Most Common plot device

BlitzKrieg

Just wondering what is the most common plot device in the star trek series, when i mean plot device i mean episodes which use the same excuses to put the characters in wierd situations.


Ignoring Enterprise (who's entire plot involves time travel) I find time travel to be the most common plot device in voyager at least, i've started watching voyager on sky one again mainly out of curiousity and i couldnt help but feel annoyed that in a space of 2 weeks i had 3 episodes involving time travel of some sort (not including the finale i might add) this was too common for comfort and made me surprised why i didnt cope on that enterprise would go this route as well...



so thats ho i feel, what do you feel is most common plot devices, i assume holo deck adventures will be one for TNG, cant think what was the most common for Ds9, i think it was a bit more spread out...

Lennoxschips

Voyager's most common plot is running into a planet with some kind of quirk/civil war, throwing the prime directive out the window, getting involved and solving a political problem that has been lasting for five centuries.

And all in 45 minutes.

User45701

I loved VOY agers episodes.

There episode about voyager builing the quantum slipstream drive and then crashing on the ice planet while the delta flyer wernt on to earth - that was abrillent episode.

However ive always felt that in episodes involving time travel they should end earlier.

All good Things (TNG) That episode should have finished when the vortex collapsed and the last enterprise was destroyed. (its underastandble that since it was thelast episode thay wanted to have touchy fealey stuff with the crew tho so that episode is excused)

Yesterdays enterprise should have finished when the enterprise passed through the tempral vortex

Voyagers episode mentioned above should have finished the SECOND kim touched the control pannel. It was good the way he screamed yes and then the ship exploded but it ws complatly unrelastic.

seamus

Originally posted by User45701
Voyagers episode mentioned above should have finished the SECOND kim touched the control pannel. It was good the way he screamed yes and then the ship exploded but it ws complatly unrelastic.

But humans flying spacecraft at over the speed of light, and changing time using the implants from a cybernetically-modified human is perfectly realistic?

Episodes tend not to carry, week-to-week, unless they're two-parters. While subplots and things that happen - Seven's developing individuality, the Doctor getting his mobile emitter - have an effect on subsequent stories, the main plots don't have an effect on the next week's plot.
So in the above case, the main plot was the alternate timeline where Voyager is destroyed, and Kim's attempt to fix that. If it had ended as you say, then we would have had to wait until the next week to see if it had worked, and so one's weeks main plot would have had an effect on the next week's plot, instead of the usual way, where its the subplots created by the main plot which carry over.

The standard makeup of a Voyager episode is:

<preamble, setting up the main plot, followed by opening credits>
<Dialog dealing with character development, setting up subplots>
<development of main plot, worsening of situation>
<Subplot development, or full-blown mini-plot, taking our mind off the main plot by not showing it for about 5 minutes>
<Worsening of the main plot to it's pinnacle>
<Optional subplot development dealing with the main plot's impact on the subplot>
<Resolution of main plot>
<tying up of subplots, more character development>
<end>

User45701

Originally posted by seamus
But humans flying spacecraft at over the speed of light, and changing time using the implants from a cybernetically-modified human is perfectly realistic?

Yes
To me that does make sence

Fuhrio

i dont really have problems with a series recycling plot ideas. theres only so much they can do after all.

theres some though that are really annoying.

(Captain Proton)
(lahh dee tee tee tahh Irish holodeck episode)
(tng moriarty episode i didnt like)

Hecate

TV audiences (in the US especially), like consistency and are afraid of change. You can moan about over used plot devices but if they tried some radical departure then people would just complain about that.

How would audiences respond if say, three or more major characters were killed off in Voyager?... the ship *didn't* end up getting home, or the captain couldnt save the day just in the nick of time - actually they did that one in the two parter 'Year of Hell' but janeway ramming voyager into the timeship just reset all the damage anyway.

BuffyBot

That's a good point - in Countdown: Oblivion (even though it became obvious it wasn't the "real" Voyager) everyone died - a very depressing episode.

BlitzKrieg

Was going through my sisters ds9 collection and i saw an episode which has sisko planning with Garak to bring the romulans into the war and i must say it was my favourite episode ever it was brilliantly done and so dark espeicially sisko at the end it was very different to a normal star trek episode and i loved it, while it wouldnt be as good if every episode was similar afterwards it was a very unique episode.



So i feel sorry for audiances if they dont want more diverse episodes like the one above...

User45701

That was one of the beast DS9 episodes.
Also the one with S31 where bashair is on romulus is very good.

_Kaiser_

That was one of the beast DS9 episodes.
Also the one with S31 where bashair is on romulus is very good.

Yea... definitely two of the best DS9 episodes (aren't I glad I got the season 3-7 boxsets last week ) - also "Waltz" with an increasingly unstable Gul Dukat and Sisko stranded on a planet together, the 2-part Tal Shiar/Obsidian Order attack on the Founder's homeworld (Garak is another great character), Voyager's "Dark Frontier" (with the whole backstory about Seven's parents) and TNG's "The Inner Light" would stand out in my mind.

Enterprise tho just doesn't do it for me..I'm half watching the 6pm repeats on Sky and I just don't like it - tho Jeff Combs (Weyoun/Brunt/Andorian Commander) is very good too.