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It took years for me to find out what a tam o'shanter was.
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May 21, 2017 05:49
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The last Trek novels I read (and the only ones in years and years) were the Vanguard series, which I really enjoyed. It's not high literature or anything but it's a fun and modernized take on an original storyline and characters set in the TOS era. The authors kinda tried for "DS9 but in the 1960s" and I think they pulled it off well.
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May 21, 2017 07:37
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Watched Heart of Glory, the episode that reveals Worf's backstory. I was glad to find out what his deal is but it was kind of ruined by his dull acting.
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May 21, 2017 08:56
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Drone posted:The last Trek novels I read (and the only ones in years and years) were the Vanguard series, which I really enjoyed. It's not high literature or anything but it's a fun and modernized take on an original storyline and characters set in the TOS era. The authors kinda tried for "DS9 but in the 1960s" and I think they pulled it off well. I'm friends with the author so my recommendation is biased as gently caress, but if you liked the Vanguard series check out the rest of the Trek books by Dayton Ward. IMO he gets TOS really well.
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May 21, 2017 12:22
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8one6 posted:I'm friends with the author so my recommendation is biased as gently caress, but if you liked the Vanguard series check out the rest of the Trek books by Dayton Ward. IMO he gets TOS really well. Yeah, I really enjoy his stuff, along with Greg Cox's work as well.
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May 21, 2017 12:30
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Finished season three of ENT, and just watched "Storm Front Part 1." Some thoughts: While I liked well enough how the Xindi plot unfolded, I feel like the Enterprise fought about one too many battles to destroy the super-weapon. Azati Prime was cool because the Enterprise gets trashed and that has cool ramifications for the plot going forward. The final battle is good because it's the big climactic battle. The one(s) in the middle where they're chasing it around Xindi space and it keeps escaping just feels... lame. At a certain point, the show has spent too many attempts so you just know it's going to get away and they're going to have to get it near Earth. It kind of killed the tension of the battle(s) between Azati Prime and Earth. Degra was pretty cool, and is as close to doing something interesting with the Xindi that the show gets. While I see why they left the Xindi mysterious and scary to the crew for half the season, I think the plot suffered more than it gained from that. Showing more nuance with them earlier might have given more dimension to the later politicking between the races. And it was hard for the show to really sell the Xindi as mysterious and foreboding when we see them at the end of every episode, plotting. Basically, the season could have used someone like Degra sooner than we got him. High point of the season finale: Shran,  This whole show is one giant time travel plot that makes no sense, and I feel like I'm getting through it out of sheer exhaustion at this point. I've said this a million times before in the thread: time travel plots make no loving sense and I hate them. The only way they even come close to making sense is if they're totally circular, but there's usually holes in them even when they try to do that (I'm looking a you, "Time's Arrow"). I had already accepted that the Temporal Cold War makes no sense and learned to just live with it and enjoy the show for everything else... and then Daniels shows up one last time. It's like the show aggressively doesn't care about basic poo poo like cause and effect. Why would he show up mutated and not just loving wink out of existence when his timeline was destroyed by the Nazi Aliens? Also, Daniels was annoying and gently caress him. I'm glad he died the way he did: as a hideous fetal-old man abomination. Couldn't have happened to a better guy. I like that mobsters in NYC are leading the resistance to Nazi occupation of the east coast. It has some parallels with what happened in the allied invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland. (Americans and British scouts went ashore, made contact with the local mafia, and the mafia assassinated dozens of fascist officers in the days before the invasion force arrived, effectively crippling their ability to mount a defense.) Sure, they're all goomba stereotypes, but it's fun and cool anyway.Looking forward to finishing up "Storm Front" and the rest of season four (except for the last episode, which I happened to see back when it aired).
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May 21, 2017 13:14
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Ah yes, mutated dying Daniels, the final time we ever see him 
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May 21, 2017 15:50
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The whole temporal cold war was a bad idea and I hated the Xindi arc. I don't agree the show gets better in its 3rd season, it's just a different kind of bad. Only the 4th season was worth anything.
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May 21, 2017 17:09
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I didn't mind the idea of a temporal cold war, but it' was clearly too much for the writers to make interesting and I don't remember anything but Daniels looking like a math club teacher and saying "oh, there's a bunch of stuff happening in the future/off-screen" while Archer squints off into the middle-distance.
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May 21, 2017 17:18
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mycomancy posted:We got something very similar in Stargate: Universe. If Voyager would've stuck with their premises like being flung into scarcity and having a conflict between the Maquis and Starfleet crew, poo poo could've gotten very, very good. Sorry to reply to a two day old post, but I also think it was down to having so much going on *on Earth*. Like, these people would regularly be dealing with familial drama on Earth, when they're not even in the Pisces-Cetus supercluster anymore. That little device they used to contact Earth was such a crutch and it barely even makes sense, they might as have just called it literally The Plot Device. Even Voyager didn't resort to doing poo poo like that. Despite the distances involved, a space cartel was able to figure it out and attack the ship. If it's that easy why is it only the Milky Way is attacking it, should all these life-bearing galaxies with their own SGCs and cartels want a piece of the action too? They aimed for the middle between sci-fi fans and fans of stuff like the OC and Grey's Anatomy. Problem is, those two audiences are generally mutually exclusive. My GF absolutely will not watch anything Star Trek even a little bit, because of the nerd implications, and I will not watch her sitcoms, because gently caress that poo poo. Caprica did the same thing, and failed for the same reason.
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May 21, 2017 19:35
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skooma512 posted:Sorry to reply to a two day old post, but I also think it was down to having so much going on *on Earth*. Oh right, those damned stones. I agree they were overused, but I think they had their place and could've been interesting if they had a, say, year long cool down, so you'd get them once per season and that's that.
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May 21, 2017 23:11
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Voyager trip report: just finished watching selected episodes up to the end of Season 6. It's a boring slog. My favourite episodes have all been set off the ship, like Prometheus or the ones with Barclay trying to help get in contact.
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May 21, 2017 23:19
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I for one am shocked.
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May 22, 2017 00:36
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skooma512 posted:They aimed for the middle between sci-fi fans and fans of stuff like the OC and Grey's Anatomy. Problem is, those two audiences are generally mutually exclusive. My GF absolutely will not watch anything Star Trek even a little bit, because of the nerd implications, and I will not watch her sitcoms, because gently caress that poo poo. Caprica did the same thing, and failed for the same reason.
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May 22, 2017 00:46
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Blade_of_tyshalle posted:Ah yes, mutated dying Daniels, the final time we ever see him Hey, a boy can dream. Arglebargle III posted:The whole temporal cold war was a bad idea and I hated the Xindi arc. I don't agree the show gets better in its 3rd season, it's just a different kind of bad. Only the 4th season was worth anything. I'm kind of in the middle about season three. I think it was better than seasons one and two, if only because it tries continuity. It's not significantly better, though. It's better like, "hey, this day-old, burnt coffee is luke warm instead of cold." Hopefully season four is a hot, fresh mug of Space Nazis getting shot all day, every day. All of Enterprise is still better than 80% of Voyager, though.
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May 22, 2017 01:17
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The first two seasons are some good episodes scattered among beige. The third season didn't exactly work but I appreciate them trying something different. The fourth is as good as anything else in Trek.
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May 22, 2017 04:00
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Coq au Nandos posted:Voyager trip report: just finished watching selected episodes up to the end of Season 6. Most of the stories that feature the Doctor are pretty good. One of my favorites is "Living Witness". A backup device containing a backup of the doctor is uncovered on a world in the future and he's reactivated. Of course, if there's a backup then why do they freak out every time he's about to glitch out in other episodes? It's never mentioned again.
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May 22, 2017 04:07
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Yeah watch every Doctor-centered episode if you didn't he is the best.
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May 22, 2017 04:15
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Nullsmack posted:Of course, if there's a [plot device] then why do they freak out every time [it would solve the problem] in other episodes? It's never mentioned again. Star Trek Continuity Mad Libs
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May 22, 2017 04:16
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Nullsmack posted:Most of the stories that feature the Doctor are pretty good. One of my favorites is "Living Witness". A backup device containing a backup of the doctor is uncovered on a world in the future and he's reactivated. Of course, if there's a backup then why do they freak out every time he's about to glitch out in other episodes? It's never mentioned again. Yeah that episode ruled. I also really enjoyed Prometheus because it's great dumb fun, Andy Dick out of nowhere and a cool new ship. The one where he learned to daydream was great too. Opinions on characters: Tuvok: good Vulcan, wasted on this show. Would have been brilliant playing against Takei on the Excelcior Seven of Nine: more like Seven of FINE. No seriously she's a good character but weirdly over sexualised. Also I don't know why they needed a second stoic, logical character when you've got Tuvok. Janeway: Ok captain, I suspect my opinion of her is a bit rosy because of how many episodes I've skipped. I liked the "I don't negotiate with Borg" line. Chakotay: What if Riker was vaguely Native American and hosed around 75% less? What if he sometimes disagreed with his captain but then they agree again? What if Chakotay was engaging in any way. If this was a better plotted out show he would have had way more romantic tension with Janeway. Tom Paris: In the distant future of the late 90s, there are only dorks. Hooked up with Sarah Silverman, that was cool. Would probably be a better fit for first officer? Harry Kim: Sucks Neelix: I liked the episode where he tried to kill himself, but the ending was disappointing. The Doctor: Best actor and best character on the show, and so is somewhat wasted. His weird boner for 7 of 9 is not endearing. Torres: How the gently caress do you write a Klingon terrorist and then manage to make her boring?
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May 22, 2017 04:34
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Seven should have been a complete basket case for at least part of the time after they disconnected her. Picard was shook hard and that was only after a few days.
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May 22, 2017 04:59
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Speaking of Voyager, was there a scene of the Delta Flyer gaining sentience or something? I remember Paris saying something and then the computer repeats it a few times after he leaves, re-modulating the sound until it sounds female. Did I just make that up?
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May 22, 2017 05:09
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hiddenriverninja posted:Speaking of Voyager, was there a scene of the Delta Flyer gaining sentience or something? It was a shuttle they found. It was dumb.
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May 22, 2017 05:16
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Tom Paris fell in love, and had sex with, a spacecraft. And a Camaro. e: I might be misremembering that.
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May 22, 2017 05:33
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Watching Arsenal of Freedom and lol: "Tell me about your ship, Riker. It's the Enterprise, isn't it?" "No, the name of my ship is the Lollipop." "I have no knowledge of that ship." "It's just been commissioned -- it's a good ship."
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May 22, 2017 05:35
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Jeb! Repetition posted:Watching Arsenal of Freedom and lol: Everyone knew Riker was gonna be a likable dude from that moment on.
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May 22, 2017 05:37
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Coq au Nandos posted:Opinions on characters:  
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May 22, 2017 05:39
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May 22, 2017 05:45
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Looks like you've fallen into my trap! You see, this is just Tim Russ playing a regular human aboard a different Excelsior class ship! 
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May 22, 2017 05:50
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What the fuuuuuuuu
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May 22, 2017 05:51
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Voyager is sad because no one knows who those characters are supposed to be. Picardo probably isn't the best actor -- the show has a solid cast. He's just the one that was allowed to do anything fun. RDM (aka the guy who played Paris) is actually really solid. He's just written in such a way that he's always the bratty kid or the goofy dad and it's such a waste.
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May 22, 2017 06:54
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The Dark One posted:Looks like you've fallen into my trap! You see, this is just Tim Russ playing a regular human aboard a different Excelsior class ship! I always wondered if they got the idea for that Excelsior episode specifically because they saw him on the Enterprise-B bridge that one time and got confused.
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May 22, 2017 06:59
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Jeb! Repetition posted:Watching Arsenal of Freedom and lol: Did Starfleet end up buying those weapons? I feel like that tech could have won the Dominion war...
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May 22, 2017 09:33
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Bucswabe posted:Did Starfleet end up buying those weapons? I feel like that tech could have won the Dominion war... When did Star Trek ever use something world changing that was discovered/created in an earlier episode that wasn't a two-parter? What do you think this is, Stargate?
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May 22, 2017 09:51
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8one6 posted:When did Star Trek ever use something world changing that was discovered/created in an earlier episode that wasn't a two-parter? What do you think this is, Stargate? The Doc's holoemitter in Voyager? I mean I guess it wasn't world-changing but it was pretty significant for the series, if for nothing else than being a dumb deus ex machina.
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May 22, 2017 10:03
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Yeah but they didn't actually expand on it. The only one I can really think of is beaming through shields. Oh, the slingshot maneuver too.
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May 22, 2017 10:07
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8one6 posted:When did Star Trek ever use something world changing that was discovered/created in an earlier episode that wasn't a two-parter? What do you think this is, Stargate? Drone posted:The Doc's holoemitter in Voyager? In TNG, the Holodeck gets upgraded in the Binar episode and seems to stay upgraded. Quasi-sapient holograms are explicitly exciting new tech in that and they keep coming back. Plus the Emergency Medical Hologram itself is clearly new development that shows up in DS9 and First Contact as well as Voyager. Oh and Crusher's metaphasic shielding from the killer plant dude episode gets reused in Descent. Also the beacons or whatever they're called for aiming transporter beams through interference come back a couple times. And the rotating frequencies for fight Borg. Voyager also had a running theme of them trying to get Transwarp to work. Transwarp drive was originally something the Excelsior was supposed to be able to do way, way back, but it apparently didn't work. So Voyager tries to recreate the tech in Threshold, but that doesn't work because it turns people into salamanders and then later they get "Quantum Slipstream" drive from this weird revenge alien, but that burns out and they can't fix it (later, they sell the tech to George Kastanza because they "never could get it to work"). They have their best success with just straight up stealing Transwarp Coils from the Borg, which happens at least twice, and I think is how they actually get home in the end. Also there was a subspace catapult, Kes magic, and hedonism-planet powered teleportation, so they wind up discovering at least five different methods of Transwarp Travel. IDK if the books acknowledge it or not, but the show seems to imply that Voyager successfully brings Transwarp tech back to the Federation. Also, the Star Fleet invents artificial micro-wormhole technology in Pathfinder and that stays around. Those are probably the biggest.
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May 22, 2017 10:58
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On the topic of plot devices that reduced Voyager's trip home, didn't Q also give them a little nudge as thanks for saving the Continuum from civil war / helping Q get married / taking care of his brat son?
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May 22, 2017 11:30
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He gave them specs to improve their warp drive or something in one episode.
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May 22, 2017 11:44
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Duckbag posted:In TNG, the Holodeck gets upgraded in the Binar episode and seems to stay upgraded. Quasi-sapient holograms are explicitly exciting new tech in that and they keep coming back. Plus the Emergency Medical Hologram itself is clearly new development that shows up in DS9 and First Contact as well as Voyager. Oh and Crusher's metaphasic shielding from the killer plant dude episode gets reused in Descent. Also the beacons or whatever they're called for aiming transporter beams through interference come back a couple times. And the rotating frequencies for fight Borg.
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May 22, 2017 13:07
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