Indeed, There was a difference between terminating a blank clone not fully formed yet (a kind of ex-utero abortion) and killing a transporter copy that had been living for years.
Still, Thomas’ very existance grated on Will’s nerves.
What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen a woman before?
I thought I had.
Best Riker line ever!
I have read that the clone killing episode was a kind of statement about abortion rights. Star Trek has a history of trying to make episodes that have social commentary, and TNG was just trying to keep up with it. The black/white people fued from the original series is their most famous one.
The one where Riker falls for an androgenous alien who’s feeling kinda girly was supposed to be one also, except they seemed to have dropped the ball there, what with his/her agreeing to forced reconditioning back to “normal” androgeny.
If they had really wanted to push the envelope, they could have let the ladies have more storylines that didn’t involve romance. They didn’t even let them swordfight in the Robin Hood episode. It got a little better later on, though. At least Troi got to wear a normal uniform, and Dr. Crusher got to go on a secret mission (where Picard was kidnapped by Cardassians).
I didn’t know that he/she agreed to anything … didn’t her people force her?
I’m not sure if it was a book or an episode, but I believe Geordi mentioned that he could only see through IR-transparent cards…
Of course, if it was a book, there are canon issues, but…meh
Nevertheless, Thomas Riker is “another William Riker.”
Oh yeah, that’s an affirmative on the Irish Chick=Hot side note…
Yeah, it was forced, but he/she also agreed to it. He/she was arrested and all, but then at the end when Riker would have intervened he/she gave a valiant “It’s okay, I want this, I want to be normal again” speech to him before going off to be reconditioned. It might have been to stop Riker from getting into trouble, but if it was I don’t think it was very clear. (It wasn’t the impression I got from it.) So, he/she agreed to be forced. And it sucked.
Man, that Noonian Soong really was astounding. He invented methods of defeating detection technology before the detection technology was even invented!
Soren gave an impassioned speech before the ruling council or whoever that she did not want to be reconditioned because she didn’t consider herself to be ill, the crushing response to which was “it’s good that you admit your illness; it will make curing you much easier.” Later, when Riker and Worf try to rescue her, it’s already been reconditioned and only then tells Riker that it’s happy as it is (but it’s only happy because of the conditioning which she didn’t want in the first place).
I was under the impression that the conditioning didn’t take place during the episode. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, though, so perhaps you’re right.
How about the episode where Dr. Crusher fell in love with a Trill. The Trill host body died from some cause or other. While they waited for a new host, Riker provided a temporary host body for the Trill symbiote, and there was a strong implication that Crusher and Riker/Trill Did the Deed.
Then the new host arrived, and it turned out to be female. All of a sudden, Crusher discovered that she wasn’t quite as enlightened as she had thought.
Now THAT would have pushed the envelope!
For another example of envelope pushing that didn’t work out, check the first season: in the first couple of episodes, there’s a recurring male extra who can be seen the background a couple of times…wearing the miniskirted Starfleet uniform, like Troi’s. It’s definately a guy, too, he’s all beefy and muscular. (And, yes, kind of hot in that short skirt.) He disappears pretty quickly though.
The problem with the clones is that it didn’t solve the problem. As Dr. Pulaski realized, they hadn’t solved “replicative fading.” So getting new DNA for new clones would have only delayed the inevitable. They had to integrate the two societies again and reproduce naturally.
I suppose Irish chick is hot, but didn’t anyone notice a continuity problem? She’s wearing a red dress or something in the cargo bay, then when she asks Riker if she can wash her feet, she turns up in his cabin wearing an off-the-shoulder sweater and long skirt.
All they had to do was to keep a substantial quantity of first- or second-generation cells on ice. From these they should be able to get millions of healthy new citizens. Eventually, they’d have to find new donors, but again, all they’d have to do would be to ask for volunteers and they’d get all they’d need.
The correct answer to this is: WHO CARES! She looked REALLY hot in that off-the-shoulder sweater!
Now, now, we’re nerds. When confronted with a conundrum, we apply our deductive skills to find an explanation. Obviously, from the fact that she changed outfits, we can conclude that at some point in between, she was naked. And from the fact that the Irish colonists had not yet been assigned quarters, we can conclude that that point occured somewhere in the public passageways of the ship. See? Logic once again provides a simple, consistent, and satisfactory solution.
And the thing about Geordi seeing through IR transparent cards was on an episode. During a poker game, in fact. Someone complains that Geordi’s always winning, and he says it’s not his fault that they were using cards transparent in the infrared. Notably, however, he does not say that he can’t see through cards using other frequencies, and it’s never said how common it is for cards to be IR-transparent. So I’ll stand by the statement that he can see through “most” playing cards.
It’s not that he disappeared; the miniskirt did. Shut up, you in the back!
It took them a couple episodes to figure out that it looked pretty stupid. Rocket scientists they ain’t.
As far as getting volunteers is concerned, it wouldn’t stretch the imagination too much to say they wouldn’t get many, considering the example the first officer & ship’s doctor set.
OTTOMH
Clones-
“One William Ryker is unique, maybe even special. But a hundred or a thousand of him diminishes me in ways I can’t even begin to understand.”
And
“You can ask the crew of the Enterprise for volunteers. But I think you’ll find they feel the same way we do.”
Booze-
“And none of this synthehol billers!”
“If you wish the replicators can produce real alcohol, with all the dileterious effects intact. Computer, whiskey.”
“Terrible! It has no bite.”
“Jahakk Pulloohk!”
“Hah! Fsssh! Hooo! (Various other comic noises)”
Re Poker
“I only peeked after the hand was over. But, next time you shouldn’t use cards transparent to ultraviolet light.”
Note also that Data is generally not a very good poker player. While his relflexes and senses should allow him to track all the cards and cheat like crazy, he apparently doesn’t do so. He also has genuine difficulty understanding the strategies used by biological beings and knowing when somebody is bluffing.
But-
In Time’s Arrow (part 2) Data easily cleans out the town’s cardsharks. I’ve always asumed that since he was playing out of a genuine need for money needed to safeguard the timeline from aliens rather than just having fun with friends, Data cheated like crazy.
Re Androgyny
Ryker attempts to take the blame and spare Soren. She refuses and says she is tired of hiding. Soren actually tells the comittee “I am not sick. I do not need to be cured.”. She gives a very passionate speech on these points. Before going to rescue her, Ryker mentions drugs and psychotektic surgery. When Soren says ‘I see now that I was sick. I am much happier now that they have started to make me normal.’ Ryker realizes that these treatments have already begun. He tell Worf that the person he loved no longer exists. Essentially, Soren has been given a lobotomy.
Re Soong
I never had a problem with that. Presumably whatever glow Geordi sees around Data is some electromagnetic field which Soong would have been well aware of. Considering how long and hard he worked to produce androids, I find it difficult to believe that there is any aspect of Data’s functions he didn’t know about. I always thought he simply dealt with em and other emissions in an attempt to make Julia seem fully human. It wouldn’t be much use to include a complex feedback chip to fool medical sensors if equipment from the local Radio Shack would detect an unusual magnetic field around her.
Geordi, duh. 
Soong may also have known all along about the aura around Data, and didn’t bother hiding it because of the gold skin & eyes. When he made his wife mk II, he went ahead and fixed that glow problem.
That Irish episode was terrible. really, really terrible. Why is it the Irish managed to get millions of galaxies across the universe, but still manage to be dancing at crossroads and munching potatoes?