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First, some comments from previous columns . . .
Nathan Kibelbek: There were a few questions about what class the Defiant is, and someone said that it is Valiant class. I've seen this class name on the internet, but I don't remember a canonical source for it. I'm not sure the Defiant's class name has ever been said onscreen. Does anyone else know where the name "Valiant" comes from?
Phil: Rats! I was going to call Larry Nemecek about this this week and I got busy and forget. I'll talk to him next week! (Need an excuse to call anyway. ;-)
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: If the Defiant is a Valiant class starship, how come Star Trek Chronolgy says the Defiant is a Defiant class starship. Is Valiant class spoken in any dialogue?
Phil: Not that I know of! I'll get with Larry on this next week!
John Myers: There has also been a ongoing debate on if the Defiant is Defiant or Valiant class. Opinion and evidence favours Defiant class. If you knew this and still stuck to your guns then Bravo! I think you are wrong but Bravo!
Phil: Actually, I think I called it Defiant class at the beginning of this discussion but since I'm not the ultimate authority on all things Trek, I just figured I had missed something when this Valiant thing came up. We'll see if we can get it put to rest next week!
John Myers: As to the Enterprises deflector in ST:TMP I thought it changed colour when they switched it on, the blue glow came out through the semi-transparent dish when it powered up? This would make the comparison to the change in the E-Es deflector a bit of a red-herring. Personally as the original deflector dish (with the spike in the middle) was gold in colour I think gold is a nice colour for a deflector.
Carrie Sager: Gareth Wilson says that Bashir comes from England. This can't be true! He has an English accent, and as we saw in TNG, people with English accents are actually French in the Star Trek Universe! (Please note that I'm JOKING!!!!)
Lisa Shock of Phoenix, AZ: Have you thought about doing any Nitpicker's Guides to popular older films? I think we could do a great job on Blade Runner, for example.
Phil: In fact, the project we proposed to Dell was a Nitpicker's Guide on the top 50 science-fiction movies of all time! I was also going to have a historical section on landmark sci-fi movies like Metropolis and The Forbidden Planet. And, I wanted to do a section on stinkers that I could pull out the stops on and really tear into. Dell didn't think the project was focused enough. There are a number of options--everything from doing a smaller, more focused book to taking to another publisher--and we're talking so we'll see!
Josh Truax of Platteville, WI: Chief... In your answer to Clay Johnson's question about the ages of Data and Capt. Janeway, you hypothesized that Janeway was no more than 42 years old. For what it's worth, Kate Mulgrew herself is also 42. (At last year's Minneapolis convention she said she was 41, and her birthday is in April.) Presumably the Janeway character's age is at least close to that, so to use Zefram Cochrane's words, "It looks like you got it right."
Phil: Well . . . there ya go! (As an aside, I am just lousy when it comes to guessing people's ages any more by their appearance. I wouldn't have thought that Mulgrew was 42. I would have thought that she was older--a younger looking older, mind you but older. Maybe that's because I'm going to be 39 in November and it doesn't seem right that the captain of Voyager is only three years older than me! I gotta get busy!! ;-)
On to the questions . . .
James Rioux: Just in case you ever do another update to the NextGen Guide, here's a nit I saw in "Sub Rosa". Remember when Data and LaForge transport Felisa Howard's coffin out of the ground to examine the body? Wouldn't that make a coffin-sized hole under the ground? And shouldn't the newly packed dirt from the grave fall down to fill that hole? It doesn't. Even if the dirt was packed down, shouldn't the added weight of the coffin overcome that? Still, I think you'll have to make the call on this one.
Phil: James didn't actually send this in as a question but it has come up enough that I decided to address it. At least here in Missouri, coffins aren't actually buried in dirt. They are buried in a concrete vault that is buried in dirt. So, the transport of the coffin has never seemed like a nit to me because if Felisa Howard's coffin was in a vault in the ground, the vault would still be down there holding up the dirt! ;-)
Joseph Lin of San Jose, CA: In your review of "Patterns of Force" you stated that the stardate was 2534.0. I own a copy of the syndacated "Patterns of Force" and the stardate never comes up in the episode. I also looked at the syndacation cuts and Its not their either. So where did you get this awkard placed stardate for the episode?
Phil: I checked my original notes for this episode and the stardate ain't there! If I recall, I did The Nitpicker's Guide for Classic Trekkers at a young, more innocent age and was more inclined to trust reference books like The Star Trek Compendium. Seems to me that I remember double checking all my star dates against it and finding that I didn't have one for "Patterns of Force" and finding that the Compendium did, I simply assumed that I have missed it and included the star date that the Compendium listed!!
JC Fernandez of Coral Springs, Florida: I was watching "The Perfect Mate" and was bothered by something that was said in the show.
The Enterprise "rescues" two Ferengi. Riker instructs Worf to supply them with quarters "not too close to mine." And that's not the first time that a non-human race has been referred to in a derogatory fashion. There are several instances where Worf snarls the word "Romulan" or "Ferengi". Or O'Brien refers to the Cardassians as "Cardies". Or "It's not a person, (expletive deleted), it's a Borg!" And sometimes (like in the O'Brien instance) it's been demonstrated that this is a fault on the part of the character. But not always. Ensign Kim tells Quark "They warned us about the Ferengi at the Academy."
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't stereotyping and the prejudgement of an entire group of people with the same genetic make-up a form of prejudice? And are our "enlightened" 24th century humans really just a bunch of racists? How many references can you think of?
Phil: If we expand our timeframe a bit the Classic series was loaded with stuff--especially with McCoy making disparaging remarks about Vulcans! And the admiral in STIII: The Search For Spock was certainly dismissive and condescending in his remarks about Vulcan mysticism. Obviously, the human race doesn't get "enlightened" until sometime later. Now, while it is true that certain individuals in NextGen had prejudices against other races, I believe that it is universally true that all members of the crew despised Ferengi, as JC pointed out. And this attittude is presented as a foregone conclusion. Everyone seems to acquiece to the fact that it is perfectly acceptable to denegrade Ferengi. How can this be, dear, dear friends? How can the shining beacon of Trek put its seal of approval on such a despicable activity as stereotyping? Well, for my money, I would guess it has to do with what I perceive is a general attitude in Hollywood that business men are evil. (Especially, Republican business men.) Since business men are evil, they deserve to be held in universal reproach. Ferengi are the archtype for the capitalists of today, capitalists are evil and Ferengi are capitalists therefore . . . Ferengi are evil. And since they are evil, the creators of Star Trek feel perfectly justified in having the NextGen characters constantly denegrade them. (Well, afterall, they deserve it, right?)
Danny Wiese: In ST4:TVH after the bird of prey crashed into the San Fransisco bay, why was it taking on water, that thing is a space ship it has to be air tight, so how did water get in it? Also, what Year is it in the star trek universe?
Phil: As for the Bird-of-Prey, I would imagine that the crash had something to do with making the ship a bit less air-tight that it was originally! ;-) As for the year . . . I believe that the coming season will mark the year 2374 AD.
Ray Andrade: I have watched every episode of TOS,TNG,DS9,and Voyager and I have never understood the orginization of the Fereration. How does the government operate? How does the system of checks and balances operate? How does Starfleet fit into it? How can you have a fundamental system of government without a economic system based on an accepted unit of currency? And how can there be trade if there is none?
All I have figured out is that there's a President, an inner council (all Starfleet officers - ST:VI), a military branch (Starfleet) which also handles espionage and counter-espionage, a branch of law enforcment which handles cases of time travel (Temporal investigations), a civilian earth government (they wanted Picard to help them with a new sub-continent), starfleet has Judge Advocate Generals (Picard was busted for something and he got an ex-lover to help him "I need a JAG officer" he said), and finnaly I think Science vessels report to another organization I'm not sure.
So far all this evidence points to some sort of quasi-communist/socialist government which has no monetary system. Can anyone help me out with this one? I'm probably missing a few more organizations but I'm sure the creators have no intention of ever fully explaining this.
Phil: Unfortunately, I would have to agree that the creators seem reluctant to actually explain how the Federation works. I believe there are reference to the fact that a planet retains its sovereignty over it's own internal affairs. There is some kind of Federation gathering that we see in action during STIII: The Search for Spock. Starfleet appears to be an exploratory, defensive and scientific force that is under Federation jurisdiction. Membership to the Federation must be approved by some council. There is an oddity with respect to Earth and the Federation. In "Homefront," Jaresh-Inyo, the president of the Federation, declares a state of emergency on Earth! As I say in the The Nitpicker's Guide for Deep Space Nine Trekkers, this would be like the secretary general of the UN declaring martial law in New York City (actually more like declaring martial law in the USA)! Has Earth really given up all rights to its own sovereignty because of its pivotal role in the Federation? Will we really get to the place where we don't mind it an alien rules over us. What if a Ferengi gets elected as Federation president! (wink, wink)
Katrina Pipinis: About Seven of Nine, I finally got a look at a picture of her in the TV WEEK (Aus), and I don't know if it's just the picture but is she wearing BLUE???!! Don't the Borg get around in black?
Phil: Not sure what picture this is but maybe the Borg assimilated a race of clothing designers recently?! ("Hello-o-o-o-o. Haven't you figured it out yet, you silly, silly boy? I mean, resistance is just so fultile! And besides you're just going to die when you see the new look we Borg have created!")
John Myers: Since in Ashes of Eden Kirk orders the Enterprise to warp in atmosphere, and responds to the doubt by saying "Who do you believe, the textbooks or someone who's done it.", do you think that one of the writers (at least) has read your guide and the review of ST IV?
Phil: The creators of Trek do know I'm out here. As to how much they have read of the Guides? Who knows? I'm sure that they have plenty to do and their time is limited. Besides, if I had my druthers, I'd druther them focus on reading something that might be of more personal benefit to them than just meandering over my rantings! ;-)
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: Not a question just a comment. HAPPY JUDGEMENT DAY!!! According to Terminator 2, we should have all died early this morning. New nit for that movie.
Phil: Those dates will getcha every time! Happy Judgement Day to one and all!
Scott Vogt: I've been reading your views on a clone of yourself. I need a little clarification. What can science do? I didn't pay too much attention to the specifics of the sheep story. Do they clone a few cells, which then have to grow to adulthood? Can they clone you to the age you are now? If so, would the clone have your memories? If they have to grow a person from cells, I agree with you. Sure, they can clone me, I don't even consider that a "clone", more like a twin. He'll have very different experiences from me. But if they can make an adult with your memories. Wouldn't it be horrifying for you to learn that he was a murderer? You said it would not bother you since he isn't you. Wouldn't it be scary to know how easily you could do something abhorrent to you now? You know, if things had been a little different. Don't you think Riker is a little embarrassed that his "twin" stole the Defiant and is in jail? Do you think SF is a little wary of our Will now? Maybe watching his activities more closely? That would make a good story, I think.
Phil: As for the state of the art today in cloning, this is my understanding: Scientists have found a fairly simple way to take a mature cell from an adult mammal, extract the DNA, put it in a fertilized egg and grow an exact genetic duplicate of the original adult. The analogy of a twin is pretty close if you allow the twin to be twenty years young than you! The clone does not have your memories and is not the same age. The current problem with the technology is that is took a lot of tries before one of these eggs actually developed full term and was born with the now-famous moniker of "Dolly". That aside, I would expect--within five years--to hear that a human clone has been born somewhere in the world. It's too easy if you don't mind grind through a bunch of embryos trying to get one to grow (and if you have a lot of money and you happen to have a giant enough ego that you believe the world would benefit from another person just as wonderful as you).
Given this "let's make a twin twenty years younger" state of technology, I don't have any problem being cloned. But what about Scott's other scenario? What about a true duplicate made of me today who goes off and commits murder. Would that frighten me? Not really because, I know what I'm capable of! I know what's inside me. With just a few tweaks here and there, I wouldn't want to be around me! So, actually, it really wouldn't surprise me if my duplicate ran off and lived some kind of crazed, hedonistic, violent lifestyle. And on that happy thought, I leave you with the benediction:
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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Copyright 1997 by Phil Farrand. All rights reserved.