Discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Q
posted by wonder2wonderSTAFFMOD on July 19, 2017 at 3:22 PM
Who or what is Q?
Q (played by John de Lancie) seems to be omnipotent and omniscient. He is not God, as there are more of his kind (Q Continuum) with similar powers, but he can be considered a god by lesser beings.
Q is the alpha (S1E1 & S1E2 "Encounter at Farpoint") and the omega (S7E25 & S7E26 "All Good Things...") of this series.
He has made numerous appearances and influenced the journey of the Enterprise and its crew in various ways (e.g. S2E16 "Q Who?").
At the end of this journey, is the whole series not just an experiment devised by the Q Continuum to explore humanity's right of existence?
As Q would put it:
"The trial never ends. We wanted to see if you had the ability to expand your mind and your horizons. And for one brief moment, you did."
And so, what is Q to us?
Is he a friend or a foe, a mentor or a bully?
Are we to him just "lab rats", toys to be played with for his amusement?
Reply by Moonglum9
on July 20, 2017 at 7:50 AM
I think we are like pet rats to Q, and lab rats to the rest of the Q continuum.
Reply by Maria Kelly
on July 30, 2017 at 6:54 PM
@Moonglum9
I feel that Q sees us as lab rats, but lab rats that he has grown fond of. I don't think the other Q's think about humans at all.
BTW, regarding what EXACTLY the Q's are, sometimes I get the impression that they may be TNG version of the Gallifrey Time Lords from Doctor Who. What is your opinion about this?
-------Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night--------
Reply by Nexus71
on July 30, 2017 at 7:19 PM
More like the adult versions of Trelane squire of Gothos.
Reply by Maria Kelly
on July 30, 2017 at 9:49 PM
@Nexus71 : Possibly. But I still like the Time Lord theory. It's kind of like the Amelia Earhart story. Even though the most likely explanation of what happened is that her plane just crashed into the ocean, a lot of people believe the caught by the Japanese while she was spying for the US sounds more romantic and not pointless.
--------Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night-------
Reply by Moonglum9
on July 31, 2017 at 7:45 AM
Time Lords. That's interesting. I've seen some Dr. Who episodes since it returned in the modern era and the only thing I've seen about Time Lords was that they were wiped out in a war. When I was a kid, I watched Dr. Who when Tom Baker episodes were aired in the States (the greatest Doctor in my biased opinion) but that was a while ago so I don't remember too much about the Time Lord lore. I can't recall how powerful they were supposed to be, but I never got the impression they were omnipotent. Maybe they were Qs in an earlier phase of evolution.
On a different note, was Billy Mumy in the classic Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life" a young Q? He certainly had their powers.
Reply by Maria Kelly
on August 1, 2017 at 6:06 PM
@Moonglum9
A lot of Trekkies think that Gary Seven is the Star Trek equivalent of Doctor Who. What they have in common: both of them come from mysterious planets (DW Galifrey, GS from an unknown planet that is able to cloak the entire planet); both have a pretty young female companion ( 2 for GS if you count Isis); pen-like devices (GS's Servo and DW's sonic screwdriver) What's your opinion about this?
As for Billy Mumy's character on The Twilight Zone, I think that he is possibly a mutant (as in X-Men mutant).
--------Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night------
Reply by Nexus71
on August 2, 2017 at 5:49 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adk1ujjmguo
Reply by Maria Kelly
on August 3, 2017 at 6:39 PM
@Nexus71 : I am not able to access YouTube but thank you for the address.
Reply by Moonglum9
on August 4, 2017 at 7:26 AM
@Nexus Pretty funny. How can one not like a video interspersed with screaming Daleks and the awesome Dr. Who theme music.
Reply by Nexus71
on August 4, 2017 at 4:51 PM
The Timelords (that was how they called themselves) later (under the name of KLF) made a single featuring the late Tammy Wynette called (the)Justified And Ancient(of Mu Mu).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7_ajdd99CM&list=RDH7_ajdd99CM#t=103
Reply by Maria Kelly
on August 4, 2017 at 10:18 PM
@Nexus71 : That is so cool! And if you have a taste for something different, check out the YouTube for the song "There's No One As Irish As Barack Obama".
-------Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night------
Reply by Nexus71
on August 11, 2017 at 4:40 PM
That one is funny MK but I should have guessed with a name like Kelly !now I'm waiting for a song "You can spot an Irish man from miles away on holiday"
Reply by Maria Kelly
on August 11, 2017 at 6:24 PM
@Nexus71
In 2016 I sent President Obama a St. Patrick's Day card and I got a nice letter in return!
---------Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night-------
Reply by Nexus71
on August 11, 2017 at 6:44 PM
What did it say Happy Hanukkah or was it accompanied by a bunch of chi-chi´s ?
Reply by Maria Kelly
on August 11, 2017 at 6:53 PM
@Nexus71 : If you're talking about the letter I got in return, it said thank you for writing, that he thought that Americans like me (WTF?) were helping the country more than he was.