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Post by Christina on Feb 3, 2002 6:51:33 GMT -5
This is where it begins. Our new adventure into the unknown.
Well, actually, that stardate is Janeway's log entry about trying to find Kim and Torres on the planet that the sporocystian lifeform is currently sending energy pulses to. But I digress slightly.
Caretaker is my favorite series pilot. It introduces you to the principal characters without dwelling too long on each.
It has pace and content and a jolly good storyline.
The premise of throwing the 'policeman' and the 'criminal' into the same boat and forcing them to get along on their way back home has a lot more potential for character than the Ubermensch TNG lot.
Controversially though - Voyager isn't there entirely by enemy action. Janeway took a decision that stranded them there. And Chakotay backed that decision by sacrificing his ship in the battle.
And Voyager after the destruction of the array is less than completely spaceworthy. They're not equipped for a 75 year trip (heck, most of them aren't likely to live that long!) And they're living on emergency rations until the power supply gets completely fixed.
There's a lot for us to talk about. Set a course, Mr Paris!
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Post by Holodoc on Feb 3, 2002 9:08:23 GMT -5
This is where it begins. Our new adventure into the unknown. Well, actually, that stardate is Janeway's log entry about trying to find Kim and Torres on the planet that the sporocystian lifeform is currently sending energy pulses to. But I digress slightly. Slightly. Did it take that long for them? Let's see: 48308 plus 3 days makes 48311... They were running on impulse power at the time, weren't they? That would explain their taking another four days to get to Ocampa. It certainly made for one of the most suspenseful pilot episodes, didn't it. Except for the Kazon.  They never convinced me that they were a viable adversary. Anyone running around with bad hair and beating up little girls should never have been even an itch to a Federation starship as far as I'm concerned. But then that's just me. It nicely set up the characters right off, which is important since Voyager's was character heavy. Instead of the mission of the week, the point was to see what was going to happen to these people; we had to feel for them for the series to work. I just think they fell flat with Chakotay. They put an obligatory cultural minority into it with nary a stitch of research, threw some stereotypical mythology in for the climactic rescue scene, then forgot about him. Other than the few snippets during season one, season two's establishing episode Tattoo suddenly had him an ancestor of the Central American rain forests instead of that of the native North Americans. Jungles or dream catchers? Couldn't have it both ways and expect to avoid insult. But then that's just me. Have I gotten ahead of myself? |
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Post by Christina on Feb 3, 2002 9:15:47 GMT -5
Yes you have.
I could argue that all Native Americans decend from the same original stock, and are therefore cousins. Anyhoo, the ones who migrated off world could easily have taken a pick'n'mix of people with varying specific beliefs but the same overall attitude to the land and the spirits, and ended up blending them together over the generations.
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Post by Holodoc on Feb 3, 2002 9:31:37 GMT -5
In Tattoo, there is every bit of indication that Chakotay was descended from the ancestors of the rain forest tribe (Ancient Rubber Tree People). There are several evolutionary cultures between point A and B, most notably the assorted Native North American tribes, the Mayan, and the Aztec. There is a slight lap-dissolve from one geographical group to the next, but putting - say - the Hopi next to a Nicaraguan jungle tribe makes for not only a different culture and language, but a different race as well. Their practices are like night and day. What they wear is something else (actually, less likely to wear anything in the Ecuatorial regions except maybe some adornment or paint).
No spirit guides the way Chakotay described it, no medicine bundle. There was emphasis that the tribal colony Chakotay grew up in had rejected modern conveniences, almost like the Amish, and his father knew the Azteckish (sp?) sounding language he spoke to the ancestral chief in the flashback.
Have you seen Tattoo yet?
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Post by Peter_Pevensie on Feb 3, 2002 16:49:04 GMT -5
As much as I enjoy the Chakotay character (you know this is true, Christina), I have to agree with the Doc here. The writers really should have done some more homework, and Tatoo should never have made it past the pitching stage without some serious rewriting. The mixing of a native North American mythos with native Amazonian damaged the character's credibility. But we digress...  I agree that Caretaker is an excellent pilot. At the risk of being too brief, I think it does a nearly perfect job of setting up the salient points of the series for the seven-year run that's ahead of it. The episode left me with a sense of excitement and expectation like no other pilot has ever done. I would also agree that the Kazon were a bit below the standard of the premise. I found them almost comic in their primitiveness. What if it had been the Viidians, or the Hirogen that the crew(s) encountered on the Ocampan surface? (I was going to add more, but I think that's probably enough for now.  ) <Edit: Fixed UBB code error. Gimme a break, I'm jetlagged.> |
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Post by Christina on Feb 5, 2002 15:28:46 GMT -5
Hmm yes, the Vidiians weren't all that far away, were they? After the Caretaker's passing, I wonder if they came looking? ( p.s. and the Tattoo was based on a Maori design......... |
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Post by Peter_Pevensie on Feb 5, 2002 17:48:24 GMT -5
( p.s. and the Tattoo was based on a Maori design......... Nooooooo!     I don't think Thor Hyerdahl made it all the way to NZ, did he? ;D |
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Post by Holodoc on Feb 5, 2002 18:24:00 GMT -5
( p.s. and the Tattoo was based on a Maori design......... As if things weren't bad enough. Tom should have worn the tattoo. Janeway picked him up in New Zealand for the mission. |
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Post by Christina on Feb 7, 2002 15:59:45 GMT -5
I think they were going for generic aboriginal............ Besides, the Earth of Trek is not this planet. Unless I wasn't paying close attention, we didn't have the eugenics wars and send Khan and his cronies off in a sleeper ship a few years ago! It's all in a different quantum reality! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. |
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Post by Peter_Pevensie on Feb 11, 2002 7:21:49 GMT -5
I think they were going for generic aboriginal... Given the medicine bundle and other accessories, I always suspected Anasazi, or possibly Navaho. |
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Post by Christina on Mar 9, 2002 8:53:04 GMT -5
Okay, I'm dragging this one back.
Given your associations with the Military, Peter, do you or anyone you are in contact with know what language they used in Tattoo? Was that Navaho or Mumbo-Jumbo.
I only ask because I know the US used Navaho for codes in WW2.
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Post by Holodoc on Mar 9, 2002 9:33:21 GMT -5
Spelled Navajo.
I know you didn't ask me, but I've been exposed to a LOT of languages in my time, and it sounded like either one of the Native American dialects or something resembling Aztec.
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Post by Peter_Pevensie on Mar 9, 2002 9:39:34 GMT -5
Good question, Christina. I don't know. I've never had the opportunity to hear the Navajo language spoken as far as I know. I wonder if a back issue of one of the Star Trek magazines might have a story on this episode that could answer the question...
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Post by Holodoc on Mar 9, 2002 9:57:22 GMT -5
Good question, Christina. I don't know. I've never had the opportunity to hear the Navajo language spoken as far as I know. I wonder if a back issue of one of the Star Trek magazines might have a story on this episode that could answer the question... I think given the circumstances, they probably avoided that direction of inquiry. I know I would. |
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Post by Christina on Mar 9, 2002 10:06:16 GMT -5
Sorry, my mistake, I've corrected my file name now. I found the US Navy Department file of codewords some time ago and took a copy of it for interest. It gives the words phonetically and they seem to have a similar rhythm to them. |
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