#worf has... at least some idea

[keodraws]

sigh. still infected with brain worms.

[lipstickontheglass1985]

star trek tng s5e5 disaster would be such a beautiful name for a babygirl btw

[jaegermonstrous]

So I've got Thoughts on Worf. Disclaimer, these are all heavily informed by own experiences and background, ymmv. Also disclaimer, I haven't gotten around to watching PIC yet. It's on my list, but I'm not there yet. But anyway.

So, Worf in TNG is pretty much our biggest exposure to the Klingon culture so far, and he's pretty consistent with the other Klingons we see. He's a big and tough warrior guy with the Stoic Warrior Thing going on. He's constantly getting his ass handed to him to show the audience the bad guys of the week are Serious Business. He's a pretty awful father, but we have no reason to believe other Klingons are much better. He's apparently got enough of a soft/personable side that he dates Deanna Troi for a bit [no shade to the actors here, but the logic behind that pairing has never worked for me, or at least the writers never did enough legwork to make it believable to my ace and autistic self]. But mostly, he's a Big Stoic Warrior Man from a culture of Big Stoic Warrior Men.

But Worf in DS9 is much less isolated from other Klingons, and it's here where - to me - he becomes incredibly interesting as an example of someone trying to reconnect with their heritage as an adult, especially someone who's either felt pressured to perform their culture "correctly" to an outsider [Federation] standard, or who's never had significant contact with the huge diversity of their culture and kind of internalized the idea that "this is how you perform my culture correctly" from a very limited amount of sources, and therefore become kind of an asshole about it when people [other Klingons] don't do or be as you expect them to.

From the doylist perspective we can just say "well, the DS9 writers really diversified the Klingons," but I find the watsonian perspective far more interesting; here you have Worf, the first and [so far] only Klingon serving in Starfleet, who was removed from his culture as a young child and raised by Humans [no shade to the Rozhenkos here, I think they did their best to raise Worf with an awareness of his origins]. He's been aware most of his life of being the only Klingon in a room full of Humans and other Federation species, most of whom have Expectations of what Meeting A Real Klingon would be like. So Worf, with his mostly second-hand knowledge of Klingon culture and a huge wall of Expectations surrounding him at every turn, becomes what he thinks of as The Ideal Klingon. He's stoic, he's gruff, he barely ever cracks a smile, and when you put him in the room with a bunch of diverse DS9 Klingons, he comes across as a caricature.

Let's look at some of the DS9 Klingons, and I think you'll see what I mean.

First up - Kaga, the Klingon chef. I personally love Kaga, and I wish we had gotten to see more of him. He's our first real indicator that Klingons in DS9 are Built Different. He's cheerful, he doesn't dress in a warrior's armor, he plays that Klingon accordion thing and sings to his patrons. He's a glimpse of what Klingons outside the military are probably like. I love that the DS9 writers did this, showcasing that Klingons [like so many of the non-Humans we get in DS9] are just people.

Next, we have Kor, the Dahar Master. Again, I adore Kor. In some ways he's a throwback to TOS Klingons, who were conniving, and mocking, and just generally Untrustworthy and would 100% stab you in the back if they thought it would get them what they wanted. But he's also a fantastic example of a DS9 Klingon. Kor is old, and tired, and kind of a drunk, and beginning to lose touch with his abilities and reality. But he's also clever, and cunning, and you can really see the intelligence and the ferocity that made him so formidable to Kirk and the TOS crew back in the day. And he's also charming and kind of a sweetheart, and he genuinely loves Dax like family. He's well-rounded in a way we don't get to see Worf be for a while. And even when we contrast Kor with Kang and Koloth, two other Klingons from the same era who align more with the TNG Stoic Warrior Man stereotype, you can see where their characters are much fuller. They have a history and a familiarity with each other and with Dax that really shines through. I mean, they swore blood oaths with a Trill. Yeah, Dax had to work really hard to be accepted by the Klingons, but once Curzon crossed that line, Kang, Koloth, and Kor were ride or die for Dax.

Third - General Martok. Martok is IMO the best foil to Worf, and sort of an example of who Worf might be someday [again, I haven't seen Worf in PIC yet]. And I really love Martok as someone who's very like Worf in a lot of ways, but also highlights how Worf has really made himself into a caricature of what Being A Klingon is all about. Yeah, Martok is big and tough and stoic, but you also see in the prison camp and later how that's not all of what Martok is. He has faith in and respect for his fellow prisoners in the camp, even the Romulans [who you'd think would be the last people a Klingon would ever trust or respect]. He's a Wife Guy, which I just adore. He's got a sharp sense of humor, he's got trauma from being held as a prisoner of the Dominion for so long, he's friends with Local Twink Julian Bashir.

Martok is also the one who talks Worf down from being such a hardline asshole. When Alexander comes aboard the Rotarran, it's Martok who helps them start to build a better relationship. When it looks like the Worf-Dax wedding is off, it's Martok who encourages Worf to soften his stance [yes, it's also implied Dax is pressured into apologizing to Sirella, but that's another post for another day]. Martok is the example of being a Stoic Warrior Man while also being a rounded person.

This isn't to say Worf doesn't grow on his own, but a lot of his growth happens in DS9 in ways that [to me] read as someone who's really only engaged in their culture in a vacuum or in an abstract way, and now he's hanging out with other Klingons, he's Making Friends with other Klingons, and he has the space [and is actively encouraged by other Klingon characters] to soften his stance and be a little more rounded.

I could also talk about Dax here, and her interactions with Klingon culture and how those affect Worf, but I think I'm done for now.

[altruismaboveall]

ARES DEBUNKED

I’ve scrolled down probably ten dozen posts on Greek mythology with such misinformed facts that I kind of want to die…. My classics professors would probably have been eviscerated by how some of these questionable takes are being presented as fact.

IT’S FINE TO HAVE YOUR OWN INTERPRETATIONS OF THE MYTHS BUT DON’T STATE THEM AS FACT WITHOUT EVIDENCE/SOURCES ESPECIALLY WITH THE MORE HISTORICAL STUFF.

And don’t link like a website with ten thousand ads which also has no citations as your source cmon Tumblr we’re better then that lmao

To debunk of some them now:

No, Ares wasn’t worshipped or known as the ‘protector of women’. He does have a better reputation with them than others and you’re free to interpret those myths as supporting the idea but DON’T PRESENT THEM AS FACT BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE. I will say that he’s a better dad than most of the pantheon.

Also the whole ‘Ares Gynaecothoenas’ being proof of his ‘feminism’ is gonna be the end of me. Yes we have Pausanias’ account of this BUT HE NEVER MENTIONS THAT ARES DIRECTLY HELPED THE WOMEN FIGHT. THEY DID THAT THEMSELVES. WE COULD INFER THEY PRAYED TO HIM THROUGH THEIR ACTIONS AFTER BUT AGAIN HE DID NOT DIRECTLY HELP. always kinda funny when people inadvertently make an already fairly ‘feminist’ story less so by stating that a male god was the reason behind their success lol.

Also would suggest reading the Wikipedia articles for the myths people use to prop him up as the chivalrous protector of women - not a good source itself but they link all the primary sources way better then most Tumblr users will ever. For example, the ‘Ares got abducted while saving his mother and sister and was repaid when Artemis saved him’ thing is quite a distorted take on the story. Yes the giants did want to get to Hera and Artemis but some versions of the myths have Apollo actually kill them. Ares does get abducted in at least one version of the myth but no myth actually states Artemis went with Hermes to save Ares (misconception from OSP I believe but even their wikia explicitly states that Red is wrong here).

Did Ares rape/assault women? Ok now this one’s very interesting because even my classmates don’t agree on a single answer. The general consensus seems to be that he did EXPLICITLY rape/assault but some of the wording regarding Astyoche and Phylonome is kinda vague. I haven’t read the original text yet (my Ancient Greek is not amazing) but all translations use ‘seduce’ and I guess if you consider Leda and Zeus to be rape then Phylonome would be dubious at best.

Now was Ares was the patron of Sparta? I’ve not got enough knowledge on the subject to feel comfortable enough explaining to I’ll link a blog I think does a better job @the-good-spartan

Is Ares a pathetic loser? Now this one’s up to your interpretation. Personally I see him as a victim of the Worf effect - sometimes cool, other times not so much (Iliad and Diomedes… I know Athena was helping him but point still stands - he’s as strong as the writer/storyteller wants him to be). Still a big fan of his dynamic with Athena - so fun seeing the duality of war.

If anyone wants to add more be my guest (all I ask is for a source to be included hehe)

[thewomancallednova]

TNG season 1 overall thoughts

I don't really have a formal rating systems, because that would require too much effort, but i did briefly review my notes on the past twenty-seven episodes and sorted them into the categories "sucks", "bad", "mid", "good" and "great". This season got:

3 sucks

4 bad

3 mid

6 good

10 great

which i think is pretty neat. And clearly I like season 1 a loooooot better than the average Trekkie in the internet.

I just can't help it I'm drawn to the weirdness and the possibilities that went unexplored.

Actually, looking back at the release order, I can totally understand people getting a negative impression of TNG early ona. It starts with a mediocre two-parter, a pretty bad TOS remake, a racist episode and then a pretty good episode that features a species which would be portrayed way differently (and more popularly) later on. Like, I can see how that wouldn't inspire confidence. And in fact, It took me almost two weeks to get back to watching TNG after Code of Honor

anyway, so what are some thoughts on the season?

I really don't like Picard. I disagree with him philosophically, I think he's a jerk (especially the way he treats children. Not liking/wanting them is totally fine, but maybe try not to show your disdain for them actively to their sad little faces?) and most importantly he is in the way of everyone else. To my surprise, I think my favourite character here is Riker. Which I absolutely did not see coming. And Riker is brimming with captain-ness. This is a man who is perfectly qualified to be a starship captain, was offered a command, but decided to do a tour on the Enterprise instead, to be offered a better/more prestigious captaincy afterwards. Whenever he isn't actively commanding he has the same energy me and my peers did in our last week of school. Like we already got everything done, we just gotta hang out here for a little longer for formal reasons, but it's very care-free.

All of which is to say please make Riker the captain, please please please please please he yearns for the chair, he deserves it! And of course that would leave open the XO spot, and I don't think at this point Data would be that actively interested in it, so I say make Geordi XO. Geordi is easily the other standout this season (perhaps more because of my perception of him based on the latter seasons), but his arc in the command division is really neat, and I think the show would've profited a whole lot from following up on it. Having a less experienced XO would also be a great change of pace to Riker, who's on the opposite end of that spectrum.

While I liked Tasha, I think killing her off and making Worf security chief was an overall good move, both because the actress wanted to leave and because Worf's position in this show was so poorly defined. He was cast last and I don't think any thought was given to him beyond "Klingon the bridge!!!". I have no idea what his position is (before he becomes acting chief of security), he only gets one episode that is focused on him, and apart from that episode there are a whole four scenes where his character is explored (two conversations with Tasha about martial arts, one with Wesley about fitting in on the Enterprise and one where he banters with Geordi). Every other line he gets is either generic Starfleet crew line (hailing the other ship, shields at x% etc.) or a one-liner about how he is such a strong Klingon.

Wesley! I gotta say I don't get the hate. He does well, Wheaton is a good actor, it's cute how he wants to be in Starfleet, it works. The only thing that was a bit annoying early on was the number of "adults dismiss Wesley before he says the crucial plot information" moments, but they really did dial that down. But they also dialed Wesley down, at least it seems to me like he didn't appear much in the final stretch of the season.

Crusher! She's pretty cool! Although I did looking back, they really didn't give her a ton to do. She had a few excellent medical moments (Symbiosis and Conspiracy come to mind), but apart from that we got a bunch of references to her unrequited(?) love of Picard. I think it's telling that this is an aspect of the show that is rather prominent but I completely forgot about it. I guess we'll see how that continues in twenty-three episodes...

Data! Mixed feelings here. I think Data in a vacuum is great (and he's quite good in an oxygen-rich atomsphere too! *badum tiss*), there's a lot to like, like his friendship with Geordi, his talks with Wesley, his commentary on how he feels about human behaviours that he doesn't exhibit, his info-dumping that is rudely interrupted on too many occasions. But also I really, really dislike that they gave him an origin story. And like. To be clear, my issue is that it is an origin story of how he came to exist, as opposed to one that showed why he is the way he is as a person. To compare to Spock, Journey to Babel shows us why Spock is the way he is (to some degree): Because that's his parents and that's the conflicts he has with them and now he just is like this. The Spock-equivalent of Datalore would have been an episode all about the medical challenges his parents went through when they were trying to conceive. And I think doing this with Data takes away from the "Data is just as human as the rest of us" thing that the show is clearly going for early on. Maybe I'll change my mind on this after The Chase, but who knows.

Troi! I dunno, I feel like no one working on this show really had any idea what a ship's counselor would be doing exactly, or how their work could be incorporated into the show. We get some good bits of course (talking to Picard in We'll Always Have Paris and Armus in Skin of Evil), but overall, she's just usually on the bridge and says "i sense that the plot is happening there". I guess, this is one of the drawbacks of episodic television, as actually showing her doing therapy with the main characters would import a lot of continuity

But actually, speaking of continuity, there was a fair bit of inter-episode referencing, certainly a lot more than in TOS! A lot of previous episodes get mentioned during the investigation in Coming of Age, which in turn lays the foundation for Conspiracy. Other recurring elements include the holodeck, the Ferengi and Wesley's evolution.

TNG also does a lot with categorizing other cultures, which is unsurprisingly a mixed bag. We are presented with a few beings that are "superior" to the Federation, chiefly the Q, but also the Traveller, the Aldeans and finally the Romulan Empire. Then we get some peers to the Federation, with the Ferengi and the Ligonians, and more ""primitive"" people in the Edo, the inhabitants of Angel One, the Ornarans and the Brekkians. At least that is how I think Picard sees it in his head. I was kind of hoping that after watching the whole season, some sort of interesting thought would spring from that, but it really didn't. I do in general like the portrayal of the Federation as not just the hegemonic power of the known galaxy, and the Romulans, Ferengi and Ligonians definitely help with that.

Apart from that the show also has some less typical aliens, with the energy beings Picard joins with briefly in Lonely Among Us, the inorganic life form in Home Soil, the holographic people in The Big Goodbye and 11001001, the space jellyfish from the first episode, the crystalline entity, perhaps most intriguingly Armus and of course the parasites from Conspiracy.

And maybe it's just me, but those are some of my favourite episodes this sason (and Encounter at Farpoint. But the jellyfish stuff was fine, certainly).

I think it's also interesting how often we see aliens that look just like humans here, whereas later Trek would at least put some random shit on their foreheads. And like honestly, I don't mind the human-looking aliens. Like, even with minor modifications, most aliens in Trek look like human with a tiny extra bit that usually is completely irrelevant to the plot. And at that point it feels almost a bit more unbelievable to me that an alien species would evolve to look just like us, except like with a few more bones on their forehead or something. So I think my preference is for them to keep human-like aliens, unless you can't easily distinguish them via clothing. So we should see non-human-looking aliens in Starfleet, in episodes with multiple alien species interacting, and of course with recurring species, so we can immediately recognize them. But apart from that I'm cool with humans in space.

So they only used the saucer seperation twice, but how often would they realistically have had to use it anyway? TNG is a pretty peaceful show, so I think they just could have kept using saucer seperation in the occasional moments where you can see danger coming, without having to overuse the effect.

Speaking of I LOVE how little killing there is in this show. Apart from set-up deaths (everyone on this ship was killed by some illness etc.) so few people die here. I think that's really good, especially comparing to the more exessively violent. Like in Picard season 1 over fifty people are actively shown to die (and that's not counting the thousands of drones ejected into space). And that includes both named and unnamed characters. In TNG season 1, twenty people are shown to die. I dunno, I just really appreciate this reverence for life that TNG has going.

So yeah, bring on season 2!

[walkingstackofbooks]

Yet another angsty DS9 fic idea:

About a month ago -- in s5, some time before IPS/BIL/DBIP -- the crew got themselves stranded on some moon for a few days, but you know, no big deal, it happens.

Apart from now Julian's doing their quarterly physicals and he's spotted something Not Good At All in the scans of everyone who had been on that mission.

It's the beginning of some sort of accelerated cell degradation, and the more he runs his tests, the worse it looks. He estimates Worf will be able to live for at least another ten months, and that's as high as it gets -- Kira he gives five-to-eight months; Miles, Sisko, and the newly-human Odo four-to-six; and Jadzia, as far as he can tell, has two left at the most.

The funny thing is (it's not funny at all), accelerated cell degradation can be a side effect of being genetically enhanced -- and because his father paid for the very best son possible, his cells are already augmented to be able to withstand the rate of decay that has happened naturally (unnaturally) within his body for the last two-and-a-half decades. He's not been unaffected by their moon landing, but all he has to worry about is an increased metabolism and becoming more easily fatigued.

He has to tell the others -- of course he does -- but first, he's faced with a dilemma:

Does he tell them about his enhancements? The knowledge of why he is able to withstand the effects would help research a possible treatment, and Starfleet surely wouldn't want to lose its entire command crew out here.

But the fear of enhanced beings is still strong in the Federation -- what if they restrict how far he's allowed to go in creating a cure? No-one else would be able to research the way he could, so if they immediately strip him of his license, his commission, it might all be over for his friends. He'd be forced to sit by, allowed only to check the research team's progress over subspace. That is, if he's lucky enough not to be locked up somewhere.

And his friends will hate him.

But that's not important.

Maybe he can persuade them not to report him, not until he's managed to find a cure for them. He doesn't know. He can't imagine telling them. And he doesn't know what option is the most likely to keep them alive.

[fast-moon]

DS9 Season 4 Thoughts

The Dominion is eeeeverywhere! No one knows who we can trust! So going into Season 4, our problem is...

the Klingons? Really? Guess old habits die hard WITH HONOR.

1-2. Way of the Warrior: New season, new intro! The Klingons show up to invade Cardassia under the pretext that the Cardassian government has been replaced by Changelings and they're simply "liberating" it. So Sisko gets his own Klingon in the form of Worf to stand against them. And unlike Riker last season who was just a one-off, Worf is here to stay.

3. The Visitor: Jake acts out the plot of several Doctor Who episodes where Sisko bounces through time while Jake takes the long way around, and upon Jake's death of old age, the timeline resets and it's like nothing ever happened.

4. Hippocratic Oath: O'Brien and Bashir get captured by the Jem'Hadar, but they decide not to kill them since neither one is a redshirt. Although O'Brien may not be a redshirt, he does seem to be increasingly red-pilled, as his sexism and xenophobia were on full display here.

5. Indiscretion: Kira and Dukat go road-tripping together, where the real treasure is the Cardassian asses we stabbed along the way.

6. Rejoined: Whoa, a same-sex kiss played completely, er, straight in an episode from 1995? Neat. Although, by the rules laid out in this episode, shouldn't Dax's continued friendship with Sisko be forbidden, too?

7. Starship Down: Sisko for some reason takes the entire senior staff with him just to renegotiate a trade deal between Quark and a Gamma Quadrant trader, and they once again all end up in deadly peril because he had the bright idea to fly the ship into a gas giant.

8. Little Green Men: Quark and Rom accidentally stumble upon yet another new method of time travel and get transported to post-WWII earth where they're mistaken for Martians. It's no wonder Starfleet offers a specific "So, you've found yourself displaced in time" course, with how seemingly easily and frequently this happens.

9. The Sword of Kahless: Worf gets invited on a treasure hunt, but ends up being a buzzkill. Though they rightfully conclude that returning a legendary artifact won't unite the empire, just cause it to devolve into chaos while everyone bickers over who gets to have it.

10. Our Man Bashir: Garak acts as the gatekeeper for spying while Bashir plays out a James Bond fantasy with the rest of the crew unwittingly cast in the supporting roles.

11. Homefront: Changelings have infiltrated Earth, with the aim of sowing enough distrust that people give up their freedoms willingly in the name of security. This episode is pre-9/11, by the way.

12. Paradise Lost: Sisko finds out that Starfleet had been lying about the caravan of Changelings crossing the border, bringing their murderers and rapists, eating the dogs and eating the cats of the people who live there, in order to justify declaring martial law.

13. Crossfire: Fresh off losing the hypotenuse in the last love triangle with Kira, Odo finds himself in another one, spending the entire episode hearing about how everyone appreciates him but nobody loves him. At least he got a hug.

14. Return to Grace: Dukat enjoyed his road trip with Kira 10 episodes ago so much they go on another one, and now he wants to be another leg in her love polygon.

15. Sons of Mogh: Worf gets in trouble for consensual acts between himself and his brother, so ends up non-consensually violating his brother's autonomy in order to not run afoul of regulations.

16. Bar Association: Rom forms a union and then goes on strike against Quark to protest for healthcare, paid vacation, and overtime pay. Americans watching are like, "Wait, those are things?"

17. Accession: A Bajoran pulled from 200 years in the past comes through the wormhole and Sisko is all too happy to hand over his "Emissary" title to someone more deserving. Until that guy starts trying to Make Bajor Great Again.

18. Rules of Engagement: The Klingons accuse Worf of going "It's Worfin' time!" all over a civilian transport, but it turned out the victims were all crisis actors. Alex Jones rejoices.

19. Hard Time: O'Brien commits a minor offense and is implanted with memories of spending 20 years in prison as punishment. Then he becomes a walking case study in why, if the end goal really is to stop crime, that mere incarceration is counterproductive.

20. Shattered Mirror: Sisko gets kidnapped by the Bad Fanfic Universe again, stuff happens to the Bad Fanfic versions of the characters, nobody cares.

21. The Muse: Jake gets entranced by a creepy woman who's after his braaaaains. And somehow in the future, people not only still know how to handwrite things, but write in cursive as well. Meanwhile, Odo and Lwaxana get married in order to give him paternity rights to her child, is now Dado.

22. For the Cause: Kasidy is suspected of being a Maquis infiltrator, but ♫it was Eddington all along♫. Meanwhile the show tries to set Garak up with a teenage love interest young enough to be his daughter, which for some reason they consider more appropriate than just letting him be gay.

23. To the Death: No! To the Pain. Anyway, the Jem'Hadar ransack DS9, and while on the way to kick their asses, they run into some other Jem'Hadar who have a beef with those Jem'Hadar, so they end up working with those Jem'Hadar to beat up the other Jem'Hadar. Jem'Hadar.

24. The Quickening: Bashir stays behind on a planet with a pledge to cure a planet-wide congenital plague in a week, but best he can do is make it so that no one in the future is born with it but everyone alive now is still screwed, so close enough.

25. Body Parts: Quark gets excommunicated from Ferengi commerce for not being enough of a predatory capitalist piece of shit. Meanwhile, the wrong cast member gets pregnant in real life so they need to BS a reason for Kira to be pregnant instead of Keiko.

26. Broken Link: The Founders infect Odo with "I'm melting, oh, what a world" disease, forcing him to go back home for treatment and receive punishment, which was the same punishment Q got for being a naughty boy: forced to become human and unceremoniously dropped naked in front of the Captain. #JusticeForOdo?

All right, halfway done with the series! Still pretty good so far, but some of the writing choices in this season kind of rubbed me the wrong way, particularly about O'Brien. Originally I liked O'Brien because I sympathized with him as the put-upon engineer who always has to clean up everything constantly breaking around him. But in this season he started getting... I dunno... kinda more generally mean-spirited and selfish. It almost felt like the writers were worried that the Bashir/Garak relationship was coming across as "too gay", so they performed some kind of "conversion therapy" for Bashir by making him hang out with O'Brien instead, and had O'Brien show off how a straight and manly man is supposed to act to a toxic level.

I'm not terribly fond of the new intro theme song. It sounds like the old intro theme song, just slowed to like 3/4 speed, so doesn't have as much "excitement", I guess.

There were also some cold opens that were "all the regulars are contractually obligated to a speaking part in every episode, but this episode isn't about them, so here's a random scene with them" to a distracting level. The one about Dax rearranging Odo's furniture was a particularly egregious one, because... what?

Other than that, the show continues to be scary prescient about current society, especially predicting security policy post-9/11 five years before it happened. And also the episode about the new Emissary who ran on regressing Bajoran society by 200 years for the benefit of a privileged few. In both cases, unlike reality, the ones advocating for those things eventually admitted they were wrong and stepped aside. If only.

But now, Changelings are everywhere! Infiltrating top levels of government and sowing chaos! And now that Odo isn't a Changeling anymore, does that mean his Putty Privilege is also revoked when it comes to dealing with the Dominion? We shall see in Season 5!

[hollis-art]

I want to here data Spider-Man backstory soooooooooo bad please

coming right up!!!!!!! it's in the form of a story because that's how my brain works and i love explaining things when it comes to spiderman or data. its lots of words and i spent like 2 hours writing it and reworking it to make sense

The crew of the Enterprise has taken notice of a nearby planet whose population is soon to be doomed by a phenomenon that they seem to be unaware of. While this planet has made contact with alien life, they are not open to doing it again. It would very much be a violation of the Prime Directive to intervene, but the Enterprise does their usual method of completely disregarding the law and helping the alien species anyways. They'll get yelled at for it later, but their current focus is the wellbeing of this planet and their people.

As they always do (I think they do, at least. If not, then they really should), the crew gets their hands on any and all information they can find on this species and their culture before they do anything. After some digging, they find that this world is the home to many super-powered individuals. While the population is more saturated with those without special abilities, those with powers are often the ones with the most say in what happens. And because the crew needs people to hear their warnings, they needed someone whose abilities could be interpreted as superpowers. Troi's empathy and Worf's strength was something of great wonder to humans, but it wouldn't be nearly as interesting to the species who already had great quantities of both of those traits.

So, as they typically do, they turn to Data for help.

His strength is greater than Worf's, his intellect is forever growing, and the most important part for this plan: Data had the ability to copy things by simply watching or by downloading it into his database. He was the perfect person for the job.

After what seemed like hours of discussion over what abilities or powers Data should obtain, it was Geordi who brought up the idea of Spider-Man.

Data, who had never taken it upon himself to learn about any Earth Superheroes, found the concept quite captivating.

Rather than getting bitten by a radioactive spider, Data's bite was in the form of a program that Geordi made to mimic the powers that a lot of the Spider-People tended to present. The program also included many arial aerobic and gymnastic lessons compressed down into only a few seconds. While the two worked together on installing some web-like spinnerets in his arm compartments, the other crew members focused on the equally important task of creating the costume that Spider-Data (as they have been calling him) would wear.

The role of a superhero was seen as the highest honor you could have on this world, and the ones with recognizable and unique costumes had an easier time spreading their message. The crew had this in mind, but the main purpose of the spider-suit would be to hide the fact that Data doesn't look the way this species does. There is a great variety in how they all present, but Data appears much more Human than they do.

Once everything has been planned and thought out, the identity of Interweb has been formed.

(The name was also Geordi's idea. Data had followed Geordi into his quarters while trying to come up with a name for people to know him as, since 'Data' was not the sort of name anyone on this world would know. Data was pacing around the room, listing off a long, long, long list of concepts and ideas, when he found that he had been pacing from the floor, to the wall, to the ceiling, wall and floor again. Geordi, who was just trying to get ready for bed, looked up at him from where he stood on the ceiling, and gave him his opinion in attempt to get Data to get the memo and leave. Data nodded in appreciation, returned to standing on the rightful surface, and left for the night. The only indication that he had been there was the shoe scuffs that he had accidently left on the ceiling)

It only took one actual training session to see that Data was already ready for this very important job. There was no improvement needed to be seen in his form or methods, and he had planned for everything. Well... Almost everything. Once he had been brought down to the surface, he had quickly realized that his sidekick had snuck into his bag when he wasn't looking.

And within a week, the alien planet was saved by Interweb and his "cat" Spot :) (No one on this planet knows what a cat or a spider is, but they weren't gonna say a thing about it because they had just been saved by the two of them and they're very thankful about it)

[dalesramblingsblog]

Idly thinking about the brilliance of TNG's Lower Decks, so please do bear with me for a little while here... The show's seventh season often gets a not entirely unjustified rap as being a piece of filler while various parts of the writer's room were off shepherding the launch of Voyager and the transition to film with Generations, but here at last the season manages to attain the lofty heights of exactly what we expect from the "final season" of a show like this, in a fashion far more satisfying than simple continuity references or closure to running plot threads could ever be.

What I mean is that it demonstrates the inherent perks of the writer's room as a model of television production, something that has kind of been lost in the age of streaming and micro-writer's rooms. There isn't enough space for someone like, say, Brannon Braga with his weird exploration of body horror and/or temporal fuckery, or Ronald D. Moore with his cynical realpolitik.

Lower Decks very much hinges on René Echevarria's proven talents as one of the strongest writers in the TNG stable when it comes to intimate, character-driven pieces. The pitch came from outside the writer's room, but that hints at the real function of the room as a machine, whereby an abstract idea is subjected to a very particular finesse that helps bring out particular facets of a given script.

Ironically, Echevarria's own Star Trek career is another instructive proof-of-concept in this regard. His first script was The Offspring, but it was given an extensive do-over by Michael Piller and Melinda Snodgrass to better fit the aesthetics of the show. And here, his talents have developed far enough that he's effectively put on the other end of the process.

And it works. The script is beautifully constructed, with so many clever bits that invite the audience to become an active participant in the very procedure of watching Star Trek. The Alaska/Canada screw-up from Lavelle and Ben, the decision to cut away from the transport of Joret Dal and only show the hint of a Cardassian uniform, and of course the central set piece of the intercut poker games. (Here, for the visual triumphs, we should also commend director Gabrielle Beaumount.)

The episode derives its power from the audience's understanding that there were 165 episodes before this one, with their own rhythms and cadences. It disrupts it, but ultimately, in Worf's mutual connection with the lower decks personnel at the very end, collapses the narrative back into its familiar form. Of course, like all good narrative collapses, it comes at a cost, namely that of Ensign Sito.

It's brutal, and soul-crushing, to have spent so much time with this character only to have her swept away by the vicissitudes of fate, but it never feels cynical.

(In fact, one of the more bitterly memorable moments in watching the episode with my parents tonight - who had not seen the episode, or at least not recently - was my mother worriedly voicing her suspicions that Sito was not slated for a happy ending, and my father noting how bleak it would be for them to bring back this character to tell such a story. Crucially, he did not say this to disapprove, and I think it speaks volumes to how much Echevarria's script relies on the audience applying the televisual grammar of Star Trek to the episode.)

I'll admit I haven't seen any of the more modern Trek shows beyond Season 2 of Discovery - not out of conscious choice, mind you, I just have only so many hours of the day to watch Star Trek - but I can absolutely understand why this was the episode that got to pretty much single-handedly inspire the concept of an entire show, even if only in spirit.

For a show that can often feel rather formulaic - which isn't a problem, because the formula is a very, very good one that leads to some fantastic episodes - Lower Decks is proof that TNG wasn't *entirely* content to just coast by and rest on its laurels. It would have been justified to do so, but it still threw in the odd stylistic leap here and there.

And in so doing, it inadvertently prefigures more experimental modern television techniques - and contrasting against some of the more frustrating tendencies of the streaming era - all amidst a genuinely heartfelt and moving story. With all due respect to The Pegasus, Parallels and All Good Things, for me I think Lower Decks has now emerged as the champion of Season 7.

It's just that fantastic.

[worldcatlas]

TNG: Encounter at Farpoint

Following Star Trek’s cancellation in 1969, fans demanded to be returned to their ship for nearly twenty years before The Next Generation hit the airwaves. With it, we got a new Enterprise, a new captain, and a whole new decade of fashion to space-ify.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in many ways the polar opposite of Kirk, shows off the uniform of a more civilized Starfleet: they’re stiffer and more tailored than their predecessors, neat and militaristic, with sharp lines and metallic accents. The first of which is, of course, the comm badge, now a functional (and highly futuristic) use of the Starfleet insignia. The other, metal pips at the collar to indicate rank.

A 24th century captain: Distinguished. Educated. French.

The uniform’s pants are still black, which creates a nice slimming effect with the bottom of the shirt. As well, the pant legs are slit at the hem where they meet the boot, allowing a jauntier gait when crossing one’s luxury sized bridge.

It’s strangely easy to imagine a musical number about to begin…

Hold on a minute, didn’t Command used to be gold?

Pictured: The audience, demanding an explanation

Yes! But in the 24th century, we’ve moved beyond valuing material things like gold, so it has been demoted from Command to Operations. Or something. Anyway, captain red now. Not to worry – old school fans of the show are reassured that this is still the Star Trek they remember, and yes, we will still be sexualizing a selection of women serving on board the Enterprise-D.

At least it’s not a skin-tight catsuit or anything.

I will say, though, I do like that Deanna gets to wear interesting (and definitely non-regulation) accessories with her uniforms, such as this headband of braided metallic fabric.

It’s actually keeping the intrusive thoughts out.

Before the viewer has had time to digest the new uniforms and their lovely jewel tones, however, everyone’s favourite trickster god shows up to cause shenanigans in some serious medieval digs, complete with polished breastplate.

Heed me, mortals, for I am shiny.

When that fails to impress the boy he’s flirting with, he tries a different tack, demonstrating his knowledge of Terran historical costuming.

Hello, fellow humans. I, too, like to shoot gun and breathe poison.

But Starfleet captains are not so easy to provoke (anymore), and the unflappable Picard just wants this magic dingus off his bridge. We get one last costume from a time when, according to Q, “humans learned to control their military with drugs.”

I always dress like this when taking drugs.

With extra pockets (for more drugs).

One last accessory I need to mention before we leave the bridge is the lovely brass-coloured sash on Worf, which won’t survive to season 2. It has a neat little fringe and some kind of presumably-Klingon emblem, but looks a bit odd where it joins at the hip.

Do not look at me from that angle.

Oh, there’s also a story happening, and emergency circumstances force most of the crew to evacuate to the saucer section, which detaches and flees to safety – a very useful maneuver I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of times! 

As everyone moves about the ship, we get to see quite a few interesting ideas of what civilian clothing might look like in the 24th century:

Shortcut to futuristic clothing: angles.

Including the pleasant surprise that, on this Enterprise, men finally get to wear skants too!

Those legs deserve no less!

Unsatisfied that the crew is trying to get on with the episode, Q makes his new friends play on his terms, zooping them to his courthouse. As the presiding judge, he wears an incredible ensemble: floor-length black and red robes, red leather gloves, a beautifully ornate necklace, and a very silly hat.

His gathered audience, however, appears to be clad largely in scraps and bits of rope.

Someone mentioned there would be craft services?

At least the court’s bailiffs are better dressed, in cool hats and robes with metallic details. There’s a lot going on with these costumes, and it’s a shame they don’t get more screentime.

A six-foot staff goes with any outfit.

Elsewhere, oblivious and unbothered, some of the crew visit Farpoint Station, where things are suspiciously magically perfect, and everyone has good taste in fabric.

A silk blend, at this price?!

Except for the sketchy guy in charge, whose flawlessly sci-fi name is Groppler Zorn. Zorn mostly just drapes himself in brown gauze, and doesn’t even do anything with his hair. He does accessorize with a tasteful necklace/chest piece, however, which appears to be made of nacre. Also, he is definitely up to something.

Me? Nothing! …What was the question?

In a surprisingly touching passing of the torch, DeForest Kelley makes a cameo, reprising the role of Dr. Leonard McCoy to get one last Vulcan insult in before retirement. He wears a cozy grey sweater with interesting epaulets that probably have nothing to do with his rank over a black shirt and trousers. I love the detail of tucking the pants in over the boots in a poofy way like the TOS uniforms.

Back in my day, boy, androids could only be plot devices.

Last but absolutely not least, the pilot episode gives us a peek of the REAL reason we’re all here: Wesley sweaters.

Magnificent. Breathtaking. Exceptionally brown.

It’s giving 2364 – and yet – solidly 1987.

[fancoloredglasses]

Star Trek, part 7: The TNG Movies VII-X (so a show that lasted more than twice as long as TOS gets just over half as many movies?)

[All images are owned by Paramount. Please don’t sue me.]

[QUICK NOTE: This is a bare-bones review of the films rather than my usual tongue-in-cheek blow-by-blow review since I’m trying to cover four movies in one review. If you would like to see any of the films reviewed in-depth, please let me know]

With the final film starring the Original Series crew and the season finale of TNG in the past, it was only a matter of time before the TNG crew would hit the big screen. How would Picard and Company make their mark on movie audiences?

The answer is “It’s complicated.”

While not every film with Kirk and Company was a masterpiece (in fact, one could say that only every even-numbered film was good) they were more-or-less (I’m looking at you The Final Frontier!) entertaining. In the case of the TNG films, only one of the films is unanimously considered "good", while the rest…well, at least they weren’t The Final Frontier, but not by much in some cases.

I should also note that none of the TNG films have number designations, showing that they’re not from the same time frame as the previous films.

There were only 4 films due to the final one not being well-received both in reviews and at the box office, forcing Paramount to scrap plans for a fifth film to tie up any loose ends.

Those that were waiting for DS9 or Voyager films would unfortunately be disappointed, as following the final TNG film there would not be another film in the series for 7 years (and that was a reboot to the franchise)

But now, onto the films! If you would like to watch them, they’re available on Paramount+ or behind your favorite paywall.

The first film was a “passing of the torch” moment, transitioning the eras for the big screen.

As such, Kirk, Chekov, and Scotty were in attendance for the beginning of the film, which was the maiden voyage of…

…the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B), an Excelsior class starship. This was a publicity stunt where they brought in Kirk (now retired), Scott, and Chekov for the press to gawk at.

Suddenly, they receive a distress call as a strange “ribbon” of temporal energy was about to envelop a transport. Unfortunately, as this is a dog and pony show, there were a lot of systems that weren’t yet online and the Enterprise was ill-equipped to deal with this crisis.

They manage to save some of the crew, but the Enterprise is caught in the ribbon’s gravity. Scotty has an idea how to save the Enterprise (because of course he does), so Kirk (because he has to be the hero) goes to pull off Scotty’s hare-brained plan. It succeeds (because of course it does), however…

The section of the Enterprise Kirk was working in is hit, causing a hull breach that blows him into ribbon’s grasp, killing him (that will NOT look good on the captain’s resume!)

Among the survivors are Guinan (future Ten Forward bartender)

…Tolian Soran, who desperately wants to go back to the ribbon.

Fast forward 70-ish years. The Enterprise-D is given new uniforms to match DS9, Worf gets a promotion to Lt. Commander (just in time to be transferred to Deep Space Nine), and Data decides it’s time to try installing an emotion chip he acquired near the end of the series (unfortunately, Data was not prepared for the onslaught of emotions the chip would grant him, leading to rather forced “humor” as he adjusts)

(Thanks to Krebber)

(Thanks to enessis)

However, all of this frivolity needs to wait as Soran has developed technology that can extinguish stars, and he intends to use it to divert the ribbon to the planet Veridian III so he can finally rejoin it (Guinan explains that part of her is inside, and it’s a paradise)

Picard attempts to stop Soran as the Enterprise is attacked by a pair of Klingon renegades they’ve had dealings with in the past. Not only does Picard fail (drawing him into the ribbon as well), but…

(Thanks to Wolftime Gaming)

However, all is not lost, since the portion of Guinan tell Picard he can leave any time, and place. What’s more, there’s someone who can help!

Yep, Shatner just has to be the hero one last time!

Anyway, they go back to stop Soren again (why? Why not go a bit further back to before Soren was ready?) and stop him this time, but…

Well, at least Shatner can’t return to hog the spotlight in future films.

With the awkward passing of the torch, we need to replace the Enterprise, so…

Meet the new USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E), a Sovereign class starship. The ship has a crew of 700, but not families (and after what happened to the Enterprise-D, who can blame them?). Additionally, the Enterprise now has its own EMH (that Dr. Crusher despises) Most of the command crew (except Worf) have transferred to the Enterprise-E (making casting the film a lot easier)

One other change between films is in the uniform…

(Thanks to EVIL ED)

We see the second Starfleet uniform change over the course of a decade. I’ve already covered the change in my review of DS9. You will also note that ocular technology has advanced between films, as La Forge has bionic eyes rather than needing a VISOR.

But enough about the differences, on to the film!

First Contact is the first of two Trek films directed by Jonathan Frakes (though he has directed episodes from all three TNG-era shows, as well as three of the Paramount+ Trek shows and a Trek parody series)

Earth is once again threatened by the Borg. Once again, the Enterprise is able to sweep in and Save The Day.

During the battle, the USS Defiant (commanded by Lt. Commander Worf) is critically damaged. Fortunately, the surviving crew is beamed to the Enterprise (allowing Michael Dorn to get a paycheck from the film)

However (what, you didn’t expect it to be this easy, did you? It would be a rather short movie otherwise)…

…a sphere inside the cube escapes and opens a temporal rift, which causes Earth to assimilate in the present (wouldn’t that make all the humans on the Enterprise suddenly become Borg as well?)

The Enterprise travels slightly farther back in time (the far-flung future of 2063, to be exact) to stop the Borg, which allows them to meet…

Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of the Warp Drive (or at least Earth’s version of it; better get on it, you have less than 40 years to pull it off!) The crew manages to defeat the Borg, save Earth, and witness Cochrane’s historic flight, in which he makes First Contact (hence the title of the film) with the first aliens Earth has officially encountered.

(Thanks to Binge Society)

First Contact is by far the best of the TNG films (and could surpass The Wrath of Khan as the best overall) It also sets the stage for the next Trek series (more on that in a future review)

Unfortunately, it’s pretty much all downhill from here.

Insurrection was also directed by Jonathan Frakes. This film went for a light-hearted approach after the violent First Contact. Unfortunately, no one thought about the fact that The Final Frontier was also mostly humor and look how THAT turned out!

Worf has once again joined the crew, despite the fact that Deep Space Nine is in the middle of a war with the Dominion (and he should be mourning Jadzia Dax’s death), but there he is because he just happened to be in the neighborhood.

The Enterprise and crew investigate a planet that emits particles rendering its inhabitants effectively immortal. Additionally, the crew enjoy benefits from their brief exposure, including Geordi’s eyes temporarily being able to see, Worf more or less going through Klingon puberty again, as well as…

(Thanks to April 5, 2063)

…the rekindling of Riker and Troi’s relationship. Of course, Riker had to make a tiny concession.

(Don’t worry, the beard will return in time for the next film)

An alien race (with the help of a Starfleet Admiral) are attempting to move the indigenous people to harvest the particles for themselves. The Enterprise manages to expose and thwart the plot in time for Worf to return to Deep Space Nine for the final season.

Which brings us to the final TNG film

Jonathan Frakes did not direct this film. It was instead given to a director who never watched TNG, and boy howdy did it show!

The film starts happily enough…

(Thanks again to April 5, 2063)

Yes, Riker and Troi manage to continue their relationship from the last movie and get married! (the first of two, as they will be having a traditional Betazoid wedding later…in which everyone in the wedding party is nude!

As you can see, they managed to shoehorn Worf in once again (this time as a wedding guest, but that doesn’t explain why he sticks around after)

Meanwhile, the Romulan Empire is being overthrown by a subject race, the Remans (get it? Romulus and Remus? READ A BOOK!) The Enterprise is sent to assist the Romulans. Along the way, they encounter…

…a prototype android, designated B-4 (get it? Before? The writing is definitely top-notch here!) which they bring aboard.

Upon arrival at Romulus, they encounter the Reman leader…

…Shinzon (played by Tom Hardy, who would go on to play Bane and Venom), a clone of Picard the Romulans had planned to use to infiltrate the Federation but later abandoned. Shinzon intends on invading the Federation and poisoning Earth, killing all inhabitants.

Picard uses the Enterprise as a battering ram, crippling Shinzon’s ship and boards to defeat him…

(Thanks to Omega Trek)

Before too many of you are up in arms about Data’s death, Brent Spiner had been wanting a death scene for Data since Insurrection due to the fact that he felt he was getting too old to continue to look like he did in the series. However, he was given an “out” to continue playing the part…

(Thanks to Rotten Tomatoes)

Data had made a backup of his memories into B-4, meaning Data could continue in another (slightly older-looking) body had there been a fifth film.

This ends the Star Trek films before JJ Abrams lens-flared the franchise up nine years later.

If anyone would like me to review any of the films more in-depth, please let me know!

[talenlee]

Game Pile: Free Stuff!

I talk about games all the time but I am also crucially talking about commercial products. When I talk about TTRPGs or videogames, I’m usually talking about games that you can’t play for free, and that’s a bummer. I don’t like the idea that my writing about games primarily requires some degree of effort or money on your part to check, as it were, my working.

But there are some games I played this year that are free, and I think are interesting and cool and I’d like to make sure you know about them. In the tradition of Decemberween Twenty Twenty Threen, this Game Pile Post is just about a handful of freely available games that I like and want to recommend you try out.

I remember one year I made the Game Pile articles entirely games you could play at parties with friends for no money, like I had some kind of idea of how a Christmas gathering should go. My upcoming Christmas gathering is going to feature someone recovering from COVID though, so like, it’s on my mind how close I don’t want to sit to anyone.

Anyway, free games!

Hey, did you see this game going around a few months ago? Suika Game, or Watermelon Game if you wanna translate the Japanese, is a game in your Tetris and Threes genre. It’s playable for free in your browser, it’s very moreish and it’s also very aesthetically pleasant.

You don’t need to know anything about this game to play it. You can play it once and then know immediately if you want to try it again or strive to win it, or if you never want to see it again. It’s what I think of as a snack game — something you can chew through while you’re doing something else, like recovering from a rough day but when you’re not necessarily hugely engaged with something. Plus, unlike the more tidy games like Threes and Tetris, the fact this game is sloppy and erratic means you can always try to cover for a mistake with more sloppy, erratic play. Sometimes you’ll just get lucky and two things you hadn’t quite expected will tap one another and a chain reaction transforms the play state.

Time to time, now I know about this game, I will revisit it. I mean, to just get the screenshots for this article I just needed to show up and get a screenshot of it in a modestly complicated state, right? But I didn’t have a good screenshot so I went to play it a bit, then take a screenshot.

I wound up playing the game to a fail state four times before realising I was forgetting to get my screenshot, and took this screenshot, which, if you’re attentive, you will realise is of a fail state.

Corker of a game!

I am never going to have it in me to do a proper, comprehensive game pile about Moonring. It’s such a vast seeming game, it’s so dizzying in its scope, and, at least right now, it’s available for free.

If you don’t know what Moonring is, I kind of don’t either. Moonring is, to me, an Ultima-like RPG, with a complex text parser and an intricate world full of people who are looking for magical words or combinations of words to unlock particular pieces of lore. But that’s while there’s also actually an adventure RPG going on. It’s not just an enormous, elaborate, spatially differentiated videogame to what you might be used to, it’s one you have to learn how to experience.

I don’t think Moonring is for me, but it feels like a game that you should be aware of. It’s got the vibes of being someone’s favourite. Have you tried Dwarf Fortress? It may click for you in a similar way.

I liked Devil Express. It’s a short ish adventure, the kind of thing you can beat in one single session. It has a very deliberate pace and a particular type of comedy to it. The basic idea is that you’re a delivery wolf, named Worf, who has been sent by work to go do deliveries at a single location, doing ‘freelance deliveries.’ The way this works is basically a dialogue maze, where you spend time going around multiple stories of a building, talking to people one at a time, and connecting people’s needs to their gifts, you know, the kind of thing. It’s like a ‘use keys on doors’ kind of puzzle solving you may remember from other adventure games of the ilk.

I won’t spoil it! I thought it was fun, funny and charming! I liked the way that Worf handles the increasing weirdness of things and is used as a way to demonstrate to you what’s weird to Worf, and what’s normal to Worf. A wolf that does door to door delivery? A demon that runs a business? A flying eyeball? A teleporting gargoyle? Some of these things are strange, but really, Worf is just trying to get through the night and finish the job, y’know?

You might have seen the card game Orchard in board game stores, and you may have even seen it kicking around on review channels that like to talk about board games. It’s a cool little game, in the vein of a solitaire puzzler.

Did you know you can just have it?

For free?

Orchard has a completely free print-and-play version available. You have to print it if you want to play it but that’s kind of obvious, right? The game presents you with a growing puzzle that you lay dice on, and if you have d6es and a printer, you have everything you need for this game. Heck, if you have an older relative, and you might want them to start getting into puzzles as low-impact ways to enjoy themselves while also keeping their brains going, you could do worse than print this game out and make it for them, as a nice little craft project.

Eh?

Ehhh?

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[staringdownabarrel]

I think one of the most frustrating thing about Worf's arrival on DS9 is how Alexander just wasn't there.

Part of Worf's arc in the later seasons of TNG was that while he wasn't really anyone's idea of a capable parent, he was at least trying. He was trying to teach Alexander about his heritage (something most parents do), and he was at least trying to improve their relationship. One of the most genuinely progressive things about TNG's later seasons, something that's still progressive thirty years later, is that Worf was actively going to therapy with his child.

All of this culminated in Firstborn, where Worf comes to a grudging acceptance that Alexander isn't going to be the ideal Klingon he'd like. In fact, after meeting Future!Alexander, he's even proud that he'd choose to embrace elements of his human heritage over his Klingon one.

This was completely undone in DS9. The Way of the Warrior wasn't just Worf's entrance on DS9; it's also a reset of his character. Instead of continuing Worf's arc with Alexander, a story where a child with mixed heritage really comes to choose how he's going to combine his two heritages into a fully formed identity, they instead choose to go down the path of presenting Worf as the absent parent.

This was a mistake for two reasons. One is that it forces the Worf-Alexander dynamic into a thematic rehash of how they'd been on TNG. Instead of continuing to grow this dynamic, it remains a rocky one.

While Worf's entrance to DS9 came in season four, Alexander's came two years later in season six. In Sons and Daughters, Alexander has joined the Klingon Defense Forces and is serving on the Rotarran. While in Firstborn, it's clear that there's room for the Worf-Alexander dynamic to improve, in Sons and Daughters, they're clearly alienated from each other and Alexander considers it a burnt bridge.

I feel like this wasn't a natural piece of character development for Alexander. His entire shtick was that he'd rather embrace his humanity at the expense of his Klingon heritage. The idea that he might join the Klingon Defense Force when he can barely hold a bat'leth is a questionable idea at best.

I think his alienation from his father would have been more likely to lead to him joining Starfleet in some capacity, or even finding some kind of civilian science or exploration mission to be a part of. It should have led to a further rejection of his Klingon heritage, not a half-assed attempt to embrace it for attention.

Even on TNG, it was quite clear that they only ever wanted Alexander to be a once-in-a-while character, not an every episode character. That's why he's only in eight or nine TNG episodes, despite the Worf-Alexander dynamic being one of the most commented aspect of Worf's character. This is something they wanted to carry over to DS9.

I feel like having a story where Worf has to go get him out of trouble because the civilian expedition he was on got into some sort of problem would have been an equally compelling story, given the general direction the DS9 writers wanted to go down. It would have made a lot more sense given the overall dynamic and Alexander's character in general.

However, I feel like the more interesting choice would have been to have Alexander to come to DS9 with Worf. That would have allowed for a further development of that dynamic that was starting to develop in TNG's Firstborn.

It also would have allowed for an interesting contrast with the dynamic between the two Siskos. Ben Sisko is genuinely a good parent. To him, the core ideas of parenting are simple: as long as he's present for Jake and takes an active interest in his life, he's already a long way down the right track. He's also had a long time to adjust to what a good work-life balance looks like when it comes to raising his son.

That's never been the case for Worf. While Ben Sisko is such a good parent it sometimes seems as if he was born for it, Worf wasn't. Having kids was clearly never a part of his life plan, especially under the circumstances he had Alexander. While he does get better towards the end of TNG, it's something he's actively had to work at. He is trying, but the spark for parenthood that Ben Sisko has just isn't there in Worf.

So having this dynamic where different parenting styles are represented and how one parent can thrive while another struggles would have been an interesting one. I think it also would have allowed for a more in depth look at how losing a parent, especially in tragic circumstances can mark a person. For Jake, it could be something he learns to grow around because he always had a strong support system in his life, while for Alexander, it could sometimes consume him because his support system has often been on shakier ground.

This would have been an incredibly interesting dynamic. Plenty of people have parents who are as good at it as Ben Sisko, and plenty have parents who are basically absentee parents like Worf was in DS9. Most people's parents exist somewhere inbetween those two extremes though. Rom's an example of one of these inbetween points, and I think it would have been good to show Worf as one of the inbetween points, too.

It also would have been interesting because both Worf and Ben Sisko are at a similar point in their careers when they first come onboard DS9. Sisko was considering resigning in Emissary because he'd grown disillusioned with service in Starfleet; Worf was considering resigning in The Way of the Warrior because he'd become unsure of his commitment to Starfleet since the destruction of the Enterprise.

This too would have been an interesting way to have Sisko and Worf mirror each other. While Sisko is completely at ease as a commanding officer by this point in the show, Worf was still relatively green in a command position; only having served as a department head prior to this.

At least they fully committed to this aspect of the dynamic. Alongside everything else, DS9 had episodes like Rules of Engagement, which explored what kind of early issues Worf would have as a commanding officer down the line.

In a lot of ways, the treatment of Alexander on DS9 is a microcosm for my issue with how Worf was treated on DS9.

Some of this is just because it wasn't just Alexander's development that got derailed because Worf rolled up. Jadzia Dax's development got derailed, too.

While in the early seasons of DS9, Jadzia gets some great episodes dedicated to her such as Invasive Procedures and Equilibrium, episodes like this dry up after Worf arrives. Most of the Jadzia-centric episodes between season four and the end of season six aren't truly Jadzia-centric; they're Jadzia-Worf drama episodes. Sure, she does get some character development and moments to shine, such as commanding the Defiant during the early episodes of season six, but these are overshadowed by the fact that Worf continues to get episodes based around him alone.

This is a problem that isn't rectified until Ezri Dax comes onto the show. Ezri gets quite a few episodes dedicated to her--in fact, she may even get more than Jadzia had in seasons four through six. This makes Field of Fire, an episode which could have easily been a Jadzia episode in an earlier season, even more noticeable.

Some of the issue is also that so much of Worf's character development on DS9 is a thematic rehash of the development he had on TNG. His father and son drama with Alexander is only one aspect of this.

In season four of DS9, he gains a lover (Jadzia), much like he had in TNG's K'Ehyler, but later loses them (TNG: Reunion, DS9: Tears of the Prophet). He loses his honour in the eyes of the Klingon Empire (TNG: Sins of the Father, DS9: The Way of the Warrior), only to regain it during a time of war (TNG: Redemption Pts. I and II, DS9: Soldiers of the Empire). Worf is also instrumental to the transfer of power from one Chancellor to the next (TNG: Reunion, DS9: Tacking Into the Wind). Both shows feature Worf having various religious experiences, too.

And yeah sure, plenty of people argue that Worf's arc in DS9 is more interesting, but I feel like a lot of that is probably coming from a place where they just prefer more heavily story arced shows in general. For someone like that, DS9 is always going to be preferable to a mostly episodic show like TNG.

To be fair, I do like that DS9 takes more time to go into more depth about these character beats than TNG did. I still would have preferred it if they'd tried to go for a cleaner break from TNG and take his character in a new direction rather than do a thematic rehash of basically every major point of his character development. I think it's even more unfortunate because the DS9 writers were probably acutely aware of what they were doing because most of them had also been TNG writers.

Stuff like this is why I think bringing Worf onto DS9 was a mistake. They had an opportunity to really do something interesting with his character, but instead they chose to rehash the old character arc but with some new spin. While it did make sense to do that and for the most part it was fine, I think there were also some issues with it that I don't think get discussed that often.

It's not like they didn't have the opportunity to go down this path. As I mentioned earlier, episodes like Rules of Engagement show that there was definitely room to explore what kind of commanding officer Worf might eventually turn into. This would have been an interesting path to explore more deeply because while TNG did take a good hard look at Worf the tactical officer, it never really explored Worf the commanding officer.

It also would have presented another mirror for Ben Sisko. While Gul Dukat was kind of a mirror for him in the sense that Sisko was a highly moral officer with strong moral convictions while Dukat was slimier with few true moral convictions beyond securing his own position, Worf could have been a mirror in the sense that while Sisko was deeply secure in his command style and position, Worf often wasn't.

Still, just a thought.

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 119 (Mar. 21, 1988) - “Heart of Glory”

Teleplay by: Maurice Hurley Story by: Maurice Hurley, Herbert Wright & D.C. Fontana Directed by: Rob Bowman

The Breakdown

The Federation orders Picard to investigate evidence of a battle in the dreaded Neutral Zone (a forbidden expanse that serves as the federation/Romulan border).  Upon arrival, the Enterprise finds only a single Talarian Freighter stranded within the zone.  Since Worf’s scans indicate possible life signs, a rescue team is sent over to retrieve any survivors before the ship explodes; but much to their surprise, the team finds three Klingons (one of whom is critically wounded).  Tasha beams everyone back just as the freighter’s engine detonates, and the Klingons are brought to sickbay.

Worf accompanies Picard to meet the Klingons, arriving just as his injured kinsman croaks; and that’s when things get… a bit weird.  The other two Klingons (Korris and Konmel) lean over their dead comarade, stare into his eyes, and then scream into the ceiling, rousing Worf to join their guttural display of manly-mourning (because if growling with rage in lieu of tears is a part of your culture, no one can criticize it).  Meanwhile, Picard and Crusher just kind of awkwardly observe the whole thing, presumably hoping that it doesn’t escalate towards violence.   Shortly thereafter we find out the screaming is meant to warn the dead that another warrior is joining them in the after life.  Standard wholesome Klingon stuff. 

After the boys have calmed down, Picard inquires as why the Klingons were even on a Talarian Ship, and to the nature of the battle that preceded it’s destruction.  Korris explains they were initially just passengers who offered tactical assistance when the Talarians were attacked by Ferengi, but obviously that’s a lie because otherwise this would be a boring episode.  The truth is, they hijacked the ship in hopes of finding a quiet little world where they could peacefully die in glorious battle.  It turns out that not EVERY Klingon is happy about their alliance with the federation, with our boys Kor n’ Kon being two such folks; furthermore they want Worf to join them on the assumption that he must be going stir crazy living amongst humans.  Apparently they aren’t wrong, though, as Worf does seem to at least entertain the idea of joining them. We find out Worf’s parents were killed in a Romulan attack when he was a child, leaving him for dead until he was found and rescued by the human couple who raised him.  Growing up as an outsider, Worf has felt stifled by the lack of violence in his life, and doesn’t hate the idea of finally indulging those instincts.

As Worf flirts with becoming radicalized, Picard receives a transmission from a Klingon Commander named K’nera with some alarming news.  Korris and Konmel are wanted criminals, and not to be trusted under any circumstances.  Picard has the good sense immediately lock them in the brig, but not enough to have them properly searched for weapons, so they promptly break out and start killing people.  Konmel gets shot down pretty quickly, but Koriss manages to breaks into engineering, threatening to discharge his phaser at the warp core, which would destroy the Enterprise (an action that would apparently constitute an honourable death).  Worf tries to talk him down, but Koriss isn’t having any of it, so Worf shoots him dead.

After another tender ritualistic-death-growl over Korris’ body, Worf addresses commander K’nera, informing him that the fugitives were KIA, but not to feel sad because they died doing what they loved.  But fuck those security guards who they murdered, AM I RIGHT?  Another happy ending!

The Verdict

There’s a lot to like here, and overall I quite enjoyed this outing.  After eighteen episodes of angry snarling and imposing stares, Worf finally gets to take centre stage, to largely positive effect.  Even more pertinently ‘Heart of Glory’ makes good work of developing the Klingon lore, which has always been one of my favourite aspects of Star Trek as a whole.  Many people will cite ‘ST: The Motion Picture’ as the introduction to “the modern Klingon”, and while that is the undeniable the origin of their current design aesthetic, I’d be inclined to credit this episode with establishing the defining charictaristics that would cultivate their larger mythology.  In TOS the Klingons were a sort of bloodthirsty fascist/USSR hybrid, with some possible yellow-peril-iconography thrown in for “good” measure.  By the time we got to ‘ST3: The Search for Spock’ the Klingon’s behaved more like pillage-and-plunder Vikings, in that they had a vicious appetite for glorious battle, but weren’t especially honourable.  But only four years later, ‘Heart of Glory’ has a moment that is as defining as it is ridiculous.  In the scene I’m referring to, Koriss and Konmel have an opportunity to take a human child hostage, but instead allow her to go free and unharmed, as they consider such an action to be devoid of honour.  The scene plays out so comically cheesy that it would be easy to dismiss, but it’s a moment that highlights a major facet of  the Klingon values that Star Trek still continues to emphasize today.

As for Worf, I’ve stated before that he’s a character I came to love through his tenure on DS9, but it’s nice to finally see the episode that started him on the path to becoming that character.  At the end of the episode K’nera suggests that one day Worf should rejoin his people when he’s finished his commission on the Enterprise.  Worf assures Picard that he’s not seriously considering it, but neither I nor the crew are fully buying it, and I appreciate them leaving that open.  Both TNG and DS9 will return to this theme, as Worf struggles to fit in with other Klingons almost as much as he does with humans, and this is a strong start to that aspect of his character arch.

For all the positives, this episode still exhibits plenty of the standard season one growing pains.  The melodrama is so over-the-top in places that it could almost classify as a comedy, and the characters regularly make bafflingly ill-advised choices.  Also, the entire Enterprise crew is alarmingly ineffective against two Klingons.  I know their species is supposed to be battle hardened and generally stronger than humans, but the Enterprise supposedly harbours Startfleet’s best-and-brightest (I shudder to think how a lesser crew would fare).  Either way, Picard really needs to mandate running the crew through some drills after this dismal performance.  If it wasn’t for these issues, I almost would have rated this episode higher.  There’s ultimately more good than bad here, but only just barely, which puts ‘Heart of Glory’ at…

3 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

Picard sends Geordie with the rescue team so they can try patching a visual from Geordi’s visor through to the viewscreen (which only has a range of a few kilometers).  As far as concepts go, I have nothing against it, but it takes up a good chunk of the first act without adding anything to the actual plot. Much like the Enterprise’s separating saucer section, this segment largely amounts to a flashy gimmick, only to be utilized a couple more times in future episodes.

I will say the cinematography is admittedly more dynamic than most of these early episodes, which results in some nice shots in the engineering scene.

Korris, and Konmel are pursued by the Klingon K’t’inga cruiser under the command of K’nera. The Klingons must lose their minds whenever Sesame Street features the letter ‘K’.

[thewomancallednova]

Pen Pals

Oh fuck that was beautiful

shit what was the last episode i called "the best tng episode" yet, cause it might have been dethroned

okay i also gotta say that i have madly misrepresented this episode in the past. Like, in my memory from 15 years ago this episode was "Data makes a pre-warp friend, her home planet is threatened by geology, Picard so we gotta let them die because of the prime directive, but I guess we can make an exception for Data's friend if he insists, and then everyone except Data's friend dies." And that is not at all what happens!

At least up until the "we gotta let them all die" point, because they have a discussion about the prime directive and fate and it's excellent. Geordi, Troi, Data and Pulaski are the pro-saving the planet's people side and Picard, Worf and (weakly) Riker are the anti-saving the planet's people side. And it's a really good discussion. That Picard ends by basically saying "well if we save people from volcanoes, then we'd also have to save them from slavery, and where'd that bring us?" And then Data fucking plays the recording of this ten-year old girl asking for help and everyone gets emotionally affected enough to say fuck the prime directive, let's save these people if we can. And then they do! It's fucking great!

And I love that this gently bends Picard. Like, the Picard of Symbiosis would not have gone for this and the episode doesn't outright changes him, it just nudges him ever so slightly in the right direction to make him a little better. Although yes, it is fucked up that he needed to hear that little girl's pleas for help first. But he got there anyway!

At one point Riker and Troi are walking down the corridor and Troi giggles unprompted and like honestly, yeah same girl.

I forgot Picard's a horsegirl! As if his character wasn't redeemed enough in this episode already!

I also love that Data is entirely driven by emotions here, like literally everything he does in this episode, it's all emotion. Not a "oh in this scene he is clearly happy or heartbroken" or whatever, every single fucking bit from him answering "Is anybody out there" with a "yes" is entirely emotions. Love that for him. I do find it a bit weird that At the end Picard goes all "well you are a bit closer to undersatnding huamnity by experiencing remembrance and regret." Like you wouldn't say that to a child that just had their first friendship break-up or something, right? Like, yes, it's cool that Data got to experience these things for the first time, but it's odd to frame them as steps on the path to humanity, when we would never frame them as such for any other being that experiences them. Data is a human being admit it already you cowards!

Also love that Pulaski is the one to openly acknowledge and validate it! Hell yeah character arcs!

Okay I was so cought up in everything else, but Wesley is great in this too! He has his first "command", leading a team of scientists to analyse the weird shit happening in this sector! And he's a bit insecure about commanding people who are older and more experienced than him, and then Riker gives him a pep talk, and then he gets better at it. Also loved that Wesley immediately questioned the hierarchies in place, good lad, Wes!

When Wesley approaches Riker for help in Ten Forward, Riker tells his companion that it's a "family emergency" and like. I never thought about that. But Riker is like a great ersatz father for Wesley, and a much better choice than Picard (who I think gets stereotyped into the role due to his closeness to Jack and shipping with Beverly. There's even fan theories out there that actually Picard is Wesley's biological father. No idea why, but they're there). Riker's the one who pushes for Wesley to become an acting ensign, he supports him every step of the way, he saves his life in Justice, And they both have some stuff going on with their own fathers (Riker's sucks and Wesley's is dead). Picard shares a connection with Wes' mother and that one conversation about not getting into the Academy first try. Which is nice, but now that I'm looking at it like this I really wanna see more of Riker mentoring Wes.

This is kind of funny to watch post-Discovery, with Saru's backstory basically being similar to Sarjenka's in that they're both from a pre-warp planet and figure out how to communicate with a Starfleet Lieutenant Commander.

Also, this is the longest Trek episode yet, at eight weeks, it's on par with TOS's The Paradise Syndrome.

I think this is also the first notable example of the TNG crew going rogue, with them clearly violating the prime directive, having Riker beam Data down instead of O'Brien, so that only Riker would be implicated in the crime and so on.

Sarjenka really could have used a lesson in internet safety, because you are not supposed to tell strange androids your family details! It could have been Lore instead of Data!

[thevindicativevordan]

Comics this week?

Steelworks #1 - Solid first issue. Dorn makes some rookie mistakes as expected from a first time comic writer. Lot of talking, not much action, the scenes with Irons and Nat debating the impact of superheroics would have been better served if it had been the two of them verbally sparring with each other while physically beating up some bad guys. Good handle on the voices for Steel, Natasha, and Lana nonetheless, happy to see Pak's establishment of the Steel/Lana romance is finally acknowledged again. Ghost of Amertek coming back to haunt Irons is a good idea, as is Dorn establishing that Irons has his own ideas on what's best for Metropolis that aren't the same as Clark's. Didn't expect Dorn to be the first DC writer to use data pages post-Hickman, but I loved to see them! I can't find much info on if Dorn was a sci-fi fan before he was cast as Worf in Star Trek, but if so his use of data pages would make a lot of sense.

Batman #136 - Least the Multiverse bullshit is over, but now we've gone from rehashing Morrison to rehashing Snyder's Death of the Family. If that scene between Bruce and Selina is any indication, this Gotham War event will be the final nail in the coffin for the romance, at least for a good while. Bummed but unsurprised by that. At this point I'm only reading for the Zur plotline, the Batfamily and Catwoman plots aren't interesting me.

Shazam #2 - Didn't think that when Waid said we'd see the extended family relatively soon that he meant the second issue, but it was nice to see them all the same.

Flash #800 - Picked this up and overall I enjoyed it. Adams and Waid were the best, fun stories that celebrated Wally and Bart. Williamson was pretty good too, Barry finally gets to best the deadbeat dad accusations when it comes to the Tornado Twins. Johns' story was pretty basic, mostly just a recap of who Hunter is, but I liked how he took Williamson's retcon and used it to get Zoom back to being a villain in a way that makes sense. With Zoom back in play I wonder if there are plans to use him in Spurrier's run. Speaking of which, Spurrier's story was the weakest. I don't mind the drama with Linda - Adams made everything drama free and the sales were soft, so by all means introduce some tension there - and I liked the premise of Wally fighting Lovecraftian monsters. But this feels like it would be a better fit for Barry. I'll check out the first issue all the same.

Joker #9 - Hilarious that this book finally starts moving on the Jokers plot, just in time for a two month break for Knight Terrors. I don't know if I'll bother to pick it up again in two months, Rosenberg's decompression has become too much for me. Genuinely funny back-ups and one or two good jokes in the main book can't justify the price tag, or the snail's pace storytelling.

Immortal X-Men #12 - More is done with Colossus' mole status in one issue here than the entire X-Force run.

X-Men #23 - I regret giving Duggan a stay of execution. Why does Stasis keep coming across as a loser? Gets taken out with ease in Sins of Sinister, gets humiliated by Righteous here. Since Hickman left, Orchis has come across as a joke that the X-Men inexplicably can't crush instead of a legit threat. Not a great approach as we're right on the cusp of Orchis making their big move.

Loki #1 - Picked this up solely because Watters was writing, and he did not disappoint. Great story, reminiscent of Gillen and Ewing Loki of course, but also of Watters own Lucifer series.

Fantastic Four #8 - Continues to be great, glad the first two parter stars Sue and Alice.