Forum:Are the episodes with stardates flashbacks?

This has been bugging me for sometime now, the Captain Logs talk about events that sometimes are not seen until later in the episode (like TOS: Man Trap) Kirk makes the log entry: ''Captain's log, additional entry. Since our mission was routine, we had beamed down to the planet without suspicion. We were totally unaware that each member of the landing party was seeing a different woman, a different Nancy Crater." yet no one at that time knows this fact? Marc Chase
 * Yeah, some log entries are recorded after-the-fact. Kirk does this, for example, in, when recording a log entry about a dinner with the Klingons after the dinner has been had. This method of recording is far different from "flashbacks", though. --Defiant 18:43, November 16, 2011 (UTC)

no in TOS: Man Trap he created the log, before the event took place, for us the viewer, we knew that Nancy was a creature, but for Jim, Bones and the Enterprise crew they were still figuring out what killed the "extras" that beamed down to the planet. almost as if we the viewer are watching a documentary show of the USS Enterprise narrated by James T Kirk, the best example is the DS9 episode that Sisko and Garrek kills the Romulan senator to get the Romulans to join the Federation/Klingon fight against the Dominion (pale moonlight) I think is the title   Marc Chase


 * That episode is . You seem to be assuming (incorrectly, in my opinion) that the moment in the episode when the log entry is heard is always the same moment it's being recorded. I don't believe that's necessarily true. --Defiant 20:52, November 16, 2011 (UTC)

You just made the point by stating "that the moment in the episode when the log entry is heard is always the same moment it's being recorded. I don't believe that's necessarily true." it means that:

1. The event(s) HAD ALREADY played out to the crew of the Enterprise or DS9

2. Then the Commander or Captain creates his log based on those events otherwise we the viewer would not hear the log entry.

3. Then the viewer hears & sees the whole picture in the form of an episode on TV.

I always figured that most of the time we the viewers were "Starfleet Command" reviewing the logs of the crew under our command.

In my old job I had the same type of logs to make, I was a Federal Law Enforcement Officer and every day the following took place:

1. The 15 officers on the team each wrote a log detailing the events of the day in Star Trek:TNG this would be like a transporter tech creating a log

2. At the end of each day we gave that log to the team's CPL.      in Star Trek:TNG this would be like O'Brien's team giving him their logs

3. The CPL takes the 15 logs & create one log that highlighted the major events, The CPL of each team then gave that one log the SGT.     in Star Trek:TNG this would be like O'Brien giving the log to LaForge

4. The SGT then signs off on the log and hands it to the LT     in Star Trek:TNG this would be like LaForge giving the log to Riker

5. The LT took the 6 logs (1 per team) created his own report on the day's events and that was given to the CAPT. in Star Trek:TNG this would be like Riker giving the log to Picard

6. The CAPT then gives weekly report to the Major in Star Trek:TNG this would be Picard giving a report to Starfleet

A person can ONLY make a Log entry if an EVENT took place, so the only times a Capt Log is made is as the event is taking place (any police officer will tell you that is a hard thing to do) or AFTER the event is over. if the episode that we the viewer hears Kirk making a Log entry that states that "I (Kirk) was attacked by a green skinned creature." at the same time we the viewer are seeing Kirk being attacked, that means that Kirk won the fight because he is documenting the event after it was completed. if on the other-hand Kirk's log states "I (Kirk) am being attacked by a green skinned creature." at the same time we the viewer are seeing Kirk being attacked, that means Kirk is talking to himself or that the crew of the Enterprise is recording his log, and we do not yet know the outcome of the fight.

Sorry about the log winded approach to this question, but my friend and I are creating a timeline now that the Prime universe's live and animated action is more or less done, and we wanted to know if Archer states "Captain's starlog. May 6, 2151." if we should place the events on that day or on May 1-4, 2151 I know it's petty but we have a lot of free time on a 12hr midnight shift :-) Marc Chase


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 * The overall point here is that just because the log entry was recorded later than what we are seeing doesn't make the relevant event a "flashback". Think of it as what you are seeing is a recording to go with the log entry.--31dot 14:27, November 17, 2011 (UTC)