I have a long day tomorrow so I am doubling down on my watching. Fortunately this is a rare double decent episode streak in season 2. Despite having a generally workable story and a good performance from Brent Spiner if suffers from Okanaism a bit. What I mean by that is that Ira Grave, the genius they are rushing to try and save at the beginning is described by everyone he meets as brilliant. But everything he does is stupid and self defeating. I guess he is supposed to be suffering from some disease, but they imply it is more physical than mental. This episode also serves as a good prelude to Measure of a Man, my favorite early TNG episode.
The Enterprise is rushing to rescue a stricken freighter when they receive a distress signal from a planet occupied only by one of the Federations greatest geniuses, Ira Graves. The doctor is worried she is more needed for the freighter so a Vulcan doctor is sent with Worf, Troi and Data to try and help Graves. When they arrive, after a "near warp beaming," they are greeted by Graves young assistant Kareen. Graves is upset to be disturbed and expresses both a hatred of doctors and a extreme level of sexism not often matched even in TOS. Women to him it turns out are not people, they are women. Wow. Good thing Starfleet is determined to help this guy, I am sure he isn't evil at all. The doctor learns he is dying and soon. In private conversation with Data Graves reveals he worked with Soong, Data's creator. He insists on being called grandpa and discusses transferring his mind into Data.
Suddenly Data emerges from the lab. Graves is dead and Data is determined to mourn him. On the ship Data drones on and on about how great Graves was as his funeral to the point that Picard has to tell him to shut up. On the bridge Data can't keep his mouth shut when the captain is taking Kareen for a tour. Picard pulls him aside and insists that Geordi perform a diagnostic to find out what's wrong. It doesn't work but Troi puts him through a psych eval and finds two minds, not one. While she is figuring out what the results mean Data/Graves is in 10 Foward telling his whole plan to Kareen. She for some reason isn't pumped about giving up her body to live as a robot forever and Graves loses control and breaks her hand.
Kareen tells the captain what happened and he meets up with Graves/Data in engineering. After insisting everything is fine and that he isn't having problems injuring people Picard finds Geordi and another engineer unconscious. Picard manages to convince Graves it isn't going to work and after knocking Picard out Graves goes to Data's quarters and transfers his mind into a computer leaving Data back to normal. When Picard wakes up Pulaski refuses to tell him where Data is for no reason other than to show Pulaski at her best is as bad as Data when he is possessed by an insane genius.
Review: A good, exciting story over all with some serious issues with its main character. Other than transferring his mind into Data, which was clearly a bad plan to start with, Graves can't do anything to keep himself hidden. Starfleet needs to stop letting its eccentric geniuses have their own planets, they just end up going crazy. I am going to subtract a point for Pulaski being a jerk for no reason at the end.
7 out of 10
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
TNG: Loud As a Whisper
Just when I feel like giving up on Trek forever and moving on (yeah, not actually going to happen, but I can feel can't I?) a surprising good episode sneaks into the what is otherwise a mostly train wreck of a season. Loud As a Whisper is both well written and well acted and interweaves it's A and B stories in a way that works despite involving Troi in both. After Okana last night I am shocked that they managed to cast such an amazingly talented actor for the role of the deaf negotiator. Despite not saying a word you can always tell what he is feeling and the chorus of interpreters do a good job with the actual talking.
The episode opens with the Enterprise arriving to bring a talented negotiator to try and end a war on a planet that has been fighting for centuries. The Enterprise is supposed to not get involved other than transporting the negotiator, but they aren't great at following orders like that. Picard beams down with Worf and Troi and after being examined by the negotiator Riva his chorus appears. He is deaf and has three people who talk for him, one for scholarly matters, one for passion and one for balance. He is clearly taken with Troi and makes no attempts to hide his advances. On the ship Riva blows off a briefing on the war situation, to him all wars are the same, it isn't about the details and instead meets Troi for a date in her quarters. At first he uses his passion interpreter, but has him leave so he can be alone with her. She seems to be into it, but they arrive and Picard messes things up by calling down to the planet and demanding they stop shooting to Riva has to rush to the bridge and calm them down.
After examining a map of the area Riva picks a high plateau to be the negotiating grounds and beams down with Worf and Riker. They get things set up but when the delegates arrive one of their guards freaks out and tries to kill Riva. Riker saves him but the chorus are killed and they all flee back to the ship. Riva is devastated and no longer has anyone who understands his signs. Data learns his style of sign language, but Riva insists that without his chorus negotiating will be impossible. Eventually Troi meets him in his quarters and tells him she is going to try since he won't. He tries to explain some things to help her and gets to his main strategy, turning peoples weaknesses into their strengths. That is when he realizes that he can do it! He will teach the delegates his sign language and in the process teach them to communicate with each other and find peace. They leave him there to work things out and get on with ship stuff.
There is also a quick C story about Geordi being offered replacement eyes by Pulaski. He had always thought that wasn't possible for since she is the worst of course she has done it twice before. However Geordi understands that his enhanced visor vision is actually one of the things that makes him a good ships engineer and opts to keep his visor.
Review: While not quite perfect this episode is both enjoyable and thought provoking. By not having Wesley save the day or Pulaski get anywhere near Data it also avoids many of the pitfalls of early TNG. It even involves the unique talents of the TNG crew in a way that would have made it hard to adapt from an TOS storyline. If you haven't seen this one you owe yourself a watch!
8 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise arriving to bring a talented negotiator to try and end a war on a planet that has been fighting for centuries. The Enterprise is supposed to not get involved other than transporting the negotiator, but they aren't great at following orders like that. Picard beams down with Worf and Troi and after being examined by the negotiator Riva his chorus appears. He is deaf and has three people who talk for him, one for scholarly matters, one for passion and one for balance. He is clearly taken with Troi and makes no attempts to hide his advances. On the ship Riva blows off a briefing on the war situation, to him all wars are the same, it isn't about the details and instead meets Troi for a date in her quarters. At first he uses his passion interpreter, but has him leave so he can be alone with her. She seems to be into it, but they arrive and Picard messes things up by calling down to the planet and demanding they stop shooting to Riva has to rush to the bridge and calm them down.
After examining a map of the area Riva picks a high plateau to be the negotiating grounds and beams down with Worf and Riker. They get things set up but when the delegates arrive one of their guards freaks out and tries to kill Riva. Riker saves him but the chorus are killed and they all flee back to the ship. Riva is devastated and no longer has anyone who understands his signs. Data learns his style of sign language, but Riva insists that without his chorus negotiating will be impossible. Eventually Troi meets him in his quarters and tells him she is going to try since he won't. He tries to explain some things to help her and gets to his main strategy, turning peoples weaknesses into their strengths. That is when he realizes that he can do it! He will teach the delegates his sign language and in the process teach them to communicate with each other and find peace. They leave him there to work things out and get on with ship stuff.
There is also a quick C story about Geordi being offered replacement eyes by Pulaski. He had always thought that wasn't possible for since she is the worst of course she has done it twice before. However Geordi understands that his enhanced visor vision is actually one of the things that makes him a good ships engineer and opts to keep his visor.
Review: While not quite perfect this episode is both enjoyable and thought provoking. By not having Wesley save the day or Pulaski get anywhere near Data it also avoids many of the pitfalls of early TNG. It even involves the unique talents of the TNG crew in a way that would have made it hard to adapt from an TOS storyline. If you haven't seen this one you owe yourself a watch!
8 out of 10
Monday, June 29, 2015
TNG: The Outrageous Okana
There is a part in the middle of this episode where Data is watching an awful comedian try and teach him about humor and he asks that the playback be increased in speed. I felt that way literally throughout this entire episode. When they first meet the titular Okana Troi spends about 30 seconds gushing about what an awesome amazing person he is and the rest of the characters do the same. Too bad the writers only knew how to writes his praises, not his actually dialog. Every time I think this season has hit the bottom someone hands me a shovel, and we haven't even gotten to Up The Long Ladder yet...
The episode opens with the Enterprise encountering a primitive ship that is flying without a guidance computer. They hail the vessel and meet the most annoying character in Trek so far including Troi's mother. They agree to help Okana fix his ship and he beams over and spends most of the time impressing Wesley and sleeping with pretty much everyone he meets. Two other primitive vessels show up demanding Okana. One says he impregnated the mans daughter and the other that he stole some jewel or something. It turns out the son of the jewel guy impregnated the girl and wanted to give her the jewel.
There is also an even worse subplot about data trying to learn about humor from some god awful 80's physical comedian. None of the jokes are funny other than that they are being delivered by Data. Even a healthy dose of Whoopi Goldberg couldn't save this dead end story.
Review: This episode is terrible. It isn't the most insulting of the bad episodes and the resolution of the Okana problem is mildly clever, but that is as positive as I can be. Both Okana and the comedian are terribly written and have serious acting issues. If Enterprise is as bad as season 2 of TNG I may be in trouble... Had this episode contained more Wesley or any Pulaski it would have received my lowest rating. There is at least that.
2 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise encountering a primitive ship that is flying without a guidance computer. They hail the vessel and meet the most annoying character in Trek so far including Troi's mother. They agree to help Okana fix his ship and he beams over and spends most of the time impressing Wesley and sleeping with pretty much everyone he meets. Two other primitive vessels show up demanding Okana. One says he impregnated the mans daughter and the other that he stole some jewel or something. It turns out the son of the jewel guy impregnated the girl and wanted to give her the jewel.
There is also an even worse subplot about data trying to learn about humor from some god awful 80's physical comedian. None of the jokes are funny other than that they are being delivered by Data. Even a healthy dose of Whoopi Goldberg couldn't save this dead end story.
Review: This episode is terrible. It isn't the most insulting of the bad episodes and the resolution of the Okana problem is mildly clever, but that is as positive as I can be. Both Okana and the comedian are terribly written and have serious acting issues. If Enterprise is as bad as season 2 of TNG I may be in trouble... Had this episode contained more Wesley or any Pulaski it would have received my lowest rating. There is at least that.
2 out of 10
Sunday, June 28, 2015
TNG: Elementary, Dear Data
The Pulaski racism train just won't stop! This time she risks her own life and the safety of the entire ship to try and prove how inferior Data is to a real human. Also, I know this is military grade hardware and that shit is dangerous, but shouldn't there be a few more safety protocols built in to keep someone from accidentally putting a holographic construct in charge of the entire ship? This episode continues the trend of holodeck adventures gone wrong which the TNG writers just can't get enough of.
The episode opens with the Enterprise waiting for a few days for the arrival on a ship they are to rendezvous with for some reason. With time on their hands Geordi and Data decide to have a Sherlock Holmes adventure on the holodeck. But since Data only asks for a random Conan Doyle reference it quickly gets boring as Data has them all memorized and Geordi storms off in a huff. At Ten Forward Geordi explains that without a challenge it would be boring. And of course Pulaski can't keep her mouth shut when someone is bad mouthing Data. After explaining how Data can't do any original thought (something he is clearly more capable of than just about anyone on the ship) she challenges him to a real mystery on the holodeck.
They all return to the holodeck and this time request some sort of remix, but again Data recognizes the elements from the already existing mysteries and figures it out which for some reason Pulaski uses to justify the claim he can't be original. No, that was something generated by the ships computer that wasn't original, but whatever. Geordi then tells the computer to come up with an opponent that can defeat Data and it takes so much power Worf notices the drain from the bridge. Moriarty suddenly gains consciousness and notices Geordi messing with the arch on the holodeck. As soon as they leave he starts messing with it. He then kidnaps Pulaski leaving Data and Geordi with a real mystery.
Data soon finds Moriarty's den, but is surprised when he is recognized as not being the real Holmes. He then hands Data a drawn picture of the Enterprise which horrifies Data who storms off the holodeck and tries to turn it off. But it doesn't work! Geordi somehow despite not actually trying to has turned off all override protocols on the holodeck giving it total control over the ships computer. They explain it to Picard who is pissed, but agrees to go back in with Data to try and straighten things out. Before they can return the ship is rocked by control being overridden from the holodeck, Moriarty has figured out how to control the ship! When they get back in the system is having problems rendering. They make there way to Moriarty's den and find Pulaski happily eating crumpets with him. After explaining the situation Moriarty agrees to let them save his program and turn off the holodeck so he can come back in a future episode. And the episode ends without them establishing safety protocols or anything!
Review: As a kid I loved the idea of the holodeck accidentally creating a true intelligence. But if that is all it takes to make a true AI, why aren't they using AI's all the time? The ships computer is clearly less intelligent than the program it creates and runs which has some serious issues. I am also going to start taking off a point from the score for Pulaski racism so:
3 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise waiting for a few days for the arrival on a ship they are to rendezvous with for some reason. With time on their hands Geordi and Data decide to have a Sherlock Holmes adventure on the holodeck. But since Data only asks for a random Conan Doyle reference it quickly gets boring as Data has them all memorized and Geordi storms off in a huff. At Ten Forward Geordi explains that without a challenge it would be boring. And of course Pulaski can't keep her mouth shut when someone is bad mouthing Data. After explaining how Data can't do any original thought (something he is clearly more capable of than just about anyone on the ship) she challenges him to a real mystery on the holodeck.
They all return to the holodeck and this time request some sort of remix, but again Data recognizes the elements from the already existing mysteries and figures it out which for some reason Pulaski uses to justify the claim he can't be original. No, that was something generated by the ships computer that wasn't original, but whatever. Geordi then tells the computer to come up with an opponent that can defeat Data and it takes so much power Worf notices the drain from the bridge. Moriarty suddenly gains consciousness and notices Geordi messing with the arch on the holodeck. As soon as they leave he starts messing with it. He then kidnaps Pulaski leaving Data and Geordi with a real mystery.
Data soon finds Moriarty's den, but is surprised when he is recognized as not being the real Holmes. He then hands Data a drawn picture of the Enterprise which horrifies Data who storms off the holodeck and tries to turn it off. But it doesn't work! Geordi somehow despite not actually trying to has turned off all override protocols on the holodeck giving it total control over the ships computer. They explain it to Picard who is pissed, but agrees to go back in with Data to try and straighten things out. Before they can return the ship is rocked by control being overridden from the holodeck, Moriarty has figured out how to control the ship! When they get back in the system is having problems rendering. They make there way to Moriarty's den and find Pulaski happily eating crumpets with him. After explaining the situation Moriarty agrees to let them save his program and turn off the holodeck so he can come back in a future episode. And the episode ends without them establishing safety protocols or anything!
Review: As a kid I loved the idea of the holodeck accidentally creating a true intelligence. But if that is all it takes to make a true AI, why aren't they using AI's all the time? The ships computer is clearly less intelligent than the program it creates and runs which has some serious issues. I am also going to start taking off a point from the score for Pulaski racism so:
3 out of 10
Saturday, June 27, 2015
TNG: Where Silence Has Lease
This episode is a real mixed bag. Unlike last night which was just bad bad bad this one has a decent over all plot, but some terrible character bits. Pulaski is proving to be totally awful as the new doctor and not just for her refusal to accept Data as a person, Worf is show to be particularily animal like this episode, and Picard is at maximum preachy. It also breaks the TNG rule of no godlike beings who aren't Q with a goofball energy cloud villain straight out of the worst of TOS. Third season is sounding really good right now...
The episode opens with a fake out. They set it up to appear that Worf and Riker are on a dangerous mission together, but after killing all the enemies Worf is set to attack Riker. He does stand down and we are left to wonder how someone this out of control could have passed that dreaded psyche test to enter the academy. Back on the bridge they encounter a blank void in space. The probes they shoot in disappear alarming Worf. Suddenly they are inside the void and nothing they do seems to move the ship at all. They run into a Romulan ship that opens fire but explodes as soon as they return fire and leaves no debris behind. Then another galaxy class starship appears, the USS Yamato. Riker and Worf beam over but find more of a house of mirrors than a ship. After losing contact with the away team openings in the void start appearing tempting them to escape. Other than racism Pulaski makes her one contribution here pointing out it seems like a science experiment.
Eventually O'Bryan manages to beam them back and the holes keep appearing, but when they approach they disappear. A diembodied head appears and talks to them. It kills the pilot who was sitting is Wesley's seat that day and tells them he is going to kill half the crew to learn about death. Picard won't stand for it and sets the ship to explode. The being sends fake Data and Troi to talk Picard down, but he won't do it. Just before it is time to destroy the ship they escape and Picard pushes it to the very last minute just to be sure.
Review: What a simple episode, and I don't mean that in a good way. Other than the above mentioned bad character moments this one is pretty dull and uncreative. Not the worst of the worst, but also not one I would be excited to watch again.
3 out of 10
The episode opens with a fake out. They set it up to appear that Worf and Riker are on a dangerous mission together, but after killing all the enemies Worf is set to attack Riker. He does stand down and we are left to wonder how someone this out of control could have passed that dreaded psyche test to enter the academy. Back on the bridge they encounter a blank void in space. The probes they shoot in disappear alarming Worf. Suddenly they are inside the void and nothing they do seems to move the ship at all. They run into a Romulan ship that opens fire but explodes as soon as they return fire and leaves no debris behind. Then another galaxy class starship appears, the USS Yamato. Riker and Worf beam over but find more of a house of mirrors than a ship. After losing contact with the away team openings in the void start appearing tempting them to escape. Other than racism Pulaski makes her one contribution here pointing out it seems like a science experiment.
Eventually O'Bryan manages to beam them back and the holes keep appearing, but when they approach they disappear. A diembodied head appears and talks to them. It kills the pilot who was sitting is Wesley's seat that day and tells them he is going to kill half the crew to learn about death. Picard won't stand for it and sets the ship to explode. The being sends fake Data and Troi to talk Picard down, but he won't do it. Just before it is time to destroy the ship they escape and Picard pushes it to the very last minute just to be sure.
Review: What a simple episode, and I don't mean that in a good way. Other than the above mentioned bad character moments this one is pretty dull and uncreative. Not the worst of the worst, but also not one I would be excited to watch again.
3 out of 10
TNG: The Child
Wow, this may be the worst episode since The Alternative Factor. When I can honestly say that my favorite parts of the episode were Wesley negotiating his stay on the Enterprise after the departure of his mother you know this is a rough one. I don't want to dig too deep into the part where Troi gets raped by an energy cloud or something, but it did make me feel pretty uncomfortable. Honestly pretty much everything about the Troi story made me uncomfortable.
The episode begins with us learning Dr. Crusher had left the ship (Gates McFadden was tired of being harassed by asshole writer in chief, Maurice Hurley) and introducing Geordi as the new chief engineer. Also Geordi is building a containment system for some sort of super dangerous engineered organism they are bringing on board. While flying really slow for no good reason an energy being flies into the ship and impregnates Troi. Rather than introducing herself like a normal person Dr. Pulaski goes straight to the bar to hang out. Actually to find out about Troi's mystery baby, but that should probably also have taken place in sick bay. I really don't like Pulaski one bit. Her treatment of Data as a thing instead of a person and her rudeness towards Picard both seem out of place and obnoxious.
Troi has her baby a day or so after getting pregnant and seems to really love it despite the obvious issues. In days the child is walking around and talking. But of course there is a problem with the containment of the dangerous stuff and the child is the cause. He returns to pure energy and flies out of there making Troi cry but saving the ship from certain doom. Wesley gets to stay on board and Data will manage his studies.
Review: It is late and I only got 4 hours of sleep so the summary above is pretty short. Also I really didn't like this episode. I know season 1 has a bad reputation, but season 2 is starting off with an episode worse than anything in TNG so far. The first season felt like wannabe TOS, this just feels lazy.
1 out of 10
The episode begins with us learning Dr. Crusher had left the ship (Gates McFadden was tired of being harassed by asshole writer in chief, Maurice Hurley) and introducing Geordi as the new chief engineer. Also Geordi is building a containment system for some sort of super dangerous engineered organism they are bringing on board. While flying really slow for no good reason an energy being flies into the ship and impregnates Troi. Rather than introducing herself like a normal person Dr. Pulaski goes straight to the bar to hang out. Actually to find out about Troi's mystery baby, but that should probably also have taken place in sick bay. I really don't like Pulaski one bit. Her treatment of Data as a thing instead of a person and her rudeness towards Picard both seem out of place and obnoxious.
Troi has her baby a day or so after getting pregnant and seems to really love it despite the obvious issues. In days the child is walking around and talking. But of course there is a problem with the containment of the dangerous stuff and the child is the cause. He returns to pure energy and flies out of there making Troi cry but saving the ship from certain doom. Wesley gets to stay on board and Data will manage his studies.
Review: It is late and I only got 4 hours of sleep so the summary above is pretty short. Also I really didn't like this episode. I know season 1 has a bad reputation, but season 2 is starting off with an episode worse than anything in TNG so far. The first season felt like wannabe TOS, this just feels lazy.
1 out of 10
Friday, June 26, 2015
TNG: The Neutral Zone
Woooo, made it through TNG season 1! With a name like The Neutral Zone I expected this to be an episode about the Romulans, but they only showed up at the very end to give us something to look forward to next season. Instead this turned out to be an episode about three survivors from the 1990's who were frozen at the moment of death and despite the odds made it into the 23rd century and where revived and healed. One thing this episode got right what that cryogenic freezing at the moment of death was a short lived trend that hasn't really continued in any serious way at this point. Also, I kinda love that one of the guys is pretty much 80's guy from Futurama, or I guess Futurama stole him from this episode, but it is still entertaining.
While waiting to rendezvous with captain Picard the Enterprise encounters a derelict vessel from earth hundreds of years ago. Riker isn't really interested but Data insists on beaming over with Worf to take a look. They find a serious of capsules with frozen people in them. Most of the capsules have failed but three are working and Data beams them back to the Enterprise right as the captain arrives and takes them on a course into the neutral zone. Picard is pissed for some reason about the frozen people, but after Crusher heals and revives them he is little choice. The three are very different, one is a woman whose husband had her frozen when she died suddenly, one is a wall street type who just wants to know what happened to his money, and the third is a musician who burned himself out on drugs.
The situation on the Romulan border is tense, Federation outposts have been disappearing and they haven't heard from the Romulans in decades. As the people from the past adjust to their new situation Picard tries to come up with a plan. Troi builds him a profile of the Romulans and Riker seems ready to fight. When they arrive 80's guy manages to be on the bridge when they encounter the Romulans. The Romulan captain explains they have lost outposts as well and don't know what is causing it. They agree to work with the Enterprise to find out what is doing it, but also promise to try and stem the growth of the Federation. They take off without really doing anything and the frozen people are sent back to earth to try and rebuild their lives.
Review: Not much actually happens in this episode. There are some touching moments where Troi helps the woman locate her descendants on Earth and a kinda annoying moment where the musician tries to talk Crusher into giving him some drugs. 80's guy seems to have the best character arc as he gradually accepts what has happened and how he can't control his fate, at least for now. Not a super exciting episode, but it has its moments.
6 out of 10
While waiting to rendezvous with captain Picard the Enterprise encounters a derelict vessel from earth hundreds of years ago. Riker isn't really interested but Data insists on beaming over with Worf to take a look. They find a serious of capsules with frozen people in them. Most of the capsules have failed but three are working and Data beams them back to the Enterprise right as the captain arrives and takes them on a course into the neutral zone. Picard is pissed for some reason about the frozen people, but after Crusher heals and revives them he is little choice. The three are very different, one is a woman whose husband had her frozen when she died suddenly, one is a wall street type who just wants to know what happened to his money, and the third is a musician who burned himself out on drugs.
The situation on the Romulan border is tense, Federation outposts have been disappearing and they haven't heard from the Romulans in decades. As the people from the past adjust to their new situation Picard tries to come up with a plan. Troi builds him a profile of the Romulans and Riker seems ready to fight. When they arrive 80's guy manages to be on the bridge when they encounter the Romulans. The Romulan captain explains they have lost outposts as well and don't know what is causing it. They agree to work with the Enterprise to find out what is doing it, but also promise to try and stem the growth of the Federation. They take off without really doing anything and the frozen people are sent back to earth to try and rebuild their lives.
Review: Not much actually happens in this episode. There are some touching moments where Troi helps the woman locate her descendants on Earth and a kinda annoying moment where the musician tries to talk Crusher into giving him some drugs. 80's guy seems to have the best character arc as he gradually accepts what has happened and how he can't control his fate, at least for now. Not a super exciting episode, but it has its moments.
6 out of 10
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
TNG: Conspiracy
I had forgotten Gene let them somehow slip a horror episode into the first season, but this is that and well done. It even ties in to the earlier episode Coming of Age, but in a strange way. Since it appears Remmick was the source of the infection within Starfleet, why didn't he infect Picard when he was on board during that episode. I could have believe that the admiral was free of the parasite at that point, but for there to have been a conspiracy Remmick would have already had to have that alien queen inside his belly. Continuity aside, this is a fun one.
While on their way to the ocean world Pacifica the Enterprise receives a Code 47, a secret message for the captain only. It is Picards old friend calling and he won't say about what other than that they must meet on an uninhabited planet and not tell anybody. Picard agrees and when they arrive there are three other ships there. Picard finds his friend Captain Keel and two other captains who are pointing their phasers at him. Picard answers some background questions to prove it is really him and they calm down a bit. The captains explain that strange things have been happening around Starfleet and their officers are no longer themselves. They act strange and are missing most of their memories. Picard doesn't seem to take it too seriously, but after beaming back to the ship he talks to Troi about it.
They proceed to Pacifica but suddenly encounter a debris field, Captain Keel's ship has been destroyed! Picard sets Data to work analyzing all the orders from Starfleet for the last six months. Riker doesn't seem to buy it, but Data does come upon some very subtle but undeniable patterns. Picard is convinced and heads straight for Earth without orders. When they arrive three admirals call the ship including the one who tried to bring Picard in during Coming of Age (maybe he was already under their control and his invitation to run the academy was part of the conspiracy!!!). They invite Picard to dinner to talk about things but Admiral Quinn wants to have a look around the Enterprise instead. He brings some sort of creature with him and sleezocrat Remmick beams him up and Picard beams down.
Admiral Quinn meets Riker in his quarters and tries to get him to let the creature take over his mind which seems like a dumb plan until we learn he also has super strength. He manages to subdue Riker but not before he can call for help. Worf and Geordi rush in but can't handle the admiral until Crusher blasts him with a phaser (like a boss). Picard and the admirals have some awkward conversation before dinner but Picard manages to call the ship before they eat. Crusher informs him what happened and that they found out the creatures need a breathing tube that comes out of the back of the victims neck to live. Picard sits down to dinner but it is immediately clear it isn't for him when the main course is revealed to be live insects.
Picard tries to flee but is stopped by one of the other captains from the earlier meeting and Riker who now sports a tail coming out of his neck. They sit down to eat and reveal too much of the plan. They insist Riker eat some bugs but instead he blasts them with his phaser and he and Picard have a fun action sequence where they get to blast a bunch of admirals. Finally they find Remmick at a communications console sending out some sort of signal. One of the creatures crawls into his mouth and his neck starts pulsating as he explains they only want peace. Picard and Riker shoot him until his head explodes and his chest melts revealing the alien queen which they blast into oblivion. That takes care of this infection, but just before the end Data tells them that the signal Remmick sent was a homing signal to an unexplored part of the galaxy, dun dun dunnnnnn!
Review: While the stop motion effects weren't the best the horror of having a creature living in your neck controlling you in every way is pretty terrifying. This is also about as dark a story about Starfleet as any of the Treks I have seen have ever included including VI.
9 out of 10
While on their way to the ocean world Pacifica the Enterprise receives a Code 47, a secret message for the captain only. It is Picards old friend calling and he won't say about what other than that they must meet on an uninhabited planet and not tell anybody. Picard agrees and when they arrive there are three other ships there. Picard finds his friend Captain Keel and two other captains who are pointing their phasers at him. Picard answers some background questions to prove it is really him and they calm down a bit. The captains explain that strange things have been happening around Starfleet and their officers are no longer themselves. They act strange and are missing most of their memories. Picard doesn't seem to take it too seriously, but after beaming back to the ship he talks to Troi about it.
They proceed to Pacifica but suddenly encounter a debris field, Captain Keel's ship has been destroyed! Picard sets Data to work analyzing all the orders from Starfleet for the last six months. Riker doesn't seem to buy it, but Data does come upon some very subtle but undeniable patterns. Picard is convinced and heads straight for Earth without orders. When they arrive three admirals call the ship including the one who tried to bring Picard in during Coming of Age (maybe he was already under their control and his invitation to run the academy was part of the conspiracy!!!). They invite Picard to dinner to talk about things but Admiral Quinn wants to have a look around the Enterprise instead. He brings some sort of creature with him and sleezocrat Remmick beams him up and Picard beams down.
Admiral Quinn meets Riker in his quarters and tries to get him to let the creature take over his mind which seems like a dumb plan until we learn he also has super strength. He manages to subdue Riker but not before he can call for help. Worf and Geordi rush in but can't handle the admiral until Crusher blasts him with a phaser (like a boss). Picard and the admirals have some awkward conversation before dinner but Picard manages to call the ship before they eat. Crusher informs him what happened and that they found out the creatures need a breathing tube that comes out of the back of the victims neck to live. Picard sits down to dinner but it is immediately clear it isn't for him when the main course is revealed to be live insects.
Picard tries to flee but is stopped by one of the other captains from the earlier meeting and Riker who now sports a tail coming out of his neck. They sit down to eat and reveal too much of the plan. They insist Riker eat some bugs but instead he blasts them with his phaser and he and Picard have a fun action sequence where they get to blast a bunch of admirals. Finally they find Remmick at a communications console sending out some sort of signal. One of the creatures crawls into his mouth and his neck starts pulsating as he explains they only want peace. Picard and Riker shoot him until his head explodes and his chest melts revealing the alien queen which they blast into oblivion. That takes care of this infection, but just before the end Data tells them that the signal Remmick sent was a homing signal to an unexplored part of the galaxy, dun dun dunnnnnn!
Review: While the stop motion effects weren't the best the horror of having a creature living in your neck controlling you in every way is pretty terrifying. This is also about as dark a story about Starfleet as any of the Treks I have seen have ever included including VI.
9 out of 10
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
TNG: We'll Always Have Paris
I wish I had seen this episode since it originally aired, but I am pretty sure this is my first time seeing it since then. I remember the scene of Picard fencing and I remembered Picard alone in Paris, but that's about it. The whole time/dimension (there actually isn't a difference between space and time if relativity is correct) portal/rip thing threatening the galaxy. I think this episode is also trying to explain how the captain is still single after all these years.
Of course we begin with them on their way to shore leave. Picard is fencing in the fencing lounge (this is clearly not the holodeck, I guess when it is the captains hobby...) showing off his sword skills. Just as the match concludes there is a skip and time seems to repeat itself. Picard rushes to the bridge, they experienced it as well. Then a distress call comes in from a Dr. Manheim which visible distresses the captain. He sets off at warp 8 to investigate and explains Dr. Manheim is a leading experimenter in the field of time and time distortions. Troi can feel that something else is bothering him, but Picard refuses to discuss it. He rushes to the holodeck and goes into a recreation of a Paris cafe where he was supposed to have met a woman many years earlier but didn't show up.
They arrive at the source of the distress signal and Riker confirms to the captain that the time distortion was felt across a wide area centered where to distress signal is coming from. After lowering the forcefield the doctor and his wife are beamed to sickbay. Picard arrives and is recognized immediately by Jenice Manheim, evidently the woman he missed in Paris. On the way to the bridge they again experience a time loop indicating the problem is getting worse. They try to beam down but between the forcefield and the time distortions it doesn't work.
The doctor briefly awakens and explains he is trapped between dimensions. After Data tells him how widespread it is he tells them how to beam down and turn close the rift that is causing all the problems. Picard finally manages to get some alone time with Jenice and she confronts him about standing her up. He finally admits he thought he would have to give up his life of adventure if they were together. Troi tries to talk to Dr. Crusher about Picards ex showing up, but she isn't having any of it. The plan is to have Data beam down since he deals with the time distortions well and try to dump antimatter into the rift as a distortion hits. After blasting some of the security systems and a brief discussion with some alternate Data's he manages to close the rift. Dr. Manheim recovers quickly and wants to get back to work. Picard takes Jenice to the Paris cafe in the holodeck and they have a nice good bye.
Review: This manages to have both an interesting scifi adventure story and a character story for Picard at the same time! Not the deepest the series will get on either count, but a solid episode either way.
7 out of 10
Of course we begin with them on their way to shore leave. Picard is fencing in the fencing lounge (this is clearly not the holodeck, I guess when it is the captains hobby...) showing off his sword skills. Just as the match concludes there is a skip and time seems to repeat itself. Picard rushes to the bridge, they experienced it as well. Then a distress call comes in from a Dr. Manheim which visible distresses the captain. He sets off at warp 8 to investigate and explains Dr. Manheim is a leading experimenter in the field of time and time distortions. Troi can feel that something else is bothering him, but Picard refuses to discuss it. He rushes to the holodeck and goes into a recreation of a Paris cafe where he was supposed to have met a woman many years earlier but didn't show up.
They arrive at the source of the distress signal and Riker confirms to the captain that the time distortion was felt across a wide area centered where to distress signal is coming from. After lowering the forcefield the doctor and his wife are beamed to sickbay. Picard arrives and is recognized immediately by Jenice Manheim, evidently the woman he missed in Paris. On the way to the bridge they again experience a time loop indicating the problem is getting worse. They try to beam down but between the forcefield and the time distortions it doesn't work.
The doctor briefly awakens and explains he is trapped between dimensions. After Data tells him how widespread it is he tells them how to beam down and turn close the rift that is causing all the problems. Picard finally manages to get some alone time with Jenice and she confronts him about standing her up. He finally admits he thought he would have to give up his life of adventure if they were together. Troi tries to talk to Dr. Crusher about Picards ex showing up, but she isn't having any of it. The plan is to have Data beam down since he deals with the time distortions well and try to dump antimatter into the rift as a distortion hits. After blasting some of the security systems and a brief discussion with some alternate Data's he manages to close the rift. Dr. Manheim recovers quickly and wants to get back to work. Picard takes Jenice to the Paris cafe in the holodeck and they have a nice good bye.
Review: This manages to have both an interesting scifi adventure story and a character story for Picard at the same time! Not the deepest the series will get on either count, but a solid episode either way.
7 out of 10
Monday, June 22, 2015
TNG: Skin of Evil
Now this is an episode with some problems. First of all the main story is straight out of some of the schlockier TOS episodes with a powerful villain who only wants to torture them and then get them to take it off the rock it is stuck on. That plus saying good by to Tasha Yar which would have meant more in the writers had bothered to give her any good character moments prior to this episode. That isn't quite fair, but I can certainly understand why she wanted off the show, they weren't going to focus on her at all. I actually really liked the moment in the beginning if the episode where she flirts with Worf. If anyone was going to be able to be in a relationship with season one Worf it is her.
The episode opens with the Enterprise on its way to rendezvous with a shuttle carrying counselor Troi. But something goes wrong and because the writers don't understand angular momentum as soon as her craft loses power it starts falling towards a planet. Chief Engineer of the week number four has the dilithium crystals physically out of the core to play with or something so they can't go to warp and Troi crashes. They finally get to the planet and beam an away team down. They find an oil monster thing that kills Tasha and they all leave. The doctor can't zap her back to life and Troi is still trapped in the shuttle on the surface. She does manage to talk to the thing and learns it was left here is is pissed.
They beam back down and the monster proceeds to try and torture them. It sucks in commander Riker and tries to get Data to shoot them. Picard isn't having it and manages to get it to agree to let the rest of them go and just deal with him. It tells him it wants off the planet and Picard says he will talk after he sees Troi. It beam him in (can it beam itself???) and he learns it is weaker when it is angry. He gets beamed out again and makes it mad and they all leave. There is a funeral and holographic Tasha Yar says good bye to everyone.
Review: The good bye speech was actually pretty touching, but the rest of the episode didn't hold up very well. I would imagine that one of the main cast deciding to bail part way through the first season didn't give fans much confidence. In retrospect Lt. Yar being replaced by Worf as head of security and the endless series of new chief engineers being replaced by Geordi feels almost planned. First season would certainly have been better if it happened earlier.
4 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise on its way to rendezvous with a shuttle carrying counselor Troi. But something goes wrong and because the writers don't understand angular momentum as soon as her craft loses power it starts falling towards a planet. Chief Engineer of the week number four has the dilithium crystals physically out of the core to play with or something so they can't go to warp and Troi crashes. They finally get to the planet and beam an away team down. They find an oil monster thing that kills Tasha and they all leave. The doctor can't zap her back to life and Troi is still trapped in the shuttle on the surface. She does manage to talk to the thing and learns it was left here is is pissed.
They beam back down and the monster proceeds to try and torture them. It sucks in commander Riker and tries to get Data to shoot them. Picard isn't having it and manages to get it to agree to let the rest of them go and just deal with him. It tells him it wants off the planet and Picard says he will talk after he sees Troi. It beam him in (can it beam itself???) and he learns it is weaker when it is angry. He gets beamed out again and makes it mad and they all leave. There is a funeral and holographic Tasha Yar says good bye to everyone.
Review: The good bye speech was actually pretty touching, but the rest of the episode didn't hold up very well. I would imagine that one of the main cast deciding to bail part way through the first season didn't give fans much confidence. In retrospect Lt. Yar being replaced by Worf as head of security and the endless series of new chief engineers being replaced by Geordi feels almost planned. First season would certainly have been better if it happened earlier.
4 out of 10
Sunday, June 21, 2015
TNG: Symbiosis
This is the first TNG episode that can be easily summarized as, "planet of the somethings." In this case it is very clearly planet of the junkys. This is one of those episodes that fakes you out by making it look like it is about one thing, in this case the the problems on the Enterprise caused by the unstable star they are observing, but it turns out to be about the two species of aliens they encounter. The guest actors do a good job portraying both the addicts from the impoverished planet and the dealers from the wealthy planet to the point that it should be pretty obvious to most viewers what is going on.
The episode begins with the Enterprise trying to get close to an unstable star to study its magnetic field or something like that. The shields aren't doing well and all their consoles get this blue animated effect. But suddenly they receive a distress signal from a freighter that is maybe in the same star system? They get there in no time at warp 2 so presumably it isn't far away. Also they are still being affected by the radiation from the star despite not seeming to be a lot farther from it that at the beginning of the episode when they weren't having any problems. The captain of the freighter seems totally oblivious to the danger and doesn't seem to understand the basic operation of his ship. Data figures out it is a problem with a specific part, but the other captain isn't able to figure out how to do anything. Tasha for some reason takes over at the transporter console and manages to link the system on the Enterprise with the other ship, but instead of getting on the pad the crew of the other ship first send over their cargo and finally themselves, but too late for them to all make it.
As soon as they arrive the two Ornarans start asking about the cargo. When they are shown it in the cargo bay they are relieved until the Brekkians explain they aren't going to turn it over since they payment was destroyed with the ship. The Ornarans explain it is medicine vital to their peoples survivale, but the Brekkians give zero fucks. They use their electrical projection powers on each other so Tasha has to stun them with her phaser. They eventually learn the Ornarans have a plague and the only way to treat the symptoms is with the cargo, a drug call felicium that can only be produced by the Brekkians. Since they Ornarans are so bad off the Brekkians eventually agree to let them at least have two doses from themselves which Dr. Crusher watches them administer and immediately realizes the drug is a narcotic.
Now we learn the truth. The Brekkians once had the plague too, but the felicium cured it. They managed to not get addicted but the Ornarans have now been addicts for centuries. They Brekkians only produce one thing, felicium and the Ornarans provide them with all the goods they need to live comfortably. Dr. Crusher is shocked and wants to make a drug to ease the withdrawl for the Ornarans. The Brekkians realize they have to give the Ornarans the drug or they may get over withdrawal and not need them anymore. Picard agrees to let them have the drug, but refuses to give them the parts they need to get the only two spacecraft they have working meaning this is the last dose they will ever get. This is apparently how the prime directive works now and the Enterprise bugs out rather than stick around and watch the Ornarans suffer.
Review: This episode suffered for a lack of a B story, but at least the A story was a good one. This is also one of the more TOS style episodes, and it would have been a decent episode of either series. Just read a really cool history of Best of Both Worlds Part I that has me looking forward to the more character driven episodes in the next few seasons.
7 out of 10
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-trek-story-daring-cliffhanger-803642
The episode begins with the Enterprise trying to get close to an unstable star to study its magnetic field or something like that. The shields aren't doing well and all their consoles get this blue animated effect. But suddenly they receive a distress signal from a freighter that is maybe in the same star system? They get there in no time at warp 2 so presumably it isn't far away. Also they are still being affected by the radiation from the star despite not seeming to be a lot farther from it that at the beginning of the episode when they weren't having any problems. The captain of the freighter seems totally oblivious to the danger and doesn't seem to understand the basic operation of his ship. Data figures out it is a problem with a specific part, but the other captain isn't able to figure out how to do anything. Tasha for some reason takes over at the transporter console and manages to link the system on the Enterprise with the other ship, but instead of getting on the pad the crew of the other ship first send over their cargo and finally themselves, but too late for them to all make it.
As soon as they arrive the two Ornarans start asking about the cargo. When they are shown it in the cargo bay they are relieved until the Brekkians explain they aren't going to turn it over since they payment was destroyed with the ship. The Ornarans explain it is medicine vital to their peoples survivale, but the Brekkians give zero fucks. They use their electrical projection powers on each other so Tasha has to stun them with her phaser. They eventually learn the Ornarans have a plague and the only way to treat the symptoms is with the cargo, a drug call felicium that can only be produced by the Brekkians. Since they Ornarans are so bad off the Brekkians eventually agree to let them at least have two doses from themselves which Dr. Crusher watches them administer and immediately realizes the drug is a narcotic.
Now we learn the truth. The Brekkians once had the plague too, but the felicium cured it. They managed to not get addicted but the Ornarans have now been addicts for centuries. They Brekkians only produce one thing, felicium and the Ornarans provide them with all the goods they need to live comfortably. Dr. Crusher is shocked and wants to make a drug to ease the withdrawl for the Ornarans. The Brekkians realize they have to give the Ornarans the drug or they may get over withdrawal and not need them anymore. Picard agrees to let them have the drug, but refuses to give them the parts they need to get the only two spacecraft they have working meaning this is the last dose they will ever get. This is apparently how the prime directive works now and the Enterprise bugs out rather than stick around and watch the Ornarans suffer.
Review: This episode suffered for a lack of a B story, but at least the A story was a good one. This is also one of the more TOS style episodes, and it would have been a decent episode of either series. Just read a really cool history of Best of Both Worlds Part I that has me looking forward to the more character driven episodes in the next few seasons.
7 out of 10
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-trek-story-daring-cliffhanger-803642
Saturday, June 20, 2015
TNG: The Arsenal of Freedom
Tonight's episode was by far the most action packed of any episode of TNG and honestly of Trek so far. Not as intense as some of the movies, but very much so for television. The multilayered automated defenses of the planet seemed genuinely dangerous and very scifi. I think this is also the first episode that mentions that Riker gave up an opportunity to command his own ship in order to serve on the Enterprise. We also learn that Crusher grew up on a colony world which I don't believe ever comes up again.
The episode begins with the Enterprise investigating the disappearance of all intelligent life from planet Minos and of the USS Drake which had been sent to investigate previously. Riker tells Picard that he knew the captain of the Drake from his academy days and that he is very competent but also very aggressive. When they arrive they are greeted by an automated messaged offering to sell them whatever weapons they might need. They send down an away team of Riker, Yar and Data who are greeted by the captain of the Drake, or so it appears. Riker quickly figures out it is a fake and tells him so. The captain disappears and is replaced by a floating weapon system that encases Riker in some sort of energy field before being destroyed by Tasha. The captain and Dr. Crusher beam down to help but they are attacked again. Picard goes to help the doctor and both of them fall into some sort of cave. Communications are out and Dr. Crusher is badly hurt and the captain is struggling to keep her awake.
Back on the ship Geordi is in charge. When he tries to beam the away team up the ship is attacked by a weapon system that cloaks as soon as it fires. Worf does everything he can to shoot it down but it isn't working. Suddenly chief engineer Jackass shoes up on the bridge and demands Geordi turn control of the ship over to him so he can run away like a coward and leave the captain and away team to die. Somebody should really replace that jerk with someone more competent, like Geordi. After sending him back to his job in engineering Geordi works on a new plan to defeat the weapon. Meanwhile the away team is fighting off another attack, the weapons seem to be adapting to them and their strategies.
In the cave Crusher is getting weak and Picard gets her to help him find some roots to help with the bleeding and treat her for shock. While looking in the cave Picard finds a panel with a flashing button. When he presses in a huge computer console turns on and a holographic sales person appears to brag about the awesome weapons that are killing them. Riker finds the hole the captain fell through and Data jumps down leaving Riker and Yar to fight off the weapons. Data helps with Dr. Crushers injuries but there isn't much they can do. Back on the ship Geordi is forced to flee and calls the engineer up the bridge. He is turning over command, of the saucer section! Geordi takes the drive section back to fight the weapons while Picard and Data try and figure out how to turn it off. They get the planet based system to turn off just before it attacked Riker and Yar by offering to buy it, but Geordi is on his own. Geordi takes the drive section into the atmosphere to reveal the cloaked weapons and Worf blasts them out of the sky. The day is saved and Geordi has proven himself ready for a promotion.
Review: This is both a good action piece and a good character story. It does a lot to give some of the characters who have been more in support roles a chance to really shine. Geordi in particular shows that he has what it takes to spend the next six seasons with the job of the jerk who tried to replace him.
8 out of 10
The episode begins with the Enterprise investigating the disappearance of all intelligent life from planet Minos and of the USS Drake which had been sent to investigate previously. Riker tells Picard that he knew the captain of the Drake from his academy days and that he is very competent but also very aggressive. When they arrive they are greeted by an automated messaged offering to sell them whatever weapons they might need. They send down an away team of Riker, Yar and Data who are greeted by the captain of the Drake, or so it appears. Riker quickly figures out it is a fake and tells him so. The captain disappears and is replaced by a floating weapon system that encases Riker in some sort of energy field before being destroyed by Tasha. The captain and Dr. Crusher beam down to help but they are attacked again. Picard goes to help the doctor and both of them fall into some sort of cave. Communications are out and Dr. Crusher is badly hurt and the captain is struggling to keep her awake.
Back on the ship Geordi is in charge. When he tries to beam the away team up the ship is attacked by a weapon system that cloaks as soon as it fires. Worf does everything he can to shoot it down but it isn't working. Suddenly chief engineer Jackass shoes up on the bridge and demands Geordi turn control of the ship over to him so he can run away like a coward and leave the captain and away team to die. Somebody should really replace that jerk with someone more competent, like Geordi. After sending him back to his job in engineering Geordi works on a new plan to defeat the weapon. Meanwhile the away team is fighting off another attack, the weapons seem to be adapting to them and their strategies.
In the cave Crusher is getting weak and Picard gets her to help him find some roots to help with the bleeding and treat her for shock. While looking in the cave Picard finds a panel with a flashing button. When he presses in a huge computer console turns on and a holographic sales person appears to brag about the awesome weapons that are killing them. Riker finds the hole the captain fell through and Data jumps down leaving Riker and Yar to fight off the weapons. Data helps with Dr. Crushers injuries but there isn't much they can do. Back on the ship Geordi is forced to flee and calls the engineer up the bridge. He is turning over command, of the saucer section! Geordi takes the drive section back to fight the weapons while Picard and Data try and figure out how to turn it off. They get the planet based system to turn off just before it attacked Riker and Yar by offering to buy it, but Geordi is on his own. Geordi takes the drive section into the atmosphere to reveal the cloaked weapons and Worf blasts them out of the sky. The day is saved and Geordi has proven himself ready for a promotion.
Review: This is both a good action piece and a good character story. It does a lot to give some of the characters who have been more in support roles a chance to really shine. Geordi in particular shows that he has what it takes to spend the next six seasons with the job of the jerk who tried to replace him.
8 out of 10
Friday, June 19, 2015
TNG: Heart of Glory
After some of the early characterizations of Worf as being barely in control of himself and downright animalistic at times it is really nice to see the writers taking him seriously and making him more of a full member of the cast. This is one I definitely remember watching when it was new, but only two parts stuck in my memory: the part where they transmit what Geordi sees onto the bridge for pretty much the only time ever and the Klingon shoe gun (actually made from various parts of their clothing, but definitely including parts from one their shoes). This episode takes place before Star Trek V was released but already it has started moving the Klingons from the TOS stereotype of bloody savage killers into the almost samurai realm they ended up in during DS9.
While investigating a report of a battle in the neutral zone they Enterprise encounters a damaged freighter. Riker prepares to lead an away team to investigate and for some reason they decide to test out a transmitter add-on to Geordi's visor that is never seen again. After messing around a bit they find three Klingons, one of the badly hurt. They almost don't make it back before the ship explodes. The injured Klingon is taken to sickbay and the others explain the freighter was attacked by a Ferengi vessel (Worf points out the damage wasn't from Ferengi weapons and they agree) and had to take over the ship and barely survived through a trick that destroyed the other vessel.
The two survivors go to their quarters and Worf joins them for a meal. There we learn Worf's background, he was orphaned in a massacre and raised by humans on a farming colony. The Klingons are horrified he has never lived with his own people but he assures them he has the blood of a warrior. They are called to sickbay and arrive in time to see the third Klingon die and we get to see the Klingon death ritual/howl. When he is alone with them again Worf insists on the truth of what happened. He learns they are opposed to the treaty with the Federation and stole the freighter to try and start a war. The other ship they destroyed was actually Klingon. Aaaaaaaaaand for some reason Worf doesn't report this.
A Klingon vessel approaches and demands they turn over the rebels. Picard is ok with this but learns the Klingons are with Worf near the battle bridge. Tasha rushes in with a security team and after some tense moments they Klingon rebels are taken into custody. Worf tries to plead with the commander of the Klingon ship to give them an honorable death, but the commander has no choice in his orders. Before they can be transported to the other vessel they assemble a gun from various pieces of clothing and have a device to knock out forcefields. The two escape killing a guard but one of them is killed by another guard. The other rushes to engineering and threatens to destroy the ship by shooting the dilitithium crystals. Worf tries to talk him down but is eventually forced to shoot the other Klingon with his phaser killing him and allowing him to fall through the extremely poorly engineered glass floors they have around the warp core. OSHA would not have liked the Enterprise. The Klingon commander is satisfied they rebels are dead and even offers Worf a place on his ship if he is ever tired of the Enterprise.
Review: Probably my favorite episode of TNG so far! The beginning section of them searching the freighter is way too slow, but once things get going it turns into an interesting tale of adventure. One does wonder if Picard would have been as happy with Worf at the end if he knew Worf knew the Klingons on board were trying to start a war with the Federation, but whatever.
8 out of 10
While investigating a report of a battle in the neutral zone they Enterprise encounters a damaged freighter. Riker prepares to lead an away team to investigate and for some reason they decide to test out a transmitter add-on to Geordi's visor that is never seen again. After messing around a bit they find three Klingons, one of the badly hurt. They almost don't make it back before the ship explodes. The injured Klingon is taken to sickbay and the others explain the freighter was attacked by a Ferengi vessel (Worf points out the damage wasn't from Ferengi weapons and they agree) and had to take over the ship and barely survived through a trick that destroyed the other vessel.
The two survivors go to their quarters and Worf joins them for a meal. There we learn Worf's background, he was orphaned in a massacre and raised by humans on a farming colony. The Klingons are horrified he has never lived with his own people but he assures them he has the blood of a warrior. They are called to sickbay and arrive in time to see the third Klingon die and we get to see the Klingon death ritual/howl. When he is alone with them again Worf insists on the truth of what happened. He learns they are opposed to the treaty with the Federation and stole the freighter to try and start a war. The other ship they destroyed was actually Klingon. Aaaaaaaaaand for some reason Worf doesn't report this.
A Klingon vessel approaches and demands they turn over the rebels. Picard is ok with this but learns the Klingons are with Worf near the battle bridge. Tasha rushes in with a security team and after some tense moments they Klingon rebels are taken into custody. Worf tries to plead with the commander of the Klingon ship to give them an honorable death, but the commander has no choice in his orders. Before they can be transported to the other vessel they assemble a gun from various pieces of clothing and have a device to knock out forcefields. The two escape killing a guard but one of them is killed by another guard. The other rushes to engineering and threatens to destroy the ship by shooting the dilitithium crystals. Worf tries to talk him down but is eventually forced to shoot the other Klingon with his phaser killing him and allowing him to fall through the extremely poorly engineered glass floors they have around the warp core. OSHA would not have liked the Enterprise. The Klingon commander is satisfied they rebels are dead and even offers Worf a place on his ship if he is ever tired of the Enterprise.
Review: Probably my favorite episode of TNG so far! The beginning section of them searching the freighter is way too slow, but once things get going it turns into an interesting tale of adventure. One does wonder if Picard would have been as happy with Worf at the end if he knew Worf knew the Klingons on board were trying to start a war with the Federation, but whatever.
8 out of 10
Thursday, June 18, 2015
TNG: Coming of Age
When I realized this was going to be a Wesley episode my heart sank. And yes, it does have some serious cringe moments, but it is also an episode about Wesley learning he is not actually the perfect person and I am definitely ok with that. It is also benefits from a solid B story about a Starfleet bureaucrat sent to try and find anything that Picard may have done wrong or that may be a threat to Starfleet in the most obnoxious way possible only to learn it was actually an old friend trying to recruit Picard to run the Academy.
The episode begins with Wesley running into one of his buddies on the ship and we learn the Wesley was picked to apply for the Academy, but his friend was not. They have stopped at a planet specifically so Wesley can be tested and he beams to the surface. But at the same time Picard receives a message from an old friend of his that he must beam aboard the Enterprise immediately. When he arrives with an aide he insists on talking to Picard in private and by that he means without Riker but with the aide present. The admiral tells Picard that the ship is being investigated for abnormalities and they are to participate with the investigator in any way possible. The investigator is exactly as annoying as you would imagine and questions each of the crew individually focusing specifically on Picard and his actions as captain.
In the exam area Wesley meets the other candidates, a human girl he immediately gets a crush on, a Vulcan girl, and a Benzite named Mordock who Wesley makes friends with in short order. The test begins with a physics/starship operations test which Wesley completes in no time. Back on the ship the investigator is really pissing Riker off and seems to be interfering with the operations of the ship. One of the better scenes is between Wesley and Worf in the holodeck turned off. Wesley tells Worf he is afraid of the psych test because he doesn't know what his greatest fear is. Worf reassures him that even Klingons are afraid of things and that it would be stupid not to be afraid of some things.
Suddenly there is a crisis on the bridge, the young man Wesley was talking to at the beginning of the episode has stolen a shuttlecraft. And even worse he manages to knock out the engines and for no good reason he is out of both tractor beam and transporter range seconds after leaving the shuttlebay. Picard manages to talk him through a hot engine restart and complex maneuver bouncing the shuttle off the atmosphere of the planet. Even the investigator cheers when the boy is saved. After the investigator turns in his report Picard is summoned to talk with the admiral. It was all a ruse! The admiral actually wants Picard to run Starfleet academy! Back at the test Wesley helps Mordock on one test and then passes his psych test, but Mordock still scored higher and Wesley didn't get in. (Probably the dumbest part of this episode is the idea that Starfleet can only take one of the four highly qualified candidates. I get that it is supposed to be hard to get in, but is this some sort of reality TV show???) Picard meets Wesley and tells him he isn't disappointed Wesley didn't make it his first time and that Picard in fact failed the first time. This cheers Wesley up and Picard tells the admiral he is staying with the Enterprise.
Review: This episode is a real mixed bag. The whole investigation to find out of Picard is good enough/not evil was actually pretty dumb and the parts with Wesley were actually the better parts of the episode. I literally never thought I would type anything like that anywhere in this blog, but there you go. Not a great episode, but not awful either.
5 out of 10
The episode begins with Wesley running into one of his buddies on the ship and we learn the Wesley was picked to apply for the Academy, but his friend was not. They have stopped at a planet specifically so Wesley can be tested and he beams to the surface. But at the same time Picard receives a message from an old friend of his that he must beam aboard the Enterprise immediately. When he arrives with an aide he insists on talking to Picard in private and by that he means without Riker but with the aide present. The admiral tells Picard that the ship is being investigated for abnormalities and they are to participate with the investigator in any way possible. The investigator is exactly as annoying as you would imagine and questions each of the crew individually focusing specifically on Picard and his actions as captain.
In the exam area Wesley meets the other candidates, a human girl he immediately gets a crush on, a Vulcan girl, and a Benzite named Mordock who Wesley makes friends with in short order. The test begins with a physics/starship operations test which Wesley completes in no time. Back on the ship the investigator is really pissing Riker off and seems to be interfering with the operations of the ship. One of the better scenes is between Wesley and Worf in the holodeck turned off. Wesley tells Worf he is afraid of the psych test because he doesn't know what his greatest fear is. Worf reassures him that even Klingons are afraid of things and that it would be stupid not to be afraid of some things.
Suddenly there is a crisis on the bridge, the young man Wesley was talking to at the beginning of the episode has stolen a shuttlecraft. And even worse he manages to knock out the engines and for no good reason he is out of both tractor beam and transporter range seconds after leaving the shuttlebay. Picard manages to talk him through a hot engine restart and complex maneuver bouncing the shuttle off the atmosphere of the planet. Even the investigator cheers when the boy is saved. After the investigator turns in his report Picard is summoned to talk with the admiral. It was all a ruse! The admiral actually wants Picard to run Starfleet academy! Back at the test Wesley helps Mordock on one test and then passes his psych test, but Mordock still scored higher and Wesley didn't get in. (Probably the dumbest part of this episode is the idea that Starfleet can only take one of the four highly qualified candidates. I get that it is supposed to be hard to get in, but is this some sort of reality TV show???) Picard meets Wesley and tells him he isn't disappointed Wesley didn't make it his first time and that Picard in fact failed the first time. This cheers Wesley up and Picard tells the admiral he is staying with the Enterprise.
Review: This episode is a real mixed bag. The whole investigation to find out of Picard is good enough/not evil was actually pretty dumb and the parts with Wesley were actually the better parts of the episode. I literally never thought I would type anything like that anywhere in this blog, but there you go. Not a great episode, but not awful either.
5 out of 10
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
TNG: Home Soil
I probably saw this episode when it was new, but I don't really remember it. I do however remember the line, "Ugly bags of mostly water," which is the most famous part of this episode. It was actually a pretty cool tale both of of scientific discovery and of hardheaded frontiersman unwilling to turn aside from their chosen mission. But in the end even the terraformers learn their lesson and everything turns out alright. Also Troi manages to be pretty damn useful at the beginning of the episode telling Picard that the apparently calm chief terraformer is freaking out on the inside.
The episode opens with the Enterprise stopping by to check in on a remote terraforming operation. We are told they are only allowed to terraform planets that have been demonstrated to be totally devoid of life. When they arrive they are greeted, but Troi informs Picard that the leader is trying to hide something so Picard insists on beaming down an away team. They are greeted with genuine warmth and given a tour of the facilities by one of the scientists. They meet one of the guys who operates the mining lasers and after a bit he leaves. Suddenly they hear him screaming and rush to the mining chamber. The worker is dead, shot by his own laser.
Data goes in to investigate, but when he turns on the laser it tries to kill him as well. It even appears to adapt to his strategy of evasion, but eventually he manages to smash the laser. Picard beams everyone including the terraformers back to the Enterprise so they can investigate. The head terraformer isn't pleased but the other two survivors seem pretty ok with it. Data and Geordi beam back down and Data spots something down the hole the laser was shooting into. Geordi's visor sees a pattern of flashes coming from a random speck of what looks like mostly silicon. They beam it up to the ship and the doctor has never seen anything like it. The scanners show it to be totally inorganic but the patterns it is giving off seem to be non-random and non-repeating.
The speck starts growing and even tries to communicate. Eventually the universal translator detects it calling them, "ugly giant bags of mostly water," it is both intelligent, and pissed off. It tells them it is at war with them since they tried to destroy its kind and starts taking over the computer. It destroys first the bell jar and then the containment field. Efforts to transport it aren't effective. Eventually Geordi figures out that it needs light for energy and Riker turns off the lights in sickbay and it agrees to talk. The life form considers humans too uncivilized to talk with but says to come back in 300 years. They quarantine the planet and get the hell out of their.
Review: I really enjoyed this episode. Even the villainous terraformers turned out to just be ignorant rather than evil. When they learn what they almost did they are horrified. It turns out the head guy didn't even kill the guy with the laser. Despite the lack of a B story this still manages to be a solid episode.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise stopping by to check in on a remote terraforming operation. We are told they are only allowed to terraform planets that have been demonstrated to be totally devoid of life. When they arrive they are greeted, but Troi informs Picard that the leader is trying to hide something so Picard insists on beaming down an away team. They are greeted with genuine warmth and given a tour of the facilities by one of the scientists. They meet one of the guys who operates the mining lasers and after a bit he leaves. Suddenly they hear him screaming and rush to the mining chamber. The worker is dead, shot by his own laser.
Data goes in to investigate, but when he turns on the laser it tries to kill him as well. It even appears to adapt to his strategy of evasion, but eventually he manages to smash the laser. Picard beams everyone including the terraformers back to the Enterprise so they can investigate. The head terraformer isn't pleased but the other two survivors seem pretty ok with it. Data and Geordi beam back down and Data spots something down the hole the laser was shooting into. Geordi's visor sees a pattern of flashes coming from a random speck of what looks like mostly silicon. They beam it up to the ship and the doctor has never seen anything like it. The scanners show it to be totally inorganic but the patterns it is giving off seem to be non-random and non-repeating.
The speck starts growing and even tries to communicate. Eventually the universal translator detects it calling them, "ugly giant bags of mostly water," it is both intelligent, and pissed off. It tells them it is at war with them since they tried to destroy its kind and starts taking over the computer. It destroys first the bell jar and then the containment field. Efforts to transport it aren't effective. Eventually Geordi figures out that it needs light for energy and Riker turns off the lights in sickbay and it agrees to talk. The life form considers humans too uncivilized to talk with but says to come back in 300 years. They quarantine the planet and get the hell out of their.
Review: I really enjoyed this episode. Even the villainous terraformers turned out to just be ignorant rather than evil. When they learn what they almost did they are horrified. It turns out the head guy didn't even kill the guy with the laser. Despite the lack of a B story this still manages to be a solid episode.
7 out of 10
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
TNG: When The Bough Breaks
This is a serious meh episode. Not the worst episode of all time, and certainly not the worst episode with children in it, but also not great. When Wesley stands out as the best acted character in a room you know you are in trouble. Also any episode that is so clearly supposed to be about Atlantis is going to raise some eyebrows from me. The idea of a people developing a computer so advanced that they forget how to use it doesn't actually seem as unreasonable as some of the other things in this one.
We begin with Riker being run into by a young man in the hallway on his way to the bridge. When he arrives he is told by Picard that he may be intersted since they are following a trail some sort to what may be the mythical lost planet of Aldea. Aldea is supposed to be able to hide itself and sure enough when they arrive a planet appears out of nowhere. Riker beams down to negotiate but finds out that the Aldeans what some of the children from the Enterprise. The Aldeans scan the ship and locate all the kids. Riker is sent back up and the children are stolen. The Aldeans are no longer able to reproduce and apparently this is their best plan.
While Picard tries to negotiate the return of the children Wesley is busy trying to learn about the computer that runs the planet. He is given voice access to it and the other children are taught art and such, but none of them are happy. Picard isn't having any luck and at one point the Enterprise is thrown many light years away to show they mean business. Dr. Crusher has learned the Aldeans are suffering from radiation poisoning and probably don't know it since they are all dirty hippies instead of scientists. She doesn't actually say this, but she should have.
Wesley organizes some passive resistance and Geordi finds a hole in the planets shields. Picard gets the Aldeans to beam him and Dr. Crusher down to negotiate again (the Aldeans are kinda dumb) and manages to get the children while Riker and Data take over the planetary computer system. The Aldean leader agrees they were wrong after he has already lost and agrees to work with the Federation to solve their problems.
Review: Kinda a dull episode with central roles played by sub-par child actors. Also, what culture anywhere is going to put up with having their children stolen? For and advanced people the Aldeans aren't very good at what they do.
3 out of 10
We begin with Riker being run into by a young man in the hallway on his way to the bridge. When he arrives he is told by Picard that he may be intersted since they are following a trail some sort to what may be the mythical lost planet of Aldea. Aldea is supposed to be able to hide itself and sure enough when they arrive a planet appears out of nowhere. Riker beams down to negotiate but finds out that the Aldeans what some of the children from the Enterprise. The Aldeans scan the ship and locate all the kids. Riker is sent back up and the children are stolen. The Aldeans are no longer able to reproduce and apparently this is their best plan.
While Picard tries to negotiate the return of the children Wesley is busy trying to learn about the computer that runs the planet. He is given voice access to it and the other children are taught art and such, but none of them are happy. Picard isn't having any luck and at one point the Enterprise is thrown many light years away to show they mean business. Dr. Crusher has learned the Aldeans are suffering from radiation poisoning and probably don't know it since they are all dirty hippies instead of scientists. She doesn't actually say this, but she should have.
Wesley organizes some passive resistance and Geordi finds a hole in the planets shields. Picard gets the Aldeans to beam him and Dr. Crusher down to negotiate again (the Aldeans are kinda dumb) and manages to get the children while Riker and Data take over the planetary computer system. The Aldean leader agrees they were wrong after he has already lost and agrees to work with the Federation to solve their problems.
Review: Kinda a dull episode with central roles played by sub-par child actors. Also, what culture anywhere is going to put up with having their children stolen? For and advanced people the Aldeans aren't very good at what they do.
3 out of 10
Monday, June 15, 2015
TNG: Too Short a Season
They certainly didn't blow the budget on makeup for tonight's episode. The reverse aging admiral looked like he had bad aged makeup right from the start and his intermediate makeup wasn't any better. At the same time I did enjoy the story of a man unwilling to accept what the aging process has done to him, but at the same time having to face up to the biggest success in his career having been a lie. You would really expect them to run into more military dictatorship planets instead of all the peaceful democracies, but maybe they just don't normally visit?
The Enterprise is on the way to Persephone V (my friend Amy had a cat named Persephone for many years) with Admiral Jameson (my friend Claire has a corgi named Jameson, this is the episode of the pet names apparently) to negotiate for the release on some hostages. Instead of the demands coming directly from the hostages they have been contacted by governor Mordan who says the hostage takers have insisted Jameson negotiate personally. The admiral is very old and is confined to a wheelchair, but special Starfleet orders insist he is in charge of the mission and will command any away teams. Crusher performs a medical exam and discovers that she has been given old files on the admiral, but Picard isn't worried.
In his quarters Jameson gets out of his wheelchair greatly surprising his wife. He tells her he has been taking a new treatment and it is working. On the bridge the admiral gets up and walks around which he shouldn't be able to do with the degenerative disease he has. While preparing to negotiate the admiral collapses and his wife calls the doctor. She finds unknown chemicals in his blood stream (no idea why they weren't detected when she did her exam like an hour before) and he tells them all he went to an alien world and got a dose of anti-aging drugs. His wife is pissed and isn't happy when he tells her he got her a dose as well (never mind that he already took her dose to get it working faster).
Jameson calls Mordan directly and figures out Mordan is the hostage taker. He doesn't tell the captain this but insists on leading an armed rescue party immediately making him seem pretty nuts. They warp in extra fast and beam into tunnels where Jameson believes the hostages will be, but his memory is long out of date and they end up trapped and taking fire. Picard beams them up just in time after Jameson collapses from side effects of his reverse aging. Mordan calls up and gives them 5 minutes before he starts killing hostages. Jameson beams down to Mordan with Picard, but Mordan refuses to believe this young man is actually Jameson. Finally he is convinced and prepares to kill his old enemy (Jameson ended the previous negotations by agreeing to give Mordan the weapons he wanted but also armed his foes leading to 40 years of bloody civil war) but decides to watch him die from his own mistakes instead which takes about 3 minutes.
Review: Not sure I buy that no one in the future wants to be young again, but whatever, maybe Picard is happy being old at least. The plot about the famous negotiator actually being a fraud was a cool twist. Above average, but not super memorable.
7 out of 10
The Enterprise is on the way to Persephone V (my friend Amy had a cat named Persephone for many years) with Admiral Jameson (my friend Claire has a corgi named Jameson, this is the episode of the pet names apparently) to negotiate for the release on some hostages. Instead of the demands coming directly from the hostages they have been contacted by governor Mordan who says the hostage takers have insisted Jameson negotiate personally. The admiral is very old and is confined to a wheelchair, but special Starfleet orders insist he is in charge of the mission and will command any away teams. Crusher performs a medical exam and discovers that she has been given old files on the admiral, but Picard isn't worried.
In his quarters Jameson gets out of his wheelchair greatly surprising his wife. He tells her he has been taking a new treatment and it is working. On the bridge the admiral gets up and walks around which he shouldn't be able to do with the degenerative disease he has. While preparing to negotiate the admiral collapses and his wife calls the doctor. She finds unknown chemicals in his blood stream (no idea why they weren't detected when she did her exam like an hour before) and he tells them all he went to an alien world and got a dose of anti-aging drugs. His wife is pissed and isn't happy when he tells her he got her a dose as well (never mind that he already took her dose to get it working faster).
Jameson calls Mordan directly and figures out Mordan is the hostage taker. He doesn't tell the captain this but insists on leading an armed rescue party immediately making him seem pretty nuts. They warp in extra fast and beam into tunnels where Jameson believes the hostages will be, but his memory is long out of date and they end up trapped and taking fire. Picard beams them up just in time after Jameson collapses from side effects of his reverse aging. Mordan calls up and gives them 5 minutes before he starts killing hostages. Jameson beams down to Mordan with Picard, but Mordan refuses to believe this young man is actually Jameson. Finally he is convinced and prepares to kill his old enemy (Jameson ended the previous negotations by agreeing to give Mordan the weapons he wanted but also armed his foes leading to 40 years of bloody civil war) but decides to watch him die from his own mistakes instead which takes about 3 minutes.
Review: Not sure I buy that no one in the future wants to be young again, but whatever, maybe Picard is happy being old at least. The plot about the famous negotiator actually being a fraud was a cool twist. Above average, but not super memorable.
7 out of 10
Sunday, June 14, 2015
TNG: 11001001
The fascination with the holodeck continues in this episode. This time a race of part computer aliens have programmed a special surprise for Riker, his perfect woman who also seems to have access to all of the ships computer to make sure she can be distracting as long as possible so they can steal the ship. The Binar aliens are a little over the top in terms of how much they are into binary. They not only come in pairs and talk in binary code, and they only understand decisions as one or the other. Wesley manages to be almost helpful in the episode which is pretty wild.
We begin with the ship coming in to dock for repairs and computer upgrades. They can't stay long but much of the crew are using this as an excuse to get off ship and get some R and R. The story follows Riker as he runs into various people leaving and eventually he and the captain welcome on board the head of the space station and the Binars, computer assisted aliens who will be working on the computer. They are alarmed to have less time but bring in some extra help. Wesley keeps and eye on them on the bridge while Geordi teaches Data how to paint. Riker eventually finds his way to the holodeck where he runs into a pair of Binars working on the computer. They tell him they have made upgrades to the holodeck and invite him to check it out. Riker asks for a jazz bar in New Orleans and gets a beautiful woman to watch him play.
While Riker is making out with holograms the captain decides to check on him and Minuet, the hologram Riker has fallen for, starts speaking French to Picard and brings out the wine. Just then Wesley detects an anomaly in engineering and calls Geordi. Geordi and Data rush to engineering and find the magnetic field holding the anti-matter is breaking down and the ship is about to explode. They evacuate the ship and set it on a course to get clear of the station. For some reason the computer doesn't notify Picard and Riker and they only learn about it when Picard decides to leave Riker to his fun and finds the ship empty and at red alert.
Access to the bridge is denied so they go to engineering and set the auto destruct sequence to five minutes and beam to the bridge. They find the Binars dying in a heap and the ship in orbit around their planet. The computer is literally full of data. Eventually they figure out the planet was hit by a powerful EMP and had to dump the data vital to their survival onto the Enterprise. They transmit the data back the the Binars revive. Picard flies to ship back to the starbase to get the crew and hold a hearing on the fate of the Binars.
Review: All I remembered about this episode was Riker falling in love with an illusory woman on the holodeck, and I wasn't wrong, that is the most memorable part. But the story about the aliens who need a computer almost being destroyed by the loss of the computer isn't bad either. Overall a decent episode.
7 out of 10
We begin with the ship coming in to dock for repairs and computer upgrades. They can't stay long but much of the crew are using this as an excuse to get off ship and get some R and R. The story follows Riker as he runs into various people leaving and eventually he and the captain welcome on board the head of the space station and the Binars, computer assisted aliens who will be working on the computer. They are alarmed to have less time but bring in some extra help. Wesley keeps and eye on them on the bridge while Geordi teaches Data how to paint. Riker eventually finds his way to the holodeck where he runs into a pair of Binars working on the computer. They tell him they have made upgrades to the holodeck and invite him to check it out. Riker asks for a jazz bar in New Orleans and gets a beautiful woman to watch him play.
While Riker is making out with holograms the captain decides to check on him and Minuet, the hologram Riker has fallen for, starts speaking French to Picard and brings out the wine. Just then Wesley detects an anomaly in engineering and calls Geordi. Geordi and Data rush to engineering and find the magnetic field holding the anti-matter is breaking down and the ship is about to explode. They evacuate the ship and set it on a course to get clear of the station. For some reason the computer doesn't notify Picard and Riker and they only learn about it when Picard decides to leave Riker to his fun and finds the ship empty and at red alert.
Access to the bridge is denied so they go to engineering and set the auto destruct sequence to five minutes and beam to the bridge. They find the Binars dying in a heap and the ship in orbit around their planet. The computer is literally full of data. Eventually they figure out the planet was hit by a powerful EMP and had to dump the data vital to their survival onto the Enterprise. They transmit the data back the the Binars revive. Picard flies to ship back to the starbase to get the crew and hold a hearing on the fate of the Binars.
Review: All I remembered about this episode was Riker falling in love with an illusory woman on the holodeck, and I wasn't wrong, that is the most memorable part. But the story about the aliens who need a computer almost being destroyed by the loss of the computer isn't bad either. Overall a decent episode.
7 out of 10
Saturday, June 13, 2015
TNG: Angel One
The planet of the ladies! There are parts of this episode that clearly would have fit just fine into TOS, but it manages to have enough of a TNG twist to not feel out of date either. Examining sexism through a reversal of roles is a classic scifi idea and it does kinda point out to me how few woman had command positions in Starfleet at this point. I know, Voyager, but that hadn't happened yet. I also consistently forget how much I enjoy Riker. I remembered him being a little weak as a character, but this is another episode in which he is quite good.
The episode opens with the Enterprise looking for survivors on the lost freighter Odin whose wreckage they have stumbled upon. The nearest habitable planet is the female dominated Angel I. It has been a long time since they spoke with the Federation so Picard decides Troi should make contact. They reluctantly agree to allow an away team when they learn the Enterprise plans on removing the survivors. They meet with the planets leadership council, but they refuse to tell them if there even are survivors, but Troi figures out they are lying and that there must be some of them left at least. Back on the ship Wesley manages to get snow all over the captain as he exits the holodeck and also apparently infects him with a virus he picked up on a field trip. The crew start getting really sick and Crusher is struggling to find a cure.
Meanwhile on the planet they devise a scheme to find the survivors by looking for metals not naturally present on the planet including apparently platinum which seems kinda unlikely. Riker flirts with the head of the planet while the rest of the away team make contact with the survivors. The survivors are fugitives since they refused to submit to the normal role of men on the planet and have been hiding for years. They also have families on the planet now and don't want to leave.
The away team returns with the survivors and the head of the planet says she has no choice but to execute them now. On the ship the virus has gotten so out of control that Crusher won't let them beam back up again so they are stuck on the surface to figure things out. Just before the execution Riker gives an impassioned speech about how killing these men will only make them martyrs which sways the head of the planet and she agrees to just exile them forever. Crusher solves the disease mystery and they are off to the neutral zone to stop the Romulans!
Review: The virus B story wasn't the strongest in the series but it did help keep things moving. The scene of Riker dressing up on the revealing traditional male clothes of the planet is pretty classic. Overall an enjoyable episode, but not one to make anybodies top ten of all time either.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise looking for survivors on the lost freighter Odin whose wreckage they have stumbled upon. The nearest habitable planet is the female dominated Angel I. It has been a long time since they spoke with the Federation so Picard decides Troi should make contact. They reluctantly agree to allow an away team when they learn the Enterprise plans on removing the survivors. They meet with the planets leadership council, but they refuse to tell them if there even are survivors, but Troi figures out they are lying and that there must be some of them left at least. Back on the ship Wesley manages to get snow all over the captain as he exits the holodeck and also apparently infects him with a virus he picked up on a field trip. The crew start getting really sick and Crusher is struggling to find a cure.
Meanwhile on the planet they devise a scheme to find the survivors by looking for metals not naturally present on the planet including apparently platinum which seems kinda unlikely. Riker flirts with the head of the planet while the rest of the away team make contact with the survivors. The survivors are fugitives since they refused to submit to the normal role of men on the planet and have been hiding for years. They also have families on the planet now and don't want to leave.
The away team returns with the survivors and the head of the planet says she has no choice but to execute them now. On the ship the virus has gotten so out of control that Crusher won't let them beam back up again so they are stuck on the surface to figure things out. Just before the execution Riker gives an impassioned speech about how killing these men will only make them martyrs which sways the head of the planet and she agrees to just exile them forever. Crusher solves the disease mystery and they are off to the neutral zone to stop the Romulans!
Review: The virus B story wasn't the strongest in the series but it did help keep things moving. The scene of Riker dressing up on the revealing traditional male clothes of the planet is pretty classic. Overall an enjoyable episode, but not one to make anybodies top ten of all time either.
6 out of 10
TNG: Datalore
I had forgotten that Data had a mysterious origin at the beginning of the series since Dr. Soong ended up being referenced many times later in the series. Also I forgot how much TNG struggled to have villains since they seemed to be trying to follow a, "nobody gets god powers except Q," rule that kinda limits how threatened the ship is likely to feel. The children's drawings of crystalline entity are pretty creepy at least.
We begin with the Enterprise passing by the remote planet Data was found on. Picard decides to stop by to check things out, but when they arrive they find it devoid of life. Wesley goes to get Data from his quarters and finds him practicing sneezing. They beam down and discover that literally everything alive down to the soil bacteria has been wiped out. Data points out the slab where he awakened in what looks like a cave, but Riker finds the secret switch or something and they find their way in a pretty advanced lab. Data remembers Dr. Noonian Soong working there and everyone recognizes him as being the leading expert on robotics who mysteriously disappeared years ago. Clearly no one ever thought maybe he made the mysterious one of a kind android. They also find what appears to be another Data disassembled.
They beam the other android up and chief engineer Argyle gets to work rebuilding him. With some help from Data they get him working and he identifies himself as Lore. Lore tells them Data was made first and found to be flawed. After acting kinda sketchy Lore drugs (no, I don't know how you drug an android either) Data's champagne and takes his uniform. Lore uses the computer in his quarters to signal the Crystalline Entity but is detected. For some reason they send Wesley to check it out and he figures it out, but they don't believe him. Lore comes to the bridge as the entity arrives and Wesley tries to tell everybody it isn't Data but he is told to shut up and leaves. Lore convinces them to let him beam a tree out so they can destroy it to show off which makes sense to them all for some reason.
Lore rushes to one of the cargo bays and has to fight Worf in the turbolift for some reason, but apparently the rest of the security team don't bother calling up to the bridge to report it. Luckily the boy genius has it all figured out and gets his mom to help him turn Data back on. For some reason Wesley and Dr. Crusher go with Data to confront Lore who of course uses them as hostages. But Data manages to throw Lore onto the transporter pad just in time for Wesley to beam him into deep space or maybe the entity. Picard forgives Wesley and credits.
Review: While not at his best Wesley manages to be just enough not the worst to not cost this episode a point. Lore certainly manages to be menacing, but his pretending to be Data should have been figured out more quickly, although I guess Picard did figure it out but didn't want to admit Wesley was right, and who wouldn't?
7 out of 10
We begin with the Enterprise passing by the remote planet Data was found on. Picard decides to stop by to check things out, but when they arrive they find it devoid of life. Wesley goes to get Data from his quarters and finds him practicing sneezing. They beam down and discover that literally everything alive down to the soil bacteria has been wiped out. Data points out the slab where he awakened in what looks like a cave, but Riker finds the secret switch or something and they find their way in a pretty advanced lab. Data remembers Dr. Noonian Soong working there and everyone recognizes him as being the leading expert on robotics who mysteriously disappeared years ago. Clearly no one ever thought maybe he made the mysterious one of a kind android. They also find what appears to be another Data disassembled.
They beam the other android up and chief engineer Argyle gets to work rebuilding him. With some help from Data they get him working and he identifies himself as Lore. Lore tells them Data was made first and found to be flawed. After acting kinda sketchy Lore drugs (no, I don't know how you drug an android either) Data's champagne and takes his uniform. Lore uses the computer in his quarters to signal the Crystalline Entity but is detected. For some reason they send Wesley to check it out and he figures it out, but they don't believe him. Lore comes to the bridge as the entity arrives and Wesley tries to tell everybody it isn't Data but he is told to shut up and leaves. Lore convinces them to let him beam a tree out so they can destroy it to show off which makes sense to them all for some reason.
Lore rushes to one of the cargo bays and has to fight Worf in the turbolift for some reason, but apparently the rest of the security team don't bother calling up to the bridge to report it. Luckily the boy genius has it all figured out and gets his mom to help him turn Data back on. For some reason Wesley and Dr. Crusher go with Data to confront Lore who of course uses them as hostages. But Data manages to throw Lore onto the transporter pad just in time for Wesley to beam him into deep space or maybe the entity. Picard forgives Wesley and credits.
Review: While not at his best Wesley manages to be just enough not the worst to not cost this episode a point. Lore certainly manages to be menacing, but his pretending to be Data should have been figured out more quickly, although I guess Picard did figure it out but didn't want to admit Wesley was right, and who wouldn't?
7 out of 10
Thursday, June 11, 2015
TNG: The Big Goodbye
And now we begin with the holodeck gone awry episodes. Despite being introduced in the pilot this episode mentions that the holodecks have been upgraded and the captain is eager to try it out. But of course they get hit with an alien something or other and they are trapped inside with the safety protocols turned off. They haven't quite worked out the rules for what happens when something from inside the holodeck is brought outside, but then again they never really get that settled ever. I had completely forgotten the B story in this episode and it is clear why, but it is also not a bad way to add some tension without things feeling totally forced.
The Enterprise is on its way to attempt to greet an insectoid alien race that is obsessed with protocol to the point that if the long greeting is mispronounced in any way they won't talk again for decades and possibly worse. Picard is struggling with it and Troi recommends he take a break on the holodeck and he jumps at the chance. Picard loads up a 1940's San Francisco detective storyline and is blown away by all the detail. In Dixon Hill's office he is met by a beautiful woman who tells him someone is trying to kill her. Other than flirting Picard ignores her and leaves the simulation as a man tries to get into his office to meet him. At the staff meeting Picard won't shut up about the holodeck and Data takes an interest. Data and some dude who is a historian I guess but obviously wasn't going to make it through the episode meet him to get in on it.
After reading a newspaper for a few minutes Dixon/Picard is taken in for questioning about the murder of the woman he met the previous night. Dr. Crusher joins in as he is being interrogated. Back on the bridge Riker encounters a scanning beam that disrupts their systems and of course seals the holodeck and turns off the safeties. Riker learns about this and Geordi and Wesley get to work. Inside Dixon gets out of the police station and Picard can't help showing Crusher around his office. Inside the man from before pulls and gun and shoots historian guy when they ignore him. Picard punches him, but he comes back with the head bad guy and they demand Dixon give them the item.
Dixon's police buddy shows up and Picard tries to explain it is all an illusion but of course that doesn't work. Eventually Wes gets the door open, but for some reason no one rushes in to help or get the captain who is desperately needed on the bridge. Picard tricks the head bad guy and his minion into going out of the holodeck and they dissolve. Data takes care of the final goon and Crusher rushes to sickbay with the historian who is never heard from again. Picard finally makes it to the bridge and performs the greeting perfectly. They all joke around about the detective drama while presumably the historian is breathing his last breaths in sickbay.
Review: While there are enjoyable parts of this episode there are enough unanswered questions and issues to keep this one from being really great. The holodeck gets explored a lot more in later episodes, but most of them follow the basic formula of this one.
6 out of 10
The Enterprise is on its way to attempt to greet an insectoid alien race that is obsessed with protocol to the point that if the long greeting is mispronounced in any way they won't talk again for decades and possibly worse. Picard is struggling with it and Troi recommends he take a break on the holodeck and he jumps at the chance. Picard loads up a 1940's San Francisco detective storyline and is blown away by all the detail. In Dixon Hill's office he is met by a beautiful woman who tells him someone is trying to kill her. Other than flirting Picard ignores her and leaves the simulation as a man tries to get into his office to meet him. At the staff meeting Picard won't shut up about the holodeck and Data takes an interest. Data and some dude who is a historian I guess but obviously wasn't going to make it through the episode meet him to get in on it.
After reading a newspaper for a few minutes Dixon/Picard is taken in for questioning about the murder of the woman he met the previous night. Dr. Crusher joins in as he is being interrogated. Back on the bridge Riker encounters a scanning beam that disrupts their systems and of course seals the holodeck and turns off the safeties. Riker learns about this and Geordi and Wesley get to work. Inside Dixon gets out of the police station and Picard can't help showing Crusher around his office. Inside the man from before pulls and gun and shoots historian guy when they ignore him. Picard punches him, but he comes back with the head bad guy and they demand Dixon give them the item.
Dixon's police buddy shows up and Picard tries to explain it is all an illusion but of course that doesn't work. Eventually Wes gets the door open, but for some reason no one rushes in to help or get the captain who is desperately needed on the bridge. Picard tricks the head bad guy and his minion into going out of the holodeck and they dissolve. Data takes care of the final goon and Crusher rushes to sickbay with the historian who is never heard from again. Picard finally makes it to the bridge and performs the greeting perfectly. They all joke around about the detective drama while presumably the historian is breathing his last breaths in sickbay.
Review: While there are enjoyable parts of this episode there are enough unanswered questions and issues to keep this one from being really great. The holodeck gets explored a lot more in later episodes, but most of them follow the basic formula of this one.
6 out of 10
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