# Things that bug you about Star Trek **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270 "2003-05-10T04:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/41 "2003-05-10T22:24:14Z")
Well, most of it, really. More specifically: I disliked the lack of continuity: not in the “Hey, last week Tachyon radiation was deadly, now it’s curing diseases!” sense of the word, but in the way the characters never really grew or changed, relationships remained largely static, and the state of the Federation was never radically altered, even if events in an episode would seem to call for it. This was much improved in DS9, but still wasn’t up to the standards being set by Babylon 5 or Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Consequently, I never grew much of an emotional attachement to the characters: I never cared what might happen to them because I knew that nothing ever would happen to them. Incredibly unimaginative aliens. Not only did they all look like humans, but they all acted like humans. Actually, alien species would act like one facet of human behavior. Humans can be logical, or impulsive, or greedy. Vulcans are _only_ logical, Klingons are _only_ impulsive, Ferengi are _only_ greedy. Consequently, I never found any of the alien species particularly believable, even on the individual level. Again, DS9 managed to correct this to a certain extent, in making Cardassians and Baijorans able to exhibit the same range of emotions as human beings, but in the process lost any hint that these were actual alien beings, and not just a collection of circus freaks in space. Total lack of ship discipline. I know that Star Fleet isn’t technically a military organization, but it’s the closest thing the Federation has. These guys are a joke. I remember one episode where some alien diplomats are trying to learn about emotions, and one of them provokes Worf into a fight so he can learn about “anger.” It works, Worf flies into a rage, and gets in a big fist fight with the alien. This happens, IIRC, in the middle of a poker game, with Riker (Worf’s superior officer) sitting right there. And Riker watches them tussle for a good thirty seconds before intervening. And all he does is speak sternly to Worf! Imagine if a sailor on a US Navy ship took a swing at, say, the visiting ambassador from Japan. I don’t care how much provocation he was given, he’d be bounced right out of the Navy and into the brig. I always wanted to see Picard act like a real captain. Not just in giving rousing, vaguely Shakespearean speeches, but in having to occasionally come down hard on his subordinates. Almost never happened. On the other hand, _Firefly_, in it’s tragically short run, still managed to make this sort of tension between command and crew a regular part of the crew’s dynamics. And that was a pack of smugglers, not the flagship of an interstellar government! No sense of what life was like in the Federation if you weren’t in Starfleet. No politics, no civilian life, no international tensions. No religion. This one, at least, DS9 addressed and got right. The setting helped: the station was primarily a civilian outpost, so the characters frequently had to deal with civilian issues. There were rogue elements in the Federation government that were often working at cross-purposes to the main characters. The fairly detailed belief system of the Baijorans. The whole dominion war and the hostilities between Cardassia and Bajor. All this, for the first time, made the Star Trek universe seem like a living, breathing creation, and not just a passion play with bad props. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/42 "2003-05-10T23:11:32Z")
Another “ditto” on the bump-headed-aliens of the week. At least with TOS, they just made the aliens who’d developed paralel to humans _look_ like humans. It was less distracting. And why not more Excalibians, more Selay, more Anticans? The _well designed_ aliens? Look, I understand if you can’t afford to do them every single _week_, but you could at least use ones like that occasionally. Most of the new “exotic” alien races just look like a tumor on a lizard. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/43 "2003-05-11T00:41:27Z")
_ **Trekkers!** _ :dubious: I oughtta know, I are one! ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/44 "2003-05-11T01:31:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AndrewL \* > \*\*Consoles that exploded when some far-distant part of the ship was damaged - which is especially curious as the Enterprise’s communication network was supposed to work by fiber optics, which don’t conduct electrical power surges too well. \*\* The best example was in Star Trek: Nemesis. I think the entire theater just erupted into laughter when sparks shot out of the keyboard Geordi was working on, and he just tossed up his hands in defeat and said, “That’s it. We’ve lost transporters.” ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/45 "2003-05-11T02:50:20Z")
> [@](#): > > First, the Federation - and nearly every race they ever ran into - used flat-screen touchpanels for every control panel on the screen. Except in TOS, where everything has rheostat controls. ---
**Author:** ![Daniel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Daniel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daniel)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/46 "2003-05-11T03:11:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jab1 \* > \*\*Bill and Ted began their bogus journey in Vasquez Rocks. The same locale was also used in the live-action _Flintstones_ movie, the original _Twilight Zone_ and _Outer Limits_ series, _The Lone Ranger_, and many, many other western and sci-fi TV series and movies. Directors and cinematographers really like those angled rock formations. Vasquez Rocks is located north of Los Angeles between Santa Clarita and Lancaster, on Highway 14. Its most famous rock formations can be seen from the highway. \*\* Cool! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/47 "2003-05-11T03:24:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dewey Cheatem Undhow \* > \*\*Or reversing the polarity. When in doubt, reverse the polarity of something. \*\* I thought that was _Doctor Who_. Well, that and the damned sonic screwdriver. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/48 "2003-05-11T03:45:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*_ **Trekkers!** _ > > :dubious: > > I oughtta know, I are one! \*\* You all bug the crap outta me! Even I bug the crap outta me! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/49 "2003-05-11T04:01:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jack@ss \* > \*\*Except in TOS, where everything has rheostat controls. \*\* And most of the controls were unmarked! Apparently you had to have a great memory to operate anything on the original Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/50 "2003-05-11T05:31:43Z")
I’d have to agree with an earlier poster that the time travel thing annoys me the most; you can’t successfully introduce the concept into an SF universe without addressing the wide-range implications, and Star Trek pretty much ignores them. Time travel in Star Trek is relatively easy. Oh sure, they’ll go on and on about how dangerous and risky it is to slingshot around the sun and attempt time warp, but as far as I recall it’s worked _every single freakin’ time_ it’s been tried. So the question then becomes: why are only a select few galaxy-threatening catastrophes averted via time travel? Most of the time it doesn’t even occur to the characters, simply because it’s not a “time travel episode.” I was particularly annoyed by “First Contact,” in which the Borg, in what appears to be a completely spontaneous battle tactic, send a ship back in time to kill the inventor of warp drive. Did it just suddenly occur to Borg, in the middle of a battle, that they could do this? Why hadn’t they done it before? It would have been nice to see all the Borg collectively slapping themsleves and saying “Duh!” in unison. And once they knew they’d been thwarted, why didn’t they just try it again? Example 2: In “Generations,” why the HELL did Picard and Kirk choose to come back out of the Nexus a mere ten minutes or so before the planet was about to be destroyed? Considering they could have come back at any time they wanted, do you think it just _might_ have been a better idea to come back, oh, a little EARLIER? Hell, maybe even before Picard’s nephew died in that tragic fire? Again, I can picture poor Jean Luc suddenly thinking of this, hours later, and slapping his shiny bald head while muttering a Shakespearean “Damn!” :wally ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/51 "2003-05-11T07:17:43Z")
Someone mentioned Data reading a database sequentially. I object to Data’s “reading” anything at all. Why did he go to the trouble to use his artificial eyes to scan Roman characters and “read” like we do, instead of plugging his finger or something into the console and downloading the data into his positronic neural net? Oh, and if you’re in a real jam, and rerouting something through the main deflector dish doesn’t work, and you’ve tried reversing the polarity of something and _that_ doesn’t work, you can always Separate the Saucer Section. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/52 "2003-05-11T07:33:55Z")
Grasping at straws, eh? They rarely seperated the ship. I’m willing to bet they did it less than a dozen times in all of TNG’s seven seasons and four movies and I know they didn’t do it in any of TOS’ three seasons and six movies despite Kirk telling Scotty to do it once if the situation planetside deterioated much further. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/53 "2003-05-11T07:37:40Z")
Oh. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/54 "2003-05-11T08:07:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Winston Bongo \* > **Again, I can picture poor Jean Luc suddenly thinking of this, hours later, and slapping his shiny bald head while muttering a Shakespearean "Damn!"** Or at least a Gallic “Merde!”…despite Picard’s being the most _British_ Frenchman in the galaxy. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/55 "2003-05-11T12:57:14Z")
friend dewey wrote > [@](#): > > Or reversing the polarity. When in doubt, reverse the polarity of something. just yesterday, a co-worker setting up a new panel hooked the backup batteries backwards, thereby “reversing the polarity” it shorted out the main card and four subcards. total damage: $3,500.00. plus repair time and overnight shipping for the new parts. reversing the polarity… ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/56 "2003-05-11T19:35:38Z")
You mean reversing the polarity on a clock **won’t** make time run backwards? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/57 "2003-05-11T19:38:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew \* > \*\*Or at least a Gallic “Merde!”…despite Picard’s being the most _British_ Frenchman in the galaxy. \*\* It’s the only way he could be a sympathetic character. Can you imagine if he’d been played as a REAL Frenchman??? Everyone would have loathed him. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/58 "2003-05-11T19:42:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 2trew \* > **TNG’s early episodes, in my admittedly hazy memory, seemed to involve way too many instances of Worf informing whoever was in charge that he was a Klingon (and therefor a warrior who lusted for battle and presumably practiced combat techniques), at which point he would march smartly forward and be rendered unconscious by an attack that wouldn’t have connected with the chin of a wheel chair bound blind person.** Back when those episodes were airing, a spokesperson for _ST:TNG_ said that the point of those scenes was supposed to be that the attacker was so incredibly strong that he could beat up anyone, **even** Worf. At least, that was the intent. Since we never got to see Worf **win** any of these battles, the overall effect was to make Worf look like a total nancy-boy who got beaten up by everyone he tangled with. (I mean, come on, if you want to show that the attacker is really powerful, set up a stunt sequence where the attacker punches Worf and Worf goes flying back 20 feet and leaves a Klingon-shaped dent in the wall. Sheesh.) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/59 "2003-05-11T19:51:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > set up a stunt sequence where the attacker punches Worf and Worf goes flying back 20 feet and leaves a Klingon-shaped dent in the wall. So _that’s_ how they make those forehead molds. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270/60 "2003-05-11T21:40:26Z")
**Masonite** , I just reread my post to you and I’m coming off pretty haugthy, even to myself. Sorry… that wasn’t my intent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-bug-you-about-star-trek/174270.md?page=4)