Did the First Federation actually exist, or did Balok make it up?

[Artoo Atari]

I find the idea that Balok made up the First Federation to be hilarious.

BALOK (to Dave Bailey, after the Enterprise departs): "Oh, by the way... the whole thing about the First Federation? Totally made it up. The broom and mop are behind the first door to your right, buckets and rags down the hall."

 

[Delta Vega]

I like to think that Balok morphed into a flesh eating monster and devoured the insufferable Bailey after Kirk had departed the scene.

 

[mithril]

i like the approach from "The Face of the Unknown". that its real, but its, in Stellaris speak, 'built tall'.. they control a fairly tiny amount of space but heavily heavily developed what they have, with a capitol world containing billions of sentients from a large number of species, and that the big spherical ship is a massive mobile mining and refining station of sorts used to support said capitol, controlled by the smaller pilot-ship.

 

[MarcKle1964]

I like to think that Balok morphed into a flesh eating monster and devoured the insufferable Bailey after Kirk had departed the scene.

Who are the First Federation? What is Corbomite? Will the excitable Mr Bailey make it in Starfleet? For the fascinating answers, tune in tomorrow, same Trek-Time, same Trek-Channel!

(Rock version of Alex Courage theme plays over the credits)

Could two-part half hour shows improve the bad eps? Solved some pacing issues and made for better scripts for all of them? Led to improved ratings and less scheduling problems?

 

[drt]

IMO, Balok didn't necessarily "make it up", but there is certainly some room to suggest that he did "big up" the First Federation as it were, as there doesn't seem to be much evidence of it being the significant force in galactic politics that such a vast spacecraft might suggest.

To be fair, the later productions completely ignored almost all of the more advanced races from TOS - the only one that ever got revisited was a terrible version of the Organians in ENT. It’s sort of funny to call back to them, since they’re the ones that need to be forgotten since you can’t have outright conflict with the Klingons if they’re around.

 

[Noname Given]

To be fair, the later productions completely ignored almost all of the more advanced races from TOS - the only one that ever got revisited was a terrible version of the Organians in ENT. It’s sort of funny to call back to them, since they’re the ones that need to be forgotten since you can’t have outright conflict with the Klingons if they’re around.

Um - we had Tholians mentioned in TNG and shown on ENT. We also saw a mirror universe Gorn on ENT as well.

 

[I am not Herbert]

Um - we had Tholians mentioned in TNG and shown on ENT. We also saw a mirror universe Gorn on ENT as well.

I think poster means the advanced, we-are-to-them-as-ants-are-to-us races. Not sure if the FF quite fit the bill though

 

[Shawnster]

Um - we had Tholians mentioned in TNG and shown on ENT. We also saw a mirror universe Gorn on ENT as well.

Guess that's why he used the qualifier "almost" instead of "completely"

 

[Annorax849]

Yes, the First Federation actually exists. Its territory is shown on a star chart in ST VI, and another one in a DSC ep ("Red Directive").

The FF is also mentioned in a DS9 ep ("Facets" - Quark sells Tranya at his bar) and on LD ("Reflections").

It was apparently on the map in Conspiracy, but it was illegible on screen so I consider that to not count. I don’t think the TUC map was really legible, either.

I’ll have to check out the Red Directive one, if it’s there that would be a big deal since it would be the first visible confirmation.

 

[drt]

I think poster means the advanced, we-are-to-them-as-ants-are-to-us races. Not sure if the FF quite fit the bill though

Yes, that's what I meant. I feel like those types of races were way more common in TOS than the later productions, and gave TOS an underlying feeling of "here be dragons". Considering galactic timescales, our heroes should encounter just as many more advanced races as they do primitive ones.

With regard to the First Federation, we have really no idea how advanced they are. The crew was certainly impressed by Fesarius, and Balok indicated the entire sequence where Enterprise thought they had overloaded the detached section's engines was a ruse, which would imply they were at least more advanced than the UFP. But does that mean they're 800 years more advanced or 8000?

My TOS-centric view is that they inhabited a big section of space, since Balok seemed to be patrolling the most distant regions of their territory. They could still be out there for later productions to revisit, but I think they've just been quietly dropped from consideration (except for jokey references to tranya).

 

[FredH]

Yes, that's what I meant. I feel like those types of races were way more common in TOS than the later productions, and gave TOS an underlying feeling of "here be dragons". Considering galactic timescales, our heroes should encounter just as many more advanced races as they do primitive ones.

Someday I’d like to see a space opera TV series where starfaring humanity is all well and good, but EVERY alien species is millions of years ahead of us, nigh-incomprehensible, and we simply can’t counter them at all and don’t bother to try. Babylon 5 hinted towards something like this with the First Ones, but I mean more something where we simply have no partners/rivals/lessers, other than ourselves, with aliens as the clearly present but largely unknowable gods.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Someday I’d like to see a space opera TV series where starfaring humanity is all well and good, but EVERY alien species is millions of years ahead of us, nigh-incomprehensible, and we simply can’t counter them at all and don’t bother to try.

We practically have that in real life: ourselves up against earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, hurricanes, dust storms, droughts, rogue waves, and tsunamis. The ancients were way ahead of you and figured it was gods from the word Go.