30th Anniversary TNG Episode Discussion Marathon

[Nate the Great]

November 15th, 1993, "Force of Nature"

Oh boy, is this going to hurt...

Fiver by Marc

The Episode

DATA: Has Spot been misbehaving?
LAFORGE: So far she's broken a vase, a teapot, she's ruined one of my chairs using it as a scratch post, and she's coughing hairballs up all over my carpet.

Ever since the revelation of transparent aluminum I have to question how anything not explicitly an antique can be breakable in the Trek future. I don't see Geordi having breakable stuff. Furthermore I have to ask why Spot has usable claws if she will NEVER have to hunt anything. As for hairballs, where is she getting the stuff to form those? I thought the ship cleaned itself, including hair!

LAFORGE: She won't come when you call her? Data, have you ever considered training this cat?
DATA: I never found it to be necessary.

Why not? Surely Data encountered the concept when absorbing all of human knowledge on the subject of cat ownership.

DATA: The unusually intense tetryon fields in this sector pose a severe navigational hazard to warp driven vessels. The Hekaras Corridor is the only route through the area which is free of tetryon fields. Ships travelling at warp must use the Corridor to ensure safe passage through the region.
PICARD: How long will it take to complete a level one search?
DATA: At least two days, sir. The Corridor is over twelve light years long, and the surrounding tetryon interference will limit our sensor range.

Why are people using the Corridor for anything other than local travel? Not to be a jerk, but twelve light years is NOTHING in terms of warp travel. The detour would be less than a hundred light years. Frankly the planets here should've been evacuated decades ago so the whole area can be avoided.

TROI: Hekaras Two is inhabited, isn't it? Maybe they've had contact with the Fleming.
RIKER: They haven't. I've already spoken to the Hekaran government.

Ugh. Subspace communications use the same paths as warp travel. And if there was a series of relays set up to allow communications, they would want to load the things up with sensors while they were added.

CRUSHER: The Fleming was carrying a supply of rare biomimetic gel, which is very valuable.

First appearance of biomemetic gel. This raises more questions about how the Federation can be moneyless while surrounded by governments that use money. For that matter, why isn't this stuff being carried by a larger ship?

LAFORGE: You know the Intrepid?
DATA: Yes.

Assuming that this Intrepid is the first of the class, it's extremely coincidental if the variable pylons deal with the damage discovered in this episode. Have I mentioned how much I hate the variable pylons lately?

LAFORGE: This is the flagship. We should be better than everybody else.

I get the sentiment, but it's a bit short-sighted. No one ship can be the best at everything. The flagships are designed to be the best all-around ship, but other classes will always be better at specific things because they were designed at different times and under different circumstances.

Even back in the TOS days the expanded universe was full of ships who had better speed, better weapons, better sensors, etc. than the Enterprise, but never all at the same time.

DATA: I began with simple conditioned response exercises and followed with environmental enhancement. Next I plan to explore bioconditioning devices.
LAFORGE: Devices?
DATA: Such as sensor nets for behaviour modification or biofeedback motivators.

I'm not a fan of wiring sensors and tasers to pets. It really makes Data look lazy. I would respect him more if he sent Spot to the ship's animal trainer.

LAFORGE: I've got an idea. How about a phaser? A low stun setting at just the right moment might do the trick.
DATA: Geordi. I cannot stun my cat.

I fail to see the difference between a low stun and a "biofeedback motivator". Furthermore, you want pets to respect you, not fear you.

DATA: Phase alignment is stabilised. However, sensor efficiency has increased by only an additional one point three percent.
LAFORGE: It's not much, but every little bit going to help.

And the subplot is over. I refer you to the SF Debris review for how stupid this whole thing is.

WORF: It is a Ferengi transport ship, D'Kora class.

And yet they use the standard Ferengi marauder model. I don't think Ferengi would use "transports", either for people or cargo. They'd hire other people for both of these to free up their own ships for more profitable tasks.

DATA: Life support systems are also functioning at low levels. There are approximately four hundred fifty Ferengi on board.

This seems excessive. We know that they don't travel with their civilians, so I woud imagine that Ferengi would automate everything possible to save on costs.

LAFORGE: Captain, Ferengi sensors are still online. I could modify one of our deflector emitters to transmit old style delta waves. If I modulate that with a comm. signal, the Ferengi should be able to pick that up.

You'd think ordinary radio would be adequate for this purpose.

PRAK [on viewscreen]: Do not toy with me, Picard. We are obviously at your mercy, but know this. When the Ferengi Council learns of your actions, they will consider this an act of war.

Ferengi Council? I'd imagine that the Ferengi have something akin to a constitutional monarchy. A Parliment, not a Council.

DATA: Spot. Spot. Spot, down. Spot, down. Down. Spot. (lifting the cat off the desk) Down. This is down. Down is good. This is up. Up is no.
(doorbell)

Data may have infinite patience, but Spot does not. He should call in a professional for this job.

(Spot meows, and Data goes to the replicator)
...
(Spot meows again and Data fetches her a toy)
LAFORGE: I don't know about Spot, but it seems to me your training is coming along just fine.

Hehe.

LAFORGE: I just received this from Commander Kaplan, subspace.
(Data reads from a PADD)
DATA: La Forge, I got the Intrepid's power conversion levels up to ninety seven point one percent. Maybe you should try cleaning your plasma grid once in a while.

Plasma grid? This sounds like something in the nacelles. And that should be someone else's job to maintain. But maybe the maintenance staff is spooked by the remains baked into the wall.

LAFORGE: What do you want?
RABAL: (male) We're trying to make you listen.
SEROVA: (female) You're killing us.

I still think this is one of the most infuriating precommercial break crises in all of Trek, up there with that monster that "ate" Lisa Cusak.

PICARD: If you wanted us to review your research, you should have made a request through the Science Council.
RABAL: Their resources are limited. It would have taken over a year before they dispatched a science ship to come and evaluate our work.

Really? I doubt that the Science Council works via a strict queue system. Surely there's SOME leeway on which order requests are done in.

But let's make it perfectly clear, this is terrorism. Period. Both of these schmucks should be in the brig right now.

RABAL: We dispersed verteron probes in the Corridor merely to disable warp-driven ships. Nothing more.

And what if a "Brothers"-like scenario was happening? A death would be on your heads!

RIKER: The fact remains you deliberately disguised your probes. You made them look like signal markers. You hid them in debris field. You mined the Corridor.

Exactly!

PICARD: Because of the seriousness of your claim, I'm willing to listen to your case. But let there be no mistake. Our priority here is the recovery of the Fleming. Now I expect you to help us restore our engines and deactivate all of the remaining probes in the Corridor. If you do not, you will both be taken to the brig and from there to the nearest Starbase, where you will answer charges for what you have done.

No! You let them help, THEN you throw them in the brig. Cleaning up their own mess shoud never negate their jail time, just decrease it a bit.

SEROVA: Rabal, don't. The probes are the only leverage we have. If we--

So you want to cross from misunderstood terrorism to REAL terrorism. Gotcha. Mr. Worf, you don't need to be picky about putting the key where you can find it...

LAFORGE: What if the Fleming had been transporting perishable supplies or was on an emergency mission? Your little plan might have cost a lot of lives.
SEROVA: That didn't happen, Commander.

Oh no, you don't get to claim the moral high ground here. "I got lucky" is not an adequate defense against committing acts of terror.

SEROVA: There's no point in trying to talk to you. You've already decided not to listen.

Why should he, Serova? You damaged his ship and put lives at risk!

RABAL: But please, try to understand. She believes profoundly in this cause. She has sworn to dedicate her life to exposing the dangers of warp drive.

How does any of that justify terrorism?

LAFORGE: Warp drive has been around for three centuries. It's a proven technology.

Of course it's a proven technology, you two are talking to each other when it would be impossible without warp drive. You should've said "safe technology!"