Payback |
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Payback |
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by Eric Wing Convictions
Our many thanks and great appreciation go out to Steve Simmer for proof-reading and critiquing earlier drafts of this article.Introduction and Abstract:
The following article is a harsh, but well justified look at the continued deterioration of EFC even under the new-new direction. Though the article deals with specifics from the episode "Payback", many of the problems identified can generalize to bad episodes as a whole (which generalizes to season 2 as a whole). Furthermore, the damage in EFC identified in the article is not limited to minor offenses, but includes blatant racism and other forms of unjust discrimination both on and off camera, which shows an obscene disregard for the values held by Gene Roddenberry.
The intent was not to bash or slander, but to force the producers and writers to recognize the serious damage they have done to Gene Roddenberry's vision and force them to acknowledge their responsibility for these acts, in hopes that they will correct the mistakes. To do this however, we the fans of EFC and the supporters of the Roddenberry vision can no longer continue to remain silent in false hopes they will discover their own mistakes. Justified words must be spoken, even those harsh words that we would rather not speak.
So, in the following article you will find, a look at the propoganda surrounding the McCord departure and a deeper look into the accountability of others, particularly Paul Gertz (executive producer) and Stephen Roloff (lead production designer). There is a discussion about EFC's illegitimate use of technology in their episodes, leading into a section about Lisa Klink, one of the cowriters for this episode and former story editor and writer for Star Trek: Voyager. For contrast, a discussion of D.C. Fontana (Star Trek: The Original Series script consultant/writer) is introduced who also wrote an EFC season 1 episode, which in turn, underlines serious deficiencies in Klink's writing.
The article then begins looking at the specific events in the episode and how they demonstrate desperate writing techniques (plot devices substituted for actual stories) and a clear lack of direction, particularly with respect to characters.
From there the ideological flaws of the episode (and season 2 in general) are exposed. This leads into a explicit discussion about the Roddenberry vision and the Roddenberry method. (To our knowledge, this is the first attempt ever made to explicitly and in great detail, formalize his ideas and techniques at least in part.)
With this in place, "Payback" (and the rest of Season 2) is analyzed and further scrutinized for its failure to comply with the Roddenberry vision. But additional examination shows that not only has EFC failed to comply, but it has blatantly violated the very principles that Gene Roddenberry (and any decent civilized person) believed in, by promoting racism and discrimination.
Final remarks are made and the article reiterates that the writers failed to produce anything of substance, and wrote an hour long chase sequence centered around technobabble with racist connotations. With this in place, all that is left to analyze the technobabble that the writers shamelessly used, ending the serious part of the article.
On the lighter side of things, there are discussions about the metaphysics of teleportation (the Star Trek kind), and the quantum physics of teleportation toward the end of the article.
The McCord Propaganda (The Accountability of Gertz and Roloff)
Several months ago, it was announced that "Jonas McCord" was leaving EFC. We were told that he was the one primarily responsible for the new direction and the drop in quality in the series. However, before this announcement, little was known of his involvement. Yes, he was among the list of executive producers, but along with 4 other names in the executive producer list, plus the highly active Stephen Roloff, the lead production designer. News surrounding the McCord issue have also implied that Majel Barrett has been busy working on resurrecting other projects of Gene Roddenberry thus not deeply involved in this season, and have implied David Kirschner has also been uninvolved with this season. Seaton McLean seems to be more a financial backer and not directly involved with the production. This leaves us with Paul Gertz and Stephen Roloff. Gertz and Roloff were key people during season 1, and have been much more visible in the media than McCord, suggesting that they have much more involvement than we might be led to think.
Do Gertz and Roloff also share the responsibility for the decrepit state of season 2, or are they just mindless zombies succumbing to the will of the overlord McCord? A quick glance at the evidence shows us that in "Payback", EFC has finally escaped the never ending biological experimentation (techno-babble), but only in exchange for techno-babble in the field of physics. This episode, and the preceding episode "Second Chances" have demonstrated that the current production and writing staff is either unwilling or incapable of returning to the intelligent series we knew only one year ago. So this dispels the rumors that McCord was solely responsible for the changes and Gertz and Roloff do share in the responsibility. In fact, Gertz and Roloff have given interviews about the exciting new direction of season 2. In fact, quotes gathered from these two show that they seem to have little clue as to what made EFC unique in season 1, and suggest they lack either the integrity or discipline required to create and produce a unique science fiction series in a post-Star Trek, post-Babylon 5 era.
For instance, in an interview with Stephen Roloff, after the interviewer pointing out some drastic changes, "With the new cast, techniques, space exploration, what could be next? Time Travel?", Roloff responded with, [referring to interdimensional drive]"...obviously they'd [Taelons] be able to manipulate time to some degree. So it's inevitable, and way too fertile a ground for science fiction not to take advantage of that from time to time." (Sci-Fi Entertainment, January 1999)
Paul Gertz also seems oblivious as to what science fiction is by Gene Roddenberry's standard. Speaking about the changes coming in season two at the end of season 1, he is quoted as saying, "There will hopefully be more tension, more excitement - and definitely more Sci-Fi." (TV Zone, July? 1998) Apparently, Gertz doesn't comprehend that Gene Roddenberry created Earth: Final Conflict to be different than Star Trek. It was created to be on Earth, in the not so far future for a purpose. By Gertz's definition of "Sci-Fi", Roddenberry wanted "less" of it. And though "less Sci-Fi" is an important truth about what Roddenberry intended the show to be, it still obscures what Roddenberry was truly after. Science fiction for Roddenberry was not about special effects and "gee whiz" gadgets, it was merely a medium to present social issues and complex interpersonal relationships.
But Gertz and Roloff are more content using illegitimate science to bastardize Roddenberry's vision. And this has become a clear damaging point to EFC all season. Time travel, cross dimensions, near death experiences, dream sequences, biological manipulation, etc. shows their lack of concern for legitimate use of plot devices and technology. Just because the possibility of these things is allowed for in science fiction, doesn't entail that they have a legitimate right to use any of these things. (An analogy might be: Just because George Lucas has the ability (influence and money) to incorporate explicit pornographic scenes in the upcoming Star Wars movie and have Liam Neeson constantly speak of the force power of libido, does not imply that Lucas should exploit this ability.) The lack of comprehension for this simple principle incriminates both Gertz and Roloff as people that share in the responsibility for the daunting state of season 2.
This is a sad point because only a year ago, they were perfectly in line with the Roddenberry vision and were beginning to redefine quality science-fiction. Such careful thought was placed into the series last season in all aspects (including stories, symbolism, direction, character development), it was awe inspiring. And in contrast of the goal to make the series more "Sci-Fi" in season 2, in season 1 David Kirschner revealed, "Our show is about communication." When asked about the idea of a Roddenberry series not being in space, he said the following:
"The blessing and the curse of Gene was that he created the most enduring TV series of all time. My hope, with this new show, is that people will see what a versatile storyteller he was, not unlike Robert Louis Stevenson, whose work ran the gamut from Treasure Island to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to A Child's Garden of Verses. There was so much more to Gene than starships. In fact, if this were just another show set on just another spacecraft, I would have declined. It was Roddenberry's intelligence and emotion that attracted me." (Yahoo Internet Life, December 1997)But now, communication has been replaced by bickering and the intelligence and emotion have been substituted with special effects and explosions. And of course, going into space (the mothership) was hypocritical and self-destructive. It is clear that the producers and writers have lost sight of what they had worked so hard to achieve. And it is a depressing sight to see since all members of the crew, including Gertz and Roloff, exhibited tremendous talent only a year ago. They need to step back and reevaluate what they are doing and return themselves with the Roddenberry vision. Until that happens, they will only further desecrate Roddenberry's vision, rather than being a positive contributors. And unfortunately, even after McCord's departure, there is no evidence that any meaningful reevaluation has taken place. Two episodes (actually five by the time of this posting) into the "post McCord era" has led us no closer to the now almost mythical and certainly legendary season 1.
Admittedly, we do not know the exact specifics of what is actually going on. All the conclusions are based upon what is being shown on the show, what is revealed by the press, and occasionally what is revealed by the actual people people actually running the show. But if anything, this shows that there is a lack of communication between the fans and the production that needs to be addressed.
As executive producer and lead production designer, Gertz and Roloff do hold a large share of the responsibility, but this is by no means an effort to single them out. There are many other people who also share responsibility for the deterioration of the show. And though this article is negative, this is not a call to further slander these people. It was written to bring attention to these blatant mistakes and have them take responsibility to address these problems.
Still hoping we may get our (formerly) favorite television series restored, we must not lose sight of the characteristics that made season 1 so great. And we must not let propaganda (i.e. the McCord departure) lull us into believing the show has suddenly gotten better. The fact of the matter is EFC still has not gotten any closer than it was at the beginning of the season, which is what this article will demonstrate for the episode "Payback".
Last updated: March 27, 1999
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