What pissed you the most in Star Trek?

Kane Starkiller · Post by **Kane Starkiller** » 2005-01-26 07:52am

What action pissed you the most in Trek?

There is a long list of Starfleet captains doing moraly questionable moves to uphold their own principles but the events in the DS9 episode
"For the uniform" are my number one.
So Sisko is hunting the rebel/terrorist Eddington. He eludes him and outwitts him at every turn. So what does our brave captain do?
He renders the ENTIRE FUCKING PLANET UNINHABBITABLE for humans and by doing so threatens the lives of the colonists on the planet just so he would capture one man who actually poses no serious threat to the Federation. Obviously he is completley blinded by his desire for revenge.

Furthermore at the end of the episode Dax asks Sisko did he have authorisation from Starfleet command and he just gives her that macho look of his signaling that no he did not. So not only did Sisko fucked up an entire planet and got away with it but it would also seem that Starfleet command has the authority to render a planet uninhabitable without the approval from the president or the Federation council.

Oh and I almost forgot. At the end of the episode the Cardassians and Humans switch planets so everything is OK. Well isn't that just precious. Aside from moral issues how can the morons in the Federation be completley sure the toxin won't harm the Cardassians(who are humanoids) as well.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-26 08:11am

Kane Starkiller wrote:What action pissed you the most in Trek?

There is a long list of Starfleet captains doing moraly questionable moves to uphold their own principles but the events in the DS9 episode
"For the uniform" are my number one.
So Sisko is hunting the rebel/terrorist Eddington. He eludes him and outwitts him at every turn. So what does our brave captain do?
He renders the ENTIRE FUCKING PLANET UNINHABBITABLE for humans and by doing so threatens the lives of the colonists on the planet just so he would capture one man who actually poses no serious threat to the Federation. Obviously he is completley blinded by his desire for revenge.

Furthermore at the end of the episode Dax asks Sisko did he have authorisation from Starfleet command and he just gives her that macho look of his signaling that no he did not. So not only did Sisko fucked up an entire planet and got away with it but it would also seem that Starfleet command has the authority to render a planet uninhabitable without the approval from the president or the Federation council.

Oh and I almost forgot. At the end of the episode the Cardassians and Humans switch planets so everything is OK. Well isn't that just precious. Aside from moral issues how can the morons in the Federation be completley sure the toxin won't harm the Cardassians(who are humanoids) as well.

I loved that episode. It showed that Sisko wasn't a hero, but a man, and a spiteful one when pushed that way. It also showed Eddington as a likeable character, given how he made the appeal at the start of the episode about being left alone by starfleet, as it was essentially a private war between the maquis and the Cardies, and didn't involve the Federation. Sisko was portrayed as a tyrant who would take unilateral action without approval or constraint, and this was excellent. I loved this! Finally, an episode which depicts the hitherto archetypal septic clean Starfleet Captain as a bad guy. Fuck yeah! That's storytelling.

Then in the last 5 seconds the episode was shitted away with what I emphasised in your post. Essentially, all that character and plot development in the last 40 mins just went and took a dump then threw all the shit at me. It was hilarious that in the followup episode they made a compley 180 degree turn in regards to Sisko and his relationship with Eddington, who died like a dog.

"For the Uniform" minus that last bit was some of DS9's finest moments, if only they hadn't put in that reset button...

I think I find Picard's eventual refusal to use the WMD against the Borg to be even more woeful, because Picard always billed himself as a principled man, which makes his decision to be worse; since nothing is harmed by introducing the WMD into the Borg collective, and he shouldn't have turned over Hugh anyway if he wasn't going to exploit the opportunity. He could have rationalised away the decision by simply saying "He who uses WMDs can be made victims of them" which makes more sense than "We will be no better than they if we wiped them out first" - at least the former says "Let's not escalate things if we really don't have to, and so far the Borg front has been quiet... so we don't have to... right now." not that it would excuse him totally, but he could have used that rationalisation in conjunction with keeping Hugh onboard the Enterprise rather than free him.

As it happened, he refused to use the weapon AND he released Hugh back into the collective, only to be assimilated again (and the hunch, that Hugh's individuality would somehow infuse the Collective, should not have been used as a basis for releasing him). All up Picard came off as a weakling, but again the first part of the episode shows him as a hardass. Good storytelling from that angle, but shitted down the u-bend when he makes the uncharacteristic turn.

Bottomline: the reset button mixed with PC sensibilities contribute to some of the most boneheaded storytelling decisions in Star Trek.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-26 08:14am

Shit before anyone else mentions it: Dear Doctor, for advocating apathy as a worthy rationalisation for xenocide; and Generations, for making Kirk go out like a punk, and for making the E-D crash and burn because of a woman who can't steer straight, a Klingon who can't shoot straight, and a bearded wanker who can't... well, do anything, straight or otherwise.

paladin · Post by **paladin** » 2005-01-26 08:16am

I don't remember the episode name but its the one where the Feds and Cardies redraw their border leaving several colonies on the wrong side of the new border. It was never explained why the border was redrawn in such a way.

Kane Starkiller · Post by **Kane Starkiller** » 2005-01-26 08:22am

I loved that episode. It showed that Sisko wasn't a hero, but a man, and a spiteful one when pushed that way.

I would have loved it too if they actually sticked with that portrayal of Sisko. Instead we could hear his self-righteous monologues almost every episode.

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-01-26 08:24am

What I hate ST is that Starfleet are almost "sinless" that's why like those episodes that show that they're human after all. And the Generations crash was not Troi's fault, she did everything she could (GCS can't out manouver a BOP and after the explotion of Stardrive section the saucer section lost helm control (because of the blast wave)

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-01-26 08:33am

Worf could shoot straight, the problem was Riker didn't give the order to fire at will.

Kane Starkiller · Post by **Kane Starkiller** » 2005-01-26 08:35am

Eddington: Please don't poison the planet! The colonists are peaceful, they have no weapons!

Sisko: If you wold preferr another target, a military target then name the system!

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-26 08:41am

It was a joke, people. I'm not seriously expecting Deanna to know how to fucking pilot a GCS when her job description is to counsel the crew. Likewise Worf was not to blame because Riker didn't order an alpha strike. It's all on Riker's head, and his should have been chopped off for losing his command in such a pitiful manner.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-26 09:05am

I don't know the name of the episode, but it was the epitome of how TNG turned me off.

It was the first season, where they went down to visit the planet Edo... hell, I have a vague notion that the name of the ep might have even been 'Edo', but I'm not sure.

It pissed me off on so many different levels. First of all, here's one of the early cases of TNG flaunting moral superiority over all the other cultures they meet, 'cause humans are just so pure and clean now.

Until they meet a peaceful, pacifistic culture. At which point they grovel and feel guilty because they stick phasers on their ships.

Never mind that the residents of Edo can afford to be pacifistic hedonists, because they have a massive alien entity that protects them from outside intrusion.

Then... we send Wesley, who wasn't even an acting ensign at the time, just the doctor's punk kid, on down to the surface with the away team. After all, let's just overlook the fact that this is a quasi-diplomatic meeting with a foreign state, sure.

DW covered the fact that mother Crusher obviously had no problems sending her son down to a planet-sized hippie commune on the main site, so I'll leave off on mentioning anything more about that.

Then when Wesley breaks the rules because he, as well as everyone else in the frickin' away team had not gotten any sort of briefing on local customs, protocols and laws for the alien species they were visiting, he gets sentenced to death. (And narrowly avoids getting executed on the spot.)

Then Picard pulls another one of the classic 'The Prime Directive only means something if we want it to. Otherwise, we'll just toss it out the window."

Then he puts the entire ship at risk, 1000 crew and noncombatants, over Wesley.

Gaaaaaaack. The whole episode just turned my stomach.

Kane Starkiller · Post by **Kane Starkiller** » 2005-01-26 09:33am

Then... we send Wesley

Nooo... not that name. I like to pretend that Weasley "I'm a little rainbow uniform dressed mommas boy who saved the ship for the zillionth time using <treknobabble>" Crusher never existed.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-26 09:40am

Kane Starkiller wrote:
Then... we send Wesley
Nooo... not that name. I like to pretend that Weasley "I'm a little rainbow uniform dressed mommas boy who saved the ship for the zillionth time using <treknobabble>" Crusher never existed.

Just to confirm, this is who you're referring to, right?

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-26 09:49am

Poor Wesley, everyone hates him. He only saved the ship a couple of times...

Meanwhile, Janeshit regularly endangers her ship and crew as a matter of routine... and idiocy.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-26 09:51am

Stofsk wrote:Poor Wesley, everyone hates him. He only saved the ship a couple of times...

Meanwhile, Janeshit regularly endangers her ship and crew as a matter of routine... and idiocy.

Honestly, I think that future generations of Starfleet officers took Kirk's line that 'Risk is our business' to mean 'Let's see how many stupid risks we can take in any given day!'

Kane Starkiller · Post by **Kane Starkiller** » 2005-01-26 09:52am

Just to confirm, this is who you're referring to, right?

*vomites*

I always hoped that the Traveller was a sex mainac who buttfucked Wesely from Alpha Quadrant to Andromeda galaxy.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2005-01-26 09:53am

Stofsk wrote:Poor Wesley, everyone hates him. He only saved the ship a couple of times...

Meanwhile, Janeshit regularly endangers her ship and crew as a matter of routine... and idiocy.

For most part people hate them equally but for two different reasons.

Wesley is pretty much a Gary Stu(a character who is just all encompassing in talent, yet does not fit the story in any real shape or Mary Sue is any original or deeply altered character who represents a slice of his/her creator's own ego; s/he is treasured by his/her creator but only rarely by anyone else. More negatively, a Mary Sue is a primadonna (usually but not always badly-written) who saps life and realism out of every other character around, taking over the plot and bending canon to serve his/her selfish purposes.

Just alter Mary Sue with Gary Stu. And there is precedence since it's literally thought of as being Gene Roddenberry avatar on the show.

Janeway is just a raving psycho who changes her ideas of what's good almost each show at times.

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-26 10:01am

Ghost Rider wrote:For most part people hate them equally but for two different reasons.

Wesley is pretty much a Gary Stu(a character who is just all encompassing in talent, yet does not fit the story in any real shape or Mary Sue is any original or deeply altered character who represents a slice of his/her creator's own ego; s/he is treasured by his/her creator but only rarely by anyone else. More negatively, a Mary Sue is a primadonna (usually but not always badly-written) who saps life and realism out of every other character around, taking over the plot and bending canon to serve his/her selfish purposes.

Just alter Mary Sue with Gary Stu. And there is precedence since it's literally thought of as being Gene Roddenberry avatar on the show.

Janeway is just a raving psycho who changes her ideas of what's good almost each show at times.

Also I believe that casting Wil Wheaton in a major role was another attempt to capture the young teen girl demographic, a la what they tried to do with Walter Koenig. (With notable lack of success in both cases)

I know that one of the areas that really warped the canon for me in the fashion you're describing was Wesley's first failed attempt to get into Star Fleet Academy. By virtue of the exposition, this kid is supposed to be a super genius who is smarter than everybody on the ship other than Data, lacking only in experience and training. The other contenders for the slot were shown to be somewhat on his level intellectually, and the episode left one wondering how the likes of Picard or Riker got into the Academy.

(I suspect highly superior fellatory abilities on Riker's part, though.)

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-26 10:03am

Destructionator XIII wrote:Petrosjko's picture of Wesely is from the episode in question, I think. Called "Justice" by the way.

No, I'm almost certain the Edo incident took place before he was appointed acting ensign. I have a recollection of his nosedive through the plants that got him his on the spot death sentence, and he was in civilian clothing, IIRC.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2005-01-26 10:22am

Petrosjko wrote:
Destructionator XIII wrote:Petrosjko's picture of Wesely is from the episode in question, I think. Called "Justice" by the way.
No, I'm almost certain the Edo incident took place before he was appointed acting ensign. I have a recollection of his nosedive through the plants that got him his on the spot death sentence, and he was in civilian clothing, IIRC.

Wesley's appointment as Acting-Ensign occurred in the episode "Where None Have Gone Before," which introduced the Traveler and the concept that Wesely was the Golden-Child. "Justice" post-dates WNHGB.

It was also one of the few times I was ever in favour of the death penalty.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2005-01-26 10:26am

Voyager pissed me off in almost all its entirety. It just kept getting worse and worse. There was a brief blip of goodness with Seven of Nine's introduction but nosedived again.

Enterprise is fucking unwatchable.

The main complaint is lack of continuity. Some of their best shows are ones that tie in with past events in the series.

Jason von Evil · Post by **Jason von Evil** » 2005-01-26 11:15am

Kirk's death. Falling off a fucking bridge. This is not how you kill off one of the greatest scifi characters ever. You have him die on the bridge of a starship, fighting the good fight.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2005-01-26 11:25am

That Picard was awesome. He puts the other Picard to shame.

"We could, of course, outrun the Klingons, but we must protect the Enterprise-C until she can enter the temporal rift. We may not survive, but we must succeed. Let's make sure they don't forget the name... Enterprise."

TNG at it's finest.

Kane Starkiller · Post by **Kane Starkiller** » 2005-01-26 12:34pm

I can't believe I forgot this: Janeshit being promoted to an admiral.Over Picard.

I mean it's one thing to have a raving tobbaco addicted lunatic running around in Delta Quadrant but to put her in charge of an entire fleet and have her influence Federation defense policy?

Petrosjko · Post by **Petrosjko** » 2005-01-26 01:23pm

Yupper

He was an acting ensign at the time, but for whatever reason he wasn't in uniform when he went down with the away team, hence my confusion.

*shrugs*

Still a stupid episode.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2005-01-26 06:03pm

I'm sure it's been noted before, but there's a nice summary of questionable actions of Starfleet officers (and others in Trek) on Bernd Schneiders' Ex Astris Scientia site, for more like this:

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/incon ... ethics.htm

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What pissed you the most in Star Trek?

What pissed you the most in Star Trek?

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