The TV and Streaming Thread: Series 5

[Amentep]

 

[majestic]

The Paramount+ channel for some reason really doesn't want me to watch their trailers. I really don't want to watch their new Star Trek either, so that's fair, but it's still odd. Why region block trailers, or did I find my way onto some black list by complaining too much on the Obsidian forum?  

[Hurlshort]

29 minutes ago, Amentep said:

 

Sweet, they have Vasquez in the cast.

[Raithe]

 

[kirottu]

Kurtzman really does everything in his power so he wouldn't have to write Star Trek in Star Trek universe.

[InsaneCommander]

 

[Lexx]

8 hours ago, Raithe said:

[Crappy Star Trek Trailer]

This is just damn mirror universe again.

[LadyCrimson]

Remake, reboot, sequels/prequels/whateverquels to chrs./name-recognizable IP's people used to like ... anything good on? 

... if they ever reboot Little House on the Prairie I'll scream.
...oh wait, too late.  *scream* 

Quote

*Wikipedia* -- In December 2020, it was announced that Paramount Television Studios and Anonymous Content were developing a reboot as a one-hour dramatic series adaptation

Ah well ... new generations and all that. Never know, maybe it'll be good...

[Keyrock]

On 9/9/2021 at 7:31 PM, Hurlsnot said:

Sweet, they have Vasquez in the cast.

If Dollar Tree Private Vasquez is even half as badass as Actual Private Vasquez I'll probably like that character.

[Raithe]

Not tv per se, but for folks who might enjoy a little pulpy audio drama...

 

[Amentep]

TNG: Die Hard on a Starship Starship Mine

Ugh.  Okay so the Enterprise has to go into drydock to perform a baryon sweep that needs to have everyone out of the ship (presumably so the plot can happen).  A group of mercenaries sneak about the ship to steal deadly toxic waste from the engines which can be used as a weapon (which is the first time I recall them mentioning a waste by-product on the Engines at all; you'd think as many times as they've had trouble in Engineering you'd hear someone shout "Be careful of the Trilithium Resin!", but noooooo...)  Picard is aboard (because he wanted his horse saddle) and fights the mercenaries.

Meanwhile the rest of the command staff (minus Worf because it makes sense to sideline the security operative during a situation that might actually use one) get taken captive and act like jerks to Commander Hutchinson - so much so none of them actually mention him after he got shot and killed (at least they covered him up - presumably after kicking his corpse a few times).  Somehow Geordi's visor can regulate pain to his brain and create an ultrasonic sound that can paralyze everyone but Data.  

Picard kills all the mercenaries (except the dude the mercenaries, inexplicably, killed themselves for no apparent reason), the captives free themselves, and pretty much the motivation of the Arkarians is left unexplained (why were they working with the mercenaries? Why didn't they seem to have a plan to leave with the mercenaries if that was true?  If they weren't supposed to leave with the mercenaries, what was their endgame with the hostages?).  

[Bartimaeus]

37 minutes ago, Amentep said:

minus Worf because it makes sense to sideline the security operative during a situation that might actually use one

how come there are so many episodes in TNG where the exact person that would be most useful in expediently resolving a situation is always mysteriously absent from those precise situations

Edited September 13, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

That seems to happen a LOT in TNG.  Worf in particular, when he isn't being one-hit knocked out by a menace, seems to get sidelined a lot in stories that could use his experience and expertise later on, as if the writers didn't want to deal with it.

Actually thinking about it, Troi gets sidelined a lot as well in situations where a counselor might be useful.

[Bartimaeus]

11 minutes ago, Amentep said:

That seems to happen a LOT in TNG.  Worf in particular, when he isn't being one-hit knocked out by a menace, seems to get sidelined a lot in stories that could use his experience and expertise later on, as if the writers didn't want to deal with it.

Actually thinking about it, Troi gets sidelined a lot as well in situations where a counselor might be useful.

Troi is actually whom I was primarily thinking of, because I don't ever remember her being around for a situation where she'd actually be useful and she's unfortunately around in plenty where she's the exact opposite.

(e): Though I should note I haven't seen the entire show - I'm sure there are at least a couple of examples of her being useful. Probably...

Edited September 13, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[ShadySands]

Troi is the first person that popped into my mind too as she is almost always out of commission or just stupidly silent when her abilities would be most helpful.

[Raithe]

19 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

Troi is the first person that popped into my mind too as she is almost always out of commission or just stupidly silent when her abilities would be most helpful.

Troi is kind of interesting in that the majority of her duties on the ship would be off-screen. She's meant to be overseeing the counseling department for the whole crew and their families. That's a lot of hours of couch conversation with people not spent on the bridge on the off-chance they encounter something she might be helpful for.

Remember, most ship counselors aren't actually empathic so they wouldn't lurk on the bridge. It wasn't until about season 6 or 7 that she actually got qualified to be a bridge officer, and that's when she started wearing a uniform most episodes.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

As much as I like TNG, there is definitely way too much plot induced stupidity absence that goes on. More than that, the show would have been much better if Wesley never existed. 

[kanisatha]

10 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

the show would have been much better if Wesley never existed

On TNG and on The Big Bang Theory!!

[Raithe]

 

[Raithe]

 

[Amentep]

2 hours ago, Raithe said:

Remember, most ship counselors aren't actually empathic so they wouldn't lurk on the bridge. It wasn't until about season 6 or 7 that she actually got qualified to be a bridge officer, and that's when she started wearing a uniform most episodes.

Eh, I'm not sure having Captain Jellico in "Chain of Command Pt. 1" (S.6 Ep. 10) tell her to put on a uniform actually made her qualified to be a bridge officer.  According to "Disaster" (S.5 Ep.5) she was already a Lt. Commander (or equivalent; I can only assume that counseling was considered a separate structure (not dissimilar to the Diplomatic corps) at the start of TNG (whereas it had previously been that counseling was in Life Sciences in TOS, albeit with unclear ranking) and this continued through "Disaster".  However, by the time Jellico took over for "Chain of Command", counseling had been folded back into the regular ship command structure, with Picard not stressing on the formality of having Troi put on a uniform, but Jellico did.  But really Troi should have always been in a uniform, IMO, it never made sense that she wasn't in uniform at least when on the bridge.)

[Raithe]

5 minutes ago, Amentep said:

Eh, I'm not sure having Captain Jellico in "Chain of Command Pt. 1" (S.6 Ep. 10) tell her to put on a uniform actually made her qualified to be a bridge officer.  According to "Disaster" (S.5 Ep.5) she was already a Lt. Commander (or equivalent; I can only assume that counseling was considered a separate structure (not dissimilar to the Diplomatic corps) at the start of TNG (whereas it had previously been that counseling was in Life Sciences in TOS, albeit with unclear ranking) and this continued through "Disaster".  However, by the time Jellico took over for "Chain of Command", counseling had been folded back into the regular ship command structure, with Picard not stressing on the formality of having Troi put on a uniform, but Jellico did.  But really Troi should have always been in a uniform, IMO, it never made sense that she wasn't in uniform at least when on the bridge.)

There's actually an episode post-Jellico, where she specifically raises it with Picard and talks about going through the Bridge Qualification course. I vaguely recall they did reference it a few times over several episodes as she was studying for it before she took it. They built a chunk of an episode around her test , Riker administering it and she had to learn that sometimes ordering a crewman to do something that would result in their death but save the crew was a possibility she might have to live with. That was also the final episode you ever see her wearing the maroon jumpsuit outfit. Pretty much from there on out she was in normal uniform like the rest of the crew.

 

[Amentep]

The internet tells me the episode you refer to is from season 7 (episode 16 - "Thine Own Self"), so I'm a season away (as an aside, she wears the original outfit in Starship Mine, not the uniform).

[ShadySands]

She had to order holo-Geordie to his death to get her bridge officer thing but it was kinda dumb because really all it let her do was take a shift in the captain's chair. She already had rank in the chain of command and had been in charge before... not to mention a seat on the bridge next to the captain since the first episode.

Anyway, I was more referring to when the writers have to make her either absent or dumb because story.

[Amentep]

Pretty much every story that it might be useful to have an empath (and where I guess they don't need Troi to be traumatized somehow) sidelines her.

Even a story like "Disaster" that should have given her a chance to shine makes her look bad.