Who Likes 'Relics'?
- Thread starter Chief Medical Officer
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Scotty asked the holodeck to show him 'his' Enterprise (no bloody A, B, C, or D!), but he did not specify any particular star date. Pike's 1701 bridge looked different from any 1701 bridge that we saw in any other episodes from TOS. We saw Main Engineering 'grow' and change as that bulgy Impulse Synchrotron Unit sprouted from the floor directly in front of the 'screened window', and the 2 Back-up Power Units off to the side disappeared at some point after Spock found Evil Duplicate Kirk hiding behind them. Other sets changed over the course of TOS.They should've at least got TOS bridge in the holodeck right but the small piece they did build had the railings and stairs in the wrong place. Carpet color was probably off too.
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Regarding the 'Real World', I have absolutely no problem with minor issues such as railings and carpets in a TNG recreation being a little different from various TOS sets because 'In-Universe', Starfleet is allowed to change the carpeting and railings on their ships, and this may simply have happened the week after the crew dropped Janice Lester off at Starbase 2. Which is why we never saw that carpet. A lot happens on the Bridge, and if my Aunt was able to replace her 1970s burnt orange living room carpet in the 1980s, why couldn't Kirk change his rug.... er.... carpet?
In my experience it's pretty much SOP for real life mechanics, which aren't Starfleet engineers obviously but maybe that's where the idea came from. In my younger days I was an assistant manager at a diesel repair shop and the mechanics used to drive me crazy with their jumped up time estimates. There were even several stacks of books (written by mechanics) behind the counter with various services, the expected time it should take and the time that should be quoted to a customer. Rarely would it ever take that long but it would keep people from constantly harassing them about when it would be ready and gave them plenty of cushion should something go wrong. And most of all to avoid the "You said it would be ready in...." argument.
I don't know how many times I've heard an engineer on Star Trek give an estimated time to do something, their commanding officer tells them they have less time than that, and they do it. I just got done watching a DS9 episode (Treachery, Faith and the Great River) where O'Brien did it. Sisko asks O'Brien how long it will take to install the gravity stabilizer and he replies it will take 8 hours, Sisko says he's taking the Defiant out in 2 hours and O'Brien says "Two it is". I'm guessing Starfleet engineers are even more careful/worried about letting down a commanding officer than a diesel mechanic is about ticking off an assistant manager or a truck driver. In real life if I'd told a mechanic they had 1/4 of their quoted time to get it done they wouldn't say "Yes sir", they'd more likely give me the finger and repeat their original estimate.
I really like Scotty. I think he's a great character. And I have no wish to disparage him. But I have to ask: what accomplishments even come close to any of the inventors you mentioned? Scotty was the chief engineer of a starship; responsible for the operation, maintenance, and repair of its components. He was a stellar problem-solver, he was innovative, he was quick-thinking. But never had an episode that showed him making some great energy discovery, or designing some incredible new engine, or anything on the same level as, say, Chochrane achieving light speed.
I work in application development. We usually put a little bit of padding in our estimates to account for unexpected issues. But certainly not four times our best case estimate!
I prefer the novelisation. Scotty has a good talk with Troi, and there's an away team to the inner surface of the Dyson Sphere. There's a pre-transporter segment at the beginning; and in the holodeck recreation, Scotty picks a specific date and all the bridge crew are there. I read the book first; afterwards, the episode seemed underwhelming.
It has been a long time since I watched this episode, so I'm not sure if this is exactly what happened, but near the end of the episode LaForge and Scotty were transported to the Enterprise from the Jenolan through its shields... am I remembering this correctly...
So enjoyed this episode! I know it had flaws in set and script and even technobabble, but it was excellent fine to see Scotty again, and I enjoyed the concept of the crossover, and how Scotty problem-solved. It was good to feel the emotion and meaning it had to me, and I am grateful that "Relics" made it to the small screen, warts and all!
I love this episode. It was a great send off for Scotty in my opinion. That said, I wish they'd left the scene with Troi in. Geordi came across like a bit of a jerk. I think it would have been better if the Geordi from Season 1 and 2 before he became overly serious had met Scotty instead.
You're just impressing fannish expectations on the episode. We know who he is, why wouldn't a stasrhip crew 80 years later KNOW THE NAME OF AN ENGINEER ON AN ancient starship!!!! See how little sense that makes??
As for the episode. Loved every minute of it. Easily the most Doohan got to do EVER in star trek. His best role, his best performance and a bona fide classic. End of story.
As for the episode. Loved every minute of it. Easily the most Doohan got to do EVER in star trek. His best role, his best performance and a bona fide classic. End of story.
Saving the earth?
It's Star Trek, the Earth has been saved many times by many different people. Starfleet probably started printing up "I Saved Earth" buttons.
Touché!
To me, it felt way too forced. Like, "Lets write something to work whoever we can get in."
Random sniping:
1) I can't think of anything remarkable that Scotty would have achieved during his TOS or movie years. OTOH, the episode amply establishes that Scotty in his later years was an authority on certain engineering issues, which may be why people other than Jean-Luc "Renaissance Man" Picard remember his name (although probably not his face). The "I sailed with Captain Kirk" aspect might impress some, but it's no fault if we don't see this happening in "Relics" - heck, half the crew might not remember who Kirk was, either.
2) Exploring the Dyson sphere is a task slightly more daunting than exploring the Milky Way. After all, the heroes can skip the empty space and the uninteresting rocks when studying the Class M highlights of the Milky Way. The Dyson sphere is all Class M, probably amounting to more of that square mileage than the natural planets of the Milky Way put together. Picard and pals could have spent the next seven years there having an exciting spinoff show, yes, but that'd just mean they could do nothing else.
3) Scotty was "serious" about padding his estimates? I didn't see him being serious about anything until he got drunk. He was a desperate old man, desperately trying to get accepted, and failing badly due to his desperation: his tiresome anecdotes, his weak attempts at humor, and his incredibly poor timing just made him a thoroughly unlikeable addition to the population of the E-D. It's just a nice bit of consistency that he would successfully solve insurmountable problems with heavy drinking...
Timo Saloniemi
1) I can't think of anything remarkable that Scotty would have achieved during his TOS or movie years. OTOH, the episode amply establishes that Scotty in his later years was an authority on certain engineering issues, which may be why people other than Jean-Luc "Renaissance Man" Picard remember his name (although probably not his face). The "I sailed with Captain Kirk" aspect might impress some, but it's no fault if we don't see this happening in "Relics" - heck, half the crew might not remember who Kirk was, either.
2) Exploring the Dyson sphere is a task slightly more daunting than exploring the Milky Way. After all, the heroes can skip the empty space and the uninteresting rocks when studying the Class M highlights of the Milky Way. The Dyson sphere is all Class M, probably amounting to more of that square mileage than the natural planets of the Milky Way put together. Picard and pals could have spent the next seven years there having an exciting spinoff show, yes, but that'd just mean they could do nothing else.
3) Scotty was "serious" about padding his estimates? I didn't see him being serious about anything until he got drunk. He was a desperate old man, desperately trying to get accepted, and failing badly due to his desperation: his tiresome anecdotes, his weak attempts at humor, and his incredibly poor timing just made him a thoroughly unlikeable addition to the population of the E-D. It's just a nice bit of consistency that he would successfully solve insurmountable problems with heavy drinking...
Timo Saloniemi
One day we will all be old and drunk, Timo. Although probably not displaced in time. I think Scotty did as well as he could, and better than most might have. And I think getting that Klingon ship to where and when it needed to go (twice) was big enough that his name should be remembered.
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