Recycled Plots
- Thread starter the vet
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"Oasis" was similar to Shadowplay.
"e2" was a rehash of a DS9 episode whose name escapes me,
"Children of Time".
I have a soft spot for the episode with Rene Auberjonois, even though he quite rightly pointed out it was essentially the same one Odo had been involved in. I suppose that's the interesting thing for me - seeing how a completely different set of people react to the similar situation. I can't believe a writer deliberately set out to redo "Shadowplay", but ended up with the hologram inhabitants of a planet story anyway... and somehow cast Rene too!
I like the preamble mystery aspect to it, of ghosts who turn out to be crash survivors with a secret. It's as reminiscent of "The Cage" too if anything... with Trip's slight love interest, a creepy Vina-like character. Whereas in "Shadowplay" it was a tale of Odo befriending a child concerned about her family and friends going missing. And that's intercut with a whole other unrelated story going on back at the station.
With 700 hours of television I can't wait for Star Trek 2017 to get here and read the reactions as new episodes start coming in. There's nothing new under the sun and you see a Greatest Hits album aspect to the more recent films, whether through inspiration or straight up reworking of an old scene or situation. It'll be interesting to see if Bryan Fuller can avoid it or at the very least handle it more subtly.
I have a soft spot for the episode with Rene Auberjonois, even though he quite rightly pointed out it was essentially the same one Odo had been involved in. I suppose that's the interesting thing for me - seeing how a completely different set of people react to the similar situation. I can't believe a writer deliberately set out to redo "Shadowplay", but ended up with the hologram inhabitants of a planet story anyway... and somehow cast Rene too!
I like the preamble mystery aspect to it, of ghosts who turn out to be crash survivors with a secret. It's as reminiscent of "The Cage" too if anything... with Trip's slight love interest, a creepy Vina-like character. Whereas in "Shadowplay" it was a tale of Odo befriending a child concerned about her family and friends going missing. And that's intercut with a whole other unrelated story going on back at the station.
With 700 hours of television I can't wait for Star Trek 2017 to get here and read the reactions as new episodes start coming in. There's nothing new under the sun and you see a Greatest Hits album aspect to the more recent films, whether through inspiration or straight up reworking of an old scene or situation. It'll be interesting to see if Bryan Fuller can avoid it or at the very least handle it more subtly.
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Since I'm not the biggest Trekkie, I'm least likely to notice any recycled plots. Even when I notice similarities, I just try to enjoy the story from other characters' points of view. And you're right- there really is nothing new under the sun. Evidence of that being the new crop of summer movies. The last four ads I watched were for 1 remake of an original, 2 sequels, and one based on a video game.
Dawn was heavily criticized when it aired, mostly as a rip-off of the movie Enemy Mine. But on the Trek side things it is very similar to Darmok or that DS9 where Odo and Quark are stranded on a planet and have to climb a mountain to get their transmitter working.
I liked the conversation which allegedly took place between Rene Auberjonois and Scott Bakula while filming that episode.
Scott: "You know this is a pretty good episode."
Rene: "Yes, we did the exact same story on our show."
Another remake worth mentioning: Judgment is basically TUC done on a television budget. Also, interestingly enough, Twilight was in fact based on a pitched idea for Voyager that didn't get made, in that, set a decade or so after Voyager crashed on a planet, the crew survivors have cannibalized the wreckage into a settlement, Janeway has memory problems and Chakotay refreshes her memory.
which itself was a remake of HELL IN THE PACIFIC
Although that was a deliberate tribute, not a rip-off or accidental copy. TUC is too well known for them to expect people not to notice, after all. I don't think it's a great ep, but it was nice to see them flesh out the Klingon legal system a bit. Only think is, it ends with the Klingon defender saying he will make it his mission to restore Klingon justice, and from what we saw in TUC he obviously failed!
"Children of Time" - the idea of meeting alternate future selves had been done before, but ENT put a different twist on it. Rather than settling on a planet, they became a generational spaceship, and rather than having an idyllic pastoral life it was a kind of dystopia, what with the spatial anomalies and hostile species of the Expanse. ENT's version was much more sci-fi, if you know what I mean. I think the fact that it was part of an arc rather than a never-mentioned-again stand-alone ep is also an advantage.
One of the things I've been thinking about lately is - do we, as Trek/sci-fi fans, get too hung up on criticising these shows for 'recycled plots'/similarities to previous episodes?
It's not just Enterprise - DS9 was criticised when "Second Skin" had some similarity with TNG's "Face of the Enemy", or "The Abandoned" (seemingly undefeatable foe 'humanised') to "I, Borg" etc. TNG obviously had a lot of criticism in this regard (and not just the obvious e.g. "Naked Now"), and though I'm not as familiar with the series, no doubt Voyager does as well.
Consider the plethora of doctor dramas or police shows. Most of these "recycle" plots a-plenty - murder inquiries, robberies, kidnappings etc. These have all been covered as the basic plots in what must be hundreds of episodes of television through The Bill, CSI, NYPD Blue and so on.
The skill for the writers, and the entertainment for the viewers, I suppose is the WAY in which these all-too-familiar stories are retold, the way characters interact and engage with the well-warmed plots. The 'twists in the tale' are what make the retelling worthwhile. After all, there are only 'so many' plots in the world!
How come other genres kind of get a 'free pass' but Trek (in particular) and other sci-fi shows get roasted for not having every single episode uniquely different from everything else? Just the general 'nature' of the fans who like to interrogate and over-examine? Sci-Fi genre? Just higher standards?
Not sure I really have an opinion on it, just curious on opinion.
It's not just Enterprise - DS9 was criticised when "Second Skin" had some similarity with TNG's "Face of the Enemy", or "The Abandoned" (seemingly undefeatable foe 'humanised') to "I, Borg" etc. TNG obviously had a lot of criticism in this regard (and not just the obvious e.g. "Naked Now"), and though I'm not as familiar with the series, no doubt Voyager does as well.
Consider the plethora of doctor dramas or police shows. Most of these "recycle" plots a-plenty - murder inquiries, robberies, kidnappings etc. These have all been covered as the basic plots in what must be hundreds of episodes of television through The Bill, CSI, NYPD Blue and so on.
The skill for the writers, and the entertainment for the viewers, I suppose is the WAY in which these all-too-familiar stories are retold, the way characters interact and engage with the well-warmed plots. The 'twists in the tale' are what make the retelling worthwhile. After all, there are only 'so many' plots in the world!
How come other genres kind of get a 'free pass' but Trek (in particular) and other sci-fi shows get roasted for not having every single episode uniquely different from everything else? Just the general 'nature' of the fans who like to interrogate and over-examine? Sci-Fi genre? Just higher standards?
Not sure I really have an opinion on it, just curious on opinion.
That's not even taking account the reboots of old shows that pop up all the time on CBS. Hawaii 5-0 anyone? Sure some people complain TV is running out of ideas but it doesn't seem to hurt their ratings.
Three words: "Strange New Worlds."
Star Trek is not a crime drama like NCIS or Law and Order. It's not a sitcom like Seinfeld or Friends. It's not limited to one city, country, or even planet. It's show of exploration, with almost-literally no limits at all. So when stories are recycled, unlike Earth-based programs, I think viewers of Star Trek are well within their senses to raise an eyebrow and think "WTF is this? You have the whole universe as your literary playground, and you still need to go back to the same tired old stuff? Come on..."
Agreed. For me it's not even the recycled plots so much but rather the recycled ending. E2 would have been completely different if the second crew continued on alongside the NX-01, even have them reoccur through out the series.
Sure there are going to be reoccurring themes and ideas, but they shouldn't have the same impact. Why not have a episode with two main crew members are stuck in a shuttle/stranded on a planet and cannibalism has to be resorted to in order to survive? That wold be a similar theme, but a much more powerful story.
Yes. Among other issues that would be interesting to explore. It doesn't have to be graphic. We can make the two crew members aliens if that helps.
I think both in most instances the accused recycled plot is a lot more specific than something as general as a murder or kidnapping and additionally most cop shows don't generate as much interest and discussion, positive or negative (although recycled plots in TV in general can be more noticed as fans perceive the show is getting is older and losing steam/quality).
Additionally, I think Trek fans are more critical of some recycled plots because they feel the later episodes generally aren't as good as the initial.
A particularly unfortunate instance was Enterprise's "Terra Nova" after Voyager's "Friendship One", really similar, within the same year and both being pretty bad.
You forget that that was the episode where Kira found out Odo was in love with her, a big part of the later seasons.
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