ENT groans

[karohemd]

While last week's Borg (!) episode (Regeneration) had some consistency issues (how come the sphere crash had never been discovered in those 90odd years? and why did nothing about the cybernetic organisms be entered in the Starfleet database? and most importantly, why did the Borgs on ENT adapt to the phase pistols after the first shot while the ones on the assimilated transport only after four?), it was quite a good episode, well paced and with a good conclusion.
This one right now (First Flight) has lots of Arrgh moments. It's - in flashbacks - the story of the first flight of Archer's father's Warp 5 engine, during which Archer and a colleague fight for the right to command the test flight. After the first flight fails, they steal the only other experimental craft and test it successfully. Now, instead of being kicked out of Starfleet and court martialed, they only get suspended for three months and eventually, Archer gets to command the Enterprise. Now, ST captains are known for their lax handling of misdemeanors and things but this was Starfleet proper, at home, not in the far reaches of the galaxy. Basically, Archer shouldn't be in the chair he's sitting in but scrubbing exhaust manifolds (like the EMH Mark I's).
The other major niggle with this one is a geeky technical one. The experimental craft goes to Warp just after it breaks Earth's orbit, basically next to the moon. Even the Enterprise D goes to Warp inside a solar system only once and then only in dire circumstances (and with Geordie's ultra-optimised engine), so even thinking about it with an engine that's never been tested should be out of the question. Very simply put, a warp field bends the space around the spacecraft and thus makes the distance to travel shorter. Now imagine, a moon, planet or other physical object gets within the warp field... The coming out of warp is even trickier.
Oh, and they have a warp capable escape pod...
And now, Firefly, fresh, strange, unusual. I like the contrast between the high tech sci fi and the low tech crappiness of the independents. I've only seen a couple of eps but I really like the background which could work well as the basis of an RPG.

Comments

[sogoth.livejournal.com]

Firefly is great. The background is definately nice and rich for an RPG... wouldn't suprise me in the slightest if one eventually gets made.