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conulyWe haven't had time to futz around with Paramount freaking Plus!
So we're only about five episodes in. One episode was a total reset episode where at the end basically nothing has happened because they fixed the past-mistake. Which, okay, those can be good, and this one had a good line where Paris tells some little kid that he'll eat him (!) but I just think that four episodes into the first season is too early for time travel reset shenanigans. Yes, even back in the days where every episode was self-contained I think we still need to go somewhere. (Also, Janeway, if you think the Prime Directive requires you to let a civilization enact a total extinction event on their home and only planet just because they haven't developed warp drive yet, then clearly you need to stop drinking the kool-aid and grow some ethics.)
And then the next episode has this scene where Neelix pushes his way onto the bridge during a sudden emergency in order to bring everybody snacks and also boost their morale. Fair enough, they can't get to the galley during the emergency to eat, but Janeway snaps at him that this is not the time. Hilariously, some background ensign had just picked up a snack to eat, and upon hearing that she spins around and acts all cool like she agreed with the boss. I googled afterwards to see if anybody had a list of unnamed extras on Star Trek, and sure enough, Memory Alpha does and you can see a picture of the scene here. Looks like this extra disproportionately shows up eating and drinking things. If I ever get up the nerve to write that complete and total Voyager rewrite like I keep thinking I'd like to then somebody sure is getting a promotion to main cast member! That background moment was hilarious.
And then we met the Phage aliens and - no, sorry, no. Here in the real world, even when this episode was written, we're working on transplanting pig organs into humans. If these aliens have the sophisticated technology to steal organs from a wide range of other species from other planets and use them for themselves then they could just as easily use livestock for the same purpose. There's no need for them to accost random passersby in space. This episode also reminded us that Paris is not qualified to be a nurse. This is also absurd. Voyager could have hired a nurse on any planet they passed! They could've hired a dozen nurses! There must be people who'd be willing to work for room and board, same as Neelix, while also going on a tour of the Delta Quadrant... or just going from one place to another, and when Voyager got to that second place they could pick up a new nurse.
And finally... even back in the 1990s I pegged the Chakotay "spiritualism" moments as being problematic for (at least) three reasons.
The obvious one is that their consultant was a fraud, and while they at least hired a consultant I kinda feel like they must have done approximately zero background checking. If nothing else, even back in the 1990s they should've realized that Chakotay came from a particular tribe or nation, and that any consultant who tried to elide over that must be full of it. (They could also have put out a casting call specifically for people from that tribe, in which case whoever they hired would've at least been able to contradict the consultant if he spewed too much bullshit, and Robert Beltran could've taken some other job he would've liked more.)
So that's two reasons, and the third is the atheism thing. Like Gene Roddenberry, I am an atheist. Unlike him, I don't think that atheists are smarter than other people. I've known too many atheists to think that, and likewise I don't think that the ideal future is a world where all of humanity is atheist - again, I've known too many atheists to think that. Like with the whole "money" thing Star Trek writing has been pretty inconsistent on this subject, but nevertheless the only human I can think of in the Treks of the 1990s who has a human religious tradition is Chakotay, and... well, this shouldn't be a problem, but it is with the context we all know is there.
So, yeah, we can't easily fast forward on Paramount Plus, but we just completely ignored those scenes. I read some fanfic, Eva played on her Switch until they were over.
So we're only about five episodes in. One episode was a total reset episode where at the end basically nothing has happened because they fixed the past-mistake. Which, okay, those can be good, and this one had a good line where Paris tells some little kid that he'll eat him (!) but I just think that four episodes into the first season is too early for time travel reset shenanigans. Yes, even back in the days where every episode was self-contained I think we still need to go somewhere. (Also, Janeway, if you think the Prime Directive requires you to let a civilization enact a total extinction event on their home and only planet just because they haven't developed warp drive yet, then clearly you need to stop drinking the kool-aid and grow some ethics.)
And then the next episode has this scene where Neelix pushes his way onto the bridge during a sudden emergency in order to bring everybody snacks and also boost their morale. Fair enough, they can't get to the galley during the emergency to eat, but Janeway snaps at him that this is not the time. Hilariously, some background ensign had just picked up a snack to eat, and upon hearing that she spins around and acts all cool like she agreed with the boss. I googled afterwards to see if anybody had a list of unnamed extras on Star Trek, and sure enough, Memory Alpha does and you can see a picture of the scene here. Looks like this extra disproportionately shows up eating and drinking things. If I ever get up the nerve to write that complete and total Voyager rewrite like I keep thinking I'd like to then somebody sure is getting a promotion to main cast member! That background moment was hilarious.
And then we met the Phage aliens and - no, sorry, no. Here in the real world, even when this episode was written, we're working on transplanting pig organs into humans. If these aliens have the sophisticated technology to steal organs from a wide range of other species from other planets and use them for themselves then they could just as easily use livestock for the same purpose. There's no need for them to accost random passersby in space. This episode also reminded us that Paris is not qualified to be a nurse. This is also absurd. Voyager could have hired a nurse on any planet they passed! They could've hired a dozen nurses! There must be people who'd be willing to work for room and board, same as Neelix, while also going on a tour of the Delta Quadrant... or just going from one place to another, and when Voyager got to that second place they could pick up a new nurse.
And finally... even back in the 1990s I pegged the Chakotay "spiritualism" moments as being problematic for (at least) three reasons.
The obvious one is that their consultant was a fraud, and while they at least hired a consultant I kinda feel like they must have done approximately zero background checking. If nothing else, even back in the 1990s they should've realized that Chakotay came from a particular tribe or nation, and that any consultant who tried to elide over that must be full of it. (They could also have put out a casting call specifically for people from that tribe, in which case whoever they hired would've at least been able to contradict the consultant if he spewed too much bullshit, and Robert Beltran could've taken some other job he would've liked more.)
So that's two reasons, and the third is the atheism thing. Like Gene Roddenberry, I am an atheist. Unlike him, I don't think that atheists are smarter than other people. I've known too many atheists to think that, and likewise I don't think that the ideal future is a world where all of humanity is atheist - again, I've known too many atheists to think that. Like with the whole "money" thing Star Trek writing has been pretty inconsistent on this subject, but nevertheless the only human I can think of in the Treks of the 1990s who has a human religious tradition is Chakotay, and... well, this shouldn't be a problem, but it is with the context we all know is there.
So, yeah, we can't easily fast forward on Paramount Plus, but we just completely ignored those scenes. I read some fanfic, Eva played on her Switch until they were over.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-26 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-26 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-27 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-26 03:22 pm (UTC)Makes me wish I'd watched it more.
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Date: 2024-01-26 06:54 pm (UTC)Indeed, it would probably be more difficult for them to obtain organs through space piracy. (IIRC there was some handwaving about every organic thing on their planet being tainted by the disease and everything they transplant into themselves becoming tainted by the disease, but you'd think with the level of tech involved they could maybe start with some offworld samples and set up some kind of quarantined station in orbit around their world, upon which a steady supply could be cloned.)
no subject
Date: 2024-01-26 07:55 pm (UTC)you'd think with the level of tech involved they could maybe start with some offworld samples and set up some kind of quarantined station in orbit around their world, upon which a steady supply could be cloned.
I mean, clearly the disease hasn't devastated them so much they can no longer innovate.
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Date: 2024-01-29 06:08 pm (UTC)Yeah, the Federation's replicators are so common that they're available for afternoon tea, and this planet's tech is advanced enough that if they don't know how to do that they can learn, and the whole premise is nonsensical.
Also, 100% right on Chakotay. They knew better, so I guess they didn't care.
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Date: 2024-01-29 09:22 pm (UTC)But they also have cloning, so whatevs.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-29 09:42 pm (UTC)It's also hard to explain transporters without replication. I mean, it's not like they're really beaming your atoms through space and reassembling them at the other end. Also, I think I recall some episode (forget which series) where a transporter accident creates duplicates? It's been a while. (Really, though, ST tech is closer to magic than to science. :-) )
But yeah, they explicitly have cloning, so... whatevs indeed.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-30 05:11 am (UTC)Boimler also gets transporter-copied in Lower Decks while serving on the Titan with Will Riker commanding. One of the two Boimlers continues to call himself Brad and returns to the Cerritos. The other starts calling himself Thomas because he's a shameless suck-up and stays on the Titan because he's also even more ambitious than our Boimler.