How would you save Star Trek?

[MKSheppard]

In regards to the Xindi War arc, it will eventually be revealed that Trip is in fact the mysterious man from the future.

You've lost me there. I really hate time travel paradoxes. Lets just
drop the entire Temporal cold war bullshit.

[Darth Fanboy]

In regards to the Xindi War arc, it will eventually be revealed that Trip is in fact the mysterious man from the future.

You've lost me there. I really hate time travel paradoxes. Lets just
drop the entire Temporal cold war bullshit.

Agreed. I would avoid Time Travel or Clones like the fucking plague.

I would find a quick way out of the Temporal Cold War Arc and get right down to it with the Federation and Romulans. Its what everyone wanted to see when this show came out, its what everyone still wants to see now that its on. We develop a decent fleet of ships without overpowering them, give the Romulans something comparable and have a slugfest. T'Pol however will leave the crew to command a Vulcan ship and will be a member of the cast and be around but only half of the time in bit part.

I'l throw the Vulcans into limited combat with the Romulans. but only when the Romulan/Vulcan link is threatened to be revealed to the humans. (assuming continuity is still relevant.)

We'll also have a couple of episodes from the Romulan perspective during this war.

[Master of Ossus]

In regards to the Xindi War arc, it will eventually be revealed that Trip is in fact the mysterious man from the future.

You've lost me there. I really hate time travel paradoxes. Lets just
drop the entire Temporal cold war bullshit.

Actually, I really like Trip being the man from the future. When you add in the fact that we have to keep all of their current arcs around, I thought it was a relatively elegant solution to the problem.

Moreover, it would obviously make more sense on screen, because it would be slowly built up to, and I like having the two Trips make different choices based on what they each know and don't know.

Moreover, my way of solving the Temporal Cold War piece of crap ties it in to both the Romulan/Klingon wars and the Xindi War arc, which gives the show a HELL of a lot more continuity than it's ever had in the past.

Edit: Well, what do you think of what I've done with the characters? I think I salvaged about as much development out of them as I could. Travis is knowledgeable, T'Pol is erratic, Hoshi is insecure, Trip is competent, Malcolm borders on being obsessive over his weapons, Phlox is a pragmatist, and Archer has been acting like a doofus this whole time because (surprise) he's a doofus.

I also think I managed to tie in the motivations behind Future Guy's bizarre choice of action, and with the changes I've made in the story line. It would almost appear as if I've been writing the whole arc the whole time.

[YT300000]

How would I save ST?

At first I was tempted to say euthanization.

But then a plan struck me so hard my ass still smarts.

1. Send Archer, Hoshi and Reed into the future as part of the Temporal War arc. Have Reed captured by Suliban and a bunch of weird circuits, organs and shit like that implanted. He is indocrinated, and sent to kill the other two, who are with the future good guys. Archer and Hoshi get stuck on some desert planet. They have sex. The Termin- er... REED comes after them. Just before he frags the two, they convince him to come back to them (sorta like Goldfinger). Then all three do a kick-ass commando scene and blow up a big Suliban building. Return to Boobyprise. Reed is changed forever, and is part inhuman-super soldier.

2. a few episodes later, Hoshi finds out she's pregnant. Lots of ideas there. T'whore starts acting like a Vulcan. There are actual interesting stories. Lots of action, but lots of plot and character development too. Keep reminding everyone that Reed is an uber-soldier. Then make a better series. Send some new characters over in season 4, replacements for others who were KIA. Then introduce the Romulans, and start the war. Last episode in season 7 involves stopping them, with help from future good guys.

[SirNitram]

I still think Daniels would be best used to play both sides for fools to either flatten the Federation or twist it in his own benefit.

First, this was only a minor incident, where they simply had to make sure the Federation existed.

Daniel's faction ultimate goal in Archer's time period is a massive change from the original Federation. He is trying to manipulate Archer, who's a major player in the UFP's creation, appear as a time cop, trying to stop the evil future guy (he's really just as bad).

And the EFG and Daniel are only minor factions. Pakistan and India compared to USSR and USA. They both have the abbility to destroy each other, and are forced to border skirmishes; quietly manipulating time to their whims.

The real large players of the Cold War will be brought in.

Excellent idea.

Personally, it's obvious that with the Temporal War and the breaches in continuity, there'll need to be a Reset Button. Why not make that be at the series finale? No pussy-ass 'I don't like Event X, get rid of it', the timeline is left as badly fucked as it is, but Our Heroes learn that the only way to stop the destruction is to destroy their own history. A good source of moral conflict in the last season, as they fight a desperate war to return the universe to how it was.

"If we win, no one will remember. But if we lose, no one will ever forget.."

[HemlockGrey]

In a shocking twist, it is revealed that the Xindi are, in fact, THE SHADOWS, attemping to alter the past so that the Draka wind up colonizing the stars and allow the Star Kingdom of Manticore to rule the universe! With the Vorlons absent, only the Galactic Empire can save Earth, but is the cure worse than the disease?

Find out next time on: WHEN OUTRAGEOUS CROSSOVERS ATTACK!

[Tsyroc]

Excellent idea.

Personally, it's obvious that with the Temporal War and the breaches in continuity, there'll need to be a Reset Button. Why not make that be at the series finale? No pussy-ass 'I don't like Event X, get rid of it', the timeline is left as badly fucked as it is, but Our Heroes learn that the only way to stop the destruction is to destroy their own history. A good source of moral conflict in the last season, as they fight a desperate war to return the universe to how it was.

"If we win, no one will remember. But if we lose, no one will ever forget.."

Can you imagine the final episode of Enterprise ending back at the begining of the series except the ship being launched is of the old Daedalus class and everyone is wearing uniforms similar to those worn in the TOS pilot?

[SirNitram]

Excellent idea.

Personally, it's obvious that with the Temporal War and the breaches in continuity, there'll need to be a Reset Button. Why not make that be at the series finale? No pussy-ass 'I don't like Event X, get rid of it', the timeline is left as badly fucked as it is, but Our Heroes learn that the only way to stop the destruction is to destroy their own history. A good source of moral conflict in the last season, as they fight a desperate war to return the universe to how it was.

"If we win, no one will remember. But if we lose, no one will ever forget.."

Can you imagine the final episode of Enterprise ending back at the begining of the series except the ship being launched is of the old Daedalus class and everyone is wearing uniforms similar to those worn in the TOS pilot?

That was my thoughts of the ending. Actually, it had Archer and Hoshi watching the launch of the Daedalus-class USS Dauntless, NX-01...

[Ted C]

Actually, I really like Trip being the man from the future. When you add in the fact that we have to keep all of their current arcs around, I thought it was a relatively elegant solution to the problem.

The only problem I have with it is that Future Guy supposedly lives well after Picard's time (25th - 26th century, IIRC). Trip won't live long enough to become Future Guy. I also think that Trip has an established interest in T'Pol and no established interest in Hoshi, so I think you're sending him up the wrong tree. Otherwise, that "twist" works pretty well.

Moreover, it would obviously make more sense on screen, because it would be slowly built up to, and I like having the two Trips make different choices based on what they each know and don't know.

Moreover, my way of solving the Temporal Cold War piece of crap ties it in to both the Romulan/Klingon wars and the Xindi War arc, which gives the show a HELL of a lot more continuity than it's ever had in the past.

Edit: Well, what do you think of what I've done with the characters? I think I salvaged about as much development out of them as I could. Travis is knowledgeable, T'Pol is erratic, Hoshi is insecure, Trip is competent, Malcolm borders on being obsessive over his weapons, Phlox is a pragmatist, and Archer has been acting like a doofus this whole time because (surprise) he's a doofus.

Not bad at all. I think you need to make it clear that T'Pol isn't just erratic, she's immature. Somewhere along the line the series should reveal that she is VERY young in Vulcan terms. We might also find that she lost a parent or suffered some other childhood trauma that has diminished her self control well below that of most Vulcans.

I also think I managed to tie in the motivations behind Future Guy's bizarre choice of action, and with the changes I've made in the story line. It would almost appear as if I've been writing the whole arc the whole time.

It's not a bad plan for resolving the disjointed mess that B&B have created. I really think that the Temporal Cold War needs to be resolved by the end of Season 4. You can then devote the remaining three seasons to fixing the aftermath and dealing with the Romulans.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Seriously, the only way to save Star Trek now is to halt production of everything and hope for an interest revival in about two decades.

[Gil Hamilton]

Seriously, the only way to save Star Trek now is to halt production of everything and hope for an interest revival in about two decades.

Unfortunately, I don't see the current generation of Trekkies breeding enough to produce a big enough group of individuals to support the franchise.

[Admiral Johnason]

First, I have the Enterprise destroyed at the end of season 3 in order to keep the continuity. Second, SF will enter the Romulan War at the start if the fourth seanson, with only Archer, Reed, and Travis coming home from the loss of enterprise. Archer is made a Comodore for leading the first, albet failed, first deep space mission. The war with the Romulans is actually caused by the race that attacked Earth in Season 2 and the Romulans force them out of the quadrent when the losses start to add up. Seasons 4-7 will cover the war, with the primary cast returning after a season when we find out that the Romulans captured them using a superior transporter and that they escaped. The war ends when the Romulans lose a critical battle and a sort of Post WWI feel sets into the Alpha Quadrent. In the end, the series would be a lead in to TOS, with Archer sumiting the first ideas for a new class of ship, whis eventually becomes the Constitution class.

[Master of Ossus]

Actually, I really like Trip being the man from the future. When you add in the fact that we have to keep all of their current arcs around, I thought it was a relatively elegant solution to the problem.

The only problem I have with it is that Future Guy supposedly lives well after Picard's time (25th - 26th century, IIRC).

Well, it's not like B&B haven't fucked up the original continuity enough. I'm going to fuck up theirs.

Or, I could just slip in some line from Future Trip about how he fled into the future, or something.

I also think that Trip has an established interest in T'Pol and no established interest in Hoshi, so I think you're sending him up the wrong tree. Otherwise, that "twist" works pretty well.

If you're referring to "Shuttlepod 1," then he only said that she was attractive after Malcolm almost begged him to do it, but frankly people's interests change over time, and I don't see why Trip can't fall in love with Hoshi.

Moreover, my way of solving the Temporal Cold War piece of crap ties it in to both the Romulan/Klingon wars and the Xindi War arc, which gives the show a HELL of a lot more continuity than it's ever had in the past.

Edit: Well, what do you think of what I've done with the characters? I think I salvaged about as much development out of them as I could. Travis is knowledgeable, T'Pol is erratic, Hoshi is insecure, Trip is competent, Malcolm borders on being obsessive over his weapons, Phlox is a pragmatist, and Archer has been acting like a doofus this whole time because (surprise) he's a doofus.

Not bad at all. I think you need to make it clear that T'Pol isn't just erratic, she's immature. Somewhere along the line the series should reveal that she is VERY young in Vulcan terms. We might also find that she lost a parent or suffered some other childhood trauma that has diminished her self control well below that of most Vulcans.[/quote]

Having an immature T'Pol is even better than what I had envisioned. While I'm not sure that she needs semi-emotional trauma thrown into her past, it does seem reasonable to have her learning about herself and others over the course of the series.

I also think I managed to tie in the motivations behind Future Guy's bizarre choice of action, and with the changes I've made in the story line. It would almost appear as if I've been writing the whole arc the whole time.

It's not a bad plan for resolving the disjointed mess that B&B have created. I really think that the Temporal Cold War needs to be resolved by the end of Season 4.

The idea is that the Temporal Cold War is really over after Season 4. It ties in to the Xindi and Klingon/Romulan arcs, but Future Trip is already dead at the end of Season 4, and the Xindi are already wiped out.

You can then devote the remaining three seasons to fixing the aftermath and dealing with the Romulans.

That's gonna be the easy part. The Romulan/Klingon arcs have episodes that write themselves. The problem is getting there.

[Coalition]

If the Xindi were being manipulated by the Romulans, that could tie them into the Romulan War. The Romulans used their stealth technology, and mapped out Xindi space. They then plant people into critical areas, and bribe others.

This allows them to use the Xindi to attack the Federation, leading to a 2+ season war. The first season is Enterprise getting through the nebula, attacking Xindi outposts along the way, and helping to guard Federation outposts being set up (forward bases).

The Federation is also building its larger shipyards, and warships, and needs Archer & co to keep the Xindi distracted and not perform another attack at Earth. The put most of the shipyards at Mars, in case another automated probe is sent and targeted at Earth.

The second season, is the Federation performing a massive attack on the Xindi. Enterprise is taken back for repairs & refits (previous season doing lots of fighting, they probably need it). The earlier episodes are mainly character building, watching people change as the war sends them casualty lists.

Then after their ship is repaired, they head off again, helping fleets smash through Xindi lines, or planting and retrieving infiltration teams (their own?).

Final 2 episodes cover the Enterprise at the Xindi homeworld, with the remnants of the Xindi fleet gathered to defend themselves from annihilation.

Major battle starts the final episode, with lots of firing. Ground troops duke it out, and orbital ships duel. Finally, the Xindi military is gathered around their main government center, and Federation troops are bombarding the place.

During the combat, with all the firing going on, one of the shots hits a powered down Romulan cruiser. Its hull was made out of stealthy materials, so it isn't a true cloaknig device. Archer sees the Romulan ship, and wonders why it wasn't helpnig either side.

Essentially, he smells a rat, and has his backup boarding troops get ready, and disables the Romulan ship. The backup team goes on board, and manage to capture the computer core.

The Xindi are surprised by the Romulan as well, and a stalemeate descends onver the battle, as both sides get the feelnig that they have been played for fools. Unfortunately, Archer can't figure out the Romulan computer, and the Xindis bring one of their subject races to help (Binars). The Xindi and Binars go over to Archer's ship, nd everyone is watching the displays.

The Binars figure out the computer, and reveal the Romulan plot to everyone. Everyone gets PO'd, but realize that both their fleets have been heavily damaged, the Xindi are extremely weak, and the Romulans have been getting ready for war for the past 2 seasons, and their two empires have been getting weaker.

Archer offers the Xindi the option to join a Federation of United Planets, to avoid matters like this in the future.

Possible idea - the Klingons were also in the war against the Xindi, and did not appreciate being told to stop fighting. As a result, the Klingons really hate the humans now and leave, vowing they will finish their war with the Xindi one way or another (leads to Klingon/Fed war, as Xindi are part of Fed).

Have a Klingon leave, telling Archer that he could have been part of a glorious victory today, but he threw it away. Archer just stays quiet, and the camera pulls back, showing the interior of a cargo bay, and the floor is covered in bodies. Like B5, when the janitor guys are talking about the pilots getting all the glory, then they see the room with the corpses in it, and they say that they would prefer their janitorial jobs any day of the week.

[Darth Wong]

Replace it with a new series on the blue-movie channel called "Sex Trek: The Next Penetration", starring Jenna Jameson as the new Captain. They're already headed in that direction anyway, and I would start watching.

[Iceberg]

Replace it with a new series on the blue-movie channel called "Sex Trek: The Next Penetration", starring Jenna Jameson as the new Captain. They're already headed in that direction anyway, and I would start watching.

Dammit, Mike, you just thought of the only way I'd start watching Star Trek again.

[RedImperator]

<snip>

I like that, up until the part where the Klingons come in. Let them fume on the sidelines for a bit. How about ending Season 4 with a massive Romulan sneak attack on the Sol system, or Vulcan (or both simultaneously)? Season 5 is Earth and her allies desparately fighting to avoid being overrun by the Romulans, and Enterprise is jumping all over the sector fighting Romulan incursions. A side story arc is Earth trying to convince the Andorians to settle their differences with the Vulcans and join the fight against the Romulans. Towards the end of season 5, the Romulans score major victories--they scour the surface of Denobulous with cobalt bombs, which explains why you never see Phlox's people in the 23rd and 24th centuries, they smash a Xindi offensive into their territory, and they launch another offensive at Sol, with the intention of destroying the new fleet yards at Mars and forcing Earth to surrender or face Denobulous's fate. The final episode has the allies throwing everything they can at the Romulan fleet on approach to Mars. Enterprise fights gallantly, but in the end she's destroyed. Hoshi (who, remember, in my list, was by now romantically involved with Archer) is killed, along with Tucker--so Archer loses his ship, his best friend, and his lover in one battle. The episode ends with him in an escape pod (dragged there by T'Pol), watching his ship get blasted into glowing wreckage while another NX-class is torn to pieces in a volley of disruptor fire. In the distance we can see bright flashes in orbit of Mars as the first plasma bombs start to explode amongst the unfinished starships and construction facilities of the fleetyard. A Romulan warship plows through the wreckage of the Enterprise and looms through the escape pod's porthole, blocking the view of everything else. Archer buries his face in his hands. "To Be Continued" appears on screen. Fade to black.

Now, if there's enough viewership to risk a theatrical movie release, then that's what I do. If not, the season premier of season 6 will be at least two parts, possibly 3. Probably not, so let's assume it's the season premier. Teaser is the last scene of season five's finale, except when the scene faded to black previously, the Romulan starship in the viewport starts taking fire from offscreen. First it absorbs it, but then small pieces start breaking off, then big ones, and then finally the whole thing takes some kind of warhead hit and is blown to pieces. The explosion rocks the lifeboat and Archer looks out, to see three Andorian starships race past, towards Mars. Archer's pod eventually gets tractored in by a hospital ship, where he learns that 1) Hoshi and Trip are definitely dead, and 2) the Andorian reinforcements were enough to save Earth and drive the Romulans away from Mars, but not before the shipyards were hit. The construction facilities are partly intact, but four partially built NX class starships were destroyed in their slips and three more were lost in the battle. Worse, the production plants that were manufacturing the high-performance warp core used by the NX class was completely destroyed. After getting treated, Archer is summoned back to Earth. There's good news and bad news, mostly bad. The good news is, the Andorians are in the fight, and Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, Xindi, and the minor allies are planning to sign a treaty that would place the allied fleet under a unified command to better fight the Romulans. Also, the Romulans lost a sizeable percentage of their first line ships in the Battle of Mars and did not achieve their strategic aims, so their offensive cability will be limited for a few months. The bad news is Earth's starship production capability is essentially limited to what they can build in Earth orbit--two years for a single NX class at minimum unless the Mars yards can be repaired, longer if they can't get a new warp core plant operating. Even worse, the Klingons, who've been quiet this whole time, now seem like they're ready to jump into the war on the Romulans' side. The combined Klingon-Romulan fleet will simply be too much if that happens. Starfleet command estimates if the Klingons join the war, the Allies will have to surrender within six months.

There is a plan for rebuilding Earth's fleet. Instead of restarting NX production, the idea is to build a new class of ship out of off-the-shelf components and tested design elements. The Andorians, whose shipbuilding capabilities are intact and will likely remain so for some time due to the Romulans' failure at Mars, will supply the warp core, a powerful commercial design that can be quickly built in great numbers. The new ships will be very simple in layout--a pressure cylinder housing fuel, the reactor, propulsion systems, cargo, and auxillary spacecraft, attached by a connecting tube to a pressurized sphere housing command and control, crew accomidations, and the weapons--[i[]Daedalus[/i], in other words. It's not as fast, tough, or capable as the NX class, but they can be built quickly in great numbers. Of course, it's hopeless--they'll never build enough in time to stop the Klingons, but it's better than sitting around waiting for the end, and the hope is, either the Klingons will change their minds or a Starfleet rebuilt with Daedalus-class starships will give them enough leverage to secure equitable surrender terms. Archer hears all of this, and then goes back to the quarters prepared for him in San Francisco.

Then Daniels shows up. Turns out, the Suliban--remember them?--have been quietly manipulating the Klingons since the beginning of the war. In fact, they were--through the Romulans--pulling the Xindi's strings, ever since their more direct attempt to get Archer grounded (the events of Shockwave Parts 1&2) failed. Turns out, they caused the entire war. They got the Romulans to feed the Xindi bogus information about the future. The Romulans thought the Xindi were going to do destroy Earth and that was that, but Future Guy had bigger plans--which is why he told Archer about the Xindi. HE wanted a war between the Romulans and the humans, after the humans were weakened by a war with the Xindi (which never happened in the original Trek timeline). Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough, partly because in the original timeline, Earth didn't have Starfleet and the NX class--the events of First Contact changed history enough that Starfleet formed early and the humans had a MUCH better ship available to them during the Romulan war. As in the original Trek timeline, the allies created a unified naval command, and if events keep unfolding as they do, the Romulans aren't just going to lose the war, they're going to get crushed. The humans are going to dictate terms to the Romulan Senate right on the Senate floor. So the Suliban are trying to manipulate the Klingons into jumping into the fight--already, timelines are unfolding where the Klingons invade and conquer Earth and the Alpha quadrant is dominated by the Romulans and Klingons for centuries, until the Borg show up thanks to that little message the two drones managed to send in "Regeneration". Worst of all, Daniels' faction has played everything it has trying to block Future Guy's faction from getting the Klingons involved, and they've failed repeatedly. Their last chance is to appeal to Archer directly to keep the Klingons out of the war long enough for the Alliance to rebuild its fleet strength and force the Romulans onto the defensive. If that happens, the Allies will be strong enough to stalemate the Klingons (at the cost of further advances against the Romulans), and the three sides will be able to hash something out over the bargaining table.

That's all I have so far for season six. Thoughts?