Sign in to follow this  
A l t e r E g o

The TCW

Cheap Device or Brilliant Story Telling?  

36 members have voted

  1. 1. Cheap Device or Brilliant Story Telling?

    • Brilliant Story Telling
      25
    • Cheap Device
      5
    • Whats the "TCW"?
      6


Recommended Posts

The Temporal Cold War is imo, brilliant story telling.

 

I was just reading The Expanse and I realised how excellent of an idea the TCW is for causing ENT to be a better tale to tell than without it.

 

Without it ENT would have been stale and predictable, I love wondering if the end result will be "everything worked out just fine" or "oh crap, the timeline's been changed!"

 

While I do believe the ptb will have everything turn out ok and the future will be as it should be I still get a kick out of wondering; what if it don't... :bow:

 

So what are your thoughts on the TCW and how would you like it to end?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A pat answer, but it all depends on how it's done. I tend to like time travel stories. I would adore it if the Xindi's future guy turned out to be Henry Archer, or if the future Daniels is supposedly fighting to protect is actually a nonhospitable one. I really don't believe that ENT will end in a reset button.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

um............................ i can honestly say that im not too sure what the TCW is. i only tuned into ent regularly about halfway through season 2. i know about teh future guy, but thats about it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

TCW=temporal cold war. What the Suliban and apparently different future guys from different factions in the future are waging in the 22nd century because it's a focal point in time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I LOVE the TCW.It is the best idea for an on-going storyline since,the Dominion War arch on DS9.Even better than that I think!

The TCW just opens up soooo many opportunities for Enterprise's writers to truly go where no Trek series has ever gone,and free's them of the constraints of all those things that came before....many of which,made little sense to begin with.Can't say enough about the TCW. :bow:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think its a good idea. I have to agree that they won't use the reset button but they could still say it is a different time line and I really want to see who the future guy is. I still think its wesley :bow:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Stardate:213786.9

 

 

 

I love the TCW.MY favorite type of star trek episodes have always been time travel episdoes!!!So when they started a whole story arc around time travel i was very pleased indeed :bow:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I also like the stories about the TCW. The future guy brings something mysterious to the show. You'll never know whom to trust Daniels or the future guys.

 

I'm looking forward to much more of this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I voted that it's brilliant story telling!

 

Here's something to think about.

 

TOS / Movies 1-6

TNG / DS9 / VOY / Movies 7-10

31st Century

TCW Begins

ENT (alterred timeline, but of coarse, timeline is left in tact enough for the previous shows and movies to still "happen", we just pretend a line of dialog is different :bow: )

 

OR

 

ENT (final confrontation of TCW)

TOS / Movies 1-6

TNG / DS9 / VOY / Movies 7-10

31st Century (TCW Begins)

 

What if ENT takes place after the previous shows in the sense that it's in an alterred, but nere identical, timeline? Would be very interresting and leave established Trek mostly intact.

 

What if the TCW started becuase of the UFP, but in turn, causes it's existance to begin with?

 

What if the TCW started to protect a "possible future", but ends up severely alterring the past, thus creating an entirely different future of TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY?

 

Lots to think about. I love time travel and I love trying to solve temporal paradoxes! I wonder which one of the above will happen, perhaps something else I didn't think of?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i think that an idea for a real big twist would be the fact that the NX-01's mission was not supposed to happen, it was a domino effect that started by the future guy's communicating with the Suliban, and so Daniels involvment pulled in the humans:

"I didnt plan to involve the humans" - future guy, Broken Bow

and so at the end the timeline is restored, with Archer leading the way for the first miranda class ships before the Enterpise....

 

-------------------------------------------------------

 

another alternative is if it was Daniels that caused the domino effect and the future guy is trying to rectify the situation.

 

thoughts?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I voted brilliant story telling. The potential for story arc twists and turns is unlimited. I look forward to more TCW episodes! I also love the Xindi arc, which is really an extension of the TCW arc! I look forward each and every ENT ep. Can't wait for tonight!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I voted for brilliant story telling..I've always liked time travel episodes and the TCW arc..I hope there are more of them to come..Very enjoyable..

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest bella

I enjoy the time travel/TCW stories, but I wouldn't want them to be overdone so they become cheapened. I was happy with the number of epis we saw in Seasons 1 and 2.

 

I think it's an excellent story telling device. It allows the writers another tool to explore the Enterprise universe without having to think of different ways to achieve time travel each time and putting the Suliban et al into the mix gives lots of possibilities.

 

The TCW is a fun addition to Trek.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
At first I thought it was awesome, but time travel episodes almost always have errors in logic... and the logic of time travel often changes from one to another. They make interesting stand alones... and the TCW is fun and all, but its leaving the series as a whole open to time travel critism. For example, if the Xindi destroy Earth, Earth can't destroy the Xindi in the future, thus the Xindi wont know to destroy Earth in ent... I could go on and on with such questioning about any Star Trek episode involving time travel. Right now, Ent is using the TCW to create the problem with the Xindi... there is really only that one flaw with the idea, so it isn't a big deal, but if they start to deal with the TCW more directly, I might get annoyed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
... and the TCW is fun and all, but its leaving the series as a whole open to time travel critism.  For example, if the Xindi destroy Earth, Earth can't destroy the Xindi in the future, thus the Xindi wont know to destroy Earth in ent...  

 

I see what you mean but doesn't it work a little differently from that in this instance?

 

I mean we know earth survives unscathed until the future in the first time line [known history] but that was before Future Guy sends what could turn out to be false information [our destroying the Xindi] to the past.

 

It seems to me [one of the] FG's goals are to destroy Earth in the past to create a new timeline where (he hopes) our destruction will serve to make whatever plans he has become reality, Earth of the future is his greatest stumbling block for attaining his goals but at that time it is too powerful to beat in a fair fight, his only hope is to have it destroyed in the past.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

So you think future guy is the one who told the Xindi about that? How do you know it was him. I think it was probably another faction from the 26th. Future guy seems to be a good guy to me. It would be a nice twist though, that is, if they can explain why he still helped Enterprise in those few instances. But I don't think that your explanation removes the faults with the plausibility of time travel in such as manner. Just my opinion, please take no offence.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think its a good idea.  I have to agree that they won't use the reset button but they could still say it is a different time line and I really want to see who the future guy is.  I still think its wesley :lol:

Yeah, they could still say that but they had better not. If they do, I'd seriously need to rethink many things regarding the future of Trek and I.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
another alternative is if it was Daniels that caused the domino effect and the future guy is trying to rectify the situation. Thoughts?

 

That would be a kick in the head.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Brilliant storytelling? :lol: It's a cheap device. Why?

 

The writers are not brilliant enough to make ENT interesting without it ... cheap device.

 

TOS has proven that you don't need an arching TCW storyline to produce great time travel episodes. See The Naked Time, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, City On The Edge Of Forever, Assignment:Earth, etc.

 

BTW, the TCW idea started in TOS with Assignment:Earth, which Gene actually took to the network as a possible spin-off, but they didn't want the series so it didn't happen.

 

I don't like story arc's like the TCW because it takes away your ability to watch the show casually. I've missed a few shows this season and I'm lost. I don't know a thing about future guy and the rest of it, and if I can't watch a TV show casually I usually turn it off completely. It also squashes ratings since a new viewer can't tune in mid-season and know what's going on ... bad idea.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Brilliant storytelling?  :lol:  It's a cheap device. Why?

 

The writers are not brilliant enough to make ENT interesting without it ... cheap device.

 

TOS has proven that you don't need an arching TCW storyline to produce great time travel episodes. See The Naked Time, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, City On The Edge Of Forever, Assignment:Earth, etc.

 

BTW, the TCW idea started in TOS with Assignment:Earth, which Gene actually took to the network as a possible spin-off, but they didn't want the series so it didn't happen.

 

I don't like story arc's like the TCW because it takes away your ability to watch the show casually. I've missed a few shows this season and I'm lost. I don't know a thing about future guy and the rest of it, and if I can't watch a TV show casually I usually turn it off completely. It also squashes ratings since a new viewer can't tune in mid-season and know what's going on ... bad idea.

Originally Season 6 was planned to be a time travel-based series, but the concept evolve into a TOS prequal, then developed into ENTERPRISE. I think it's an excellent story arc. Just becuase a time-travel story arc is used, doesn't mean they can't do better. As for not liking story arcs, keep in mind that some of the best and highest-rated shows on TV have heavy story arcs. The TCW is what I'd call a light story arc, easy for casual viewers to catch on. As for future guy? He was seen in seasons 1&2, but has not yet been seen in season 3.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm really not sure...it depends on how it winds up whether I'll call it brilliant.

 

In Broken Bow

Click for Spoiler:

didn't Silik say the TCW didn't concern humans - then Archer intruded on their plan to disrupt the Klingon empire. Because of ENT's interference or whatever - humans became involved in TCW. I'm not sure who we can trust. Archer himself raised the issue that FG might not be on the up and up.

 

I just hope when it ends it ends - rather than some I wonder what will happen next sort of ending.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

TUH,

Click for Spoiler:

I thought FG said he did not want Humans to become involved with the TCW but no matter... As long as it pans out by the end I'll be happy.

 

Very interesting Big_Steve, you've peaked my interest in the TCW more than ever. :lol:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

AE,

My thinking was,

 

Click for Spoiler:

by interfering with Silik - they involved themselves - maybe not directly but I do wonder if they hadn't interfered to begin with if they wouldn't have gotten involved with the Xindi. It will be interesting to see how they resolve it

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, not that it matters much, since I'm obviously going against the grain here and most seem to accept trek in whatever form presented to them, but ...

 

I've been clicking the spoilers in TUH and AE's posts and I have no idea what they are talking about. You see, I missed the first two seasons of ENT entirely (not my fault, my cable service didn't start carrying UPN until this fall), so how can I enjoy this series?

 

I would like to see trek based on space exploration in the tradition of TOS, not time travel. If I wanted time travel in the tradition of Scott Bakula, I'd watch Quantum Leap re-runs ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Well, not that it matters much, since I'm obviously going against the grain here and most seem to accept trek in whatever form presented to them, but ...

 

I've been clicking the spoilers in TUH and AE's posts and I have no idea what they are talking about. You see, I missed the first two seasons of ENT entirely (not my fault, my cable service didn't start carrying UPN until this fall), so how can I enjoy this series?

 

I would like to see trek based on space exploration in the tradition of TOS, not time travel. If I wanted time travel in the tradition of Scott Bakula, I'd watch Quantum Leap re-runs  ;)

That's cool, but if it wasn't the TCW, it'd be some other story arc. The producers, before ENT premiered, said they wanted the series to find a balance between VOY's episodic style and DS9's serialised style.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this