Current Events > Star trek watchthrough. Ongoing spoilers.

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's probably a really silly idea, but I always liked the thought of the token non-human character in a new Trek series to be a swarm of those nanites replicating a human shape joining a starship's crew.

Probably be tough to write around though.

According to the non-canon novel Vendetta Pulaski went back to her previous assigment aboard The USS Repulse between saesons 2 and 3.

Its always cool to go back to an old series and spot bit players who would be in major roles much later, like, you watch this episode and its hey, its the guy from Scrubs!

Episode 2: The Ensigns of Command

More suicidal colonists to be babysat. Cool alien, though.

Picard's initial attempt at negotiations fails miserably. Deliberately being obstructive in his reading of the treaty and the righteously furious way he stomps around the bridge whilst making the Sheliak wait is brilliant.

Riker loves watching Picard be willfully annoying.

La Forge straight up lies to a barely interested Picard without any hesitation. Very snarky about his work.

Worf does not appreciate legal documents.

Crusher enjoys Data's recitals.

Troi has a pretty great discussion with Picard over language.

Data is supposedly the focus character for this episode, yet, apart from a few funny lines, there's very little of interest here. It's a very standard Data learns a lesson plot, but the bizarre insistence on Data being unemotional is a bit daft after previous episodes clearly solved that issue. Worse yet, he's clearly disheartened when he thinks Picard walked out of his concert. Even the episode can't keep its story straight, and if we're meant to take it as some sort of irony, well, they're playing it far too straight for that and, more importantly, there's no doubt that Data has emotions by this stage. The final discussion over music is decent and does suggest the irony reading.

Wesley exists.

O'Brien plays.

The Sheliak have a nice TOS inspired design. A race of people who's obsession with precision in language makes for a sort of anti language is a pretty great idea. Sort of wasted, though, even if their plot is the best part of the episode.

No love for the colonists. They're the standard, stupid homesteaders who are begging for an extinction event. A lot of hand wringing over the pride they have in their home and how it's their land is never going to make me particularly sympathetic to them. Making them easily led sheep who fall in line with a complete moron of a leader leaves me wanting to see the Sheliak win. Data is far too kind for his own good.

McKenzie is a love interest. A very standard stock character made mildly interesting only because her outfit is so different from the other colonists that she may as well be carrying a neon sign saying "main character". They can't even do a love interest right, though, because the need for Data to be a caricature of himself leaves him with no emotional investment in a plot about him. If we are going to end on "Data does actually have emotions", the kiss is the perfect place to do it, but the focus is on Data imitating a practice rather than believing it himself. The way he treated the little girl at the end (well, all, really) of Pen Pals is how you do this.

Which highlights my biggest issue with this: Data's story is boring. It's the most obvious plot one can do with him and it concerns an issue that should have been put to bed by The Measure of a Man at the latest. The stuff on the Enterprise is good, if a little standard, but potentially interesting discussions on language and/or music are given token scenes, but mostly ignored so Data can learn... how to lie? Except that doesn't work, so, how about....how to threaten? I mean, it vaguely links to the theme of language, I guess, but there's no coherency towards what it's saying and it's wrapped up in a tedious idiot plot. I suppose the shots of the mountain are quite nice and there's decent lighting on the planet and the Sheliak ship.

One hell of a step backwards after the last episode. A part of me wants to type more, but, what about? There's practically nothing here.

I'll check in with The Survivors tomorrow.

I actually think that The Ensigns Of Command is a better episode than Evolution.

But each to their own.

splodeymissile posted...

Wesley exists.

why did this make me chuckle? XD

I did like this episode for having a non-humanoid race, that's such a rarity in Trek.

I'm surprised you didn't mention Gosheven's voice being completely dubbed over.

And you noticed Wesley's extremely tiny role in this episode. Fun fact: that was an extremely fucked up power play on behalf of one of the producers. Wheaton was cast in a movie called Valmont which was filming in Paris. It was being made during TNG's summer hiatus, but shooting would extend into TNG's first week and this was the first episode to be made. The producers told his agent that they absolutely could not write him out of the episode because it was Wesley-focused and it'd include a scene between him and McFadden that would move their relationship forward and be really important to the series.

So he doesn't take the role in Valmont and then they write him out of the episode entirely.

The reason I give those glib comments on certain characters is because it never ceases to amuse me that a supposed main cast member just rocks up to make their presence known and accomplishes little else. This particular example does sound like one hell of a dick move, though. Equally amusing is to me is when someone is listed in the opening credits, but is a complete no show in the episode proper.

Didn't notice the acting disrepency, but, to be honest, whos playing who is the least of my issues with those idiots.

Also, life got in the way, so, this review is happening a bit later than when i actually saw the episode.

Episode 3: The Survivors

It's an interesting premise for a mystery.

Picard is very sweet towards Troi. Figures out what's up with the colonists before anyone and has quite a dark air about him when testing his theory.

Riker doesn't have a particularly good day. Trying to act professional when hanging upside down is a great moment. Horrified by Picard's odd behaviour, but loyal enough to go along with it.

La Forge definitely feels like the Sulu of this show. Always fun to have around, but being the most normal of the bunch means there's usually very little to say.

Worf has some great comedy moments. "Good tea, nice house" is fantastic.

Crusher mostly does her job, but she joins Picard in being gobsmacked and horrified by Kevin's crime.

Sirtis acts her arse off in showing Troi's pain and distress over the incessant music. Children's music has a remarkable ability of being make incredibly creepy with just a shift in context. I think the episode may have been stronger if it gave her even more screen time.

Data has a lovely childlike reaction to the music.

Wesley mostly does his job, but rattling off warp numbers is a surprisingly compelling moment from him. I think he became just another member of the cast in that moment, rather than a problem character. Let's hope it lasts.

The titular survivors don't do much more for me than the colonists in the previous episode did, even with the obvious fact that they're hiding something. Maybe it's just an archetype I don't care much for. Kevin does have a brilliant final scene, where his grief is utterly palpable.

I don't think I've discussed them yet, so, I'll bring up that I've noticed that the show is much brighter and vibrant than the previous seasons. Also, I love the visuals in the new opening, though I'm still not sold on this particular version of the theme. The bit at the end doesn't sound right. For the episode itself, it's a nice disconnect seeing a beautiful farm like area sharply transition into a barren desert. The enemy ship has a lovely militant design. Unfortunately, like most mystery plots, there's a tendency for the episode to spin its wheels and it ain't great that the answer comes in one hell of a plot dump, though its at least well acted. It kind of irks me that the answer is another godlike being, too. Q is all the omnipotence we need now.

I'm not sure I agree that the Federation has no laws over Kevin's crime, since its basically just genocide. Obviously, enforcing punishment on a god probably isn't the wisest of ideas, but considering his grief, I doubt Kevin would resist too destructively. There is a mildly interesting strand of thought of the inability to comprehend large scale atrocities, but more intriguing is Kevin's character himself. While the loss of his wife is an obvious source of grief, what seems to haunt him more is a personal betrayal of what he thought was a deeply held ethos. The illusion he locks himself in and the fact that he effectively tortures Troi is a literal metaphor for how many people will bend their brains into pretzels to not just avoid confronting reality, but to also futily reconcile a dark discovery about themselves with their own self image, often causing yet more pain through running and hiding. Committing the crime has traumatised him just as much as it may have done to any hypothetical survivors of his genocide and that's an interestingly real phenomenon that they lightly touch on.

Falls into similar traps with most mystery stories and the ending isn't as graceful as it should've been, but it's mostly decent.

Gonna watch Who Watches the Watchers.

You are about to watch a gem of an episode in Who Watches The Watchers.

With no reply yesterday I thought you had given up.

Episode 4: Who Watches the Watchers

When I discovered what this episode was about, I was prepared to wind up hating it. But it might actually be one of the better prime directive stories.

The determined whisper with which Picard says "warp 9" was quite a powerful moment to have early on. Stating that they should have left Liko to die is awful, but his angry refusal to play god and his conversations with Nuria redeem him for me. Stewart invests a lot of warmth and gentleness in their discussions and "I do not deserve it" is a flat out perfect line.

Riker shows some guile in tieing up the old man. Has a shit eating grin as he translates Troi speech to Data.

La Forge is a decent vehicle for the initial exposition.

Don't remember much from Worf.

Crusher sticks to her moral principles and rightly heals an injured man. Mentions Pulaski, so she gets an extra point for that.

Troi has a fun discussion over gender roles with Riker. Gets kidnapped, which isn't a great look, but she wins back a lot of dignity through communicating in mmm-mmms. Looks hilariously wrong as a Vulcan.

Data is perplexed by the aforementioned Troiisms.

Wesley's getting an A in anthropology by virtue of not shadowing these muppets.

The actual Mintakan culture is by far the weakest part of this episode (save the bland and woefully incompetent anthropologists (even without their tech failing, they'd be terrible at their job)). A generic hodgepodge of primitive tropes, the only character who stands out is Nuria, who's allowed to believably engage with Picard during their discussions on technology and mostly follow along.

The way Liko perceives Picard in sickbay, with the edges of his vision washed out and blurry, does a pretty good job of making the sleek and sterile Enterprise appear as a heaven. Dodgy dialogue from the natives aside, most of the script is brilliant, with characters bouncing off each other effortlessly. Picard himself and especially every scene he shares with Nuria takes the cake, though. The two of them staring through the window at her planet is sublime and the mystical music playing frequently is also delightful. I quite like that they namedrop and show a bunch of ephemera from TOS, like the mini communicators and Romulan/Vulcan/Mintakan surgery. The first half of the episode, with its ever escalating cockups, makes for a pretty good farce, that becomes a much more serious and intelligent episode as soon as the natives start to be treated seriously and intelligently.

The fact that almost every single prime directive story involves criticising said principle really makes you question the wisdom of including it as such an important piece of the lore. In many ways, this is a more cerebral take on A Piece of the Action, where a group of Federation clowns fuck up a society and all attempts to unfuck the society just make the problem worse. In the end, its only by engaging with the people in question as equals that something approaching a solution can be found. It's great that Picard flatly refuses to be considered a superior being by any metric at all. Though I don't reckon much to their characters, the opening scenes of Oji and her dad witnessing the malfunctioning observation place are shockingly powerful in how they portray this dubious school of anthropology as equivalent to Truman Show eque voyeurism. I question how much anyone expects to learn about a people by silently observing them from a distant mountain, so, the fact that their base blows up for no good reason might be a sign that this approach is doomed to failure. What's especially horrifying is the sudden slide into cultural imperialism after the "contamination", as these apparent geniuses seem desperate to wear the god guise, so, they can raise the "savages" right, all with an attempted justification through the directive. Combine this with the "correct" choice apparently being for Crusher to leave someone to die and we have yet more evidence for how abhorrent this law is.

For all that it's good at treating other people as actual people in the abstract, the execution does leave something to be desired. The only thing really missing is allowing the Mintakans to actually have a culture that isn't a complete stereotype. There's also the small problem of Picard shilling for the directive, even after the episode has shown how flawed it is, to a group of people who are living proof that it's unneeded.

Could stand to follow its own advice more, but I actually did find it to be something of a gem. (I wonder, have we had or will we have any stories where the directive was played completely straight?)

Onto The Bonding.

Who Watches The Watchers often appears in "must watch" lists of TNG episodes.

You are about to go from a gem of an episode and be brought back down to Earth hard with the crapness that is The Bonding.

CassandraCroft posted...

Who Watches The Watchers often appears in "must watch" lists of TNG episodes.

You are about to go from a gem of an episode and be brought back down to Earth hard with the crapness that is The Bonding.

Dude, what part of let TC form their own opinion are you not understanding?

CassandraCroft posted...

crapness that is The Bonding.

Shove off

I think WWTW is overall a great epsiode but it does bug me how the Prime Directive is apparently important enough to excuse negligent homicide, but at the same time lax enough to allow setting up that ticking time bomb of cultural contamination with the hidden mountain base.

I think TPD is doomed to always be at least partially subverted because to play it straight would mean that a story never happens. Just say "sorry, non-interference policy g2g" and forget about it lol

I think the TNG interpretation is that the Federation is haunted by past imperialism and wants to avoid it all costs

It also seems that command track officers are perhaps put through more ethical rigor and have sharper opinions about the oath to the TPD. It's most commonly science officers that reject the moral sacrifices it calls for.

Doe posted...

I think the TNG interpretation is that the Federation is haunted by past imperialism and wants to avoid it all costs

It also seems that command track officers are perhaps put through more ethical rigor and have sharper opinions about the oath to the TPD. It's most commonly science officers that reject the moral sacrifices it calls for.

What a load of fucking shit but then again I should expect that from someone who likes utter shit episodes in The Bonding!

Imagine liking that utter fucking shit in The Bonding! SMH!

Imagine being this salty over an old TV show.

Foppe posted...

Imagine being this salty over an old TV show.

I'm convinced it's a gimmick at this point. Just look at previous posts in this topic. They even contradicted themselves at one point.

Episode 5: The Bonding

Yeah, you're not going to be happy with me, Croft. I loved it.

They've subtly retconned Picard's aversion to children to being less because he's a slightly miserable and awkward bastard and more because they're just another group of people he has to worry about. He actually interacts with Jeremy pretty well. Equally as good is his empathy for Troi's somewhat thankless task. The two have a pretty sweet relationship with each other. Also, love Stewart's acting when Wesley admits that he was angry at him for a while. Picard knew it was coming, but it still hurt like hell.

Riker notices the look Wesley gives him and immediately moves in to offer comfort, which is a nice touch. Another great use of empathy from him is when he uses the example of Yar to educate Data about death, knowing that she was someone who mattered a lot to him.

La Forge doesn't get too much, but I do enjoy his shows of initiative.

Maybe its down to the new makeup freeing up his face more, but Dorn's acting is on fire here. Effortlessly shows Worf's grief, trauma and anger with immaculate expressions. His rant in Troi's presence is great, as is his overly formal awkwardness when he first meets Jeremy. Looking to Troi for assurance when he's about to suggest the bonding is a sweet moment.

Crusher's breakdown when Wesley brings up his dad is a wonderful moment from her and their hug is probably the most loving their relationship has ever been.

Troi serves as nice early warning system. In all seriousness, she's great here. Sirtis sells someone who feels the loss just as cleanly as everyone else, but manages to deal with it better than anyone. No one (except Jeremy and, briefly, Worf for obvious reasons) has an outright immature reaction, but she's still head and shoulders above the rest and remains gentle, without even being passive, with everyone.

Data has a fantastic scene with Riker. The obvious irony is that by barely caring about Aster because neither he, nor the audience, has ever seen her before, he betrays how he's probably the most honestly human of the bunch.

Wesley has some good stuff. You can see his own pain come back to him immediately when he hears about Jeremy. His brief hesitation before he moves in close to confide in his mum is a flat out excellent scene for him. Even if he has moved past his anger, actually talking about his dad still fills him with anguish and Wheaton fills his dialogue with some harsh breaths to properly convey that.

O'Brien continues to have some great reactions to the utter insanity of his job.

Not Aster is a nice creepy presence. Gets a nice collection of reaction shots as it gradually starts to dawn on her what healthy grieving is.

Jeremy does alright for a child actor. It's somewhat unavoidable, but he does become a bit of a prop for the other characters and the sudden lapse in intelligence when his "mum" starts casually casting illusions is a bit too much.

This is where the vaunted character focus that season 3 has has become clear to me. Scenes are given an immense amount of time to breathe and music is kept to a minimum, so, we can focus on the acting. The awkward pace around the turbo lift that Picard has is just the most obvious example. The scene of Worf brooding is utterly beautiful. Saturated in blue hues, with the man himself in silhouette, to accentuate his emotions and with the candle initially out of focus so that it initially resembles a background monolith towering over him, before he gets control of himself and pulls it into the foreground so he can snuff it out to demonstrate his bottling up, it's a work of art. The blocking when he's talking with Troi is fantastic, using a vent to demonstrate that his anger is like a caged beast, until Troi gets him to open up. Then, we see them both clearly. Not Aster appropriately glides in from the background like the ghost she is.

I absolutely love Troi for shutting down the whole "be brave" thing. There is nothing to be gained in bottling up emotions and I think its brilliant that TNG takes the time to make a whole episode about that. It is an admittedly understated affair, which might rub some people the wrong way, but if a primary aim for Star Trek is to be a Sci-fi allegory for important issues, then arguing against the toxic attitudes towards grief, especially as it pertains to young boys, is absolutely what this show should be doing. That it focuses all this around a red shirt death, which have been something of a blind spot both in TOS and in here is even better.

I feel no shame in admitting that I was on the verge of tears on a few occasions during this episode. Outstanding work.

Let's hope Booby Trap isn't it's namesake.

No problem I will just go with my friends here:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708788/

Who gave that garbage 6.7/10

Lets just see what you think of that garbage in The Bonding when you come across the utter power houses of Season 3 in Sarek, Deja Q, and especially the next two which are often regarded as the best episodes in the entire series in Yesterday's Enterprise and The Best Of Both Worlds.

I love how this episode recontextualises Picard's relationship with Wesley and how he treated him in the first season.

This is goodbye as I can't take anyone seriously that likes that utter Targ Manure in The Bonding.

Too bad as I wanted to share a lot more with you but oh well.

It is a shame, but im not about to disguise my views. Never cared much for "correct" opinions.

He blocked me, which is fine by me.

I guess he did me too, his posts have disappeared.

McMarbles posted...

He blocked me, which is fine by me.

Doe posted...

I guess he did me too, his posts have disappeared.

Foppe really called it lol.

Foppe posted...

Imagine being this salty over an old TV show.

splodeymissile posted...

It is a shame, but im not about to disguise my views. Never cared much for "correct" opinions.

Im not even sure that poster advocates for "correct" opinions, given what they have to say about DS9 and Sisko. They strike me as if they'rd playing a character/trolling. >_>

He's absolutely trolling, I don't know that I've ever seen him make a post that's not just giving his terrible Star Trek opinions.

Well, we've lost a character, but the show must go on.

Episode 6: Booby Trap

A La Forge focus episode. And it somewhat addresses one of my misgivings with the holodeck.

Picard is very excitable and nerdy over the cruiser. The ship in a bottle sequence is delightful. Has some good self awareness over how they're probably doing the same thing as the Promellians. The look on his face makes it clear that he knows why Brahms exists and what she will be inevitably used for and he doesn't approve. Steals the ending from La Forge (though its only fair, since he stole it from Brahms).

Riker offers the most amazing grins at no one grasping the joy of a model ship and Picard's excitement after the away mission. The best, though, is his reaction to O'Brien's sycophantism.

La Forge gets a new side to his character. I don't much care for it. It seems a little lazy to make him a stereotypical nerd with an inability to talk to women. Even the dialogue doesn't exactly bristle with confidence, since he falls into the trap, when moping at Guinan, of listing all the technobabble manoeuvres he can perform, but lamenting his inability to figure out the mysterious, monolithic entity called "girls". It doesn't help that he has precisely zero interest in who Christi actually is. His attempts at flirting with Brahms, even before she's given an avatar, much less a personality, are creepy as fuck. He comes across as more than a bit whiny and entitled.

Actually downloading a personality just raises the nastiness factor and flags up quite a few ethical questions that do not put him in a good light. Even the way Burton plays him comes off as more than a bit seedy and predatory. Flatly disregarding her ability to fly what may well be herself is nasty.

Worf shares Picard's enthusiasm for old war machines. Respects the dead crew, but does care for toys. Has an anxious look out the window during the briefing.

Crusher does her job and shares in everyone's anxiety, too.

Troi's reaction to Picard's joy is adorable. Like her new dress.

Data imitating the "uh, oh" is great. A bit too honest for Picard's liking. A stupid during the flight sequence, probably because of the weird Luddite message.

Wesley has some balls, commenting on La Forge's love life.

Guinan does her usual trick of getting the other person to understand what's wrong with them. Seems to really like Picard.

O'Brien kisses Picard's ass and its still a less questionable relationship than La Forge's nonsense.

Brahms, issues about the relationship aside, is great. Sweet, slightly playful, but with a forceful nature. She even has fantastic chemistry with La Forge which almost places their romance closer to adorable. Her blankness before the download is funnier than it should be and I love the shallow breaths when her personality first starts to exist, as though she's genuinely come to life. It seems there's a decent chunk of ambiguity as to how much of her is a replica of Brahms and how much is an independent and unique personality that may be something of the very soul of the ship. Moving to a shoulder rub off her own initiative almost makes the relationship defendable. The origins and how she's used are quite problematic, but the character herself is great.

The opening date is wonderfully awkward, with just a beach ambience and relative silence, otherwise. The shot of Data and Wesley playing chess, with an asteroid field in the background is beautiful, as are the many VFX shots of the Enterprise flying around it. The cruiser set has a nice, dusty atmosphere, with some good mystical music over it. The title drop isn't the most graceful of attempts. I do not like that the first scene after Brahms comes to life involves her and La Forge arguing. It feels just as lazy as making him a nerd in general did. Some bizarre Luddite tendencies towards the end which I'm never going to appreciate. The final flight sequence is amazingly tense.

La Forge may have been one of the least developed of the bunch, but I'd rather he remain a bit player if this is the insight we're getting. I'm not going to repeat all my problems, but I do think the way the episode itself treats Brahms is insulting. Great effort is spent to set up a reasonably clever solution that only Brahms is fast enough to carry out and its even highlighted that La Forge's solution is no better, but because of Star Trek's weird Luddite tendencies, she gets excised from her own story, all so we can have a (mercifully more subtle than I was dreading) link to the whole trying too hard discussion with Guinan. Then, there's the fact that La Forge says to her face that sometimes you need to switch off, presumably because romance with holographic life is just as much a booby trap as the radiation emitters. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's straight up nasty. According to production trivia, La Forge was meant to be likened to a man marrying his car. Aside from believing that we should not be normalising people who fail in relationships because they are unable to recognise the other party as real and valid, there's the small matter of this seeming to confirm that hologram Brahms is just as alive as her inspiration. So, naturally, she gets shut off. Moriarty straight up caused mayhem and he was shown more respect than someone who produced a perfectly valid solution for the problem of the week.

Production wise, some details are a bit forced, but it's mostly competent. I can't abide this new direction for La Forge, though. Ultimately, didn't really like it.

Finished Xenoblade 3, so, its no longer a time sink. Should have The Enemy later today and a more regular schedule going forward.

the La Forge and Brahms dialogue shall be continued in a later episode, and it shall address some of your complaints

Nowadays, we have a word to describe La Forge's awkwardness with the opposite gender -- the word is "incel"

Episode 7: The Enemy

Another La Forge episode? Surprising. And the Romulans again.

Picard errs on the side of diplomacy, but still has utter contempt for Tomolak. I love that he simultaneously respects Worf's decision and yet is utterly furious at him for making it. His speech about trust is a good show for him.

Riker is appropriately irritable towards everyone, even Picard, when he loses La Forge. Manages to be a pretty threatening presence over the Romulan survivor. Probably the most respectful and understanding towards Worf's decision, even if he does try to convince him to let go of his grudge.

This is much better version of La Forge than the last. We get to see how his visor enhances his resourcefulness and how he's able to be simultaneously sarcastic, irreverent and yet remarkably compassionate towards Bochra. He even has pride in Wesley and all of these play to Burton's strengths, since he has a natural energy that suits this characterisation far better than creepy incel does.

Worf is taken in an interesting direction. His reasons for not saving the Romulan are little more than bigotry and bile and I feel the episode does a pretty good job of letting us understand his motivations, without condoning them. Ultimately, his right to choose is respected. I think I would have preferred an argument along the lines of bodily autonomy or something, since he does veer towards the unlikeable. I also question how honourable the decision is and whether its actually a good choice for his character, but the dilemma is handled well, so, I won't hold it against the episode. Besides, the brief moment when it looks like he might have sympathy for the survivor, only to all but get spat at, is fantastic.

The way Crusher was overly happy when first discussing the issue with Worf makes me wonder if she already knew what the answer would be and was trying to sweeten things over. Yet she seems genuinely shocked when Worf refused and it doesn't look like a failed plan situation, so, I actually don't know.

Troi helpfully tells us that the shifty guys might be shifty. Apparently, she was meant to have a more substantial role with La Forge, but it got cut. Frankly, she'd probably be better with Worf, since her counselling abilities could have been put to good use.

Don't remember much of interest from Data. I think he just does his job.

Wesley gets to be something of a wunderkind again, but there's nothing insufferable, so, I'll let him off.

O'Brien can't do his job because of ghosts.

The Romulans themselves are kind of a problem. Originally, the idea seemed to be that they were morally equivalent to the Federation at worst, but here they've kind of become moustache twirlers. Tomalak is overly smarmy and while he makes a valid point about weighing one life against a territory, its happening whilst he's feigning ignorance about a second Romulan on the planet, so, any equivalence is lost. Bochra fairs better as he becomes more friendly with La Forge, but he's still far too needlessly antagonistic at the start, for it to be a graceful transition.

The shots on the planet are great. The lighting is superb and the camera keeps close to convey a claustrophobic feel. The whole thing feels dark and even filthy, at times. Some of the dramatic zoom ins on Picard are a little overdone. I'm not sure the last VFX effect was correct. Surely, the Enterprise should be following the Romulan ship.

Discovering that your enemy is just as alive and valid as you is a good message and the two plots complement each other well in showing that, with Worf's refusal almost causing a war and La Forge's compassion preventing one. The problem is that the Romulans are coded as inherently wrong. Bochra makes a disparaging comment about disability, so, we can see how evil his society is. Tomolak is almost always lying and threatens to make the first move in a useless war. They've lost a dimension compared to TOS.

Decent and I like the new direction for La Forge. Not sure Worf and the Romulans are going the correct way, though.

Looking at The Price, tomorrow.

I loved that Worf refused to donate. Did NOT think that's what was going to happen, but pleasantly surprised.

splodeymissile posted...

The way Crusher was overly happy when first discussing the issue with Worf makes me wonder if she already knew what the answer would be and was trying to sweeten things over. Yet she seems genuinely shocked when Worf refused and it doesn't look like a failed plan situation, so, I actually don't know.

i think she wasn't expecting to be able to save the Romulan, so she was legitimately happy that she found a match. It never even crossed her mind that Worf would say no.

Episode 8: The Price

A Troi episode, but not a good one.

Picard has a great exasperated sigh after dealing with the Ferengi. Was not expecting a whistle from him. In fact, it almost feels out of character.

Like the continuity of Riker being good at poker and poker adjacent things. Has perhaps the only genuinely great scene in this with Ral in the bar. Frakes offers a variety of smiles to convey his absolute contempt for the man and when Ral tries getting under his skin, he's more annoyed by the attempt, especially when Troi is brought up, than actually triggered by his words. Having genuine empathy for Troi, in comparison to Ral's analytical psychopathy, is the closest thing to an actual theme this rubbish has.

La Forge continues his sarcastic, irreverent, compassionate nature. Gives one hell of a funny look to Data, which is impressively expressive considering that Burton has a visor blocking his eyes.

Worf has a great moment of annoyance at the Ferengi.

Crusher shares a almost tolerable scene where she and Troi frankly discuss their love lives.

I had a suspicion I was in for a bad time when Troi starts arguing with the computer for a real sundae. Calling it generic would be charitable. I was hopeful that her initial stare at Ral would've been one of suspicion. Instead, she's inexplicably smitten with him and I do not comprehend how. And I mean not just in the sense of the episode failing (though it does), but in that I don't understand what a success would even look like. I don't know if Sirtis is acting uncomfortable (or if she was actually directed to) or if she really was uncomfortable when getting her space invaded, but allowing that in whilst getting fondled is abhorrent. I couldn't believe my eyes.

There's also the nonsense of her being stressed out by her career and the old stereotype of reluctant, but secretly wanting it. She's a complete mess, here. Absolutely wins the argument with Ral. Being a counsellor is flatly more ethical and moral than negotiating business and the Romulan example completely falls flat. Fortunately, she completely rejects him in the end. Unfortunately, it's played as a tragedy, rather than cause for celebration.

Data is interested in wormholes. Tries to improve La Forge's mood with one of the better lines in this episode.

Wesley does his job and would've still dodged being the most unlikeable character, even if he were back his season 1 personality.

O'Brien makes his voice heard.

The Ferengi manage to be an entertaining comedy troupe. All pretense of seriousness is gone, but they manage to be the most watchable part of this mess. The look of shock and horror when the wormhole disappears is a fantastic comedy beat.

Ral could not be more miscast. Even from the jump, there's a distinct smarm about him. I'm reminded of frogs for some reason. Having him brute force his way into a relationship with Troi is rapey, to say the least. I like to imagine he's supposed to be the masculine man who sweeps someone of their feet, but he has absolutely nothing that can even pretend to make that work.

Worse yet, the more time we spend with him, the more of an absolute psychopath he reveals himself to be. The episode does seem to partially recognise this towards the end, but hes still treated far better than he deserves. Its impressive how much of a failure he is as a character.

The delegates and aliens do decently. Nothing really standing out, and the effects aren't the greatest, but I will always appreciate a menagerie of interesting designs. Feel like the Federation negotiator vanishes into the ether after the sickbay scene. Quite like that the wormhole entrance resembles an eye. The mystical, romance music needs to die in a fire. Speaking of the romance, it is the most bland and generic example I've seen in a while. Every line is a cliche taken from a trite male fantasy. The sex scenes (if you could call that neutered display sex. Barely amounts to foreplay) manage to be distinctly unsexy and incredibly awkward. I will say that the scenes in the delta quadrant work quite well.

The absolute nadir has to be the workout scene. Apart from existing purely so we can ogle two characters who deserve far better, the frank discussion of their sex lives, which I would otherwise be in favour for, consists of Troi almost infantilising herself and playing up to the worst of the confused with her emotions stereotypes. What's astonishing, though, is how hideous their outfits are. I mean, what the fuck even are those things? I wasn't alive for the 80s, and I know fashion has its dubious periods, but I find it difficult to believe anyone could find those rags wearable. The episode misses the mark of sexiness so much, I wouldn't be too shocked to learn actual aliens worked on it.

Makes TOS's worst seem feminist. Absolutely appalling.

Let's hope The Vengeance Factor is better.

Medussa posted...

i think she wasn't expecting to be able to save the Romulan, so she was legitimately happy that she found a match. It never even crossed her mind that Worf would say no.

Yeah, that's a fair possibility I hadn't considered. I guess that Worf's general stoic nature makes it seem weird for even his friends to be that overly cheerful in his presence unless they want something. Maybe the odd way he's sometimes been treated in stuff like The Icarus Factor has spoiled my view of his relationships.

Just keep this episode in the back of your mind whenever you get around to future shows lol.

Episode 9: The Vengeance Factor

The most adorable space pirates ever. They're even called gatherers.

Picard wears his best diplomat hat. Love the staredown at Brull when he insults Wesley and letting the offer of more shore leave hang for Riker.

Riker puts on the moves and its a better show than some of his other flirting attempts. After the last episode, im glad that hes explicit about the value of consent and equality in a relationship. Its a pretty standard doomed romance, but maybe thats sorely needed at this stage.

Dont recall La Forge doing much other than picking through the Gatherers' rubbish.

Worf struggles with a door, ambushes the ambushers and has a brilliant monent of bluntly pointing out a place for Brull to stand.

Crusher is kept very active this episode, since she basically solves the whole plot.

Troi sums up Brull's motivations and has a sweet moment of knowing when to make herself scarce, so, Riker can flirt in peace.

Data does his overly literal stuff to elicit a few smirks.

Wesley handles Brull's teasing in a surprisingly not insufferable manner. Seems to bond with him, a little.

I like the face tatoos on the Acamerian's faces. Most of this bunch play their role adequately enough, but I will say Chorgan's hamminess makes him a delight. I particularly love that the Gatherers are dressed as heavy metal band/Mad Max rejects.

Yuta does well enough for the tragic love interest role. There's a deliberate vacancy to her that betrays someone who has completely given up on having any agency of her own and her reactions to Riker's kindness manage to be quite moving.

The opening is spectacular. Bathing the station in green hues, with a beautiful matte painting outside and dropping us in without any exposition at all makes for a very compelling start. Then there's the Gatherer scenes, which are filled with beautiful light contrasts that, along with their outfits, give off a wonderfully filthy and grungy look. Also, I will never tire of seeing the warp effect through a window. Ten Forward, as a meeting place for the ship's staff and any guests, lends itself to a wide variety of interesting shots, from pans to closeups ect. It gives it a similar vibe to the observation lounge from season 1, where its consistently the most visually interesting of the commonly visited sets.

The problems with a cycle of vengeance are summed up by the title alone, but I do appreciate that the Gatherers are shown just as much sympathy as the more official government. More importantly, I love the explicit focus on how clan and family duty type nonsense ultimately just cripples the ability of the young to live their own lives. Brull brings this up a little with Wesley, but Yuta is the obvious standout. Aside from being played as running on automatic to the point of almost being soulless, what really stands out to me is how she's unable to even have sex without it turning into a weird servant type relationship that no one wants, but which she is compelled to fall into and that, as suddenly technobabbly as it becomes, even the capacity to age and mature is stripped from her. 50 odd years of life, and she's been restrained into doing nothing that she might actually want to. It's an impressively bleak picture and makes her death more of a mercy than anything else.

Visually gorgeous and with a serviceable plot that hits moments of greatness, it's pretty good.

The Defector is next.

Episode 10: The Defector

Should have probably seen it coming with the title, but having two Romulan stories so close to each other is surprising.

Very appropriate that Picard is supportive of Data's interest in Shakespeare. I didn't catch it when watching, but apparently Stewart was playing one of the holograms, too. Has some really good back and forth with Jarok. Fitting the Henry V parallels, he has a lot of weariness and severity over potentially leading people to war. Like that he had a plan to ambush the ambushers. Drinking tea whilst getting tense communiques is great character tick.

Even with the fact that Jarok is a potential enemy, I feel that Riker was a bit too nasty during the interrogation.

La Forge continues to be an optimistic sort. His attempts at explaining intuition to Data seemed a little confused. Could've maybe done with some cleaning up.

Worf trades a few insults and snarls and gets to effectively be Picard's secret weapon.

Crusher does her job and is, appropriately, the most compassionate to Jarok.

I'd say Troi does her job, but she's in this so little I can't even guarantee that. Getting a little sick of her only having token roles in most episodes.

Data is great. From his acting in the holodeck, to his confusion over La Forge's explanation to the simple compassion he shows Jarok. He's always at his best when he's obviously the most human of the bunch.

Wesley doesn't seem to be here. To be honest, I'd rather certain characters just miss an episode if they can't find anything for them to do. Seems less insulting.

Tomalak returns and is just as slimy and smug as ever. Jarok is obviously the highlight, though. Aside from demonstrating clear conflicted thoughts on his actions in every scene and playing up to the suspicious nature of Romulans, without ever acting shallowly evil, every monologue or conversation he has has an appropriate theatrical weight to it that's effortlessly compelling. A pretty great guest star.

I found it interesting that the opening began and lingered with a static camera shot, evoking how one would see the stage from among the better seats, until Data walks in, at which point, slightly more dynamic techniques are used to offer some brief foreshadowing that this is a holodeck recreation. Foreshadowing is used a lot, with all the Klingon stuff happening in the background, with occasional throwaway lines leading to it. The agonisingly long shot of Jarok wandering about his quarters, before pulling out his suicide pill (not that we know it at the time) is quite a grand moment. Obviously, it owes a lot to theatre in how many dialogue scenes are structured. I always like the Romulan ships. The recreation of Romulus is beautiful. It's decent at not making the answer to whether he's a genuine defector too obvious.

Discussing the themes almost seems like a trivial matter, since Shakespeare is blatantly invoked. Both Picard and Jarok represent different facets of the "good king", with Jarok being incognito and both attempting to act in the best interests of their respective peoples. Jarok is also something of a tragic figure, with his questioning of the empire, although obviously moral by our standards, representing what would be a fatal flaw if Shakespeare were somehow writing this story from a Romulan perspective. There's a bit of the ambiguity of Hamlet to him. Even the suicide, complete with futile letter, and Picard using the last lines to spell out the moral are quite similar to Shakespearean endings.

Still not sold on Romulans becoming more conventional villains (even if they do still have a subtle reflection of the Federation with how ships are treated), but it's a fantastic episode.

We have a lot of episodes beginning with "The". The Hunted is next.

Episode 11: The Hunted

Did not expect Star Trek to do Rambo, but I'll take it.

I'm not sure an escaped prisoner is really Picard's problem. Little shocked he agreed with Riker's suggestion. As decent to Danar as his tied hands allow him to be. Love how icily he informs the prime minister that this isn't his concern at the end.

Riker gets some continuity by guessing about the magnetic pole plan.

La Forge has an aggressive streak to him after getting knocked out. I've noticed that whenever they want him to be vulnerable, the visor always gets kicked far away from him.

Worf necessarily suffers a bit, but he's able to anticipate some of Danar's plans and shows him proper respect. Liked his clear concern for La Forge.

Crusher exists for the purpose of technobabble.

Troi is great. Able to express genuine empathy for Danar without taking any shit. Just shuts down every attempt by him to hide from his trauma.

Data is also pretty good. Aside from being so preciously literal, his blunt nature allows him to connect quite easily with Danar. By asking the obvious questions, even the apparently emotionless android shows more compassion than Danar's own people.

Wesley does his job and acts appropriately surprised by the crew getting out foxed. I've noticed that he misses the occasional bridge scene. Was Wheaton busy with other commitments around this time?

O'Brien's professionalism in the face of madness always amuses.

Nayrock is an overly stuffy tool. Looks like he walked off a British comedy show. Danar does well for himself. Acts as he's described, an intelligent, mostly normal man struggling with Sci-fi PTSD. Has a confidence that allows him to own most scenes. He might be leaning into the war veteran allegory a bit much, though. I'm not convinced there's enough to him to justify pushing most of the main cast to the sidelines.

There's quite a lot of fun to be had in seeing the Enterprise crew get repeatedly outsmarted by Danar. They do come across as slightly stupid at times, but not to the point of it being an actual idiot plot. The final runaround is especially a treat, especially with how Danar is frequently shot as a larger than life figure and with the corridors and tubes having moody lighting.

I'm not going to bang on about how the way almost every nation treats their veterans is suspect as best, though it is particularly horrifying when you have a war as pointless and pisspoorly managed as the Vietnam conflict. Instead, what I'm going to praise is how far the episode is willing to take it. Not only is democracy (well, the will of the people) thrown around as a meaningless buzzword to vainly try and justify the atrocities, its barely even acknowledged by the crew and rightly so. Democracy is more than capable of being tyrannical and unjust and simple majority verdict does not define morality. So, the solution is for Picard to subtly facilitate a revolution. Its more intellectual and passive than how Kirk would have done it, but it's of the same genuine morality.

Like most guest star foci, the main cast get pushed away a little, which never fully sits right with me, but it's a pretty good episode that manages to tell its obvious message quite well.

Tomorrow, I'll be on The High Ground

Episode 12: The High Ground

Eek, a terrorism episode. Reminded me far too much of Law and Order and similar shows.

Picard's relationship with Wesley has softened considerably. It's great that he admits that, while he broadly understands the political situation, he frankly doesn't care about it. I'm not sure about his tackling of Finn. I can't tell if it's the camera or my inability to accept Stewart doing something like that, but it doesn't look right.

I appreciate that Riker rapidly loses his patience with the police state's antics. He doesn't seem as empathetic to Devos's story as he has been to other characters. Facial expressions seem significantly blanker. Maybe Frakes didn't care or maybe I'm over thinking it.

La Forge gets up to some quick thinking and takes a dive that's about as graceful as Picard's tackling.

I'm liking that Worf is more vocally concerned about his friends these days. Apart from that, he gets shot, but it doesn't really matter.

This is supposedly a Crusher episode and she does about as well as Troi, which is to say, quite poorly. She suffers through the standard kidnapping plot, including developing far too much sympathy, bordering on the romantic, for the villain and even tries to confess her love for Picard. The actual plot may be shit, but McFadden's acting is pretty sound for such a deliberately nothing part. Her initial refusal to engage with Finn is accompanied with a fantastically contemptuous look she gives him and her exasperation with all the nonsense around her is similarly great.

Troi, presumably, does some counselling work with Wesley, but she doesn't have much. I'm not exactly surprised.

Data offers an interesting question on the efficacy of terrorism tactics which does lead to a standout scene where Picard practically admits that neither he nor the episode is particularly qualified to make any kind of statement on the issue.

Wesley shows some concern for his mum. I don't know, maybe it's a similar situation with Riker, but some actors don't seem to give much of a shit here. Or the fact that I didn't like the episode is making me a bit sour on individual aspects. In any event, he's harmless.

Finn and Devos (for that is, apparently, her name. Don't remember it being explicitly stated, but perhaps I had already partially zoned out) are pretty standard clichs for their character type at best and outright unlikeable at worst. Devos fairs better, but only because I think more of an attempt was made to make her sympathetic through her tragic waffling. Doesn't quite succeed, but I recognise the effort. Finn's introduction alone, with the standard, overly affable "you hungry?" routine gave me a clue that this probably wasn't going to be the best story. Drawing pictures of his prisoner makes him a bit of a creep. He's gets to make some halfway decent points, but they are, again, very much in standard mode.

They do a decent job of making the police state seem appropriately fascistic. What they fail on is making anyone care about the conflict between the factions. There's token mention of a desire for independence, but it's done in the most abstract way that it ultimately becomes a meaningless motive. Would actually benefit from a bit more worldbuilding. I actually like the effect of the dimension shifting, with the brief eruption of light. The little boy (completely missed the name, if he even has one) is the most transparent of sympathy baiting. I did like, though in a more bemused than genuine sense, how, after Finn died, everyone is framed in shadow to highlight the severity. It's not technically bad directing, but alongside everything else, it comes off as very heavy handed. Finn's plan to directly involve the Federation was actually kind of interesting.

Apparently, the episode was initially about the American revolution, before being rewritten to resemble the Troubles in Ireland. This could potentially have been an interesting, if controversial, bit of social commentary, although I'm not sure I'd trust an American production to do well on issues an ocean away. Its a moot point, anyway, since, apart from a bit of standard criticism on violence and the like, we have a very important episode that manages to say absolutely nothing of value. Having Data, and, to a lesser extent, Finn, flag up the sometimes complicated morality of terrorism is good, but they sidestep the issue as soon as they possibly can. It is kind of typical, though, that the characters default to helping the powers that be. If we had the necessary worldbuilding to allow this planet to actually resemble a society at all, let alone the fractured Irish one, it could have been halfway decent. As it is, I'm typing about a complete void.

Some good acting from McFadden, but it's practically vacant as an episode and has, what i assume is, an unintentionally unlikeable guest cast.

I take it "Q" has become the (annoyed grunt) of episode titles. Let's try to avoid a repeat of this in Deja Q.

Episode 13: Deja Q

Always happy to see Q again. Making him mortal lends itself to some great comedy antics. It's like he's starring in a weird sitcom at times.

Picard is instantly disappointed and exasperated by Q's arrival. Immediately distrusting, not that I blame him, and we finally get the famous face-palm, which he interrupts in shock at almost being called a friend. During Q's confession, you can read on his face the temptation to be more sympathetic, but he ultimately rejects it.

Riker doesn't take to Q, either. Finds Worf hilarious. Prepared to just abandon Q, which in any other story would make him unlikeable.

La Forge is showing a bit more personality in how he does his job. Has no patience whatsoever for Q, even when what he's saying is seemingly correct. Shares Riker's viewpoint that they should just abandon Q.

Worf is comedy gold. Truly is delighted to finally arrest Q. Stews in anger over being called Romulan.

Crusher enjoys her treatment of Q far too much.

Troi's empath powers are helpful for making sure the audience believes Q, even if the characters dont. Outright mocks him for his fear.

Having Data be the one to guide Q is a brilliant choice. Aside from offering fascinating perspectives from the outside looking in, some of which lend themselves to great comedy moments, he's obviously the only one who displays true empathy for him I.e., as always, the most human. The sudden laughter is outstanding.

Guinan is far too gleeful over Q's plight. Straight up savage and more than a bit menacing.

Q certainly knows how to make an entrance. Dressing him in that ridiculous costume is an act of pure evil. Manages to keep his smarminess, but with an added taste of undue arrogance and entitlement. Fitting the sitcom esque role he's playing, there's a lot of neuroticism to him, too. It's a reasonably subtle change to his previous characterisation, but a necessary one, so, that he be a far more desperate than usual. Actually DeLancie does something quite interesting where he plays up Q's unlikeable qualities just enough that his costars don't become unpleasant in how callous they are to him, whilst still being sympathetic enough to the audience that we start genuinely feeling for him when he gets attacked.

The revelation that Data has no emotions (even though we all know its a lie, at this stage) actually gives him pause for thought and the near sacrifice allows him to develop a degree of genuine empathy for him and leads to a confession that he is little more than a bully. Despite his protestations, he's definitely more human after his experience.

Q2 is a one scene wonder. Just as hammy as the main one, but with an air of a slick wheelerdealer who knows he's got all the power in every bargain. Apparently he was a bit of stunt celebrity casting. It actually works for once.

The people of Bre'el seem a bit stereotypical to say the least. We get some lovely shrill noises throughout this episode. Quite liked the spinning shot in the turbolift, following Q as his own head spins with the laundry list of potential defects a human body can have. Quite a few decent shots actually. We have the pan around Q before Guinan makes her entrance to indicate his dread, the spin around the two to emphasise a tense back and forth that she obviously wins and her standing over him after he's been attacked. Seeing the Calamarain drift by the windows in ten forward is pretty cool and I like that the extras actually react to the general insanity.

Perhaps the most vital thing to have in a comedy episode is a sharp script and this one positively crackles with quality. Every one liner and retort flows with expert delivery, the observational humour on the minutiae of human existence is genuinely amusing and even the more serious scenes have an expert pace to them. I have some minor misgivings (which I'll elaborate on in a bit) about actually using Q in this manner, but I can't deny that the episode was an almost constant delight from start to finish.

I'm convinced that there are 2 Qs and I'm not talking about the scene in the shuttlecraft. The writers themselves seem inconsistent on whether Q should be a slightly sinister, but ultimately well meaning stealth teacher or a chaotic trickster figure. This episode and Hide and Q leaned towards the latter, which is usually my least preferred version of him. Obviously, I enjoyed the episode, but after Q Who redeemed him, having him returned to a bit of a joke in his very next appearance is remarkably inconsistent. The actual lesson of learning what it means to be human is fairly banal, but well executed, but it still doesn't seem like the right fit for Q. I think part of the problem might be the Continuum themselves. Having Q beholden to some organisation kind of cripples him a fair bit and, as great as Q2 is, they kind of fall of into the same trap that the Time Lords of Doctor Who do, where they are obviously important to the lore, but remarkably uninteresting in their own right and quite damaging to their main representatives. Even if you prefer chaotic trickster Q, he'd probably do better as a completely unshackled lone wolf.

All that said, the episode is fantastic and will probably remain a highlight by the end of the season, so, maybe I've got even less of an idea of what I'm talking about than I believe.

It's all A Matter of Perspective, as is the next episode.

Q: "What must I do to convince you people??"

Worf: "Die."

This is just a perfect comedy moment. Not just what he said but the when and how as well. And then the way Riker turns to look at Worf, trying to not have an outburst of laughter is so good (you can tell Frakes is trying not to laugh so hard at this as well).

Easily a top 10 Worf moment.

Episode 14: A Matter of Perspective

Rashomon through the holodeck. Pretty neat idea.

Picard's into painting, but not into nuance critique. I like that he actually resists giving up Riker immediately. It's a nice change from how he acted in Justice. Quite liked his distant stare when he realised he will have to extradite.

Riker sounds fed up, at first. Very nervous and anxious when he gets back. Actually clams up, which is rare for him. Naturally, the reason relates to a woman. It's a good showcase for Frakes' acting, since he gets to play a range of different Rikers. Also, get a face-palm, which is fun.

La Forge isn't much happier than Riker upon his return. Is pretty much on exposition duty by the end.

Worf does his job, but that isn't really a problem.

Crusher does her job, too.

Troi's purpose is to muddy the mystery for the audience's benefit, since if her powers actually worked, she'd resolve this in seconds.

I love that Data has an interest in the arts and is making actual reference to art theory in order to understand it. Fantastic choice for him. More than a bit sheepish when rubbishing Picard's work.

Wesley is adamant in his defence of Riker, which is a nice gesture to one of the few characters consistently nice to him.

O'Brien continues to delight with his absolute professionalism. A little beleaguered from Picard's demands.

Krag does his job, I suppose. A bit more reasonable than the usual "guilty until proven innocent" investigator, though that's not saying much. The Apgars are pretty standard, but I doubt anybody was expecting much depth. The different Manuas are entertaining, though, even if they do fall into sexism a bit. Tayna is practically nothing. A part of me was expecting her to be the culprit, since she's conspicuously hidden, despite being a named character.

I was actually taken aback by the explosion. Much better than some of the more anemic fare we've had in previous episodes. Love that Riker is loitering in the background of a few shots. Using the holodeck to recreate scenes is an inspired idea and kind of fits into its meta nature. There's something surprisingly "honest" about them, even with the inevitable contradictions. Speaking of, the different versions manage to be similar enough that either version could be plausible.

Except for the fact that no one in the audience believes that Riker could be a rapist and a murderer, so, the radiation subplot is established as a slightly more open mystery. The Tanugan system of justice is a more blatant contrivance than most to ensure the episode can basically function. That said, I feel like they don't really use courtroom drama all that much. The Rashomon stuff is similarly undercooked, though part of the problem is that Riker's perspective will always be trustworthy. I also think the twist of Apgar accidentally offing himself is a bit shit. I don't really have any elaboration to offer, it just feels unsatisfying. It amuses me that the Tanugans look like whos.

Yeah, I'm not finding much to this. The holodeck can provide a decent metaphor for the production process and Apgar's misrepresentation of Riker's motives is a decent microcosm of how the Rashomon style lends itself to different views of the same event, but these feel like stray kernels of thought in a mostly undercooked dish.

A well deserved homage that makes for a merely decent episode.

Tomorrow is for Yesterday's Enterprise.

i've actually really liked that one. i was surprised when i learned so many fans don't. but yeah, it's a bit unresolved how mrs apgar's version is so off, but she's still convinced herself it's true. it took me a while to catch that oversight, but it's pretty glaring now how it's just kinda dropped immediately after it comes up.

also, it's amazing how often turning on a random episode ends up being this one, i swear i've seen it twice as often as my next most watched ep (and i live on reruns).

edit: i didn't get a chance to post about it a few days ago, but i also really like The High Ground, too. a very enjoyable stretch of episodes here.

Rashomon plot is always fun.

Episode 15: Yesterday's Enterprise

I was expecting time travel, but i was kind of surprised by this. And Yar is back!

Alternate Picard is far more stern than ours has grown to be. Effectively his old characterisation from the first few episodes, with a slightly more militant bent. Tons of anger to him, but he retains his trust in Guinan. The solemn look he gives before divulging that the Federation is likely to lose is brilliant.

Alternate Riker is just as compassionate as his normal self and far more willing to actually argue with Picard. Straight up doesn't like him and is firmly against erasing their timeline.

La Forge isnt too different from his regular self.

It's great seeing Yar again and it's great that she's actually used far better than most of season 1 managed. It's honestly kind of cute seeing her flirt with Castillo. She's very nerdy, isn't she? Loved seeing the cogs whirring in her head when she realises that isn't alive in the "normal" timeline. I also especially love her passing judgment on how shit her original death was.

Worf likes prune juice. To each their own. Still wanting a mate. Considering that the Klingon war is the most obvious difference between the timelines, the cold open probably exists as a simple courtesy to Dorn.

Crusher does her job, though its notable that she's not a great change from her more familiar version.

Troi makes a token appearance.

Data is mostly on exposition machine, but i liked the nod to his and Yar's brief relationship through him having a remarkable amount of empathy for her. The Naked Now almost certainly didnt happen, yet it might as well have done.

Wesley looks better in red.

Guinan still plays matchmaker. Able to sense other timeline shenanigans, which contributes to the basic mystery around her and its helpful to have a "normal" member of the cast around for this sort of story. Liking the meta nod to how she and Yar shouldn't even be in the same season, let alone episode.

The crew of the other Enterprise are decent, but don't inspire too much. Callisto is a bit off.

The time distortion looks nice and it's a treat to see two Enterprises in the same VFX shot. I like that the transition effect is basically a heavily updated version of the mirror universe effect. The alternate uniforms are quite snazzy, if a bit more militant. Sort of remind me of the films. The bridge has much darker lighting, obviously reflecting that this timeline is considerably more bleak. I've noticed that the transporter effects are becoming a bit more cinematic. They don't seem completely incidental to the shots, anymore. Mind you, the camera work alone suggests that this was afforded more funding than other episodes. I like that the way Guinan is shot suggests that she's gliding through an unreal world. Something that only barely registers as existent to her. She's effectively a ghost in their world, but the directing also occasionally frames it as the world being a ghost to her. It's especially cool when she and Yar keep giving difficult looks to each other. Callisto gets a cool shot of being reflected in the table. And Worf is an especially obvious replacement for Yar.

The music during the battle is very Star Wars esque and I love the increasing desperation and darkness of the episode. We even get a shot of Picard looking like he's being bathed in flames.

One of my biggest bugbears with time travel stories is the idea of fixed points, especially when it suggests that someone should arbitrarily die to maintain a "correct" timeline. While at first glance, this episode would probably set off my annoyance what with the Enterprise C and all, I actually think they do something a bit more interesting with the idea. Firstly, we spend almost the entire episode in the alternate timeline, as opposed to it being an easily ignored, abstract vaguery (does anyone care about the world where Keeler prevented America from entering the war? Because however shit that place may have been, theres a lot of innocent people who just got erased) and there is a discussion over how arbitrary the notion of a "correct" timeline is (hell, Guinan only lightly senses things, so, its almost purely audience familiarity that defines the right sequence of events). So, from alternate Picard's perspective, he isnt necessarily repairing a fixed point, hes straight up subverting one hes quite familiar with because it might make both eras better. The would be sacrifices are kept up to date on all available knowledge and are able to make their own choice on whether to try a suicide mission (and the rescue of a Klingon outpost is seen as a worthy cause to die for in itself), so, it avoids being tragedy for tragedy's sake (though Garret and Riker provide us with some deaths).

Yar, of course, is the obvious point of subversion for this typical story structure. Ignoring for a moment how shit her original death was, dying at all is sort of necessary so that, among other things, Worf can have the prominence he now enjoys. Except she flatly doesn't like that and who can blame her? So, instead of duitably fading away and leaving her counterpart to get flung about by Armus like she's "meant" to, she practically demands what is, at least, a better death scene and, at most, a chance for a full life elsewhen. She refuses to just be an arbitrary victim and, frankly, giving the subject of a tragedy any agency at all is so obviously necessary for it to work as a meaningful tragedy, that this feels like a no brainer. It's a flat out retcon that defies a fixed point, whilst still providing a vague sense of consistent continuity for the fans who care about that sort of minutiae.

This still leaves the obvious question, though: did alternate Picard basically just order the complete destruction of his home universe? There are two answers, really. The one that I've seen preferred by the typical Sci-fi fan whenever a similar question is raised in other franchises is that any alternates of yourself are independent entities, even if the different paths are relatively trivial, and that altering a timeline is a (sometimes necessary) moral abomination tantamount to genocide. The other theory, which isn't so well liked because it invites mysticism and metaphysical concepts like a transcendent soul, which aren't always tolerated by Sci-fi fans, is that you and your alternates and merely expressions of a more fundamental sense of "youness". As such, altering the timeline for the better is the equivalent of simply picking yourself up after a particularly bad period in your life and moving on to happier things. A bit of ego death, but the important parts of you are firmly intact. Based on how the camera handles the transitions between the Picards and how Guinan is getting vague feelings rather than full memories, I think the episode itself is leaning towards the latter interpretation. Alternate Picard didn't consign himself and his universe to oblivion, he merely improved his life and the lives of almost everyone around him. This also makes it so that the potentially living Yar isn't some other person with remarkable similarities to a familiar character, but a literal redemption of someone who was profoundly fucked over in universe and out. At any rate, the interpretations suggest either a final death tole of trillions, maybe more or one that's either in the negatives or completely breaks even (depending on what Garret's original fate was). This is an optimistic show and one of those is definitely more optimistic than the other.

Fantastic premise and production with an equally fantastic return and redemption for a character that I really liked despite how wasted she originally was. Can't find fault with it.

The Child was concerning, to say the least. Hopefully, The Offspring isn't.

Shit, Yesterday's Enterprise and The Offpsring are back to back? Stacked couple of episodes.

Hell, looking at the next half dozen or so, all of them are pretty good.

pegusus123456 posted...

Shit, Yesterday's Enterprise and The Offpsring are back to back? Stacked couple of episodes.

Hell, looking at the next half dozen or so, all of them are pretty good.

Well, it is TNG. Also why a lot of people propose starting at s3

Episode 16: The Offspring

Data just casually has a daughter. As you do.

Picard's objection to Lal being a child does seem to border on the bigotry at times, but I appreciate how stressed he is over what her existence means. Stewart has loads of little touches like shaking his head when Troi describes her as offspring to convey how mixed he is about all this. His mounting frustration with Data being unable to see why this is a terrifying prospect is a fantastic scene and we get the famous double face-palm. Love the way he subtly undercuts Haftel, before moving on to straight up disobeying him.

Riker shows up to get flustered and then quickly leave. Well, someone has to direct the episode.

La Forge playfully teases Wesley.

Think I heard Worf's voice at one point.

Crusher knows what's up with Data. The man, does in fact, have emotions.

Troi seems to take to Lal quite quickly. Gets to use her counsellor role to help Lal acclimate to existence. Naturally, she's the first one Lal goes to when she's scared.

Data being secretive is unusual, but a nice evolution in his quest to understand humanity. It's interesting how alien his desire for parenthood is. Only the vaguest of understanding of what continuing a bloodline means. His goofy smiles as Lal makes some semblance of progress are quite endearing. His does provide an interesting perspective on the struggling parent story. Definitely manages to be protective and attached to his daughter. Interesting philosophy on his quest to be human. Has nothing but pride when Lal starts to surpass him. Fucking hate that he doesn't say "I love you" back. Its blatantly clear he does, and the irony is obviously supposed to be the point, but they seem so welded to the idea that he needs to be emotionless and it ruins what could have been a decent, if somewhat expected, ending.

I like the teasing acknowledgement that Wesley is still a little weird. It's done in such a way that he honestly feels like he's just another member of the crew. The haircut bit was a bit too reminiscent of his earlier characterisation.

Guinan isn't as much help as the episode seems to think. Most shows kind of fumble on actually saying anything insightful on human relationships, though.

Haftel is a standard Starfleet obstruction. Well, there is the unspoken idea that he's going to try and groom Lal into being an obedient slave for Starfleet, which adds some flavour. Giving him some nebulous kids of his own and having him try to help Data at the end disgusts me. It's a shit attempt to make him seem vaguely reasonable, when I think the episode would be better if he were a straight villain.

Lal's original form is not pleasent to look at. Hideously and somewhat hilariously uncanny. It's sweet that her form is chosen based on Troi's empathy for her. Speaks with a stilted monotone which is occasionally funny, as is the montage of her learning and failing. Kissing Riker is brilliant and I appreciate her rapidly moving to talk about more philosophical questions that aren't too far removed (except in eloquence) from the sort of ideas actual kids will find themselves considering. Hand holding is a beautiful moment. Great physicality when she starts noticing her emotions. I never expected her to be a main character and I suppose there had to be some excuse for why Data doesn't make a whole army of children, but emotional failure seems a little too unsatisfying a reason.

The music does a pretty great job of indicating how Lal sees the world. I quite like the various tracking shots used to add focus to character's conversations. An especially great use of focus was on Data and Lal holding hands. Liked La Forge, Troi and Wesley serving as bookends. Was this Frakes' first time directing? Because it was a pretty good show.

I like this episode, but I want to like it even more. Unfortunately, there's just something so cowardly about the whole thing. Aside from the fact that we're treading on similar ground to The Measure of a Man, there's the simple matter of Lal herself, who is a great character, but, much like a Doctor Who episode I also have mixed feelings for, was obviously not going to be here for long. Even aside from the fact that her actress wasn't in the main or recurring cast, there's the matter of her hypothetical character development being practically identical to what Data would be going through. Going forward, she'd be redundant, at best.

But at least in the Doctor Who equivalent, Tennant got to show some spectacular acting. Spiner, while genuinely great as always, is kept a bit neutered. Having Data frothing at the mouth or openly sobbing would be a bit too much, but allowing him just a bit more emotion during at least the goodbye scene would go a long way. There is a great moment where he moves to say something, but thinks better of it and we also have Crusher's aside about love, but the apparent need to keep Data in seemingly emotionless mode cripples the ending for me. His decision to take on board her memories demonstrates that he loves her, the episode isn't ambiguous about that at all, but his little girl is dying. It'd be trivial for the writers to technobabble an explanation for why he experienced an overt emotion, however briefly. I'm aware of what they're going for, the old irony angle where we know more about the character than the character themselves, I just think the priorities are out of order and it ultimately doesn't quite work. Or maybe I just don't understand Data's actual narrative purpose as well as i think i do. A less defensible act of cowardice is making Haftel suddenly decent in the end. Similar to Maddox, they seem afraid of ever allowing a member of Starfleet to be an outright villain, which wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but it's not establishing sincere depth for these people, it's cynical house cleaning. They can have their cake and eat it, too. Picard takes a principled stand against the government (and it is a fantastic scene, cut off far too early), without ever showing the powers that be as being too corrupt or requiring the Enterprise to go on the run. Half of me expected Data to refuse his offer to help because can you actually trust that man after he's very unsubtly indicated she's just a useful piece of tech to him? The sadness as he walks out to deliver the unhappy news isn't moving, it's jarring.

Similar to the previous episodes involving the quest for comedy, I feel like the actual explorations of child psychology and good parenting practice are groan inducingly shallow. Guinan, in particular, comes off as far more useless than the episode believes, but Crusher doesn't exactly have much to offer, either. The other idea they offer, that children aren't property of the state, is good, but Haftel is, in many ways, framed as some sort of social worker and I'm not sure I like regarding them as villains, considering that most parents are tragically unfit for the job. That said, allowing a child a voice in decisions concerning them is absolutely a good thing.

The Measure of a Man did most of it first and better. It's good, but too cowardly to be great.

Sins of the Father next.