I don’t get the impression that the Union-Krill conflict has been protracted. Mercer could very well be the first officer captured. But your point is nonetheless a valid one.
Mercer could very well be the first officer captured.
The first question needs to be:
What do these codes do?
If they allow intruders to hijack the individual ship in question, fine. That's essentially just a computer version of old skool boarding action. (It does beg the question why the Captain does away missions, but never mind)
Remember, we're talking about "give us the codes". We're not talking about breaking the codes, or hacking the network. Essentially, we're talking about intruders that play by the rules, as set up by the defending side. And it simply doesn't work like that.
Absolutely. I was thinking about the general case.In this case, he wasn't on an away mission. He was on leave, in an area that, to his knowledge, did not have the enemy in it.
Sure - but then everything about criticizing a show falls apart. The dangers of generalizing.Yes, well, FTL travel "doesn't work like that" either, and you don't see folks up in arms about it.
Yes. I alluded earlier to the "captain on away missions". Unlike "the codes" that is a necessary part of a show with this structure, and not worth getting riled up by.Folks can be pretty arbitrary about what they decide to accept and what they won't.
Absolutely true. Doesn't change that "give me the codes" doesn't work, though.In the real world, though, the easiest way to get access to a system is often still the "human engineering hack" rather than the technical one.
Sure - but then everything about criticizing a show falls apart. The dangers of generalizing.
Absolutely true. Doesn't change that "give me the codes" doesn't work, though.
Especially for a captain on shore leave. Not only would a spacefaring civilization never have one-factor authentication, the acting captain would have his own codes.
No, change the plot so that the Krill plan was to replace Captain Mercer with a Krill changed to look like McFarlane and infiltrate not only the ship, but some planned high-level conference with actual sensitive data, and "the codes" start to make sense - since they're now just a small insignificant part (like stealing a bunch of keys, or an ID-card) of a much more ambitious scheme rather than the be-all and end-all of the dastardly plot.
Nah, I get the show's genre just right. And there is nothing about "the codes" that is necessary for either the episode or the genre. It's just a lazy worn-out trope.We dont' do that, because this is an episodic morality play show, not a strongly-arced techno-thriller show. Get with the genre, man! Yes, a show will disappoint you, if you criticize on the basis of not being something it never claimed to be!
Nah, I get the show's genre just right.
And there is nothing about "the codes" that is necessary for either the episode or the genre. It's just a lazy worn-out trope.
Why are you trying to make this about me, and my faculties of comprehension?But if you are hung up on that, you don't really get the genre.