Star Trek

[andersonh1]

Yeah, I read about this one. Someone put Omega molecule mines all around the borders of the Federation? Sounds like the writers not only don't realize how impossibly huge the Federation is and how many billions or trillions or quadrillions of mines would be needed, but also that space is three dimensional. If there's a ring of mines, just fly over or under them. And just how many years or decades would be needed to lay these mines? Wouldn't something or someone have set one off already in all that time? The whole idea is absolutely unworkable.

[Sparky Prime]

Yeah, I read about this one. Someone put Omega molecule mines all around the borders of the Federation? Sounds like the writers not only don't realize how impossibly huge the Federation is and how many billions or trillions or quadrillions of mines would be needed, but also that space is three dimensional. If there's a ring of mines, just fly over or under them. And just how many years or decades would be needed to lay these mines? Wouldn't something or someone have set one off already in all that time? The whole idea is absolutely unworkable.

To be fair, there seems to be some confusion over a map they show in the episode. It initially shows the mines as a bubble around Federation space, but when it switches to a top down view, it fades out the mines in the middle to allow the stars/labels within Federation space to be clearly visible, which makes it seem like the mines are on a two dimensional plane. They could have made it clearer if they hadn't completely faded out the mines over the top. But the mines are meant to be spread around Federation space in three dimensions.

At the end of the episode, they zoom out from the Athena parked next to the bubble.... But this visual makes it seem like the galaxy is comedically small. Various celestial bodies are impossibly close together and mis-proportioned. The curvature of the energy field between the mines is also visible, which, if it actually spanned thousands of lightyears, should look more like a flat wall this close to it.

I'm curious if the writers will attempt to explain how the Venari Ral accomplished any of this in the next episode. If they do, I doubt they'll be able to explain it in a satisfying way.