Lynch's Spoiler Review: "The Hunted"
Tim Lynch , Tim the Enchanter
Organization: Cornell University Tea Room and Cobalt Testing Range
Keywords: TNG, old soldiers, exile, yawwwwwwnnnnnn.
Distribution: rec
WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers concerning this week's TNG
episode, "The Hunted". Those not wishing advance plot details should remain
well clear.
I mean it. There be spoilers here.
Anyway...
I might not have been quite so disappointed with this, if I hadn't just been
coming off the high of "The Defector". As it is, though, I found this story to
be primarily much ado about nothing. However, that won't stop me from present-
ing a synopsis, albeit a short-ish one:
The Enterprise is in orbit around a planet, Akosha something-or-other, whose
inhabitants have recently applied for Federation membership. They have been
completely at peace since some wars which, it is implied, were a ways back, and
seem to be suitable candidates for membership (if, in Riker's eyes,"a bit too
stuffy for my tastes", though he was referring to the buildings).
The problem: while the away team's down on the surface, a prisoner escapes from
the penal colony on Lunar 5. The Enterprise, in answer to the Prime Minister's
request, tries to catch the small transport ship the prisoner commandeered.
Initially, they fail (the prisoner's an extremely crafty fellow), but eventual-
ly, they beam him on board. Not that he's any easier to handle there; it takes
a great deal of effort, time, and men to bring him down so that he can be put
in detention.
From there, we (and they) discover the details of Dehnar's (sp?) crime. It
seems that he was a soldier in those same wars mentioned earlier. He was a
volunteer, not knowing the treatment he was in for. He was psychologically
conditioned and chemically altered to be the perfect soldier. However, when the
wars were over and the soldiers brought home, they had no place in "civilized"
society. In Troi's words, "He fought to preserve the Akoshan lifestyle, but
he didn't realize that to do it, he had to give up that lifestyle--forever."
Lunar 5 was where all the old soldiers were put to quietly while away their
lives.
Once that's discovered, unfortunately, there's not much more to the plot. Dehnar
escapes while the Enterprise tries to transport him over to the Akoshan ship,
uses every trick in the book (_any_ book) to remain free, and eventually manages
to hijack the prison ship. He then attacks the penal colony and frees many of
his fellow prisoners. The Prime Minister calls Picard in a panic, saying that
the prisoners are heading for the capital city. Picard and an away team beam
down, but beam up with the situation still unresolved. As they leave, it looks
like a peaceful solution may be found (and maybe the effects of the treatment
can be reversed).
Well, that's as much of a synopsis as I'm prepared to give. The salient details
of Dehnar's various tactics aren't really worth going into, so I shan't. I
suppose it's time to move on to some comments, then:
I had somewhat mixed feelings about the show. Sure, it was entertaining, but I
tend to expect something a little more interesting. The storyline of the war-
weary soldier coming home to an unwelcome country has been done to death, from
lots of old war movies, to "First Blood" and its ilk, to "Born on the Fourth
of July" (if obliquely, as it appears from the ads). And the medically created
superior fighter isn't exactly new, either: just look at "Robocop", "Rocky IV",
or any issue of "Captain America" in the past fifty years. :-) So, original
this was not.
Nor was it all that interesting. It had its moments, to be sure: part of
Dehnar's new physiology repels electronic signals, so sensors can't pick him
up. That made for several interesting scenes. And, yes, it was somewhat
exciting to watch the different attempts to catch Dehnar, with its somewhat
predictable results. However, it just didn't hold my interest for very long.
There was really no new character insight to be gained, either. Troi's con-
cerned about a prisoner--ho, hum. Data claims to have no feelings--again, ho,
and a resounding HUM. Everything was just very lukewarm. There's not much
in the way of specific problems I can give (though I do have one--see the next
paragraph), but nothing was particularly well done, either.
My one specific gripe is this: Why was Worf leading the search? "Well, he's
Chief of Security.", I hear you say. That, to me, means he should have been the
one coordinating the search: giving orders, keeping tabs on where Dehnar defin-
itely wasn't, and so forth. Instead, we had Picard coordinating the search
plans, and Worf stalking around with his team. Not necessarily a grave error,
but definitely not what I would have done.
Well, I've really nothing more to say, except hand down some numbers.
Plot: 5. No major flaws, but woefully unoriginal.
Plot Handling: 7. They did make the most of the suspenseful moments.
Characterization: 5. Adequate, but no more.
Technical: 7. Not bad, though not great.
TOTAL: 6 even. Better luck next time, guys.
Next Week:
A rerun, of "Booby Trap", so all those tired asteroid field arguments can start
up again. Joy. Rapture.
Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy Major)
BITNET: H52Y@CRNLVAX5
INTERNET: H5...@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU
UUCP: ...!rochester!cornell!vax5.cit.cornell.edu!h52y
"The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door..."
--Suzanne Vega
Tim Lynch , Tim the Enchanter
Organization: Cornell University Tea Room and Cobalt Testing Range
Distribution: rec
WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers concerning this week's TNG
episode, "The Hunted". Those not wishing advance plot details should remain
well clear.
Honest. There be spoilers here.
Tim Lynch , Tim the Enchanter
Organization: Cornell University Tea Room and Cobalt Testing Range
WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers concerning this week's TNG
episode, "The Hunted". Those not wishing advance plot details should remain
well clear.
Honest. There be spoilers present.
Paul Blumstein
+
+WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers concerning this week's TNG
+episode, "The Hunted". Those not wishing advance plot details should remain
+well clear.
+Honest. There be spoilers present.
<STUFF DELETED>
+From there, we (and they) discover the details of Dehnar's (sp?) crime. It
+seems that he was a soldier in those same wars mentioned earlier. He was a
+volunteer, not knowing the treatment he was in for. He was psychologically
+conditioned and chemically altered to be the perfect soldier. However, when the
+wars were over and the soldiers brought home, they had no place in "civilized"
+society. In Troi's words, "He fought to preserve the Akoshan lifestyle, but
+he didn't realize that to do it, he had to give up that lifestyle--forever."
+Lunar 5 was where all the old soldiers were put to quietly while away their
+lives.
<STUFF DELETED>
+ The storyline of the war-
+weary soldier coming home to an unwelcome country has been done to death, from
+lots of old war movies, to "First Blood" and its ilk, to "Born on the Fourth
+of July" (if obliquely, as it appears from the ads). And the medically created
+superior fighter isn't exactly new, either: just look at "Robocop", "Rocky IV",
+or any issue of "Captain America" in the past fifty years. :-) So, original
+this was not.
I remember reading an SF story when I was a kid. (Sorry that I don't
remember the author or title). Anywho, it was about a planet that had it's
soldiers psychologically conditioned for war. These soldiers were put into
suspended animation between wars. After several hundred years of no war
and no prospects for war, they "unfroze" the soldiers. The soldiers now
found themselves trying to exist in a peaceful society much more
sociologically advanced from the one they remembered. After unsucessfully
trying to mix in, and society unsucessfully trying to get them to adapt,
they ended up being suspended indefinitely. That story may be where the
author got part of his/her idea for this story.
=============================================================================
Paul Blumstein | "Quick Watson, hand me the needle!" "Sorry Holmes,
Citicorp/TTI | old boy, but I traded the turntable in for a CD player"
Santa Monica, CA +----------------------------------------------------------
{philabs,csun,psivax}!ttidca!paulb or pa...@ttidca.TTI.COM
DISCLAIMER: Dis claim, dat claim; wadja think, I'm an insurance company?
Richard C. Long
Spoilers for "The Hunted"...
I agree with the comments already presented, but one glaring flaw struck
me. To wit, after Dehnar's escape from the security cell, he seemed to know
the Enterprise's layout AWFULLY well.
Maybe I missed something, but I thought the Akoshans had had minimal
Federation contact. Seemed odd to me how well Dehnar evaded Worf's team.
And Worf got beat up again ;-) !
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/'') /'' / | lo...@mcntsh.enet.dec.com | Hey! You're not
/''\ /__ /__ | ...!decwrl!mcntsh.enet.dec.com!long | Rockin' Ricky
Richard C. Long | long%mcnts...@decwrl.enet.dec.com | fans! -- "Gremlins"
j...@simpact.com
H5...@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU ("Tim Lynch ", Tim the Enchanter) writes:
> The storyline of the war-
Indeed. Even in printed sf, there is some tremendous precedent for this story.
Timothy Zahn's "Cobra" stories of a few years back come immediately to my
mind. The "Cobras" are an elite corps of soldiers, see, fitted not only with
enhanced senses and reflexes but even weapons inside their bodies, and on
return from the war they have trouble fitting into society (e.g. one Cobra is
almost accidently hit by an oncoming car, and responds by attacking it with his
personal built-in lasers). Good parallels with how we've treated Viet Nam
vets, but, again, It's Been Done. It isn't even a new theme for series tv!
--- Jamie Hanrahan, Simpact Associates, San Diego CA
Internet: j...@simpact.com, +-----------------------------------------
or if that fails, j...@crash.cts.com |
Uucp: ...{crash,decwrl}!simpact!jeh | See you in... THE FUTURE!
Martin NMN Thurn
>WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers concerning this week's TNG
>episode, "The Hunted". Those not wishing advance plot details should remain
>well clear.
>Chief of Security.", I hear you say. That, to me, means he should have been the
>one coordinating the search: giving orders, keeping tabs on where Dehnar defin-
>itely wasn't, and so forth. Instead, we had Picard coordinating the search
>plans, and Worf stalking around with his team. Not necessarily a grave error,
Worf is the only one on board with half a chance of handling Danar in
hand-to-hand combat, if it comes down to that. (Wait a minute, better
count Data, too. Why wasn't he searching?) BUT did you notice near the
beginning, when Worf tackled Danar, Worf ended up on the bottom?!?!?
The Feds better invest in some Nautilus equipment!!
-=-
---Martin Thurn th...@cis.ohio-state.edu
"Tokyo" has 4 'syllables' in Japanese; in English it should be pronounced
with 2 syllables, To-kyo, with long 'o's. Thank you for your attention.
the witch
My one little comment on this show (which I liked, but have to admit
that Dehnar's knowledge of Federation technology and the Enterprise
was a bit much).
Minor spoilers:
[Of course, the rationalization was that he *had* studied the
Federation, and made the comment he did to Troi deliberately so that
they'd figure he wouldn't be able to escape transfer to the other
ship. With that ship, he can attack Lunar 5 and transport the rest of
the veterans to the planet surface -- clever, ain't it?]
Anyway, back to my little comment: HOW THE HECK WAS HE INVISIBLE TO
SENSORS??? Ok, so his electrical impulses are shielded. How about
using infrared for body heat? Weight sensors? Measuring air
disturbances? What about the noise his bodily functions make? (I'll
buy not being able to detect him in the pod, but once on the
Enterprise, they should have been able to switch to another method.)
I find this detail impossible to swallow...
--the witch
--
as the cat climbed over the top of | ARPA: tit...@ics.uci.edu
the jamcloset first the right forefoot | BITNET: tit...@uci.bitnet
carfully then the hind stepped down | UUCP: ...!ucbvax!ucivax!tittle
into the pit of the empty flowerpot | USNAIL: POB 4188, Irvine CA 92716
Cario Lam
>Worf is the only one on board with half a chance of handling Danar in
>hand-to-hand combat, if it comes down to that. (Wait a minute, better
>count Data, too. Why wasn't he searching?) BUT did you notice near the
>beginning, when Worf tackled Danar, Worf ended up on the bottom?!?!?
>The Feds better invest in some Nautilus equipment!!
You forget Danar was programmed to survive. Hence he also had to kill
whereas killing is not in Data's programming. This might give Danar the edge
over Data. On the other hand Worf would be an ideal opponent. In both strengthand cunning. Worf is a Klingon after all and has the killer instinct.
-Cario Lam
Felan shena Thoron'edras
^L
>Anyway, back to my little comment: HOW THE HECK WAS HE INVISIBLE TO
>SENSORS??? Ok, so his electrical impulses are shielded. How about
>using infrared for body heat? Weight sensors? Measuring air
>disturbances? What about the noise his bodily functions make? (I'll
>buy not being able to detect him in the pod, but once on the
>Enterprise, they should have been able to switch to another method.)
>
>I find this detail impossible to swallow...
I'd like to add my own little method:
Troi. She can sense his emotions, just like she did to know he was in pain.
Couldn't she have traced him? She could, for instance, have scanned the
ship top to bottom to find him. I find it hard to believe that she couldn't
have done so. Anybody else?
Felan shena Thoron'edras
"What's that sofa doing here?"
"I told you! Eddies in the space-time continuum!"
"Ah, and this is his sofa, is it?"
Sean Fagan
>(e.g. one Cobra is
>almost accidently hit by an oncoming car, and responds by attacking it with his
>personal built-in lasers).
Oh, posh! The "punks" *deliberately* tried to run Johnny down! They were
having "fun"!
He "accidently" responds by attacking it with a laser, but that's merely
semantics (well, *he* didn't do it deliberately, but his nanocomputer did).
People who don't know what I'm talking about *may* want to read _Cobra_ by
Timothy Zahn; it's not bad, but not great.
--
Sean Eric Fagan | "If a compiler emits correct code purely by divine guidance
se...@sco.COM | and has no memory at all, it can still be a C compiler."
(408) 458-1422 | -- Chris Torek (ch...@cs.umd.edu)
-----------------+ Any opinions expressed are my own, not my employers'.
Mark Runyan
I may have missed it, but I don't think that anyone has indicated that
Troi's abilities are directional. She may have sensed he was being sneaky
and cunning, but I don't think she could tell where he was being sneaky
and cunning. Or was there an episode where she tracked someone with
her powers?
Mark Runyan
Mark Runyan
>
Spoilers for "The Hunted"
>My one little comment on this show (which I liked, but have to admit
>that Dehnar's knowledge of Federation technology and the Enterprise
>was a bit much).
Actually, I rationalized it a bit differently. Not that he studied, just
a combination of 1)observation and 2) Good Federation design. One should
be able to find one's way around without getting horribly lost. Once
he found the engine room, he need merely memorize the maps that are
available there (which he had the memory capacity for). So, how does
he find the engine room? He need only remember what his ship scanners
told him about the design of the ship coming at him, and walk toward
the primary power source from where he was. How did he orient himself?
That may be a bit of luck, or there may be markings on the deck doors
and ceilings indicating what deck he is on. Remember that once "activated",
Danar(Dehnar) had an incredible memory.
>Anyway, back to my little comment: HOW THE HECK WAS HE INVISIBLE TO
>SENSORS??? Ok, so his electrical impulses are shielded. How about
>using infrared for body heat? ...
Yes, there were probably dozens of ways of finding him, but the ships
internal sensors were set for only one method. He was essentially
a dead zone, a walking Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) device. It
may be that they could of tracked him by noise or gravity/air disturbance,
but that they didn't re-calibrate the sensors for that. The Enterprise
crew consistantly underestimated Danar's abilities.
Mark Runyan {r.a.s. random rationalizer}
PS BTW, Cindy, I found it amusing to note that "body process sounds"
are not considered "life signs". :-)
Kenneth Ng
: Anyway, back to my little comment: HOW THE HECK WAS HE INVISIBLE TO
: SENSORS??? Ok, so his electrical impulses are shielded. How about
: using infrared for body heat? Weight sensors? Measuring air
: disturbances? What about the noise his bodily functions make? (I'll
: buy not being able to detect him in the pod, but once on the
: Enterprise, they should have been able to switch to another method.)
Could it be that because "sensors" are so good, they lack other alternate
capabilities? Witness the F-4 over Vietnam when people thought that missiles
were so good that guns were useless weight.
--
Kenneth Ng: Post office: NJIT - CCCC, Newark New Jersey 07102
uucp !andromeda!argus!ken *** NOT k...@bellcore.uucp ***
bitnet(prefered) k...@orion.bitnet
Jeff McQuillen a.k.a CaptPicard
says:
>
>Spoilers for "The Hunted"...
>
>
>
>I agree with the comments already presented, but one glaring flaw struck
>me. To wit, after Dehnar's escape from the security cell, he seemed to know
>the Enterprise's layout AWFULLY well.
>
>Maybe I missed something, but I thought the Akoshans had had minimal
>Federation contact.
They didn't need contact. Dehnar went to Engineering to begin with. On the
back wall there was a diagram of the Enterprise. With Enhanced memory he
merely memorized the whole thing. Now the question is, how did he know
where engineering was?
-------
____________________ __
\______NCC_1701_____|) .____.--"--"---._____
|| /-----._________.----/ Jeff McQuillen
/=======||====/___/ "--" JXM114@PSUVM JTM@PSUECL
\==\____________|(- JTM@PSUECL2 JTM@PSUHCX
Kyle Jones
> Worf is the only one on board with half a chance of handling Danar in
> hand-to-hand combat, if it comes down to that. (Wait a minute, better
> count Data, too. Why wasn't he searching?) BUT did you notice near the
> beginning, when Worf tackled Danar, Worf ended up on the bottom?!?!?
> The Feds better invest in some Nautilus equipment!!
Cario Lam writes:
> You forget Danar was programmed to survive. Hence he also had to
> kill whereas killing is not in Data's programming. This might give
> Danar the edge over Data. On the other hand Worf would be an ideal
> opponent. In both strengthand cunning. Worf is a Klingon after all
> and has the killer instinct.
There's no way Worf would be a better fighter than Data against a human
opponent! Data is strong enough to literally take Danar apart, limb by
limb. I don't care how enhanced Danar's reflexes are, he's going to be
plodding next to Data. Danar might be clever enough to stay out of
Data's clutches but if it comes to hand-to-hand combat, the game is
over.
...rochester!ur-valhalla!micropen!steve
[ Lines deleted ]
> count Data, too. Why wasn't he searching?) BUT did you notice near the
> beginning, when Worf tackled Danar, Worf ended up on the bottom?!?!?
Yeah. I just attributed it to a poor maneuver by the Security Chief,
the one who's SUPPOSED to know how to do these things.
|-)
> ---Martin Thurn th...@cis.ohio-state.edu
SJO
================================================================================
--
" Chew dad's socks! " Steve Owens @ Micropen, Inc.
" Eat mom's food! " Pittsford, N.Y. 14534
Kelly & Bud Bundy micropen!st...@ee.rochester.edu
Mark Runyan
>back wall there was a diagram of the Enterprise. With Enhanced memory he
>merely memorized the whole thing. Now the question is, how did he know
>where engineering was?
His own ship sensors could have noted the approximate locations of
the main power of the Enterprise and he could have picked up his
general location from "helpful" markers on doors. Since the Enterprise
is suppose to be user friendly, finding Engineering may not be that
difficult.
Mark Runyan
Mad Bob the Avenger
It's obvious Data could pull anyone apart limb from limb. The problem
is, would he? Lore wouldn't hesitate, but Data's program would most
likely stop him from harming Danar or whoever else he might be in combat
with. Worf, on the other hand, has no problem with wounding, maiming,
or killing. Data may be stronger, but Worf won't stop until the job is
done.
>---> Mad Bob the Avenger [ze...@tramp.colorado.EDU, home of junk.mail]
[ "I'm a doctor, not a rapper." -- McCoy, "The Enterprise Rap" ]
[ "This room will self-destruct in five seconds..." -- Russell Acker ]
[ Anybody in Netland able to perform legal atheist weddings? ]
the witch
|PS BTW, Cindy, I found it amusing to note that "body process sounds"
| are not considered "life signs". :-)
I was thinking of "Court Martial" when I wrote that -- remember how
they blanked out all sounds on the ship and you could then hear
Finney's heartbeat? I was then thinking that bodies are actually
pretty noisy. I guess that would be life signs, but I was being
explicit (electrical impulses are also life signs). It does sound
a lot funnier than I intended ;-)
I watched the show again (finally got that VCR!!) and you're right,
there is a giant schematic of the Enterprise in the Engineering deck.
And I'll bet he was pulling information as well as circumventing
Data's rerouting.
It does point out, though, that the Enterprise is relatively
subsceptible to sabotage. They should have been easily able to
recalibrate ship's sensors. Data should not have failed to reroute
the security. The Jeffries tubes should be secured (if nothing else,
can you imagine the kids going crazy down there?). Those access
panels should require clearance. Phasers should be keyed to their
specific user. They shouldn't have to take force fields down when
beaming (they would be better off with a solid room with only
transporters as exit/entry; tho I suppose they're conforming to fire
codes ;-). They should be able to use intra-ship beaming in emergency
situations. The little communicator buttons should broadcast a
medical may-day when its wearer is unconscious and be useless for
anything else (such as what Danar did to lower the force-field).
I realize you wouldn't always want some of the above to be true, such
as with the phasers and communicator buttons. But they should be able
to switch to such behavior under emergency conditions...
BTW, I recorded the show and watched it over again. The information
that Data and Troi called up from the planet's records lists his
name as Roga Danar.
--the witch
--
For every problem, there is a \ | ARPA: tit...@glacier.ics.uci.edu
solution that is simple, /\ | UUCP: {sdcsvax|ucbvax}!ucivax!tittle
elegant, and wrong. | BITNET: clti...@uci.bitnet
-- HL Mencken | USnail: PO Box 4188, Irvine CA, 92716
Mark Runyan
>It does point out, though, that the Enterprise is relatively
>subsceptible to sabotage.
Yeah, and I bet Worf is going to go crazy trying to fix everything.
>The Jeffries tubes should be secured (if nothing else,
>can you imagine the kids going crazy down there?).
Only if they have an up-to-date version of AD&D. :-)
>Phasers should be keyed to their specific user.
OK, everyone has jumped on this, so let's look at it. Right off hand, I
only remember Danar using the phaser on original transport to ship.
When the intruder alert sounded, he only used the phasers on overload
and to power the transporter (we don't know what he did to engineering
folk). Could they have been keyed then? (Note he didn't stun the guard
near the field, collect his phaser, set the explode trap and then
violate screen security while everyone was distracted. Could the phaser
he put in the lift have been keyed?) Does keying keep you from playing
with the phaser's power source? Why weren't they keyed during the
original beam in? (They didn't expect problems then).
>They shouldn't have to take force fields down when
>beaming ...
But, Cindy, you can't beam through the shields! The implication being
that the entire room is protected by the force field. And besides,
with out the force screen, you would have to carry on a conversation
via intercom, a possible power source.
>I realize you wouldn't always want some of the above to be true, such
>as with the phasers and communicator buttons. But they should be able
>to switch to such behavior under emergency conditions...
That's what I was implying above. That may they did...
Mark Runyan {r.a.s. random rationalizer}
PS Not trying to annoy you, "witch", it's just that you pose the most
interesting problems to rationalize. Apparently Scott's been busy
somewhere... :-)
Kyle Jones
> It's obvious Data could pull anyone apart limb from limb. The problem
> is, would he? Lore wouldn't hesitate, but Data's program would most
> likely stop him from harming Danar or whoever else he might be in combat
> with. Worf, on the other hand, has no problem with wounding, maiming,
> or killing. Data may be stronger, but Worf won't stop until the job is
> done.
Data did shoot the colonists in "The Ensigns of Command" when it
appeared he had no alternative, and these people were not "the enemy".
With Data's strength he could use the old Vulcan nerve pinch on humanoid
opponents. And considering Data's speed there are few opponents indeed
who could put him in a situation where he'd have to kill in order to
survive.
Lost one
to one person's fingerprint. Therefore only that person could use it.
Wouldn't this have prevented Danar from using the phasers he kept finding?
Anyone know where this reference is from?
-------
(Joe Walters) {JAW...@PSUVM.BITNET} Lost One. The Ghost User.
Things work in theory always, practice sometimes, and reality never.
Disclaimer? 'You got it wrong. I'm real, you're animated.'-Garfield
Contrary opinions are expected & appreciated.
Kenneth R. Flint
>I'd like to add my own little method:
>Troi. She can sense his emotions, just like she did to know he was in pain.
>Couldn't she have traced him? She could, for instance, have scanned the
>ship top to bottom to find him. I find it hard to believe that she couldn't
>have done so. Anybody else?
I tried to rationalize it this way. When Dehnar (sp?, I lost the press
release) was suffering in his dreams, and experiencing a large amount of
pain, it was easy for Troi to focus on his emotions.
However, when he woke up, Troi admitted that she no longer sensed the
pain. She also seemed to be having some difficulty seeing through his
lies (well he had me going on a couple). Hence, when he (Dehnar) is
running through the ship, his thoughts and feelings, while directed and
focused, are under the control of a programmed mind. Therefore, Troi
would have problems distinguishing his thoughts and could not focus on
them sufficiently to provide an indication of Dehnar's location.
Or else she was in the can.... :-)
Following the inspiration of the Random Rationalizer...
The Lost One...
Ken
(of course this is all P.O.O.)
--
Kenneth Flint fl...@me.utoronto.ca UUCP: ...!utai!me!flint
fl...@me.toronto.edu
"We may become the only species gifted enough to understand our own extinction
and not yet smart enough to avoid it." --Dr. Noel Brown, U.N.--
Allen P Jr Haughay
>I remember reading somewhere that phasers had a sensor plate on them assigned
>to one person's fingerprint. Therefore only that person could use it.
>Wouldn't this have prevented Danar from using the phasers he kept finding?
>
>Anyone know where this reference is from?
This is from the FASA TNG Officer's Manual, a book which has since been
pulled from publication because of its numerous errors and inconsistencies.
Skip Haughay
ACIT-University of Delaware
John Pimentel
>
>It's obvious Data could pull anyone apart limb from limb. The problem
>is, would he? Lore wouldn't hesitate, but Data's program would most
Actually, the question should be "when will he?" rather than "would he?".
In the judgement in "The Measure of a Man", Data is allowed to get a "SOUL",
what's to say that sometime in the future he won't hurt a "human" in defense?
Remember he is a Star Fleet Officer and the rank is not honorary. Sometime,
in the future some event will take place that will enable him to "cross the
line". He may be "programmed not to kill" but that doesn't mean he can't
learn. Example: You enter the military, you're given a rifle, and sent off
to war. You've never kill another human. You find yourself in a situation
in which you have a desire to live, the choices are kill or be killed, think
fast you're about die. What do you do??? Data at some point will have these
choices. Forget about the laws of Robotics, where is it written that ALL
robots (in Data's case ANDROID) *HAVE* to be programmed with these laws.
Remember, in the Star Fleet Officer would wanted to study Data, he was of
the opinion that Data was not a sentient being, the court said different.
"Is Data a machine? Yes."
"Is Data Star Fleet Property? No."
You would program a robot whose function is to serve only, these "laws",
case in point the Enterprise's computer, because it is Star Fleet Property
in the sense that was being described in "The Measure of a Man", but
Lt. Cmdr. Data is not Star Fleet Property. He has his free will just like
any other sentinent being. And if at some point he kills, in a future
episode, book or movie, then he has taken one more step to having a SOUL.
>>---> Mad Bob the Avenger [ze...@tramp.colorado.EDU, home of junk.mail]
>[ "I'm a doctor, not a rapper." -- McCoy, "The Enterprise Rap" ]
>[ "This room will self-destruct in five seconds..." -- Russell Acker ]
>[ Anybody in Netland able to perform legal atheist weddings? ]
---
Take care and have a good day. John.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES.
UUCP: ...!mit-eddie!\ Internet: jp@frog
....frog!jp
......!decvax!/
William December Starr
In article <1990Jan18.1...@talos.uu.net>,
ky...@xanth.cs.odu.edu said:
> With Data's strength he could use the old Vulcan nerve pinch on
> humanoid opponents.
There's been a lot of speculation -- nothing official, mind you -- in
some of the novels and elsewhere that Spock's "nerve pinch" didn't
really involve pinching a nerve but rather was a variant on the Vulcan
mind-meld (and the famous Vulcan Deathgrip, demonstrated in "The
Enterprise Incident" :-).
The idea is that Spock (or any other Joe Vulcan) places his fingertips
on a certain point, forms a connection between his own nervous system
and that of his victim, and then does a selective shutdown on certain
parts of the other guy's nervous system.
As I say, none of this is canonical, but imho it makes a lot more
sense than the idea that there's some secret handgrip known only to
Vulcans...
--
William December Starr <wds...@athena.mit.edu>
the witch
|>/ tit...@alexandre-dumas.ics.uci.edu (the witch) / 8:49 am Jan 17, 1990 /
|>It does point out, though, that the Enterprise is relatively
|>subsceptible to sabotage.
|
|Yeah, and I bet Worf is going to go crazy trying to fix everything.
Now, this could make an interesting show of its own -- security drills,
with an increasingly frustrated Worf trying to plug the leaks. We might
even get another Klingon ritual ("this is how we Klingons meditate to
ease frustrations --" "AAARRGGGHHHHH!!!!" *bash* *whap* *shatter*)
|>The Jeffries tubes should be secured (if nothing else,
|>can you imagine the kids going crazy down there?).
|
|Only if they have an up-to-date version of AD&D. :-)
Heh...
|>Phasers should be keyed to their specific user.
|
|OK, everyone has jumped on this, so let's look at it. Right off hand, I
|only remember Danar using the phaser on original transport to ship.
|When the intruder alert sounded, he only used the phasers on overload
|and to power the transporter (we don't know what he did to engineering
|folk). Could they have been keyed then? (Note he didn't stun the guard
|near the field, collect his phaser, set the explode trap and then
|violate screen security while everyone was distracted. Could the phaser
|he put in the lift have been keyed?) Does keying keep you from playing
|with the phaser's power source? Why weren't they keyed during the
|original beam in? (They didn't expect problems then).
Why not permanently key them only to conscious members of one's
security team? Again, imagine if kids got ahold of these ("look ma!
target practice!")
|>They shouldn't have to take force fields down when
|>beaming ...
|
|But, Cindy, you can't beam through the shields! The implication being
|that the entire room is protected by the force field. And besides,
|with out the force screen, you would have to carry on a conversation
|via intercom, a possible power source.
I didn't think that force fields had to be the same thing as ship's
shields. What about power outages or glitches?
Now, I can see where you'd want to make sure that some prisoner didn't
have his cohorts transport him out. The obvious solution to this is
to include bars in the brig if you insist on making force fields
impervious to transporters. I can't believe that they can't modify
a force field to selectively allow transportation but not escape, etc.
|>I realize you wouldn't always want some of the above to be true, such
|>as with the phasers and communicator buttons. But they should be able
|>to switch to such behavior under emergency conditions...
|
|That's what I was implying above. That may they did...
Here's another one for you. Have a central control for the phasers.
If they track all phasers, they could have nailed Danar easily (he
had 3 phasers with him at one point). Render specific phasers inoperable.
Also, overloaded phasers seem to be rather dangerous. An overloaded
phaser should trigger the same sort of alarms that fires do. Given
the awful sound it makes when overloading, it should be easy to detect
an overloaded phaser...
|PS Not trying to annoy you, "witch", it's just that you pose the most
| interesting problems to rationalize. Apparently Scott's been busy
| somewhere... :-)
Not at all! Here's a few more challenges, offered up in the same spirit!
--the witch
at the least, worf should be scrubbing decks somewhere for his performance...
--
Per me si va nella citta' dolente | ARPA: tit...@ics.uci.edu
Per me si va nell'eterno dolore | BITNET: tit...@uci.bitnet
Per me si va tra la perduta gente... | UUCP: ...!ucbvax!ucivax!tittle
Lasciate ogni speranza o voi ch'entrate! | USNAIL: POB 4188, Irvine CA 92716
The Paranoid Android
>
>There's been a lot of speculation -- nothing official, mind you -- in
>some of the novels and elsewhere that Spock's "nerve pinch" didn't
>really involve pinching a nerve but rather was a variant on the Vulcan
>mind-meld (and the famous Vulcan Deathgrip, demonstrated in "The
>Enterprise Incident" :-).
>
>The idea is that Spock (or any other Joe Vulcan) places his fingertips
>on a certain point, forms a connection between his own nervous system
>and that of his victim, and then does a selective shutdown on certain
>parts of the other guy's nervous system.
>
>As I say, none of this is canonical, but imho it makes a lot more
>sense than the idea that there's some secret handgrip known only to
>Vulcans...
>--
>
>William December Starr <wds...@athena.mit.edu>
That's an interesting idea. It doesn't explain why Kirk thought he could
learn it -
(Spock drops somebody)
"You've got to teach me that."
"I have tried, Captain."
though it explains why he couldn't do it.
And of course none of this explains what Spock was thinking when he tried
using it on one of the robots in "I, Mudd."
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "You didn't have to shove me, Mister spock! I'd have gotten 'round to it!" |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| / o / /\ / | |
| / o /\/\ / \/_ / \|_ |
| \ /\ / / /\ \ / / \ +-------------------------+ |
| _ / \/ _ /\ \ /\ \/\ / \/ | and...@wpi.wpi.edu | |
| / \ \/ / \ \/_ / \ \ / /\ \/ | (a.k.a Andrew Petrarca) | |
| \ /_ \/ \ /\ \ / _ \ /\ \/_ +-------------------------+ |
| \ \ \ \ \_/ \ / \ \ |
| \ \ _/ / \ |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "Doctor McCoy, would you do me the great honor of eating my shorts?" -Spock |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Sun Visualization Products
Its not a secret handgrip, but the knowledge of humanoid anatomy, and
shear strength that permits Vulcans to do a "nerve pinch". There are
certain "pressure points" on the human body, where if enough pressure
is applied, a person will pass-out. A Vulcan's strength permits him
(her) to apply the needed pressure fast enough.
--
Matthew Lee Stier |
Sun Microsystems --- RTP, NC 27709-3447 | "Wisconsin Escapee"
uucp: sun!mstier or mcnc!rti!sunpix!matthew |
phone: (919) 469-8300 fax: (919) 460-8355 |
Sir Six
only knowledge of human anatomy, precision, and strength, but
nothing unique to Vulcan anatomy. In "The Omega Glory," Spock uses
the neck-pinch, Kirk says "I'd love for you to teach me that some
time," and Spock says, "I have tried, Captain." I don't think he
would have tried to teach him knowing that a human couldn't possibly
learn. I think Kirk just lacks the strength and precision that
Spock and most other Vulcans possess.
And I have another question about this Ceti Alpha V/VI business.
As Kahn said in "Space Seed," "It will be a struggle at first, just
to survive." It seems to me that he would have been too busy for
astronomy, even if he had the instruments. So how did he know that
it was Ceti Alpha VI that exploded?
And to whoever asked about Kirk's brother: his name was Samuel
Kirk, and he died in "Operation Annihilate."
S.S.
Email to SIR...@UCSD.EDU or SIR...@UCSD.BITNET.
Tom Kuchar
> And I have another question about this Ceti Alpha V/VI business.
>As Kahn said in "Space Seed," "It will be a struggle at first, just
>to survive." It seems to me that he would have been too busy for
>astronomy, even if he had the instruments. So how did he know that
>it was Ceti Alpha VI that exploded?
Being an astronomer, I must disagree. Astronomy for ancient cultures proved
important for their survival. (Please don't equate ancient with primitive,
for they were not.)
>
> And to whoever asked about Kirk's brother: his name was Samuel
>Kirk, and he died in "Operation Annihilate."
>
In `What Are Little Girls Made of?' Kirk says his brother is George Samuel,
but thatt he is the only one who calls him Sam.
Tom...
A Waterworth
>In article <1990Jan19.2...@athena.mit.edu> wds...@athena.mit.edu (William December Starr) writes:
>Its not a secret handgrip, but the knowledge of humanoid anatomy, and
>shear strength that permits Vulcans to do a "nerve pinch". There are
>certain "pressure points" on the human body, where if enough pressure
>is applied, a person will pass-out. A Vulcan's strength permits him
>(her) to apply the needed pressure fast enough.
Bearing in mind of course that, as originally planned, there was no such thing
as a Vulcan "nerve pinch", "Death grip" or whatever. It was merely a ploy used
by Kirk and Spock in one of the early episodes (I can't remember which one...)
in order to catch some bad guy on the hop. (The bad guy thought that Kirk was
unconscious, even though Kirk wasn't - thereby allowing our noble Captain to
bide his time and bash the baddie on the head at a more convenient moment.)
The whole Vulcan neck-pinching industry grew from this one idea, because the
idea was so well, albeit erroneously, received by us - the viewers.
ADW.
P.S. I don't remember the exact story about this, but I distinctly remember
hearing Leonard Nimoy talking about it in this way on a "History of
Star Trek"-type TV programme.
P.P.S. The bit about that nerve point actually existing _is_ true, although I
don't think that you could render someone unconscious by its use. It
just hurts like merry Hell - as my Kung Fu Master once demonstrated to
me!!
______________________________________________________________________________
FROM : Adrian Waterworth. JANET : A.Wate...@uk.ac.newcastle
ARPA : A.Wate...@newcastle.ac.uk
PHONE : +44 91 222 6000 UUCP : ...!ukc!newcastle.ac.uk!A.Waterworth
POST : Computing Lab. University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. NE1 7RU.
Jim Scandale
>some of the novels and elsewhere that Spock's "nerve pinch" didn't
>really involve pinching a nerve but rather was a variant on the Vulcan
>mind-meld (and the famous Vulcan Deathgrip, demonstrated in "The
>Enterprise Incident" :-).
>
>The idea is that Spock (or any other Joe Vulcan) places his fingertips
>on a certain point, forms a connection between his own nervous system
>and that of his victim, and then does a selective shutdown on certain
>parts of the other guy's nervous system.
>
>As I say, none of this is canonical, but imho it makes a lot more
>sense than the idea that there's some secret handgrip known only to
>Vulcans...
I guess this won't do since I remember a show from TOS where Spock
was trying to teach the "nerve-pinch" to Kirk. And I don't think Spocks
character allowed for that much a sense of humor if it really were not
a physical pinch.