Arktis Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Just how many overused plot devices are there in the span of the Star Trek shows? For example; when there is some kind of tension or trouble between characters, they become trapped together in one or a combination of the following situations: -Isolated and forced to work together during a hostile situation -Stuck together in a shuttlecraft -Stuck together on an alien world The amount of times this occurs is mind boggling. It happens so often that I figure it's one of the laws of the star trek universe. Cochrane's 1st law of interstellar space travel: If you don't like someone, you're inevitably going to get stuck alone with them for a long time. Can anyone else think of any such overused plot devices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 there are tons my favorites are: opening with the captains log saying they gotta go to some diplomatic meeting or delegation, but on the way the ship encounters a wormhole/nebula/meteor/cloud that usually contains some new form of life usually made of energy or a variation there of. they are going somewhere to rescue some people or someone and when they get there among those or with those is someone that is rooted amongst one of the crew's past, a unspoken brother, or an ex wife or someone that knew someones pareents. it always leads to tension and uneasyness with the person they know on the crew and is usually resolved by episodes end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annika Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 http://people.cornell.edu/pages/bs16/Star_Trek/things_that_never_happen.txt ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 http://people.cornell.edu/pages/bs16/Star_Trek/things_that_never_happen.txt ;) 13. A major Starfleet emergency breaks out near the Enterprise' date=' but fortunately some other ships in the area are able to deal with it to everyone's satisfaction. [/quote'] I always wondered the reverse of that. I mean is every other ship in the fleet unable to handle stuff UNTIL the Enterprise shows up and prances about? I know the shows revolved around the ship in question but ya know it looks bad when every other ship isn't up to snuff compared to that one ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFMF Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I thought Odo and Quark being trapped on that planet was a good episode - Ascent i think it was called or somthing like that - it was in Season 5 of DS9. It's a classic example of the fued that goes on between Odo and Quark and it's funny at the end where there in sickbay and they admit they don't like each other and just start laughing....or somthing like that... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Plot devices? Time travel for some reason. Holodeck malfunction. The ever popular magical unknown energy field. Seemingly inexplicable ship malfunction. Alien utopia with dark undercurrents. Something Janeway has to screw with. Covers it I think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annika Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 And we all love it anyway :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arktis Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 http://people.cornell.edu/pages/bs16/Star_Trek/things_that_never_happen.txt Add another to the list: 21.) The crew time travels to the past and they don't have to save the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiedna Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 i dont know if transporter malfunctions are a plot device, but the alternate "goatee" dimension has been usd a few times, and ds9 used the transporter to time travel a couple of times. theres the "captain gets wisked off the bridge to fight an alien" and "parts of the crew get wisked off to fight another group of whatevers" ... but those are usually caused by powerfull aliens or whatnot so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombiedna Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 -Isolated and forced to work together during a hostile situation -Stuck together in a shuttlecraft -Stuck together on an alien world the whole voyager escapade qualifies as this, but did any "one on one" instances occur? i cant remember... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcroft Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 One to one instances?? Like Janeway and Chakotay contracting an incurable virus they are left on a planet which shields them from its effects (ST:VOY S2 - Resolution) or Belanna and Paris drifting in space in EV suits? (ST:VOY S4 Day of Honour) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arktis Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Or Tuvok getting trapped on a planet with Neelix and a couple aliens, or Tuvok and Neelix literally being fused together. Or Be'lanna and Tom getting trapped in an underground cave during her pon-far. I'm sure there are more, I seem to recall this kind of thing happening a lot in Voyager. Then of course there's the Maqui and Starfleet crews being stuck together to begin with. This kind of stuff is used to get characters closer, and is usually done with ones that don't get along or have some hidden feeling about one another. It's really hard not to notice it after about the 10th time or so. It happens a lot throughout DS9 as well, and fairly often in TNG too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now