The Next Generation and it’s progeny had a number of annoying narrative crutches they relied on, such as the incessant “Captain’s Log” that started nearly every single episode. The other major one was the conference room. Both of these were used rarely in The Original Series, which usually started in media res, often not even on board the ship. The original Enterprise did have a briefing room, but it was used sparingly and certainly not in the midst of a crisis. Those discussions were left on the bridge.
The Next Generation, on the other hand, made it a point to take every important person off the bridge at any moment to sit around a table and leisurely confab. One of the most egregious examples is in “Q Who” where, after the ship has had a chunk of it removed by a still looming Borg vessel, the Enterprise just sits there while Picard calls a meeting. Could you imagine Kirk taking everyone down to the briefing room in “Corbomite Maneuver” with three minutes left on the counter to come up with his Big Balok Bluff?
This is not an appeal to tradition, though. The Enterprise D doesn’t have the same psuedo-military hierarchy as it’s parent show, and I respect TNG as its own kinder, gentler ensemble animal. Picard is a listener, not a dictator. People talk more and react less. The A.V. Club’s Zack Handlen once described The Next Generation bridge as a space for Picard to walk about and explore his options, as opposed to a place where he can just swing his chair one way or another and bark. There’s even more than one center seat so that everyone can sit down next to the captain and have their say.
That’s why, when looking at the many old Probert concept bridge samples Ryan sent me for the Vikrant I immediately seized on the ones that had replaced the captain chair completely with a conference table and also increased the size of the resources available to explore. I wanted to double down on the Next Generationness of The Next Generation while also keeping the action where it belongs – in the command center with the problem on screen in front of all involved. And, yeah, it looks even more like the lobby of a Hilton. So much the better.
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
-Chekov (Anton, not Pavel)
In other words, the late-Roddenberry, Berman-era penchant for confabs would seem to run afoul of the idea that a stortyteller should show, not tell.
“Show not tell” applies to exposition, not discussion. People still have to talk to reason things out, come up with solutions, and find common ground.
As a fan who would prefer to see a Starfleet that is as un-militaristic as possible, I like the conference room and was delighted to see you incorporate Probert’s brilliant concept into your ship’s design.
The frequent use of the conference room doesn’t bother me as much as it does you, or at least it didn’t once I figured out it was just behind the bridge, only a few steps away. But what does bother me are all the episodes where some hostile or potential hostile–a Cardassian, a Romulan, an unknown alien–got invited to meet with the senior staff in the conference room, because, um, doesn’t that mean they would have to be escorted through the bridge, the ship’s most sensitive facility, to get to the meeting? That seems unwise. They could be transported directly to the conference room, I suppose, but they’re still not very far from the bridge, should something go wrong.
I think the conference room should be restricted to those who have authorization to be on the bridge. But by my logic, there would need to be some other kind of meeting room, or maybe “reception room” is a better way to think of it, someplace else where visitors could be brought without compromising the ship’s security. But then, if the conference room is restricted to bridge personnel anyway, why wall it off from the bridge? So I guess this means I came around to your point of view anyway. 🙂
The conference room had a second door that allowed access without passing through the bridge.