What polarity can we reverse today? - Page 4

zen. · #31 May 23rd, 2001, 08:01 PM

The obvious fave: da Borg!

Although I think they were much more menacing when introduced and throughout TNG... Voyager has reduced them to simple plot devices.

Although the sheer alienness of Species 8472 was also quite cool.

zen

Puke · #32 May 23rd, 2001, 09:29 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dmm:
I liked the basic premise behind Wesley Crusher (boy supergenius), but he was SO poorly written. No angst, no frustration, no anger, no failures, nobody who didn't like him (nobody on the show, I mean). But then, a LOT of the early STTNG characters (ALL of them?) were poorly written. For instance, Worf's character was horrible at first, and Tasha's lines were so bad that she was unrecoverable so they had to kill her off.

i guess you prefer the seaquest DSV Version of the boy genius? (not a flame, just curious)

Possum · #33 May 23rd, 2001, 10:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dmm:

IMHO, the best short-term (one episode and a movie) villain was Khan, and the best long-term villain was Gul Dukat. Each of them had admirable qualities, but their lust for power and revenge drove them to extreme evil.

I agree that Khan was my favorite villian, (thank god I saw the Wrath of Khan episode before Fantasy Island came out), but I must heartily disagree with that "lust for power and revenge" part.

At least in the first episode, Khan and his people were the Last remnants of a race, fleeing a genocidal war of extermination. What were they supposed to do, lay down and die? Even the lowest of creatures has a right to self-defense.

capnq · #34 May 24th, 2001, 04:37 PM

quote:
I agree that Khan was my favorite villian, (thank god I saw the Wrath of Khan episode before Fantasy Island came out), but I must heartily disagree with that "lust for power and revenge" part.

At least in the first episode, Khan and his people were the Last remnants of a race, fleeing a genocidal war of extermination. What were they supposed to do, lay down and die? Even the lowest of creatures has a right to self-defense.

Hmm, as I remember that episode, Khan was the leader of the faction that triggered the genocidal war, and was fleeing to avoid prosecution as a war criminal.

------------------
Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft

[This message has been edited by capnq (edited 24 May 2001).]

zen. · #35 May 24th, 2001, 04:38 PM

Heeeey...weren't they genetically bred to be superior? Ah well, at least the Nietzscheans got to strike back.

Oh, wait, wrong series.

zen

dmm · #36 May 24th, 2001, 06:16 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Puke:
i guess you prefer the seaquest DSV Version of the boy genius? (not a flame, just curious)

I've only seen half of two episodes of SQDSV, so I can't answer that. What's he like?

A boy (or girl) genius should be troubled, and resented by his peers and adults alike, because he sees things from an adult perspective (mentally) without the benefit of adult maturity or prestige. Actually, from more than an adult perspective, because a boy genius by the age of ten is smarter than most fully-developed adults. Except that he only has the "common sense" of any ten-year-old (i.e., almost none)!

So, in the midst of doing super-genius things, Wesley Crusher should have been doing idiotic things, and making the adults around him annoyed, frustrated, nervous, and even scared.

raynor · #37 May 24th, 2001, 11:48 PM

...And you say you haven't watched much SeaQuest DSV?

Your description fits that shows boy-wonder much, much better than it fits ST:TNG's Wesley Crusher. (IMHO)

Interesting. I always regarded the ST:TNG characters as much more three-dimensional than the ST:TOS characters. But I can't remember young Wesley having as much depth. I dunno. I may just have forgotten most of the ST:TNG episodes while I've seen most of the SeaQuest episodes in syndication on the Sci-Fi channel. It will be good to watch TNG again this fall on TNN.

murx · #38 May 25th, 2001, 12:30 AM

re:So, in the midst of doing super-genius things, Wesley Crusher should have been doing idiotic things, and making the adults around him annoyed, frustrated, nervous, and even scared.

Isn't that what's Wezley is all about ? No one really likes him - a stupid pre-puberty boy who makes wonderous toys ...
No one likes that guy - neither his look nor his brain ... he's kind of the ST:TNG Teletubbi boy ...

murx

zen. · #39 May 25th, 2001, 02:38 PM

IIRC, Ashley Judd in the form of Ensign Robin Lefler didn't mind him so much. Now THAT'S acting ability.

Boy, hard to believe that was 10 or 15 years ago. I'm geezin'.

zen

dogscoff · #40 May 25th, 2001, 03:42 PM

Mmmm... Ensign Robin Lefler...

Good points well made. The trouble with Wesley was that he was created not primarily as an exploration of the child genius but as a cynical act of tokenism, hoping to give the show appeal to a younger audience. The boy genius bit was more of a plot device than a part of his character. After all, how could they justify his presence in the show if he wasn't allowed on the bridge?

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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. "