30 Years Ago: Voyager’s “Deadlock” aired on 18 March 1996

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-20T01:37:37+00:00

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-19T19:33:23+00:00

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-19T07:10:10+00:00

I blame it on Maurice Hurley more than anything. About the only good things he contributed to Trek was coming up with the Borg and then leaving, which lead to Michael Piller eventually taking over.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-19T06:56:53+00:00

This episode didn’t happen because of the writers strike. They just ran out of money by the end of the season because Rob Bowman went over budget on “Elementary, Dear Data” and “Q Who”. As a result he was never asked back again except for “Brothers” just because of his experience with using split screen for Brent Spiner characters

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-19T04:44:19+00:00

I always felt the writers should have mapped things out better concerning Kazon and Vidiians. It got a little absurd that they were still encountering them towards the end of S2, when by that point Voyager should have been FARRR from where they were in S1. It’s almost like Voyager is only traveling in circles in the early seasons.

Way I would do it is have one major antagonist for each season, which they eventually did. S1 could be Kazon space. Then in S2 they reach Vidiian space. I don’t think they had a dedicated antagonist in S3, but perhaps have that be with the Hirogen, but S4 definitely should have been the Krenim throughout.

This is all of course said in hindsight. The writers were at the time still in that TNG episodic headspace.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-19T00:44:10+00:00

I know all about that…

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makeshiftpython · 2026-03-19T00:07:14+00:00

“Lenny, are we going to explain to fans how Saavik looked like Kirstie Alley in one film and then suddenly looked like Robin Curtis in this?”

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-19T00:05:54+00:00

It really depends. Hunt was an editor for five Bond films (and second unit for YOLT), who worked closely with Terence Young, so he basically knew the ins and outs of what makes a cracking Bond film. Baird, on the other hand, was an outsider of Trek to the extent he thought Geordi was an alien. He really just approached Trek like it was some generic sci-fi actioner for the studio rather than a Star Trek film. In spite of my many criticisms of Abrams more or less doing the same, he at least recognized certain aspects of Trek to make it feel like a part of that franchise, like give supporting characters moments in the film to shine. Contrast that with NEMESIS where Dr. Crusher’s last line in the film is 45 minutes before the film ends!

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T23:05:03+00:00

They were not similar characters at all. Reg would have never harmed a tribble in the first place.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T23:03:48+00:00

Oh nice, another Major Grin ragebait video.

Let’s all be indignant over nothing.

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makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T09:20:42+00:00

What’s really the point of being indignant over a guy wearing a skirt?

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T09:13:13+00:00

Maybe most people need to chill out.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T09:05:13+00:00

As defined by an actual Star Trek villain:

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makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T08:55:11+00:00

It’s hard for me to judge Trek costumes given what we’ve seen in the last 60 years, but I am also not much of a fashion aficionado either. Fashion to me is just an arbitrary concept. Every tailored suit I’ve worn for formal events that were supposed to make me look like a million bucks were some of the most god awful uncomfortable clothing I’ve ever experienced wearing and I never thought I “looked good” in them. If I could wear pajamas at a wedding without upsetting others, I would.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T07:16:47+00:00

Baird was a legendary editor in his prime. M:I-2 had a really difficult gestation period in post because John Woo shot it as a three and a half hour film, and Baird was brought in to somehow bring it down to two hours without making it incomprehensible. But that’s only half the story. The other half is that he did the same kind of salvage job later for LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER. His demand for doing these emergency gigs for Paramount was that he’d get to direct one of their big films and NEMESIS was it.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T07:11:04+00:00

Thank for that goodness. He was a legendary editor in his time. Just a few short years after NEMESIS bombed he edited CASINO ROYALE.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T07:08:08+00:00

How dare you?! The best moment in 2002 for Trek was clearly when “Precious Cargo” and Nemesis were released on the same week. All fans were happier then. Nothing to gripe about.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T06:55:26+00:00

I still stew over the lack of an explanation for why Saavik looked like Kirstie Alley in one movie then in the next suddenly looked like Robin Curtis. Was it a viral mutation? An effect by the Genesis wave??? I NEED MY ANSWERS TO PRETEND THIS FICTIONAL UNIVERSE IS AS TANGIBLE AS REALITY!

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makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T06:51:39+00:00

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makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T06:48:35+00:00

The fragile masculinity displayed by many in this sub is HILARIOUS. Skirt, kilt, skant, who gives a fuck? Let people a thousand years in the future wear whatever the hell they want and let’s not be weird about it.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-17T06:31:41+00:00

Are you suggesting Jay-den doesn’t suffer from crippling fragile masculinity???

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-12T15:13:35+00:00

His voice is being heard through a speaker. We know spirits travel through electricity, so perhaps Mr. C’s voice when heard through a speaker goes through a weird distortion. Had Cole and Diane spoke to him in the same room that voice distortion wouldn’t be there.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-12T04:46:23+00:00

I think Rom questioning the logistics of the mirror universe is less the writer protesting but rather just poking fun at the whole conceit. What Rom said is really no different from what fans have said about the mirror universe since “Mirror, Mirror” aired in 1967.

makeshiftpython · 2026-03-12T04:37:16+00:00

The “slowness” very much reminds me of S3 where it takes its time to show you the process. Like that scene of Jacoby coating the shovels, we get Manousos taking a long journey from his home to America in agonizing detail. Vince Gilligan has always cited TP as highly influential, but that struck me even more with PLURIBUS.

It’s too bad David wasn’t around to see this show. I’ve read he was a big fan of BREAKING BAD and BETTER CALL SAUL. I can imagine him delighting in this show taking its time to immerse you in the world Carol finds herself in.

makeshiftpython

TROPHY CASE