The Darkness in Picard S3...

 ....That Nobody Is Talking About

The Borg have been defeated for once and for all ! Yay ! Long live the Federation. But....at what price did this victory come ? Yes, the Borg Collective is evil. Yes, they were planning to wipe out Earth and needed to be stopped. And the queen was an insane (insert whatever curse you think is best here). Picard and crew did what needed to be done. It's not them I'm doubting, but I think the situation is nowhere as black-and-white as it appears at first glance. 

Let's talk about a man called Fred....Fred is just a random guy living on random planet in the Delta Quadrant. Then one day the Borg roll up to ruin everybody's day by assimilating them. Including Fred. He loses his family, he loses his friends, he his loses his mind. And then the neurolytic pathogen ruins the collective. Let us look at the possibilities for Fred.

1. If he's really unlucky, he dies a horrible death and then gets eaten by Queen. Only to be briefly revived as a mindless cyber zombie when Picard and co visit. He is then put out of his misery when the Borg ship explodes.
2. The Pathogen simply kills him.
   
3. He gets stuck in regeneration mode, like the Cube seen in Let Sleeping Borg Lie. And then...
1. Because of people's fear of the Collective, nobody rescues him...ever.
2. Somebody comes across his Cube and he is given the 'Icheb Treatment / aka dissected alive for his implants".
3. Even if he get rescued by somebody who doesn't Icheb him, where's he going to go ? As I said above...friends, family, gone. And what about his homeworld ? Even if the Collective didn't total it, who knows how long Fred has been in the Hive Mind. Is his world still there ? Has it been taken over by somebody else ?....

Which takes us away from Fred and back to the bigger picture. As established by Voyager, Borg Space is big. And like any other nation, the Borg have neighbors. Neighbors who are going to figure out that the Collective is falling apart. And try to conquer their space, either by colonization or warfare. 

A situation that is going to lead to the death of innocents drones like Fred. Bloody wars between these states. Yes, the Federation has won, but the Delta Quadrant is burning. And let's not forget there is also the fact that everybody who was taken over, now probably has PTSD. Not mention the elephant in the room...

Where did this pathogen come from ? Neurolytic Pathogens don't exactly grow on trees. And even if it could be made in the Sickbay of the USS Voyager, I doubt The Doctor would allow it. Yes, he was part of the developing of the nanite weapon they used against Species 8472. But that was with the galaxy at stake. And Voyager's goal was not genocide. In fact, this was a major source of tension between Janeway and the Borg.

The only other option is that Admiral Janeway brought it with her from 2404 to 2378. But it doesn't answer the question of how she got it. Replicators don't make lifeforms. Somebody had to grow it. Somebody rather ruthless. Somebody know for attempting genocide by virus....

Basically, the whole thing screams Section 31. And where they failed when they tried to wipe out the Founders, this time they succeeded.

That's all I....No wait, it was.   But after sleeping on it for a night, it's not anymore. (Short) RANT ALARM !! 

What about the Borg splinter states ? The Borg Cooperative from the Voyager episode Unity and the Unimatrix Zero, whose former members were liberated. Are they gone as well ? Will Section 31 use the pathogen to wipe the Cooperative out to prevent the rise of new Collective !? Will Starfleet just stand for that ?

Moving on.....I know that some people consider Prodigy and Lower Decks non-canon. But based on the upcoming SNW / Lower Deck crossover, the folks running the show(s) think differently. Which brings us to "Let Sleeping Borg Lie". 

The USS Protostar crew managed to get out. But they had the luck of having a Medusan along for the ride. So how many of these dormant Borg ships are out there, waiting to ruin somebody's day ? These ships are basically landmines, ready to restart the Collective if whoever boards them messes up. 

In short, it's a huge frakking, bloody mess. And it's the Federation's fault. They needed to get back to the Delta Quadrant and get to cleaning it up. Or as Commander Adama would put it...

"You cannot play God, then wash you hands of the things you've created. Sooner or later, you can't hide from the things you've done anymore."

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

How I would fix NuTrek - Part 3

Part 2 was about Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek: Equinox and how they fit into the picture. That said, I totally forgot another reason making for Star Trek: Equinox, namely....the Enterprises ! That's right, plural. 

Not only could Equinox show what wasn't Worf's fault - aka whatever happened to the Enterprise-E - it could also show the launch of Enterprise-F and fill in some of her story. IMHO the Enterprise-F got a pretty raw deal in Season 3 of Picard. Equinox could put a bandage on this. But now, let's move on to...

Clearing the Air

I am not a fan of either Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The problem is not the actors, who are doing

the best with the materials they are given. The problem is that the writers of these shows do not know how to write science fiction. And that the producers are not fans of Star Trek. They don't understand the franchise and the philosophy behind it. 

This results in negative, depressing and dumb Trek. Another problem is a lack of in-story professionalism from the characters. In the every Discovery episode, somebody suffers a breakdown because of their 'oh, so, tragic background.' Let me put it this way....

...If this happened on NCIS, would you believe that Alden Parker and his team are professional, FLETC trained Federal Agents ? Or if CSI: Vegas was written this way. Would you believe that these are professional Forensic scientists ?  

I wouldn't. And on Discovery and SNW I don't believe it either. Meaning that I simply can't help thinking...

~These people wouldn't make it through Starfleet Academy in a million years.~ Any instructor worth their salt would kick them out in the first year. But again, it's not the actors fault. It's the producers and the writers mucking it up. So I would replace them and then go ahead with....

Trek of the Past

Set aboard the USS New Jersey - which was seen in the fleet museum in Picard Season 3 - this show would run parallel to TOS. Besides confirming that Star Trek: Enterprise is part of the repaired timeline, this show would expand the TOS era 'sideways'. 

Another thing this show could do, is salvage characters from both Discovery 1.0 and SNW. Because the timeline was repaired, you not be tied to any of the (tragic) backgrounds provided by those shows. Nor the events that took place in them. 

The crew of the New Jersey would be a mix of Discovery and SNW characters, showing where these people were supposed to end up. (And why should the actors take the fall for the producers and writers incompetence.) I would also add several characters - such as Yeoman Colt, Doctor Boyce and the real Captain Lorca - that have fallen through the cracks in the Disco-verse.

What Disco 2.0 could also do, is fix inconsistencies that have come up over the years. A famous example is Kirk saying that there are only twelve Constitution-class ships in Tomorrow is Yesterday. That episode takes place on 3113.2 from Kirk's point of view. 

I would start Disco 2.0 on Stardate 3115.0 with a shot of the New Jersey in dry-dock, having just received a minor update. (Explaining why it looked a bit different then the classic Connie in Picard.) 

Besides the New Jersey, the shot would show several other vessels in other docks, including several other Constitution-class ships under construction. To show that this is the repaired timeline, I would not use any of the Discovery designs. Instead, I would use Star Fleet Technical Manual designs.

One of the issues with the Discovery designs is that some of them were reused in Picard. By replacing them in the TOS era, this is fixed and Picard is made more solid. 

Another thing about these designs is that the writer of the manual - Franz Joseph - was smart enough to establish that these ships all share layouts. The bridge, main engineering, etc, are all the same. Basically, it's the same trick the SNW tried with the Sombra-class, but dialed up to 12. 

All of these designs - Hermes, Saladin, Federation, Constitution and Federation class - could therefore be represented by one set of...well, sets. Not to mention the merchandising opportunity. And by having several Constitution-class ships under construction, the Constitution-class inflation could be taken down a notch or two. 

And that's just one fix Disco 2.0 could pull off. 

Conclusion

Well, Alex, this was a long one. I was planning to do some concluding thoughts here, but they ended up in the Clearing the Air part of this entry. So, take care and...

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

How I would fix NuTrek - Part 2

Step 4: Clarity and expansion

Part 1 ended with Star Trek: Legacy preparing for and resetting the timeline. But now comes the question of what exactly is and is not canon. To answer this question, I would take a page from Charles Dickens' book by expanding to three shows, essentially having the Trek of the Past, Trek of the Present and Trek of the Future. 

Trek of the Future

With it's setting in the early 25th century (aboard the Enterprise-G), Star Trek Legacy would take on the role of Trek of Future. It is here that we discover - feel free to moan at the pun - that 32rd century seen in Star Trek Discovery no longer comes to pass. Also, occasional references to past episodes would suggest that the 24th century shows - TNG, DS9, Voyager, Prodigy and Lower Decks - are all still within canon. This torch would then be picked up by...

Trek of the Present

...Star Trek: Equinox Starting in 2380, this show would tell the story of the black sheep of the fleet, the USS Equinox. Launched in 2374, this Nova-class starship was build as the replacement for Rudolf Ransom's command. 

But when Voyager send word of Ransom's horrific misdeeds in Delta Quadrant back home, she became the ship that nobody wants to be assigned to. After a rotating door of temporary captains for years, the main character is put in command of the vessel.

Why the Equinox ?  Because the Equinox comes with a built-in larger story arc (that can play out in the background). Namely the crews search for redemption. Furthermore, being a small vessel provides the crew with unique challenges not faced by larger vessels such as Voyager and Enterprise. 

Or as Publilius Syrus once put it "Anyone can hold the Helm if the Sea is Calm." But if Equinox wants to survive - especially in combat situations - she has be smarter then the average bear.

Why this time period ?  Because it is much closer to the other 24th century shows. And therefore, much easier to tie-in to them. Maybe the Equinox was part of the clean-up post the Texas-class Incident from Lower Decks ? And somebody would have to pick up the pieces after the Protostar Disaster of 2384. 

Furthermore, Star Trek Picard only showed us bits and pieces of what happened between Nemesis and Season 1. Equinox could add to this the story of this time period and - dare I say it - where necessary and possible, retcon the hot messes that were Picard Season 1 and 2.

Finally, if the show manages to beat the odds and achieve the traditional seven seasons, the end point would be in 2387. This would allow the final season show the Hobus Supernova and its direct aftermath. Oh, and once the show is past the setting of Prodigy and Lower Decks, who knows...maybe some of the characters from those shows could be salvaged/transferred to life action. You never know.

Next time, Trek of the Past and some concluding thoughts.

To be continued....

How I would fix Nu/Trek - Part 1

Hi Alex,

So, back on 27/6, I wrote a blog on how I would save Star Trek. That one was tongue-in-cheek - partly to keep it short - but after some pondering, I've decided to do a serious version this time. Because NuTrek is not in a good place - as shown by the cancellation of Prodigy - and Paramount+ is slowly falling apart. 

I will confess that am not a fan of Kurtzman, Secret Hideout and their version(s) of Star Trek. But you don't have to take my word for it. Instead, read this MSN article....

Paramount falls apart

Anyway, to do this properly, I'm going to turn this into trilogy of blogs. I'll do my best to kick them out at a rate of one per day. So without further ado...

Step 1: Cancel all current shows

This is not just a matter of money. It is also a matter of quality over quantity. And about not over saturating your own marker. Further more, it is easier to promote one show then a whole bundle of them. And Trek might just need that to survive in a landscape where more competitors will soon enter the fray. 

Doctor Who is gearing up for another period under Russell T. Davies, while JMS is working on new things for Babylon 5. Plus, if even half the Stargate rumors Sci-Trek flings onto YouTube are true, they will be ready to steamroll over Trek once the writer's strike is over.

Step 2: Make Star Trek Legacy

The customer is always right. The customer is king. Give the costumer what he wants. And after Picard Season 3, the customers made it crystal clear that what they want is good, smart, well written Star Trek. Not what you are making now, which IMHO can best be labelled as DumbTrek. 

 

The days of Trek lacking competition are over. You want to survive the new landscape, the next round of the streaming wars, you need to make your customers happy. Right now, the costumers are unhappy and divided. If it stays this way, Trek will not survive. 

Step 3: Setting Up The Reset

In Legacy, introduce a plot-line that reveals that at same point in 26th century, the feud between the House of Mogh and the House of Duras escalated into a Time War. And that Discovery and Strange New World is showing up a timeline that has suffered damage and distortion from this conflict. 

The attack that killed Michael Burnham's parents, the time crystals on Boreth, the troll-like Discovery Klingons, basically everything Discovery and Strange New Worlds got wrong is the result of this mess. The crew of the Enterprise-G, however, is able to prevent the start of this conflict and damage is undone...

Why do this ? Because canon and consistency are nowhere to be found in NuTrek / DumbTrek. Getting the viewers onboard is the just beginning. If you treat them disrespect and like they are dumb, the customers will abandon you. So don't do it. 

To be continued...

Rolling a Hard Six...(Another open letter to RMB)

 ...About How Akiva Goldsman is a hack

Hi Alex,

Yeah, I know that I'm pushing my luck. But like Commander Adama says, sometimes you have to roll a Hard Six...

Anyway, after episode 3 of season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Mr. Burnett launched into a great rant against Akiva Goldsman. I loved it and thought he was right on the money. If you want the juicy details, here's the video....  

But here is the cliff note version....there is nothing original about SNW and Goldsman argument for messing with the date of the Eugenics Wars was basically 'If we don't do it, people will figure out that Star Trek is just a TV show' and that it wouldn't be possible in 'our universe anymore. "And that would be silly"

As Mr. Burnett pointed out, Star Trek always showed us a 'possible' future. Not our future. It's always been a fictional universe and the viewers have always know this. Now, there's much more to Mr. Burnett's rant, so IMHO you should watch the video. For now, however, I just want to add...

My Own Little Rant

To begin with....are there Sanctuary Districts ? Are they magically going to spring up in less then a year ? Is Goldsman going retcon Deep Space Nine's "Past Tense" next year ? Is he going to retcon Star Trek: First Contact become there isn't a real warp scientist called Zefram Cochrane ? Where does it end, genius ? 

Second, this is Star TREK not Star GATE. This is not a jab at Stargate SG-1 and it's spin-offs. In fact, I love Stargate. That's how you do a show that might be set in our universe. Gate gets it right, Trek is off by light-years. And that's okay, because that's how Trek rolls. But Goldsman, as a show runner, should know that. 

And if you want to deal with something silly in Trek, answer me this....where the hell is NCIS in the 24th century ? I'm talking about the real-life organization, not the TV show. Although....the folks running the NCIS franchise would probably do ten times the job making good Trek then Secret Hideout's collection of hacks. But I digress, so let's take a look at the list of black marks on Starfleet Security's record....

1. The Leyton Coup - Stopped by Starfleet Security ? Nope....if it hadn't been for Sisko and Co...
2. Khitomer Conspiracy -- Thank you, Captain Kirk.
3. Parasite Invasion from TNG -- Nice work, Jean-Luc.
4. Everything Section 31 has been up to...
5. ...And the fact that your own people *in* Security and Intelligence are in cat boots. I mean, CAHOOTS with Section 31 !  
6. Every other evil Admiral you never caught or stopped.

Long story short, Starfleet Security as been both woefully incompetent and corrupt. And there has never been any fallout !? Now, I'm not going to say the Pentagon has never made mistakes. Hell, it's far from perfect. That's another thing I learned from Stargate. 

But establishing NCIS and making it a civilian agency outside the chain-of-command is not a mistake. It's part of the US Navy's system of checks and balances. 

So, why is there no NCIS in Star Trek ? Simple...because that would kill a lot of cliches and tropes. And that's all Goldsman and co know how to write...tropes and cliches.

Anyway, that's all I have. Maybe over to Mister Burnett, probably not. Have a nice day either way.

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)