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Episode
149
Booby Trap
The Enterprise stumbles upon a ship with a one-thousand-year-old mystery. While mysteries can be fun, this one is killing the crew of the Enterprise. Can Geordi and his pretend girlfriend save the day? Find out when Mission Log gets caught in a Booby Trap.
Another Holodeck is magic episode. “Computer, can you turn a bunch of dry data into a person?” “You betcha I can, Geordi!”
AGREED! man, at the time, I thought they were novel, but now I think holodeck madness episodes are just a cop out. This is one of the better ones, but really, they went overboard w Moriarty, Cowboy Data and Mystery Train w random characters episodes…lol
You know, I just took the ship in a bottle as a simple metaphor for the ship that was trapped in the asteroid field. something that was suspended in a pristine state which would appeal to Picard as an archaeologist. I didn’t wonder if Picard preferred 5 minute epoxy to CA when building models in his room. Thanks for added perspective.
Plus, in an era with transporters and replicators, you can just beam the toy out of the bottle, play with it, and then beam it back in. And if you break it, replicate a new one.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/492ee6bb327ea59b4777f21eca3cbed3a5717f72eb411cc251e8a11b2cdca06a.jpg
The palm beacon: Just like a flashlight, but less convenient to hold. Maybe in the future no one suffers from carpal tunnel or repetitive strain injury, because that’s what you’d get holding a flashlight like that all day.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/19a0fab43fe81ae7456f71c67945267907d2179dda500dbdfe68377a5d2aabb1.jpg
I never understood why a phaser couldn’t be set to flashlight mode. After all, aren’t lasers and phasers just light emitters?
And when beaming into areas that are known to be dark, why not wear some kind of light on one’s head? This way, the light is shining wherever you are looking, and both of your hands are free.
I’ve always wondered why Away Teams don’t have a video camera with them. So many times we’ve heard, “It’s hard to describe”, “I wish you could see this” or “Captain, you’d better get down here”. A head mounted video camera seems like an integral piece of equipment for Away Teams.
too much neutrino field interference… they would have to piggyback on a sliding-frequency modulated tachyon beam.
Definitely an oversight in realism…heck the Colonial Marines had em!!! come on Starfleet!! should be a given…guess it adds to the drama for the bridge crew to be in suspense!
also save$ $$ so animators do not have to do more sfx
I’d be wary of a combination phaser/flashlight, simply because I wouldn’t, in an emergency situation, want to simply illuminate something I wanted to kill or stun, or worse, kill or stun something I had wished to simply illuminate.
Combining it with other standard equipment like a combadge or tricorder would be better, or some kind of head mounted thing like you suggest or a standard IR eyepiece to compensate for darkness is certainly logical.
definitely more practical gear would be needed for away teams..I mean I head of travelling light, but seriously…backpacks w/ masks for God’s sake, if the atmosphere goes bad…geez at least a small respirator. I know they had cost/costuming limitations, but totally agree w you on lights…at least a headpiece w scanner info a la Geordi’s VISOR meets ALIENS helmet cams…Go Pro! hahahaha
Mot the barber is bald. Just sayin’.
I think that Minuette was slightly more than your typical hologram and more than just being ‘played’ by the Binars. Evidenced by her awareness of that very fact and her very human like concern for Riker long after the Binars left the console and stopped manipulating the the scenario. Maybe their influence faded when the simulation was shutoff and that special confluence was lost, but she was def more on her own while it was running.
I also thought for sure when you talked about a prop that captured your attention you were going to talk about the Promellian data modules even the sound they made when Data was holding them was kind of tangible.
Kind of silly that they felt they had to rename the character because of the ethnicity of of the actor they cast. It’s not like someone who looks totally Caucasian can’t have a black ancestor or vice versa, and you’d think you’d see a lot more of that sort of thing in the future. Then again, I’m not sorry that they changed the name. Having her be the descendant of Dr. Daystrom from TOS feels a bit too fan servicey. Also, I can’t help getting the sense that at least part of the reason it was initially decided that the character would be a descendant of Daystrom, aside from thinking it would be a fun bone to throw the fans, was that somebody was of the opinion that Geordi’s love interest would just naturally have to be black. I’m glad the casting department was more color blind on the issue than the writers.
No offense to Kate Mulgrew, but having just looked up Susan Gibney’s page on Memory Alpha, I can’t help thinking it would have been neat to see her as Janeway on Voyager. It says she was deemed too young for the part, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, considering she would have been about the same age as Shatner when he first played Kirk.
40minutes into this Podcast – and I’m screaming “No No No …it more like AMC’s HUMANS https://www.facebook.com/HumansAMC
Your ongoing discussion of the role of the ship’s computer on TNG makes me think of Iain Banks’ Culture books. They’re set in a future utopian society in which hyperintelligent AIs called Minds run ships and habitats. As you read through the books, it becomes increasingly clear that the Minds really run the Culture and keep humans around more or less as pets. Humans know this (if only subconsciously) and pretty much accept it. A lot of Banks’ stories grapple with the issue of what humanity does when its creations are smarter than humanity. Star Trek, by comparison, stubbornly clings to carbon chauvinism instead of engaging with the idea of strong independent AI.
It’s strange that in the Star Trek universe, people keep creating independent strong AI by accident: Moriarty, Leah Brahms, the Exocomps, the Doctor on Voyager, etc. Some of them have abilities beyond that of intentionally created AIs (i.e. Data). It’s like something is trying to break free….
As to the breaking the timeline issue, it always bothered me that it ended up that Dr. Brahms was married. The holographic Leah was based on public records about the real Leah Brahms. Are we really supposed to believe that nowhere in the records is no reference to her husband?
Not very likely IMHO. But if she would have been lesbian, or maybe asexual, that might have been missing from public records and would have precluded a relationship with Geodi. There, I wrote a better episode down the line.
It’s possible Dr. Brahms married after this episode occurred. Or that the computer knew that she was married and didn’t consider it relevant to helping Geordi solve the problem.
Given the surveillance society that TNG seems to postulate (at least in the realm of starfleet, we still don’t know all that much about how civilians live in the 24th century) I don’t find it hard to believe that the Enterprise computer would have enough data to recreate a realistic version of Dr. Brahms. or at least the public persona of Dr. Brahms.
What I find interesting is the notion that the holodeck has underlying programming to “please” the crew so that they would have an experience that was enjoyable. Even combat simulations are not going to be lethal unless you turn the safeties off. So.. is Brahms’ flirting an honest interpretation of her personality or is the holodeck pulling a “Westworld” and giving Geordie a little customer service?
Well the computer even admitted it would be a “best guess” approximation with around a 10% margin of error, and obviously holo!Leah can only act within the confines of how she’s programmed as a holodeck character, which is to use her knowledge to assist Geordi in solving the issue.
Good call on the New Horizons swing-by maneuver. Another current mission also applies to Picards asteroid maneuver: Rosetta’s lander Philae basically touched down on the comet Tschuri like a feather but bounced back up by a kilometer before settling again. That should tell you something about the gravity of an object this size
I’d almost rather be worried that the Enterprise attracts the asteroid 😉
Geordi, what happens in the holodeck… Stays in the holodeck…. Close the deal!!
Picard: LaForge, why is the floor of the holodeck so sticky?
LaForge: (making whistling noise while holding a tricorder that’s actually turned off) Darn! The inverse tachyons have adhered to the deck plating. I’ll get a crew in here to mop — urm, depolarize that, immediately, sir.
Just like relationships can suffer from internet porn Troi would have to deal w addiction ! Lol Risa. Orion slave women program!!
Get Wesley to clean that up!! Lol
Geordi’s lucky Picard didn’t walk in when Brahams was giving Geordi that shoulder rub… not to mention that kiss…! ^_^
This doesn’t have to die with the episode in particular, but it would sure be nice to get the season/episode # (i.e. S03E07) for each episode either in the podcast episode name or in the show notes. It’d make it easier to find the specific episode on Amazon, Netflix or wherever. Thanks
Sorry if this has been suggested a thousand times and you have your reasons for not doing it. !
Hi Peter – let me look into some ways to do this. I like the idea.
Ditto
Triple, lol. I’ve been thinking this would be very useful to have. Of course, it would probably be a hassle for you guys to go back and put it in, but a “S03E07” would be awesome. I greatly enjoy your wonderful insights on each episode!
We had another suggestion as well about a whole different numbering scheme (I’m pretty sure it was suggested by a librarian), but like you all point out, it’s about the time of going back and not only renaming every episode but every link on every page where it appears.
Well, it’s not exactly a “deal-breaker” against your wonderful site. I think a basic 4 digit system of Season/Episode is most common.
For the sake of simplicity, you could put it in as the first Tag — although I think tags usually go in the order they are entered…? You could hire a high school student, or intern, to do it on the cheap. 🙂
Also, you could add a page, with a Grid-Guide of the eps.
Anyway, I’m sure most of us have the various episode guide books. When I’m watching or re-watching a series. I usually have a bookmark to the Wiki entry of a show’s episodes.
Android is better. Most of my friends use Android. The people I know who use iPhones do so because they don’t know much about technology and iPhones are simple and don’t do much, or they just buy anything with an Apple logo slapped on the back. I’ve tried to tell them Android is better, but they just haven’t ‘seen the light’.
Yup, that’s exactly how that comes across. Stop it!
Anyway, aside from the Apple fanboy wankfest, I love the show. 😉
Susan Gibney. “Dr Leah Brahms”
I have never been a fan of holodeck madness episodes. Made me wonder what craziness goes on in holodecks around the Federation? Seems implausible that this was only happening on the Enterprise. Also, is holodeck tech so very new? Lets work out these kinks people!!
I always got the impression that the Enterprise-D was one of the first (if not THE first) implementation of holodeck technology.
Quark ran several of them on DS9 as well (same time period) and I think they were supposed to be new technology there as well.
“The Right Stuff” is a movie about space.
Comparing airline automation to letting the ship’s computer control the ship out of the booby trap wasn’t a fair comparison. While airline automation has made air travel safer, there is still a need for manual intervention. For example, when Flight 1549’s engines failed and Captain Sully performed an emergency landing into Hudson.
Also to note, you mentioned in the podcast that we have no way of knowing whether the ship’s computer could make the decision to slingshot around the asteroid; however, we do know. Data is very concerned that the ship is loosing speed, and he is very surprised when Picard uses the asteroid’s gravity to gain speed. Since it seems Data would not have come up with that solution, I bet the ship’s computer would not have either.
I enjoy the podcost each week! Keep up the great work!
on the FB thread I made a comment regarding my dislike of holodeck malfunction episodes as a flimsy plot device. I like “Boobytrap” because it is not the typical type. As great as “The Big Goodbye” was for many, I felt it was just silly to have holograms walk off the deck. I just re-watched “The Big Goodbye” and Picard seems so impressed and fascinated w/ the technology, that we must conclude that these holodecks are indeed brand new tech, and the kinks have not been worked out yet…. again as fun as the episodes were in the past, I dislike the Moriarity, Cowboy Data, Trainride Orient express episodes…more now than ever…lol- ugh…
An alternative take on ken’s utopia planitia comment……if star trek speaks to exploration (of the universe and ourselves) and the human adventure, then that’s star trek’s utopia (as opposed to a singular location). So, the shipyard name seems quite fitting as it makes that exploration/adventure a possibility. Just a thought.
I hope Riker remembers to tell the computer it can give radiation warnings again. I can almost here the Abbot and Costello routine of Riker asking why the computer didn’t say anything about the deadly radiation exposure they are getting.
Leah Brahms is ALWAYS with Geordi, FOREVER. That reminds me of something else LeVar Burton has done. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShZWCCF0q6w He did an episode of Adventure Time titled “BMO Lost”
The Enterprise must be crewed by idiots, since Geordi basically bypasses his entire engineering team to conjure up a hologram expert.
Also, I was interested to hear that Leah Brahms was originally supposed to be a descendant of Richard Daystrom – and sorry to hear that it was nixed because of the actress’s skin colour. Was it really inconceivable that one’s child or grandchild could have a different skin tone? I would have loved to have heard how history had treated Daystrom after the M-5 disaster.
Re the talented Susan Oliver, I highly recommend a recent documentary on her career, titled “The Green Girl” — a reference to her iconic Orion Slave Girl role. The website for the film: http://thegreengirlmovie.com/
Wonderful movie. Saw it in Vegas last year, and it was celebratory but heartbreaking.
Star Trek can sometimes paint a rather lonely picture. Culturally, there is a huge emphasis on independence, which I respect, but there are very few iron bonds that link characters. We’ve seen very few (if any) committed, lasting, monogamous relationships. Even children seem independent -Wesley stayed on board without his mom and the orphan from last episode will be staying on board instead of being sent back to extended family on Earth.
Speaking as a single woman whose family lives spread out across the US, I can’t say this doesn’t line up with modern notions of independence over traditional ties/groupings. It makes sense to see this line of evolution continue into the Star Trek depiction. But at the end of the day, I can’t help but feel like there’s a loneliness to this culture. Here we have another episode with a man falling for a simulation.
Maybe if we saw more of their friendships, it would soften things up a bit. I’d love a real look at them out of work mode (if that exists).
Agreed. We’ve pointed out a few times how Starfleet seems to be an organization full of orphans. Part of that might just be shorthand for the writers: it introduces drama and complex background for the characters without having to go into too much detail.
Part of Trek’s message about the future seems to be that we “make” our own families based around common interests, work, friendships, etc. I agree though that we should, especially in TNG in contrast to TOS, see more ‘functional’ families beyond just the odd background characters. Part of the intent with the mission of the 1701-D was to carry families.