What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[Phoenix219]

i was going to make a post about how I actually think Season 1 might be my favorite, and a lot of what I was going to say was covered here.

i actually really like the characters in their original configurations, before everything became static and formulaic. i like riker-kirk 2.0 with no beard, and cool-young geordi the blind-pilot, worf before he became so one note, tasha, etc.... season 1 seemed more alive, more background characters bustling around, more of that living ship with 1000 people on it. everything was new and exciting and dangerous and suspenseful. there was a bit of serialization near the end of season 1 that really never happened again. the sci fi plots were wonderous and crazy. the only reason i can't pick s1 as my favorite is because of how much i feel pulaski elevates season 2. its definitely downhill after best of both worlds.

in an absolutely ideal version of TNG, for me anyways...

-pulaski is there from the start. mccoy arrives to see off his grand-daughter.
-wesley gets stationed in engineering to fulfill his potential, teaming with CHIEF O'brien there after season 1.
-the geordi/data friendship can continue from the bridge stations, and geordi keeps his earlier personality

-after season 3, picard stays gone, either as a recurring villain, a recurring distant admiral, or an on-board ambassador, with Riker taking over and Shelby joining the cast. riker's character arc is fulfilled.

-avoid the phase 2 retreads. the counselor is wesley's mom.

probably some other thoughts, but i digress.

 

[JesterFace]

While I don't like season 1 that much (sorry) it's interesting to read few posts ago that some people do enjoy those episodes.
I guess I'm more like a common viewer who likes the latter seasons more.

 

[StarTrek1701]

I once added to this thread, I'll add another:

In-Universe the characters of any Trek specially 24th century characters never use their immense technological abilities to their maximum potential.
And if they do discover something great they just use it as a mcguffin and never bring it up again.
e.g. TNG "Rascals" basically gave the fountain of youth to the Federation, promptly forgotten afterwards.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I once added to this thread, I'll add another:

In-Universe the characters of any Trek specially 24th century characters never use their immense technological abilities to their maximum potential.
And if they do discover something great they just use it as a mcguffin and never bring it up again.
e.g. TNG "Rascals" basically gave the fountain of youth to the Federation, promptly forgotten afterwards.

This is why when Stargate SG-1 came out, viewers were like "Wait, the heroes are able to remember things that worked in previous episodes and develop them further? Is this even allowed?"

 

[Farscape One]

I once added to this thread, I'll add another:

In-Universe the characters of any Trek specially 24th century characters never use their immense technological abilities to their maximum potential.
And if they do discover something great they just use it as a mcguffin and never bring it up again.
e.g. TNG "Rascals" basically gave the fountain of youth to the Federation, promptly forgotten afterwards.

I do agree quite a few are never used again. But some situations, such as what happened in "Rascals", are anomaly specific and cannot really be copied easily, if at all.

 

[cooleddie74]

I group the anomaly in "Rascals(TNG)" with the singing anomaly in "Subspace Rhapsody(SNW)," in the Ridiculous Subspace Phenomena It'll Be Hard To Explain category and something very unlikely to happen again. We have log records of it, but don't get used to trying to recreate it.

 

[Farscape One]

And thank the Prophets, too... we don't need another ship full of officers breaking out into dance routines or captains being turned into children.

 

[fireproof78]

I once added to this thread, I'll add another:

In-Universe the characters of any Trek specially 24th century characters never use their immense technological abilities to their maximum potential.
And if they do discover something great they just use it as a mcguffin and never bring it up again.
e.g. TNG "Rascals" basically gave the fountain of youth to the Federation, promptly forgotten afterwards.

Yeah and that was a question for me even the Pulaski cure after her advanced aging. Star Trek puts the warehouse in Indiana Jones to shame.

 

[1001001]

Star Trek puts the warehouse in Indiana Jones to shame.

Daystrom Station.

 

[BillJ]

I do agree quite a few are never used again. But some situations, such as what happened in "Rascals", are anomaly specific and cannot really be copied easily, if at all.

“Unnatural Selection” from season two wasn’t anomaly related.

 

[cooleddie74]

Daystrom Station.

The warehouse that has even James T. Kirk's corpse in it.

 

[Farscape One]

“Unnatural Selection” from season two wasn’t anomaly related.

Which is why I said some situations.

 

[Frontis]

Rascals was somehow scary.

 

[Shawnster]

It could have been interpreted in The Cage and Menagerie that the Orions were human looking slavers and that the green animal women may have been native from somewhere other than Orion.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I group the anomaly in "Rascals(TNG)" with the singing anomaly in "Subspace Rhapsody(SNW)," in the Ridiculous Subspace Phenomena It'll Be Hard To Explain category and something very unlikely to happen again. We have log records of it, but don't get used to trying to recreate it.

Don't forget the SubSpace Compression Anomaly in "One Little Ship" where they shrunk the RunAbout with Dax, Bashir, & O'Brien in it.

That was also another "One-Off" weird event.

 

[Farscape One]

Rascals was somehow scary.

It IS scary...

That Starfleet officers can be THAT incompetent.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Yeah and that was a question for me even the Pulaski cure after her advanced aging. Star Trek puts the warehouse in Indiana Jones to shame.

That was a bit more complicated with Dr. Pulask in the episode "UnNatural Selection"
The Genetically Engineered children's advanced Anti-Bodies operates outside of their body & interacted with the Thelusian flu, it does more than simply attack the virus; it actually interacts with normal Human DNA to change sequences which affect the aging process.

Ergo a mix-up in the intended affect, affected others on the station.

Data basically pulled a reverse DNA diff and used the Transporter + DNA samples from a Un-Aged Pulaski to reverse her DNA's aging back to where it should've been via the Transporter.

 

[fireproof78]

That was a bit more complicated with Dr. Pulask in the episode "UnNatural Selection"
The Genetically Engineered children's advanced Anti-Bodies operates outside of their body & interacted with the Thelusian flu, it does more than simply attack the virus; it actually interacts with normal Human DNA to change sequences which affect the aging process.

Ergo a mix-up in the intended affect, affected others on the station.

Data basically pulled a reverse DNA diff and used the Transporter + DNA samples from a Un-Aged Pulaski to reverse her DNA's aging back to where it should've been via the Transporter.

So...change them back.

They use a DNA sample and restore her to her nonaged self. You're telling me they can't use a DNA sample to unage again?

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

So...change them back.

They use a DNA sample and restore her to her nonaged self. You're telling me they can't use a DNA sample to unage again?

It seemed like the effect of Genetically Engineered Anti-Bodies + Thelusian Flu Virus + Human DNA had some modifications that rapidly aged people in a few days.

Assuming, the changes weren't "Too Far Gone", there might've been enough time to save Pulaski and a few others.

But there were the people on the USS Lantree who died as well.

Who knows if the fix is specific to this type of viral damage and not generally applicable.

 

[Citiprime]

I once added to this thread, I'll add another:

In-Universe the characters of any Trek specially 24th century characters never use their immense technological abilities to their maximum potential.
And if they do discover something great they just use it as a mcguffin and never bring it up again.
e.g. TNG "Rascals" basically gave the fountain of youth to the Federation, promptly forgotten afterwards.

This gets into the idea that some ideas/logistics basically break a setting if you think about it too hard.

I’ve seen people make the same argument about Harry Potter. Why are owls delivering mail in a world where wizards can teleport themselves and objects instantaneously? The answer is that the logistics of that world makes no sense and only exists as part of the whimsy of the fantasy setting or because the plot demands it.

This is the reason why I think when they do technology/science fiction leaps in Star Trek it always works best when they preface them with rules, limitations and consequences. The Genesis Device is a fantastical technology that’s shown to throw galactic governments into an uproar and embarrass the Federation. It’s treated in a realistic way where it scares the other powers and causes controversy given the implications. It’s both presented as god-like power of creation and a potential nasty weapon of mass destruction.

And even though it literally resurrects Spock’s body, there are so many flaws and limitations in the way it’s presented, you understand why no one really saw it as a path to immorality. I don’t feel the same dynamic with Khan’s blood for Into Darkness or some of the episodes where the transporter creates doubles and heals people. You don’t feel the weight of how those issues would create metaphysical questions about identity and changes to how a society would use a piece of tech to totally change treatment of health