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Old 12-18-2019, 04:07 AM
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November 20th, 1989, "The Vengeance Factor"

No Fiver
Transcript
Memory Alpha

The Episode

MAROUK: No. Captain, you have to understand our history. A hundred years ago, before the Gatherers split off from our culture, we were a savage, violent race. Clans battled clans. Bloody, vengeful feuds that lasted for generations. But we overcame those ways, all except for the Gatherers.

I wonder if the writers were aware of the Vulcan/Romulan parallels.

DATA: Captain, I am detecting life readings from the planet surface, as well as several small areas of thermal radiation and carbon dioxide emissions, indicative of combustion.
WESLEY: Campfires, Data.
DATA: Is that not what I said?

Ugh. This kind of joke is going too far. Even Spock wouldn't be this pedantic.

DATA: Rigelian phaser rifles, sir. Not particularly powerful.

And therefore? No matter which variety of Rigelians we're talking about, we're led to believe that their tech was pretty standard. If anything I'd prefer that these be older models if they're supposed to be nonthreatening.

RIKER: Data, tell me about noranium. It vaporises at?
DATA: Two thousand three hundred fourteen degrees. Of course, noranium carbide
RIKER: Thank you, Data.
LAFORGE: Setting seven ought to do it.
RIKER: Three, two, one, now!
(They fire at some of the metal junk, which creates a smoke screen.)

Wouldn't metal vapor be toxic to breathe?

PICARD: Brull, will you show Mister Crusher the course to set to the Hromi Cluster?
BRULL: A child? This doesn't inspire my confidence.

If anything this should happen more often, but it occurs to me that we've seen plenty of aliens that look young but are really old. For all he knows with no other information, Wesley could be one of those and not human.

WESLEY: That's going to take us through the centre of an asteroid belt.
BRULL: What's the matter, kid? Can't you fly yourself around a couple of rocks?
WESLEY: Sure I can, but if we take this heading we can avoid the belt completely, and only lose twelve point one minutes at warp seven.

First, who cares if there are asteroids in the way, you'll be in subspace when you go through them. Second, altering the course to sweep around them would lengthen your journey by a minute or less. Third, what is this exchange supposed to achieve?

BRULL: No problem. I have many friends that don't like me. But what do you know about me?
WESLEY: You're a thief.
BRULL: I do it to survive, not because I enjoy it. We Gatherers value our freedom. We do as we want and we answer to no creature.

Sorry, but that's absurd. The Gatherers could petition the Federation for a colony world. No, they choose to live like this. I hate declarations of "I don't want to be a criminal" from people who have other choices.

CHORGAN [on viewscreen]: I don't wish to listen to either of you.
PICARD: You have no choice. Prepare to receive us. We're beaming on board.

This seems like a violation of policy. Beaming aboard without permission should be considered a crime if not an actual act of war.

CHORGAN: Will you feed and clothe us, too?
MAROUK: No, of course I won't. What I will do is give you the means to feed and clothe yourselves. We've set aside some land and you can use it to--
CHORGAN: Land? Do we look like farmers to you?

It's already been showed that these guys don't have replicators. So if these guys don't want to be farmers, what else is there? My first suggestion is folding them into the military. Their families can live planetside in the cities.

Nitpicker'sGuide

* Phil wonders why there didn't seem to be higher stun levels available to stop Yuta without killing her.
* Phaser Level 7 can vaporize metal, but Riker had it all the way up to Level 16 to stop Yuta! Okay, she's been conditioned to be more resistant to phasers than an ordinary person, but she's not a Horta or Excalbian!
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