What polarity can we reverse today?

dogscoff · #1 May 16th, 2001, 10:59 AM

yeah, i prefer B5 too, because it focusses more on the politics / relationships of the future than the technology.

I also like farscape, because I get sick of all these super-clever, ultra-professional squeaky clean Trek/B5 uniform types agreeing with one-another and getting it right all the time. It's nice to see the main characters *****ing and arguing and slipping off the moral tightroppe once in a while=-)

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"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"Uh, I think so, Brain, but balancing a family and a career ... oooh, it's all too much for me. "

Dracus · #2 May 16th, 2001, 04:30 PM

Since Anything with a charge has a polarity, then You can reverse the polarity. We do this to magnets and charged Copper coils every day.

jimbob55 · #3 May 16th, 2001, 05:12 PM

Um. Where did i put my sonic screwdriver....

Space opera using 'science' should at least try to remain consistent. ST:TNG would be a lot easier to stomach if they didn't rely on 'the quantum string in his bootlaces is disrupting our crapion array' in order to generate a plot.

"Captain, we appear to have been sucked in by a recurring plot line."
"What does this mean Mr data?"
"It means we are doomed to repeat the plot from a first generation star trek episode using different technobabbel."
"Gawd help us all, go to red alert."
"Are you sure sir? It does mean we'll have to change the bulb".

Nitram Draw · #4 May 16th, 2001, 05:28 PM

Maybe they should hire the writers from the 3 Stooges. I read that they only had ~4 basic plot lines.

geoschmo · #5 May 16th, 2001, 06:40 PM

Star Trek, B5, Farscape, Star Wars, they are all Science Fiction, with a capital FICTION and a lower case science.

So the writers in Star Trek always fall back on a few tried and true plot devices. That is the problem with having a franchise like this. You can't really kill off anyone (unless they wear a red shirt of course) but you have to come up with some sort of drama for the stories to be compelling and get peoples interest.

Star Trek is like your Uncle Gene, everybody's got one. He always tells these fantastic stories about places he's been and things he's done. You've known since you were 12 he was full of crap most of the time, but they are great stories so you keep coming back for more.

B5 doesn't use the techno babble as much, but they have their plot devices for sure. The good guys are always about to get wiped out when suddenly a new race arrives that turns the tide. Can anybody say "Cavalry Charge"?

B5 also has longer story arcs so it's not quite so obvious as in star trek. They don't have to wrap up the story at the end of every episode like TNG and VOY. I think that is why Ds9 was probably more popular with non-trek fans than any of the other series. But it also bothered som hard-core trekkies.

Geo

[This message has been edited by geoschmo (edited 16 May 2001).]

Baron Munchausen · #6 May 16th, 2001, 08:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jimbob55:
Um. Where did i put my sonic screwdriver....

Space opera using 'science' should at least try to remain consistent. ST:TNG would be a lot easier to stomach if they didn't rely on 'the quantum string in his bootlaces is disrupting our crapion array' in order to generate a plot.

"Captain, we appear to have been sucked in by a recurring plot line."
"What does this mean Mr data?"
"It means we are doomed to repeat the plot from a first generation star trek episode using different technobabbel."
"Gawd help us all, go to red alert."
"Are you sure sir? It does mean we'll have to change the bulb".

Yep, this is why I finally got sick of Trek. NO consistency in the technology/imaginary universe. TOTAL consistency in the recycled stories. Bleh... At least with B5 they take more than one episode to resolve a crisis so the course of a given episode is not so utterly predictable. And, hey, the limitations and advantages of their technologies don't change from one episode to the next!

Sinapus · #7 May 16th, 2001, 09:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dogscoff:
yeah, i prefer B5 too, because it focusses more on the politics / relationships of the future than the technology.

They *did* do some technobabble of a sort in "A Spider in the Web", or at least Garibaldi tried to reconfigure the internal sensors so they could detect this assassin running around the station. Garibaldi's efforts resulted in the door to the room opening and closing repeatedly.

["Guess it's harder than I thought."]

They do show reinforcements coming in at the right moment more than a few times on B5. Good thing is it looks cool.

["If you value your lives, BE SOMEWHERE ELSE!"]

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--
"What do -you- want?" "I'd like to live -just- long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I would look up into your lifeless eyes and wave like this..." *waggle* "...can you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?"