Why "Clues" bothers me just a little bit...

[Kelthaz]

I don't agree. I remember Kirk once saying in an episode, "the purpose of this ship doesn't say stay safe, stay alive, it's to seek out new life and new civilizations. "

It likewise doesn't say avoid bloodshed or hide the truth. Clues is a major cop out. I think it flies in the face of everything Star Trek is supposed to be about.

So you think Picard should have refused to have his memories and the memories of his crew erased and had his ship blown up instead?

 

[Christopher]

So you think Picard should have refused to have his memories and the memories of his crew erased and had his ship blown up instead?

Of course not. We've already covered this. He (or Data) could've found a way to pretend to comply but then recover the knowledge afterward. Or he could've used that brilliant diplomatic acumen of his and persuaded the Paxans to let them go. At the very least, he could've felt bad about betraying everything he'd ever believed in just to let a bunch of xenophobic jerks keep their precious secrets. All of those options have already been discussed in depth in this thread.

 

[Timo]

That "they are jerks, we are entitled" attitude really jars on me here. Why didn't Picard steal their bibles and rape their women when he was at it, if he were so profoundly entitled and they weren't?

And the idea that truth would be worth a single life, ours or theirs, is so disgusting that it pretty much explains mankind all by itself.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Hermiod]

In "First Contact", Picard tells the Malcorians that if they tell the Federation to go away and never return they would go away and never return and I believed him. I see no real difference here.

 

[Christopher]

In "First Contact", Picard tells the Malcorians that if they tell the Federation to go away and never return they would go away and never return and I believed him. I see no real difference here.

The difference is that there he was choosing to be true to his principles rather than being forced to betray them under threat. As I said, at least the story could've acknowledged that Picard disliked being forced to hide the truth, instead of just treating it as "Oh, isn't this a clever twist of plot mechanics?" I understand the defenses of the actions taken by the characters in the story, but the problem is that the story lacked a soul. It was emotionally and philosophically empty because the writers were too caught up in the plot mechanics of the mystery.

 

[Vic Sixx]

In "First Contact", Picard tells the Malcorians that if they tell the Federation to go away and never return they would go away and never return and I believed him. I see no real difference here

It's one thing to ask someone to leave it's another to put a gun to someone's head and order them to leave.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Or he could've used that brilliant diplomatic acumen of his and persuaded the Paxans to let them go.

Isn't that one of the ultimate Trek clichés though? The Enterprise showing up, convincing the evil aliens how Wrong(tm) they are, and the Federation is always right in the end.

 

[Dayton3]

The truth is overrated.

I mean come on. What gives the Federation the right to start prattling on about the existence of a race they just happened to stumble across that doesn't want to be bothered?

 

[Darth_Pazuzu]

The truth is overrated.

I mean come on. What gives the Federation the right to start prattling on about the existence of a race they just happened to stumble across that doesn't want to be bothered?

They certainly do have the right, if said race has the ability and the will to use deadly force to conceal their existence. Granted, the Paxans usually just knock the unsuspecting crews of visiting starships unconscious and then send them on their way through a wormhole without anyone being the wiser. But the fluke of Data's presence created a situation whereby the Paxans made clear that they would be perfectly willing to destroy and kill in order to preserve the secret of their existence.

Call me crazy, but I think that merits a certain amount of attention, if not necessarily interference. As I stated in an earlier post, a general warning can be issued regarding the Paxans' system.

 

[Timo]

But it won't really be necessary. After all, the Paxans have made it painfully clear that they will never be a threat: they are ready to KILL in order not to be a threat. Their standard method of dealing with intruders before the episode was to stun them and harmlessly release them. Only ships with overeager androids would be at any real risk, then - and since the Paxans were said to be capable of manipulating technology to their pleasing, and had apparently successfully fooled many a starship flight recorder before, they probably learned from the Data incident how to deal with androids, too.

Marking the system with quarantine buoys would just bring in all the sad xenophobes of the Federation, with their murderous plans of "eliminating the threat" so that their children could life free of fear or some such nonsense.

Timo Saloniemi