Non Sequitur nits
Timothy Bruening
Spoilers below for Voyager "Non Sequitur":
In this episode, Harry Kim suddenly finds himself in San Francisco. The
Stardate is 49011, just before DS9 "Way of the Warrior".
On his way to Starfleet Headquarters, Kim encounters a coffee shop owner
named Cosimo. Cosimo tells Kim that he has been coming to his shop since he
graduated from Starfleet Academy 8 months ago. However, Kim's service
record says that he graduated on Stardate 47918, which is 1,093 star dates
before this episode, and thus over one year ago.
While investigating the cause of his presence in San Francisco, Kim learns
that Paris was never on Voyager, and was released from rehabilitation on
Stardate 48702, just a few months after Voyager's disappearance on Stardate
48307.5. Kim visits Paris, who tells him that he agreed to go on the
Voyager mission, only to have his parole rescinded for a fight with Quark.
However, Paris' term in rehabilitation was only extended a few months. Why
such a short extension? If his rehabilitation term would have been up
within a few months after "Caretaker", why was Paris willing to risk his
life pursuing Maquis in return for just a few months off his sentence?
Kim then returns to San Francisco where he is questioned for breaking into
classified Starfleet files and talking to Paris (a Maquis criminal). His
questioners don't believe his story about coming from an alternate universe.
Don't they know about previous cases of visits to alternate universes
(beginning with "Mirror, Mirror")? To prove his veracity, I think that Kim
should have suggested a Vulcan Mind Meld or a Betazoid scan. Why wasn't
there a Betazoid present at Kim's interrogation?
A restricter device is placed around Kim's ankle. It looks like one from
the late 20th century. How is Kim supposed to take his pants off? Kim is
walking home when Cosimo reveals himself to be an alien and tells Kim that
his shuttle collided with a "time stream", thereby changing history. Cosimo
tells Kim how to get to another time stream to change history back. Cosimo
tells Kim that he has a great job and a woman who loves him. Kim replies
that Danny (who replaced Kim on Voyager) and Paris are worse off in this
alternate reality and that Kim belongs on Voyager. Why didn't Kim also tell
Cosimo about his current problems with Starfleet, and ask Cosimo to come
with him to Starfleet headquarters to back up Kim's alternate universe story?
Kim tries to take off the restricter device in his apartment, only to have
the device's alarm go off and security officers beam to just outside his
apartment within seconds. Why was the restricter alarm audible to Kim, and
why wasn't Kim simply beamed directly to jail? Why didn't the two security
officers materialize right on top of Kim?
Kim escapes from his apartment with help from Libby (his fiancee), and a
security officer gives chase. Why doesn't the security officer stun Kim
with his phaser or call for help from the bystanders, and why don't any of
the bystanders help the security officer capture Kim? Just after the
security officer knocks down Kim, Paris knocks out the security officer.
Paris uses a hand held site to site transporter device to beam himself and
Kim to Starfleet Headquarters and then to the runabout Yellowstone. How did
such a small device have enough power to accomplish the transportation?
Where did Paris get a portable transporter?
Kim and Paris steal the Yellowstone, and travel to the time stream. Kim
gets back to the correct universe after remembering just three of the
perimeters in the original accident. Also, the Yellowstone was undergoing a
warp core breach. The shuttle Kim was on at the time of the original
accident didn't seem to be undergoing a warp core breach when Voyager beamed
him off at the end of the episode. Wouldn't that difference in initial
conditions (warp core breach on Yellowstone vs just a hull breach on the
Voyager shuttle) be enough to prevent Kim from getting back to the correct
universe?
--
Timothy S. Bruening (tsbr...@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us)
Davis Community Network
Kyle Ashinhurst
Timothy Bruening wrote various nits about "Non Sequitur" (Voyager).
The biggest nit is this : why the hell doesn't Kim enjoy his good luck and stay put?
Kim's rationale is that he's "not supposed to be here" and that his
presence is unfair to the poor clod who replaced him on Voyager -- as well
as to Paris, who is now a drunken barfly.
So what? Why is this reality any less valid than the first one? Why
doesn't he stay on Earth and use this opportunity to tell Starfleet what
really happened to Voyager? He could tell the crew's families that their
loved ones are still alive and on their way home. Maybe Starfleet could
send out an expeditionary force to meet Voyager halfway.
And think about Kim's course of action in "Non Sequitur." He gets Paris
killed; he destroys a prototype Runabout blown up; and worst of all, he
gets HIMSELF killed, from the perspective of that alternate reality.
Think about it -- in that reality, Harry Kim died a traitor. His girlfriend
and family have to live with that. Why, I ask, is this better than the
"real" reality?
ernsign
but I think they do not concern themselves with whether one reality is
"better" than another reality. They just try to maintain reality, and
the timeline, as they know it.
Kim may even conclude that the reality which has him in San Francisco is
better, for everyone concerned, than the reality which has him in the
Delta quadrant. However, even if Kim came to that conclusion, even if
he allowed himself to come to such a conclusion, he would still feel
duty-bound to restore reality as HE knows it. I know. I know. Who's
to say that the S.F. reality isn't the real reality, and the Delta
quadrant reality is just an aberation. Well, we don't know. But we're
limited by time, money, and the need to maintain decent ratings.
Laurie Campbell
Kyle Ashinhurst wrote:
>
> The biggest nit is this : why the hell doesn't Kim enjoy his good luck and stay put?
>
> Kim's rationale is that he's "not supposed to be here" and that his
> presence is unfair to the poor clod who replaced him on Voyager -- as well
> as to Paris, who is now a drunken barfly.
>
> So what? Why is this reality any less valid than the first one? Why
> doesn't he stay on Earth and use this opportunity to tell Starfleet what
> really happened to Voyager? He could tell the crew's families that their
> loved ones are still alive and on their way home. Maybe Starfleet could
> send out an expeditionary force to meet Voyager halfway.
The key to understanding this episode is that it is not an "alternate
universe" but an "alternate reality". There was an accident which
shifted reality from "real" to another. It's like if you woke up
tomorrow and found out you were President of the U.S. or of NASA or
Jean-Luc Picard or an Olympic Gold Medalist. You'd just try to get back
to your own reality.
It's like the old fable of the party where everyone puts their problems
in a bag and everyone sees that each bag is so full of problems that
they just start searching for their own problems because they're
familiar to him. If not for the "accident" this reality would not
exist, so its not a case of choosing which reality you like best. One
is altered, damaged, tampered with.
> And think about Kim's course of action in "Non Sequitur." He gets Paris
> killed; he destroys a prototype Runabout blown up; and worst of all, he
> gets HIMSELF killed, from the perspective of that alternate reality.
>
> Think about it -- in that reality, Harry Kim died a traitor. His girlfriend
> and family have to live with that. Why, I ask, is this better than the
> "real" reality?
No they don't. After Kim was able to get back to the "real" reality,
the other reality no longer existed. Paris didn't die, he simply merged
with his former-reality self. However, I DO have a question about this:
While reality was altered, shouldn't Danny have appeared on Voyager and
Paris disappeared? Then when Kim flew the ship into the time stream
again, Danny would disappear, Paris would appear, and Kim would be on
the shuttle craft. If I understand the alternate reality as it played
in this episode, that should have been what happened.
Laurie
Joyce Harmon
In article <32AB5F...@philly.infi.net>, ka...@philly.infi.net says...
>
>Timothy Bruening wrote various nits about "Non Sequitur" (Voyager).
>
stay put?
>
>Kim's rationale is that he's "not supposed to be here" and that his
>presence is unfair to the poor clod who replaced him on Voyager -- as well
>as to Paris, who is now a drunken barfly.
>
>So what? Why is this reality any less valid than the first one? Why
>doesn't he stay on Earth and use this opportunity to tell Starfleet what
>really happened to Voyager? He could tell the crew's families that their
>loved ones are still alive and on their way home. Maybe Starfleet could
>send out an expeditionary force to meet Voyager halfway.
>
>killed; he destroys a prototype Runabout blown up; and worst of all, he
>gets HIMSELF killed, from the perspective of that alternate reality.
>
>Think about it -- in that reality, Harry Kim died a traitor. His girlfriend
>and family have to live with that. Why, I ask, is this better than the
>"real" reality?
In this episode, I thought that the alternate reality was "our" reality
from the show, and that once Harry got back on Voyager, that alternate
reality ceased to exist.
Joyce
Nelson Lu
In article <32AB5F...@philly.infi.net>,
Kyle Ashinhurst <ka...@philly.infi.net> wrote:
>Timothy Bruening wrote various nits about "Non Sequitur" (Voyager).
>
>The biggest nit is this : why the hell doesn't Kim enjoy his good luck and stay put?
>
>Kim's rationale is that he's "not supposed to be here" and that his
>presence is unfair to the poor clod who replaced him on Voyager -- as well
>as to Paris, who is now a drunken barfly.
There were many instances in ST where people wound up in alternate situations
that were beneficial to themselves that they did try to get out of to save
other people. This qualifies as one, I'd think.
>
>So what? Why is this reality any less valid than the first one? Why
>doesn't he stay on Earth and use this opportunity to tell Starfleet what
>really happened to Voyager? He could tell the crew's families that their
>loved ones are still alive and on their way home. Maybe Starfleet could
>send out an expeditionary force to meet Voyager halfway.
If Starfleet didn't believe his "alternate timeline" story, why do you think
they would believe his story about the fate of Voyager?
>And think about Kim's course of action in "Non Sequitur." He gets Paris
>killed; he destroys a prototype Runabout blown up; and worst of all, he
>gets HIMSELF killed, from the perspective of that alternate reality.
That alternate reality might no longer exist.
I Came To The Woods Because . . .
Laurie Campbell <robs...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>No they don't. After Kim was able to get back to the "real" reality,
>the other reality no longer existed. Paris didn't die, he simply merged
>with his former-reality self. However, I DO have a question about this:
>While reality was altered, shouldn't Danny have appeared on Voyager and
>Paris disappeared? Then when Kim flew the ship into the time stream
>again, Danny would disappear, Paris would appear, and Kim would be on
>the shuttle craft. If I understand the alternate reality as it played
>in this episode, that should have been what happened.
Perhaps, but then the "Voyager" crew would have no memory of this once
Kim returned, would they? Why does Kim remember what happened to him,
then? Who knows.
As for the alternate reality continuing to exist. I don't think so.
That'd be saying the Klingons defeated The Federation (Yesterday's
Enterprise). But that didn't happen. That reality ceased to exist.
Stormin'
Dennis Iannicca
Laurie Campbell (robs...@pacbell.net) wrote:
: The key to understanding this episode is that it is not an "alternate
: shifted reality from "real" to another. It's like if you woke up
: tomorrow and found out you were President of the U.S. or of NASA or
: Jean-Luc Picard or an Olympic Gold Medalist. You'd just try to get back
: to your own reality.
I would?? Speak for yourself... ;)
BTW: I'm almost positive that I WAS supposed to be part of the
first manned Mars mission that was to leave on April 6th, 1996 but the
mission never came about and I am not even in NASA! Please help me get
back to my reality! This timeline is damaged!
Like the guy said.. unless Harry is a total sod (which he is) he'd
say "f*ck off" to the crew of the doomed Voyager and just be happy that
he's home, on *his* Earth in *his* universe on his side of the galaxy.
Now.. I could see if he landed in some alternate universe where
*everything* he came back to is different.. (for example, the Imperial
commander of Earth is Frank Sinatra and everyone is walking around naked
due to an imperial order.) Now.. granted, Kim may be into that kind of
universe, but he'd probably want to get back to his universe. In this
case, he was in his own universe, just was reliving a moment back in time
with a few things that had changed causing a seperate timeline to be
created..
Anyway.. I'm not making any sense right now.. suffice it to say,
yes, I think anyone with half a brain would have just stayed put and
accepted their good fortune to be home.. something Voyager will never see
again. (well.. until the last episode.. at which time they'll be blown to
pieces by a Klingon battlecruiser for emerging from a wormhole into
Klingon space. ;) )
--
--------------------------
drs...@seka.nacs.net
Blinky lights are the essence of technology!
Caffeine underflow (brain dumped)
Dennis Iannicca
Nelson Lu (n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
: If Starfleet didn't believe his "alternate timeline" story, why do you think
: they would believe his story about the fate of Voyager?
I never did understand this part.. it's not like Starfleet crew
members have had a lack of experience at screwing up the timeline in the
past.. would it come as such a shock that this guy could *actually* be
from a different timeline? How many umpteen times have Kirk, Picard, and
been cast into alternate timelines?
Adam B. Wells
In article <58feld$3...@mark.ucdavis.edu>,
Timothy Bruening <tsbr...@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
I don't have a good answer to most of your questions, but one of them
seems to have a simple answer:
>Paris uses a hand held site to site transporter device to beam himself and
>Kim to Starfleet Headquarters and then to the runabout Yellowstone. How did
>such a small device have enough power to accomplish the transportation?
>Where did Paris get a portable transporter?
The device was not a transporter itself -- as we've seen in TNG and
Voyager, a transporter requires at least a cubic foot or so of
machinery both above and below the transportee; this is the
transporter pad and the ceiling above the transporter pad. In a
site-to-site transport, the transportee is first transported from his
initial site to the pattern buffers of the transporter, then moved
from there to the ending site. Site-to-site transports are
discouraged on board a ship because they use twice as much energy as a
transport that starts or ends on the transporter pad, since they are
actually two transports.
I took Paris' device to be an illicit control device for Earth's
public transporter system. This allowed him to effect a site-to-site
transport from anywhere without having to use a public transporter
station, where he might be seen and his transport would no doubt be
logged. His illicit control device may also eliminate or falsify the
log of his transport in the public transporter logs. Or, if
site-to-site transports are the norm on Earth (due to no need to
conserve energy like on a ship) and there aren't public transporter
stations, its only purpose may be to effect a transport without it
leaving a log.
Or, perhaps the device was a control not for a public transporter, but
for a secret Maquis transporter that doesn't tie into the public
network. Presumably such a device would be easy for a typical
engineer to build, or the Maquis could have stolen or purchased one
and smuggled it to Earth. Since maximum transporter range is 40000
km, one such transporter could reach anywhere on the planet (Earth's
diameter is about 11500 km), assuming one can beam through solid rock.
Perhaps the transporter beam could be bounced off of a satellite to
reach the other side of the planet? It probably wouldn't be able to
be used too many times, though, before the source of the illicit
transporter beams was detected and stormed by Starfleet security. So
this probably isn't what it was.
Or perhaps many citizens of Earth have such a device to beam
themselves about via the public transporter system, and Paris' was an
off-the-shelf model. He may have been counting on speed rather than
secrecy to ensure they didn't get caught. But if this was the case,
Paris wouldn't have had to explain to Kim (and the viewers) what the
device was. The way he said, "Site-to-site transporter!" implied that
such a device was uncommon, and that he expected Kim to be surprised
that he had one. So I count this explanation as the lowest
probability.
As to how Paris got the device ... perhaps he still had some Maquis
contacts, or kept the device from his Maquis days in case it came in
handy. It's certainly something a spy on Earth would find a use for.
Even if the ending location of the transporter beam can be detected
easily (as it was when they beamed into SFHQ), making it unusable for
sneaking around, it would still be a good holdout device to use for a
fast getaway when caught.
This question came up after the first airing of "Non Sequitur". The
idea of a illicit public transporter control appealed to me, so I
thought about some of the uses of such a device.
I hope this answered your question.
adam
Laurie Campbell
OK. Would Captain Kirk do that? Spock? Picard? I don't think so.
Any Star Trek character worth his salt would have done what Harry did.
Laurie
Charlene Vickers
In article <58h2ph$l...@tracy.nacs.net>, drs...@nacs.net (Dennis Iannicca) wrote:
>Nelson Lu (n...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
>: If Starfleet didn't believe his "alternate timeline" story, why do you think
>: they would believe his story about the fate of Voyager?
>
> I never did understand this part.. it's not like Starfleet crew
>members have had a lack of experience at screwing up the timeline in the
>past.. would it come as such a shock that this guy could *actually* be
>from a different timeline? How many umpteen times have Kirk, Picard, and
>been cast into alternate timelines?
>
My question: why didn't Kim, after he knew what was happening, immediately
transport to Starfleet headquarters and immediately, without one second's
delay, explain in the smallest detail what had happened to the most senior
member of Starfleet he could find at the time in the presence of a doctor who
could test his mental health and a Betazoid who could sense his veracity? (I
know, because the plot wouldn't have worked. But it would have been the
correct thing to do.)
Charlene Vickers cvic...@internorth.com
Yellowknife, NWT, Canada
and Watson the typing dog (wer;l h24q)
It is no wonder misery surrounds us; count the cheapskates.
Yoda
In article <32AB65...@pacbell.net>, ernsign <ern...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> Kyle Ashinhurst wrote:
> >
> > Timothy Bruening wrote various nits about "Non Sequitur" (Voyager).
> >
> > The biggest nit is this : why the hell doesn't Kim enjoy his good luck
and stay put?
> >
> > Kim's rationale is that he's "not supposed to be here" and that his
> > presence is unfair to the poor clod who replaced him on Voyager -- as well
> > as to Paris, who is now a drunken barfly.
> >
> > So what? Why is this reality any less valid than the first one? Why
> > doesn't he stay on Earth and use this opportunity to tell Starfleet what
> > really happened to Voyager? He could tell the crew's families that their
> > loved ones are still alive and on their way home. Maybe Starfleet could
> > send out an expeditionary force to meet Voyager halfway.
> >
> > And think about Kim's course of action in "Non Sequitur." He gets Paris
> > killed; he destroys a prototype Runabout blown up; and worst of all, he
> > gets HIMSELF killed, from the perspective of that alternate reality.
> >
> > Think about it -- in that reality, Harry Kim died a traitor. His girlfriend
> > and family have to live with that. Why, I ask, is this better than the
> > "real" reality?Not to suggest that I wholeheartledly endorse the
Federation philosophy,
> but I think they do not concern themselves with whether one reality is
> "better" than another reality. They just try to maintain reality, and
> the timeline, as they know it.
> Kim may even conclude that the reality which has him in San Francisco is
> better, for everyone concerned, than the reality which has him in the
> Delta quadrant. However, even if Kim came to that conclusion, even if
> he allowed himself to come to such a conclusion, he would still feel
> duty-bound to restore reality as HE knows it. I know. I know. Who's
> to say that the S.F. reality isn't the real reality, and the Delta
> quadrant reality is just an aberation. Well, we don't know. But we're
> limited by time, money, and the need to maintain decent ratings.
As well kim is looking at his computer log and it says he is a senior Lt.
and he obviuosly is an ensign
Tim Bruening
>
> Kim escapes from his apartment with help from Libby (his fiancee), and a
> security officer gives chase. Why doesn't the security officer stun Kim
> with his phaser or call for help from the bystanders, and why don't any of
> the bystanders help the security officer capture Kim? Just after the
> security officer knocks down Kim, Paris knocks out the security officer.
> Paris uses a hand held site to site transporter device to beam himself and
> Kim to Starfleet Headquarters and then to the runabout Yellowstone. How did
> such a small device have enough power to accomplish the transportation?
> Where did Paris get a portable transporter?
>
tsbr...@gmail.com
> Laurie Campbell (robs...@pacbell.net) wrote:
> : The key to understanding this episode is that it is not an "alternate
> : universe" but an "alternate reality". There was an accident which
> : shifted reality from "real" to another. It's like if you woke up
> : tomorrow and found out you were President of the U.S. or of NASA or
> : Jean-Luc Picard or an Olympic Gold Medalist. You'd just try to get back
> : to your own reality.
>
> I would?? Speak for yourself... ;)
> BTW: I'm almost positive that I WAS supposed to be part of the
> first manned Mars mission that was to leave on April 6th, 1996 but the
> mission never came about and I am not even in NASA! Please help me get
> back to my reality! This timeline is damaged!