The curse(?) of small universe syndrome

[Smear-Gel]

It bugs me that they don't seem to use abbreviations in the future. It's always "structural integrity field" instead of "SIF," "programmable matter" instead of "PM," etc. I get that it's for the sake of clarity, so the audience knows what's being talked about, but it's still clumsy. You'd think they'd have at least shortened it to "promat" or something.

Would also solve the problem of giving the era some future slang so that it doesnt rely entirely on just the way we talk now (something I personally dont care about to be fair but I understand the issue).

 

[Qonundrum]

"Small universe syndrome" has been discussed before many times, but what are the benefits/reasons and the drawbacks for doing so?

Positives:
* It gives an episode personal stakes which complicate the issue - having to choose between someone you know/like and what's right, needing to succeed so the person will live/win (this can be done directly ("my sister's in trouble out there!") or through comparison ("you're doing this/thinking this because it reminds you of what happened to your friend!"))
* It allows us to explore a character's family life without having to put it in a B-story that has nothing to do with the A story, or as the A-story itself (which I gather a lot of people also complain about)
* It creates conflict (though some think Humans should have moved beyond that by then)
* It keeps the world and its components from being a mile wide and an inch deep (worldbuilding)
* It greases the wheels (knowing someone who is an expert at _____ comes in handy, and if you already created such characters, why not use them again? - Create a new one and people will ask, "hey, why didn't they just ask so-and-so?")
* any particular discipline, organization, career choice, people group, etc. will naturally have a network of friends and acquaintances and families often do have multiple members in a particular field (military, medical, science, arts, etc.)

Negatives:
* It makes everything seem too good to be true (what are the odds that you frequently know/are someone who's personally affected by so many events, particularly in an entire universe of people, let alone a city, country, or Earth in non-Trek shows?)
* It limits possibilities for future stories, either in fact or in the minds of viewers and future writers.
* It complicates some issues needlessly, to the point of distraction or absurdity
* It makes the assumption that a great character has to come from a line of similarly influential people in the same or similar circles, and that people can't employ shared skills (leadership, compassion, debate, etc.) in different fields
* Characters turn into Swiss army knives, knowing and being able to do whatever the story calls for

I'm discussing this in reference to Trek in particular, but comparisons to other shows are welcome within reason.

Great points, all. Will simmer on that as lunch is calling, hehe.

IMHO, when done right, Small Universe Syndrome (SUS) can add to the lore in effective and rewarding ways that also expand the universe with (instead of just latching onto it for empty spectacle or namedropping, and/or not used as a crutch for sequels) or, worse, how everything is related to and/or revolves around just one character. (IMHO, Data and his family tree is one of the more egregiously delicious examples of this as time went on, or at least egregious, but YMMV, if not cherrypicked depending on which shiny new character appeared the following season. Another example, with ENT being a prequel that didn't answer a lot and prequels often try to fill in the gaps over what succeeds it - apart from possibly explaining a new timeline for the Borg thanks to "First Contact" - was done (and fairly decently, actually), that I recall.)

When done too much, it becomes predictable or a plot crutch or "again?" being asked, or "that's stretching things that all these characters and situations are related in a galaxy as big as ours". "Vendetta" is an awesome novel, but did the doomsday machine from "The Doomsday Machine" really need to be used? It felt like small universe syndrome was creeping in and for the sake of spectacle more than anything else (the novel had far more going for it, from what I recall, which helped). NEM trotted out another Data clone, and amazingly nobody else picked up on the signal. Yikes, that just crossed my mind without any thought so it really is a perfect example. STFC introduced the Borg and with explanative dialogue so cheesy that it made the worst of STV TFF feel like taut Shakespeare by comparison and there were many ways the Queen could be introduced other than "you humans and your limited thinking", which fails for too many reasons as I'd then be deviating from the point of this thread way too much.

Plus, no matter how often a popular person or place is used, it runs the risk of losing luster. I remember Galorndan Core from "The Enemy", which had some interesting dramatic weight as well as planetary properties that almost begged a proper return to exploiting of*, since TNG was already hot to trot on re-using Lore in a contrived way, Minuet in a good but an even more contrived way, The Traveler in a good if not slightly contrived way, etc. Fast forward to when the rot set in and the planet's name is used as a cheap reference only, and nobody had invented "memberberries" yet to describe it with. Apparently, Memory Alpha reveals the place has been used so often as a plotting point that it's amazing nobody hauled the Skipper and Gilligan over to set up a resort there.

Sci-fi is absurd, but sci-fi has degrees of absurdity, often tamed by playing it straight. But then, someone decided "Oi, was V'Ger made by the Borg?" or "Did the Borg create V'Ger?" and that's where SUS really kicks into warp drive with.


* e.g. mining resources by Federation or Romulans or Borg or Fred Flintstone or anybody

 

[fireproof78]

Would also solve the problem of giving the era some future slang so that it doesnt rely entirely on just the way we talk now (something I personally dont care about to be fair but I understand the issue).

Yeah but then it sounds more fake, rather than just technically precise and stiff.

That's real now

 

[knightgrace]

What should be happening is an ever accelerating series of events. Picture this: an walks down a hallway, turns a corner, and an actress had replaced them. Turns another corner and a horta is moving through rock...still another corner and the confusion is getting out of hand.

Same person, different fashion statement.

This would be near the level of the aliens in Charlie's Law...

A couple of years after this, then what happened to Sargon's world happens to Earth...