Flare Sci-Fi Forums: $$ Stigmatic Tech ["Stigma" Spoilers]

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Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

Short post tonight due to limited time. An interesting episode, with some very far-reaching implcations for the Vulcans. Not too much tech, but here goes:

-I know there's a semi-debate going on here about how much actual exploration is being done by Enterprise... Today, they're visiting a Big Medical Conference Thing, which seems an almost routine thing to be happening so far out. One wonders just how far the Vulcans have explored.

-Phlox's second wife shows up with w aneutron microscope. NEUTRON microscope? I thought the whole idea behind ELECTRON microscopes is that electrons are so tiny, that images resolved from bombarded electrons are that much better. Neutrons are huge!

-The shuttle that ferries wife & microscope to Enterprise seems to be adapted from the Swarm ships of Voyager. They look like trilobytes. Also note the orientation of Enterprise - she is uncharacteristically showing her dorsal side to the planet. Not that it matters, but it really doesn't happen that often.

-The Big Medical Thing is in facilities that look GREAT. They've really raised the bar with the opening shot - a huge building with rail transportation, a big veranda, and bird flying aroud inside the construct.

-The Vulcan delegation are but a fraction of the over one million physicians on their home planet.

-The revelation of the episode is Vulcan mind melds in this era are frowned upon by the population. No wonder the Fal Tor Pan is legendary - Vulcan society has repressed the concept.

-We know that Denobulans take three mates each. As is demonstrated in this episode, this makes things every complex. Poor Trip!

-T'pol has had Pa'nar Syndrome for a year... She got it from the guys on the Vulcan ship who were experimenting with emotions last year. Apparently, in this day and age Vulcan telepaths are in the minority, and T'Pol can't meld. However, non-telepaths can be the recipient of the Syndrome.

-The movie this week is "The Black Cat"! But we don't get to see it. Instead, we get to see the gym again, where we see there are now some futuristic exercise bikes.

Mark

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

(insert eyebrow-lifting smiley)

Fascinating...

Never mind the quality of acting or writing in this episode, or whether this works as an AIDS allegory, or any other such aspects. The Trek continuity content here is sufficient to make this one a must see.

I have no problem with the concept that most Vulcans can't meld, training or no training. It could well be that Starfleet favors those who can - or those who can favor Starfleet.

As for melding being "mythical", clearly this is something of a simplification. Melding (or comparable telepathy) does seem to play a major role in the Vulcan society, in the bonding ritual and in katra transfer. I have a hard time swallowing the idea that bonding and katra transfer are minority pursuits on Vulcan. But things related to sex and death probably "don't count" as they are highly taboo to begin with.

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :

*stick*

Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

This *does* work as an AIDS allegory, albeit with the usual "Enterprise" sledgehammer subtlety. It's pretty easy to say Vulcan telepaths = gays and Pa'nar = AIDS, but at least they didn't SAY it straight out this time... The most they did IIRC was to mention Earth's stamping out bigotry "almost a century ago".

Oh, and I forgot to mention that THIS time, "most" of the Enterprise crew was granted shore leave (instead of the lot system they used on Risa, which STILL confounds me), and it seems that everyone was taking advantage of it except Trip. Mayweather comes back wtih some bruises related to an alien game involving cows and a big ball, I think.

Mark

Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :

When I saw that shuttle in the beginning, I actually thought it was the Ferengi transport from "Acquisition." The forked "nose" looked right, as did the flat bottom...

(Can't say I blame you guys for excising that episode from your memories, though... [Wink]

)

I thought that that microscope prop was a pretty poor excuse for a futuristic piece of equipment, IMO. In later series we saw these really bulky things that seemed to have some pretty good capabilities, yet this thing was a lot smaller. Yes, I know that tech probably advanced a bit so the TNG-era doodads could actually do more, but it still seemed strange.

As for the "on the frontier" aspect... don't forget that the Enterprise is hardly the fastest kid on the block. [Wink]

They may think they're "all that" by zipping around at Warp 5, but the Vulcans have been said to make Warp 6.5, which is more than twice as fast on the old WF^3 scale... So in that respect, it's actually kinda ironic that they're doing this "exploring" that is basically pointless since the Vulcans have already been there and done that.

Hey, maybe that's why the NX-01 is never mentioned in later centuries -- because they only boldly went where everyone ELSE had gone before! [Razz]

Anyway...

I know that playing the tech game is always dubious given the development of real-life theories and stuff in the past thirty-five years, but for some reason a Vulcan Palm Pilot that can take DNA samples seems pretty advanced, even for the Vulcans at that time. (Then again, maybe all they did was scrape some of the skin residue that T'Pol's fingerprint left, and analyze it elsewhere.)

Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :

quote:
Mayweather comes back wtih some bruises related to an alien game involving cows and a big ball, I think.

Mark, you might want to rephrase that. [Big Grin]

Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

Couldnt the Sh'Ran go warp 7, anyway Im not nitpicking, but yeah, Archer has a lot invested in his lil' NX there so Im sure hes just proud of his girl despite the fact that its not as sophisticated as its Vulcan counterparts.

As for that recycled ferengi shuttle, was that supposed to represent a Denobulan (sp?) ship then? I know this is a far reach, but possibly the ferengi stole their ship and hence the similarity, afterall, the ferengi supposedly bought the invention of warp drive. Actually, nevermind, I dont even want to think about it, I want to sleep tonite. [Wink]

Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Mark Nguyen:

-I know there's a semi-debate going on here about how much actual exploration is being done by Enterprise... Today, they're visiting a Big Medical Conference Thing, which seems an almost routine thing to be happening so far out. One wonders just how far the Vulcans have explored.

Well, thats kind of an old issue isn't it?
One doesn't minimise Christopher Columbus's voyages simply because some pesky native American's happened to explore the place centuries eariler. Although maybe one should....
There's a point here somewhere, but it seems to have disappeared.

Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Dat:
Mark, you might want to rephrase that.

No. SOMEONE has to make an attempt at livening up Mayweather's character. And if it takes a big ball to do it...

Mark

Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Mucus:
One doesn't minimise Christopher Columbus's voyages simply because some pesky native American's happened to explore the place centuries eariler.

Well, no, but can you name the first Chinese ship to circumnavigate the globe?

Posted by TheWoozle (Member # 929) on :

Do we even have it's name recorded? I remember that the admiral was named. What's the name of the ship?

Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :

Chow Mi Fun.

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

I wasn't even aware that the Chinese had circumnavigated. They did explore plenty around the Indian and Pacific oceans, though - but not in single ships. When they sailed out, it was usually with at least a thousand ships!

The old translitteration of the name of the early 15th century exploring admiral IIRC is Cheng Ho. I have no idea what the modern translitteration would be. Also, Cheng never sailed to the US AFAI currently known - although Chinese shipwrecks from before Cheng's time have been found on US coast. Certainly he didn't circumnavigate in a properly documented manner.

Quick, name the ship from Magellan's fleet that actually survived that recorded circumnavigation!

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

I'm not all up on my Chinese history much, but from what I know it was Zheng He who was supposedly the first (1421-23AD).

Actually, Magellan did not make it the whole trip so he really is getting too much credit already, as he died in the Pacific 2 years into the voyage (1519-22AD). The captain that DID make make it however, was his successor -- Juan Sebastian del Cano. From what I recall, of the 5 ships in Magellans fleet, three actually made it to the Pacific, the Concepcion, the Trinidad, and the Victoria; of which the Victoria was the only surviving ship. They were the first European (portugese) sailors, in anycase, to circumnavigate the world.

The first English guy was Frank Drake like almost 60 years later (1577-80AD), with the only ship there surviving being the Golden Hind Heh! [Big Grin]

The first American guy was Robert Gray (1787-90AD) with the ship Columbia Rediviva .

Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jason Abbadon:
Chow Mi Fun.

Can't have been that much fun, all the chinese admirals of the time were eunechs. Not exactly what I'd call an incentive to go for promotion but still...

Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :

Keep enuichs away from my Chow Mi Fun!
Sure didint pay to be sailor back then did it? [Frown]

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

It was probably more effective than saltpeter, though.

Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :

I think Starfleet used to do that: Just look at Chekov. [Razz]

Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :

*unstick*

Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :

*bibiddy bobiddy bump*

This week's re-run (hey, what happened to "Dawn"?) has us visiting T'pol's character arc, which we hope will come into play in the new season. How will this whole syndrome thing be handled or advanced? Will T'pol's rumoured experimenting with emotions have to do with it? Will it be advenced to the point that they'll realize that soon everyone will be telepatic? Hmm?

Mark

Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

*que suspenseful music*

Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :

I noticed that they removed the "In memory of the crew of Columbia" from the beginning of the episode for its rerun... [Frown]

...hell, even the TNG "Unification" reruns on TNN still show the "In memory of Gene Roddenberry" at the beginning of the episode.