Count Dooku

If the Mochlans could decide to withdraw from the Union and threaten to align with the Krill, then that means that Mochlus must have its own government that is separate from whatever overall Union governance exists.
Similarly, I would think that Earth would also have its own sovereign government. And that govt would have ambassadors and diplomats.

As presented, Ed and the admirals seemed to be the human representatives for Earth's government, but as members of the Union fleet, they would serve the entire Union not just Earth.

Which raises the further question of how there was a Mochlan military ship to fight with the Orville. Shouldn't the Mochlan ships be under the command of the same Union as the Orville?

But my point still stands that if military officers are the representatives of Earth's government to the Union, then that means that Earth is controlled by the military which usually indicates a dystopian society.

Which would further support my initial point that taking the "world-building" too seriously is a worthless endeavor.

Count Dooku

And by the way, for all the careful world-building that is supposed to exist in Star Trek, personal finances do not make any sense. They talk a lot about humanity evolving past any pursuit of wealth, but everybody is still getting paid to be in Star Fleet since they have money to gamble and spend in bars and buy land/homes.

fiver

That's one of the things that started to sour me on Trek a long time ago. It's pretty obvious, if you take all the series as canon, that Earth government is inherently a very classist society wherein certain strata of people (even in the humans only club) actually benefit from the high Roddenberry ideals of a society where money is not needed and all an individual's basic needs are met so they can achieve self actualization elsewhere. As you move towards the fringes of society (Harry Mudd, Quark's bar in DS9, 'place you name, price I name otherwise bargain no'....), this society starts to fall apart. Starts to make StarFleet officers spouting Roddenberry's words as arrogant schmucks who aren't really doing anything to push the boundaries of their high ideals to incorporate more than those lucky enough to be included in the core group.

Or maybe they're all just gambling with monopoly money

whotony

johnnysd

I thought it made sense within the context of this episode, but that issue is FAR worse in Discovery where Burnam is almost literally the center of the known universe.

Eric F

Giantrobo

Agree 100% The Admirals at the table was a great collection of actors.

Giantrobo

Almost? SHE FUCKIN' IS. She started a Galactic War in s1, and is about to save the Goddam Universe s2.

Giantrobo

Loved this ep. The guest actors pulled in were great, the story was great, the "not really resolved" aspect of this was a nice change from the normal "got shit solved in 42min" resolution.

My wife was next to me and she asked...Can Moclan Females have sex with Moclan Males and get pregnant? I don't know! What about Moclan females having sex with other females? WTF? Do Moclan females even get down like that? What happened to Moclan to make it a Sausagefest at some point? Wait, am I assuming Moclan males have penises? Maybe they don't! MIND BLOWN....

johnnysd

Anyone else feel that Fox is doing the Fox thing and episodes are not really being shown in their originally intended order?

Eric F

They're supposed to be asexual, so I suppose both genders can lay eggs? But then why are there genders at all? How can two males/females reproduce if they aren't asexual? None of it makes sense.

Count Dooku

Despite the existence of food replicators, Sisko's father operated a restaurant with at least one kitchen employee. Presumably the continued operation of the restaurant required paying customers. When martial law was declared and a curfew was in effect, Sisko Senior lost all his civilian customers but stayed open serving Starfleet personnel.

In another episode, Jake wanted to acquire a Willie Mays baseball card at an auction, but he needed to borrow money from Nog because (they said) as a Federation citizen Jake had no actual money.

Of course Quark's bar required that the Star Fleet personnel drinking and gambling and using the holosuite in his bar pay him with some form of currency.

dhmac

Egotastic Funtime episode recap and review

Kdogg

For the first one, I think he runs the restaurant because that's what he likes to do not to make money. It's his life pursuit. I doubt the customer are actually paying anything. The second two scenarios involve alien cultures that still use either currency or a barter system.

johnnysd

Anyone else want to see Klyden airlocked?

Xiroteus

Klyden is an awful character. No idea why they are even together at this point or how he's even still on the ship.

Count Dooku

And the guy that works for him, shucking oysters and peeling potatoes? Over and over we see that bars and restaurants still operate on Earth. All those servers are living their dream in a socialist paradise?

Yes, Quark is a Ferengi and they make it very clear that his capitalist culture is to be looked down upon, but like I said all those Star Fleet personnel are buying drinks and gambling in his bar, so where are they getting the money?

And do people vacation on Risa for free? Do the people who work on Risa do so without compensation because cleaning people off after a mudbath is the fulfillment of a dream?

mikehunt

Orville, still doing a better job at being Trek than the official Trek show
I did like Discovery season 2 better than 1 and thought it had a better Trek feel but overall I think Orville has it beat.

lvbob

Wait till everyone finds out Orville wont be back late 2020 and not on fox. It's moving to Hulu

dex14

Discussed in the finale thread.