Star Trek: [any] Unauthorized Transporter Activity (film, cost, shows, happened)
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I'm fairly confident that there has *never* been a successful shut-down of an unauthorized transporter activity in ST:TNG, DS9, or Voyager. Given how frequently unauthorized transporter activity takes place, one would think this vulnerability would be addressed.
I'm fairly confident that there has *never* been a successful shut-down of an unauthorized transporter activity in ST:TNG, DS9, or Voyager. Given how frequently unauthorized transporter activity takes place, one would think this vulnerability would be addressed.
Has anyone noted an exception to the above?
I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention that. Maybe they can't. I think they have redirected those being transported elsewhere.
BBCA is filling my dvr with episodes of TNG, and people seem to be able to transport at will, or maybe the com badges tell the system if they qualify. DS9 with the Cardassian system they piggybacked to with the transporter may work under a different set of controls as well.
But it does seem that if they can shut down a transport, some procedure would be in place, and likely it would kill whoever was transporting.
The episode where Beverly was kidnapped by the minority rebels shows that not all transport systems are 'harmless', since the rebels are dying from the one they use. But it isn't traceable, just that the Enterprise can tell one is in progress. Its possible the systems by used by others, especially the Romulans, Cardassians and Klingons, may use different systems as well.
In the book The Making of Star Trek, they talked about how the transporter was 'invented' for a story problem and sometimes they wished it hadn't been since it created a lot of how do we get said character trapped in this situation without them just being pulled out by the ship.
Using the transporter eliminated the need for endless shots of spaceships leaving and returning to the Enterprise, DS9 etc (new class of ship) after similarly endless shots of the things landing and taking off from some where else.
Security aboard the Enterprise has always been shockingly slack. Intruders never had trouble managing to sneak aboard by one means or another. Of course they had to do it that way to set up suspense. Had the star ship been alert and on top of all attempts to board it, then no one could have stolen Spock's brain or sabotaged the weapons system just as they were about to do battle...Security was only as good as the plot required.
Using the transporter eliminated the need for endless shots of spaceships leaving and returning to the Enterprise, DS9 etc (new class of ship) after similarly endless shots of the things landing and taking off from some where else.
Which is why it was created. The single most expensive thing they could film was model work, and all of that was done with models. It meant that writers had to prune arrivals and departures carefully, or if you arrived at a base, then you only saw them walking in the door. All of which is very limiting from a writers point of view.
So they invented the transporter. The problem it created was that it made it necessary when you left someone on a planet and they were now stranded, you had to then invent a reason why you don't just beam them up, end of storyline. So eventually the abilities of the transporter got fine tuned so they didn't have to say why so often.
But it was questioned why on a ship as large as the Enterprise there wasn't a secondary backup, even a normally docked shuttle, which would be able to rescue the stranded and even take large parties to a planet with their stuff. It seemed rather inexcusable that with the teck ability used on the Enterprise, and other Federation ships, there wouldn't be a regularly checked for function, even if its bare bones alternative to the transporter on every ship. Especially given they go places where they can't expect anyone is around to help out if the system got fried.
Tos had the landing crafts, of course, but the cost of one landing on a planet was about three episodes so they were told not to unless it was absolutely needed.
To nightbird47's point, this is exactly what I was thinking when I watched "The Enemy Within" tonight on METV. The transporter malfunctioned and split Kirk into one docile Kirk and one rapist Kirk. Meanwhile on the planet below that they were surveying, Sulu is trapped and it's temp is 100 below zero. I'm thinking - take the shuttlecraft!
To nightbird47's point, this is exactly what I was thinking when I watched "The Enemy Within" tonight on METV. The transporter malfunctioned and split Kirk into one docile Kirk and one rapist Kirk. Meanwhile on the planet below that they were surveying, Sulu is trapped and it's temp is 100 below zero. I'm thinking - take the shuttlecraft!
That was actually noted at the time by fans. It wasn't like they had to do the fx to show it land. Show the pilot sitting on the set, ready to go, and then later Sulu and friends being treated. That wouldn't fix Kirk being split, ONLY the transporter could, so they had to fix it, but would have made it make sense.
There were instances in DS9 when a ship in distress was rescued and they just stick a line in saying they had arrived. But then they'd figured out that trek fans paid close attention to even the small details and remembered. They tried not to contridict 'past history'.
I'm fairly confident that there has *never* been a successful shut-down of an unauthorized transporter activity in ST:TNG, DS9, or Voyager. Given how frequently unauthorized transporter activity takes place, one would think this vulnerability would be addressed.
Has anyone noted an exception to the above?
Or how about an unauthorized shuttle launch? That type of incident happens quite a bit on Star Trek too.
But yes, one would think the vulnerability would be addressed as soon as an unauthorized transporter activity happened.
To nightbird47's point, this is exactly what I was thinking when I watched "The Enemy Within" tonight on METV. The transporter malfunctioned and split Kirk into one docile Kirk and one rapist Kirk. Meanwhile on the planet below that they were surveying, Sulu is trapped and it's temp is 100 below zero. I'm thinking - take the shuttlecraft!
Well, yeah, except that was first season. They didn't have shuttle craft then......set wise. Now, it would have been nice to say something in the story to explain it, but that explanation only becomes worthy when they have shuttle craft before. Ie, the audience when that episode was first shown didn't know about shuttle craft since it hadn't been shown to them yet.
("Well, that's just ridiculous! They had a shuttle deck, why wouldn't they have shuttle craft? Who would accept a ship with a deck without shuttle craft?") Keep in mind, that this show was in the mid 60's and in reality, if a USN ship did have a hanger on it, it was more likely to be flying https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrodyne_QH-50_DASH
LAMPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_...Purpose_System as it is more popularly known today, really didn't come around till the turn of the decade.
As it is, having been in the military and knowing that things often aren't as colorful as the pictures they show the public, I just took it that for some reason (not yet equipped, off at a star base for maintenance, unable to fly in that atmosphere, something) they were unavailable and carried on with the story.
Two other things. First of all, it is interesting to see how these story tools come about and are used, such as hibernation. The writers don't have to borrow with the boring trip if they can have the characters sleep through it.
Secondly, I constantly wonder why Worf didn't have nervous break down considering all the impossible things that could happen.
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