Star Trek: *hits blunt* The higher, the fewerrrrrr

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Star Trek: *hits blunt* The higher, the fewerrrrrr

WickedHate: Aug 1, 2013; by Lowtax

Changling shapeshifting really doesn't make any sense because if they can fool scanners they must do it a cellular, maybe even atomic level, and at that point there's no reason they can't just turn into a giant antimatter death ray that can fire across quadrants.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 00:10

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# ? May 10, 2024 00:27

Mortanis: Dec 28, 2005; It's your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight.; College Slice

8-Bit Scholar posted:

I was pleasantly surprised when they made mention of the fact that he couldn't impregnate her, a nice attention to the detail that it makes no sense for every alien species in Star Trek to be able to...ah...cross-pollinate.

Other than TNG establishes that pretty much all the humanoid races in the galaxy are seeded from the same progenitors. Apparently whatever they used to seed the galaxy must contain information that guides single celled organisms along a path toward humanoid shape because there's a lot of evolution between point A and point B, AND contains the data to recreate a convenient hologram explaining this inside a Tricorder, but that's beside the point. They DID try to explain why everything is bipedal humanoid and half-breeds can technically occur.

"The Chase" - S6E20

# ? Sep 8, 2016 00:15

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

I am not a huge 7of9 fan but this scene was well acted and got me in the feels a little.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGOYjj2JCN0

# ? Sep 8, 2016 00:50

Powered Descent: Jul 13, 2008; We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

Mortanis posted:

Apparently whatever they used to seed the galaxy must contain information that guides single celled organisms along a path toward humanoid shape because there's a lot of evolution between point A and point B, AND contains the data to recreate a convenient hologram explaining this inside a Tricorder, but that's beside the point. They DID try to explain why everything is bipedal humanoid and half-breeds can technically occur.

In the even more distant past, an intelligent progenitor planet made it so that every world that formed in the galaxy would have a feature that looked just like the Vazquez Rocks.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 01:15

WickedHate: Aug 1, 2013; by Lowtax

Powered Descent posted:

In the even more distant past, an intelligent progenitor planet made it so that every world that formed in the galaxy would have a feature that looked just like the Vazquez Rocks.

You mean Daiakuron?

# ? Sep 8, 2016 01:38

Mulaney Power Move: Dec 30, 2004

We only see changelings die twice on camera and the first time it was the fake ambassador guy getting shoved into the warp core or whatever and the second time it took about 50 klingons shooting him at near point blank until he finally exploded into goo everywhere. At one point a changeling even said, "What makes you think that phaser can even hurt me?" I think it was the fake O'Brien changeling from the changelings on earth two-parter.

My guess is does indeed take a lot to kill them. Like you'd need to design some kind of virus or something.

And yet, Odo still cowers like a batok anytime someone is about to hit him with a club or something.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 03:47

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

Doesn't Odo explode into goo when shot in the mirror episode?

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:07

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

Big Mean Jerk posted:

Doesn't Odo explode into goo when shot in the mirror episode?

Yup, confirmed killed too.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:10

Zesty: Jan 17, 2012; The Great Twist

There was that one in the crashed Jem'hedar ship as well. Just watched it yesterday.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:20

Mulaney Power Move: Dec 30, 2004

I forgot about mirror Odo, that makes 3. Although crashed ship changeling just dies from who knows what so it doesn't count.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:26

Farmer Crack-Ass: Jan 2, 2001; this is me posting irl

VOY Author, Author: "As far as I know, Captain, you haven't executed any of my patients."

I want so much for that to be a sly reference to Tuvix.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:30

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

There are way too many casual vests in the 24th century.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:37

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!

Big Mean Jerk posted:

Doesn't Odo explode into goo when shot in the mirror episode?

Odo is young and weak for a Changeling, I can completely buy that some ancient-rear end Great Link resident has learned six thousand ways to become made out of super bullshitium internally at all times while Odo's still got go-tos such as "rat," "duffel bag," and "heavily abraded Frenchman."

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:39

Tunicate: May 15, 2012

That baby changeling also died, bringing up the count further

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:45

Farmer Crack-Ass: Jan 2, 2001; this is me posting irl

um, actually, i beleive you'll find changelings are intended to be demigods, as established in this memory gamma entr

# ? Sep 8, 2016 04:47

8-Bit Scholar: Jan 23, 2016; by FactsAreUseless

Changelings are weak and frightened creatures who rule from a distance, existing as hearsay and rumor, deadly secrets and ancient myths. The entire reason the Dominion exists is because the Changelings determined that the only way to avoid being oppressed and persecuted is to BECOME the oppressors and the persecutors.

While they have incredible powers and deep wisdom (and an apparent mastery of biotechnology, if we're to believe that Weyoun and his ilk learned their cloning tech from them), they are a race that was nearly wiped out in the distant past, and that fear of annhilation haunts them to this day. It's precisely why they lose--when faced with an existential threat, a disease for which they can produce no cure, they lose their poise and all of their regal bearings and cower like the slimes they are.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:02

Mulaney Power Move: Dec 30, 2004

Speaking of the baby changeling, I wonder whatever happened to the Jem Haadar adult baby Odo gave a runabout and set free. I bet as soon as he found his people they just dissected every military secret they could from the runabout and probably him too. Way to go Odo. You returned the meat shield to his "people."

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:04

Zesty: Jan 17, 2012; The Great Twist

Farmer Crack-rear end posted:

um, actually, i beleive you'll find changelings are intended to be demigods, as established in this memory gamma entr

Oh my god that's a thing.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:05

Gonz: Dec 22, 2009; "Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"

I wish they'd put DS9, Voyager and Enterprise back into syndication alongside TOS and TNG.

I've seen TOS and TNG 4 dozen times, damnit.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:20

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

Gonz posted:

I wish they'd put DS9, Voyager and Enterprise back into syndication alongside TOS and TNG.

I've seen TOS and TNG 4 dozen times, damnit.

At some point I think Spike had the rights for DS9 and Voyager? I seem to recall watching them late at night some years back.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:31

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

I see them on obscure channels every now and then, stuff like Heroes & Icons or The Kube (one of the local channels here in Houston).

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:36

CaveGrinch: Dec 5, 2003; I'm a mean one.

DS9 is my favorite series. Like others it has its low points and hi points. It tends to have more high points.

The one thing that has always bugged me though was the Founders literally turning Odo into a Solid. Did they just suppress his shape shifting power or did they make him a full on human-type? Was it ever explained?

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:39

Gonz: Dec 22, 2009; "Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"

Rhyno posted:

At some point I think Spike had the rights for DS9 and Voyager? I seem to recall watching them late at night some years back.

They did, but I don't think i've seen either show on TV since.....2006? 2007?

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:40

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

Bring back UPN

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:43

Gonz: Dec 22, 2009; "Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"

Big Mean Jerk posted:

Bring back UPN

Okay, but only if they also bring back Deadly Games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcCKid7iiTo

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:46

Mulaney Power Move: Dec 30, 2004

CaveGrinch posted:

DS9 is my favorite series. Like others it has its low points and hi points. It tends to have more high points.

The one thing that has always bugged me though was the Founders literally turning Odo into a Solid. Did they just suppress his shape shifting power or did they make him a full on human-type? Was it ever explained?

Yeah they immediately said he had organs and everything, and Bashir was like "what the heck," so I guess you can tell a changeling from a solid with a scan but you need a medical tricorder.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 05:46

Rhyno: Mar 22, 2003; Can't post for 10 years!

Gonz posted:

They did, but I don't think i've seen either show on TV since.....2006? 2007?

I said some years!

# ? Sep 8, 2016 06:07

Winifred Madgers: Feb 12, 2002

Gonz posted:

Okay, but only if they also bring back ~~Deadly Games~~ Nowhere Man.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 06:09

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!

Gonz posted:

Okay, but only if they also bring back Homeboys in Outer Space

# ? Sep 8, 2016 06:29

MikeJF: Dec 20, 2003

Mulaney Power Move posted:

Yeah they immediately said he had organs and everything, and Bashir was like "what the heck," so I guess you can tell a changeling from a solid with a scan but you need a medical tricorder.

Which of course made no sense for the security problems they had.

Maybe it's just Odo that never did organs and they just forced his body into 'functioning' humanoid biology template and locked out his control.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 06:56

showbiz_liz: Jun 2, 2008

MikeJF posted:

Maybe it's just Odo that never did organs and they just forced his body into 'functioning' humanoid biology template and locked out his control.

I love how all of the explanations for this (when really the explanation is "the writer felt like it") are "Odo is terrible at shapeshifting."

# ? Sep 8, 2016 07:05

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

So today is the 50th anniversary of the preachy franchise that brings all of us terrible posters together

# ? Sep 8, 2016 07:32

MrL_JaKiri: Sep 23, 2003; A bracing glass of carrot juice!

8-Bit Scholar posted:

This may just be me, but I sort of saw all of DS9 operating on a much, MUCH larger scale than they depict.

There's an episode where they have I think Jake and Bashir stuck in the midst of a war zone while the Federation is fighting the Klingons. Naturally most of the war scenes are happening outside of the cave they are in, and you only have four or five extras with guns to have as enemy Klingons, but the dialogue, the descriptions of the battles, and the general tone of it all suggest a Warhammer 40k-scale war, with Klingons enacting incredible acts of genocide and violence as they sweep across the planet like Mongols, Federation troops totally outgunned and pressed to desperation.

DS9 tells and doesn't show to incredible effect. I feel like for television, this ought to have a new term. Doctor Who is the original master of this, managing to take echoey sound stages and warhouse sets and transforming them into myriads alien worlds, alternate dimensions, strange timelines, etc. In fact, a First Doctor (maybe Second) episode has the Doctor and co end up in a gap between dimensions, exploring essentially a space outside of space, and this is demonstrated with basically a cheap, cheap sound stage set, nothing but white walls and floor, a little smoke, some cardboard walls...and it works, perhaps even better than a great special effects effort would, precisely because it looks so cheap and weird that it sells the weirdness of the setting.

Making a lot with a little is one of the wonderful things television does best.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8c6sv_the-mind-robber-1_shortfilms

The Mind Robber. The first episode was written on short notice because the preceding story was changed from 6 to 5 episodes, and so it had no money.

This story is also famous for Frazer Hines (who plays Jamie, the scottish one) getting chicken pox and not being able to appear and being replaced by someone else for one episode.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 08:32

MikeJF: Dec 20, 2003

showbiz_liz posted:

I love how all of the explanations for this (when really the explanation is "the writer felt like it") are "Odo is terrible at shapeshifting."

To be fair, this was a thing on the show.

I kinda wish they'd slowly toned down the makeup over the years.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 10:31

Fucked-Up Little Dog: Aug 26, 2008; Posting live from the nightmare future of Web 3.0; Scratchmo

Big Mean Jerk posted:

So today is the 50th anniversary of the preachy franchise that brings all of us terrible posters together

The blingee stuff is less horrid than the stupid waiter uniform from the TNG films.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 10:37

Gonz: Dec 22, 2009; "Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"

The Smithsonian Channel's Building Star Trek documentary is available, in full (and for free), on their YouTube page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYXRkwY9zfs

# ? Sep 8, 2016 10:37

Gonz: Dec 22, 2009; "Jesus, did I say that? Or just think it? Was I talking? Did they hear me?"

Rhyno posted:

I said some years!

"THERE....ARE....NINE...YEARS!"

# ? Sep 8, 2016 10:46

Blade_of_tyshalle: Jul 12, 2009; If you think that, along the way, you're not going to fail... you're blind.

There's no one I've ever met, no matter how successful they are, who hasn't said they had their failures along the way.

MikeJF posted:

Which of course made no sense for the security problems they had.

Maybe it's just Odo that never did organs and they just forced his body into 'functioning' humanoid biology template and locked out his control.

I think this is exactly it. The Founders genetically engineered Iggy Pop out of a lemur and made basilisk men who biologically turn transparent while growing to maturity in a week. They certainly know how to build internal organ systems and how to manipulate their own protein chains to become solid for potentially years. Given that a blob of baby goo made Odo whole again, it isn't "difficult" in that sense to unlock him, so maybe the Founders expected him to eventually come crawling back and beg to be restored so they could then own him forever.

# ? Sep 8, 2016 12:12

Mister Kingdom: Dec 14, 2005; And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Big Mean Jerk posted:

Doesn't Odo explode into goo when shot in the mirror episode?

# ? Sep 8, 2016 12:24

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# ? May 10, 2024 00:27

mossyfisk: Nov 8, 2010; FF0000

WickedHate posted:

Changling shapeshifting really doesn't make any sense because if they can fool scanners they must do it a cellular, maybe even atomic level, and at that point there's no reason they can't just turn into a giant antimatter death ray that can fire across quadrants.

Doesn't the other Alpha Quadrant changeling we meet in DS9 shapeshift into a warp-capable starship?

# ? Sep 8, 2016 14:06

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