this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023
32 points (100.0% liked)

Star Trek

10521 readers
455 users here now

r/startrek: The Next Generation

Star Trek news and discussion. No slash fic...

Maybe a little slash fic.


New to Star Trek and wondering where to start?


Rules

1 Be constructiveAll posts/comments must be thoughtful and balanced.


2 Be welcomingIt is important that everyone from newbies to OG Trekkers feel welcome, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, religion or race.


3 Be truthfulAll posts/comments must be factually accurate and verifiable. We are not a place for gossip, rumors, or manipulative or misleading content.


4 Be niceIf a polite way cannot be found to phrase what it is you want to say, don't say anything at all. Insulting or disparaging remarks about any human being are expressly not allowed.


5 SpoilersUtilize the spoiler system for any and all spoilers relating to the most recently-aired episodes, as well as previews for upcoming episodes. There is no formal spoiler protection for episodes/films after they have been available for approximately one week.


6 Keep on-topicAll submissions must be directly about the Star Trek franchise (the shows, movies, books etc.). Off-topic discussions are welcome at c/quarks.


7 MetaQuestions and concerns about moderator actions should be brought forward via DM.


Upcoming Episodes

Date Episode Title
05-23 DSC 5x09 "Lagrange Point"
05-30 DSC 5x10 "Life, Itself"
07-01 PRO S2 Index
10-24 LD 5x01 TBA
10-24 LD 5x02 TBA

Episode Discussion Archive


In Production

Lower Decks (2024-10-24)

Strange New Worlds (2025)

Section 31 (2025)

Starfleet Academy (TBA)

In Development

Untitled comedy series


Wondering where to stream a series? Check here.


Allied Discord Server


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Most of what works in the Star Trek movies evolve from what we know about the characters. Kirk's love for his ship and history with the Klingons, Picard's history with the Borg, Data's struggle with emotions, that sort of thing.

What character threads from any of the series could have been picked up and expanded on in movies?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

It's less directed at a single character, but I think the whole synth personhood argument seems like it would be a good thread for development.

We saw from Dr Pulaski's reaction that even the most understanding and well-meaning members of Starfleet can still have reservations about whether a sapient machine is a person, or just a machine, even if they come around once they get to know them.

We also know from Maddox, the crew of the Sutherland, and the Voyager that some less well-meaning members of Starfleet see them as walking computers, and little more, until they are forced to see reason (whether they come around at that point is unclear, considering the Lal incident).

The Voyager's crew even went as far as to try and solve the sapient EMH's issues by treating him like a faulty computer/software, whether by fiddling around with his code, or factory resetting him when things went wrong.

We also know later on that while Data has his rights and personhood relatively firmly established, that ruling applies to him only, and not to any other inorganics. The Voyager's EMH had to have an entire legal battle to determine whether he would own the rights to a book that he had written, whereas that would not be in the question, had the book been written by a biological humanoid.

There's also a subtle plot where the Federation can and will use them as effective slaves, even if sapience is unclear. The other Mark I EMHs are used for dilithium mining, and Maddox's reverse-engineered schematics of Data were stripped down, tweaked, and used to create a non-sapient synth workforce, despite his protests.