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By Chris Snellgrove
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It might not match with the idealized way forward for Gene Roddenberry, however we’re huge followers of the truism that we are able to create all issues by the spite that strengthens us. This was actually true of three influential Star Trek writers who have been motivated to create a killer episode primarily based on their intense hatred of a very totally different episode. The Subsequent Technology writers Dennis Russell Bailey, David Bischoff, and Lisa Putman White ended up hating the season 2 episode “Samaritan Snare” a lot that it ended up motivating them to put in writing the season 3 episode “Tin Man.”
Bailey Hated Samaritan Snare
Talking for himself, Bailey was quoted in Captains’ Logs: The Unauthorized Full Trek Voyages that “Samaritan Snare “was essentially the most abysmal piece of Star Trek ever filmed.” He had a reasonably epic record of grievances, all of which impressed himself and the opposite writers to later pen “Tin Man.” However the abstract of his gripe with this season 2 journey is that “it all the time resorted to fool plotting to make the story work, and that offended me a fantastic deal worse than a few of the terrible reveals which have been accomplished on The Unique Sequence.”
Earlier than we dive into extra of Bailey’s beef with “Samaritan Snare” and the way it influenced the writing of “Tin Man,” it’s possible you’ll want a fast refresher on the episode that he hated a lot. “Samaritan Snare” is a memorable episode through which the Enterprise-D crew encounters the Pakleds, a comparatively primitive race who request assist solely to later reveal that each one of their developments come from stealing the know-how of others.
There’s additionally a B plot the place Picard and Wesley Crusher are touring to a close-by starbase the place the captain can obtain coronary heart surgical procedure and the younger man can belatedly full his Starfleet Academy entrance exams.
Points With The Episode
In keeping with Dennis Russell Bailey, “Samaritan Snare” insulted the intelligence of everybody watching and making the episode as a result of “not one of the plot might have occurred if all the characters hadn’t all of a sudden turn out to be morons that week.”
The long run “Tin Man” author theorized that somebody concerned within the manufacturing “should have been conscious of how hokey it was as a result of they wrote apparent questions into the script which they selected to not reply.” The primary such occasion that he cites is that Worf is understandably skeptical about sending unknown aliens the ship’s chief engineer to assist with “slightly downside.”
Bailey famous that this query is “by no means answered” and that it was foolish to carry it up within the episode with out really addressing it. Whereas he didn’t explicitly add this to his record of “Samaritan Snare” grievances, the author was possible aggravated as a result of Geordi La Forge will get kidnapped by the Pakleds, a serious disaster that would have been fully ignored if somebody listened to Worf. Whereas the Klingon safety officer doesn’t play an enormous function within the later episode, it’s price noting that each one of Worf’s ideas and suspicions in “Tin Man” are handled fairly critically.
In Bailey’s eyes, one other problem with “Samaritan Snare” is that Deanna Troi tells Riker that the chief engineer is in peril and to carry him again just for the commander to disregard her. It will be out of character for Riker to disregard his Imzadi’s suggestions in any episode, however the author was significantly aggravated that “nobody even responds” to her warning. Maybe in response, Troi performs an enormous function in “Tin Man,” an episode the place her heritage helps her interface with controversial mission specialist and fellow Betazoid Tam Elbrun.
For as aggravated as Bailey was by the Pakled plot of “Samaritan Snare,” he significantly hated the Picard B plot the place Picard decides to go to a starbase “the place it turned out that nobody was certified to deal with the operation if it went in any respect improper.” Picard’s surgical procedure was meant to be an “completely routine process” that “went improper for no motive that was talked about, besides that it needed to go improper to have the climax” (Dr. Pulaski performing the surgical procedure).
At Least We Obtained Tin Man Out Of It
In contrast, “Tin Man” has an bold climax involving Romulans, a supernova, and an imposing area entity, and it feels absolutely earned by what got here earlier than.
It’s uncommon to see Star Trek writers communicate so overtly concerning the episodes they hated, however anybody whose private warp core runs on spite fairly than dilithium can perceive the place Bailey is coming from. Plus, he channeled his annoyance into crafting a killer episode, which is sort of the feat. There was one feat, nonetheless, that was past any of those writers: getting Patrick Stewart to say “Tin Man” with out emphasizing the improper syllable (and hearty greetings to any Friends of DeSoto who simply heard the Biggest Technology sound drop of their heads).
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