Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 3 Viewing (Spoilers)

[Ryujin]

Yes, as a Trek fan from way back, I and my friends have often pointed to uses of the transporter (or other technologies) in some episodes being solutions to problems in other episodes. We became resigned to seeing these inconsistencies and try to look beyond them (but it doesn't mean we don't still see them! ).

I'm guessing that it's one of the reasons that Seth MacFarlane only has shuttles in his Federation analogue and only (I think) one highly advanced alien society displayed transporter-like tech.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The transporter can solve virtually all of their problems, which is one thing you need to overlook if you want to enjoy the stories. For example why wouldn't they just run anyone infected through the transporter, using earlier DNA samples as a filter, to remove the Gorn embryos? Similar stuff has worked in other episodes.

I mean, and Christ this episode using the transporter to isolate this thing kind of opened up the possibility of using the transporters against anyone doing anything malign on the ship. Boarding party? Transporter buffer. Monster loose on the cargo deck? Transporter buffer? Captain possessed by an alien entity? Transporter buffer.

I think it's a solvable problem and some TNG/VOY stuff did address this by implying the transporter buffer was in some way very limited. Here perhaps what Scotty did was only possible (despite it being like two keypresses) because he prepared to do it beforehand, or because the confinement device was in exactly the right place at the right time, so I can let it go because they did the smart thing and didn't explain exactly why that was possible here (often in SF, written or in movies/TV it's better to remain silent about how exactly something works and let your audience imagine why a solution might be limited than to explain in detail and open up a million plot holes/examples of how you don't understand basic science - I'm looking at you Rebecca Chambers!).

Also at least Scotty specifically did it, who TNG had established a true master of messing the transporter buffers (c.f. the TNG episode "Relics").

(PS really like this Scotty actor - he's perfect - better than the original (imho) and incomparably superior to Simon Pegg, who god love him, might as well have been a mildly talented Trek cosplayer they picked up at a random SF con in his portrayal of Scotty.)

I'm guessing that it's one of the reasons that Seth MacFarlane only has shuttles in his Federation analogue and only (I think) one highly advanced alien society displayed transporter-like tech.

Whilst he surprisingly doesn't seem to have commented on it, yeah I'm pretty certain that's the main reason, because he is a serious Trek head (i.e. knows a lot of weird lore, thinks about the setting in his spare time, etc.) in the way RTD is a serious Doctor Who head (and to a lesser extent the other two showrunners of nuWho). It makes drama a huge amount easier to create when you don't have transporters, and avoids you having to incredibly carefully delimit what transporters can do. It's commonly claimed the only reason TOS had transporters was because it was a lot easier for the budget than showing shuttles taking off/landing/being in place on the planet and so on (something which is trivial next to other SFX costs today).

 

[Ryujin]

I mean, and Christ this episode using the transporter to isolate this thing kind of opened up the possibility of using the transporters against anyone doing anything malign on the ship. Boarding party? Transporter buffer. Monster loose on the cargo deck? Transporter buffer? Captain possessed by an alien entity? Transporter buffer.

I think it's a solvable problem and some TNG/VOY stuff did address this by implying the transporter buffer was in some way very limited. Here perhaps what Scotty did was only possible (despite it being like two keypresses) because he prepared to do it beforehand, or because the confinement device was in exactly the right place at the right time, so I can let it go because they did the smart thing and didn't explain exactly why that was possible here (often in SF, written or in movies/TV it's better to remain silent about how exactly something works and let your audience imagine why a solution might be limited than to explain in detail and open up a million plot holes/examples of how you don't understand basic science - I'm looking at you Rebecca Chambers!).

Also at least Scotty specifically did it, who TNG had established a true master of messing the transporter buffers (c.f. the TNG episode "Relics").

They have used the transporter buffer to suspend transport, for a short time, in order to do things like deactivate the weapons of incoming people. The idea of a long term suspension was a really bad idea. They could have mitigated it somewhat by perhaps saying that it would require an extraordinary amount of computer power to "maintain pattern cohesion", or some other sciencey sounding guff. That would explain why Scotty could do it; he had an entire ship's computer to play with.

(PS really like this Scotty actor - he's perfect - better than the original (imho) and incomparably superior to Simon Pegg, who god love him, might as well have been a mildly talented Trek cosplayer they picked up at a random SF con in his portrayal of Scotty.)

No one is going to beat Doohan, for me

Whilst he surprisingly doesn't seem to have commented on it, yeah I'm pretty certain that's the main reason, because he is a serious Trek head (i.e. knows a lot of weird lore, thinks about the setting in his spare time, etc.) in the way RTD is a serious Doctor Who head (and to a lesser extent the other two showrunners of nuWho). It makes drama a huge amount easier to create when you don't have transporters, and avoids you having to incredibly carefully delimit what transporters can do. It's commonly claimed the only reason TOS had transporters was because it was a lot easier for the budget than showing shuttles taking off/landing/being in place on the planet and so on (something which is trivial next to other SFX costs today).

I got around it regarding a ancient device, in my Space Opera campaign, by making it a sort of planar shift/wormhole thing rather than atomic deconstruction and reconstruction. You didn't get reassembled or die and be replicated, but rather pretty much stepped through a door. or rather the door stepped over you.

 

[Stalker0]

They have used the transporter buffer to suspend transport, for a short time, in order to do things like deactivate the weapons of incoming people. The idea of a long term suspension was a really bad idea. They could have mitigated it somewhat by perhaps saying that it would require an extraordinary amount of computer power to "maintain pattern cohesion", or some other sciencey sounding guff. That would explain why Scotty could do it; he had an entire ship's computer to play with.

Yeah that has traditionally been the explanation. You can't hold things in the transporter buffer for very long because it "degrades". That was actually one of the big first season plots, M'Benga had to bring his daughter out periodically from the medical transporter because otherwise she would start to degrade. So to me this is basically a slow execution in theory...you put the alien in the transporter buffer and it just degrades over time until its gone.....but hey its a transdimensional alien it can't be that easy

Which reminds me, it was nice that they mentioned M'Benga's daughter in this episode. I'll be the first to admit the daughter plotline was weak, and I'm glad they just tidied it up in a little bow and gave M'Benga much more interesting storylines to work on. But its still his daughter and a big part of his character, so its good to bring it up once in a while.

 

[pukunui]

And yet, in this season part of the reason for the holodeck testing was that they're pioneering ships being able to stay out for longer periods, meaning they're not there yet.

At the start of the episode, Una says, “Starships will soon be able to go for more than 5 years without returning to the Federation.”

 

[Rabulias]

Yeah that has traditionally been the explanation. You can't hold things in the transporter buffer for very long because it "degrades". That was actually one of the big first season plots, M'Benga had to bring his daughter out periodically from the medical transporter because otherwise she would start to degrade. So to me this is basically a slow execution in theory...you put the alien in the transporter buffer and it just degrades over time until its gone.....but hey its a transdimensional alien it can't be that easy

Ooohh... imagine if they had not wrapped up Rukiya's story and she was still in the buffer... now alongside this transdimensional demonic entity. That could have gotten very dark.

 

[MarkB]

Ooohh... imagine if they had not wrapped up Rukiya's story and she was still in the buffer... now alongside this transdimensional demonic entity. That could have gotten very dark.

It still could. We know from the holodeck episode that the transporter makes a highly detailed physical record of those who pass through it, so this entity could potentially make a body for itself in her image.

 

[Maxperson]

And yet, in this season part of the reason for the holodeck testing was that they're pioneering ships being able to stay out for longer periods, meaning they're not there yet.

Those are for the 10 year missions. Not that it really makes any sense in any case. Pike. Kirk. Picard. They all stopped at Starbases and friendly places like Vulcan every third episode. They don't go anywhere for long periods of time unless it's by accident. Janeway, I'm looking at you.

 

[Maxperson]

Yes, as a Trek fan from way back, I and my friends have often pointed to uses of the transporter (or other technologies) in some episodes being solutions to problems in other episodes. We became resigned to seeing these inconsistencies and try to look beyond them (but it doesn't mean we don't still see them! ).

And not just transporters. You'd have Scotty say something like, "If I just hook up the phase translocater to the warp coils while playing solitaire, I think we can hit warp 45." And then he succeeds, yet nobody keeps the upgrades or puts them on future ships.

They've done that sort of thing with energy output, speed, transporters, sensors, weapons and more. If Star Fleet scientists actually followed up on any of this, ships would have been 5x more powerful than Picard's Enterprise decades earlier.

 

[Maxperson]

(PS really like this Scotty actor - he's perfect - better than the original (imho) and incomparably superior to Simon Pegg, who god love him, might as well have been a mildly talented Trek cosplayer they picked up at a random SF con in his portrayal of Scotty.)

I agree with most of what you said there, except for this. James Doohan WAS Scotty. Saying he does Scotty better than Scotty, is like saying some actor in the future could be better at being you than you.

That said, I do very much agree that this Scotty is very good.