War game episode and all from the Borg? Interesting.
Interesting statement from Picard about Starfleet not being a military organisation. That's some impressive optimism he has in his employers. Liked seeing his mounting frustration with Kolrami's bullying until he finally snapped and chewed him out. The line about mistakes to Data is fantastic. A couple of sweet grins shared with Riker to highlight their friendship.
Riker has a great attitude towards games and an even greater one towards La Forge's questions. Playing on Worf's psychology was a smooth move. Didn't take him long to warm up to Wesley's cheating. Continues to be a little irreverent even when the Ferengi show up.
La Forge is basically a miserable naysayer. Gets shit done, but does not like a moment of it.
Worf doesn't believe in war games. Still, he gets to do some great tactical work and Dorn's comedy chops are as fine as ever. The barely restrained anger when he breaks his model ship is a treat.
Troi tries to do some counselling work on Data, but it doesn't really take. Sure, she keeps him from an infinite loop of analysing Riker, but I think she's the only member of this ensemble who's poorly served by the episode.
Data goes through a crisis of confidence after losing the game. But he learns another valuable lesson about being human. Like Dorn, Spiner's comedy chops and sense of timing are on fire. Being perplexed by Pulaski mouthing was especially grand.
Wesley sneaking his experiment aboard almost feels Kirkian in how it rewrites the rules of the game. Would not have expected it from him. There's still an uncomfortable smugness in parts, but this is a better showing for him than his own focus episodes.
Absolutely love Pulaski in this. Despising Kolrami on principle already had me hooked, but she had so many moments like silently pleading with Data and lightly waving her arms in excitement when he agrees. Their friendship might be a subtle retcon, but I don't mind in the slightest, especially since she's basically playing mother to him now. Frankly, she's adorable.
Burke sticks out for being completely disinterested in whatever bollocks Wesley is on about.
Kolrami is certainly something. Smug, smarmy, catty and more than a bit camp, the way he runs onscreen in the first scene tells you everything about him. Entertainingly unpleasant.
The Ferengi are back as a serious villain. They're not quite as good as The Battle, but better than The Last Outpost.
The Hathaway is a beautiful ship. Much more angular and blocky than the curvy Enterprise. Even the dilapidated bridge has a functional look to its design that is great to look at. I loved hearing the old whistle, too.
Gaming archetypes seem to be today's theme. Even with being first hand witnesses to the Borg, neither Picard nor Riker finds the war game a particularly serious exercise and they treat it accordingly. Picard straight up teasing with his first move is honestly kind of cute. Compare this to Kolrami disliking Riker precisely because he enjoys himself and it's clear that he's a "stop having fun!" guy, though, to his credit, he quite likes the sensor scheme. This plays into Stratagema, too, which is blatantly an incomprehensible Atari game. Kolrami's drive to win and smugness when it inevitably happens is a neat contrast with Riker not minding his loss at all and just wanting to play for its own sake. Data, of course, loses self esteem over his loss, partly because Kolrami's attitude amounts to bullying, but is able to genuinely enjoy himself in the rematch by basically fucking around and finding out. Kolrami, naturally, rage quits against such a "cheap" strategy. Even Wesley's cheating is quickly appreciated because it lends to a more interesting game, without being an instant win condition. Finally, the Ferengi, in a nice redress of their capitalist nature, are opportunistic griefers. They spoil the game outright and get chased off by the other competitors.
Not a bad episode, at all.
Later today (maybe), we close with Shades of Gray.