r/Treknobabble

Hi All, I made a video about how Herman Zimmerman and the TNG production team created the Cardassian empire under the budget constraints of 90s TV. Please check it out. I would love to hear some feedback. Thanks!

https://youtu.be/8KHMynPa0MM?is=Vpi8kqFs-gGZs3V4

I also have a video about how budget constraints shaped the Borg. Please check out my channel! https://www.youtube.com/@LATINUMBUDGETS

https://futurism.com/quark-fusion-produces-eight-times-energy-nuclear-fusion

I honestly think the entire Star Trek franchise should be exploring the Quark Reactor more.

In terms of impulse power, engines using quark reactors would be at least 4 times more powerful. Maximum impulse with traditional fusion is 0.25c. Maximum impulse with quark reactors could be 0.50c, if this formula applies:

KE = (mV2 )/2

In terms of torpedo yield, the Star Trek franchise has applied the wrong words to describe torpedo power.

Real-life antimatter energy destruction is huge. The official "photonic torpedo" and later "photon torpedo," however, are underwhelming, not far above Tsar Bomba (whether it's the TNG Technical Manual or the DS9 Technical Manual).

Likewise, destructive technology utilizing zero point energy is huge. The official "quantum torpedo," however, is underwhelming (2x a "photon").

There must be destructive energy torpedoes in between a fusion torpedo and a proper antimatter torpedo.

In comparative science fiction terms, the Quark Reactor is the intermediate energy I am referring to:

https://kardashev.fandom.com/wiki/Quark_reactor

A torpedo with a quark reactor would be 8 to 10 times more powerful than Tsar Bomba at its maximum yield of 100 megatons, not just the historical explosion (only the latter is referenced in the Trek manuals).

A torpedo with a quark reactor would be at least 12 times more powerful than what passes for a "photon" torpedo officially: 800 MT / 64.4 MT.

A torpedo with a quark reactor would be at least 4 times more powerful than what passes for a "quantum" torpedo officially: 800 MT / 178 MT.

Also him and his great grandson

Before we get started, there is a high chance for some mild spoilers, but I will try to keep it vague.

The Ark, on AppleTV is from SYFY and producer Dean Devlin, known for basic cable procedural like Leverage and The Librarians to blockbuster movies like Independence Day. And that’s just a small bit of his resume. Also, I suggest you check out his interview with Frakes and Spiner on their podcast.

Okay, let’s talk about the show.

In a nutshell, this is Star Trek: Voyager if it had stuck to their premise.

The Ark opens right away into the story without any world building. Within seconds of opening credits a space ship is damaged and venting air. People wake up from cryo sleep and escape to safety in another part of the ship.

The show does a real good job of introducing common tropes in storytelling to quickly establish characters and positions. Within minutes we learn that this is a ship of colonists who were not supposed to be woken up until their destination. The next quick reveal is that all the leadership and experts for this trip, including the people who run the ship have been killed.

The story immediately jumps into the normal storylines for these sci-fi scenarios. Get air turned back on. Find out what damaged everything. Fight about who is in charge. Try to take control of ship they aren’t trained for.

Yet, each of these points is played out quickly and brilliantly with just a slight bit of that earnestness and quick optimism that made OG Star Trek great.

And that is what this really is; it’s a 1960’s Star Trek brought into today.

The show uses cgi for ship exterior shots, but since the majority of the story is about what is inside the ship, these shots are more or less establishing shots.

And they are great! Just high quality fly-bys of a ship, with each time it appears on the screen you see a new angle. Most sci-fi nerds can quickly deduce what are engines, habitats, and other ship accessories without being overwhelmed with techno-babble. The ship runs on nuclear engines, built with earth materials, and relies on rotational gravity.

The interior is pretty great too! It’s just a straight up utilitarian starship that really does grab the vibe of TOS. Hallway scenes rearrange the sets to make it look bigger. Quarters are small and simple, no luxuries, just a place to live.

The crew has all the typical tropes as well, but they pull it off well! Most of them have a “secret” that gets revealed later on and, to be honest, none are really earth shattering, but totally work in this story. For example, one character has a secret terminal disease. Another is a secret addict. Another is part of a secret agenda. All the normal stuff, but just done well.

The actors and crew are great! Production is done in Europe with a lot of various European actors taking lead roles, giving the ship an authentic feel of diversity.

I really don’t want to spoil anymore of the show except for this; if you ever wished Voyager would’ve dove deeper into stories of isolation, scarce resources, and mutiny, then this is your show.

The show also does a solid job of bringing the morals of Star Trek into the shows storylines without being overly preachy. Often the characters will make decisions these correct decisions after working through the various implications. They do this without the Starfleet moral compass, having to learn the impact of their decisions in real time.

The show is also just the right about of “TV” production to sell it. Never once does it try to be a movie by forcing in cinematic shots, elaborate set pieces, or drawn out dramas. The bridge is just tables, chairs, and computers, almost set up like a small office team center.

It’s also refreshing to get a Star Trek style show without the Star Trek baggage. I’m not watching a show, wondering how it fits into canon or deconstructing the plot, I’m just watching it. And it has surprised me. They do great twists and reveals that hit the story telling beat of “oh yeah, I’ve seen this before, let’s see how they do it.”

And most of the time, it is done quite well.

Check it out on Apple TV or wherever you pirate your favorite shows .