posted
Tonight we have Andorians and Tellarites and Romulans. Oh my! Looking for:
-More on the revelation that the Romulans are operating their ships by remote control, via some VR interface. A clever way of getting around the "never seen a Romulan" thing, but how are we stretching practicality here? How easy would it be to scramble or jam transmissions, when they figure it out?
-Plenty on Tellarite culture. Unto the present on this series, we've only really seen them once (though heard of them several times)... This time we should get a real look at who they are and how they'll figure into the founding of the Federation.
-What's ordering the Enterprise to ferry the two other species around in the first place. Are we to see some of Starfleet's new direction and goal in the local area?
-Perhaps not in this episode (certainly in the next), but Remans! The OTHER reason we didn't see Romulans around now - we see these guys instead, in anotehr stroke of cleverness. Will we see these guys developped as more than the rather dumbish aliens from "Nemesis"? What about their rare telepahtic abilities - which may come into play in this trilogy?
-And if not Remans, then the Romulans themselves - culture and especially tech, and look for tidbits that will echo their future TOS appearances. Look out for uniforms and costumes recycled from "Nemesis", as last seen in "Kir'Shara". Perhaps the Romulan style from this era comes back in vogue in two hundred years...
posted
They're getting better at these three-parters. It's a solid opening act, and I hope this one follows through.
-Timestamp: November 12, 2154.
-Tellar Prime is where we begin proper. Tellarites enjoy mudbaths, trading insults, and view puppies as delicacies.
-Androrian hulls are composed of duranium. Shran's ship, the combat-tested Kumari, had a crew of 86 - 19 survived, including the sexy Lt. Talas. This places them, crew-wise, roughly on-par with Enterprise. Shran had been in command of the Kumari for twelve years... And she was the first of her class. Finally, an Andorian ship class name!
-Andorian ale has quite a kick.
-Andoian warship weakness: a direct hit to their shield generators should take them out. This one doesn't, though - it's strangely more powerful than normal, as was the Tellarite ship that took out the Kumari... Curiouser still, they have identical power signatures.
-The Tellarite ship is a re-use of the Xindi Arboral ship from last season, and IIRC it's been seen as something else before that as well.
-Yep, the Romulans are using the EXACT same uniforms from "Nemesis". The remote control setup seems to include a motorcycle helmet.
-Tracking the evil Andorian ship, we're led to a curious greenish, insectoid craft equipped with lots of subspace antennae as well as "multi-spectral emitters", which create the illusion of a different kind os ship. It's a maneuverable little bugger too, but is equipped only with very strong hull plating.
-In the ensuing battle, it becomes pretty apparent that the Romulan "chameleon" doesn't have any inertial damners, as the away team gets jostled around pretty strongly in the cramped confines.
-Enterprise has had an injector upgrade, allowing a new maximum (and stable!) top speed of warp 5.06 or more. The chameleon apparently can't keep up.
-Trapped on the chameleon, Trip and Malcolm weave their way through the ship, which seems to be little more than a collection of Jeffries tubes - not even a life support system is apparent. As an in-joke, Malcolm says that there's no rule that the bridge HAS to be on the top of the ship.
-The MACO guarding Shran and Talas actually puts up a good fight, knocking down Shran before Talas takes him out. Still, you'd think he'd call the bridge or something...
-The camera moves in the gun fight (and the space battle) are quite impressive. The quickness and sharpness is actually a quality of the digital camera process, I believe.
-Our cliffhanger happens when Trip and Malcolm finally find the bridge, revealing it to be a copy of the one the Romulans were seen in. There's a nice dramatic pullback that establishes the capital city... And it looks like IT doesn't change much in 200 years, either.
posted
Some interesting stuff. The remote control ship definatly helps the 'never seen a romulan' stuff. The chameleon ship also seems very sneaky Romulan.
As for the Nemisis uniforms... it looks like they may be using the Nemisis Romulan logo too...
Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Can't add much to Mark's tech analysis, but I must say that this was one fucking great episode, and I can't wait for the next two chapters.
I've finally written a letter to Les Moonves showing my support for the show, and all I can say is that I hope plenty of others are doing the same. Here's to a fifth season!
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Who do we write letters to? I actually might just do that for Enterprise. I feel Enterprise is going to be a DS9 like show - I remember when everyone thought it was the worst show especially the worst Trek! (I loved it from Emissary - so I was dismayed at that reaction). Now everyone considers DS9 to be the mature/classy Trek. I feel Enterprise will eventually be a series the most come to enjoy - even if it might be after the series has finished.
I say go for season 8 for Enterprise - seriously.
So who is this Les Moonves and who and where do I write to (somewhere that will make a difference).
At the same time I'd also write a letter asking for Rick Berman and Brannon Braga (well at least Brannon Braga to be removed from the paramount lot!)
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
Pretty good episode, but I'm not so sure about the way Romulans are portrayed here. First of all, that organic zippy chameleon ship did not even look remotely Romulan (it didn't resemble anything, really). And what's with the reuse of EVERYTHING from Nemesis? The city, the uniforms, the emblems.
The Romulan villains in this ep were not particularly interesting. They might as well have not shown them AT ALL. Can anyone remember even ONE LINE from the villains in this episode?
posted
Harry: The ship was obviously an advanced prototype designed for a specific purpose, not something from their general design lineage. Also, I like the way they're being kept mysterious and not overly-exposed (both to the audience and the characters) at this point. Mark makes a good point about this only being the introductory act, also. It's like saying the Dominion was "not particularly interesting" in DS9 seasons two & three.
Legitimate gripe about the Nemesis stuff, I guess, but for some reason it doesn't seem to bother me. Three reasons, really. (1) The story was great and the directing was tight, and I never had the chance to be distracted by it. (2) This has always happened on all the Trek shows; it has to do with the time and budget constrictions of a weekly TV series, and perhaps in this case one that is already in jeopardy. Something's gotta give, and I for one am glad it's something a inconsequential as what the Romulans are wearing as opposed to a more integral element. (3) In re Romulus, how much different could it be anyway? I mean, how much did San Francisco change between the 22nd and 24th centuries? (4) Not that I generally approve of such excuses, but Nemesis was a shit movie and, like, NOBODY saw it anyway.
Andrew: By all means. That site's been up for at least a year or two, and one has to assume that some people are doing this on their own. The reason I never bothered before now is that I never really considered cancellation as a serious threat before this season. But better late than never. But remember, time grows short!
-MMoM
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I thought of a couple of points on re-viewing:
-- Tellar and Andoria are 5 days apart at whatever speed the NX-01 is traveling.
-- Tellarites use "particle cannons" as ship-mounted weapons.
-- The Andorians and Tellarites have been feuding for over a century.
-- The clue that the Romulan ship is Romulan is the beridium matrix in its power cells, somewhat similar to those on the mines from back in "Minefield."
-- Romulan maneuvering thrusters utilize liquid hydrogen and oxygen as fuel.
-- I think this is the first time reference has been made to Malcolm's attraction to T'Pol as established in "Shuttlepod One."
-- The Romulan vessel's camoflauge system works with a series of holographic projectors along its hull. Kind of advanced for the era, eh? It uses tri-phasic emitters to simulate various kinds of weaponry.
-- While it no doubt is the same CGI environment, are we sure that some of the buildings in the Romulan capital haven't been altered/added/deleted when compared with Nemesis? For some reason it looked subtly different to me...
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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quote:Originally posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim: Mark makes a good point about this only being the introductory act, also. It's like saying the Dominion was "not particularly interesting" in DS9 seasons two & three.
Ahhh but season three DS9 was FULL ON Dominion!!
And the Romulan uniforms in Nemesis were a continuation of the uniforms brought in for the Romulans in Deep Space Nine - I think it was in "Improbable Cause"/The Die Is Cast" two-parter.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
posted
Well I'm through disc 5 of the 7 in the third season set now, and all I've seen of the Dominion thus far is "The Search" two parter, one Jem'Hadar in "The Abandoned," and one Founder in "Heart of Stone." All the rest is just them saying "The Dominion may be about to come through the wormhole any time!"
So far. Don't give anything away.
-------------------- The flaws we find most objectionable in others are often those we recognize in ourselves.
Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
OK, but really The Dominion in those seasons is more of a psychological enemy at the same time. They after all didn't declare war until the end of season 5!
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
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