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master_q

Pike should use Morse Code

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Captain Pike

 

As you know we see him in “The Menagerie.” We also find out that he can only say “yes” or “no” as a response.

 

However, why would he not try to use Morse Code?

Even if he did not know it then I think he could still learn it (this is from the fact that he could hear perfectly well and that his brain was in as good of shape as a average person).

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

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When they had the part where he just kept beeping NO NO NO, i kept thinking that these people needed to at least learn to play 20 questions. I could hav egotten it out of him! Sheeesh! :angry:

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I guess one can think of it as a plot device because it fit into him going to his “illusion” on the planet Spock brought him. However, like I stated it I think that he could have used morse code. Maybe they could have done something a bit different in terms of his disabilities that would not allow him to actually use something like morse code and at the same time be able to (in some way) to communicate “yes” and “no.” - Now that think about it maybe there is no easy fix on this to make everything a bit more creditable, but it is something to think about

 

 

Any thoughts to this end?

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

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It sure would have made more sense. But it's possible he had a brain damage that wouldn't allow the use of such a complicated communication system. Or maybe he just hadn't had time to learn it yet...?

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In TOS they said that his brain functions were as good as an average person.

So he would be able to learn Morse-code if he did not know it and this also dismisses the possibility that his brain could not process fast enough.

 

 

The only “excuse” I can think of is a plot device.

What does everyone think about that?

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

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I think it was more because of TOS's budget then anything else. They had to keep it simple and the Yes No system was the simplest.

 

In 23rd Century terms though, maybe it wasn't practical because not everyone he would encounter would know Morse Code. Kind of like us trying to use Egyptian Hieroglyphs, some people know how to read them but it's such an ancient form of writing that not many people can.

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I think it was more because of TOS's budget then anything else. They had to keep it simple and the Yes No system was the simplest.

 

In 23rd Century terms though, maybe it wasn't practical because not everyone he would encounter would know Morse Code. Kind of like us trying to use Egyptian Hieroglyphs, some people know how to read them but it's such an ancient form of writing that not many people can.

Well, I’m not exactly sure what TOS’s budget would have to do with anything

 

(The special effects for Morse code I don’t think would be too expensive if done right)

 

I would agree that not everyone knows of Morse code, but I think that’s a big deal.

 

If he used Morse code, then much of the story line would be different. (Just think about how the story would unfold.) But again the author maybe just never really put that much thought into it.

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

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I think it was more because of TOS's budget then anything else. They had to keep it simple and the Yes No system was the simplest.

 

In 23rd Century terms though, maybe it wasn't practical because not everyone he would encounter would know Morse Code. Kind of like us trying to use Egyptian Hieroglyphs, some people know how to read them but it's such an ancient form of writing that not many people can.

Well, I’m not exactly sure what TOS’s budget would have to do with anything

 

(The special effects for Morse code I don’t think would be too expensive if done right)

 

I would agree that not everyone knows of Morse code, but I think that’s a big deal.

 

If he used Morse code, then much of the story line would be different. (Just think about how the story would unfold.) But again the author maybe just never really put that much thought into it.

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

I think it just would have been a complication the writers and producers wouldn't have wanted to deal with. I agree that a simple Yes - No method was too simplistic but morse code would have been the total opposite, too complex.

 

Had their budget allowed I think they could have devised a better way of doing it. BUt the way the story was set up they didn't want him to be able to communicate very well that way no one could understand why Spock was taking him until the writers wanted them to know.

 

If he could speak through a computer interface or morse code then he could simply explain why it was important for him to go to Talos IV and the trip would have possibly been sanctioned, which would have ended the need to have a 2 parter using the original Pilot footage.

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Yeah, that’s what I have been saying - the only “excuse” really is, is that it’s a plot device.

 

But Things like the budget I don’t really think have anything to do with it because if it was done differently then what they did, then it would have taken away that plot device. (And if they actually gave him the ability to use Morse code, then I still don’t think that would really affect the budget because it still will be a series of blinks. The only way the budget would get into this as a variable if they done it completely different, but that’s not the point anyways.)

 

...

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

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