Scifi TV Discussion Thread

[The New California Republic]

It is no surprise really, as the war resulted in catastrophic Federation losses. I don't ever remember a casualty number being given in any of the episodes though.

Not directly related, but why haven't I seen "AR-558, but instead of Vic Fontaine, its Fortunate Son"?

Tbh I always thought that the AR-558 episode was a thinly veneered take on Vietnam, with the omnipresent booby traps, and constant threat of attack by the enemy.

[Grenartia]

Not directly related, but why haven't I seen "AR-558, but instead of Vic Fontaine, its Fortunate Son"?

Tbh I always thought that the AR-558 episode was a thinly veneered take on Vietnam, with the omnipresent booby traps, and constant threat of attack by the enemy.

I thought it was as blatant as the anti-income inequality take in Past Tense.

[Tarsonis]

Well, there was a war going on. Chances are if no Dominion War, Nog wouldn't have been so fast-tracked.

Indeed. Plus, there's almost no room for advancement on Voyager, short of a more senior officer buying the farm. And furthermore, half of the ship is Maquis. They probably dumped all the less-knowledgeable Maquis on Kim. Tuvok was afraid of mutiny, so he probably kept as much of his staff Starfleet as possible. Hard to imagine that many Maquis having a lot of Starfleet engineering experience, so much of Torres's staff is likely fleet as well. Nav/helm is probably mostly Maquis, but that still requires some advanced knowledge. Apparently, aside from Kes, the Doctor never needed much help, so limited slots in Medical. All you have left is Ops and Science, which Kim headed. So anyone without enough technical experience to compete with a fleeter in any other department is left scrubbing plasma conduits, mopping up the holodeck, sliding their fingers up and down the transporter controls, looking out a window to make sure the visual sensors aren't glitching out, etc.

And then Seven of Nine came along, and dare I say sank his aspirations with a double torpedo broadside.

[Vassenor]

Not directly related, but why haven't I seen "AR-558, but instead of Vic Fontaine, its Fortunate Son"?

Tbh I always thought that the AR-558 episode was a thinly veneered take on Vietnam, with the omnipresent booby traps, and constant threat of attack by the enemy.

It was. The director was a 'Nam vet. There's also supposed to be shades of Guadalcanal in there as well.

[Tarsonis]

Tbh I always thought that the AR-558 episode was a thinly veneered take on Vietnam, with the omnipresent booby traps, and constant threat of attack by the enemy.

It was. The director was a 'Nam vet. There's also supposed to be shades of Guadalcanal in there as well.

Benjamin "Basilone" Sisko

[Ameriganastan]

Man, Dr. Phlox has gone crazy lately. First that wackadoo anti-vaxxer on The Orville, now a dementia addled serial killer on The Rookie.

He likes playing wackos these days.

[Grenartia]

Indeed. Plus, there's almost no room for advancement on Voyager, short of a more senior officer buying the farm. And furthermore, half of the ship is Maquis. They probably dumped all the less-knowledgeable Maquis on Kim. Tuvok was afraid of mutiny, so he probably kept as much of his staff Starfleet as possible. Hard to imagine that many Maquis having a lot of Starfleet engineering experience, so much of Torres's staff is likely fleet as well. Nav/helm is probably mostly Maquis, but that still requires some advanced knowledge. Apparently, aside from Kes, the Doctor never needed much help, so limited slots in Medical. All you have left is Ops and Science, which Kim headed. So anyone without enough technical experience to compete with a fleeter in any other department is left scrubbing plasma conduits, mopping up the holodeck, sliding their fingers up and down the transporter controls, looking out a window to make sure the visual sensors aren't glitching out, etc.

And then Seven of Nine came along, and dare I say sank his aspirations with a double torpedo broadside.

Not necessarily. AFAIK, she didn't even have a rank. She was basically Neelix, except hotter. And Borg.

[Ameriganastan]

Not necessarily. AFAIK, she didn't even have a rank. She was basically Neelix, except hotter. And Borg.

And actually good for something.

[La Paz de Los Ricos]

And then Seven of Nine came along, and dare I say sank his aspirations with a double torpedo broadside.

Not necessarily. AFAIK, she didn't even have a rank. She was basically Neelix, except hotter. And Borg.

Was she really? Neelix was the happy-go-lucky type who tried to make everyone be friendly and needed to be taught a serious lesson or two, like when he died that one time.

Seven is the opposite, a serious, efficiency-oriented person struggling to figure out her humanity, who now and then had a few silly subplots and light moments.

In my opinion, the two are as opposite as possible.

[Tarsonis]

And then Seven of Nine came along, and dare I say sank his aspirations with a double torpedo broadside.

Not necessarily. AFAIK, she didn't even have a rank. She was basically Neelix, except hotter. And Borg.

True but she basically took over all science related tasks on the ship, which left Kim with just ops. Not a lot of room for meritorious advancement when your responsibilities consist mainly of answering the com

[The New California Republic]

Not necessarily. AFAIK, she didn't even have a rank. She was basically Neelix, except hotter. And Borg.

True but she basically took over all science related tasks on the ship, which left Kim with just ops. Not a lot of room for meritorious advancement when your responsibilities consist mainly of answering the com

Kim was a brown nosing little nobody. I would have taken great pleasure in seeing him in the possible future in the Endgame episode as still having the rank of ensign.

[Tarsonis]

Side note, just learned that Halston Sage and Seth were dating behind the scenes and broke up last fall. Suddenly her departure from The Orville makes much more sense.

[Ameriganastan]

Okay, I'm getting kind of sick of Kylden. Guy is always bitching and moaning, nearly killed Bortus and now

destroys a dudes life by outing him as...gay? Bi? Whatever.

Prick.

[Ism]

Okay, I'm getting kind of sick of Kylden. Guy is always bitching and moaning, nearly killed Bortus and now

destroys a dudes life by outing him as...gay? Bi? Whatever.

Prick.

Ed’s comments on the Moclans being difficult allies makes me wonder if there’s going to be some sort of Union civil war in the future. Their culture definitely seems to be incompatible with Union values.

[Myrensis]

Well, there was a war going on. Chances are if no Dominion War, Nog wouldn't have been so fast-tracked.

Indeed. Plus, there's almost no room for advancement on Voyager, short of a more senior officer buying the farm. And furthermore, half of the ship is Maquis. They probably dumped all the less-knowledgeable Maquis on Kim. Tuvok was afraid of mutiny, so he probably kept as much of his staff Starfleet as possible. Hard to imagine that many Maquis having a lot of Starfleet engineering experience, so much of Torres's staff is likely fleet as well. Nav/helm is probably mostly Maquis, but that still requires some advanced knowledge. Apparently, aside from Kes, the Doctor never needed much help, so limited slots in Medical. All you have left is Ops and Science, which Kim headed. So anyone without enough technical experience to compete with a fleeter in any other department is left scrubbing plasma conduits, mopping up the holodeck, sliding their fingers up and down the transporter controls, looking out a window to make sure the visual sensors aren't glitching out, etc.

Counter Argument: Deanna Troi. In any realistic scenario she would have been an Ensign, an Lt at best, who served under Crusher, but on the Enterprise somehow she's part of the senior staff and holds appropriate rank.

Or other argument: Why does Tom need to be a commissioned officer, hold any rank, or get promoted no less? He's the pilot and...that's it, he has no authority over anyone else, no staff, no crew, but he gets a commission, a promotion, a demotion, and repromoted, while Harry languishes.

Harry's perpetual Ensignhood doesn't really make any sense given everything else we've ever seen about Starfleets rather laidback attitude toward the officer corps and ship command structure.

[Ameriganastan]

Counter Argument: Deanna Troi. In any realistic scenario she would have been an Ensign, an Lt at best, who served under Crusher, but on the Enterprise somehow she's part of the senior staff and holds appropriate rank.

Well, she was an empath. And however largely useless her mind reading usually was in the situation, it makes sense someone with those abilities would be pretty high up.

Also, I think the rank is mostly so her patients would take her seriously. I mean, would you take counselling from an ensign?

[Vassenor]

Indeed. Plus, there's almost no room for advancement on Voyager, short of a more senior officer buying the farm. And furthermore, half of the ship is Maquis. They probably dumped all the less-knowledgeable Maquis on Kim. Tuvok was afraid of mutiny, so he probably kept as much of his staff Starfleet as possible. Hard to imagine that many Maquis having a lot of Starfleet engineering experience, so much of Torres's staff is likely fleet as well. Nav/helm is probably mostly Maquis, but that still requires some advanced knowledge. Apparently, aside from Kes, the Doctor never needed much help, so limited slots in Medical. All you have left is Ops and Science, which Kim headed. So anyone without enough technical experience to compete with a fleeter in any other department is left scrubbing plasma conduits, mopping up the holodeck, sliding their fingers up and down the transporter controls, looking out a window to make sure the visual sensors aren't glitching out, etc.

Counter Argument: Deanna Troi. In any realistic scenario she would have been an Ensign, an Lt at best, who served under Crusher, but on the Enterprise somehow she's part of the senior staff and holds appropriate rank.

Or other argument: Why does Tom need to be a commissioned officer, hold any rank, or get promoted no less? He's the pilot and...that's it, he has no authority over anyone else, no staff, no crew, but he gets a commission, a promotion, a demotion, and repromoted, while Harry languishes.

Harry's perpetual Ensignhood doesn't really make any sense given everything else we've ever seen about Starfleets rather laidback attitude toward the officer corps and ship command structure.

She's effectively the Starfleet equivalent of a 230X Medical Service Corps Officer with six years of service as of TNG S1. What makes that unreasonable?

[Vassenor]

Counter Argument: Deanna Troi. In any realistic scenario she would have been an Ensign, an Lt at best, who served under Crusher, but on the Enterprise somehow she's part of the senior staff and holds appropriate rank.

Well, she was an empath. And however largely useless her mind reading usually was in the situation, it makes sense someone with those abilities would be pretty high up.

Also, I think the rank is mostly so her patients would take her seriously. I mean, would you take counselling from an ensign?

Case in point: Garak giving Ezri shit.

[Tarsonis]

Counter Argument: Deanna Troi. In any realistic scenario she would have been an Ensign, an Lt at best, who served under Crusher, but on the Enterprise somehow she's part of the senior staff and holds appropriate rank.

Well, she was an empath. And however largely useless her mind reading usually was in the situation, it makes sense someone with those abilities would be pretty high up.

Also, I think the rank is mostly so her patients would take her seriously. I mean, would you take counselling from an ensign?

Also, iirc Picard specifically requested her.

[Imperial isa]

Okay, I'm getting kind of sick of Kylden. Guy is always bitching and moaning, nearly killed Bortus and now

destroys a dudes life by outing him as...gay? Bi? Whatever.

Prick.

Makes me wish a krill attack does something to him.

[Tarsonis]

Yeah Klyden is a katty bitch. On the flip side Big head dude is the Oh no gay guy from family guy, and that makes me happy.

[Ameriganastan]

Yeah Klyden is a katty bitch. On the flip side Big head dude is the Oh no gay guy from family guy, and that makes me happy.

He's also Cleveland, Consuela and Herbert.

[Tarsonis]

Yeah Klyden is a katty bitch. On the flip side Big head dude is the Oh no gay guy from family guy, and that makes me happy.

He's also Cleveland, Consuela and Herbert.

Yeah but the oh no totally came out when he was eating the cupcake and it made me happy.

[Ameriganastan]

Dude, forget big head guy. That talking flower guy was Bruce Willis.

[Tarsonis]

Dude, forget big head guy. That talking flower guy was Bruce Willis.

Now that you say that, holy shit I hear it now