Subj: Answers
Date: 97-03-24 14:16:02 EST
From: RonDMoore
<<For your reference, Ron, the Okudas' updated chronology places Kirk's
interupted retirement & meeting of Antonia after TMP & before TWOK which
seems to work better based on Jim's references to past events. Who's right?
You (and I haven't forgotten about that "two hundred years ago" flub ;-) or
the Okudas (Keepers of All Things Chronological)?>>
Theirs is certainly a valid extrapolation and I'd be willing to accept it.
At the time Brannon and I were writing it, I felt the events were taking
place before TMP because of Kirk's line about telling Antonia that he was
"returning to Starfleet" which felt like his attitude before TMP. But it
works either way.
<<I read that TPTB were considering doing an Imax Star Trek adventure. Any
info on that, Ron?>>
I believe this project is currently in development and that Rick Berman will
produce. Writer, cast, director, etc. have not been set.
<<I've love for Dax to get [her personality] back. We only ever see her now
when she's mooning about Worf. The absolute worst was in the two part
episode. Yeah, Worf's in the gamma quad, and yes, if they collapsed the
wormhole he'd be trapped there. Did she have to moan about it outwardly?
Did she have to whine at him before he left? It was embarrassing and
completely out of character, not to mention terribly offensive for a mate of
a Klingon. Not only that, but she sure doesn't seem to have a science officer
job anymore. You guys are exploring her sexuality so thoroughly that we have
to put up with talk about broken bones, but the smart, interesting and
intelligent Dax seems to have lost major IQ points because she's in a
relationship>>
So let me get this straight -- you're in love with someone, they're on a
dangerous mission and might be marooned forever on the other side of the
galaxy and voicing any concern about it is whining? Bunk. She is still the
science officer, but the fact that we're putting less technobabble in Terry
Farrell's mouth is to my way of think a plus rather than a minus and it's
more a reflection of our overall effort to pull WAY back on the technoTrek
than any commentary on Dax's intelligence.
<<Yeah, I also realize that the "the writers can do no wrong set" are going
to blast me, but I can live with that.>>
Don't hold your fire on my account. This folder is for you, the fans, to ask
questions and voice your opinions to me and I don't mind hearing criticism --
I just don't have to agree with it.
<<Will we be seeing Shakaar again before the end of the season?....What's
Kassidy up to these days?>>
No more Shakaar this year and I'm not sure if and when we'll be seeing him
again, or what our plans are for the character in the future. Ditto Kasidy.
<<Will Kira ever get promoted? If not, will we get some explanation why not?
Its starting to seem like a glaring oversight...>>
Promoting Kira would make her "Colonel Kira" ( and Lt. Col. Kira would still
be shortened to "Col. Kira" in dialog just as Lt. Cmdr. is shortened to
Commander) and none of us think this would sound very good. It's really that
simple and no other reason.
<<Looking back at the time you've spent on the show, are there any plot-lines
or scripts or character developments that really bug you? If you'd known then
what you know now, what would you have done differently?>>
Very few things -- I would've kept Odo as a humanoid for a longer period of
time, never done "Acquiel", rethought the Nexus, that sort of stuff.
<<Will we finally see a Starfleet like the old days - that could mobilize a
small task force in short order? >>
You just saw them put together a sizable fleet on short notice in "Inferno's
Light".
-----------------------
Subj: Answers
Date: 97-03-24 14:26:31 EST
From: RonDMoore
<<When Bajor finally decided to join the Federation and everyone was on DS9
to sign the treaty, where was the First Minister? And in the episode where
someone was killing off the members of the Shakaar resistance cell, Shakaar
himself never made an appearance. What's up? He shows up for Kira's
birthing but can't make it for the signing of the treaty????? >>
In both the examples you've cited, we had originally put Shakaar in the
episode, but then dropped him for budgetary reasons. His presence in either
show would've been nice and added some texture, but in the end, we could tell
the stories without him and so when something had to go, Shakaar was dropped
both times.
<<I realize that at least some tv writers are of the view that the actors are
just canvases upon which the writers paint, but the reality is that a
character is a combination of acting, writing and directing.>>
Are you talkin' to me? Are YOU talkin' to me?
I have no such illusions about the creative process. Once the script leaves
my cluttered desk, it's time for the actors, directors, cameramen, art
directors, visual efx people, etc. to bring their art to the work. This is a
collaborative business by it's very nature and there's a reason why so many
people get credit at the beginning and end of an episode.
<<Actually, one of my two criticisms of T&T, which I basically loved but had
two problems with, was Dax's stupid airhead behavior. She had to be
constantly reminded that she had a job to do. Her fangirl behavior got in
the way of her remembering to actually work. Everyone else somehow managed
to be fanboys but still do their jobs. So that's not a very good example of
Dax at her best. >>
I disagree (what a surprise). I think that Dax was one of the very best
parts of T&T for precisely the reason that you dislike her -- she was the
AUDIENCE in the episode. The whole point of doing T&T was to celebrate the
30th anniversary, salute TOS, and have fun. Dax was the character who really
allowed us to do that and I found both her role and Terry's performance to be
delightful.
<<Please tell us that, for the series finale of DS9, you are considering a
way to get Patrick Stewart involved in the plot and the episode. >>
Sorry, but this is not in the cards.
-------------------
Subj: Answers
Date: 97-03-24 14:47:23 EST
From: RonDMoore
<<will you be writing the next film?>>
I've gotten this question in three separate e-mail letters within the past
week and since it's not really a secret, I might as well post the response
for everyone.
I will not be working on the next film for what are purely personal creative
reasons. Paramount is ready to begin development of the next TNG film right
now, and I'm not. It's really not much more complex than that. This is not
to say that I'm burned out on the franchise or uninterested in the
characters, or sick of Trek, or anything else. I'm just not ready to sit
down and begin talking about Picard and Data again. I'm not creatively at a
place where I feel I can do my best work on another TNG movie. Paramount and
Star Trek have both been VERY good to me and given me a huge boost to my
career and I don't want to give them anything less than my best work in
return.
I'm proud of FC and feel that it was a really good film. In order to write
another film, I feel that I would have to do a better one than FC, and being
very honest with myself, I have to say that I can't do that right now. If
this was a year from now, maybe, but it's not a year from now, it's today.
Brannon also has decided against doing the movie, and I'd rather not speak
for him as to his own reasons why.
Writing the two last features was a delight and a privilege for me and I wish
everyone involved with the next film all the best and hope that they find it
as enjoyable and rewarding an experience as I did.