View Single Post
  #98  
Old 05-23-2019, 12:48 AM
Nate the Great's Avatar
Nate the Great Nate the Great is offline
You just activated his Trek card
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 4,859
Default

May 22nd, 1989, "Up The Long Ladder"

No fiver
Transcript
Memory Alpha

As an introduction, I like the Bringloidi, even if they are blatant offensive stereotypes. I also hate the clone plotline, there has to have been an easier way to force these two groups together without brushing against the abortion/rape awkwardness.

The Episode

PICARD: Recognise it?
RIKER: Sounds like it might be an SOS.
PICARD: Good guess. You're quicker than Starbase research. It took them hours to determine this was a distress beacon.

Ugh. Grr. Every single Earth signal throughout history should be in the database. This accomplishes nothing except making Starfleet look bad.

RIKER: What was its origin point?
PICARD: Ficus sector.
RIKER: Captain, I don't think there's any record of an Earth colony in that area.

Riker has an encyclopedic memory of all Earth colonies for hundreds of years? Furthermore, it sounds like Ficus sector is "in the sticks", so why should Riker even know where it is?

RIKER: The European Hegemony?
PICARD: A loose alliance formed in the early part of the twenty second century. It was the first stirrings of world government. You should read more history, Number One.

Of course the European Union didn't exist in '89, but the European Economic Community did. Furthermore, "first stirrings of world government?" The United Nations doesn't count for that definition. Even if you don't count the UN, I wouldn't use "world government" for anything before United Earth, which also early 22nd century. Cue series bible rant, etc.

WORF: I did not faint. Klingons do not faint.
PULASKI: Excuse me, I'll rephrase. This Klingon suffered a dramatic drop in blood pressure, his blood glucose level dropped, there was deficient blood flow resulting from circulatory failure. In other words, he curled up his toes and laid unconscious on the floor.
WORF: Doctor, there is no need to insult me.
PULASKI: Worf, I am worried. Now, something is wrong. Klingons don't faint. Forgive me. I just can't think of another word that applies.

Just like headaches and the common cold, I consider something as broad as "fainting" to be impossible to breed out of the genome.

PULASKI: So you've got the Klingon version of the measles.
WORF: How would Commander Riker feel if he had the measles.
PULASKI: Pretty silly.

I'm not sure the two situations are equivalent, but then again I'm not sure what Worf is so worried about. Maybe other Klingons would treat him differently, but not Federation citizens.

DATA: Captain, I have been considering the problem of the missing ship. Although there is no record of a launch to the Ficus sector, which would not be unusual considering the chaos of the early twenty second century, someone had to load that ship.
PICARD: The manifest.
DATA: Yes, sir.
PICARD: There it is. SS Mariposa, loaded 27th November, 2123.

This is absolutely silly and a relic of the pre-Internet age. This is implying that the computer database is merely an elaborate filing system: if you don't know exactly what you're looking for you won't find it. Furthermore, this delay accomplishes absolutely nothing but killing time that we don't have to resolve the actual plot.

PICARD: Theorise, Data. Give me some background.
DATA: In the early twenty-second century, Earth was recovering from World War Three. A major philosopher of the period was Liam Dieghan, founder of the Neo-Transcendentalists, who advocated a return to a simpler life in which one lived in harmony with nature, and learned under her gentle tutelage.

Remember that World War III ended roundabout 2053. Imagine the weapons and devastation if they're still recovering fifty years later. Then again, I'm also reminded of the space hippies and become annoyed again.

WORF: You know the ceremony?
PULASKI: I understand the externals, not the mysteries. I'm not a Klingon.

This is intriguing. Do the Daxs understand the mysteries? I find the notion that no non-Klingon can understand the Klingon philosophy/theology a bit dubious.

WORF: You must not drink the tea. It is deadly to humans.
PULASKI: And none too good for Klingons.
WORF: It is a test of bravery, of one's ability to look at the face of mortality. It is also a reminder that death is an experience best shared, like the tea.
PULASKI: Worf, you're a romantic.
WORF: It is among the Klingons that love poetry achieves its fullest flower.

Remember when the series bible said that Picard would be trumping France at every opportunity a la Chekov? I think Worf has taken over the role by now. I also like that the Klingons understand poetry, both in romance and tradition.

WORF: Shields at maximum.

Needing maximum shields at planetary distances from solar flares seems rather dubious.

TROI: Captain, these people have been isolated for three hundred years. They could be very unsophisticated. The shock of suddenly being transported onto a spaceship could frighten them, to say the least.

Fair enough, too bad we can write quite a list of other episodes that ignore similar wisdom.

Captain's log, stardate 42827.3. Commander Riker has reached the caverns, where he is making preparations to begin the evacuation.

The last Captain's Log (just after they left the starbase) was Stardate 42823.2, which is a day and a half ago. Not a continuity problem exactly, but I'd think that everything within a few days warp of all starbases would be better mapped than this. Does the Federation routinely build starbases at the very edge of known space (Farpoint doesn't count as we didn't build that one)?

DANILO: Captain Picard, sir, we can't leave our animals here to die. Besides, how could we build our future without our animals?

Fair enough.

RIKER: They'll learn and adapt. If Danilo Odell's any indication, they'll be running this place inside of a week.

Ha ha. I like how the crew is more accepting of these guys than those frozen humans from "The Neutral Zone." I guess the Season One smug mentality is finally wearing off.

BRENNA: And what are you staring at? Have you never seen a woman before?
RIKER: I thought I had.

Smooth, Will. Smooth.
__________________
mudshark: Nate's just being...Nate.
Zeke: It comes nateurally to him.

mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really -- it's just a bad idea.

Sa'ar Chasm on the 5M.net forum: Sit back, relax, and revel in the insanity.

Adam Savage: I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Crow T. Robot: Oh, stop pretending there's a plot. Don't cheapen yourself further.
Reply With Quote