Finally we are back into the land of good episodes! It has been a bit of a dry stretch, but I thoroughly enjoyed Conundrum. Seeing the characters having to relearn who they are and sometimes experiment a little with who they may want to be was fun. Also lets be honest, not trying to explain how one weapon could, through shields, erase exactly the parts of all the memories of all the species and computers that they needed to instantly was the right decision. Any explination would have just been BS anyway. Also it was cool seeing Worf step up to command when he believed it was the right thing to do.
We begin with Data playing chess with Deanna and losing somehow because intuition and Dr. Crusher treating a patient in sickbay. On the bridge they have come across a small apparently unarmed vessel. It starts scanning the Enterprise but Picard isn't worried until it starts rooting through the computer so he raises shields. But it is too late, there is a flash of green light and suddenly nobody remembers who they are. And not only that, when they recover there is some new dude named McDuff on the bridge. Worf assumes command initially and they start trying to piece it all together. Riker leads a team to search the ship and Geordi starts looking for records of who they all are.
Eventually they figure out the basics only McDuff is apparently their second in command. They find orders in the computer that indicate they are on a critical mission for a war that has lasted for years. They are to proceed to the Lysian system and destroy their central command. Picard and Troi are especially hesitant, but agree to go forward with their orders. Meanwhile Ro and Riker start getting some action in her quarters about the time Riker figures out he may be involved with Troi. Sensing the captains hesitation McDuff confronts Worf and tries to get him to agree to back McDuff up if push comes to shove with the captain.
Crusher figures out a way to maybe restore their memories but McDuff volunteers and pretends to have problems with the procedure and that it didn't work. They destroy a Lysian ship and head in to finish them off. But it just doesn't feel right. After receiving essentially no opposition they arrive at Lysian central command and find a huge heavily populated space station with no real defenses. Picard refuses to kill unarmed people and McDuff tries to get Worf to shoot anyway. He refuses and McDuff fights for the controls. Riker and Worf both shoot him with phasers and learn he is in fact not human. It turns out McDuff is of a race that has been at war with the Lysians for a long time and this was their latest plan to win the war. Crusher restores their memories and Riker has an awkward run in with Ro and Deanna, but they both seem cool with what happened.
Review: I really enjoyed this episode. Both seeing the characters not quite as they normally are and a cool science fiction plot on top really works in this episode.
8 out of 10
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
TNG: The Masterpiece Society
Whenever the writers decided they are going to take on a moral issue they are treading on dangerous ground. When the moral issue they go after is actually complicated and still being fought over like genetic engineering they are really in potential trouble. I think the low point in this episode is when Geordi is having to defend being alive and blind and they then immediately figure out that tech from his visor will somehow save the day. It is super hamhanded and just dumb. The issue of what to do with colonists who want to leave such a carefully balanced society is more interesting at least, but lets be honest, I don't think it is our genetic failings that make humans not work well in such closed societies.
While tracking a stellar core fragment that is going to impact an unoccupied planet the Enterprise discovers a colony of humans living in a sealed dome. (Stupid 90's obsession with planet simulating domes at work here I suspect.) The colonists refuse to beam to the Enterprise but are willing to allow a team to beam down to them after they hear about the impending disaster. The colony has been genetically engineered (although it sounds more like selective breeding which isn't exactly the same thing, but whatever) to function like clockwork. Deanna really hits it off with the colonies leader and they end up falling in love. Meanwhile Hannah Bates, an astrophysicist (really probably an engineer but the writers don't seem to know the difference) beams up to work with Geordi on a plan to move the fragment.
Down on the colony not everybody is happy to be working with the Enterprise, especially since it looks likely that they will have to evacuate and lose their entire way of life. Back on the ship Geordi and Hannah figure out a way to move the fragment using all the ships power but it will be close. To survive the colony is going to need to have additional shield generators install and the leader agrees to let that happen after a teary fair well with Troi. Earthquakes have started and everybody seems to be taking it seriously. The effort to move the fragment cuts it close but they manage to move it just enough to save the colony. That plus the reinforcing seems to do the job.
But when Riker leads a team down to check on things before leaving Hannah reports that there is a problem and radiation is leaking into the colony. When she is alone with Geordi he demands to know why she is making up this story. She explains that she has been bred to be a great scientist and can't do it stuck on this dome and she wants to leave. This sets off a crisis as the leaders insist they can't leave but since they have asked the Federation for asylum Picard can't really say no. There is a lot of fighting since the colony depends on every member but in the end 21 colonists leave and Picard wonders what they have destroyed. I guess the writers don't realize people have tried crap like this over and over and it is always a disaster, but whatever.
Review: The dream of utopia seems to have been alive in the hearts of some of the writers, but they simultaneously couldn't get over the terror of genetic engineering. This makes for an odd episode that is at times way to preachy for my taste.
4 out of 10
While tracking a stellar core fragment that is going to impact an unoccupied planet the Enterprise discovers a colony of humans living in a sealed dome. (Stupid 90's obsession with planet simulating domes at work here I suspect.) The colonists refuse to beam to the Enterprise but are willing to allow a team to beam down to them after they hear about the impending disaster. The colony has been genetically engineered (although it sounds more like selective breeding which isn't exactly the same thing, but whatever) to function like clockwork. Deanna really hits it off with the colonies leader and they end up falling in love. Meanwhile Hannah Bates, an astrophysicist (really probably an engineer but the writers don't seem to know the difference) beams up to work with Geordi on a plan to move the fragment.
Down on the colony not everybody is happy to be working with the Enterprise, especially since it looks likely that they will have to evacuate and lose their entire way of life. Back on the ship Geordi and Hannah figure out a way to move the fragment using all the ships power but it will be close. To survive the colony is going to need to have additional shield generators install and the leader agrees to let that happen after a teary fair well with Troi. Earthquakes have started and everybody seems to be taking it seriously. The effort to move the fragment cuts it close but they manage to move it just enough to save the colony. That plus the reinforcing seems to do the job.
But when Riker leads a team down to check on things before leaving Hannah reports that there is a problem and radiation is leaking into the colony. When she is alone with Geordi he demands to know why she is making up this story. She explains that she has been bred to be a great scientist and can't do it stuck on this dome and she wants to leave. This sets off a crisis as the leaders insist they can't leave but since they have asked the Federation for asylum Picard can't really say no. There is a lot of fighting since the colony depends on every member but in the end 21 colonists leave and Picard wonders what they have destroyed. I guess the writers don't realize people have tried crap like this over and over and it is always a disaster, but whatever.
Review: The dream of utopia seems to have been alive in the hearts of some of the writers, but they simultaneously couldn't get over the terror of genetic engineering. This makes for an odd episode that is at times way to preachy for my taste.
4 out of 10
Monday, September 28, 2015
TNG: Violations
What a bland episode. I know, I know, it was full of characters being traumatized with their worst memories forced onto them. But here the thing, it is set up as a mystery, but we know who is doing it the entire time. Not only do we know who is doing it, we know why he is doing it, or at least as much of a reason as we are ever given. The entire episode is just waiting for the characters to figure out what happened, and it isn't like they find some fascinating answer, they just figure out who was present when similar events happened.
The episode opens with three aliens, a husband and wife and their son, helping Keiko remember time she spent with her grandmother. All of them leave except the son is looks grimly at the camera as the music switches to the bad guy music ruining any chance of this being an actual mystery. They have the aliens to a state dinner but the son and father don't really get along. The son storms out and Troi follows. They talk about parents in the turbolift and the son obviously hates his dad. When Troi returns to her quarters she experiences a memory of being assaulted by Riker but part way through it switches to being the alien and then she is in a coma. The same thing happens to Riker and then Beverley. Geordi and Data work to figure it out and find similar comas on other planets the aliens have visited. Troi wakes up and agrees to let the son probe her memories and she recalls the incident only this time it is the father. He is arrested by the son has to attack Troi one more time only she fights back. Meanwhile Data and Geordi figure out that it was the son because only he was present when the other comas happened so they show up with Worf and save Deanna.
Review: Yeah, I hated this one. It isn't as bad as the very worst episodes, but it is pretty bad. The only part I liked was Deanna holding her own in the fight, but not gaining ground, and then Worf opening the door and knocking the dude out on one hit. If this episode had three or for more kicks to the ball by Troi it would have been a lot better.
2 out of 10
The episode opens with three aliens, a husband and wife and their son, helping Keiko remember time she spent with her grandmother. All of them leave except the son is looks grimly at the camera as the music switches to the bad guy music ruining any chance of this being an actual mystery. They have the aliens to a state dinner but the son and father don't really get along. The son storms out and Troi follows. They talk about parents in the turbolift and the son obviously hates his dad. When Troi returns to her quarters she experiences a memory of being assaulted by Riker but part way through it switches to being the alien and then she is in a coma. The same thing happens to Riker and then Beverley. Geordi and Data work to figure it out and find similar comas on other planets the aliens have visited. Troi wakes up and agrees to let the son probe her memories and she recalls the incident only this time it is the father. He is arrested by the son has to attack Troi one more time only she fights back. Meanwhile Data and Geordi figure out that it was the son because only he was present when the other comas happened so they show up with Worf and save Deanna.
Review: Yeah, I hated this one. It isn't as bad as the very worst episodes, but it is pretty bad. The only part I liked was Deanna holding her own in the fight, but not gaining ground, and then Worf opening the door and knocking the dude out on one hit. If this episode had three or for more kicks to the ball by Troi it would have been a lot better.
2 out of 10
Sunday, September 27, 2015
TNG: Hero Worship
I guess maybe the writers knew there were a lot of kids watching TNG and decided that the only thing to do was to have a lot of episodes about kids. Not the best move ever, but overall this is actually a pretty decent episode. Fortunately Brent Spiner was at peak Data performance when this episode was made and his interactions with the boy are some of the better parts of this episode. The B story about the Enterprise almost repeating the mistakes that led to the destruction of the Vico are also alright. Having the boy assist Data in saving the ship at the end was better than it could have been. Rather than pulled a Wesley boy genius and having the kid save the day entirely, his suggestion as to what the people on his ship tried instead give Data the idea he needs to save the day.
The episode opens with the Enterprise searching for the lost research vessel Vico. It was lost while researching a black cluster which thankfully the writers leave at that and don't try to explain with fake science. They find the Vico just outside the cluster adrift and badly damaged. Riker leads an away team to look for survivors and transfer the ships log. Geordi gets going on the log transfer and Riker finds an injured boy. He is pinned under a heavy support in a part of the ship he can't be beamed out of. Riker and Geordi beam back first since moving the support may destabilize the section, then Data lifts it and brings the boy to safety. He isn't badly hurt physically, but both his parents were killed on the Vico. The boy's name is Timothy and he describes the Vico being attacked and boarded by helmeted aliens of some sort.
Troi gets the job of trying to rehabilitate Timothy but he is having a hard time fitting in. She suggests Data try to reach out to him and Picard agrees. Data visits Timothy who is again impressed with his android abilities. So impressed that after he leaves Timothy decides to try and emulate Data. The two of them start hanging out and Timothy starts talking and even moving like Data. He gets Data to comb his hair just like how Data does his own and dresses in clothing that matches. This seems to be working, but of course this means Timothy isn't exactly following the Troi path to recovery.
There are other problems too, it seems Timothy's story of being attacked wasn't quite true. The Enterprise goes into the black cluster to try and figure it out. Picard confronts Timothy about what really happened on the Vico along with Troi and Data and Timothy breaks down. It seems he touched a computer panel accidentally as the ship was starting to be destroyed and he blames himself for the deaths of everyone aboard. After being reassured by Data that the panel was locked and he couldn't have done anything the Enterprise starts shaking just like the Vico. They try to turn up the shields but it just keeps getting worse. Timothy tells Data that he remembers hearing people talking about increasing shield power before the Vico was destroyed and Data rushes to a panel to crunch some numbers. Just before they are about to be destroyed Data tells Picard to turn off the shields. They do just in time and the day is saved. Timothy can be a real boy now, but Data agrees to stay his friend.
Review: A bit on the sappy side, but not the worst kids episode of TNG. At the same time, enough damn kids episodes!
5 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise searching for the lost research vessel Vico. It was lost while researching a black cluster which thankfully the writers leave at that and don't try to explain with fake science. They find the Vico just outside the cluster adrift and badly damaged. Riker leads an away team to look for survivors and transfer the ships log. Geordi gets going on the log transfer and Riker finds an injured boy. He is pinned under a heavy support in a part of the ship he can't be beamed out of. Riker and Geordi beam back first since moving the support may destabilize the section, then Data lifts it and brings the boy to safety. He isn't badly hurt physically, but both his parents were killed on the Vico. The boy's name is Timothy and he describes the Vico being attacked and boarded by helmeted aliens of some sort.
Troi gets the job of trying to rehabilitate Timothy but he is having a hard time fitting in. She suggests Data try to reach out to him and Picard agrees. Data visits Timothy who is again impressed with his android abilities. So impressed that after he leaves Timothy decides to try and emulate Data. The two of them start hanging out and Timothy starts talking and even moving like Data. He gets Data to comb his hair just like how Data does his own and dresses in clothing that matches. This seems to be working, but of course this means Timothy isn't exactly following the Troi path to recovery.
There are other problems too, it seems Timothy's story of being attacked wasn't quite true. The Enterprise goes into the black cluster to try and figure it out. Picard confronts Timothy about what really happened on the Vico along with Troi and Data and Timothy breaks down. It seems he touched a computer panel accidentally as the ship was starting to be destroyed and he blames himself for the deaths of everyone aboard. After being reassured by Data that the panel was locked and he couldn't have done anything the Enterprise starts shaking just like the Vico. They try to turn up the shields but it just keeps getting worse. Timothy tells Data that he remembers hearing people talking about increasing shield power before the Vico was destroyed and Data rushes to a panel to crunch some numbers. Just before they are about to be destroyed Data tells Picard to turn off the shields. They do just in time and the day is saved. Timothy can be a real boy now, but Data agrees to stay his friend.
Review: A bit on the sappy side, but not the worst kids episode of TNG. At the same time, enough damn kids episodes!
5 out of 10
Saturday, September 26, 2015
TNG: New Ground
New Ground is a decent episode with a touching story about Worf accepting his responsibilities as a father. It generally works but some of the stuff feels a little cliched. I guess Klingon school is the Trek equivalent of military school in Alaska. The B story about a new form of warp drive works alright and the climax ties the two stories together nicely. The scene with Geordi gushing about how excited he is about the new tech is one of my favorite scenes.
The episode opens with the Enterprise en route to help with a test of an engineless warp drive technology, but while preparing in engineering Worf gets a call from his mother. She and Alexander are on a transport ship and would like to visit. Worf arranges for it any meets them in the transporter room. Alexander is a bit distant but his mother is happy as always. However when Worf asks how long they are staying Alexander appears to be under the impression he isn't leaving. Worf confronts his mother about this in Ten Forward and sure enough, she and his father are too old to raise another Klingon son and they are having problems.
Worf takes Alexander to the school to get him enrolled but Alexander pretty much refuses to talk to the teacher. When he returns to work Worf is constantly getting calls about his son and the captain tells him to worry about Alexander first. The two of them go on a field trip together to one of the biolabs that has some endangered species. The teacher catches Alexander trying to steal a model of a lizard and at first Worf is outraged she would accuse his son, but when he finds out she is right he is even more mad. Worf decides the only thing he can do is send Alexander to a Klingon school where he will learn about honor.
The B story comes back near the end and the Enterprise assists in a test of the warp waves. The test works at first but the test ship explodes and the wave just keeps growing in power. It gets so powerful it will devastate the world it is aimed at so the Enterprise has to get in the way and blast it with torpedoes. As they pass through the wave there is an explosion and fire in the biolab. Sensors show there is one person trapped inside, Alexander! Worf and Riker rush to save him and find him near the endangered animals. Worf saves Alexander who insists Riker save the animals. In the end Worf agrees to allow Alexander to stay on the Enterprise.
Review: A fairly straight forward episode, but one without any glaring flaws. The actor playing Alexander this time is alright, especially for a child actor.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise en route to help with a test of an engineless warp drive technology, but while preparing in engineering Worf gets a call from his mother. She and Alexander are on a transport ship and would like to visit. Worf arranges for it any meets them in the transporter room. Alexander is a bit distant but his mother is happy as always. However when Worf asks how long they are staying Alexander appears to be under the impression he isn't leaving. Worf confronts his mother about this in Ten Forward and sure enough, she and his father are too old to raise another Klingon son and they are having problems.
Worf takes Alexander to the school to get him enrolled but Alexander pretty much refuses to talk to the teacher. When he returns to work Worf is constantly getting calls about his son and the captain tells him to worry about Alexander first. The two of them go on a field trip together to one of the biolabs that has some endangered species. The teacher catches Alexander trying to steal a model of a lizard and at first Worf is outraged she would accuse his son, but when he finds out she is right he is even more mad. Worf decides the only thing he can do is send Alexander to a Klingon school where he will learn about honor.
The B story comes back near the end and the Enterprise assists in a test of the warp waves. The test works at first but the test ship explodes and the wave just keeps growing in power. It gets so powerful it will devastate the world it is aimed at so the Enterprise has to get in the way and blast it with torpedoes. As they pass through the wave there is an explosion and fire in the biolab. Sensors show there is one person trapped inside, Alexander! Worf and Riker rush to save him and find him near the endangered animals. Worf saves Alexander who insists Riker save the animals. In the end Worf agrees to allow Alexander to stay on the Enterprise.
Review: A fairly straight forward episode, but one without any glaring flaws. The actor playing Alexander this time is alright, especially for a child actor.
6 out of 10
Friday, September 25, 2015
TNG: A Matter of Time
One of my favorite parts of this process of Trek watching is running across episodes I don't remember from the original run. This isn't one wasn't totally new to me, but I had no recollection of how the events turned out. I mean, I was pretty sure Picard wasn't going to kill millions of colonists, but how? And why do they keep putting up with this super obnoxious time traveler guy? Not for the first time Worf is totally correct about not trusting him but as per normal he is pretty much ignored.
While on their way to aid a colony that has been devastated by an asteroid strike Worf detects a temporal anomaly near the ship and then a small vessel appears where the anomaly had been. They receive a transmission asking Picard to move a bit which makes sense after he walks across the bridge an a quirking time travelling professor appears. He explains that he is from the 26th century and has traveled back to witness an important event in history first hand. He naturally refuses to answer any questions about the future while simultaneously constantly pestering everyone he meets to fill out his questionnaires.
They arrive at the colony and Geordi has a plan to inject carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to reverse the cooling caused by the impact, but when they try it a bunch of volcanoes go off changing things again and possibly dooming the planet. Back on the ship the time traveler is being a pain in the ass everywhere and has taken to stealing whatever he can put in his pockets. Nobody seems to really trust him, but at the same time they don't have a particularly good reason not to work with him. The new plan to save the colony involves somehow burning or injecting into space all the particulate in the atmosphere which will save all of them, but if anything goes wrong it will instantly kill everyone on the planet.
Picard has decided that he has to demand answers from the time traveler but he refuses to give Picard the information he needs so Picard decides to go ahead with the plan. To increase the odds of success Geordi risks his life by going down to the planet and directing the operation from there. Of course being Trek it works perfectly and the day is saved. It is time for the time traveler to leave, but when he gets to the cargo bay he finds the crew waiting for him. Picard demands to be allowed into the time travel vessel to find the stolen objects. The time traveler refuses but can't argue with sending Data in since he can actually be trusted if sworn to secrecy. But once they are both inside the time traveler pulls a phaser. He isn't a professor from the future, he is a con man from the past, and not just the past, from New Jersey! His plan fails and he is removed from the vessel only to watch it travel back to his time without him. He is arrested for his crimes and will likely spend his life being studied in just the way he pretended to study the Enterprise.
Review: This is a lighthearted fun episode. Well, I guess other than risking the lives of 20 million colonists, but come on, how could Picard ever be responsible for so many deaths? Also having the time traveler be a con man was a great twist.
7 out of 10
While on their way to aid a colony that has been devastated by an asteroid strike Worf detects a temporal anomaly near the ship and then a small vessel appears where the anomaly had been. They receive a transmission asking Picard to move a bit which makes sense after he walks across the bridge an a quirking time travelling professor appears. He explains that he is from the 26th century and has traveled back to witness an important event in history first hand. He naturally refuses to answer any questions about the future while simultaneously constantly pestering everyone he meets to fill out his questionnaires.
They arrive at the colony and Geordi has a plan to inject carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to reverse the cooling caused by the impact, but when they try it a bunch of volcanoes go off changing things again and possibly dooming the planet. Back on the ship the time traveler is being a pain in the ass everywhere and has taken to stealing whatever he can put in his pockets. Nobody seems to really trust him, but at the same time they don't have a particularly good reason not to work with him. The new plan to save the colony involves somehow burning or injecting into space all the particulate in the atmosphere which will save all of them, but if anything goes wrong it will instantly kill everyone on the planet.
Picard has decided that he has to demand answers from the time traveler but he refuses to give Picard the information he needs so Picard decides to go ahead with the plan. To increase the odds of success Geordi risks his life by going down to the planet and directing the operation from there. Of course being Trek it works perfectly and the day is saved. It is time for the time traveler to leave, but when he gets to the cargo bay he finds the crew waiting for him. Picard demands to be allowed into the time travel vessel to find the stolen objects. The time traveler refuses but can't argue with sending Data in since he can actually be trusted if sworn to secrecy. But once they are both inside the time traveler pulls a phaser. He isn't a professor from the future, he is a con man from the past, and not just the past, from New Jersey! His plan fails and he is removed from the vessel only to watch it travel back to his time without him. He is arrested for his crimes and will likely spend his life being studied in just the way he pretended to study the Enterprise.
Review: This is a lighthearted fun episode. Well, I guess other than risking the lives of 20 million colonists, but come on, how could Picard ever be responsible for so many deaths? Also having the time traveler be a con man was a great twist.
7 out of 10
Thursday, September 24, 2015
TNG: Unification II
I had forgotten what an amazing team Spock and Data make. It is sad that this was there only opportunity to be paired up because they were good enough to justify a show all on their own. Tasha's daughter Sela continues to play a rather inexplicable role. It just seems like it would make more sense to have a powerful member of Romulan security in that role, but I guess Denise Crosby really wanted back on the show. The parts of this episode I remember best are actually the seedy bar where Riker and Worf get to flirt with the four armed keyboard player. A worthy last television Trek role for Nemoy as well.
The episode begins exactly where the last one left off with Spock explaining to Picard that he is here to begin the process of reunifying Romulus and Vulcan (which duh, is we knew because it is the name of the episodes). Picard also has to tell Spock about the death of his father but of course Spock is pretty good at handling stuff like that. There is a lot of diplomacy stuff but eventually they get a meeting with Senator Pardek who greets them and tells them that they are to meet with the proconsul.
Back on the Enterprise they are following the leads on the ship they destroyed last night and it has led them to a seedy bar. Riker manages to flirt his way into the information that a Ferengi who is a regular at the bar has the information they need. On Romulus the meeting with the proconsul goes well, too well. He agrees to allow Spock to address the senate calling for reunification but after they leave Sela emerges from a back office and they do some gloating. Back in the caves Spock tells them that he figures this is probably a trap but he should go ahead with it anyway. However he also works with Data to break into the Romulan state computer grid to gather information. Back at the bar the Ferengi arrives and Riker confronts him. After choking him a bit Riker learns the ship was sold at Galorndon Core, a planet near the neutral zone.
Back on Romulus Data and Spock discover a message sent to Galorndon Core from Romulan intelligence, the signal is 1400. Spock recognizes this as the time is he to address the senate tomorrow, but it is too late. Romulan security suddenly show up totally surrounding them and Sela takes them into custody. She sends a signal to Riker telling him it is the captain and to hold position, but Riker sees right through it. Sela tells Spock he must deliver a fake speech or she will kill him, but being a badass Vulcan he says he realizes she will kill him either way so she reveals that she has a holographic version of him. She then storms off to gloat, but Data and Spock realize they still have access to their computer.
Three Vulcan ships emerge from the neutral zone and say they are bearing a Vulcan peace delegation. Riker ignores them and sets course towards them at high speed, but they get a distress call from a colony, and Riker sees through that as well. Back on Romulus Sela returns but is confronted by Riker and two security personnel with phasers. She is distracted by the holograms long enough to be captured and have her weapon taken by Spock. The fake speech instead announces the invasion and the Romulans destroy their own invasion fleet. Data gives Sela a neck pinch and they flee into the caves. Spock remains behind to educate the Romulans about Vulcan culture but not before mindmelding with Picard to also meld with his father.
Review: A complicated story that pays off in all the right ways. Lots of classic Romulan intrigue. I didn't really like Sela, but the rest was solid.
9 out of 10
The episode begins exactly where the last one left off with Spock explaining to Picard that he is here to begin the process of reunifying Romulus and Vulcan (which duh, is we knew because it is the name of the episodes). Picard also has to tell Spock about the death of his father but of course Spock is pretty good at handling stuff like that. There is a lot of diplomacy stuff but eventually they get a meeting with Senator Pardek who greets them and tells them that they are to meet with the proconsul.
Back on the Enterprise they are following the leads on the ship they destroyed last night and it has led them to a seedy bar. Riker manages to flirt his way into the information that a Ferengi who is a regular at the bar has the information they need. On Romulus the meeting with the proconsul goes well, too well. He agrees to allow Spock to address the senate calling for reunification but after they leave Sela emerges from a back office and they do some gloating. Back in the caves Spock tells them that he figures this is probably a trap but he should go ahead with it anyway. However he also works with Data to break into the Romulan state computer grid to gather information. Back at the bar the Ferengi arrives and Riker confronts him. After choking him a bit Riker learns the ship was sold at Galorndon Core, a planet near the neutral zone.
Back on Romulus Data and Spock discover a message sent to Galorndon Core from Romulan intelligence, the signal is 1400. Spock recognizes this as the time is he to address the senate tomorrow, but it is too late. Romulan security suddenly show up totally surrounding them and Sela takes them into custody. She sends a signal to Riker telling him it is the captain and to hold position, but Riker sees right through it. Sela tells Spock he must deliver a fake speech or she will kill him, but being a badass Vulcan he says he realizes she will kill him either way so she reveals that she has a holographic version of him. She then storms off to gloat, but Data and Spock realize they still have access to their computer.
Three Vulcan ships emerge from the neutral zone and say they are bearing a Vulcan peace delegation. Riker ignores them and sets course towards them at high speed, but they get a distress call from a colony, and Riker sees through that as well. Back on Romulus Sela returns but is confronted by Riker and two security personnel with phasers. She is distracted by the holograms long enough to be captured and have her weapon taken by Spock. The fake speech instead announces the invasion and the Romulans destroy their own invasion fleet. Data gives Sela a neck pinch and they flee into the caves. Spock remains behind to educate the Romulans about Vulcan culture but not before mindmelding with Picard to also meld with his father.
Review: A complicated story that pays off in all the right ways. Lots of classic Romulan intrigue. I didn't really like Sela, but the rest was solid.
9 out of 10
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
TNG: Unification I
The first two part episode in Trek history that had to both parts written by the same crew with an actual plan for what was happening in part II when they wrote part I! Also I know that Nemoy only agreed to be in this episode to promote The Undiscovered Country which he directed, but both TUC and Unification are good enough stories that it doesn't cheapen the experience. Also I had totally forgotten about the quartermaster of the salvage yard, what a fun character and I don't really recall what the solution to that mystery is which makes me look forward to tomorrow night. Of course the title of the episode kinda gives away what Spock's main objective is, but whatever, Spock is in TNG!!!
The episode opens with the Enterprise being pulled of a mission for an important briefing from an admiral. Refusing to use subspace communications the admiral explains in person that an ambassador of the Federation has gone missing, and turned up on Romulus. And not just any ambassador, Ambassador Spock! The Enterprise heads to Vulcan so Picard can meet with Sarek who is dying of Bendii syndrome and Riker can investigate some Vulcan debris found on a crashed Ferengi vessel. Picard meets with Sarek and learns the name of a Romulan senator Spock may be trying to meet with and Riker figures out which ship the debris is from, a ship that should be in a Federation scrap yard.
The next move is to procure a Klingon ship so that Picard and Data can go into Romulan space and then disguise themselves as Romulans and beam down to find Spock. Gowron doesn't seem like he wants to help but after some careful negotiations by Picard the get the ship they need. Data and Picard leave the Enterprise in Riker's hands and head for Romulus. Riker heads to the scrap yard and finds its administrator to be less than helpful. However Deanna manages to get him to work with them and they find the birth that should contain the Vulcan ship they are looking for, but it is gone. And the ship that the parts they are looking to trace should be on another ship in the yard, but that ship is gone too. But the administrator notices that this ship has been receiving regular shipments of parts via tranporter so something is going on. They turn of the Enterprise engines and hide in the scrap yard to see who turns up to get today's shipment.
On Romulus Picard and Data aren't exactly fitting in well. First they walk around talking loudly about Spock with Data moving like an android and constantly calling Picard, "captain." They find the place on the street where Spock was spotted and determine it is the office of a relative of the senator Sarek told them about. They then awkwardly eat soup in a cafe until they are arrested by Romulan security. Back on the Enterprise a ship of unknown origin turns on to get the shipment and it opens fire on the Enterprise when it powers back on. Riker has Worf carefully shoot just the weapons but the ship is so packed full of weapons and arms that it explodes. Back on Romulus Data and Picard realize they haven't been arrested by security but taken to safety by the senator. Right at the very end Spock reveals himself... TOO BE CONTINUED!
Review: This really feels like just half an episode, but honestly it is still better than some of the crap second season. The tension is high many times in the episode and the B story has both mystery and some good humorous bits.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise being pulled of a mission for an important briefing from an admiral. Refusing to use subspace communications the admiral explains in person that an ambassador of the Federation has gone missing, and turned up on Romulus. And not just any ambassador, Ambassador Spock! The Enterprise heads to Vulcan so Picard can meet with Sarek who is dying of Bendii syndrome and Riker can investigate some Vulcan debris found on a crashed Ferengi vessel. Picard meets with Sarek and learns the name of a Romulan senator Spock may be trying to meet with and Riker figures out which ship the debris is from, a ship that should be in a Federation scrap yard.
The next move is to procure a Klingon ship so that Picard and Data can go into Romulan space and then disguise themselves as Romulans and beam down to find Spock. Gowron doesn't seem like he wants to help but after some careful negotiations by Picard the get the ship they need. Data and Picard leave the Enterprise in Riker's hands and head for Romulus. Riker heads to the scrap yard and finds its administrator to be less than helpful. However Deanna manages to get him to work with them and they find the birth that should contain the Vulcan ship they are looking for, but it is gone. And the ship that the parts they are looking to trace should be on another ship in the yard, but that ship is gone too. But the administrator notices that this ship has been receiving regular shipments of parts via tranporter so something is going on. They turn of the Enterprise engines and hide in the scrap yard to see who turns up to get today's shipment.
On Romulus Picard and Data aren't exactly fitting in well. First they walk around talking loudly about Spock with Data moving like an android and constantly calling Picard, "captain." They find the place on the street where Spock was spotted and determine it is the office of a relative of the senator Sarek told them about. They then awkwardly eat soup in a cafe until they are arrested by Romulan security. Back on the Enterprise a ship of unknown origin turns on to get the shipment and it opens fire on the Enterprise when it powers back on. Riker has Worf carefully shoot just the weapons but the ship is so packed full of weapons and arms that it explodes. Back on Romulus Data and Picard realize they haven't been arrested by security but taken to safety by the senator. Right at the very end Spock reveals himself... TOO BE CONTINUED!
Review: This really feels like just half an episode, but honestly it is still better than some of the crap second season. The tension is high many times in the episode and the B story has both mystery and some good humorous bits.
8 out of 10
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
TNG: The Game
I have strong memories of really enjoying this episode as a kid, and those feelings haven't changed all that much. The idea of using what appears to be an innocent game to take over Starfleet isn't actually as crazy as it sounds. This device would make it past the scans in the transporter since it doesn't contain any drugs. And while we don't know quite what it does on the inside of its victims minds, we can tell that it doesn't alter their knowledge or intelligence. Also this is maybe my favorite Wesley episode of all time since he both saves the day, gets the girl, and isn't super annoying the whole time. Also the aliens nailed it by going after Riker's lust as a way to infiltrate the Enterprise.
Speaking of, we open with Riker cavorting about in his bedroom on Risa with an alien girl. After chasing her around she introduces him to a game in the form of a headset with two probes that shoot light into your eyes. You control it with your mind moving a disk into a cone shaped hole and receiving a jolt of pleasure each time you complete a level. Back on the Enterprise Wesley is on vacation from the Academy and has come for a visit. When he first arrives everyone pretends to ignore him and he has to ask to go stop by a meeting in the observation lounge, but when he arrives he greeted with a surprise gathering in his honor. Everyone is pleased with how he is doing and he heads down to engineering with Data where he meets Robin Lefler, a talented ensign who teaches him a few things about engineering before stealing his heart. She agrees to meet him for dinner later.
While Wesley has been busy falling in love Riker has been gradually introducing the crew to the game he was shown on Risa starting with Dr. Crusher. Data is summoned to sickbay to assist the doctor but instead she knocks him out and along with Riker and Troi manages to get him into a bed. After having tea with the captain Wesley returns to his mothers quarters to get ready for his date and finds her playing the game. She pushes him hard to try it but his mind is elsewhere and he rushes off to Ten Forward. After some flirting the topic of the game comes up and the two of them go to sickbay to try and figure it out. After hooking the game up to the computer they realize both that it is addictive and that it somehow affects the higher reasoning center of the brain. Wesley takes his concerns to the captain who promises to start an investigation, but as soon as Wesley is gone he puts on one of the headsets.
Soon the whole crew are playing the game, the only way to keep from being constantly hassled to play is for Wesley and Robin to make fake headsets. They then go to Data and discover he didn't just pass out, we had a critical part cut, something that only Dr. Crusher and Geordi could have done so they realize they can trust no one. Their plan to use the transporters is interrupted when Robin is somehow started on the actual game and Wesley is sent fleeing across the ship. Meanwhile on the bridge Picard has brought the ship the rendezvous with another ship with the lady Riker was having fun with in the opening in command. They are clearly under her control and establish a plan to spread the game throughout Starfleet. Eventually Worf and Riker catch Wesley and drag him onto the bridge and force a headset onto his head. Just then the lights go dim and out of the gloom Data appears and flashes a light in a pattern that somehow cures them of their addiction. They arrest the alien and Wesley heads back to the academy after making out with Robin for a while.
Review: I admit I have a soft spot for some of the darker episodes of Trek and this certainly qualifies. The scene near then end where they drag Wesley onto the bridge and force his eyes one so he can be brainwashed while smiling calmly the whole time is downright disturbing.
8 out of 10
Speaking of, we open with Riker cavorting about in his bedroom on Risa with an alien girl. After chasing her around she introduces him to a game in the form of a headset with two probes that shoot light into your eyes. You control it with your mind moving a disk into a cone shaped hole and receiving a jolt of pleasure each time you complete a level. Back on the Enterprise Wesley is on vacation from the Academy and has come for a visit. When he first arrives everyone pretends to ignore him and he has to ask to go stop by a meeting in the observation lounge, but when he arrives he greeted with a surprise gathering in his honor. Everyone is pleased with how he is doing and he heads down to engineering with Data where he meets Robin Lefler, a talented ensign who teaches him a few things about engineering before stealing his heart. She agrees to meet him for dinner later.
While Wesley has been busy falling in love Riker has been gradually introducing the crew to the game he was shown on Risa starting with Dr. Crusher. Data is summoned to sickbay to assist the doctor but instead she knocks him out and along with Riker and Troi manages to get him into a bed. After having tea with the captain Wesley returns to his mothers quarters to get ready for his date and finds her playing the game. She pushes him hard to try it but his mind is elsewhere and he rushes off to Ten Forward. After some flirting the topic of the game comes up and the two of them go to sickbay to try and figure it out. After hooking the game up to the computer they realize both that it is addictive and that it somehow affects the higher reasoning center of the brain. Wesley takes his concerns to the captain who promises to start an investigation, but as soon as Wesley is gone he puts on one of the headsets.
Soon the whole crew are playing the game, the only way to keep from being constantly hassled to play is for Wesley and Robin to make fake headsets. They then go to Data and discover he didn't just pass out, we had a critical part cut, something that only Dr. Crusher and Geordi could have done so they realize they can trust no one. Their plan to use the transporters is interrupted when Robin is somehow started on the actual game and Wesley is sent fleeing across the ship. Meanwhile on the bridge Picard has brought the ship the rendezvous with another ship with the lady Riker was having fun with in the opening in command. They are clearly under her control and establish a plan to spread the game throughout Starfleet. Eventually Worf and Riker catch Wesley and drag him onto the bridge and force a headset onto his head. Just then the lights go dim and out of the gloom Data appears and flashes a light in a pattern that somehow cures them of their addiction. They arrest the alien and Wesley heads back to the academy after making out with Robin for a while.
Review: I admit I have a soft spot for some of the darker episodes of Trek and this certainly qualifies. The scene near then end where they drag Wesley onto the bridge and force his eyes one so he can be brainwashed while smiling calmly the whole time is downright disturbing.
8 out of 10
Monday, September 21, 2015
TNG: Disaster
Disaster is one of those episodes that has a good amount going on, but the only thing anyone remembers about it is Picard stuck in the turbolift with three kids. And yeah, that is clearly not the best part of the episode, but it is also far from the only part of the episode. My understanding was the writers goal here was to make a disaster movie in a Trek episode and as far as that is concerned Disaster works pretty well. Worf helping Keiko go through labor in Ten Forward was particularly good since I am trained in emergency child birth and I can understand what Worf was going through. Honestly the worst part of the episode was Ro trying to repeat the mistakes that had her court martialed by trying to kill off all the crew remaining in the drive section.
The episode opens with the O'Brien's discussing baby names with Riker, Worf and Data in Tne Forward. The chief has to leave for the bridge and we cut to Geordi and Beverly in a cargo bay doing an inventory and then to the bridge where the captain is preparing to lead a tour for three elementary school science fair winners. As soon as he gets into the turbolift with the children there is a violent shaking and the lights go out. On the bridge Miles discovers they have hit a quantum filament and before they can take evasive action they hit another and power is knocked out to most of the ship and emergency bulkheads seal all over. Picard is stuck in the turbolift with three kids and a broken ankle, Geordi and Beverley are stuck in a cargobay with a radioactive fire and fuel getting ready to explode, Troi is in command on the bridge and the ships antimatter containment is failing, and Keiko is starting to give birth in Ten Forward.
In the turbolift Picard manages to rally the children to help him get them out of there safely. In Ten Forward Worf is left in charge of the fatalities while Riker and Data try to make there way to engineering. Along the way they encounter a dangerous electrical discharge and the only solution is for Data to walk right into it and then have Riker remove his head and take it to engineering. Back on the bridge they can't do much other than watch as the antimatter containment field keeps getting weaker. Ensign Ro is determined that they have to separate the saucer section and leave all the people in the drive section to die. O'Brien however manages to send enough power to engineering to turn on the monitors so they can at least see what the problem is.
Back down in the cargobay things are getting bad and an explosion is imminent. The only solution is to open the cargo door and send all the fuel and oxygen out putting out the fire and stopping the risk of explosion. It works and luckily the ship is working well enough to close the door again and get some air back in keeping them alive. Worf succeeds at guiding Keiko through the delivery process. In engineering Data's head is connected to the computer and he manages to save the ship just in time. Kinda makes you wonder why they don't just always keep him hooked up to the ship, but whatever.
Review: Lots of small stories keep any one of them from dragging the rest down. If this had just been Picard and the kids in the turbolift like I remembered it might have been a pretty bad one. But overall this episode works and even has some really touching moments.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with the O'Brien's discussing baby names with Riker, Worf and Data in Tne Forward. The chief has to leave for the bridge and we cut to Geordi and Beverly in a cargo bay doing an inventory and then to the bridge where the captain is preparing to lead a tour for three elementary school science fair winners. As soon as he gets into the turbolift with the children there is a violent shaking and the lights go out. On the bridge Miles discovers they have hit a quantum filament and before they can take evasive action they hit another and power is knocked out to most of the ship and emergency bulkheads seal all over. Picard is stuck in the turbolift with three kids and a broken ankle, Geordi and Beverley are stuck in a cargobay with a radioactive fire and fuel getting ready to explode, Troi is in command on the bridge and the ships antimatter containment is failing, and Keiko is starting to give birth in Ten Forward.
In the turbolift Picard manages to rally the children to help him get them out of there safely. In Ten Forward Worf is left in charge of the fatalities while Riker and Data try to make there way to engineering. Along the way they encounter a dangerous electrical discharge and the only solution is for Data to walk right into it and then have Riker remove his head and take it to engineering. Back on the bridge they can't do much other than watch as the antimatter containment field keeps getting weaker. Ensign Ro is determined that they have to separate the saucer section and leave all the people in the drive section to die. O'Brien however manages to send enough power to engineering to turn on the monitors so they can at least see what the problem is.
Back down in the cargobay things are getting bad and an explosion is imminent. The only solution is to open the cargo door and send all the fuel and oxygen out putting out the fire and stopping the risk of explosion. It works and luckily the ship is working well enough to close the door again and get some air back in keeping them alive. Worf succeeds at guiding Keiko through the delivery process. In engineering Data's head is connected to the computer and he manages to save the ship just in time. Kinda makes you wonder why they don't just always keep him hooked up to the ship, but whatever.
Review: Lots of small stories keep any one of them from dragging the rest down. If this had just been Picard and the kids in the turbolift like I remembered it might have been a pretty bad one. But overall this episode works and even has some really touching moments.
7 out of 10
Sunday, September 20, 2015
TNG: Silicon Avatar
Unlike TOS which would have been happy to leave the crystalline entity to wander the universe forever TNG is the kind of show that wraps up its loose ends (at least this time). It is also pretty nice to see the writers get how annoying it is to have character hate Data for no reason for an entire episode. Having that character identify with him as her son is a bit over the top, but better than have her snipe at him the entire time. Also, can you really blame scientist lady for wanting to destroy the entity? I know Picard gave that nice speech about it having as much right to live as we do, but does the same hold true for the Borg? They just want to do Borg stuff and make the entire universe part of their cool club.
The episode opens with Riker, Data and Crusher working with some colonists to plan a new Federation outpost. Riker is ready to have dinner, and dessert, with one of the colonists when they hear a loud noise coming from the sky. It is the crystalline entity and it starts doing its thing devouring every living thing from the surface of the planet. Data leads them into some caves but the colonist Riker was just flirting with is killed trying to help an old man. They seal the entrance to the cave and manage to survive the assault. The Enterprise returns in time to rescue them from the cave and also bring along Dr, Marr, a relative of one of the colonists from Data's homeworld and expert on the crystalline entity.
Her distaste for Data is immediately apparently but of course Picard ignore is and assigns Data to work with her. After refusing to listen to anything he has to say she is eventually impressed by him finding a trace of the entity she was unable to. She also learns he has the memories of the colony he is from in his memory including those of her son. She pulls a 180 and starts asking Data all sorts of questions about her son and even gets him to read one of his letters in her sons voice.
Data eventually finds a way to possibly communicate with the entity after they trace it and Picard likes the idea. Dr. Marr is horrified they aren't planning to kill it and even after listening to a ship be destroyed by the entity Picard still wants to talk. They eventually catch up to the entity and try to communicate, but Marr sets the signal up to resonate with the entity and locks the computer so they can't turn it off. The entity is destroyed as is Dr. Marr's career apparently, but I still think it was the right call the kill the damn thing.
Review: An interesting scifi story with a personal twist, this episode is above average but is dragged down a bit by Picard's total refusal to even consider killing this monster that has taken countless lives and seems determined to keep on killing.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Riker, Data and Crusher working with some colonists to plan a new Federation outpost. Riker is ready to have dinner, and dessert, with one of the colonists when they hear a loud noise coming from the sky. It is the crystalline entity and it starts doing its thing devouring every living thing from the surface of the planet. Data leads them into some caves but the colonist Riker was just flirting with is killed trying to help an old man. They seal the entrance to the cave and manage to survive the assault. The Enterprise returns in time to rescue them from the cave and also bring along Dr, Marr, a relative of one of the colonists from Data's homeworld and expert on the crystalline entity.
Her distaste for Data is immediately apparently but of course Picard ignore is and assigns Data to work with her. After refusing to listen to anything he has to say she is eventually impressed by him finding a trace of the entity she was unable to. She also learns he has the memories of the colony he is from in his memory including those of her son. She pulls a 180 and starts asking Data all sorts of questions about her son and even gets him to read one of his letters in her sons voice.
Data eventually finds a way to possibly communicate with the entity after they trace it and Picard likes the idea. Dr. Marr is horrified they aren't planning to kill it and even after listening to a ship be destroyed by the entity Picard still wants to talk. They eventually catch up to the entity and try to communicate, but Marr sets the signal up to resonate with the entity and locks the computer so they can't turn it off. The entity is destroyed as is Dr. Marr's career apparently, but I still think it was the right call the kill the damn thing.
Review: An interesting scifi story with a personal twist, this episode is above average but is dragged down a bit by Picard's total refusal to even consider killing this monster that has taken countless lives and seems determined to keep on killing.
7 out of 10
Saturday, September 19, 2015
TNG: Ensign Ro
This is an episode I didn't remember all though fondly from my childhood that turned out to be better than I remembered. Thinking back I mostly just remembered Ro being rude to the captain and generally being a pain in the ass until she got Guinan on her side and suddenly we were supposed to like her. But having a bit more perspective on life her character motivations make a bit more sense. Also I didn't originally figure out that she was joining the show to be a replacement for Wesley and that isn't a bad thing at all.
We begin with Picard getting a haircut and some strategic advice from the Bolian barber Mot. I wouldn't imagine Picard needs a haircut very often, and he is eager to head to the bridge when they receive a distress call from a Federation colony. It has been attacked by Bajoran terrorists and the Enterprise is tasked with finding the terrorists and negotiating with them. To aid in their efforts they are assigned Ensign Ro Laren, a Bajoran Starfleet officer with a bad reputation for getting people killed on an away mission and not giving a fuck generally. She isn't any happier to be on the Enterprise than the Enterprise is happy to have her, but there are orders from an admiral so there isn't much choice. They head to a Bajoran camp to meet with one of their leaders by Ro tells them they are wasting their time with political leaders, instead she takes them to the real head of the camp.
The Bajoran isn't really interested in helping the Federation which stood by as the Cardassians conquered Bajor torturing and killing many of its inhabitants, but after Picard agrees to give them aid he tells them where to start looking for the terrorists. As they approach Ro receives a direct call from the admiral and beams down ahead of the away team pissing of Picard mightily. Picard and company beam down and are quickly captured by the terrorists who insist they didn't attack the Federation outpost and Troi confirms they aren't lying. Back on the ship Picard is confused, but not confused about confining Ro to quarters for beaming down without his permission.
Guinan who befriended Ro earlier shows up in her quarters and gets he to agree to tell Picard the truth. She does and he learns the admiral has plans to offer the terrorists arms to return to the camps and realizes something very serious is up. He works with the terrorists to get them to send a slow ship to the camps but they are intercepted by the Cardassians. The admiral orders them to leave the scene and the Cardassians attack and destroy the Bajoran ship, but it was empty. The admiral calls back and Picard tells him what he has done and tells the admiral he has been tricked in regards to the attack on the Federation colony. Back at the camps Picard offers Ro a permanent position of the Enterprise which she accepts.
Review: This is a classic Picard out thinking his enemies episode and it works pretty well. The way the officers act it is kinda hard to believe this is really a military vessel sometimes, but it all works out in the end.
6 out of 10
We begin with Picard getting a haircut and some strategic advice from the Bolian barber Mot. I wouldn't imagine Picard needs a haircut very often, and he is eager to head to the bridge when they receive a distress call from a Federation colony. It has been attacked by Bajoran terrorists and the Enterprise is tasked with finding the terrorists and negotiating with them. To aid in their efforts they are assigned Ensign Ro Laren, a Bajoran Starfleet officer with a bad reputation for getting people killed on an away mission and not giving a fuck generally. She isn't any happier to be on the Enterprise than the Enterprise is happy to have her, but there are orders from an admiral so there isn't much choice. They head to a Bajoran camp to meet with one of their leaders by Ro tells them they are wasting their time with political leaders, instead she takes them to the real head of the camp.
The Bajoran isn't really interested in helping the Federation which stood by as the Cardassians conquered Bajor torturing and killing many of its inhabitants, but after Picard agrees to give them aid he tells them where to start looking for the terrorists. As they approach Ro receives a direct call from the admiral and beams down ahead of the away team pissing of Picard mightily. Picard and company beam down and are quickly captured by the terrorists who insist they didn't attack the Federation outpost and Troi confirms they aren't lying. Back on the ship Picard is confused, but not confused about confining Ro to quarters for beaming down without his permission.
Guinan who befriended Ro earlier shows up in her quarters and gets he to agree to tell Picard the truth. She does and he learns the admiral has plans to offer the terrorists arms to return to the camps and realizes something very serious is up. He works with the terrorists to get them to send a slow ship to the camps but they are intercepted by the Cardassians. The admiral orders them to leave the scene and the Cardassians attack and destroy the Bajoran ship, but it was empty. The admiral calls back and Picard tells him what he has done and tells the admiral he has been tricked in regards to the attack on the Federation colony. Back at the camps Picard offers Ro a permanent position of the Enterprise which she accepts.
Review: This is a classic Picard out thinking his enemies episode and it works pretty well. The way the officers act it is kinda hard to believe this is really a military vessel sometimes, but it all works out in the end.
6 out of 10
Friday, September 18, 2015
TNG: Darmok
When I saw what episode was up tonight I let out a whoop, this was probably my favorite episode as a kid. (At least my favorite non-action episode, come on, I was 10 when this episode aired.) And fortunately for me it is as good as I remembered. Possibly better than I remembered actually. I am aware of the criticism that has been leveled against this episode that it makes no sense to only talk in metaphors and references, how were these stories told in the first place? But I actually don't care, they are an alien people, they figured it out somehow. Well enough to give us this touching story of Picard learning to see the world a different way.
The episode begins with the Enterprise set to meet with the Children of Tama, an advanced race that has so far eluded all attempts at communication. They have sent a mathematical signal to the Federation that has been interpreted as a sign that they may want to improve relations. When the two ships meet they can understand each others words but not the meaning of the words. The captain of the Tamarian ship is visibly irritated and before they can stop him beams both himself and Picard to the surface of the unoccupied planet below and has his ship block transporters and communications.
On the surface Picard interprets the Tamarian gesture of giving him a knife as a sign he wants to fight and throws the knife back to the Tamarian. Back on the ship Geordi is working on a plan to beam through the interference and Worf is sent down in a shuttle. But the Tamarian ship fires on the shuttle, but only a little, damaging its engines and forcing it to return to the Enterprise. On the planet night has fallen and Picard can't start a fire while the Tamarian has no problem. The Tamarian gives Picard some of his fire and Picard realizes this may not be what he thinks. The next day the Tamarian again insists on giving Picard a knife only this time there are distant screaming and rumbling sounds so Picard realizes this too is a peaceful gesture.
The rumbling turns out to be a mostly invisible monster that the two try to fight together but the Enterprise sees what is happening and tries to beam Picard out allowing the beast to mortally wound the Tamarian. That night the Tamarian manages to tell Picard a story that is a metaphor for what he is trying, trapping them together to become friends. In the morning the Tamarian dies and Picard is attacked again. The Enterprise opens fire on the other ship and knocks out the blocking beam long enough to retrieve the captain. But it is in vain, the Tamarians have them out gunned and almost destroy the Enterprise before Picard can rush to the bridge and hail them. This time he knows enough of their stories to calm things down and possibly start a new relationship with a powerful species (who are never heard from again, but you can't blame this episode for that.)
Review: This stands up as one of the best TNG and honestly best Trek episodes of all time. This is the best of what Gene wanted Star Trek to be.
10 out of 10
The episode begins with the Enterprise set to meet with the Children of Tama, an advanced race that has so far eluded all attempts at communication. They have sent a mathematical signal to the Federation that has been interpreted as a sign that they may want to improve relations. When the two ships meet they can understand each others words but not the meaning of the words. The captain of the Tamarian ship is visibly irritated and before they can stop him beams both himself and Picard to the surface of the unoccupied planet below and has his ship block transporters and communications.
On the surface Picard interprets the Tamarian gesture of giving him a knife as a sign he wants to fight and throws the knife back to the Tamarian. Back on the ship Geordi is working on a plan to beam through the interference and Worf is sent down in a shuttle. But the Tamarian ship fires on the shuttle, but only a little, damaging its engines and forcing it to return to the Enterprise. On the planet night has fallen and Picard can't start a fire while the Tamarian has no problem. The Tamarian gives Picard some of his fire and Picard realizes this may not be what he thinks. The next day the Tamarian again insists on giving Picard a knife only this time there are distant screaming and rumbling sounds so Picard realizes this too is a peaceful gesture.
The rumbling turns out to be a mostly invisible monster that the two try to fight together but the Enterprise sees what is happening and tries to beam Picard out allowing the beast to mortally wound the Tamarian. That night the Tamarian manages to tell Picard a story that is a metaphor for what he is trying, trapping them together to become friends. In the morning the Tamarian dies and Picard is attacked again. The Enterprise opens fire on the other ship and knocks out the blocking beam long enough to retrieve the captain. But it is in vain, the Tamarians have them out gunned and almost destroy the Enterprise before Picard can rush to the bridge and hail them. This time he knows enough of their stories to calm things down and possibly start a new relationship with a powerful species (who are never heard from again, but you can't blame this episode for that.)
Review: This stands up as one of the best TNG and honestly best Trek episodes of all time. This is the best of what Gene wanted Star Trek to be.
10 out of 10
Thursday, September 17, 2015
TNG: Redemption II
What an action packed episode. And of course in the end Worf is back on the Enterprise as are the rest of the bridge crew. But along the way there is all sorts of intrigue. Not shockingly it seems Kurn doesn't run as disaplined a ship as Kargan in A Matter of Honor but I guess that isn't super surprising. Also the scene were Worf gets captured happens so fast that a moments distraction and suddenly he was captured. I also have to wonder if Data wrote up his jackass second in command for being constantly insubordinate?
The episode opens with Kurn's ship fighting two other Birds-of-Prey and not doing so well. Worf insists they flee but Kurn won't listen and instead flies dangerously close to a star and kicks up some sort of wake that destroys the other two ships. Meanwhile Picard is meeting with some admirals to try and convince them to send a fleet to the border between the Romulans and the Klingons to try and stop the Romulans from smuggling in arms to aid Duras' side in the civil war. The admirals agree to let Picard lead his fleet but only if he will keep it from turning into a war. Now I am no navy expert, but isn't this the sort of thing admirals have jobs to do? Why is a captain leading all this? And then for some reason Riker and Data are both given command of other ships in this fleet. Is there a great captain shortage? In any case it appears without this assistance the Duras faction will win and the Romulans may be able to end the Klingon/Federation alliance.
The middle of the episode is mostly Data having all sorts of problems getting his second in command to to his job and everyone being super confused how Tasha had a daughter. Having missed Yesterday's Enterprise on my initial watching this part was always super confusing. Somehow Tasha's daughter is convinced she can get Picard to leave or something so she has her ship decloak and beams over. But all she gets is Picard fakes them out by pretending to move the fleet in such a way that a hole is created or something. It isn't clear what his plan is. But Data has a solid plan and over the objections of his second in command totally discovers and turns back the Romulan ships.
Somewhere in there Kurn agrees to let all the captured Duras people onto his ship and gets so drunk the capture Worf. But after attempts to seduce him fail they plan to just kill him but of course Worf fights back and manages to kill the Romulan guard holding him just as Gowrons soldiers arrive. In the end Gowron offers Worf the right to kill Duras' son but Worf of course turns him down and returns to Starfleet.
Review: Not quite as good as the last episode but a lot better than the second Best of Both Worlds. It seems like maybe the writers actually thought through where they were going this time instead of just blindly charging forward. Honestly this episode might have been better being further split in half, but I guess I mostly just want to see Data getting to captain more.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with Kurn's ship fighting two other Birds-of-Prey and not doing so well. Worf insists they flee but Kurn won't listen and instead flies dangerously close to a star and kicks up some sort of wake that destroys the other two ships. Meanwhile Picard is meeting with some admirals to try and convince them to send a fleet to the border between the Romulans and the Klingons to try and stop the Romulans from smuggling in arms to aid Duras' side in the civil war. The admirals agree to let Picard lead his fleet but only if he will keep it from turning into a war. Now I am no navy expert, but isn't this the sort of thing admirals have jobs to do? Why is a captain leading all this? And then for some reason Riker and Data are both given command of other ships in this fleet. Is there a great captain shortage? In any case it appears without this assistance the Duras faction will win and the Romulans may be able to end the Klingon/Federation alliance.
The middle of the episode is mostly Data having all sorts of problems getting his second in command to to his job and everyone being super confused how Tasha had a daughter. Having missed Yesterday's Enterprise on my initial watching this part was always super confusing. Somehow Tasha's daughter is convinced she can get Picard to leave or something so she has her ship decloak and beams over. But all she gets is Picard fakes them out by pretending to move the fleet in such a way that a hole is created or something. It isn't clear what his plan is. But Data has a solid plan and over the objections of his second in command totally discovers and turns back the Romulan ships.
Somewhere in there Kurn agrees to let all the captured Duras people onto his ship and gets so drunk the capture Worf. But after attempts to seduce him fail they plan to just kill him but of course Worf fights back and manages to kill the Romulan guard holding him just as Gowrons soldiers arrive. In the end Gowron offers Worf the right to kill Duras' son but Worf of course turns him down and returns to Starfleet.
Review: Not quite as good as the last episode but a lot better than the second Best of Both Worlds. It seems like maybe the writers actually thought through where they were going this time instead of just blindly charging forward. Honestly this episode might have been better being further split in half, but I guess I mostly just want to see Data getting to captain more.
8 out of 10
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
TNG: Redemption
Following up on the cliffhanger that ended the previous season the writers just couldn't say no to another one. Although from what I read (I know, breaking my own rules) this episode was meant to be the end of season 3 but got put off. This episode does a good job of pulling together the story of Worf's loss of honor in Sins of the Father and Picards role in the Klingon succession in Reunion in a way that makes both the previous episodes better and deeper. Klingon politics is now front and center in a way it has never been in Trek. Also ending the season with Worf leaving the ship is a good way to raise the stakes without just repeating what they did the previous season.
The episode begins with the Enterprise on it's way to Qo'noS to finish off the succession that was begun in Reunion (although it seems unlikely the Empire would really go this whole time without a leader but whatever). On their way Picard stops by and tells Worf that he thinks it is time for him to maybe step up and be a Klingon and regain his family honor. En route they are intercepted by Gowron's ship. Gowron explains that Duras's sisters have plotted to block his rise to power and are amassing fleets. While escorting Gowron to the transporter Worf explains how he only accepted discommendation to keep the empire together and that it was Duras's father, not his own who betrayed the Empire and Khitomer. Gowron is outraged but says he can't take the risk of reinstating Worf now.
Then we get a scene of Guinan and Worf training at the shooting range together and we learn what a crack shot she is and that she likes to see Worf laugh. She also explains that this may be the time for Worf to learn what it really means to be a Klingon. He takes her advice and gets a leave of absence from the captain. Worf then meets with his brother who hesitantly agrees to back Gowron if it will mean regaining their family honor. Arriving and Qo'noS Picard beams down to complete the right of succession but the Duras sisters Lursa and B'Etor interrupt. They have found Duras' son and demand he be put in charge rather than Gowron. Picard agrees to consider it.
Worf gets in trouble for trying to use the Federation database to prove his fathers innocence and the Duras child is proven to be legitimate. Picard still goes with Gowron and war pretty much immediately breaks out. Two Duras ships attack Gowrons ship. Worf manages to destroy one of them and his brother shows up and saves them with another ship. Gowron is impressed and agrees to restore their family honor. He is installed as chancellor and makes good on his promise. However when Worf asks for an extended leave to help him win his war Picard says no and Worf decides to resign from Starfleet. There is an emotional good by and Worf departs in Klingon uniform to serve on Gowron's ship in the coming civil war.
Review: Not quite The Best of Both Worlds but a damn good episode never the less. We get to learn a lot about Worf and his relationship with the rest of the crew. It seems like Picard was setting him up to leave for a while by pushing so hard to get Worf to fight for his family honor and then refusing to let him go continue fighting for his people. I don't remember how they work out his return and I can't wait to see tomorrow!
9 out of 10
The episode begins with the Enterprise on it's way to Qo'noS to finish off the succession that was begun in Reunion (although it seems unlikely the Empire would really go this whole time without a leader but whatever). On their way Picard stops by and tells Worf that he thinks it is time for him to maybe step up and be a Klingon and regain his family honor. En route they are intercepted by Gowron's ship. Gowron explains that Duras's sisters have plotted to block his rise to power and are amassing fleets. While escorting Gowron to the transporter Worf explains how he only accepted discommendation to keep the empire together and that it was Duras's father, not his own who betrayed the Empire and Khitomer. Gowron is outraged but says he can't take the risk of reinstating Worf now.
Then we get a scene of Guinan and Worf training at the shooting range together and we learn what a crack shot she is and that she likes to see Worf laugh. She also explains that this may be the time for Worf to learn what it really means to be a Klingon. He takes her advice and gets a leave of absence from the captain. Worf then meets with his brother who hesitantly agrees to back Gowron if it will mean regaining their family honor. Arriving and Qo'noS Picard beams down to complete the right of succession but the Duras sisters Lursa and B'Etor interrupt. They have found Duras' son and demand he be put in charge rather than Gowron. Picard agrees to consider it.
Worf gets in trouble for trying to use the Federation database to prove his fathers innocence and the Duras child is proven to be legitimate. Picard still goes with Gowron and war pretty much immediately breaks out. Two Duras ships attack Gowrons ship. Worf manages to destroy one of them and his brother shows up and saves them with another ship. Gowron is impressed and agrees to restore their family honor. He is installed as chancellor and makes good on his promise. However when Worf asks for an extended leave to help him win his war Picard says no and Worf decides to resign from Starfleet. There is an emotional good by and Worf departs in Klingon uniform to serve on Gowron's ship in the coming civil war.
Review: Not quite The Best of Both Worlds but a damn good episode never the less. We get to learn a lot about Worf and his relationship with the rest of the crew. It seems like Picard was setting him up to leave for a while by pushing so hard to get Worf to fight for his family honor and then refusing to let him go continue fighting for his people. I don't remember how they work out his return and I can't wait to see tomorrow!
9 out of 10
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
TNG: In Theory
In Theory is one of those episodes I kinda suspect they always wanted to try but kept deciding it was a bad idea. And it wasn't a terrible idea, but it also was pretty obviously not going to work out for Data. In the end Geordi ends up being the one with the most accurate advice and how does that work? This is also one of those episodes with a subtle B story that gradually takes over as the A story starts wrapping up. Even it this isn't my favorite of all time it is hard to argue with a Data driven story.
The episode opens with Data working with Jenna D'Sora on modifying a photon torpedo to explore a dark matter nebula (not actually a thing from what we can tell now, but not unreasonable, especially at the time). She is preparing to go on a date with her ex and Data is reminding her as she requested of why that relationship didn't work. Next we see the two of them playing together in a concert in Ten Forward along with Keiko and a few other crew members. After the performance Jenna notices Miles and Keiko being romantic and is clearly a bit jealous. She starts talking to Data about he she feels she messed up during the concert but he is supportive of her playing and she clearly appreciates it. In a brief aside we see Dr. Crusher in sickbay finding a hypospray on the floor for no good reason.
We return to the torpedo bay and after another conversation Jenna leaves, but not before giving Data a kiss on the lips. Data then asks pretty much all the other characters in the show what he should do any only Geordi advises caution and the captain refuses to give him advice. There is another small incident, this time Spot has escaped from Data's quarters and is found wandering the halls. Data then shows up at Jenna with flowers and after some awkwardness they end up kissing on her couch. Back on the bridge the B story is becoming more relavent as the captain finds the objects on his desk in his ready room messed up and Worf can't figure out why. Next there is a decompression in the observation lounge and they know there is trouble.
Jenna shows up in Data's quarters with a gift but he doesn't understand he should stop painting and pay attention too her. Later he shows up at her quarters and attempts a lovers quarrel but it doesn't really go so hot. Back on the bridge Data has discovered the source of the problems. The nebula they are in is filled with bubbles of unreality (or something) that are floating through the ship causing mayhem. The only way out is for someone to pilot a shuttle ahead of the ship the scout things out. And despite Riker being a better pilot Picard insists on doing it himself. He gets them out but almost dies in the process. Data's love resolves with Jenna showing up for their dinner date and telling Data their relationship is over.
Review: I am not the hugest fan of Trek love episodes, but this is one of the better ones. There is no way a normal person could actually date Data without it getting awkward and that is pretty much exactly how it goes down. Having an intense B story really helped as well.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Data working with Jenna D'Sora on modifying a photon torpedo to explore a dark matter nebula (not actually a thing from what we can tell now, but not unreasonable, especially at the time). She is preparing to go on a date with her ex and Data is reminding her as she requested of why that relationship didn't work. Next we see the two of them playing together in a concert in Ten Forward along with Keiko and a few other crew members. After the performance Jenna notices Miles and Keiko being romantic and is clearly a bit jealous. She starts talking to Data about he she feels she messed up during the concert but he is supportive of her playing and she clearly appreciates it. In a brief aside we see Dr. Crusher in sickbay finding a hypospray on the floor for no good reason.
We return to the torpedo bay and after another conversation Jenna leaves, but not before giving Data a kiss on the lips. Data then asks pretty much all the other characters in the show what he should do any only Geordi advises caution and the captain refuses to give him advice. There is another small incident, this time Spot has escaped from Data's quarters and is found wandering the halls. Data then shows up at Jenna with flowers and after some awkwardness they end up kissing on her couch. Back on the bridge the B story is becoming more relavent as the captain finds the objects on his desk in his ready room messed up and Worf can't figure out why. Next there is a decompression in the observation lounge and they know there is trouble.
Jenna shows up in Data's quarters with a gift but he doesn't understand he should stop painting and pay attention too her. Later he shows up at her quarters and attempts a lovers quarrel but it doesn't really go so hot. Back on the bridge Data has discovered the source of the problems. The nebula they are in is filled with bubbles of unreality (or something) that are floating through the ship causing mayhem. The only way out is for someone to pilot a shuttle ahead of the ship the scout things out. And despite Riker being a better pilot Picard insists on doing it himself. He gets them out but almost dies in the process. Data's love resolves with Jenna showing up for their dinner date and telling Data their relationship is over.
Review: I am not the hugest fan of Trek love episodes, but this is one of the better ones. There is no way a normal person could actually date Data without it getting awkward and that is pretty much exactly how it goes down. Having an intense B story really helped as well.
7 out of 10
Monday, September 14, 2015
TNG: The Mind's Eye
This season has featured a few episodes that tried to go for a bit of a darker feel, but this is the one that works by far the best. The idea of one of the regulars on the crew being brainwashed by Romulans and forced to kill for them is a disturbing idea. So much so that it is almost like they realized the really messed up Future Imperfect by not having it be the Romulans in the end like would have actually made sense. This time they tap directly into Geordi's brain via his visor contacts which also makes more sense than I usually give them credit for. I had forgotten how much this series plays the Romulans against the Klingons and how Klingons are constantly betraying the empire for the Romulans.
The episode begins with Geordi on a shuttle flying to Risa for an AI conference and he is trying to make the most of his time. He is interrupted from his computer trivia game by a Romulan warship decloaking in his path and beaming him over before he can call for help. Back on the ship the Enterprise is working with Klingon Ambassador Kell to investigate weapons being given to a Klingon planet striving for independence. The Klingons have accused the Federation of the crime but Picard is vehement in his denials. Back to La Forge, the Romulans strap him to a chair and start feeding images directly into his brain via his visor contacts. We see inside their simulation and they are training Geordi to kill at command without hesitation.
Geordi returns from Risa and seems to have had a good time. He and Data work to figure out who made the weapons found on the planet and discover that the Romulans are producing fake Starfleet weapons and sending them to the planet. The Klingons aren't sure who to believe and start working on their own investigation. Meanwhile Data also picks up a strange hard to trace transmission and starts looking into it. We cut to cargo bay 4 where Geordi is preparing to transport a contain that we can assume contains weapons down to the planet and he is carefully covering his tracks rerouting power and erasing all the logs. The Klingons detect the transmission however and more of their ships decloak and they order the Enterprise not to leave orbit.
An investigation starts on the Enterprise with Geordi in charge of course. Geordi stops by Kell's quarters and we learn Kell is the puppet master giving him his orders. A Klingon governor in charge of their investigation beams over to the Enterprise to see how the investigation is going and we see Geordi getting his weapon ready to go kill him. At the same time Data has figured out that maybe something happened to Geordi and is looking into the shuttle. He determines the log chips are Romulan duplicates and calls Worf to stop Geordi just in time. Picard himself ends up grabbing Geordi just as he tries to kill the Klingon governor and Data arrives to explain it is either Picard or Kell who has been sending the transmissions and that a simple search of them for a transmitter will do. Picard is unfazed but Kell starts trying to negotiate asylum with the Klingon governor is quite happy to take him back to their ship for a thorough search.
Review: This is a dark episode both for what happens to Geordi and for showing how far the Romulans are willing to go to achieve their goal of driving a wedge between the Klingons and Federation. It is nice to have the dangers of space come from individuals rather than the monster of the week.
8 out of 10
The episode begins with Geordi on a shuttle flying to Risa for an AI conference and he is trying to make the most of his time. He is interrupted from his computer trivia game by a Romulan warship decloaking in his path and beaming him over before he can call for help. Back on the ship the Enterprise is working with Klingon Ambassador Kell to investigate weapons being given to a Klingon planet striving for independence. The Klingons have accused the Federation of the crime but Picard is vehement in his denials. Back to La Forge, the Romulans strap him to a chair and start feeding images directly into his brain via his visor contacts. We see inside their simulation and they are training Geordi to kill at command without hesitation.
Geordi returns from Risa and seems to have had a good time. He and Data work to figure out who made the weapons found on the planet and discover that the Romulans are producing fake Starfleet weapons and sending them to the planet. The Klingons aren't sure who to believe and start working on their own investigation. Meanwhile Data also picks up a strange hard to trace transmission and starts looking into it. We cut to cargo bay 4 where Geordi is preparing to transport a contain that we can assume contains weapons down to the planet and he is carefully covering his tracks rerouting power and erasing all the logs. The Klingons detect the transmission however and more of their ships decloak and they order the Enterprise not to leave orbit.
An investigation starts on the Enterprise with Geordi in charge of course. Geordi stops by Kell's quarters and we learn Kell is the puppet master giving him his orders. A Klingon governor in charge of their investigation beams over to the Enterprise to see how the investigation is going and we see Geordi getting his weapon ready to go kill him. At the same time Data has figured out that maybe something happened to Geordi and is looking into the shuttle. He determines the log chips are Romulan duplicates and calls Worf to stop Geordi just in time. Picard himself ends up grabbing Geordi just as he tries to kill the Klingon governor and Data arrives to explain it is either Picard or Kell who has been sending the transmissions and that a simple search of them for a transmitter will do. Picard is unfazed but Kell starts trying to negotiate asylum with the Klingon governor is quite happy to take him back to their ship for a thorough search.
Review: This is a dark episode both for what happens to Geordi and for showing how far the Romulans are willing to go to achieve their goal of driving a wedge between the Klingons and Federation. It is nice to have the dangers of space come from individuals rather than the monster of the week.
8 out of 10
Sunday, September 13, 2015
TNG: The Host
The Host would seem like another random alien of the week shows if not for DS9 featuring another Trill character and digging in more deeply into their culture. The timelines don't actually work all that well in terms of Dr. Crusher having no knowledge of the Trill while Sisko was presumably off having adventures with Dax. But I guess maybe that knowledge is the kind of thing they only tell close friends or something like that. Also going from weird head lumps to dots on the sides of the head is a makeup change I don't have any real problems with.
The episode opens with Dr. Crusher making out with the Trill ambassador Odan in a turbolift until their are interrupted by Data. Odan is on his way to try and solve a dispute between two moons of a planet that are nearly at war with each other and Data is working on a technical solution to the problem. Crusher and Odan both make excuses and manage to slip away from Data for more fun time in Odan's quarters. They are both called to a sudden meeting, the representative of the planet below the moons has intercepted them, the situation is growing urgent. The outer moon is apparently taking energy from the magnetic field of the planet which is making the inner moon unlivable and both sides are preparing for war over the issue. Odan agrees to go down to the planet to negotiate but insists on taking a shuttle.
Odan brings Crusher a rose before Riker flies him down to the planet in the shuttle, but on their way they are attacked. The shuttle is falling apart but Riker manages to drag it back in without needing to beam Odan around. (I think refusing to beam is another thing about the Trill the changed for the better.) Odan's body is failing but his symbiont (I don't think they use that word in this episode) is fine and needs a new host. Riker volunteers and he becomes the new Odan. Beverley doesn't deal well with this change and at first is nothing but cold with him. He does however need constant medical supervision as humans aren't really suitable Trill hosts.
Odan manages to get both sides to negitiate with him and even Beverley gives in and goes to his quarters. They are still in love, but if they don't get a new Trill host soon both Riker and Odan are in trouble. After a marathon negotiating session the war is averted by Odan is totally done. The new host arrives just in time, but there is a complication, it is a woman. This is too much for Beverley and after completing the surgery she admits to Odan that she meant a lot to her, but that she has to move on.
Review: The first ten minutes of this episode had me convinced I wasn't going to like it, but all the sloppy romance paid off as Odan continued to change bodies through the course of the episode. Not quite the final version of Trill, but a fun way to get them introduced. I can see why DS9 decided to revisit them.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Dr. Crusher making out with the Trill ambassador Odan in a turbolift until their are interrupted by Data. Odan is on his way to try and solve a dispute between two moons of a planet that are nearly at war with each other and Data is working on a technical solution to the problem. Crusher and Odan both make excuses and manage to slip away from Data for more fun time in Odan's quarters. They are both called to a sudden meeting, the representative of the planet below the moons has intercepted them, the situation is growing urgent. The outer moon is apparently taking energy from the magnetic field of the planet which is making the inner moon unlivable and both sides are preparing for war over the issue. Odan agrees to go down to the planet to negotiate but insists on taking a shuttle.
Odan brings Crusher a rose before Riker flies him down to the planet in the shuttle, but on their way they are attacked. The shuttle is falling apart but Riker manages to drag it back in without needing to beam Odan around. (I think refusing to beam is another thing about the Trill the changed for the better.) Odan's body is failing but his symbiont (I don't think they use that word in this episode) is fine and needs a new host. Riker volunteers and he becomes the new Odan. Beverley doesn't deal well with this change and at first is nothing but cold with him. He does however need constant medical supervision as humans aren't really suitable Trill hosts.
Odan manages to get both sides to negitiate with him and even Beverley gives in and goes to his quarters. They are still in love, but if they don't get a new Trill host soon both Riker and Odan are in trouble. After a marathon negotiating session the war is averted by Odan is totally done. The new host arrives just in time, but there is a complication, it is a woman. This is too much for Beverley and after completing the surgery she admits to Odan that she meant a lot to her, but that she has to move on.
Review: The first ten minutes of this episode had me convinced I wasn't going to like it, but all the sloppy romance paid off as Odan continued to change bodies through the course of the episode. Not quite the final version of Trill, but a fun way to get them introduced. I can see why DS9 decided to revisit them.
6 out of 10
Saturday, September 12, 2015
TNG: Half a Life
This is exactly the kind of episode I despised as a kid. It is about two things: Lwaxana Troi and dealing with getting old. I guess it is also technically about a scientist working to save his planet from having its star burn out, but lets be serious, it is about Lwaxana. From the moment the episode opens with Picard cringing at her presence I knew I was in trouble. Now I am certainly not 9 years old any more, but that has only somewhat improved my feelings towards this episode. It does deal with the serious issue of rebelling against societal norms when it will help you but hurt those you love which is an interesting topic, but it does so in a very over the top way I didn't really enjoy.
We begin with Picard failing to avoid Lwaxana as he comes out of a turbolift on his way to greet a scientist. Lwaxana immediately latches on to the man who seems less annoyed that Picard at least. The scientist is from a xenophobic world that only agreed to let him try his experiment with the Federation because their own star is going to fail and destroy there planet in less than 50 years and the Federation found them a suitable test star. I am going to basically skip the entire middle of this episode as it is entirely Lwaxana being herself all over the ship and the scientist guy falling in love with her.
They get to the test and although it seems to be going well it eventually spirals out of control and the star explodes. The scientist seems extra sad and eventually admits to Lwaxana that he is going back to his planet to die. As soon as they reach age 60 they always get together with their families and commit suicide. Lwaxana is horrified and almost talks him into not doing it. But his daughter shows up and is super upset and his people seem willing to go to war over it so eventually he agrees to go forward with the suicide but in a touching note Lwaxana goes down to the planet to be with him during the ritual.
Review: I guess this isn't the worst episode, but I found it rather painful to watch. The parts dealing more seriously with the issues at hand were fine but having to deal with Lwaxana ranting about herself all the time is way too much. Like Picard I was ready to go through this episode at warp 9.
2 out of 10
We begin with Picard failing to avoid Lwaxana as he comes out of a turbolift on his way to greet a scientist. Lwaxana immediately latches on to the man who seems less annoyed that Picard at least. The scientist is from a xenophobic world that only agreed to let him try his experiment with the Federation because their own star is going to fail and destroy there planet in less than 50 years and the Federation found them a suitable test star. I am going to basically skip the entire middle of this episode as it is entirely Lwaxana being herself all over the ship and the scientist guy falling in love with her.
They get to the test and although it seems to be going well it eventually spirals out of control and the star explodes. The scientist seems extra sad and eventually admits to Lwaxana that he is going back to his planet to die. As soon as they reach age 60 they always get together with their families and commit suicide. Lwaxana is horrified and almost talks him into not doing it. But his daughter shows up and is super upset and his people seem willing to go to war over it so eventually he agrees to go forward with the suicide but in a touching note Lwaxana goes down to the planet to be with him during the ritual.
Review: I guess this isn't the worst episode, but I found it rather painful to watch. The parts dealing more seriously with the issues at hand were fine but having to deal with Lwaxana ranting about herself all the time is way too much. Like Picard I was ready to go through this episode at warp 9.
2 out of 10
Friday, September 11, 2015
TNG: The Drumhead
Other than Measure of a Man I can't think of any TNG episodes that center around a trial, but for whatever reason they are both some of my favorite episodes. Thinking about that last sentence it is probably because they only did it twice that it works so well. It is kinda surprising to me that Gene let this one through to be honest but I guess having the Admiral in charge of security be the one who walks out is a pretty good way of showing that Starfleet won't stand for this kind of crap. The pivotal scene where Picard quotes the prosecutors fathers words back at her gets me every time.
The episode opens with the captain looking into the simultaneous detection of a spy on board the ship and possible sabotage of the warp engines. The spy is a Klingon exchange officer accused of sending information about the Enterprise warp engines to the Romulans. Starfleet sends Admiral Satie to help with the investigations along with her Betazoid assistant Sabin. While checking the accused spies quarter Worf finds a hypospray modified to inject inert proteins containing secret information into someones bloodstream as a way of transmitting that information without detection. Geordi and Data work to find out what happened to the warp engines but are hindered by the high radiation levels that flooded the room. Picard meets with Satie and they discuss their mutual respect for her father and she tells him she is happy to be working with him on the investigation.
The spy is interrogated and eventually admits his loyalties to the Romulans but denies having anything to do with the engine explosion and the Betazoid assistant confirms this. The hearing expands to people he may have contacted starting with Dr. Crusher but she passes through no problem. The quarter Vulcan lab tech interviewed next seems nervous and the Betazoid announces he must be the one because he is hiding something! Picard isn't happy to have someone convicted on that basis and demands more investigation. Tarses, the accused technician, eventually admits that he lied on his Starfleet application his grandfather was Romulan, not Vulcan. This is enough for Satie but Picard is having reservations. He can see that this procedure has gotten out of control and is determined to try and stop it.
On the bridge Picard then receives a summons to appear before the investigation. It is immediately clear that this is a fishing expedition when he starts being questioned about things that happened years ago and have nothing to do with the current problems on the ships. It keeps getting more and more out of control until eventually Picard uses Satie's father's strong words denouncing the impingement upon liberties against her and she freaks out to the point that he supervising Admiral walks out of the hearing and the whole thing falls apart. This episode is a strong reminder that even such a forward looking and fair minded society can get out of control when fingers start being pointed.
Review: This episode manages to teach a lesson without being preachy with I feel like deserves at least one bonus point. Centering around Picard is also a consistently good idea and this is one of his better episodes.
9 out of 10
The episode opens with the captain looking into the simultaneous detection of a spy on board the ship and possible sabotage of the warp engines. The spy is a Klingon exchange officer accused of sending information about the Enterprise warp engines to the Romulans. Starfleet sends Admiral Satie to help with the investigations along with her Betazoid assistant Sabin. While checking the accused spies quarter Worf finds a hypospray modified to inject inert proteins containing secret information into someones bloodstream as a way of transmitting that information without detection. Geordi and Data work to find out what happened to the warp engines but are hindered by the high radiation levels that flooded the room. Picard meets with Satie and they discuss their mutual respect for her father and she tells him she is happy to be working with him on the investigation.
The spy is interrogated and eventually admits his loyalties to the Romulans but denies having anything to do with the engine explosion and the Betazoid assistant confirms this. The hearing expands to people he may have contacted starting with Dr. Crusher but she passes through no problem. The quarter Vulcan lab tech interviewed next seems nervous and the Betazoid announces he must be the one because he is hiding something! Picard isn't happy to have someone convicted on that basis and demands more investigation. Tarses, the accused technician, eventually admits that he lied on his Starfleet application his grandfather was Romulan, not Vulcan. This is enough for Satie but Picard is having reservations. He can see that this procedure has gotten out of control and is determined to try and stop it.
On the bridge Picard then receives a summons to appear before the investigation. It is immediately clear that this is a fishing expedition when he starts being questioned about things that happened years ago and have nothing to do with the current problems on the ships. It keeps getting more and more out of control until eventually Picard uses Satie's father's strong words denouncing the impingement upon liberties against her and she freaks out to the point that he supervising Admiral walks out of the hearing and the whole thing falls apart. This episode is a strong reminder that even such a forward looking and fair minded society can get out of control when fingers start being pointed.
Review: This episode manages to teach a lesson without being preachy with I feel like deserves at least one bonus point. Centering around Picard is also a consistently good idea and this is one of his better episodes.
9 out of 10
Thursday, September 10, 2015
TNG: Qpid
I will be the first to tell you that I don't enjoy awkward comedy scenes and this episode has a few of them. But in this case they also work to show something about Picard and that he does have feelings for Vash even if he doesn't show them in the ways she expects. My enjoyment of this episode I am sure is party do to my actual love of Robin Hood stories and they managed to cram just about all the necessary parts in to make this one a classic.
The episode opens with the captain preparing for an archaeology lecture he will be giving about some lost culture or another. When he returns to his quarters he is surprised by Vash whom he shared an adventure with in Captain's Holiday on Risa. Vash however is less excited when Beverley shows up for morning tea with the captain and has never heard of her. Beverley and Vash go on a tour of the ship and meet Riker in Ten Forward and Vash is again annoyed he hasn't heard about her either. At the reception she confronts Picard about it but he refuses to talk about his feelings. Picard's day keeps getting better as he is greeted by Q in his ready room. Q feels he owes the captain a debt for getting him back in the continuum, but Picard doesn't want anything from him. But of course that isn't enough for Q.
During the lecture Picard spent so long preparing for his crew are gradually transformed into merry men and finally Picard finds himself as Robin Hood and the rest of his senior staff are the supporting characters. Worf is injured in a fight with a noblemen showing this is for real. Q shows up as the Sheriff of Nottingham to tell Picard he has taken Maid Marian captive, in this case, Vash. Meanwhile Vash finds herself as Marian in a castle and refuses to play along. Until she realizes then mean to execute her at which point she comes up with a better plan and agrees to marry the dude they want her to marry. Q is kinda shocked at how quickly she adapts in fact.
Picard breaks into the castle to save Vash but is caught and taken captive. Q arranges for them both to be executed but of course the merry men show up and with some help from Data stop the execution. Picard gets to have a sword fight with the evil noble dude and then gets to kiss Vash after he saves her. Back on the ship Vash shows up in Picards ready room along with Q. They are going to travel the universe together, but of course Picard now cares about her deeply. So deeply she won't appear again until DS9.
Review: Not a super complicated episode, but a fun one. The plot to save the captain is fun and helped greatly by the fact they don'ts spend 20 minutes telling us what the plan is, instead they just do it and we figure it out as it happens. Honestly this is one of the better Q episodes too. He is fiendish, but in that friendly Q kind of way.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with the captain preparing for an archaeology lecture he will be giving about some lost culture or another. When he returns to his quarters he is surprised by Vash whom he shared an adventure with in Captain's Holiday on Risa. Vash however is less excited when Beverley shows up for morning tea with the captain and has never heard of her. Beverley and Vash go on a tour of the ship and meet Riker in Ten Forward and Vash is again annoyed he hasn't heard about her either. At the reception she confronts Picard about it but he refuses to talk about his feelings. Picard's day keeps getting better as he is greeted by Q in his ready room. Q feels he owes the captain a debt for getting him back in the continuum, but Picard doesn't want anything from him. But of course that isn't enough for Q.
During the lecture Picard spent so long preparing for his crew are gradually transformed into merry men and finally Picard finds himself as Robin Hood and the rest of his senior staff are the supporting characters. Worf is injured in a fight with a noblemen showing this is for real. Q shows up as the Sheriff of Nottingham to tell Picard he has taken Maid Marian captive, in this case, Vash. Meanwhile Vash finds herself as Marian in a castle and refuses to play along. Until she realizes then mean to execute her at which point she comes up with a better plan and agrees to marry the dude they want her to marry. Q is kinda shocked at how quickly she adapts in fact.
Picard breaks into the castle to save Vash but is caught and taken captive. Q arranges for them both to be executed but of course the merry men show up and with some help from Data stop the execution. Picard gets to have a sword fight with the evil noble dude and then gets to kiss Vash after he saves her. Back on the ship Vash shows up in Picards ready room along with Q. They are going to travel the universe together, but of course Picard now cares about her deeply. So deeply she won't appear again until DS9.
Review: Not a super complicated episode, but a fun one. The plot to save the captain is fun and helped greatly by the fact they don'ts spend 20 minutes telling us what the plan is, instead they just do it and we figure it out as it happens. Honestly this is one of the better Q episodes too. He is fiendish, but in that friendly Q kind of way.
7 out of 10
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