Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron052.txt

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Subj:  Answers
Date:  8/28/97 11:12:55 PM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<are there any plans for new children actors to be feautured in Star Trek
(if i was a kid, i'd sign up)>>

Alexander is coming back, but that's the closest that we have planned.

<<are there any blooper reels from the Star Trek series and first season of
TNG? Ron, did you ever even make blooper reels for voyager and DS9, if not
describe one or two of the bloopers if you were ever on the set.>>

There are no "official" blooper reels for sale from any of the series,
although bootleg copies of the TOS and 1st season TNG bloopers have been
around for years and can usually be found at conventions.  DS9 and Voyager
haven't made any official blooper reels either, although one suspects that
*someone* must have them somewhere.

<<Truthfully, do you think Shatner wears a toupee?>>

This is the first I've heard of this.  Who started this foul rumor?  Sheesh,
the things people will say...

<<In the latest issue of the Star Trek Communicator there's a picture of the
DS9 cast (in character) sitting around a table in the conference room. They
are all looking at the camera and holding little signs that say "(sad)"
except for Michael Dorn who's hold his upside down. 
So what the heck was going on there? >>

This was part of a gag we did for Robert Wolfe when he left the show.  We
re-wrote a scene from the final episode where the entire cast was talking in
the Wardroom about Robert leaving the show.  The final bit in the scene was
each of them holding up a sign saying "(sad)" which is an inside joke having
to do with our use of parenthetical instructions to the actors (i.e. (with
feeling) or (with humor) or (angry)).  They were all supposed to be (sad)
about Robert leaving the show.  You had to be there.

<<About  the Rite of Separation---Why would it even be needed if everyone
went to the Prophets to make sure that they were all meant to walk the same
path? Why doesn't everyone go to the Prophets everytime they meet someone
they might like to be with...>>

We assume that not everyone has access to the Orbs whenever they have a
question about their relationships (Shakaar was the First Minister after all,
and rank hath its priveledges) and also that the messages from the Orbs are
often murky or confusing and may not always provide the clearest answers in
matters of the heart.

<<Why did Kira go to the Kendis Shrine with Shakaar when she did not go with
Bareil? The only answer that I can come up with is this: She had no doubts
about Bareil...she had an Orb vision and mistakenly believed that it meant
that they were meant to walk the same path...and she loved him...whereas,
with Shakaar, there may have been sexual attraction (which, without real
love, is at best only fleeting), but as for love, she was really more
flattered than anything..>>

I think you're right in that Kira's feelings for Bareil were much clearer to
her than her feelings for Shakaar and that she must've been questioning the
relationship to begin with before they went to the shrine.

<<When she discovered the datapadd on How to Find and Win Your Perfect Mate,
it was a datapadd that Odo had acquired when he was a solid...and since he
had become a changeling again, her belief may have been that with his
becoming a changeling again, that he was no longer interested in
coupling....it is interesting to note that she made the effort to try and get
him to think about it anyway...she told him that there were plenty of women
who would be interested in him if he would just give them a chance...and I
could not help but wonder...

Was she fishing?>>

I think she was definitely fishing, but not necessarily out of her own
(conscious) interest in him.
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Subj:  Answers
Date:  8/28/97 11:41:27 PM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<Were [the baby Changelings] really space explorers as the Female Changeling
said? Or were they exiles? Sent away for the opinions of their parents? Or
sent away because even within the changeling race, there is a form of
racism?>>

Our thinking at the moment is that they were indeed sent out to explore the
galaxy and report back, but it's possible that we'll uncover deeper
motivations at a later time.

<<Ron, can we carry your implication of Worf's reconciliation with Alexander
to mean Alexander will return in the new season. If so, what age will he be?
According to canon, he should be only about 8 or 9 years old. Will it be a
new actor?>>

We've always had older children playing Alexander and justified it on the
notion that Klingons mature faster than humans.  We have cast a new actor in
the role and he should appear to be in his mid-teens on camera.

<<could we see the daughter of Tasha Yar??? Sela?   In  DS9 episode???>>

I don't think Sela's coming to DS9.

<<why would the Federation get involved in a war between the Cardassians and
the Maquis.  I know that the Maquis were Federation citizen at one time, but
when they went to war with the Cardassians they WERE NOT federations
citizens, and even more, if I understand "Journey's End" correctly, the
Maquis were living in Cardassian space.   To me it just seems like the
Federation is sticking there nose where it did not belong.  What do you
think?>>

All Human colonists were supposed to evacuate certain worlds in the DMZ as
part of the treaty between the UFP and the Cardassians.  Some colonists not
only elected to remain behind, but also began a terrorist campaign against
the Cardassians, which then prompted retaliatory strikes from Cardassia which
in turn threatened to ignite a new war between Cardassia and the UFP. The
Cardassian strikes were hitting innocent human settlements in addition to
Maquis military camps, which forced the Fed to intercede.  While not all the
Maquis were living in Cardassian space, (some were in the DMZ and some were
even on Federation worlds) the Cardassians certainly blamed the UFP for the
Maquis raids just as the Feds blamed the Cardassian government for attacks
perpetrated by Cardassian colonists.

That's the official rationale for the Fed campaign against the Maquis, but
Eddington's statement that the real problem is that the Maquis have left the
Federation and that *no one* leaves the Federation, has more than a kernal of
truth in it.  There's a sense of betrayal associated with the Maquis in the
minds of the people in the Federation, regardless of whether that's an
irrational feeling or not.  Add to that sense of betrayal the fact that the
Maquis have harassed and attacked several Federation targets over the years
and you begin to see why the Feds refuse to turn a blind eye to this group.

<< I always thought it was odd for nobody on the station except the O'Briens
to be very concerned about Kira while she was giving birth...not Bashir, not
Odo, not even Sisko or Dax, all supposedly friends of hers!  Was this
deliberate or did you just not think it important for anybody else to care
about Kira at that point?>>

There was no suggestion that Kira or the baby were in any trouble, so there
wasn't much for the other characters to say other than "Hope everything's all
right," or "I heard it's going well," so we just decided that the concern and
support of Kira's friends should be taken as read.

<<Is it true that Colm Meany is leaving DS9 this season?>>

Let me be crystal clear:  Colm Meany is not, has not, and will not be leaving
the show.  Period.

<<Star Trek Generations rewritten on the web>>

I haven't got the slightest interest in reading this thing.  

<<So what about "Mister Bashir?" That is, the mirror Bashir that appeared in
"Through the Looking Glass" and "Shattered Mirror."  Is he genetically
enhanced too?  Or is he the end result of what "Jules" would have become?>>

This is territory we haven't discussed among the staff as yet.
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Subj:  Answers
Date:  8/29/97 12:10:40 AM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<DS9 isn't writing the stories that it used to, and isn't working its
strengths.  The first two seasons were phenomenal.   The Bajoran issues were
exciting, and the Cardassians fit in well in the backdrop as 3-Dimensional
interesting aliens in relationship to Bajor.  The Maquis were then brought
in, and they are perhaps the most interesting villians in the Trek universe.
 Then we got the Dominion and the Defiant, and     3-Dimensional aliens that
you could understand were moved to second place and we got the Jem H'dar, bad
guys to the core.  In the third season, we got only a couple Bajoran stories,
and while they were some of the best, they were the exception, not the rule.
 In season four, we got the Klingons, and the Bajoran stories were all but
gone.  Season five has done a lot to bring Bajor back into the picture, but I
agree that DS9 seems to have shifted in the last few years.  Do you think
that the series would have been better off as it was in the first two
seasons?  What do you think?>>

Well, it depends on what you think of as our strengths.  I personally don't
think of the first two seasons as playing to the strength of the series.
 While Bajor was and continues to be an interesting place, I think that the
show is about the characters on the station first and foremost.  Bajor is a
cool place to visit, but I wouldn't want the show to live there.  I've never
been in love with the Maquis or regarded them as good villains primarily
because their fight was about issues having little to do with DS9 (the DMZ
being a fair distance from the station).  I felt that the Maquis only got
interesting when we learned that Kasidy and Eddington were in the
organization.

I think that DS9 has been at its best in the last two seasons because we've
found a balance in our storytelling that allows us to do a wide variety of
shows featuring the Bajorans, the Klingons, the Cardassians, etc, and I
wouldn't want the show to go back to the way things were in Seasons 1& 2.

<<has there been an active attempt to reduce technobabble, or is it one of
those things that's just sort of happened?>>

It's been a deliberate decision on the part of the writers starting in Season
3.  We hate the (TECH) and try to keep it at a tolerable minimum.

<<Unfortunately, the writers don't seem to be interested [in Bajor]. After
all, Ron is the guy who thinks the bajoran earring has no symbolic
significance! Also, its always been rumored that Paramount nixed bajor
stories because they were thought to be unpopular with the male audience.>>

First of all, I never said the Bajoran earring has no significance.  I said
that I didn't think that the Bajorans had a "thing for ears" just because
they wore earrings and that's the way you read someone's pagh.  Of course the
earring is significant!  And of course, there's some reason you read a pagh
by grabbing an ear, but that doesn't mean they have an ear fetish, which is
all I meant.

Second of all, the writers have not lost interest in Bajor.  As I said above,
we simply like to tell a variety of tales with a variety of aliens,
*including* the Bajorans.  Bajoran culture is part and parcel of the show --
I mean, we're on a Bajoran station, Kira is a Bajoran, Odo works for the
Bajorans, Sisko is the Emissary to the Bajorans -- we don't feel like we're
neglecting them.

Thirdly, market research done on the show a few years ago did indicate that
by and large the audience didn't like the Bajorans.  Not just the males, mind
you, EVERYONE.  And we're talking *fans* here -- people who know Odo from an
Orb and Sisko from Seska.  That had an impact, I won't tell you that it
didn't, but I will stress that the current mixture of Bajoran and non-Bajoran
stories is driven by the desires and interests of the writing staff, not a
dictate from Paramount.  If you don't like what we're doing, blame us, not
the studio.
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Subj:  Answers
Date:  8/29/97 12:31:45 AM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<We've seen two Jem'Hadar rebellion attempts lately, and I don't think the
Vorta are terribly loyal to begin with.  Ron, any chance we may see the
Dominion's power structrue start to crack this season?>>

You never know...

<<I'm not sure, did you say that the Playmates Gen uniforms will replace the
FC uniforms?>>

No.  The FC uniforms will not be changing in the foreseeable future and the
only places you'll see the aborted uniforms for Generations are on the
Playmates figures.

<<What I don't buy is the "no changeling has ever harmed another changeling"
garbage...they hurt Odo the moment they sent him away in a space
craft...strapped a helpless defenseless infant alone in a space craft and let
him drift in space.>>

<<ANY sexual contact between the female founder and Odo is, in my opinion
statuatory rape...even if Odo consents to it...because the female founder
knows that Odo is young for a changeling.>>

You're on dangerous ground when you start comparing "baby" changelings to
baby humans.   It's apples and shapeshifters.  The Founders certainly don't
see themselves as "abusing" their young nor do they even have true genders,
much less sexual taboos.

<<The questions is, do you see much more develop in the works for Ferengi
"commerce" characters like Quark and the Nagus, or will the focus be more on
the issues of Ferengi integration into Starfleet with Rom and Nog stories?>>

I think we'll be doing both types of shows this year.

<<Why is it that, in a 24th century society where science dominates daily
life, visions of the future seem to be in such short supply?  Have you ever
considered showing the audience what would pass for science fiction in the
eyes of Sisko and Co.?>>

It's a notion that's come up from time to time in our discussions.  The
problem is that we're already pushing the envelope of what's scientifically
believable in the 24th century.  Trying to come up with what these characters
would dream of in their own science fiction constructs is extremely difficult
if not impossible (at least for me).  

<<Got a chance to watch "Yesterday's Enterprise" for the first time in a
while the other day.  Still an excellent epiosde.  Two questions:  First,
there was an amost overt hostility between the alternate Picard and Riker.
 Was there a rationale behind this, or was it just thrown in to add another
facet to the difference between the altered timeline and "our" reality.>>

This was just another nuance we threw in to show the differences between
"our" reality and the darker alternate reality.

<<Second, I recall reading somewhere that this episode evolved from a story
involving the Guardian of Forever and someone having to repair the timeline
by go back in time and assuming the role of Surak.  Was this the original
sotry, and if so how did you get from Surak and the GoF to Tasha Yar and the
Enterprise-C?>>

Although Eric Stilwell and Trent Ganino's original story may have had these
elements, the script they wrote (and which I began working on soon after my
arrival on staff) did not contain them and instead featured a version of the
"temporal rift" that is in the current episode as the method of time travel.

<<And a question about All Good Things.  In that episode, the concept of a
"medical ship" was introduced.  Is you feeling that this type of ship that
exists "currently" in Starfleet and we've just never seen one, or that it was
something that was developed sometime during the alternate future? >>

I think that there are such vessels in the "current" Starfleet, albeit of a
different design than the one seen in AGT.
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Subj:  Answers
Date:  8/29/97 12:44:55 AM
From:  RonDMoore       

<<Can you tell me why you bring back characters that no one even wants to
see.>>

It's a conspiracy.  We're all in on it.

<<Why don't you bring back some people that the audience want to see, like
Sito Jaxa, Shannon Fill, probally one of the best guest on TNG, I know that
her return has been brought up several times, well follow through on it.
Thomas Riker, a golden character. Ensign Ro, probally the most liked walk-on,
besides Garak, what happened to her after she joined the Maquis? She just
died, I doubt it.   TELL ME RON!!>>

Sito's dead.  Tom Riker may or may not get rescued at some point.  And no
one's burning to tell an Ensign Ro story.  DID YOU HEAR THAT??

<< I was wondering if you could give me a guestimate on how long it would
take for the Defiant to melt the crust of a planet (like in The Die is
cast).>>

It depends on whether there's whipped cream on top or a yummy fruit filling
inside or a dozen other factors too technical to get into on this board.

<<Will you ever give us any details to the game Parisi Squares, or will that
just remain one of the ST mysteries?>>

It'll probably remain a mystery.

<< In "Soldiers of the Empire", right before Worf fought Martok, there was a
small clip of Dax
pushing some buttons on a control panel. What was she doing?>>

Dax was actually sending a message to Ortakin (Tavana's lover) warning him of
the impending mutiny.  Ortakin shows up on the Bridge a few seconds later
with two other armed Klingons.  The cutaway to Dax didn't read as well on
camera as we had hoped and now Ortakin's arrival is a bit mysterious.

<<Why is there no Voice over in the opening of DS9?  Or Voyager for that
matter? >>

This was a decision made by Michael and Rick when they created DS9.
 Personally, I think it was a mistake and I wish we had Sisko saying some
version of  "Space, the Final Frontier..."
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