Now this is an episode from my childhood of which I have vivid memories. For some reason the scene where Picard reaches for the bowl of fruit and his fingernails grow instantly and the fact that Romulans use artificial black holes as a power source were super important to me as a kid. Also the concept of aliens that lived in black holes, but honestly using them to power a ship was always more interesting. I really enjoyed the episode today because while it deals with time not working like we are used to, it isn't exactly a time travel episode. Also their concept of what was happening between the Romulan ship and there own evolving through the episode is fun to watch. I don't think they ever explained by the Romulans were firing on the Enterprise, but maybe it was the aliens disguised as Romulans?
The episode opens with Dr. Crusher treating Riker for what she describes as a fairly serious cut to his head. As an EMT I can tell you any head wound in that doesn't release huge quantities of blood is pretty minor, but whatever. After hassling him to cut back on the athletics he tells her he got it from Spot, Data's cat he is taking care of while he is off the ship. Riker is called to the bridge by Worf, they have detected a distress call from a Romulan ship. After raising shields and going to red alert they head in to help. We cut the a runabout (the first appearance of one in TNG I believe) where Picard, La Forge, Data and Troi are returning from a conference on the effects of being on a long duration assignment in deep space. While enjoying dinner together something strange happens, all three of them other than Deanna appear frozen for a few seconds and then go on as if nothing has happened.
Geordi and Data work together to find out what happened, but they aren't able to find anything until the opposite happens, this time Deanna is frozen and wakes up with the three of them standing over her. Picard has them hurry up to meet the Enterprise but suddenly one engine is out of fuel. Picard goes to the back of the ship to check on the fuel when he notices the bowl of fruit on the table has decayed, when he reaches for it he pulls his hand back in pain, his fingernails show several weeks growth. This time Geordi is able to discover the cause, there is a bubble of distorted spacetime stuck to part of the ship. They manage to get free but discover that local space is saturated with such bubbles, they finally find the Enterprise, in apparent combat with the Romulan ship and frozen in time. Geordi rigs up the emergency transporter bands to let them travel onto the Enterprise without being in the stuck time but he stays behind in case there are problems.
On the Enterprise they find signs of possible combat with the Romulans but also signs that they were transfering energy to the Romulan ship and beaming injured people aboard. Data finds that the warp core is in the process of breaching when Picard freaks out and they return to the runabout. Data, La Forge and Troi beam to the Romulan ship and find its engine core acting strange, when Data scans it time suddenly rushes forward, they watch the Enterprise explode, but then it goes backwards to where they were with everyone frozen. Well, everyone but one Romulan who grabs Geordi and almost kills him forcing them to remove his band and freeze him in time. From the apparent Romulan they learn he is an alien from a different spacetime who is trying to save his young from being trapped in the Romulan artificial singularity. They come up with a plan to reverse time to before the engine breach and then reenter the Enterprise time scale and stop the breach. It works and they get everyone off the Romulan ship in time to watch it disappear.
Review: I really like this one, not for its epicness but for its solid storytelling and interesting science fiction. It is also nice to see Federation/Romulan relations continuing to gradually improve.
8 out of 10
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
TNG: Second Chances
A tale of two Rikers. Not that that, of two Will Rikers. I guess when I watched this the first time it didn't strike me that this is the second episode in a row about a duplicated person and how they are treated since despite being a copy they are still a real person. The effects aren't perfect, but overall they manage to convincingly create two Rikers. I am sure I was much less interested in the reignited romance between Troi and Lt. Riker when I first saw this, but this time it got me pretty good. I also didn't remember if they killed off Lt. Riker or not so the end actually had some real tension.
The episode opens with Commander Riker playing a jazz concert in Ten Forward. Troi requests a song he has never made it through in 10 years and he agrees, but just as his part is coming up Data calls him to the bridge. They are going to be beaming down to a station where he rescued the crew 8 years earlier. There is a distortion field around the planet which makes transporting impossible at most times, but in the next few days there will be three windows. Cmdr. Riker leads the away team to the surface and they find the station not in the same condition he left it. Worf detects a lifeform approaching, they all take cover only to see Lt. Riker walk in looking haggard. Cmdr. Riker refuses to believe he isn't an alien or something by back on the ship Crusher confirms it is him down to the brain patterns.
Geordi figures out that the transporter beam they used to get Cmdr. Riker out was somehow slit creating two of him. Neither of them gets along with the other well which of course makes things even more complicated. Lt. Riker immediately starts up his romance with Deanna again and at first she isn't having it, but he sends her on a scavenger hunt around the ship looking for clues. She admits to him she regrets the other Riker not meeting her for a vacation on Risa, but he put his career ahead of his romantic engagements. Both Rikers are forced to work together on retrieving the logs from the station and they basically bicker the entire time.
The finally of the episode has Lt. Riker going behind Cmdr. Rikers back to propose a dangerous plan to the captain. He wants to go into the unstable caves below the station to repair some damage and allow them to get the logs. Picard approves and the two of them descend into the caves. Lt. is almost killed when a platform collapses but Cmdr. manages to save him. In the end Troi decides to not give up her career to follow Lt. Riker but Cmdr. stops by and give Lt. his trombone. Lt. tells him he has decided to go by Thomas to avoid confusion in the future (couldn't they have done this at the beginning of the episode???) and heads off to a new assignment.
Review: Not an episode I forgot, but not really that much above average. It is always interesting to think about how things could have been different it ones life with different choices, but I feel like another rewrite or two and this one could have really been stellar.
5 out of 10
The episode opens with Commander Riker playing a jazz concert in Ten Forward. Troi requests a song he has never made it through in 10 years and he agrees, but just as his part is coming up Data calls him to the bridge. They are going to be beaming down to a station where he rescued the crew 8 years earlier. There is a distortion field around the planet which makes transporting impossible at most times, but in the next few days there will be three windows. Cmdr. Riker leads the away team to the surface and they find the station not in the same condition he left it. Worf detects a lifeform approaching, they all take cover only to see Lt. Riker walk in looking haggard. Cmdr. Riker refuses to believe he isn't an alien or something by back on the ship Crusher confirms it is him down to the brain patterns.
Geordi figures out that the transporter beam they used to get Cmdr. Riker out was somehow slit creating two of him. Neither of them gets along with the other well which of course makes things even more complicated. Lt. Riker immediately starts up his romance with Deanna again and at first she isn't having it, but he sends her on a scavenger hunt around the ship looking for clues. She admits to him she regrets the other Riker not meeting her for a vacation on Risa, but he put his career ahead of his romantic engagements. Both Rikers are forced to work together on retrieving the logs from the station and they basically bicker the entire time.
The finally of the episode has Lt. Riker going behind Cmdr. Rikers back to propose a dangerous plan to the captain. He wants to go into the unstable caves below the station to repair some damage and allow them to get the logs. Picard approves and the two of them descend into the caves. Lt. is almost killed when a platform collapses but Cmdr. manages to save him. In the end Troi decides to not give up her career to follow Lt. Riker but Cmdr. stops by and give Lt. his trombone. Lt. tells him he has decided to go by Thomas to avoid confusion in the future (couldn't they have done this at the beginning of the episode???) and heads off to a new assignment.
Review: Not an episode I forgot, but not really that much above average. It is always interesting to think about how things could have been different it ones life with different choices, but I feel like another rewrite or two and this one could have really been stellar.
5 out of 10
Monday, November 9, 2015
TNG: Rightful Heir
Going in I remember being kinda disappointed with this episode the first time I saw it. This time I enjoyed it a bit more, but that was at least partly because I knew roughly how it ended. Kahless is both not quite a fraud, but also not quite the real thing and this ambiguity that bothered me so much as a kid is also clearly what is still bothering Worf at the end of the episode. I am pretty sure the fate of Kahless gets dealt with in a later episode, but I also am pretty sure I will have to wait for DS9 for that. TNG has one more season left, but it does already feel a bit like it is wrapping up. I don't really remember very many episodes between here and All Good Things which is kinda odd since this was when I was most loyally watching. Hopefully there are a few hidden gems waiting for me!
The episode opens with Worf not showing up for duty on the bridge. Riker heads to his quarters with a security team and finds him sitting alone with fire and candles everywhere meditating. Next we see Picard come to his quarters and express how disappointed he is that Worf has neglected his duties. But rather than discipline him he sends him on a retreat to the Klingon spiritual center to try and get himself back in shape to serve with honor once again. Worf heads to Boreth, a Klingon monastery prophesied to be the place where Kahless will return from the afterlife. Worf spends Days meditating and while he sees others having visions he is left without. As he is preparing to give up and leave the high priest Koroth joins him and reminds him of the story of Kahless' promise to return one day Boreth Worf decides to give it another go. In the middle of intense meditation Worf suddenly gets what he desired, Kahless appears before him, but when he reaches out to touch him instead of finding it be just a vision he finds Kahless has returned as flesh and blood!
The other Klingons have no problem accepting Kahless as what he appears to be. He knows all the ancient stories including those only told to the priests. He even allows Worf to scan him with a tricorder which proves that he is Klingon but still doesn't convince Worf. Finally Worf confronts him in front of the other Klingons and Kahless responds as one would expect, by pulling out his bat'leth and engaging Worf in hand to hand combat. After a few minutes of combat Kahless stops and get everyone chanting, "we are Klingons," but Worf still holds back. They are taken aboard the Enterprise and Gowron shows up very unhappy about the situation. He has brought a dagger the is supposed to have the blood of Kahless on it and when Dr. Crusher analyses it she finds it to be a perfect match with the man standing before them and Worf finally allows himself to believe.
But Gowron still doesn't buy it and first challenges Kahless' memory and when that is found wanting pulls out his knife and they fight. Worf is forced to step in and save Kahless, but this only proves to most of the Klingons that their greatest warrior of all time does not stand before them. This also convinces Worf who finally gets Koroth to admit that this Kahless is a clone with implanted memories. But Worf also learns that several of Gowrons own men have refused to let go and are waiting for Kahless to come lead them. In the final confrontation Worf is able to convince all of them including Gowron to give this Kahless the symbolic title of emperor to allow him to work to restore Klingon virtue while Gowron maintains political power. This satisfies all but Worf who still feels his faith has been found lacking.
Review: This is an interesting episode for all the questions it raises about the nature of faith and identity. It wouldn't have been very Trek to have this end up being the real Kahless (well, maybe very TOSy, but not TNGy). Fun to watch but not a perfect episode by any means.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Worf not showing up for duty on the bridge. Riker heads to his quarters with a security team and finds him sitting alone with fire and candles everywhere meditating. Next we see Picard come to his quarters and express how disappointed he is that Worf has neglected his duties. But rather than discipline him he sends him on a retreat to the Klingon spiritual center to try and get himself back in shape to serve with honor once again. Worf heads to Boreth, a Klingon monastery prophesied to be the place where Kahless will return from the afterlife. Worf spends Days meditating and while he sees others having visions he is left without. As he is preparing to give up and leave the high priest Koroth joins him and reminds him of the story of Kahless' promise to return one day Boreth Worf decides to give it another go. In the middle of intense meditation Worf suddenly gets what he desired, Kahless appears before him, but when he reaches out to touch him instead of finding it be just a vision he finds Kahless has returned as flesh and blood!
The other Klingons have no problem accepting Kahless as what he appears to be. He knows all the ancient stories including those only told to the priests. He even allows Worf to scan him with a tricorder which proves that he is Klingon but still doesn't convince Worf. Finally Worf confronts him in front of the other Klingons and Kahless responds as one would expect, by pulling out his bat'leth and engaging Worf in hand to hand combat. After a few minutes of combat Kahless stops and get everyone chanting, "we are Klingons," but Worf still holds back. They are taken aboard the Enterprise and Gowron shows up very unhappy about the situation. He has brought a dagger the is supposed to have the blood of Kahless on it and when Dr. Crusher analyses it she finds it to be a perfect match with the man standing before them and Worf finally allows himself to believe.
But Gowron still doesn't buy it and first challenges Kahless' memory and when that is found wanting pulls out his knife and they fight. Worf is forced to step in and save Kahless, but this only proves to most of the Klingons that their greatest warrior of all time does not stand before them. This also convinces Worf who finally gets Koroth to admit that this Kahless is a clone with implanted memories. But Worf also learns that several of Gowrons own men have refused to let go and are waiting for Kahless to come lead them. In the final confrontation Worf is able to convince all of them including Gowron to give this Kahless the symbolic title of emperor to allow him to work to restore Klingon virtue while Gowron maintains political power. This satisfies all but Worf who still feels his faith has been found lacking.
Review: This is an interesting episode for all the questions it raises about the nature of faith and identity. It wouldn't have been very Trek to have this end up being the real Kahless (well, maybe very TOSy, but not TNGy). Fun to watch but not a perfect episode by any means.
6 out of 10
Sunday, November 8, 2015
TNG: Suspicions
Dr. Crusher is either the most culturally insensitive person on the ship or she has some sort of autopsy fetish. This is the second episode where she has been super upset at not being able to perform an autopsy. I can't find the other episode quickly, but if I do I will add it to the write up. Other than that this is a pretty solid murder mystery, but it doesn't really make sense that Crusher would be the one to organize a gathering of warp field specialists. I am guessing they had the idea for her getting in trouble for performing the autopsy before they figured out why.
The episode opens with Dr. Crusher storming about her quarters. The door chime rings and at first she ignores it but then opens to find Guinan in the hallway. She invites her in and Guinan explains she needs a doctor to which Beverly replies then she needs to keep looking since she isn't one any more. She explains she is leaving the ship for a disciplinary hearing and will almost certainly lose her ability to practice medicine. Eventually she agrees to tell Guinan what happened: she had organized a conference for scientists to look into a new shielding developed by a Ferengi. Nobody was taking him seriously and not many scientists showed up. They were pretty skeptical but the Takaran Jo'Bril volunteers to fly the shuttle into the corona of a nearby star.
They all watch the flight test from the bridge and it all appears to be going fine until Jo'Bril starts shaking and they lose communications. The shields are holding but for some reason dangerous levels of radiation are leaking through. They manage to recover the shuttle and Jo'Bril but he dies on the operating table. Soon after the Ferengi scientist turns up dead of an apparently suicide. Everybody believes it but Beverly and she requests to do an autopsy but is told it is against Ferengi customs. Instead she starts going to all the other scientists and flat out accusing them of murdering the Ferengi which shockingly doesn't turn up anything other than that Vulcans are calm and Klingons are kinda aggressive. Eventually she decides to violate orders and does the autopsy anyway but finds nothing.
At this point we cut back to real time and Guinan convinces her she has nothing to lose at this point and should keep looking. With the assistance of Nurse Ogawa she manages to discover signs that the shield was sabotaged in Jo'Bril's corpse and decides the only thing to do is test it herself. She steals a shuttle and flies it int a star. It works perfectly until a compartment in the back of the shuttle pops open and Jo'Bril comes out with a phaser (not clear how he got the weapon, presumably they aren't just left lying around. Also not clear how he got on the shuttle.) They start fighting and Crusher is forced to kill him. She comes back out feeling vindicated by presumably still has to go to the hearing because she still shouldn't have done the autopsy on the Ferengi and she is also no presumably being investigated for the death of Jo'Bril. But none of that actually happens because she is a main character.
Review: Some of my objections above didn't occur to me until after I was done watching, but this one really goes have some gaping holes. Not unpleasant to watch, but not fantastic either.
5 out of 10
The episode opens with Dr. Crusher storming about her quarters. The door chime rings and at first she ignores it but then opens to find Guinan in the hallway. She invites her in and Guinan explains she needs a doctor to which Beverly replies then she needs to keep looking since she isn't one any more. She explains she is leaving the ship for a disciplinary hearing and will almost certainly lose her ability to practice medicine. Eventually she agrees to tell Guinan what happened: she had organized a conference for scientists to look into a new shielding developed by a Ferengi. Nobody was taking him seriously and not many scientists showed up. They were pretty skeptical but the Takaran Jo'Bril volunteers to fly the shuttle into the corona of a nearby star.
They all watch the flight test from the bridge and it all appears to be going fine until Jo'Bril starts shaking and they lose communications. The shields are holding but for some reason dangerous levels of radiation are leaking through. They manage to recover the shuttle and Jo'Bril but he dies on the operating table. Soon after the Ferengi scientist turns up dead of an apparently suicide. Everybody believes it but Beverly and she requests to do an autopsy but is told it is against Ferengi customs. Instead she starts going to all the other scientists and flat out accusing them of murdering the Ferengi which shockingly doesn't turn up anything other than that Vulcans are calm and Klingons are kinda aggressive. Eventually she decides to violate orders and does the autopsy anyway but finds nothing.
At this point we cut back to real time and Guinan convinces her she has nothing to lose at this point and should keep looking. With the assistance of Nurse Ogawa she manages to discover signs that the shield was sabotaged in Jo'Bril's corpse and decides the only thing to do is test it herself. She steals a shuttle and flies it int a star. It works perfectly until a compartment in the back of the shuttle pops open and Jo'Bril comes out with a phaser (not clear how he got the weapon, presumably they aren't just left lying around. Also not clear how he got on the shuttle.) They start fighting and Crusher is forced to kill him. She comes back out feeling vindicated by presumably still has to go to the hearing because she still shouldn't have done the autopsy on the Ferengi and she is also no presumably being investigated for the death of Jo'Bril. But none of that actually happens because she is a main character.
Review: Some of my objections above didn't occur to me until after I was done watching, but this one really goes have some gaping holes. Not unpleasant to watch, but not fantastic either.
5 out of 10
Saturday, November 7, 2015
TNG: Frame of Mind
What an intense episode! I know I have seen it before, the image of the doctor appearing in the audience of the play in particular seemed familiar. I know a lot of people like to rip Jonathan Frakes for not being as good an actor as the rest of the crew, but I think he is really good in this one. This episode is both more and less disturbing than Chain of Command, it is less realistic in the sense that we can't actually do such things to people yet, but more disturbing in how it makes Riker question whether he can ever truly be free from the levels of illusion.
The episode opens with Riker and Data rehearsing a play about a mental patient who can't accept responsibility for his crimes. He doesn't seem confident in the role, but Beverly is very reassuring. When he leaves though he seems distracted and bumps into an alien in a Starfleet uniform he doesn't recognize coming out of a turbo lift. The next day he learns he being put on an assignment to go undercover on a planet that has just fallen into anarchy to try and recover a Federation team trapped in the chaos. He works with Worf to try and learn rituals he will need to know by heart if he is to make it, but he just can't seem to focus and even gets cut on the temple by Worf. In sickbay he is disturbed by an injured man Geordi brings in and talks to Troi who insists he is just stressed out. He again sees the alien but Troi doesn't notice. During the play that night the performance goes great, but as he is coming out to applause he notices the alien from earlier in the front row, and then suddenly he is in the cell from the play and sees a different alien of the same species talking to him as a psychologist in a mental ward.
He finds he is being treated for insanity and he has committed some horrible crime. He insists he is a Starfleet officer but the doctor tells him they contacted Starfleet and confirmed he is not. The doctor insists in is a delusion that is part of his mental illness. He is then taken to a common area for lunch and along the way see many other patients and hears screams coming down the corridors. At the lunch room he encounters another patient who tells him she is a Starfleet officer too and just as his hopes are rising she starts talking into a spoon. A guard comes and takes her spoon and brings Riker his lunch. The guard taunts him about being brought in covered in blood from the guy he stabbed and Riker shows he isn't crazy by jumping up and trying to choke the guard. He is sedated and wakes up in his quarters on the Enterprise.
He prepares for the play but is feeling really out of it from his experience in the actual ward. During the play he sees the first aliens face looking at him through a window on the set and then notices him in the audience again. He grabs the man but everyone is shocked, he is a member of the Enterprise crew. He is really starting to lose it and starts seeing his room in the mental hospital everywhere and hearing voices. He also keeps noticing the same cut on his head from when Worf got him with the knife. He finds himself back in the institution and agrees to go through mental projection therapy. The various parts of his mind show up as the crew of the Enterprise, but the same alien shows up again. Later that day Crusher comes to him in the common area but he refuses to acknowledge her. That night Worf and Data show up to rescue him but he refuses to go with them. They get him back to the ship but he grabs a phaser and shoots himself. Suddenly he is back at the hospital and his head is bleeding. He shoots the aliens and the world literally shatters. Finally he awakens on a hospital bed with a machine connected to his head where he kept bleeding. He stands up and grabs his communicator and gets back to the ship. They explain he was captured on his secret mission and they were trying to get strategic information out of his memories.
Review: The only real weak point is Troi trying to explain the whole thing as just his mind trying to defend itself. It would have been better just assuming it was a side effect of the memory stealing they were doing. Otherwise an amazing episode.
8 out of 10
The episode opens with Riker and Data rehearsing a play about a mental patient who can't accept responsibility for his crimes. He doesn't seem confident in the role, but Beverly is very reassuring. When he leaves though he seems distracted and bumps into an alien in a Starfleet uniform he doesn't recognize coming out of a turbo lift. The next day he learns he being put on an assignment to go undercover on a planet that has just fallen into anarchy to try and recover a Federation team trapped in the chaos. He works with Worf to try and learn rituals he will need to know by heart if he is to make it, but he just can't seem to focus and even gets cut on the temple by Worf. In sickbay he is disturbed by an injured man Geordi brings in and talks to Troi who insists he is just stressed out. He again sees the alien but Troi doesn't notice. During the play that night the performance goes great, but as he is coming out to applause he notices the alien from earlier in the front row, and then suddenly he is in the cell from the play and sees a different alien of the same species talking to him as a psychologist in a mental ward.
He finds he is being treated for insanity and he has committed some horrible crime. He insists he is a Starfleet officer but the doctor tells him they contacted Starfleet and confirmed he is not. The doctor insists in is a delusion that is part of his mental illness. He is then taken to a common area for lunch and along the way see many other patients and hears screams coming down the corridors. At the lunch room he encounters another patient who tells him she is a Starfleet officer too and just as his hopes are rising she starts talking into a spoon. A guard comes and takes her spoon and brings Riker his lunch. The guard taunts him about being brought in covered in blood from the guy he stabbed and Riker shows he isn't crazy by jumping up and trying to choke the guard. He is sedated and wakes up in his quarters on the Enterprise.
He prepares for the play but is feeling really out of it from his experience in the actual ward. During the play he sees the first aliens face looking at him through a window on the set and then notices him in the audience again. He grabs the man but everyone is shocked, he is a member of the Enterprise crew. He is really starting to lose it and starts seeing his room in the mental hospital everywhere and hearing voices. He also keeps noticing the same cut on his head from when Worf got him with the knife. He finds himself back in the institution and agrees to go through mental projection therapy. The various parts of his mind show up as the crew of the Enterprise, but the same alien shows up again. Later that day Crusher comes to him in the common area but he refuses to acknowledge her. That night Worf and Data show up to rescue him but he refuses to go with them. They get him back to the ship but he grabs a phaser and shoots himself. Suddenly he is back at the hospital and his head is bleeding. He shoots the aliens and the world literally shatters. Finally he awakens on a hospital bed with a machine connected to his head where he kept bleeding. He stands up and grabs his communicator and gets back to the ship. They explain he was captured on his secret mission and they were trying to get strategic information out of his memories.
Review: The only real weak point is Troi trying to explain the whole thing as just his mind trying to defend itself. It would have been better just assuming it was a side effect of the memory stealing they were doing. Otherwise an amazing episode.
8 out of 10
Friday, November 6, 2015
TNG: The Chase
This episode was a real let down as a kid. This time I went in knowing what I was getting and it was still a bit of a let down. Now to be fair I think I misunderstood the message at the end of the episode when I was 11, but it still seems a little silly that aliens in the ancient past could have directed the evolution of countless planets to create similar bipedal intelligent life. What about the guy with three arms in TAS? But seriously, I know when I saw this the first time I was as disappointed as the Cardassian lady that the message hidden in our DNA for a billion or so years was just a cheesy hologram. Also, did they really include the code to reprogram any device to act as a holographic projector? I know DNA is complicated, but that still seems unreasonable.
The episode begins with the Enterprise on routine survey of protostars. Riker calls Picard to the observation lounge and when he enters he sees a 12,000 year old artifact on the table and his jaw drops. It drops further when he sees it has been brought by his archaeology professor. Later in Ten Forward the two meet and the professor tells Picard he has been doing microarchaeology for many years now but has been keeping his findings to himself (usually a sign of being a crank, but whatevs). He asks Picard to take a leave of absence for a year or so to help him complete the most important research project of his life. After a night of thinking about it Picard tells him no, his carrier to with Starfleet is too important to him. The professor storms off and leaves the ship on a shuttle.
A few days later while en route to a conference they receive a distress call from the professor. They arrive to find his shuttle under attack from some Yridians. Worf fires on their tractor beam but instead the entire ship explodes (this is never explained). They get the professor back to the Enterprise but he dies in sick bay. All the find in his shuttle is a series of numbers in his computer. Picard thinks back to something he said about life and has the computer look at the numbers as biological somethings (the episode gets pretty vague about the alleged science). They appear to be traces from DNA of species from across the galaxy. They figure out from the logs where the professor was last and race there. But just as they arrive first a Cardassian and then a Klingon war ship arrive and all pretend they don't know why the others are there.
Picard gets the two captains to come aboard and they somehow agree to cooperate. The Cardassian though can't help by betray them and tries to sabotage the Enterprise. Fortunately it is detected and Picard gives them false information. Eventually they find there way to a nearly dead world only as they beam down with the Klingon captain both the Cardassians and Romulans arrive. The two late comers start arguing and Beverley scrapes some gunk off a rock and scans it. Somehow this reprograms the tricorder to be a holo emitter and it creates an image of a female bipedal alien. She tells them her race seeded the primordial life on planets across the galaxy both with the code to create bipedal intelligent life but also the code to create this hologram. We are all connected, yada yada yada. Everybody but Picard and the Romulan captain are disappointed.
Review: I can see what they were going for, but the cosmic revelation at the end of the episode is kinda lame. Also the science in this one is bad even by Trek standards. Not unwatchable, but it could have been a lot better.
4 out of 10
The episode begins with the Enterprise on routine survey of protostars. Riker calls Picard to the observation lounge and when he enters he sees a 12,000 year old artifact on the table and his jaw drops. It drops further when he sees it has been brought by his archaeology professor. Later in Ten Forward the two meet and the professor tells Picard he has been doing microarchaeology for many years now but has been keeping his findings to himself (usually a sign of being a crank, but whatevs). He asks Picard to take a leave of absence for a year or so to help him complete the most important research project of his life. After a night of thinking about it Picard tells him no, his carrier to with Starfleet is too important to him. The professor storms off and leaves the ship on a shuttle.
A few days later while en route to a conference they receive a distress call from the professor. They arrive to find his shuttle under attack from some Yridians. Worf fires on their tractor beam but instead the entire ship explodes (this is never explained). They get the professor back to the Enterprise but he dies in sick bay. All the find in his shuttle is a series of numbers in his computer. Picard thinks back to something he said about life and has the computer look at the numbers as biological somethings (the episode gets pretty vague about the alleged science). They appear to be traces from DNA of species from across the galaxy. They figure out from the logs where the professor was last and race there. But just as they arrive first a Cardassian and then a Klingon war ship arrive and all pretend they don't know why the others are there.
Picard gets the two captains to come aboard and they somehow agree to cooperate. The Cardassian though can't help by betray them and tries to sabotage the Enterprise. Fortunately it is detected and Picard gives them false information. Eventually they find there way to a nearly dead world only as they beam down with the Klingon captain both the Cardassians and Romulans arrive. The two late comers start arguing and Beverley scrapes some gunk off a rock and scans it. Somehow this reprograms the tricorder to be a holo emitter and it creates an image of a female bipedal alien. She tells them her race seeded the primordial life on planets across the galaxy both with the code to create bipedal intelligent life but also the code to create this hologram. We are all connected, yada yada yada. Everybody but Picard and the Romulan captain are disappointed.
Review: I can see what they were going for, but the cosmic revelation at the end of the episode is kinda lame. Also the science in this one is bad even by Trek standards. Not unwatchable, but it could have been a lot better.
4 out of 10
Thursday, November 5, 2015
TNG: Lessons
While I am sure I watched Lessons in it's original run, it isn't one I remember. To be fair I don't think 11 year old me was as interesting in Picard's love life and I am today. Previous episodes have only dealt with his emotional distance and have stayed away from him being attached. While, other than The Inner Light which this episode heavily references. Maybe that experience opened him up a bit to the idea of being romantically involved with someone. This episode also points out how kinda strange it is that he and Beverley are so close yet refuse to move past friends, although she is clearly jealous at the idea of another woman getting in her way.
The episode opens with Picard coming onto the bridge during the night watch, but he isn't there for work. Presumably having trouble sleeping Picard is working on his archaeology hobby and asks that Data contact a colleague for him, but is informed communications are down for a stellar cartography project. In his ready room he learns both the library computers and replicators are down as well, all because of stellar cartography. He heads down to investigate but when he enters the lights are off and a woman is telling her assistants what to do. She isn't happy at his intrusion and is beginning to scold him when the lights come on and she sees who it is. She makes him some herbal tea with a special recipe she created and he learns she is Nella Darren, head of stellar cartography. The next morning Beverley and Jean Luc are having tea together and we learn he has chosen Nella's tea. After tea the two of them head to Ten Forward for Data's concert and Picard is surprise to see Nella playing the piano in the concert.
After the performance the two of them discuss music and she learns he plays as well. Later that day she shows up in his quarters with a fold up piano and the two of them start playing duets together. After playing together for a few days she takes him to a remote Jefferies tube that she claims has the best accustics in the ship. The two start playing together and can be heard from engineering, until they take a break to kiss. Later that day though in a turbolift the two are talking romantically until it stops to let in another crew member and Picard abruptly breaks off the conversation. After having a talk with Troi though he decides to make their relationship public and she is still a bit hurt but agrees.
Suddenly there is a distress call from a colony. The planet suffers fire storms and this time they are especially bad. They need to evacuate the colonists now. At the planning meeting Nella offers to lead a team with special deflectors to try and buy the colony more time. It will be dangerous but she insists on leading the team. They get the colonists out on time but her team is trapped on the surface. Picard assumes she must be dead and begins to mourn when he gets a call that there are survivors. She is among the very last to come back. After they talk and decide their relationship can't work while they are working together on the same ship, especially with her under his command. Before she leaves she makes him promise not to give up his music.
Review: Not one of those episodes that makes a top ten of all time list, but a solid emotional Picard episode. It also goes a long way to help the audience understand why Picard has stayed single so long as captain.
6 out of 10
The episode opens with Picard coming onto the bridge during the night watch, but he isn't there for work. Presumably having trouble sleeping Picard is working on his archaeology hobby and asks that Data contact a colleague for him, but is informed communications are down for a stellar cartography project. In his ready room he learns both the library computers and replicators are down as well, all because of stellar cartography. He heads down to investigate but when he enters the lights are off and a woman is telling her assistants what to do. She isn't happy at his intrusion and is beginning to scold him when the lights come on and she sees who it is. She makes him some herbal tea with a special recipe she created and he learns she is Nella Darren, head of stellar cartography. The next morning Beverley and Jean Luc are having tea together and we learn he has chosen Nella's tea. After tea the two of them head to Ten Forward for Data's concert and Picard is surprise to see Nella playing the piano in the concert.
After the performance the two of them discuss music and she learns he plays as well. Later that day she shows up in his quarters with a fold up piano and the two of them start playing duets together. After playing together for a few days she takes him to a remote Jefferies tube that she claims has the best accustics in the ship. The two start playing together and can be heard from engineering, until they take a break to kiss. Later that day though in a turbolift the two are talking romantically until it stops to let in another crew member and Picard abruptly breaks off the conversation. After having a talk with Troi though he decides to make their relationship public and she is still a bit hurt but agrees.
Suddenly there is a distress call from a colony. The planet suffers fire storms and this time they are especially bad. They need to evacuate the colonists now. At the planning meeting Nella offers to lead a team with special deflectors to try and buy the colony more time. It will be dangerous but she insists on leading the team. They get the colonists out on time but her team is trapped on the surface. Picard assumes she must be dead and begins to mourn when he gets a call that there are survivors. She is among the very last to come back. After they talk and decide their relationship can't work while they are working together on the same ship, especially with her under his command. Before she leaves she makes him promise not to give up his music.
Review: Not one of those episodes that makes a top ten of all time list, but a solid emotional Picard episode. It also goes a long way to help the audience understand why Picard has stayed single so long as captain.
6 out of 10
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