the adversary wins in the end, or the "world" as the heroes know it permanently changes. You can't make it a situation where the bad guy is hard to defeat at the beginning and a push over the next episode. It needs to be a constant chess match with ever increasing stakes, until only one party is left standing on the last episode of the series.
I would pay to see Miley Cyrus as the Borg Queen!
I have a lot of ideas on this subject, which I plan to use later and thus can't reveal everything, but let me leave you with two words: Grey Goo.
Elim Garak was the only Cardassian I ever found remotely interesting. (And maybe Gal Dukat in some episodes, but mostly just Garak.) However, this has more to do with characterization then their actual race. As a race, they're basically just Space Nazis.What about the Cardassians?
This will be a terribly unpopular opinion, but I think the end of BOBW part 1, was the beginning of the end for the Borg, because of the whole idea for Locutus. It made for awesome television sure, but to single out an individual, and name them, and say "This is our Spokesman", why? Picard should have just been a drone. what makes the Borg terrifying is you are completely stripped of your individuality. I think to ramp up the terror factor it should have been established that after you had been assimilated for more than a couple of days or so, any attempts to remove the implants and "de-assimilate" anyone would have resulted in them being a vegetable, I mean REALLY ramp up the terror of being assimilated, that was the missed opportunity.
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I always thought they were more Space North Korea
Without discussing the finer points of "Best of Both Worlds", from a dramatic perspective, I see no reason not to make assimilation immediate and irreversible. There's a reason they use this approach in zombie films. One bite and you're a goner is pretty terrifying. Similarly, one poke of a nanoprobe injector means that you only have seconds before you're a Borg forever. Imagine someone phasering off their arm to prevent from becoming a Borg drone after being pricked by an injector.
The Cardassians strike me as more Fascist than Communist.
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