SciFriday: What Goes Up Must Come Down

Hard to play the convenience card in 'Star Trek'

By MICHAEL HINMAN Jun-18-2009

I have been debating whether or not to see "Star Trek" in the theaters one last time before it goes out of the theaters, and I still might do it. The only reason I haven't has more been about the lack of time than anything else. Plus, the fact that it would be the seventh time I've seen it, something I'm sure author Peter David would ridicule me about even more.

But I don't care. A story that is practically legend now stems back from 1996 when I wasn't so busy with this Web site (probably because it didn't exist yet) and I saw "Star Trek: First Contact" five times ... the same day. Yeah, I can be crazy like that.

Before I had a chance to see "Star Trek," I heard some early reviews of the film that complained about some convenient plot points. I will tell you, there is no one on this planet who hates convenient story elements than me ("Spider-Man 2" was filled with them, and I conveniently never saw the movie again). The old Spock just happens to be in a cave with a torch that helped Kirk not get eaten by a big bug. Scotty conveniently was held up in some old Federation outpost that Kirk and Spock showed up at. Despite being hours and hours away at warp speed, Scotty's transwarp beaming still had enough energy to work (with power like that, why even bother using starships? We could just beam everywhere).

And somehow, all of our favorite people ended up on the Enterprise.

Convenient? Sure. Does it destroy "Star Trek"? Nope.

See, my thinking is that the timeline doesn't like to be messed with. I mean, there is that whole temporal prime directive and all. And when it does get messed up, like some big old Romulan mining ship showing up and killing Kirk's father, that Mother Nature is sitting somewhere trying to piece the timeline back together.

So yes, there is nothing scientific that could support my theory (but there's nothing scientific about time travel either), but I feel that these weren't really acts of convenience, but instead was the universe's way of trying to get history back on the right track.

Maybe the universe doesn't really care if Kirk and Spock ever become friends, but what has already happened happened, and there must be something that would be thrown out of whack in nature if it's not put back the way it was left.

Sure, I'm stretching a little, but why not? It is just a story after all. And a pretty darn good story. Unlike "Spider-Man 2," these are bits of convenience that could be forgiven, because to me, there was little else I could complain about.

Maybe I will buy another ticket this weekend to see "Star Trek." It could be fun!

About the Author: Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
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