I have a long day tomorrow so I am doubling down on my watching. Fortunately this is a rare double decent episode streak in season 2. Despite having a generally workable story and a good performance from Brent Spiner if suffers from Okanaism a bit. What I mean by that is that Ira Grave, the genius they are rushing to try and save at the beginning is described by everyone he meets as brilliant. But everything he does is stupid and self defeating. I guess he is supposed to be suffering from some disease, but they imply it is more physical than mental. This episode also serves as a good prelude to Measure of a Man, my favorite early TNG episode.
The Enterprise is rushing to rescue a stricken freighter when they receive a distress signal from a planet occupied only by one of the Federations greatest geniuses, Ira Graves. The doctor is worried she is more needed for the freighter so a Vulcan doctor is sent with Worf, Troi and Data to try and help Graves. When they arrive, after a "near warp beaming," they are greeted by Graves young assistant Kareen. Graves is upset to be disturbed and expresses both a hatred of doctors and a extreme level of sexism not often matched even in TOS. Women to him it turns out are not people, they are women. Wow. Good thing Starfleet is determined to help this guy, I am sure he isn't evil at all. The doctor learns he is dying and soon. In private conversation with Data Graves reveals he worked with Soong, Data's creator. He insists on being called grandpa and discusses transferring his mind into Data.
Suddenly Data emerges from the lab. Graves is dead and Data is determined to mourn him. On the ship Data drones on and on about how great Graves was as his funeral to the point that Picard has to tell him to shut up. On the bridge Data can't keep his mouth shut when the captain is taking Kareen for a tour. Picard pulls him aside and insists that Geordi perform a diagnostic to find out what's wrong. It doesn't work but Troi puts him through a psych eval and finds two minds, not one. While she is figuring out what the results mean Data/Graves is in 10 Foward telling his whole plan to Kareen. She for some reason isn't pumped about giving up her body to live as a robot forever and Graves loses control and breaks her hand.
Kareen tells the captain what happened and he meets up with Graves/Data in engineering. After insisting everything is fine and that he isn't having problems injuring people Picard finds Geordi and another engineer unconscious. Picard manages to convince Graves it isn't going to work and after knocking Picard out Graves goes to Data's quarters and transfers his mind into a computer leaving Data back to normal. When Picard wakes up Pulaski refuses to tell him where Data is for no reason other than to show Pulaski at her best is as bad as Data when he is possessed by an insane genius.
Review: A good, exciting story over all with some serious issues with its main character. Other than transferring his mind into Data, which was clearly a bad plan to start with, Graves can't do anything to keep himself hidden. Starfleet needs to stop letting its eccentric geniuses have their own planets, they just end up going crazy. I am going to subtract a point for Pulaski being a jerk for no reason at the end.
7 out of 10
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
TNG: Loud As a Whisper
Just when I feel like giving up on Trek forever and moving on (yeah, not actually going to happen, but I can feel can't I?) a surprising good episode sneaks into the what is otherwise a mostly train wreck of a season. Loud As a Whisper is both well written and well acted and interweaves it's A and B stories in a way that works despite involving Troi in both. After Okana last night I am shocked that they managed to cast such an amazingly talented actor for the role of the deaf negotiator. Despite not saying a word you can always tell what he is feeling and the chorus of interpreters do a good job with the actual talking.
The episode opens with the Enterprise arriving to bring a talented negotiator to try and end a war on a planet that has been fighting for centuries. The Enterprise is supposed to not get involved other than transporting the negotiator, but they aren't great at following orders like that. Picard beams down with Worf and Troi and after being examined by the negotiator Riva his chorus appears. He is deaf and has three people who talk for him, one for scholarly matters, one for passion and one for balance. He is clearly taken with Troi and makes no attempts to hide his advances. On the ship Riva blows off a briefing on the war situation, to him all wars are the same, it isn't about the details and instead meets Troi for a date in her quarters. At first he uses his passion interpreter, but has him leave so he can be alone with her. She seems to be into it, but they arrive and Picard messes things up by calling down to the planet and demanding they stop shooting to Riva has to rush to the bridge and calm them down.
After examining a map of the area Riva picks a high plateau to be the negotiating grounds and beams down with Worf and Riker. They get things set up but when the delegates arrive one of their guards freaks out and tries to kill Riva. Riker saves him but the chorus are killed and they all flee back to the ship. Riva is devastated and no longer has anyone who understands his signs. Data learns his style of sign language, but Riva insists that without his chorus negotiating will be impossible. Eventually Troi meets him in his quarters and tells him she is going to try since he won't. He tries to explain some things to help her and gets to his main strategy, turning peoples weaknesses into their strengths. That is when he realizes that he can do it! He will teach the delegates his sign language and in the process teach them to communicate with each other and find peace. They leave him there to work things out and get on with ship stuff.
There is also a quick C story about Geordi being offered replacement eyes by Pulaski. He had always thought that wasn't possible for since she is the worst of course she has done it twice before. However Geordi understands that his enhanced visor vision is actually one of the things that makes him a good ships engineer and opts to keep his visor.
Review: While not quite perfect this episode is both enjoyable and thought provoking. By not having Wesley save the day or Pulaski get anywhere near Data it also avoids many of the pitfalls of early TNG. It even involves the unique talents of the TNG crew in a way that would have made it hard to adapt from an TOS storyline. If you haven't seen this one you owe yourself a watch!
8 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise arriving to bring a talented negotiator to try and end a war on a planet that has been fighting for centuries. The Enterprise is supposed to not get involved other than transporting the negotiator, but they aren't great at following orders like that. Picard beams down with Worf and Troi and after being examined by the negotiator Riva his chorus appears. He is deaf and has three people who talk for him, one for scholarly matters, one for passion and one for balance. He is clearly taken with Troi and makes no attempts to hide his advances. On the ship Riva blows off a briefing on the war situation, to him all wars are the same, it isn't about the details and instead meets Troi for a date in her quarters. At first he uses his passion interpreter, but has him leave so he can be alone with her. She seems to be into it, but they arrive and Picard messes things up by calling down to the planet and demanding they stop shooting to Riva has to rush to the bridge and calm them down.
After examining a map of the area Riva picks a high plateau to be the negotiating grounds and beams down with Worf and Riker. They get things set up but when the delegates arrive one of their guards freaks out and tries to kill Riva. Riker saves him but the chorus are killed and they all flee back to the ship. Riva is devastated and no longer has anyone who understands his signs. Data learns his style of sign language, but Riva insists that without his chorus negotiating will be impossible. Eventually Troi meets him in his quarters and tells him she is going to try since he won't. He tries to explain some things to help her and gets to his main strategy, turning peoples weaknesses into their strengths. That is when he realizes that he can do it! He will teach the delegates his sign language and in the process teach them to communicate with each other and find peace. They leave him there to work things out and get on with ship stuff.
There is also a quick C story about Geordi being offered replacement eyes by Pulaski. He had always thought that wasn't possible for since she is the worst of course she has done it twice before. However Geordi understands that his enhanced visor vision is actually one of the things that makes him a good ships engineer and opts to keep his visor.
Review: While not quite perfect this episode is both enjoyable and thought provoking. By not having Wesley save the day or Pulaski get anywhere near Data it also avoids many of the pitfalls of early TNG. It even involves the unique talents of the TNG crew in a way that would have made it hard to adapt from an TOS storyline. If you haven't seen this one you owe yourself a watch!
8 out of 10
Monday, June 29, 2015
TNG: The Outrageous Okana
There is a part in the middle of this episode where Data is watching an awful comedian try and teach him about humor and he asks that the playback be increased in speed. I felt that way literally throughout this entire episode. When they first meet the titular Okana Troi spends about 30 seconds gushing about what an awesome amazing person he is and the rest of the characters do the same. Too bad the writers only knew how to writes his praises, not his actually dialog. Every time I think this season has hit the bottom someone hands me a shovel, and we haven't even gotten to Up The Long Ladder yet...
The episode opens with the Enterprise encountering a primitive ship that is flying without a guidance computer. They hail the vessel and meet the most annoying character in Trek so far including Troi's mother. They agree to help Okana fix his ship and he beams over and spends most of the time impressing Wesley and sleeping with pretty much everyone he meets. Two other primitive vessels show up demanding Okana. One says he impregnated the mans daughter and the other that he stole some jewel or something. It turns out the son of the jewel guy impregnated the girl and wanted to give her the jewel.
There is also an even worse subplot about data trying to learn about humor from some god awful 80's physical comedian. None of the jokes are funny other than that they are being delivered by Data. Even a healthy dose of Whoopi Goldberg couldn't save this dead end story.
Review: This episode is terrible. It isn't the most insulting of the bad episodes and the resolution of the Okana problem is mildly clever, but that is as positive as I can be. Both Okana and the comedian are terribly written and have serious acting issues. If Enterprise is as bad as season 2 of TNG I may be in trouble... Had this episode contained more Wesley or any Pulaski it would have received my lowest rating. There is at least that.
2 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise encountering a primitive ship that is flying without a guidance computer. They hail the vessel and meet the most annoying character in Trek so far including Troi's mother. They agree to help Okana fix his ship and he beams over and spends most of the time impressing Wesley and sleeping with pretty much everyone he meets. Two other primitive vessels show up demanding Okana. One says he impregnated the mans daughter and the other that he stole some jewel or something. It turns out the son of the jewel guy impregnated the girl and wanted to give her the jewel.
There is also an even worse subplot about data trying to learn about humor from some god awful 80's physical comedian. None of the jokes are funny other than that they are being delivered by Data. Even a healthy dose of Whoopi Goldberg couldn't save this dead end story.
Review: This episode is terrible. It isn't the most insulting of the bad episodes and the resolution of the Okana problem is mildly clever, but that is as positive as I can be. Both Okana and the comedian are terribly written and have serious acting issues. If Enterprise is as bad as season 2 of TNG I may be in trouble... Had this episode contained more Wesley or any Pulaski it would have received my lowest rating. There is at least that.
2 out of 10
Sunday, June 28, 2015
TNG: Elementary, Dear Data
The Pulaski racism train just won't stop! This time she risks her own life and the safety of the entire ship to try and prove how inferior Data is to a real human. Also, I know this is military grade hardware and that shit is dangerous, but shouldn't there be a few more safety protocols built in to keep someone from accidentally putting a holographic construct in charge of the entire ship? This episode continues the trend of holodeck adventures gone wrong which the TNG writers just can't get enough of.
The episode opens with the Enterprise waiting for a few days for the arrival on a ship they are to rendezvous with for some reason. With time on their hands Geordi and Data decide to have a Sherlock Holmes adventure on the holodeck. But since Data only asks for a random Conan Doyle reference it quickly gets boring as Data has them all memorized and Geordi storms off in a huff. At Ten Forward Geordi explains that without a challenge it would be boring. And of course Pulaski can't keep her mouth shut when someone is bad mouthing Data. After explaining how Data can't do any original thought (something he is clearly more capable of than just about anyone on the ship) she challenges him to a real mystery on the holodeck.
They all return to the holodeck and this time request some sort of remix, but again Data recognizes the elements from the already existing mysteries and figures it out which for some reason Pulaski uses to justify the claim he can't be original. No, that was something generated by the ships computer that wasn't original, but whatever. Geordi then tells the computer to come up with an opponent that can defeat Data and it takes so much power Worf notices the drain from the bridge. Moriarty suddenly gains consciousness and notices Geordi messing with the arch on the holodeck. As soon as they leave he starts messing with it. He then kidnaps Pulaski leaving Data and Geordi with a real mystery.
Data soon finds Moriarty's den, but is surprised when he is recognized as not being the real Holmes. He then hands Data a drawn picture of the Enterprise which horrifies Data who storms off the holodeck and tries to turn it off. But it doesn't work! Geordi somehow despite not actually trying to has turned off all override protocols on the holodeck giving it total control over the ships computer. They explain it to Picard who is pissed, but agrees to go back in with Data to try and straighten things out. Before they can return the ship is rocked by control being overridden from the holodeck, Moriarty has figured out how to control the ship! When they get back in the system is having problems rendering. They make there way to Moriarty's den and find Pulaski happily eating crumpets with him. After explaining the situation Moriarty agrees to let them save his program and turn off the holodeck so he can come back in a future episode. And the episode ends without them establishing safety protocols or anything!
Review: As a kid I loved the idea of the holodeck accidentally creating a true intelligence. But if that is all it takes to make a true AI, why aren't they using AI's all the time? The ships computer is clearly less intelligent than the program it creates and runs which has some serious issues. I am also going to start taking off a point from the score for Pulaski racism so:
3 out of 10
The episode opens with the Enterprise waiting for a few days for the arrival on a ship they are to rendezvous with for some reason. With time on their hands Geordi and Data decide to have a Sherlock Holmes adventure on the holodeck. But since Data only asks for a random Conan Doyle reference it quickly gets boring as Data has them all memorized and Geordi storms off in a huff. At Ten Forward Geordi explains that without a challenge it would be boring. And of course Pulaski can't keep her mouth shut when someone is bad mouthing Data. After explaining how Data can't do any original thought (something he is clearly more capable of than just about anyone on the ship) she challenges him to a real mystery on the holodeck.
They all return to the holodeck and this time request some sort of remix, but again Data recognizes the elements from the already existing mysteries and figures it out which for some reason Pulaski uses to justify the claim he can't be original. No, that was something generated by the ships computer that wasn't original, but whatever. Geordi then tells the computer to come up with an opponent that can defeat Data and it takes so much power Worf notices the drain from the bridge. Moriarty suddenly gains consciousness and notices Geordi messing with the arch on the holodeck. As soon as they leave he starts messing with it. He then kidnaps Pulaski leaving Data and Geordi with a real mystery.
Data soon finds Moriarty's den, but is surprised when he is recognized as not being the real Holmes. He then hands Data a drawn picture of the Enterprise which horrifies Data who storms off the holodeck and tries to turn it off. But it doesn't work! Geordi somehow despite not actually trying to has turned off all override protocols on the holodeck giving it total control over the ships computer. They explain it to Picard who is pissed, but agrees to go back in with Data to try and straighten things out. Before they can return the ship is rocked by control being overridden from the holodeck, Moriarty has figured out how to control the ship! When they get back in the system is having problems rendering. They make there way to Moriarty's den and find Pulaski happily eating crumpets with him. After explaining the situation Moriarty agrees to let them save his program and turn off the holodeck so he can come back in a future episode. And the episode ends without them establishing safety protocols or anything!
Review: As a kid I loved the idea of the holodeck accidentally creating a true intelligence. But if that is all it takes to make a true AI, why aren't they using AI's all the time? The ships computer is clearly less intelligent than the program it creates and runs which has some serious issues. I am also going to start taking off a point from the score for Pulaski racism so:
3 out of 10
Saturday, June 27, 2015
TNG: Where Silence Has Lease
This episode is a real mixed bag. Unlike last night which was just bad bad bad this one has a decent over all plot, but some terrible character bits. Pulaski is proving to be totally awful as the new doctor and not just for her refusal to accept Data as a person, Worf is show to be particularily animal like this episode, and Picard is at maximum preachy. It also breaks the TNG rule of no godlike beings who aren't Q with a goofball energy cloud villain straight out of the worst of TOS. Third season is sounding really good right now...
The episode opens with a fake out. They set it up to appear that Worf and Riker are on a dangerous mission together, but after killing all the enemies Worf is set to attack Riker. He does stand down and we are left to wonder how someone this out of control could have passed that dreaded psyche test to enter the academy. Back on the bridge they encounter a blank void in space. The probes they shoot in disappear alarming Worf. Suddenly they are inside the void and nothing they do seems to move the ship at all. They run into a Romulan ship that opens fire but explodes as soon as they return fire and leaves no debris behind. Then another galaxy class starship appears, the USS Yamato. Riker and Worf beam over but find more of a house of mirrors than a ship. After losing contact with the away team openings in the void start appearing tempting them to escape. Other than racism Pulaski makes her one contribution here pointing out it seems like a science experiment.
Eventually O'Bryan manages to beam them back and the holes keep appearing, but when they approach they disappear. A diembodied head appears and talks to them. It kills the pilot who was sitting is Wesley's seat that day and tells them he is going to kill half the crew to learn about death. Picard won't stand for it and sets the ship to explode. The being sends fake Data and Troi to talk Picard down, but he won't do it. Just before it is time to destroy the ship they escape and Picard pushes it to the very last minute just to be sure.
Review: What a simple episode, and I don't mean that in a good way. Other than the above mentioned bad character moments this one is pretty dull and uncreative. Not the worst of the worst, but also not one I would be excited to watch again.
3 out of 10
The episode opens with a fake out. They set it up to appear that Worf and Riker are on a dangerous mission together, but after killing all the enemies Worf is set to attack Riker. He does stand down and we are left to wonder how someone this out of control could have passed that dreaded psyche test to enter the academy. Back on the bridge they encounter a blank void in space. The probes they shoot in disappear alarming Worf. Suddenly they are inside the void and nothing they do seems to move the ship at all. They run into a Romulan ship that opens fire but explodes as soon as they return fire and leaves no debris behind. Then another galaxy class starship appears, the USS Yamato. Riker and Worf beam over but find more of a house of mirrors than a ship. After losing contact with the away team openings in the void start appearing tempting them to escape. Other than racism Pulaski makes her one contribution here pointing out it seems like a science experiment.
Eventually O'Bryan manages to beam them back and the holes keep appearing, but when they approach they disappear. A diembodied head appears and talks to them. It kills the pilot who was sitting is Wesley's seat that day and tells them he is going to kill half the crew to learn about death. Picard won't stand for it and sets the ship to explode. The being sends fake Data and Troi to talk Picard down, but he won't do it. Just before it is time to destroy the ship they escape and Picard pushes it to the very last minute just to be sure.
Review: What a simple episode, and I don't mean that in a good way. Other than the above mentioned bad character moments this one is pretty dull and uncreative. Not the worst of the worst, but also not one I would be excited to watch again.
3 out of 10
TNG: The Child
Wow, this may be the worst episode since The Alternative Factor. When I can honestly say that my favorite parts of the episode were Wesley negotiating his stay on the Enterprise after the departure of his mother you know this is a rough one. I don't want to dig too deep into the part where Troi gets raped by an energy cloud or something, but it did make me feel pretty uncomfortable. Honestly pretty much everything about the Troi story made me uncomfortable.
The episode begins with us learning Dr. Crusher had left the ship (Gates McFadden was tired of being harassed by asshole writer in chief, Maurice Hurley) and introducing Geordi as the new chief engineer. Also Geordi is building a containment system for some sort of super dangerous engineered organism they are bringing on board. While flying really slow for no good reason an energy being flies into the ship and impregnates Troi. Rather than introducing herself like a normal person Dr. Pulaski goes straight to the bar to hang out. Actually to find out about Troi's mystery baby, but that should probably also have taken place in sick bay. I really don't like Pulaski one bit. Her treatment of Data as a thing instead of a person and her rudeness towards Picard both seem out of place and obnoxious.
Troi has her baby a day or so after getting pregnant and seems to really love it despite the obvious issues. In days the child is walking around and talking. But of course there is a problem with the containment of the dangerous stuff and the child is the cause. He returns to pure energy and flies out of there making Troi cry but saving the ship from certain doom. Wesley gets to stay on board and Data will manage his studies.
Review: It is late and I only got 4 hours of sleep so the summary above is pretty short. Also I really didn't like this episode. I know season 1 has a bad reputation, but season 2 is starting off with an episode worse than anything in TNG so far. The first season felt like wannabe TOS, this just feels lazy.
1 out of 10
The episode begins with us learning Dr. Crusher had left the ship (Gates McFadden was tired of being harassed by asshole writer in chief, Maurice Hurley) and introducing Geordi as the new chief engineer. Also Geordi is building a containment system for some sort of super dangerous engineered organism they are bringing on board. While flying really slow for no good reason an energy being flies into the ship and impregnates Troi. Rather than introducing herself like a normal person Dr. Pulaski goes straight to the bar to hang out. Actually to find out about Troi's mystery baby, but that should probably also have taken place in sick bay. I really don't like Pulaski one bit. Her treatment of Data as a thing instead of a person and her rudeness towards Picard both seem out of place and obnoxious.
Troi has her baby a day or so after getting pregnant and seems to really love it despite the obvious issues. In days the child is walking around and talking. But of course there is a problem with the containment of the dangerous stuff and the child is the cause. He returns to pure energy and flies out of there making Troi cry but saving the ship from certain doom. Wesley gets to stay on board and Data will manage his studies.
Review: It is late and I only got 4 hours of sleep so the summary above is pretty short. Also I really didn't like this episode. I know season 1 has a bad reputation, but season 2 is starting off with an episode worse than anything in TNG so far. The first season felt like wannabe TOS, this just feels lazy.
1 out of 10
Friday, June 26, 2015
TNG: The Neutral Zone
Woooo, made it through TNG season 1! With a name like The Neutral Zone I expected this to be an episode about the Romulans, but they only showed up at the very end to give us something to look forward to next season. Instead this turned out to be an episode about three survivors from the 1990's who were frozen at the moment of death and despite the odds made it into the 23rd century and where revived and healed. One thing this episode got right what that cryogenic freezing at the moment of death was a short lived trend that hasn't really continued in any serious way at this point. Also, I kinda love that one of the guys is pretty much 80's guy from Futurama, or I guess Futurama stole him from this episode, but it is still entertaining.
While waiting to rendezvous with captain Picard the Enterprise encounters a derelict vessel from earth hundreds of years ago. Riker isn't really interested but Data insists on beaming over with Worf to take a look. They find a serious of capsules with frozen people in them. Most of the capsules have failed but three are working and Data beams them back to the Enterprise right as the captain arrives and takes them on a course into the neutral zone. Picard is pissed for some reason about the frozen people, but after Crusher heals and revives them he is little choice. The three are very different, one is a woman whose husband had her frozen when she died suddenly, one is a wall street type who just wants to know what happened to his money, and the third is a musician who burned himself out on drugs.
The situation on the Romulan border is tense, Federation outposts have been disappearing and they haven't heard from the Romulans in decades. As the people from the past adjust to their new situation Picard tries to come up with a plan. Troi builds him a profile of the Romulans and Riker seems ready to fight. When they arrive 80's guy manages to be on the bridge when they encounter the Romulans. The Romulan captain explains they have lost outposts as well and don't know what is causing it. They agree to work with the Enterprise to find out what is doing it, but also promise to try and stem the growth of the Federation. They take off without really doing anything and the frozen people are sent back to earth to try and rebuild their lives.
Review: Not much actually happens in this episode. There are some touching moments where Troi helps the woman locate her descendants on Earth and a kinda annoying moment where the musician tries to talk Crusher into giving him some drugs. 80's guy seems to have the best character arc as he gradually accepts what has happened and how he can't control his fate, at least for now. Not a super exciting episode, but it has its moments.
6 out of 10
While waiting to rendezvous with captain Picard the Enterprise encounters a derelict vessel from earth hundreds of years ago. Riker isn't really interested but Data insists on beaming over with Worf to take a look. They find a serious of capsules with frozen people in them. Most of the capsules have failed but three are working and Data beams them back to the Enterprise right as the captain arrives and takes them on a course into the neutral zone. Picard is pissed for some reason about the frozen people, but after Crusher heals and revives them he is little choice. The three are very different, one is a woman whose husband had her frozen when she died suddenly, one is a wall street type who just wants to know what happened to his money, and the third is a musician who burned himself out on drugs.
The situation on the Romulan border is tense, Federation outposts have been disappearing and they haven't heard from the Romulans in decades. As the people from the past adjust to their new situation Picard tries to come up with a plan. Troi builds him a profile of the Romulans and Riker seems ready to fight. When they arrive 80's guy manages to be on the bridge when they encounter the Romulans. The Romulan captain explains they have lost outposts as well and don't know what is causing it. They agree to work with the Enterprise to find out what is doing it, but also promise to try and stem the growth of the Federation. They take off without really doing anything and the frozen people are sent back to earth to try and rebuild their lives.
Review: Not much actually happens in this episode. There are some touching moments where Troi helps the woman locate her descendants on Earth and a kinda annoying moment where the musician tries to talk Crusher into giving him some drugs. 80's guy seems to have the best character arc as he gradually accepts what has happened and how he can't control his fate, at least for now. Not a super exciting episode, but it has its moments.
6 out of 10
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