Lessons from Fan Fiction: Fans Can Fix Plot Holes

In her commentary to an episode of Angel, Jane Espenson half-jokingly comments about a mistake on the screen, then adds, "But the fans will explain it away."

Yes, fans are very useful.

In a not-bad Next Generation episode "Suddenly Human" the Enterprise rescues a group of teens from a Talarian training ship. One of them, Jono, is human. He was taken as an infant when the Talarians attacked a Federation station (which was in their territory).

Think Richter's Light in the Forest. Very much the same idea since Picard comes to the conclusion that ripping this kid away from the only family and culture that he knows might not be entirely healthy.

It is an interesting problem, and one of the reasons I like sci-fi generally and Star Trek specifically: I prefer the episodes that explore a single "What if?" problem in a neat arc.

Of course, some of these "What if?" problems are fairly complex. In reality, a neat arc may not be long enough to solve such a problem.

For instance, in "Suddenly Human," right after the rescue, the Enterprise contacts Jono/Jeremiah's living paternal grandmother. She is an admiral in Starfleet and is thrilled to learn that her grandson is still alive.

The episode does supply some very funny moments with

Jean Luc "I'd rather be anything but a parent" Picard.

So...what exactly is Picard supposed to tell her when he arrives back at Starfleet Headquarters? Sorry, Admiral Rossa, my personal gut told me to let your grandson go back to the people who killed your son and daughter-in-law.

This is where a lawsuit comes into play--or Picard gets demoted to man-who-scrubs-lavatories.

I fixed it. One of my fan fiction characters is a civilian working in First Contact (with a boss who insists on seeing every alien as "good and kind and sweet" a la Gene Roddenberry and Rimmer). While Picard is running around violating protocol, I have my character contact Starfleet whose Diplomatic Corp contacts the Talarian diplomats (or equivalent) as well as Admiral Rossa. An entire deal is worked out behind the scenes whereby Picard can make his gesture but the boy is still technically returned to Federation status; his grandmother will be visiting him in Talarian space.

She looks terribly sweet--she comes across as a straight talker.

Luckily, the writers made the last an actual possibility. The grandmother is portrayed as something of a hawk. She informs her grandson--who was raised in a Spartan-like militaristic culture--of his family's service, and she clearly means it in a military way. This was smart writing--kudos!--since it prepares the boy for a face-to-face meeting with someone who will be at least somewhat comprehensible to him. It also makes it more likely that she would respect the culture she is visiting and understand her grandson's choices. And the Talarians are more likely to respect her--despite their patriarchal leanings--than, say, a hippie grandma.

This is my favorite kind of fix: when the fan fiction is able to use already extant elements, not entirely rewrite them.