Headscratchers / SeaQuest DSV

• Defcon 5: Averted for being correctly named as "Defcon One" and that "You've (seaQuest) activated global defense systems." The confusing part is that in Greed for a Pirates Dream, Dr. Westphalen has taken command as Commander Ford and others are trapped on an island about to be engulfed by a lava eruption (and for some reason the weapons officer isn't "authorized" to fire weapons himself, despite being the highest ranking officer on the bridge at the time, essentially Officer of the Deck) and Captain Bridger is away on vacation. Westphalen eventually convinces the bridge crew to arm all of seaQuest's torpedoes, flood all tubes, and ready a firing solution that would hit the lava tube and vent the lava away from the island. Somehow despite all of the submarine's torpedoes being conventional weapons, arming all of them and getting them ready to fire sends a signal to UEO headquarters that claims nuclear war is underway and seemingly automatically activates the nuclear response forces! (It has been shown that nuclear weapon arming on seaQuest is a separate procedure that requires two keys, one for the Captain and one for the Executive Officer, as demonstrated in the Season One finale)
• What countries did Macronesia develop from, by the timeline of the 3rd season? This viewer can't figure out if it's some kind of land-based empire based in Australia, the future government of Australia, or a neighbor of Australia. The actor who plays the President is British but the character is clearly meant to be from an anglophone country other than England. So is Macronesia just "Imperial Future Australia?" Or is there still an Australia, with Macronesia as a rising economic power mostly based in sea colonies and islands? It seems like the writers of the show were trying to be vague to avoid offending actual Australians, but it's really not clear from the 3rd season where exactly Macronesia is.
  • Macronesia is an actual country, mate. It's not exactly a large nation - little more than a few islands. Surprisingly, it's actually in the US sphere.
    • That's Micronesia. Macronesia is essentially a made-up term, that sometimes is used to refer to the ANZAC nations as a contrast to the smaller nations that make up Micro-, Poly- and Melanesia.