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Weekly Episode Discussion: TNG: "Q Who" Updated: Sep 21

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all 57 comments

[–]veggiepirate 42 points43 points ago

I could watch this loop for hours.

[–]bfmv 4 points5 points ago

So adorable

[–]Metal-Phoenix 20 points21 points ago

Now this brings up an interesting point:

How does Data reconcile the amount of responsibility it takes to keep an animal on a vessel that goes into military situations?

That is to say: "How responsible is it to keep an animal as a pet in that kind of situation?"

[–]mathazar 45 points46 points ago

The same way all the parents on the ship keep their children aboard?

[–]Metal-Phoenix 12 points13 points ago

DETAILS!

[–]GreenTeam 29 points30 points ago

The Enterprise isn't a military ship, it's a ship of exploration which sometimes gets involved in military situations. At any given time the Enterprise has a bunch of civilians on it: from the families of the crew to diplomats to colonist and merchants.

[–]Metal-Phoenix 9 points10 points ago

These are things I already knew... so, that said... since it isn't a military vehicle and therefore not properly equipped to handle military situations, how would he be able to justify the endangerment of an animal by bring it on a ship that gets into military conflicts?

[–]sirralen 25 points26 points ago

Galaxy class starships were the most heavily fortified ships outside of dedicated military vessels like the Akira class. That's why the Enterprise was able to travel the quadrant with impunity; it was safe to do so.

This unsubstantiated leap of logic brought to you by: Reading Memory Alpha At Work, the Life and Times of sirralen

[–]LonelyNixon 7 points8 points ago

Of course there were all those times where people were indeed in a massive amount of danger thanks to being on starfleet's flagship but meh they always pulled through

[–]aquanext 5 points6 points ago

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Computer, freeze program! Galaxy class starships were the most heavily fortified in starfleet: The Enterprise was the flagship of the federation fleet. It was way more powerful than an Akira class ship, although the Akira and other smaller ships were admittedly more maneuverable.

[–]Kronos6948 0 points1 point ago

Akira class starships were equipped with 16 photon torpedo launchers and, if I remember correctly, were developed after the enterprise's encounter with the Borg.

[–]hackingdreams 0 points1 point ago

It's worth noting that the Enterprise-D was the flagship of the fleet. The Flagship title was passed on to the Enterprise-E Sovereign-class starship, which became the most heavily fortified spacecraft in Starfleet.

It's also interesting that the Sovereign-class starships were seemingly much more militaristic in design, as they carried much more ordinance and more weapons platforms, being upgraded in between the events of Insurrection and Nemesis to be even more deadly.

[–]inertiaisbad 2 points3 points ago

Haha. STO player...busted! No Dilithium Ore for you!

[–]GreenTeam 7 points8 points ago

How'd do you justify anyone being on-board? As Kirk once said, "Risk is our business," not only is this true for Starfleet officers and crew but for Life itself. Without risk, there is no reward.

Sure, Spot never explicitly stated that it wanted to travel through space, but do less sentient creatures ever give full consent? My cat hates (rather, reacts poorly) when we move, but I can't just leave her at the old house or not move because of that. She's my cat, and I'm her human: we have a deal that I feed and protect her and she's cute and lovable. I'd assume most pet owners (including Data and Spot) have this or a similar dynamic.

Edit: Also, just because the Enterprise isn't a military ship doesn't mean it's improperly equipped to deal with those situations, as the show demonstrated often, it has several means of defending itself.

[–]sailorevan 1 point2 points ago

I take it as this: The "flagship" of the Federation (at the time, or at least, earlier on in the show) it wasn't a military ship but had a full array of weapons systems because the nature of its mission required their availability.

[–]TonyCubed 2 points3 points ago

As far as I'm aware, any ship carrying the name Enterprise at any given time of service was always the flagship. And it was military ship as much as it was an exploration vessel. It even has a 'battle bridge' which other ships don't have.

It's like how the Defiant Class ship was classed as an Escort based ship but was really a warship.

Also note, as far as I'm aware, if there is no Admiral or Fleet Admiral then the Enterprise takes command of the fleet because it's a flagship. There have been 2 occasions when this has happened (going off memory) was the Romulan cloaked ships trying to cross the neutral zone and again when the Borg tried to attack Earth in First Contact.

It's true that there are more types of ships suited for combat but it doesn't mean at all that the Enterprise isn't a complete military as it is, regardless if there is family aboard.

It's like how DS9 was the most fortified and heavily armed Federation starbase in the Quadrant, doesn't mean families can't stay on them.

[–]jaynone 4 points5 points ago

It even has a 'battle bridge' which other ships don't have.

Wasn't that so the aft end could go fight whatever while the saucer section chickened out and buggered off?

[–]JohnoTheFoolish 0 points1 point ago

Any modern naval vessel has auxiliary control systems and they are mostly not meant to break into pieces. Single point of failure is bad.

[–]LordCurlyFry 1 point2 points ago

The term "escort" essentially is a nice way of saying warship. Just like the US "Department of Defense" was renamed from the "Department of War"

[–]BrainWav 0 points1 point ago

The D and the 2009 one are the other ones, that I'm aware of, that have been mentioned onscreen as the flagship of the Federation. Though, none of them have served in the sense of carrying an admiral full-time, except for the All Good Things future version of the D.

[–]TonyCubed 0 points1 point ago

I'm not sure then because I know you have fleet flagships with Admirals but the Enterprise D was the flagship of the Federation so I'm going to assume there is some kind of special position for the Enterprise D.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

A ship of exploration which just happens to get assigned to attack and defence, and to be able to go toe to toe with the military ships of the other powers.

[–]goblinbee 2 points3 points ago

I know it's supposed to be a ship of exploration, but if I were a parent with a child on the Enterprise I would be a tad concerned, what with the ship nearly being destroyed several times a year.

I guess that begs the question, how much do the non-officers really know about what's going on? Do they realize just how often the ship is in danger? Even if things like getting fired at by Romulans or getting caught in a Dyson sphere are probably obvious to everyone involved, more subtle dangers like time loops and reality-benders might only be evident to people who are privy to the classified Starfleet reports on the activities of the ship. Then again, I can't imagine Picard keeping people in the dark about that kind of thing.

[–]mathazar 0 points1 point ago

To be fair, I could never really accept the idea of children on the Enterprise. It seems irresponsible to raise kids in such a dangerous place.

[–]jessrey 0 points1 point ago

Do we know how long spot has been Data's pet? Since before his tour on the Enterprise perhaps?

[–]Jaersh 11 points12 points ago

I'd be willing to bet that Porthos scares easier than Spot.

[–]tr3k 9 points10 points ago

Picard's goldfish never be skeerd

[–]oshitsuperciberg 4 points5 points ago

occasional

mmmhm

[–]Polythene_Man 3 points4 points ago

[–]saturn_v 1 point2 points ago

That video is awesome.

[–]tr3k 0 points1 point ago

lol nice link bro

[–]amedelman 3 points4 points ago

In my head I read the title as "Datass" cat...

[–]gerusz 5 points6 points ago

I'd imagine that after the 4th-5th time Spot would just get used to it and sleep it through. Cats, after all.

[–]gemcitytiffany 3 points4 points ago

To the people crying about how it's a repost, whatever, most of us have seen this before but it's still so darn cute that I don't care. If anything the handful of complaints annoy me more.

What I love most about this subreddit came through in shining form in this post. This simple gif somehow sparked a real discussion about ship classifications and all sorts of other fun and interesting stuff! I've always said the best actual conversations occur in this sub and I'll always stand by that statement. I love being a Trekkie!

[–]fdisk2053[S] 0 points1 point ago

Well put brother :), have an upvote ^_^

[–]tr3k 1 point2 points ago

I am 99% sure that clip is from cause and effect right before it explodes.

[–]FWS02 0 points1 point ago

This is completely amazing.

[–]Laura_of_Asshai 0 points1 point ago

Wasn't spot an orange cat?

[–]fdisk2053[S] 0 points1 point ago

Yes he was.

[–]Laura_of_Asshai 0 points1 point ago

Ah, thanks! I posted that and then I realized, why not just look it up! I guess it's too late for me to be up...

[–]philkensebben18-1 0 points1 point ago

Spot also had a gender change.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

I just remembered... Data's quarters have NO WINDOWS! So Spot wouldn't be doing that [/pushes glasses up]

[–]Neitsyt_Marian 0 points1 point ago

This .gif is relevant in each and every area of my life.

[–]Adspam 0 points1 point ago

Isnt this loop from the Next gen/klingon VHS Board Game 'The wrath of Kavok'?

[–]WonderPenguin 0 points1 point ago

My favorite gif of all time.

[–]MisterFlibble 0 points1 point ago

No Mr. Kitty. U can't haz navigation.

[–]mathazar 0 points1 point ago

Frasier traveled an awful long way to get away from Lilith.

[–]MHB210 -1 points0 points ago

Repost. Again.

[–]dghughes 0 points1 point ago

[–]mathazar -2 points-1 points ago

So much win. I hope it breaks the upvote record on this sub.

[–]fdisk2053[S] -1 points0 points ago

There is an upvote record? What is it?

[–]MtHammer 0 points1 point ago

It would appear that this comic has the current record with 1264 upvotes.

[–]mathazar 0 points1 point ago

Click Top and select links from All Time. The current highest post has 1265 upvotes.

[–]TheB1ade -2 points-1 points ago

Totally not a repost.

[–]vlarn -1 points0 points ago

DAE read that as "DAT ASS" cat instead of Data's Cat?

[–]feeblemuffin -3 points-2 points ago

so you just took a current, popular, image and provided a different title. at least use it as a metaphor and not something actually related to star trek.