Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Some commentary on "Author, Author" (minor $)

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Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :

Thanks to a quirk in programming schedules, Citytv aired "Author, Author" a couple of days early.

In any case, it's a reasonably fun episode with a fairly serious backdrop to it. The conclusion is admittedly a bit of a retread "A Measure of a Man" and admittedly an inferior one at that, but there's enough fresh, fun stuff in here to more than compensate. The B-story is well-integrated and not too one-track-defined to be annoying.

This ep. is a veritable continuity goldmine, by the way. And, in what might surprise some of you, it's from Braga, although the actual teleplay is Phyllis Strong & Mike Sussman, whoever they are. We get throwaway lines harkening back to throwaway lines in TNG. (For instance, the Klingon poet K'ratak has his name dropped, which elicited a smile.) We have probably the biggest single collection of 24th century similes ever assembled. We have very little stock footage, impressive for what is essentially a bottle show. We have a new ship design that appears for only a split second that I'm sure will send a few people into a tizzy at the Starships board in a few days. We see Seven keep on exploring her humanity but in an excellent yet terse way that hogs little dialog and little running time but gets the point across nicely. We get Chakotay with a ponytail, Paris with an-ugly-as-hell moustache, Janeway as a dark brunette and Seven as a redhead. Some funny stuff, some serious stuff, all-in-all a good outing.

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"I can be creative when I have a good idea. That just happens way too rarely."
-Omega, April 6

[This message has been edited by The_Tom (edited April 16, 2001).]

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

K'ratak?

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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
I wouln't say that anyone who has ceased to post every time you rant has "realized that they couldn't win" Omega. It's more like "oh, great he comes Mr. conservative frontal lobotomy boy who only hits one note over and over and over and over..."
-Jay, July 15, 2000

Posted by Quatre Winner (Member # 464) on :

He wrote "The Dream of the Fire". Very good read.

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In this crazy world of lemons, baby...you're lemonade!

Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :

K'Trak.

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"The sons of the Prophet were valiant and bold,
And quite unacustomed to fear.
But, of all, the most reckless, or so I am told,
Was Abdulah Boul Boul Ameer."
Aban's Illustration www.alanfore.com

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Which episode was that from ... ?

Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :

"Measure of a Man" I think. Worf gave it to Data as a gift during his going away party.

I may have the name wrong too. That's the way I remember it though.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, maybe it was K'ratak...

[This message has been edited by Aban Rune (edited April 17, 2001).]

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

The Encyclopedia says it was K'Ratak who wrote The Dream of Fire, which Worf gave to Data in "Measure of a Man".

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"Although, from what I understand, having travelled around the Mid-west quite a bit, apparently Jesus is coming, so I guess the choice now is we should decide whether we should spit or swallow."
-Maynard James Keenan

Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :

quote:
We have probably the biggest single collection of 24th century similes ever assembled.

You mean, similes like the following: "Those boots will stick to the killers like a pair of Tiberian bats", or "You look as tired as a Traken beast"?
I HATE those lines. They're incredibly annoying.

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Lisa: "Don't you remember the story of Oedipus?"
Homer: "Maybe five dollars will refresh my memory."
Lisa (angrily): "Oedipus was the story of a man who kills his father and marries his mother!"
Homer: "Uggh! Who pays for that wedding?"

Shabren's Final Prophecy: Star Trek: Legacy

Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :

I don't mind them so much, and they really add to the general "feel" that these people are just like us, only living in a far more diverse universe. I was mentioning it just because Voyager isn't in the habit of dropping them that often, and we get three or so in this episode. I might add that they're not awful ones, a la the "beast."

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"I can be creative when I have a good idea. That just happens way too rarely."
-Omega, April 6

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Good-god. They can't even do Measure of a Man correctly. The whole drama from that episode wasn't that Data's sentience was in question -- it was that Riker was the one trying to have him taken apart!

This was an "okay" episode -- certainly one of the better episodes I've seen from this series in a long time. However, the obvious comparison to Measure of a Man left it's mark, and the episode as a whole suffered for it. It was enjoyable to see the characters in the holo-novel, I especially liked Chakotay's appearance -- Bajoran, earing, that painting on his cheek. I take it that the Doc changed the holo-program a bit: there's no reference to a united crew of Starfleet and Maquis.

Still, this episode had its high points. I was dissapointed that Robert Ito didn't resume his Lt. Chang role from Coming of Age ... oh, well, what did I expect? And, do my eyes decieve me? Or was that Michael Ansara arbitrating? Not quite sure on that one, but it sure as hell looked and sounded like him.

It's nice to see Reg Barclay again. I recently had the chance to watch Hollow Pursuits again. It's amazing to see how far Barclay has come -- a leading mind in holographic research. Anyone remember the time that Will Riker was ready to tear him a new asshole for his conduct on the Enterprise? Or his nickname: Lt. Broccoli?

I'm not sure what's up with this new Starfleet HQ shot we're seeing. Is it supposed to be a different view of the HQ we saw in the movies and Conspiracy from TNG? I forget what it looked like in DS9's Paradise Lost two parter, but I don't think it looked like that!

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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.

Posted by Daniel (Member # 453) on :

On the Starfleet HQ bit. I don't think we're seeing Starfleet Headquarters as we know (or knew) it in San Francisco. This is Starfleet COMMUNICATIONS HQ (as I believe the sign on the front of the building said). Different stuff.

I thought the episode was very good compared to some that Voyager has produced. I never saw Measure of a Man, so I was free of the double viewing you people experienced.

Posted by MC Infinity (Member # 531) on :

I've seen measure of a man, and I just caught the second half of author, author.
Apparently I missed the good stuff, but I caught the moral of the story which Voyager does a good job at beating you over the head with it as always.

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"Well if it's gonna be that kind of a party, I'm putting my dick in the mashed potatoes!"

-Nimrod 16/4/2001

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Joseph Campanella played the arbitrator. That dude's been in everything! And he kinda reminds me of Ansara, too.

Daniel, Measure of a Man is an excellent episode. TNG's first great morality story.

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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.

Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :

Spoiler
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As for the "new ship," the only two new ships in the episode are an Excelsior and a freighter similar to the Xhosa (Antares class?) However, the teaser for "Friendship One" showed the probe, but I won't reveal what it looks like.

Shabren's Final Prophecy: Star Trek: Legacy

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Where'd you see an Excelsior?

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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.

Posted by TheF0rce (Member # 533) on :

it was flying over the dylythium moon...kinda reminds me of armada.

Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :

That freighter was not a Xhosa! It was most definately all-new. The CGI would have to be scratch-built anyway...

And the entire issue of The Doctor's rights wasn't the main point of this episode by a long shot. It was a character study first and foremost and the moral tale harkening back to "Measure..." was more of a side-effect.

Still, it would've been cool if the arbitrator had dropped a line about the precedent set by Data v Maddux.

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"I can be creative when I have a good idea. That just happens way too rarely."
-Omega, April 6

Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :

Sorry, Tom, I have to disagree with you (about the freighter, I mean

) It was most definitely a reuse of the Xhosa model, only black instead of tan/brown. Although, I don't know if the Xhosa had been CGI'd for DS9, or if it was just another recombination of freighter parts from the original physical model.

Shabren's Final Prophecy: Star Trek: Legacy

Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :

One thing I thought was odd about this ep: the judge, not interpreting the law to define the Doc as a person, instead REWROTE the law to include him. He made a very specific point of this. Do we need any more evidence that the Federation government is totally screwed up?

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"Omega is right."
-Jeff Karrde, March 18, 2001 08:47 PM

Posted by Diane (Member # 53) on :

Of course it is. They're communists.

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"There comes a time when the mind takes on a higher plane of knowledge but can never prove how it got there. All great discoveries have involved such a leap."
--Albert Einstein, on intuition.

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

As for the Xhosa, I don't know if it was CGI'd for DS9, but it did make an appearance in VOY a while ago. Or at least Pin'a'SoV lists a photo of it as "Telsian starship"... What episode was that?

We have of course seen the basic components of this freighter in Delta quadrant before. "The Chute" used footage from "Final Mission" to depict a small freighter that was said to fit within the Voyager's shuttlebay. Mercifully, that footage lasted for less than a second.

Timo Saloniemi

[This message has been edited by Timo (edited April 23, 2001).]

Posted by Obi Juan (Member # 90) on :

He didn't change it--he interpreted it. Basically, he ruled that the spirit of the twelfth guarantee was to protect the artist even though the artist was referred to as a person. This happens all of the time in our (US) legal system.

I too am surprised that nobody cited the precedent of Data v. Maddux. The arbiter acted as if he was the first to have to deal with such a case, but the precedent has already been set (and no its not a different thing--sentient rights for an artificial life form). I would think that the Data case would be the first card they played. Then again, maybe they didn't want to remind us of this episode's striking similarity to "The Measure of a Man."

One thing that I did like about this story is that it kind of deviated from the traditional Voyager story arc. As has been stated above, the first half was very different from the second, and the subplot was nicely wound in instead of weighing the episode down as happens far too frequently. Despite the similarities to the aforementioned ep, I liked "Author Author"--it was a decent, well-rounded episode.

[This message has been edited by Obi Juan (edited April 23, 2001).]

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Not to mention a third, almost totally unrelated bit about Torres and her father, which I thought worked quite nicely.

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"Excuse me, Mr. Rampaging Killer? Why don't you put down the gun and take a look at this hand-held monkey? Does it not have clever little forepaws? It eats gum and sap!"
--
L. Fitzgerald Sj�berg
****
Read three (three!) chapters of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet" and something pleasent will happen to you. Possibly involving syrup.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Er, or was that the B plot?

Posted by Curry Monster (Member # 12) on :

If there isn't a specific section to the law pertaining to the situation in question then a decision in a court of law becomes the standard by which future cases of this nature are judged. The judge can't write legislation, but the decision does in effect become law.

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Re: Russia in WWII

"Hey, we butchered Poles! Thats OK."
- DT.

Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :

Actually, something I just recalled ...

The Federation now has a slave race.

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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
***
"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
***
"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.

Posted by Mikey T (Member # 144) on :

Yes, I agree. It was something Guinan mentioned during Measure of a Man to Picard at Ten Foward. I guess Starfleet wanted a race they can turn off so they won't have to see their faces when they feel their morals rise to the surface.

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"When I said to get involved in the gay community, I didn't mean to sleep with everyone in it."
Michael_T

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Oh please. Are you a card carrying member of Staple Liberation Front, too?

Posted by Obi Juan (Member # 90) on :

Down with the fascist oppressors of staples!