posted
I'd like to start a discussion of areas in the writing of Star Trek where opportunities were missed to tell a really good story, or perhaps to improve on the story that was told originally. This isn't intended as criticsm, just an opportunity for others to sound off about how "they woulda done it."
For me, this biggest missed opportunity was the chance to explain once and for all why TOS and post-TOS Klingons look different. We all know the real reasons, but why couldn't some really clever writer address this point? DS9 made it worse by bringing back three TOS-era Klingons who somehow mutated from one form to the other with no explanation whatsoever. Then the "Trials and Tribbleations" episode happened and all we got was a curt, "It's a long story" reply from Worf.
I always thought that there could be two distinct races of Klingons, one more human in appearance, the other more "feral", larger and more aggressive. Perhaps there was a power struggle sometime after TOS and the more human Klingon species was segregated, outcast, or similarly dishonored. A great TNG or DS9 story could have been crafted dealing with outcast Klingons escaping from confinement on a penal planet and searching for a new world and a chance to regain their honor and place in the galaxy. Perhaps they would be pursued by their captors or have some dispute where the Enterprise would become involved. How would Worf react? For all his honor and humanity, would he have to come to grips with his own deeply ingrained feelings of racial superiority? Perhaps he would be forced to work with the leader of the refugees to fend off a mutual threat and the two would begin to gain respect for each other as Klingons.
I originally came up with this idea during the last season of TNG. It was too late to send a spec script and after the DS9 thing happened, I gave up on it. I wanted to bring Kor or Kang back as they were and through a major conflict/battle have them die with honor, possibly saving Worf in the process. I wanted to create a powerful story that was topical, allowed a really great classic Trek character to fulfill a destiny, and provide a conclusive answer to the "Klingon question."
posted
How many threads have we had about "missed opportunities" so far since Timelord registered? Just curious.
In regards to the Klingon "problem": I don't care. I really don't. Why did Klingons have smooth heads in TOS? The simplest answer possible: the Klingon Empire altered its warriors who would have contact with the Federation to resemble Federation humans. Why? Who knows. Inferiority complex, a desire for humans to underestimate Klingons, maybe the Chancellor liked smooth heads over bumpy heads.
But do we really need Worf to spell out, "Well, see, Chancellor Brauptak didn't like his bumps, so for forty years, all Klingon children had their bumps surgically removed. When Brauptak was murdered by his son, Humpitak, the practice was put to and end, and Klingons regained their bumps through surgery. My grandfather chose Mold #4, Varient #2, with the 'Dinosaur' pattern."
C'mon. Use your imagination to decide why Klingons in TOS had smooth foreheads and in TNG/DS9 had bumpy foreheads. Ever since bumpy-headed Klingons popped up in TMP people have been wondering about this, and I don't see why we ever need a canonical explanation, or why people view it as a "missed opportunity."
No, the "missed opportunity" was in not securing the budget in TOS to get-up the actors in ridge-forehead makeup as Gene Coon originally wanted.
posted
Oh, I did read your post. And it strikes me off the top of my head that most of what you do is talk about so-called "missed opportunities" in Trek. Woohoo.
posted
And the opportunity for intelligent discourse goes out the window....
Just because you disagree with my opinion that Enterprise stinks on ice, you have obviously taken it upon yourself to attack every post I make. How small of you.
Thanks for putting the "lame" in "flame"
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Oh wait! I mentioned that you post a lot about "missed opportunities" in Trek! OH MY GOD! I'm ATTACKING HIM! OH NO!
Dude, chill out. I posted several paragraphs explaining why I don't believe the smooth head/bumpy head "missed opportunity" is a missed opportunity. If you take that as an attack, please get yourself a thicker skin, because not only will you not last long here, but you probably will have a very stressful "real life" (and I still don't understand why you brought "Enterprise" into this thread, explain please).
quote:And the opportunity for intelligent discourse goes out the window....
No, actually it happened when, instead of responding to my follow-up post about why this wasn't a missed opportunity, you decided that I was attacking you. Whatever dude.
posted
Let me post here again, because I re-read your last post again, and it really pisses me off.
Maybe you're used to people accepting you as an authority on "Star Trek", and that has gone to your head. What the fuck ever. If you post on Flare, people are going to disagree with you, and crying "wah, they're attacking me" isn't going to work very well. I don't watch Enterprise this season because of my schedule, so I really don't have an opinion on it. I do have many opinions, and I generally don't keep quiet about them, and if you feel I'm attacking you, why don't you go to the TrekBBS or some other board that doesn't enjoy the same level of discourse we here on Flare do?
If Charles hadn't posted his "I'm dissapointed" thread I would've told you how I feel about you re: your post in much more (shall we say) "colorful" vocabulary, but I won't. Now, you started a topic, I replied on topic, and then you took us off topic. You can get us back ON topic, or this thread will most likely be closed down pretty soon.
Your choice.
**
To follow back up on my original post: I don't feel that this was a missed opportunity. I think it was great that DS9 poked fun at the makeup mishaps and changes between TOS and the movies, and unless you're one of the "TOS always looked like the movies (in reality)" crowd, then you must've had an opinion on why the change occured. It's often said that the less said about something, the better. Very little was said -- and what do we have? Confirmation that TOS actually LOOKED like what we saw, *AND* the opportunity to use our imagination to decide for ourselves what happened to the Klingons. That's great stuff.
Back on the Klingons again, everyone debated what the "disasterous first contact" with the Klingon Empire meant. Everyone assumed some sort of military conflict, but what we found out was that it was a political blunder. The unexpected is again, great. One political blunder eventually gives way to such a destructive relationship -- gives you pause (especially considering our bumbling monkey of a president).
quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: Back on the Klingons again, everyone debated what the "disasterous first contact" with the Klingon Empire meant. Everyone assumed some sort of military conflict, but what we found out was that it was a political blunder.
Intresting theory....I wonder if the upcoming Archer in Klingon prison (don't know the spelling) will be another nail in Starfleet/Klingon relations' coffin. Mabye we'll see the formation of the Neutral Zone between Starfleet and the KLingons before Enterprise is over...and without the Romulan war.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I was referring to the name of the prison KIrk and McCoy were sent to in STVI (something) Penthe. I know you're missing this season so far, but it's getting really good. Even though the last episode (for example) looked like crap from the preview it truned out really well. I'm hoping that the "prison" episode holds true to this trend.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: I was referring to the name of the prison KIrk and McCoy were sent to in STVI (something) Penthe.
Rura Pente "The Alien's Graveyard"...a clever swipe from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, where it's Rorapandi, "The White Man's Grave"
-------------------- "Well, I mean, it's generally understood that, of all of the people in the world, Mike Nelson is the best." -- ULTRA MAGNUS, steadfast in curmudgeon
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
If only we were so lucky. STVI would have been sooo much better if Kirk had just frozen to death... ...and Generations would have been a great movie without him too!
Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: I know you were, I was being "funny."
I knew you were being "funny" when refering to my refren...er..ah...fuck it.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Timelord, just cool it please. Take the arguments to private messages, email, smoke signals, or voodoo dolls. Let's just try to have a discussion here.
There are lots of missed opportunities in Star Trek. For instance, there's whether or not Spock really did have a forked penis, if Klingon warriors were circumsized, and whether there was a thriving holodeck porn industry in the 24th Century.
On a more serious note, I think that most Star Trek's missed opportunities came from not giving us more development and more diversity within the alien species. A lot of the characters we see from these other races are usually cookie-cutter versions of others we've seen before. There's the occassion "bad boy" of the species (like Sybok, the Ferengi scientist, the Pagh-Wraithers, etc.), but I always feel there should have been more development than that.
Granted, it's probably likely most attempts to expand on the different races would either make the episodes feel like documentaries or otherwise unwatchable.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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