Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2020 11:05 pm
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Star Trek: The Next Generation A quick walk through.
For no real purpose, and risking the likelihood I'll just sound like some malcontent nitpicking most of the time, I've decided (for a time, or until I stop) to binge TNG on Netflix and comment on them as I go.
I do not intend to offer particularly insightful comments - just a quick, dirty impression as I go along, and grade each episode from 1 to 10. I'll even miss or skip a lot of points of interest to others, either because I forgot, or it didn't pull my focus or especially irritate me in any way.
I invite others to participate. I would enjoy if others commented on the episodes, if they can recall them, rate them if they wish, point out mistakes - (mine, theirs, anybody's) - or ask questions about Trek in general. Trek discussions can be fun, IMO.
I won't offer complete synopses of the episodes but just images and a link to Memory Alpha for each episode and a link to the episode's transcript, too, so one may quickly remind themselves what the episode was about, if they wish.
Edit: Late comers to this thread should feel free to comment on earlier reviewed episodes up thread, even if they have been up a while. Just post away. Most fans are still happy to hear or discuss new ideas, observations, and different takes than those already posted. We're likely even interested in how another fan rates an episode - though more likely the reason(s) why one holds an episode in higher/lower regard, so that's always appreciated.
Last edited by Jilerb on Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:45 am, edited 4 times in total.
Whew, boy, that's some fairly bad acting. Well, they are trying to find their characters and their footing, and putting in too much exposition, so it's hard to watch in many places, particularly Troi, and to a greater extent, Tasha. But none of them do a fantastic job right off.
To have Data be a virtual thesaurus yet somehow miss "snoop" makes his explanation illogical since he knows all those other synonymous terms despite not really being the type to snoop.
To show Geordi is in constant pain and pretty much ignore this fact for most of the series, IIRC, makes me wonder how many things are just changed as they go along - which is fine - but without apology, which is not.
Picard doesn't like the damned noise of the red alerts. He calls for printed messages only, though he still makes log entries or seems to do some electronic stuff, and unless they are using pen or pencil and paper, I just don't see the point, so it smacked of silliness and artificial precaution and wouldn't hide anything from Q - not that they knew that then - but it seemed unreasonable. I don't think he ever bothers to take that precaution again.
The entire idea of Q is a risky move - putting god-like characters in to interact with your mortal characters is always problematic. And in the end, Picard seems to conclude all of it is nothing more than for Q's entertainment. Maybe it is. The so-called charges Humanity is still a savage race certainly never seemed to be his real concern. It's hard to guess what's behind the whims of a God.
Ha, he almost seemed to imply Q had no right to defend himself against a mere stun setting on a phaser. I'd say it would have given him the right to kill, though he certainly didn't need to. Q sure does stuff in future stories to lead to multiple deaths within the crew, so he's hardly harmless or particularly concerned about the ants he's playing with.
Saucer separation - what a waste of screen time. Sure, good to see it once, to know it can happen, but it took forever. All that exciting music for something that wasn't, well, exciting. The fact Q immediately gave chase and at higher warp should have had him on the Enterprise within seconds, if that. Yet he took many minutes to catch up so they could do all that nasty stuff with the saucer sep, and later the lame manual reconnection by Riker. I mean, he's just giving verbal orders - what's the person whose hands are on the actual controls supposed to do it he gives a wrong order - deliberately crash the ship? I was so thoroughly unimpressed, and even had disdain for the great concern his subordinates had about the manual procedure.
I guess I'm saying this episode was full of artificially inflated moments where it looked like they were trying to make unexciting things seem impressively exciting just for the sake of being more exciting. It sort of sucked. It's extremely risky, man. We'll do it anyway. Done. No problem.
Meanwhile, at Farpoint station, everybody is getting their knickers in a twist something like a replicator is being used. Wow, they have exactly what I wanted. Amazing, yes? Not really.
Nice to see McCoy there, even if, as I understand it, he died shortly after that. I am surprised he was both 137 and still an active service admiral, though.
Troi and Riker - let's recycle the Decker and Ilia story. Nobody thought it was as great as it was the first time, so let's do it again.
Wesley thinks the holodecks are super cool, but he really, really wants to see the bridge, where he is not allowed. I guess it never occurred to him to have the holodeck mock up one for him. And he gets holo-water all over the deck outside. Well, maybe simple things are beamed in, like real water. Otherwise, why clean up holo-water outside the holo-deck?
Wow, Picard was sure pissed when Wesley seemed well acquainted with bridge controls. Was it classified information the boy hacked from secret files? Nope. I guess he just needed to show how much he hates kids.
What was going on (the mystery behind Farpoint station) did seem fairly obvious. I'm surprised it took them that long to figure it out (but the audience has more information, I guess). More surprised Q kept breaking his own rules - so he obviously wasn't really testing them - just dicking with them, having fun, I would think.
How much energy can that ship really just give to another life form? How much did it need?
I now understand TNG episodes are re-mastered, too. I didn't know that, so maybe I'll see new things - but odds are I wouldn't realize it when I saw it. I'm nowhere as intimately familiar with TNG as I was with TOS to instantly identify such changes.
I gave this two-part episode a 3 out of 10. Bad acting, inflated importance, too drawn out, and not really that interesting.
But, back when it first aired, it didn't dissuade me from watching the next episode.
3 out of 10.
Last edited by Jilerb on Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:10 pm, edited 12 times in total.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:11 am
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Filming Dorothy Fontana's original script as it was probably would've made for a better show.Roddenberry's whole trial-by-Q wraparound could not feel more tacked on.He had pretty much lost his writing mojo by that point. I saw this when it first aired;somehow I made it thru to the end,but it was a hard slog.I wasn't dissuaded from watching the next episode,but I wasn't eagerly anticipating it either.
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Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:53 am
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I recall enjoying it because it was Star Trek...but when I first saw it I wasn't thrilled by it. I wasn't ever a fan of Q and, although it sort of had some familiar Trek stuff going on, it seemed like the characters weren't well defined enough in this first episode. Picard was moody and anti-social, Geordie and Data seemed like they were written more as novelties than as actual characters and, as you pointed out, Troi and Riker were a too-obvious-to-ignore callback to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I recall not being impressed...but even sub-standard Trek was better than whatever else was being aired around the same time (IMO).
I'd add to the chorus about not being dissuaded from watching the next episode...but I really wasn't excited by it when I first saw this. Farpoint first aired here in Australia when the third season of TNG was already airing in the United States so I knew it must have improved (according to Starlog magazine it had, anyway), but it was an incredibly clunky first episode by anyone's standards.
_________________ "They'll bite your finger off given a chance" - Junkie Luv (regarding Zebras)
Too bad they didn't go with Dr. Crusher having a 15 year old daughter, Leslie, instead of a 15-year old son, Wesley. She might not have been so annoying. But mostly, I think she would have done far more to encourage young women in STEM studies. Too bad.
Yeah, it could have been worse, but I suspect it would have been better.
Now this was much better. None of the acting made me cringe, and the story, while heavily patterned after TOS's The Naked Time, was different and new enough to be fine and not just an old retread. So it's obviously an homage, a respectful call back, and not just a cheap knock off for want of an original idea. I mean, it's quite unlike digging up Khan for no particular reason and reusing the crap out of him while trying to recapture the greatness of Wrath, for example.
The TOS call backs were also organic and well introduced - and not just some sloppy added fan service, as Riker tried to remember something he had read and had Data searching for it based on so little information - until the "Aha" moment. Constitution class (cool - and actually the first time that is mentioned in dialogue, so only here did Constitution class become canon) commanded by James T. Kirk (nice), etc. I'm just sorry Leonard McCoy's name didn't come up since it was a medical crisis and his solution. No love for Bones, I guess. He already got used up in episode 1, so that's enough of him, apparently.
This time the silliness was deliberate - and fun. Even Data noting to Riker it doesn't suck, it blows, was good for an informative laugh. He had another confused moment with some unfamiliar term, which I find unlikely, but he is a learning machine and not simply downloaded with all information in all files - so I guess it's up to him to decide what to read or not, and despite his speed and memory, he apparently doesn't read everything. Which means, what, he wanted to learn multiple sexual techniques? And he's still using contractions, not that the idea he couldn't arose until later, so you can hardly blame Spiner.
I'm sorry to say I think they were remarkably lax on the quarantine protocols and slow to isolate potentially infected people. I've seen better quarantine and decontamination procedures aboard the old NX style ships. But it's possible people were infected so quickly and were contagious long before the symptoms appeared, and so it got everywhere on the ship PDQ and too many key personnel were compromised too quickly to recognize it and button it up while they instead wondered why they felt this way or that and not so much about was going on around them. But wow, the Doctor should have known better and she just left Geordi unattended so he could walk away. The entire examination of a possibly infected person out in the open like that while others just stood around, too. If not an old-style closed off room, then force fields would be called for. But nope.
Apart from the rarity of stars doing the things they have them doing, two other points of questionable science - I don't mind if Wesley makes a mini-tractor beam, but holding it in his hands while using it? I would think he'd have to anchor it to something solid or bear the weight of what it picks up himself, which he wasn't doing. Maybe he's got some serious anti-gravity plates built into it, too. But then, despite their ubiquitous nature in the show, I'd be more impressed with portable antigravity than the tractor beam.
But mostly I didn't like the stellar "fragment." Once free of the tremendous gravitational forces at the core of a red giant, it would expand into a gas, probably. And it's damn unlikely it would so unluckily be on a collision course with one ship, let alone both. I think they should have simply had an expanding spherical shockwave of energy. That would definitely get both ships if they didn't get away to a safer distance - similar to how the Genesis wave would have gotten the Enterprise-NCC-1701. It would have looked cooler, been more scientific, I think, gotten to the ship in minutes, probably, instead of days (like it probably should have taken given such distances) and not otherwise have affected the story.
Note: Just for comparison, it takes 8 minutes for sunlight to reach Earth from Sol at the speed of light, but days for energetic particles with mass to traverse the same distance. So spherically expanding energy in minutes, and not a massive fragment in days, would have been better. How close they were to the sun, we're not sure, but I doubt they'd be within minutes of a sublight velocity fragment. If that were the case, Picard should have tractored them out first thing.
Picard made other wrong decisions, I'm sorry to say. There he was, having lost command to Wesley, and desperately needing to move the ship - and Wesley offering to do it for him - So Picard screwed up. Just tell me and I do it for you. NO! I have to be in command. Me! If I had been in command, I'd have humored the boy and told him OK, move the ship. Aye, aye, captain. And then try to regain control later, when it was safer. He didn't seem infected yet, either. But maybe he was - and it would only become apparent later when he got all flirty with the good Doctor.
I didn't really like Picard wanting Wesley's science teacher to get some credit (and Wesley therefore, less, maybe) since Picard has no idea what contribution the kid's science teacher may have made, if any. It's not like he even knows the guy's name.
I'm glad the chief engineer was replaced (they did go through a lot of them in season 1). Why replace her? She needed weeks to lay out a circuit that Wesley managed in minutes - and he was intoxicated. How else could she retain her reputation as a miracle worker? Nope. She's obviously just not that good. And her assistant, Jim, leaving his post like that in care of a boy. I can only guess he was already infected, too.
It really says something about the hellhole Tasha came from if 5-year olds have to avoid rape gangs. And maybe why instead of a person, she felt more comfortable using a, umm, sex toy?
That may seem like a lot of stuff to complain about, but it's all fairly minor and not in your face stuff, so overall the story was pretty good, not merely a TOS a rip off, as some thought, advanced our characters in a realistic manner, and set a much better tone for the series than their first offering.
7 out of 10.
Last edited by Jilerb on Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:11 pm, edited 10 times in total.
Too bad they didn't go with Dr. Crusher having a 15 year old daughter, Leslie, instead of a 15-year old son, Wesley. She might not have been so annoying. But mostly, I think she would have done far more to encourage young women in STEM studies. Too bad.
Yeah, it could have been worse, but I suspect it would have been better.
It read better to me too. Roddenberry believed his own legend by then, so everything had to be idealistic and profound -- which came out more like naive and pretentious. The show improved greatly once he was no longer around to interfere.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 5:08 pm
Kind Of Close For One Of These Jewels.
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I think so, too. Despite his initial start and original ideas and vision, there were other more talented people that contributed to the show's success, such as it was (3 years and canceled for TOS or 7 for TNG) but due to that greatness, it warranted the fan following later and what it grew to become.
Thanks, Gene, but you were just a part of it - and not all of it, and maybe not even the best part.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:33 pm
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Simon wrote:
I recall enjoying it because it was Star Trek...but when I first saw it I wasn't thrilled by it. I wasn't ever a fan of Q and, although it sort of had some familiar Trek stuff going on, it seemed like the characters weren't well defined enough in this first episode. Picard was moody and anti-social, Geordie and Data seemed like they were written more as novelties than as actual characters and, as you pointed out, Troi and Riker were a too-obvious-to-ignore callback to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I recall not being impressed...but even sub-standard Trek was better than whatever else was being aired around the same time (IMO).
I wasn't a Q fan either, though now I can enjoy the character enough just for de Lancie's acting.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 4:08 am
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Yes, like the show as a whole Q did become more interesting and well rounded as the series progressed.
It's interesting to think about these episodes in light of the excellent later ones, though. How TNG survived that first season is what amazes me. It swung wildly between being good and being dreadful, often within the space of a single episode.
_________________ "They'll bite your finger off given a chance" - Junkie Luv (regarding Zebras)
Wow. And by that, I mean I was surprised by the vitriol and hatred aimed at this episode, by fans, critics, and even cast members, some saying it was the worst episode - EVER! But what's weird is many of those same people then say if not for the all black casting of the Ligon people, it probably would have been fine, or at least not that bad. To me, that suggests they are judging the episode based on the color of some people's skin and not on its content or its characters.
The idea "they" were depicting "African Americans" as having some unfortunate characteristics or beliefs just seems to miss the point since the Ligons were not African Americans, or of African descent, nor did they have anything to do with African Americans or Africans (in the story, though it's clear they cast the Ligons as all black, so maybe the casting choices were racist, maybe not, but not the story itself, which is what I'm more interested in here). Besides, they compared them to some earth cultures, most notably Native Americans, China, Japan, even the French, though that was more about a French term Data used and a way to show off Picard's French ancestry. No matter, really, for whatever similarities they may have to some parts of some earth cultures, they are not saying, and I do not think implying those earth cultures are therefore the same in other ways, too.
It's just more of a mystery why everything is compared so easily to earth cultures or earth history when they have representative crewmembers from other planets. Ah yes, they are similar to the Goricina on Nibar 7, or the Fantici of Betazed. But, of course, they can't since that would be meaningless to us. It tends to make everything earth centric or human centric when it realistically shouldn't be quite like that.
Maybe they felt the writers, or whomever, were racist for casting the Ligons as all black so they could "slip one by" on everyone. I'm not really sure why, unless they had some other reasons to believe those same people were racists. If the Ligons were all lizard-like or reptilian, as originally written, maybe it wouldn't have been (I believe, erroneously) perceived as a complete racist piece of shit, as some have called it. I can just imagine if they had instead said, we aren't accepting any African American actors for any of these parts - they would have been called racists then, too. Or maybe some are just unwilling to accept any fictional humanoid civilization that doesn't have the same mix of races as Earth does, lest it be racist in some way. If so, that's just sad.
Touchy subject, I'm sure, and though I'm not trying to be, maybe what I'm saying is racist to some. If so, I hope they realize it's inadvertent. And if the episode was racist, I'd suggest that was inadvertent, too. What some few may have thought or how they treated some others on set or in production, I couldn't say.
Personally, I thought the episode was far more sexist than racist, since it didn't really seem that racist to me. I mean, it never even occurred to me to think, yeah, that's what black people are "really" like. Not at all. Maybe they had a greater problem with the casting than with the story or the acting, but I can't speak for anyone who had a problem with it. I just thought the episode was generally not that good on its own merits, or lack thereof.
Some have compared it to Amok Time, but I don't think it comes close to that or has that feel or vibe at all, so any similarities to that seem accidental and unimportant.
But what does it have? Let's take a look.
First, an alien culture that has transporters. Maybe they have warp drive. I have to assume they do (wouldn't warp drive come before transporter tech?) Their culture seems hopelessly contaminated already by outside knowledge of advanced civilizations such that I think the prime directive wouldn't apply - yet they seem to think it would. I'm not sure why. Not attacking them or taking the vaccine by force isn't because of any prime directive but just general Federation policy - any one of a number of other directives, but probably not the prime one, so I think that was probably a mistake to even mention it. Better to say we aren't here to kill and steal or impose our will wherever we go. There's no particular need to number it.
Note: To this day, we've never seen the complete copy of the prime directive, or its numerous sub clauses and exceptions, so it's hard to say what it covers or does not cover.
And wow, Tasha just goes to town on that guy at the start - in a surprising and I would think uncalled for manner that might have gotten her disciplined, if not for the need for it in this story. And Troi saying not to apologize helped. But I guess she didn't actually injure him. Far more likely she immediately committed a social and unforgivable taboo just by touching him, given their reaction to women. I guess one can only bend over backwards so far before you'll commit assault on a foreign dignitary in order to protect your captain from threats, real or imagined. I'm not sure they keep that level of protection up later on - like the captain is some sacred monarch that can't be approached or touched without first thoroughly screening every body.
Heh, it just occurred to me maybe that was because they used their own transporters, so the Feds didn't already have their transporters check them for poisons or weapons first before getting close to the captain, as is usually the case. If so, if they thought that, it would have been nice to say so, so I sort of doubt that's what they had in mind.
Hey, I'm going to grow real tired of discussions whether it's OK for the captain to go on away missions, I can tell you that right now. We get it. What Kirk and Spock did most of time was risky, maybe even unrealistic. But maybe it's like Starship Troopers, everybody fights - even the officers. If they get killed, we just replace them - we don't treat them like they are irreplaceable. Valuable, sure, but not irreplaceable. And risk is their game. That's why we're aboard her. Get over yourselves.
Is the Enterprise carrying around a store of rare Earth artifacts as presents, or is it just a cheap replicated knock off? 13th century, indeed. It had better be a knock off. They sure didn't go home during the emergency to get a gift first, and just carrying valuable items like that on a ship is too stupid for words. The only real issue is how good a copy is it. Speaking of which . . .
It's interesting they can't duplicate the vaccine. They can beam it up, so they should be able to use the transporter to make more, even if standard replicators aren't good enough. But we won't look too closely at this. I'd have probably fixed that by having to shuttle it up since replicators and transporters can't duplicate the highly complex molecules. Many items just can't be replicated or duplicated like that. It's a good thing to have limits.
I don't really understand how the women own all the land and wealth, but the men rule. Yet when he thought his wife had died, he seemed to think he had all the land and wealth. He's still a man, isn't he? And when it was shown she only died temporarily, I'm not sure why that would break his legal claim on her, but wouldn't also break any legal claim she had to her wealth and lands. Are they no inheritance laws? Something just isn't quite right here.
So they abduct Tasha, and Riker steps up and first thing he thinks is to arm and ready photon torpedoes. What? Is he going to nuke a city for this? What a dangerously savage race, am I right?
Should he even be anticipating Picard's orders like that? Sure, it's written out and we know he'll just use it to scare them, but really - that sounds so wrong. But Picard agrees, sets them to low yield, and since they're two for a nickel and not multi-million dollar weapons, or the equivalent thereof, he fires a piss load of them at the planet to detonate a 1,000 meters above the surface (though on screen it was clearly miles and miles up in space yet, but if it had been just a 1,000 meters, it could have easily wiped out a city or killed anyone on the surface directly below it if shot someplace other than directly over a city). If the prime directive applied at all, I would think scaring the ever-loving shit out of them like that might count as irrevocably changing their culture. Gah, we can be wiped out in an instant if we anger the wrong Gods/People above.
Sure, I found it unlikely that Luton thought nothing of committing an act of war on a vastly technologically superior culture like that, but maybe he has some belief the Fed's prime directive would apply and they couldn't do shit about it. So much for "acts of war" then, since they apparently don't exist if the culture is primitive enough. Inconsistencies abound. People shouldn't toss the Prime Directive around so casually like that, IMO.
You told Wesley to stay off the bridge, so he's on the turbolift.
Oh, so he thought staying on the turbolift all this time and tying up the main turbolift to the bridge was acceptable or somehow better?
Well, I guess they have two shafts onto the main bridge now.
Dr. Crusher really, really, really cares about sick and dying people - so that's annoying in a way, but OK, we'll live with it. She'd be better off kicking some ass and telling them to go faster than a leisurely warp 3 once they have the vaccine, if she cares that much. Show it, don't just say it. Actions, not words.
Data tells some lame joke - Geordi says it's old and poorly told. I say I've never heard it, but it's just not funny. And then Data has a "slip of the tongue" Geordi thinks is funny. Data? Data has a slip of the tongue? You wouldn't think that of Data. But it's a nice scene showing Data and Geordi are friends, and it's clear Data tells him a lot of unfunny jokes since La Forge tries to escape when he realizes Data is about to tell another.
Memory Alpha says Data made some math errors, but it seems right to me. 121 square meters would be 11 meters on a side, and if stacked, that would be 44 meters (not 22 - they seem to have missed there are four sides or poles and not just two - but I can't correct memory alpha's mistakes).
Tasha feels tricked by Troi, getting her to admit she kind of liked the attention from Luton? Felt wrong. Didn't care. Holding Troi accountable for that in front of her captain is like saying, how dare you expose my flaws to the captain - I want to keep my flaws a secret from him (rather than admit them or apologize for them or promise to do better). Or something like that. It just felt wrong. I mean, if she feels that way, OK, people do, but call Troi on it when you're alone with her.
And that battle? Horrible. Really looked stupid. Clumsy. Ridiculous, even. And hey, Tasha might have easily gotten hit by one of those spikes - you just can't guarantee she'd win the way she seemed to think she would. That metallic suit might have been Kevlar tough for all she knew. And claiming Starfleet combat training is the best in existence just made me puke. OMG, somebody thinks highly of themselves. So it was stupid all around. Hated it.
The last lines where Hagon (now Yareena's first) says, Well, as you see, Captain, you may excel in technology, but not in civilized behavior was actually fairly thought provoking, for me, and somewhat redeeming. In fact, there's more to think about in the whole episode than one might have first thought.
The idea was almost to sit back and laugh how they (the Ligons) were primitives and just deluding themselves at being superior at anything, unlike we (the Federation) who are "really" more advanced and "actually" more enlightened and "honestly" more civilized than they were, despite what the local natives foolishly thought, but the truth is not so simple.
Wouldn't we be just as arrogant and foolish as we thought they were if we were thinking we were the ultimate in civilized behavior - the very epitome of enlightened behavior? Are our ways always right - are they always better? Are we that certain of our facts we can sit in judgment of them? Or does doing that make us actually as foolish as they seemed?
The whole point in not imposing our will and beliefs on others, and the point of the prime directive, too, is we just aren't that sure, and we sure don't want the responsibility of imposing our beliefs on others, perhaps to their utter ruination, because we can't foresee all outcomes or predict the future or return lost lives if we're wrong or our interference cost lives. We are not Gods! We shouldn't be lording our beliefs over others.
Because the episode inspired that thought, I rated it higher by 1 extra point. Otherwise, I'd have given it a 3, but I gave it a 4 out of 10. I didn't really enjoy the episode, though, but it did make me think more than many others did.
4 out of 10.
Last edited by Jilerb on Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:05 pm, edited 7 times in total.
I enjoyed this episode, mostly, though it had some problems.
First, I wondered what an energy converter was. Apparently nobody has a good answer for this. Convert energy into what - a different form of energy? The Ferengi did call it useless, though that was a bargaining ploy to make what they misappropriated seem like it was no big deal. Picard was obviously ready to risk his ship to get it back. Well, that and make first contact with the Ferengi (though Picard had made contact before, he just didn't realize it).
Then shades of Arena and mirrors of the Metrons are tossed their way as a nearby planet immobilizes both seemingly hostile ships. Each thought the other ship did it, neither ever imagined the true source of the problem might be on the nearby planet. Troi later suggests it, but I'm not sure why, so they launched a probe to have a closer look. So did the Ferengi - also not sure why. Maybe they saw the Enterprise launce a probe so did likewise. Did Troi feel something? Or just have better insight than most? I did like her remark they had failed to say anything the Ferengi "wanted to hear." That was good.
Picard gets easily pissed off at times. He must lose that quality later since I don't recall it being that common a thing. But again he goes on about the "proper" order of flag colors, like the French had, unlike those Americans who had their colors in the wrong order. And Data mentions other flag colors for other nations, but hell no - WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT! You were a moment before, Frenchy, but O.K. I just thought the anger was uncalled for and hypocritical, and I'd rather see better in a Starship captain. Did Stewart imagine being angry at minor things was a good look or what?
Data must have had a fair regard for the Chinese finger puzzle the children left behind - he could have easily ripped it apart, but that would have destroyed the toy. I guess access to that lounge isn't from the bridge, or just the bridge if those two kids could get in there. One was a vulcan kid - never noticed - and one left the finger puzzle - was never sure where Data got it. The things we can find on-line, huh?
They speak of the Tkon Empire - a fallen civilization of many planets and trillions of inhabitants. And worse, reportedly with the ability to move stars. Yet, they suspect, they came to an end when their central star went supernova. Hardly. If they can move stars, that just wouldn't happen, so why suspect it? And if they had a population of trillions across many planets, so what if one went boom? Yes, one can, and some have, invented more details to explain why they still fell, despite their highly advanced abilities. The meddling of god-like beings, some say. But it sure wasn't simply succumbing to a supernova if they could move stars. Of course, it was only reported they could do that - not proven. Generally speaking, it's still a fairly bad idea to have that kind of power on the game board, even if its 600,000 years past. But mostly I object since there was no need for it for some remnant of that civilization to be there and to be capable of what it did in this story, so doing the unnecessary can be problematic. In this case, one really needs to explain why a supernova could kill such a large civilization when it can move stars. It makes no sense.
And what a nasty piece of work, Portal is, too. "Normally" I'd just destroy you both. Oh really. Kill and be done with 'em. Is this the highly advanced culture that died off? His attack on Riker could have looked better - but it looked cheesy.
Want me to kill the Ferengi for you? You'd really do that?
Maybe like in Arena and some back-story I've read, if Riker had said yes, Portal would have destroyed the Enterprise instead. But Portal just seems interested in how similar Riker's thinking is to the Tkon Empire's philosophy. I guess great minds think alike, so maybe the Federation is destined for similar greatness. But it's hard to believe if Sol went supernova (which it shouldn't in any natural way) the entire Federation would fall. It's silly. Besides, do we really think alike if you normally just kill people you happen upon who are less than friendly with one another? That sure isn't the message Riker gives when he explains why we shouldn't just kill the Ferengi.
I liked Riker's answer, too; our philosophy believes we have to take the chance the Ferengi may rise up and harm us.
So who, by the way, named all these Tkon ages after the destruction of their Empire? Quite frankly, it's a little sloppy Data had such detailed information about something that old and that long dead. It should have been more vague and less detailed and less certain.
I'll have to assume the Ferengi energy whips are more stylish than functional, perhaps similar to still carrying a ceremonial sword when you have phaser. They otherwise don't seem that practical, even if they have been modernized. Maybe they used to use whips on their slaves or underlings in the not so distant past, but now directed energy weapons. But I think it would take some practice to use them - more than the general point and fire of a gun.
Speaking of which, I'm tried of these guys describing humans a few hundred years past as "ancient." I wouldn't consider Christopher Columbus an ancient human.
I think they did a pretty poor job at showing the ship and the crew dying from the cold. No visible breath condensing in the air, and no frost build up on anything. They didn't look cold at all. No shivering - nothing. It was a very poor job depicting death in the icy cold of space.
Tasha is a little annoying again, kicking sand at the Ferengi. I'm not sure why that annoys me, but it seemed a useless thing to do - and impulsive - not controlled.
But those Ferengi were worse. I liked their commander on the ship, and he actually well countered everything Picard said - so he won that exchanged. And they offer the life of their second in command. Wow - harsh command structure. The leader who failed isn't offered up, but the one who could only follow orders. What jerks.
But the 3 Ferengi on the planet - they were like prancing chimps at the end. Ruthless at first - if he moves, kill him - like murderous pirates might say. Later, they're little more than jokes. Maybe they are masters of monkey kung fu or something, only seeming like buffoons so they can distract you long enough to bite you from behind. But mostly they acted and looked silly, so any hopes of making them the "big bad" for TNG pretty much died on that planet. They were no substitute for the Klingons as antagonists.
So we win, cuz Riker's so calm and cool and collected and more enlightened and all. Huzzah! And we try to reclaim a "Trouble with Tribbles" laugh by transporting a box of finger puzzles onto the Ferengi ship (instead of a bunch of tribbles). RDRR. And Picard? Sure - go ahead. It just failed to amuse me. Sorry. Besides, Scotty was also solving a real problem - not just dicking with somebody for no real purpose. And Kirk was getting really pissed for good reason. So much better. Swing and miss, then, on this point.
In general, I doubt ships would drop their shields and allow it, anyway, or foolishly have their shields down so it could even be done, but maybe the Ferengi ship is still recovering from Portal's assault and her shields are not back up yet. When Scotty did it, I just thought the Klingons didn't have shields up as a matter of good faith while sharing of the space station and didn't wish to appear hostile or looking for a fight - Organian peace treaty and all.
I'm sorry the Ferengi were mostly a disappointment. They do a much better job fleshing them out when we get to Quark in DS9, and even some later in TNG, but they had a lot to make up for because of this episode.
So, it's not super, it's not great, but it is OK. 5 out of 10. Maybe 6. Nothing really stunk up the joint, so call it 6.
6 out of 10.
Last edited by Jilerb on Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:14 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:24 am
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Both those episodes were okay by me when I saw them. They weren't great but they weren't awful. I didn't know Code of Honor was so reviled...I assumed at the time it was a leftover script from 'Star Trek Phase 2' or something, as it had that original series kind of vibe to it in terms of the ethical dilemma the crew were dealing with, etc.
I didn't hate The Last Outpost but thought the Ferengi were too laughable to be a threat. I guess the writers realized they were inherently comedic and took them in that direction in later appearances? From the outset they're portrayed as ridiculous so maybe they were always meant to be? I don't know. I remember being surprised when they showed up again. I assumed they were a sort of one-off race we'd never see again when I first watched this episode.
_________________ "They'll bite your finger off given a chance" - Junkie Luv (regarding Zebras)
Another episode where the best thing I can say about it is that it didn't suck. This is not a ringing endorsement, but there's nothing really wrong with it. It may even be more Trek-like than many others. Of course, that won't stop me from picking at it a bit, just for fun.
I'm sorry to say the warp specialist is a joke - despite the traveler's suggestion he grasps a piece of it so it's not really a cruel joke on him. It is. It really is. But his arrogance is based upon something even he should then know he doesn't fully understand and definitely knows he can't explain. So he tries to hide it, either by trying to not offer an explanation or just saying he's not a teacher and doesn't wish to become one and doesn't have the time or inclination. Sure. Yet, later, when the traveler explains - he does show he understands something of it by also pointing out - it's gibberish - like magic.
The best part of the episode is how they slip into fantasy and simply claim space, time, and "thought" are all aspects of the same thing. Space and time, certainly - not two separate things, but one thing - spacetime. So why not toss in a third? And yet, here, in this universe, it's truer than they might guess. They only exist due to some other people's thoughts. Think it, write it, act it, film it, and it is made so - in this fictional landscape.
It might at least make one wonder in our own reality - could we also be figments of somebody else's imagination, merely characters, thinking we our independent, thinking beings? Ultimately, it may not matter what reality is if the illusion is a sufficiently well crafted "reality".
It's just a fun thought.
Back in the show, Riker is so skeptical, but I assume it's only because his own crew specialists tell him it is nonsense and not because Riker has some deeper understanding of the math or the science. So he's right to be concerned. But he's wrong to be so dismissive - of anyone - even the boy (but the story called for it, so he's made to play the fool just so Wesley can really shine again and so once more Gene (Wesley) Rodenberry can pretend he's a kindred spirit and similarly brilliant in his own way - or so I'm told, as he vicariously lives through the character. It at least seems a little bit true, but one can't be sure of such things.) Personally, making him out to be all that and a bag of chips is partially what makes the character so annoying. But hey, that's what prodigies are like, and he is (or they are) Mozart level stuff - so now you know.
Even looking at a mathematical equation Wesley gets the brilliant idea it says time and space and "thought" are aspects of the same thing. I wonder what mathematical symbol represented thought that would have given him that idea.
Don't ever say that again! People here are just not ready for such a concept (though it's apparently true) Wonderful to know we're not ready for the truth - that's always good to know.
So off they go - 2.7 million light years away. It'd take 300 years to get home at maximum warp. This is a similar distance to the Andromeda Galaxy, and similar time frame given for the Kelvans (By Any Other Name) to go that far in the modified Enterprise NCC-1701. Yet, that would mean Enterprise-NCC-1701-D would be 9 times faster than Voyager, a supposedly technologically superior vessel.
Well, warp speeds and distances and times are just one of those things on which they can rarely remain consistent. I say one thing since, clearly, warp speed, distances, and time are 3 aspects of the same thing in this fantasy setting. See how smart I am?
I did like Picard's clear understanding there would be no point in studying scientific phenomenon there. Without a way to report the findings back home, what would be the point? So getting home was the top priority. Although Picard seemed a little cavalier with the traveler's life when, against medical advice, he used meds to force him awake. And why? Was it because some thoughts were endangering the ship?
But were they? Despite how scary some of them seemed, none of them held any reality but were mere illusions, sometimes shared, sometimes not, but illusions. I suppose that might be dangerous, but I'm not certain of that. I am certain, however, if the Traveler dropped dead due to rough and unnecessary treatment, they weren't ever getting home. But wake him anyway; that's an order.
The second trip into the "edge of the known universe" is poorly explained - except it's some realm of thought, I guess. What I don't get is how they assigned it the distance of a billion light years from home. How was that measured?
Worf calling it a "Klingon" targ, instead of just a targ, seemed strange. Again with the rape gangs for Tasha. And Picard - if he's not thinking about stepping off into oblivion, he'd rather have tea with his mommy, until it's time to be short with somebody again and yell at them. I really just don't recall him being that brusque all the time, so he must mellow out at some point, I assume. Or maybe he's just perpertually damned annoyed about something that only later resolves itself, and after that's off his mind he lengthens his temper.
It's possible thoughts did have some reality behind them as the collective thoughts of good will toward the traveler seems to have helped. And - they're home. Huzzah! But the traveler is gone. Huzzah! I mean, I was happy he wasn't going to be a recurring character. Until he was. But that's for another time, another story, and another episode - 3 aspects of the same thing.
When rating these, I may have to adjust them as I go along to get a better sense of where they should be amongst the whole, but for now, I'll call this one a middle of road episode. Good, not great. Northing sucked too hard to annoy me. It's just not one I'd say, wow, you have to see it. But nor would I say, definitely skip it. So 5 out of 10.
Though it does show more of the Wesley story arc, when he became "acting ensign" and why.
5 out of 10.
Last edited by Jilerb on Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 7:20 pm
Paroled evil genius
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Quick takes, as I don't think I have watched any of these episodes in over 15 years...
ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT: A massive disappointment, although I did not want to admit it at the time. I was 14, and despite some initial hesitation about the thought of a new Star Trek show without our familiar heroes (was it really Star Trek without Kirk and Spock?) I had come around and gotten excited at the thought of having a Star Trek that I could call "mine", that I could get in on the ground floor with. I even remember buying the John Ford ST novel "How Much For Just The Planet?" earlier that day while on a high school marching band trip. And when it came time for the episode, I was so bored I quit watching after a half hour.
Granted, I was recording it, as I hadn't known whether I would be able to watch that night or not due to my band responsibilities (and I would have recorded it anyway, it was Star Trek) but all the same, it had bored me. I came back and watched the last 20 minutes "live", and when I finally did sit down and watch the whole thing the next day, I convinced myself that it was a masterpiece. But deep down I knew better. It's awful Star Trek, the worst of all the Trek pilots/debuts.
THE NAKED NOW: Even my non-sophisticated lack-of-critical-thinking-skills 14 year old self recognized it was a bad sign that the 2nd episode of the series was a follow-up to/remake of an Original Series episode. Still, I did enjoy it more than the pilot, and damned if that plunging low-lower-LOWER cut on the front of Tasha's seduction skirt didn't get my attention. It remains crazy to me that the 2nd episode of the show was largely about our new heroes acting out of character when we'd barely gotten to know them IN character yet.
CODE OF HONOR: Didn't hate it then, didn't love it, definitely didn't see the racial implications back then. It just didn't interest me much because, the previous episode's skirt aside, I wasn't much of a Tasha Yar fan back then. Weirdly, the next time I rewatched the entire first season in the early 2000s with the DVD release (which I no longer have), Tasha was my favorite character of the season, and I would have gladly kept her over Deanna Troi, with all love to Marina Sirtis.
THE LAST OUTPOST: The Ferengi were embarrassingly awful. Ugh. Can't remember much else about this episode other than the "planet" could not more obviously have been a soundstage if the camera had panned over to show the food catering table.
WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE: I will mildly disagree with Jilerb; granted, again it has been over 15 years since I saw this one, but when I did more aforementioned DVD watch of the first season, this one struck me as being the first GOOD episode of TNG...not great, but good. That said, my primary memory of this episode is still getting a letter somehow from Biff Yeager, the actor who played Chief Engineer Argyle in this episode, a few weeks earlier, soliciting feedback on his performance as he was hoping to turn it into a regular gig on the show. I never replied (and still don't know how he got my address) but apparently he sent out hundreds of these letters to Trek fans. Paramount was furious and other than one more episode that had probably been filmed by the time they found out, he was blacklisted from the series.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2020 9:05 pm
Paroled evil genius
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Yeah, it might even still be in one of my desk drawers back home, unless my dear Mother threw it out.
I do remember that he said it was going to be the 4th episode, when in reality it turned out to be the 5th one aired.
He also called it "Where None Have Gone Before" instead of "Where No One Has Gone Before". I don't know if he just got it wrong or if "Where None" was the original title and it got changed by the time it aired.
Dress Uniforms - first death of a crewman - Data emulates Sherlock Holmes - and the transporter is "probably" abused.
So we start by introducing two new species - two worlds in the same stellar system, both recently discovered warp drive and both are applying for Federation membership. This in and of itself is highly unlikely on multiple levels, but OK.
Problem is, they hate, hate, hate each other like cats and dogs, or worse. The back-story is the Enterprise is taking these delegates to the planet Parliament, where expert diplomats will try to find a solution to this animosity. Why they don't come there, I dunno. The back-story might be good for a laugh, but it is fairly unimportant since I don't think we ever see these guys in future episodes.
It is perhaps more important what we learn when Riker says their (Federation) "meat" is just replicated, simulated stuff since the Federation doesn't "enslave" animals anymore. The carnivorous delegate doesn't see this as enlightened but finds it barbaric and disgusting. And "Enslave" is not really the right word, IMO, any more than meat is "murder." But some have strong feelings about this, and I guess no one really wants to cause unnecessary suffering or hardships, even upon animals, so there's that.
Truth is, if the replicated stuff tastes as good and/or is better for you, too, it is almost barbaric to kill animals, or cage them and restrict and limit their lives, so one shouldn't do it. Not for food, anyway.
One delegation even manages to kill a member of the other side and tries to cook and eat them. It's been said this is "cannibalism," but that's not the case. Intelligent life eating intelligent life wouldn't qualify as cannibalism - just, well, "murder" would probably be the right term there.
On the way to Parliament they find an unusual energy cloud traveling at warp speeds. They don't seem to think that's amazing or anything. Long past are the times of Kirk's assertion no natural phenomenon can travel faster than light (for various story reasons, we've seen a few since then). And I'm not sure why FTL speeds were necessary and maybe that even hurt the story later to think the cloud was just hanging around so one could easily return to it without having to hunt for it later. Anyway, they take a closer look since it is at least still unusual, but then they are on their way to Parliament after a quick look since they don't have time for this (seems to me that would have been a far more important mission than transportation for two groups, neither of which really seemed worthy of inclusion in the Federation at that time).
Unfortunately, they inadvertently picked up a hitchhiker, an energy being who starts to mess with the ship's systems and some of its crewmembers (not to be a dick, but inadvertently, as it explores and tries for discover what happened to it). The malfunctions mount up and they know it's highly unlikely this is natural, so it must be . . . sabotage.
Enter Sherlock Holmes, where Data learns of private detectives, reads all about Holmes, the greatest of them, and even smokes a pipe while searching for clues and deducing his elementary conclusions, all while taking on some of the mannerisms of the fictional detective - some of which are fairly insulting.
Holmes was often overrated, IMO, since his conclusions he took as absolute proof he must be right were often nothing more than strong probabilities. OK, he's right more often than not. But whenever you eliminate some things you thought to try, the truth needn't be amongst the remaining possibilities you thought about since it's always possible something you haven't even thought of at all is the truth. Anyway, Data surmises the delegates aren't guilty, the crew isn't guilty, and so it must be some alien that came aboard.
Via something akin to an electrical shock, this alien first hits Worf, then later hits the Doctor, and later hits Singh and kills him (he was the assistant chief engineer). They mention chief Argyle a few times, but we never see him. I guess they didn't want to kill the chief engineer, but his assistant is fair game. I actually object to this. The same energy hits Worf, hits the Doctor, later hits Picard, but it only kills Singh. Why? It's only lethal to guest stars? Sure, we know this, we accept it, in Meta terms, but there should be a reason on the character level why Singh died and the others didn't. There really wasn't. And it would have been easy to make one, too. For example, when Singh is attacked and shocked, he is jolted across the room and instead of hitting the floor and dying, he goes over the edge in the multi-story engineering area, falling to his death. That could be why he died when the others didn't. Not because he was wearing a red shirt. OK, OK, it wasn't red since in TNG red is command, but you get my point - we'd prefer an "in-story reason" for these seemingly inconsistent occurrences. But no, he just died for no particular reason.
Eventually it infects Captain Picard, and then Dr. Crusher and Riker notice his odd behavior and suggest he be examined. This is similar in ways to TOS's episode, Obsession, when Spock and McCoy wonder if Kirk is obsessed and not quite right and have to walk on eggs shells to ask him about it, lest they be guilty of mutiny or the like. So Picard/Alien suggests he doesn't have time for such tests, even though he's not really doing anything, and they are the ones acting strange so they should get checked out. He orders this. They comply. When she gives him the medical analyses, she asks him again and he confesses to being an Alien within Picard, possessing him or cohabitating with him.
Now that's weird, since Crusher didn't immediately relieve him of command upon hearing this confession, or countermand the alien's orders to return to the energy cloud. Instead, she lets it happen, and either she doesn't tell Riker this news, or Riker lets it happen, too. Only later, when it was already too late, did she try to relieve him of command.
So, they get to the cloud, Alien/Picard wants to explore, he subdues the crew with energy streams, and then he beams into the cloud but stays in as an energy form instead of rematerializing as matter, and in that way it and Picard can explore the universe together as energy beings. So it thought. I'm not sure, but I think it implied Picard was willingly going along with it. I kind of doubt that would be true, but we can't be sure.
They try to find Picard in the cloud, but can't, and after at time Riker is about to resume their mission, abandon the captain, and go. But it seems Picard couldn't survive out there like that, and he finds a way of getting inside the ship and signaling to his crew by displaying the letter "P" (for Picard) on several consoles to let them know he's back.
But what can they do? His body is gone. Aha - we can use the transporter to make a body from his last beam-out copy on file in the transporter (wow, the memory/storage that thing must have, but they say no one has used it since, so I guess maybe, at most only the last thing beamed in/out remains on file).
They can probably always do this, making "meat" out of water or whatever excess mass they happen to have lying around, but what good is making a dead body? Even if you want to eat it, it's better to make just select cuts and not a whole, rotting corpse.
Without the living mind, it's just a dead body. But hey ho, Picard's mind still lives as energy, so they reunite those two things and Picard is fine, if a little confused, and with no memory of the time after he beamed out.
This isn't as large an abuse of the transporter as I have seen in some other stories, but one should be careful about abusing such technology. Alas, explaining it better would be like a class or study that few really want in their entertainment, and nobody wants to read 2 or 3 pages about what I think and why I think it about how transporters should work. They sure don't want dialogue in the episode to that effect.
Suffice it to say, if one has a living mind, or soul, or whatever you call it, and a way to make a copy of a body, it's possible to put the two together. But without a copy of a body on file, or a living mind stored someplace, the dead just are not coming back. And I don't think they can store a copy of the living mind yet. Although, I think they could later, and by the time of Star Trek : Picard, I'd say they definitely have solved that problem. And I still have my doubts they even have the computer storage to put a human body in a file like that for later use. But I digress.
The back-story of the delegates, while unlikely, is mildly amusing. Holmes will become quite important later on to Data's story arc. We're reminded the authority the chief medical officer has over the captain and when and why - though she failed to exercise it properly, or on time. And they kill a crewmember, but in a clumsy way. The alien was sorry, but I really saw no need for it or an in-story reason. Make one and it's fine - leave one out and it pulls focus. Poor Singh. He was nicer than Argyle, too. He was really nice to Wesley, who, I'm sorry to say, didn't appear to be too upset by Singh's death.
The story isn't fleshed out in some important ways, so it's incomplete, and it abuses technology and wantonly kills. It is otherwise OK, but I won't rate it higher than 5, even with Tasha's only appearance in a skirt/dress uniform.
5 out of 10.
Last edited by Jilerb on Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:16 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 12:14 pm
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I didn't mind either of those two episodes at the time and thought they were better than the ones before them. The show is still throwing out some absolute stinkers even as late as the second season but they do become less frequent. The stuff with Wesley is just to establish him as a genius I guess, and the stuff with the Enterprise being used as a taxi for alien diplomats becomes the standard plot of many TNG episodes.
I don't think it hits its stride until the third season, not properly, but that's only my opinion. It does slowly improve but the first season is a very bumpy ride, that's for sure.
_________________ "They'll bite your finger off given a chance" - Junkie Luv (regarding Zebras)
Well, right off I have to say I didn't care for this episode. They seem to know a lot about the star cluster, right down to the number of inhabitable planets (3006, which is a lot, but we're not sure how many stars are in this cluster), yet didn't know about the Edo or even this planet. How is that possible? It's fine the writers know these things, even put them in their notes for future reference and use, but it should not be assumed the characters know all this stuff and can quote it in dialogue. It seems inconsistent to know exactly how many habitable planets there are in the unexplored star cluster unless they've fully explored the place, and they clearly haven't.
So, the Edo are a primitive, pre-warp culture. Almost idyllic, yet clearly pre-warp, so WTF are they doing by making contact with them, showing them they can beam in and out and talk to others at great distances, threatening them with phasers, be in orbit around their planet, the fact their planet is a ball and not flat, and talk about the laws of the Federation, which I suspect would include mentioning other advanced civilizations?
I would think they shouldn't go at all. Maybe observe at a distance for a time, if at all, and if they think it worthwhile, and if they do make contact, pretend to be natives and certainly never, never, never, reveal superior technology to those natives or talk about other advanced cultures.
But nope. The whole episode is built upon multiple violations of the prime directive, as far as I can see, so I just don't get it. If they have a reason for this, they don't share it with us.
I also don't get the local law - random punishment zones, nobody knows where except the Mediators. I might understand if the zones were unknown and anybody could be in one at any time and not know it, so they NEVER break any laws, any time, any where, lest they could unknowingly be in a punishment zone and suffer execution. But then they say the random zones are clearly marked, so huh? But even then you'd have to enter a clearly marked zone and break some law - and know all the laws since ignorance of the law is no excuse. What was the law Wesley broke? He damaged some flowers. Well, it didn't matter since breaking any law, large or small, in a punishment zone had the same penalty. Death!
So, murdering somebody outside a punishment zone is . . . acceptable?
BTW, ignorance of the law really is a good excuse if you have a good reason to be ignorant of it, like Wesley does, but they outright don't understand that concept, apparently, nor do they even think telling visitors about any of this, or the many laws, etc. or that doing so is an important thing to do, so again, I don't get it. Are they stupid? Or do they just not give a shit if visitors are killed because they have a callous disregard for the lives of others?
So Wesley trips into a zone, crushes some flowers, as his name suggests he might do, but he says he is fine so it's no big deal. He's not too concerned about the material damage, or even sorry for it, it seems, but then he's a Federation citizen and they routinely make material things free of charge and free of effort, or so it seems, so maybe that attitude isn't his fault.
What idiots would play near a clearly marked death zone, anyway? Oh yeah - they're stupid, and their kids probably even more so. At least they thought it was unfair. The Mediators, however - nope. I think they are carrying around lethal injections since Mediators are hand picked from the natural crop of psychopaths to give them a socially acceptable outlet for their urge to kill others, so they like it, look forward to it, set up zones and watch for violations - like one might go fishing or hunting - and they weren't about to hear any excuses for why they shouldn't be allowed to enjoy snuffing out another life they caught fair and square. Or maybe some other explanation would be better.
But the Mediators - what tools. Oh, look, you're scaring the boy since you prevented me from killing him quickly and painlessly.
Credit to Wesley he seemed ready to accept his death when he learn everyone else on the Enterprise might be attacked or killed if he didn't. But Picard wouldn't hear of it. He doesn't like math. 999 > 1. It's not really a thing he feels any need to consider. Ummmm, really? Maybe it's just me but it seems a perfectly valid consideration should all else fail.
I also don't understand why the Edo felt their civilization would crumble if Wesley escaped punishment. Unless other members of the Edo culture also suddenly acquired the ability to escape punishment, they'd still obey the rules to avoid execution. So it makes no sense to me. Still, they felt certain terrible things would befall them if Wesley escaped justice.
"Go ahead and take him with your superior abilities and we'll just record he escaped just punishment because he was luckily so much more advanced than we barbarians are."
Sounds good to me; we'll do that. Thanks. And you can take your sarcasm and shove it up your ass while we leave, though you'd probably enjoy that you sexually promiscuous little freak!
Seems that would have worked - having been given permission by the natives and all to do it, so it clearly wouldn't have violated the prime directive. That's our story, Starfleet, and we're sticking to it.
It's a bad law system, senseless to us, written to impose a silly death penalty on Wesley for the story so they could force Picard to violate it and bring the Prime Directive into it. But the Prime Directive is already being violated, the law is stupid, and it's all poorly contrived. It's, well . . .
Taking the head woman into space and showing her "God" were three more clear violations of PD#1 (transporter tech, in orbit, hey look, there's your God), but Picard did it anyway since he felt a need to know about the thing in orbit and didn't seem too concerned about what such revelations might do to her or the society below.
Whoever wrote this (and I'm not really interested in looking it up) has or had a poor understanding of the Prime Directive. But that is perhaps not his/her fault since they daren't fully write it out, lest they limit the imagination of other writers.
Dr. Crusher, on the other hand, has a fairly poor grasp of it, too, or, more likely, a healthy disregard for it - here, certainly, but in later episodes, too, since it's at odds with the Uber-Doctor's self-righteousness.
Picard even says the Prime Directive was never meant to cover a situation like this. The hell it wasn't. If the Edo's fear is right that their society will collapse because you show them people can get away with breaking the law, then it could all come tumbling down. Riots and murder could become rampant in the streets, thousands upon thousands could die, and it would all be your fault, Picard. This is exactly why the prime directive was made - for things like this. A sacred oath taken so the captain would be willing to sacrifice his life, his crew, and his ship to prevent such a tragedy, and Starfleet personnel are volunteers who agree with this, or should stay home. Did the good doctor not really read the lengthy contract before clicking "Agree"?
It's a pretty damn good reason to not deal with primitive or superstitious people, or ones who are, well, that stupid or immature in the first place. But all that fresh air and potentially unlimited sex was just too good to pass up, eh?
In the end, they proclaim absolute laws, and justice, are incompatible, for there should always be exceptions (even to that rule?) and the local laws and society are too stupid to be taken seriously, anyway, so if their society crumbles as a result of violating this aspect of PD#1, it's their own damn fault for their own level of sheer stupidity. I guess. Besides, if you allowed the boy to die, you'd never get with his mother, and we can't have that.
Anyway, ultimately it was OK with God, so the Edo can take it up with the divine if they don't like it, whoever They are, whatever They are doing. Who can argue with God? Like the Borg number all species they encounter, Trek does the same with God-like beings. This is God-like being #179. (Just kidding). Though for a God-like race, they appear to be moderately clueless.
What else? The suggestive costuming was a bit much, or a bit not so much, as the case may be, which seemed to make people more uncomfortable rather than welcomed and/or aroused. Well, get one alone and that might change, unless somebody is an exhibitionist.
But the idea they would go down there and have indiscriminate sex with, well, what I'd call socially immature people, is not good. Oddly, despite their attitude, we didn't see any natives actually having sexual intercourse in the streets or on the lawn, so one wonders why, or where they go to do that if they are so open about everything else. Maybe it's against the law, so they only have intercourse in certain places since they might otherwise be in a punishment zone and be executed. These acceptable places to have sexual intercourse are known as erogenous zones. No, that can't be right.
I'm not sure if the advanced team actually engaged in sex before making their initial report, or just realized the opportunity was being offered to them, but unlike later on Risa (a warp capable, more advanced civilization that has been around the block a few times) this place seems immature and unsophisticated and I think it would be inappropriate to engage this child-like race in such a way. Nobody even suggests this, though. I wonder if the Prime Directive would be violated if you offered the medicines necessary to cure their social diseases or prevent unwanted pregnancies. Or maybe they don't have any. Maybe the Federation doesn't have any, any more.
The society just confuses me since I don't see anybody working - except maybe the Mediators, but I'm not sure that counts. It sure isn't mowing the lawn or sweeping the walkways or building or repairing anything. Maybe their God takes care of all that.
I'm Starfleet. We don't lie. (Hasn't been my experience, kid, and you sure tell some whoppers down the road, don't you, Starfleet.)
I wonder if we lose Dr. Crusher later for a season since Starfleet required she take refresher courses in the importance of the prime directive. Probably not - Picard seems fairly flawed on them, himself.
But really, some idiot writer (inadvertently?) forced all those PD#1 violations on them just to set up one particular PD#1 violation, and then had Picard violate it. I wonder why. Do they also have a healthy disregard or disrespect for the entire concept? Well, maybe their point is simply absolutes are bad and exceptions are good and they couldn't write a better example.
As is probably always the case, Picard will have to answer for what he did, and if the panel of experts on the matter judges his actions to be inappropriate, they'll bust him, but if judged appropriate, he can go about his business.
And Data, if he does ramble, he probably should be allowed, even if mommy Crusher thinks he should just shut up.
Anyway, I'd give this a middle of the road rating, too, but must take a point off, or even two, just for the poor premise and . . . the execution - ha ha. So only 3 out of 10.
3 out of 10.
Last edited by Jilerb on Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:17 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Post subject: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A quick walk through.
Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:33 pm
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The planet of the 1980's fitness models...this is one that worried me when I saw it because it seemed so incredibly stupid. It was as if the Prime Directive was just ignored, or the writers thought they could have the characters say 'Prime Directive' a lot and that would sort of make it seem like it was something important even though they'd basically ignored it by even being there (as you pointed out).
I think it's one where the original idea probably got lost in the execution (no pun intended). It was as if this episode had a split personality - on one hand it was meant to show the crew justifying their ethical viewpoint to some sort of higher power (which they'd already done with Q in the pilot, but whatever), but all that gets buried beneath the spandex aerobics outfits and all the 'nudge-nudge, wink-wink' sex stuff. Tasha and Riker seem to be openly discussing the Edo culture as if it were a planet-wide swinger's party or something and that aspect derails the rest of it. Not that the rest of it makes a lot of sense anyhow.
It was the first episode that made me wonder what the hell they thought they were doing. I knew that Starlog said the show would get better: but where I could forgive the sillier aspects of the episodes that preceded it because they seemed like minor bumps in the road, this one was outright annoying in its stupidity. The whole premise seemed poorly thought out. TOS dealt with lots of childlike, less advanced cultures but the way Picard's crew carried on seemed...weird and creepy.
Also, what was going on with the Edo Lord? Why were they having to justify their actions when that thing was essentially manipulating the Edo in whatever way it chose? The clumsy explanation about it being like a parent raising children was so unconvincing and so clearly a pat line they'd just thrown in there by way of explanation (or rather, not having to think of a proper explanation) that it stuck out like a sore thumb.
I remember this clearly because I really thought that was it at the time - the shark had been jumped...or, in this case, the Edo had been jumped (by Tasha and Riker, presumably).
_________________ "They'll bite your finger off given a chance" - Junkie Luv (regarding Zebras)
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Amazing, yes? Not really.
He already got used up in episode 1, so that's enough of him, apparently. 
If not an old-style closed off room, then force fields would be called for. But nope.
