Evolution written by Michael Piller and directed by Winrich
Kolbe
What’s it about: Wesley’s latest experiment runs amok on the
Enterprise…
To Baldly Go: The characterisation of Picard suddenly feels
a lot more sophisticated and his decision to save his crew over any experiment
even if it might be seen as playing it safe is admirable. ‘School project?’
Picard blanches unbelievingly when he realises that this is the reason the Enterprise
has been rendered powerless.
Alien Empath: ‘I will share the feelings I wish to share’
says Stubbs to Troi and I felt like giving him a massive round of applause!
Isn’t Troi’s continual probing into peoples feelings some kind of invasion of
their privacy? I know it’s her job to help people get in touch with their true
feelings but having Troi turn up at peoples quarters every time they have a
paddy makes her seem like an irritating busybody.
Dancing Doctor: A big boo hiss for bringing Gates McFadden
back as Dr Bev and getting rid of one of my favourite characters on the show
(the irrepressible Dr Pulaski). At least with her return Piller decides to deal
with the issue of being away from Wesley for a year and Crusher is desperate to
know what she has missed but is scared of smothering him. Dr Bev concentrates a
little too hard on her son’s life…she should be looking out for her own!
Boy Genius: Evolution is a great episode for Wesley because
somebody finally acknowledges what a swot he is and the script goes to some
lengths to show that there is a normal seventeen-year-old boy underneath all
that geekery and duty. Stubbs sizes Wesley up in about two seconds and
questions what he does beyond fly the ship and read. It is nice to see Wesley
do something as normal as fall asleep during an experiment and be late for
work. He’s his father’s son; honest, trusting and strong. He has come so far,
so fast and his mother is scared that he is devoting himself too much to his
studies and not having any fun. It seems that each season opener features some
special moments with Guinan and like The Child those moments are reserved for
Wesley. She manages to convince him to own up about his error without even
changing the look on her face. He sounds almost angry when he tells Guinan that
he always gets and A in his coursework. When Wesley snaps at his mother
for not being around it’s like a coming of age moment for the character, for
once he feels like a teenager and not a Federation clone.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Number One the Bridge, such as it is,
is yours.’
The Good: Hang on one cotton-picking minute…isn’t season
three of TNG when Micheal Piller joined the show? And suddenly its really
rather good! In exactly the same way when he left Voyager it turned shite!
Maybe, just maybe there is a trend here. The opening FX shot of the Enterprise
orbiting the red planet is quite simply the best of its kind we have seen yet
on this show. Phantom Borg ships, doors that open and close madly, a brass band
blaring over the Bridge…not the most exciting of problems but worth a chuckle
or two. The first mention of baseball in a Piller script is a pleasing one and
would be adapted by DS9. Whilst nanites are hardly the same sort of threat as
the Borg the fact that they can turn the ship against them (enhanced by Stubbs’
homicidal act) makes them a definite threat.
The Bad: Doesn’t it always seem that the people who visit
the Enterprise (Okona, K’Ehleyr and Stubbs) fell more real than the actual
crew?
Moment to Watch Out For: When Stubbs is attacked by the
nanites he falls through the door to his quarters straight towards the camera
like a corpse. When putting this disc in that was the strongest memory I had of
this piece.
Moral of the Week: If you are a seventeen year old boy don’t
forget to do all the fun things like getting drunk and sleeping around…all study
and no play makes Wesley a dull boy.
Fashion Statement: There has been a slight adjustment to the
uniforms on the show where they now have collars and they are more black than
red…it’s a small difference but everybody looks a lot more comfortable than
they did in the spray on uniforms. Although it does make Picard look a bit more
like Hitler. Troi is suddenly wearing lipstick so bright it looks like she is
aiming for the femme fatale look. Is Guinan serving jelly babies in Ten
Forward? Wesley’s friends in Ten Forward look like they have walked out of the
nearest GAP planet with their most garish colours and designs.
The Ensigns of Command written by Melinda M. Snodgrass and
directed by Cliff Bole
What’s it about: One of the many dull TNG episodes about
resettlement…
Fully Functional: Despite Dr Bev and the Captain turning up
to his violin recital he tells them why he is going to fail before he has even
attempted. There will be some fun and very sweet things done with Data over the
next couple of years but I have to admit that I am growing a bit tired by the
way that everybody feels that they need to give him patronising advice and the
(lack of) humour with him taking everything so literally: ‘I’m afraid I don’t
have time to ask a million questions.’ When you compare it to the sophisticated
romances of Sisko and Kassidy and Odo and Kira, Data’s flirtation in this
episode is more akin to two kids playing kiss chase in the playground. Its so
twee I think I vomited a little in my mouth just so I could taste something
sour to counteract the sugar.
Alien Empath: Knock me down with a feather - Deanna Troi is
used for a reasonably useful purpose beyond nosing her way into the crews
personal lives and sighing at her mother! Trying to make Picard understand that
they cannot be expected to communicate on the same level with the Shelliac just
because they speak the same languages is putting some of her knowledge gained
observing alien cultures to good use. More of this please.
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘I don’t have any silly prejudices
against computers! I like them!’
‘Still stirring up trouble?’ ‘Since when is talk trouble?’ –
when its as boring as this!
The Good: I was rather tickled by the Shelliac and their
dismissal of Picard’s diplomacy and compromises – its refreshing to meet a
species that knows what it wants and wont be put off by the Captain’s chatter.
When the Shelliac get bored of the Captain’s inane prattle they simply whisk
him back to the Bridge in a very Q-like fashion. You would not catch me going
in that transporter after it turned a piece of technology into a twisted modern
art sculpture! The settlement does feel like a studio but it is impressively
achieved and the water feature with the vertiginous steps give it a memorable
look. Picard dusting off the Enterprise plaque before answering the
Shelliac is way cool. He could do with more of this insouciance.
The Bad: After the distinctive visual look of Evolution it
seems such a shame to be taking a shuttle down to one of those drab fake
looking studio planets that were all the rage in season one. I do like the idea
of a crashed Federation ship landing on this planet 90 odd years ago and them
making a life for themselves…but aren’t they a dull old bunch? Scenes of Data
trying to convince the settlers to leave their home are so insipidly written
and performed you would be hard pressed to tell that there was any tension in
the situation. Go and watch DS9’s Progress to see how this sort of thing can be
achieved with tension, humour and great characterisation. Its so logically
depicted Data actually contacts the Enterprise and gives them an update
of the colonists wishes through statistics he has polled on the planet! Eileen
Seeley is so wooden as Data’s fancy piece I was wondering if she was playing
the part this emotionlessly in order to make her seem an android too – when she
kisses him she just stares at him with a blank look like she is waiting for
orders to do the vacuuming. Data’s approach to convincing the colonists to
leave is about as theatrical as it comes (‘Who will be left to mourn you?’)
and I’m very surprised that they were naïve enough to fall for it. When they
decide to stubbornly stand by their leader and stay on the planet I would be
out of there thinking ‘well, I tried’ and move onto the next assignment
whilst they are slaughtered by the Shelliac. Everybody convenes in somebody’s
living room (its probably cheaper from a production point) and the rebellious
colonists look like a collection of students modelling the latest clothes from
GAP. The Shelliac vessel looks remarkably cheap as though it has been
constructed out of a few bottles of washing up liquid and couple of mother
boards!
Moment to Watch Out For: There is a very funny moment when
Picard visits the transporter room and he sounds like he is completely blitzed
out on Romulan ale! Seriously go and watch it and listen to his sing song ‘carry
on!’ as he departs!
Moral of the Week: Actions speak louder than words.
Result: With its childish plotting, unengaging characters
and simple morals, The Ensigns of Command is a sudden dip in quality back to
the worst excesses of the first season. It takes Data the entire episode to
realise that he needs to take these people at gunpoint which in all honesty
would have been my opening gambit. This faceless bunch of diplomats should have
been left to their own fate if you ask me and I was hoping after ten minutes or
so that they Shelliac would descend and kill the lot of them. Its also a
remarkably cheap looking episode (I’m not sure why because there was nothing in
Evolution that would have really stretched the budget…perhaps they are
saving the money for episodes to come) with a return of the fake studio planet
and a particularly corny looking ship for the Enterprise to square off to.
Ponderous and very boring, when the best thing about an episode is Troi you are
having an off day: 3/10
The Survivors written by Michael Wagner and directed by Les
Landau
What’s it about: Two survivors on a devastated planet. What
could possibly have happened?
Mr Wolf: Worf continues to be a source of delight and I loved
the way he admired Kevin for threatening them with a non functioning weapon.
His reaction to a sip of his drink is: ‘Good tea. Nice house.’ He always
was a succinct one. His ‘Captain! They’ve hit us with 400 gigawatts of
particle energy!’ is so wonderfully melodramatic I fell about laughing.
Alien Empath: Finally Troi is being punished for being such
a nosy parker! I love the scenes where she is tortured by the music box because
they are subtly done at first but as the episode continues she gets more and
more hysterical as it starts to drive her mad. We only get snatches of the
music but if you had listen to it over and over it would truly drive you
insane. Maybe Troi will be a little more wary about probing people in the
future? I think this might be the first time I have ever felt sorry for the
woman. It might be the last time too, and all they had to do was torture her horribly.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Number One, I think you better see
who’s at home…’
‘I saw her broken body and I went insane. And in an instant
of grief…’
The Good: One of the best ever teasers for a TNG episode and
a gripping mystery to solve. A colony planet that has been devastated except
for one small square area of grass where a house stands. Visually it’s a quirky
treat as the juxtaposition of the glorious looking house in the blasted
wilderness looks so jarring but in a very pleasing way. Trust Riker to put his
foot in it and end up hanging upside down. Kevin and Rishon have been expertly
cast and John Anderson and Anne Haney (she was also brilliant as Judge
Renora in the DS9 episode Dax) give the sort of subtle, heartbreaking
performances they could have only dreamed of in the first season. I love the
sets for the house with the double layered staircases – in fact it looks so
nice I want to live there. I can’t say that about many functional TNG sets.
Picard questions if they were collaborators and perhaps that was why they were
spared but the initial assessment is that there is nothing unusual about Kevin
and Rishon aside from the fact that they survived. Les Landau shoots this
episode with an eye for imaginative visuals and scenes that would normally look
dull and be shot head on (the beam down to the planet is an impressive long
shot, there is tracking shot along the corridors of the Enterprise with Picard
and Worf talking and Picard is filmed coming into Troi’s quarters through her
mirror) are give some extra flair. Why is the ship protecting Kevin and Rishon?
Its another intriguing mystery and the sudden cut to the two of them dancing
leads you to thinking the pair of them must be in cahoots. Picard asks Kevin if
he was kill to protect his wife and he tells him that he wouldn’t – it’s a
touching statement of pacifism brought to life by a fine actor. The ship that
turns up at the planet to destroy the house is a lovely piece of deception on
Kevin’s part and it takes a man of Picard’s intellect to see through it. Picard
chooses his words with precision (that they will stay as long as the two of
them are alive). The choice to have a Shakespearean actor of Patrick Stewart’s
calibre as the lead actor of this show comes into sharp focus after Picard
beams Kevin and Rishon to the Bridge and deconstructs their fantasy and reveals
what really happened during the attack. He does this with all the skill of
Hercule Poirot himself and his explanation to Rishon that she is not a real
person is devastatingly handled.
The Bad: Oddly if any episode needed Troi as a Betazoid to
beam down initially and make her observations it is this one and she is no
where to be seen. Aww bless there is a tiny shower of sparks on the Bridge as
the ship fires on the Enterprise but compared to what I saw in DS9’s The Search
the other day (fires raging, bulkheads collapsing…) it is remarkably tame.
Moment to Watch Out For: What a tragic answer to this
episodes mystery – Kevin had the power to stop the attackers but as a man of
peace couldn’t bring himself to do so and as a result his wife died. He could
not bear to live without her and recreated their house and recreated Rishon and
has been living a lie. Kevin killed the entire race in a moment of grief, 15
billion people died because he lost his wife. It reveals how much he must have
cared for her and how powerful he is to dismiss an entire race in a moments
anger.
Moral of the Week: You have to live up to the consequences
of your convictions.
Fashion Statement: Troi’s new ocean blue outfit is horrible,
it does nothing for her figure and sticks out in the Bridge like a sore thumb.
How long does she wear this monstrosity for?
Orchestra: The musician has great fun with the score as the Enterprise
takes on the ship that approaches the planet.
Result: Such a beautiful, simple idea pulled off with real
style, The Survivors is a great example of stirring the season three episodes
that I remember. It’s a classic Star Trek episode done with all the style and
depth of the TNG and with its strategic plotting and exciting space battles it
remains entertaining throughout. Patrick Stewart gives an outstanding
performance as a man who has figured out this ruse a long time ago and is
playing along to see if his theory is correct and the scene where he exposes
Kevin as the lone survivor of the terrible war is magnificently played. Add to
that the torturous subplot for Troi and the gorgeous relationship between the
two survivors, some top quality location work and a director working overtime
to make this look good and you have an episode that scores on pretty much every
count. I would have made this the second episode of the season: 9/10
Who Watches the Watchers written by Richard Manning &
Hans Beimler and directed by Robert Weimer
What’s it about: The Mintakans are about to come face to
face with God…
To Baldly Go: I was taken aback by the Captain asking Dr Bev
why she didn’t let the man due rather than poison their race with alien ideas.
Scenes of Picard being seen in a haze of light like some kind of benevolent God
are far funnier than I imagined they would be. This is the blackest mood we
have ever seen Picard in and for the first two thirds of this episode he walks
around the Enterprise in a foul mood – it is a look that suits him far
more than the middle management diplomat he usually forced to play and Stewart
grabs hold of the chance to growl far more than usual. It would appear that
just like Sisko in the early seasons of DS9, Picard is extremely uncomfortable
with the idea of being considered a religious icon. He has to try and think of
a way to get through to Nuria and explain that his life and hers isn’t that
different and the dialogue surrounding the talk of better huts and better bows
sees him at his creative best.
Alien Empath: Two episodes in a row with a decent role for
Troi? Don’t tell me that there is actual potential in this character that I was
completely unaware of? This is the sort of role she is perfect for, beaming
down to the planet and using her empathic abilities to try and calm the
situation. Mind you she isn’t too successful at what with everything spiralling
madly out of control but it’s the sort of role she should be fantastic
at. She tries to assert that Liko has had a dream rather than actually seeing
the Picard.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Before you start quoting me the Prime
Directive he’d already seen us, the damage was done.’
‘More like “If you want his services I’m the one you have to
go through”’ ‘What kind of services?’ ‘All kind’ ‘They are a sensible
race.’
‘The Mintakans are starting to believe in a God and the one
they’ve chosen is you.’
‘And now you are asking me to sabotage that achievement, to
send them back into the Dark Ages of superstition and ignorance and fear? No!’
– Stewart is terrifying here. I hope we get to see his teeth like this more
often.
‘To you it’s a simple tool. To her, its magic.’
‘You have taught us there is nothing beyond our reach’ ‘Not
even the stars.’
‘Remember my people’ Always.’
The Good: I love the idea of a spying station malfunctioning
and forcing a pre warp civilisation to face up to the technologies beyond their
time – it’s a concept with so much mileage that this episode mines with ease.
The location work is fantastic even by Star Trek standards and you genuinely
believe this is the kind of rocky wilderness where these people have grown up.
Finally we get to see why breaking the Prime Directive is a dangerous business.
Before all we had was Picard lecturing people on how they should behave but now
a writer has thought to show us the consequences of turning your back on non
interference. For the Mintakans it means the return of ancient religious
superstitions that could break apart their society. It’s a show like Who
Watches the Watchers where all the guest cast are given unique and believable
characterisation (Liko is ready to jump back into the time of superstitious
violence, Oji believe what she has seen but is more open minded about the
truth, Nuria tries to fight the grip of fear that has hold of her people and
Fento is a wise old man who remembers the myths and is just frightened enough
of them to see which way the wind blows) that reveals how tasteless the guest
characters usually are (compare to the forgettable bunch in The Ensigns of
Command). To match the strong writing these characters are cast extremely well
too. The way story unfolds with Palmer turning up to ruin things just as Troi
was starting to convince Liko that he had had a shared hallucination with his
daughter and their subsequent plan to beam him to safety as Troi leads the
Mintakans away like the Pied Piper with tales of a sighting of another
scientist in the rocks is very engaging. Its so much more exciting than the
usual nonsense stuck on the Enterprise. The scenes of Nuria aboard the Enterprise
are mesmerising because we have never seen the ship through the eyes of
somebody who finds it this magical before and instead of the floating lounge
ship we are used to suddenly it is a dazzling miracle of technology. I didn’t
even feel this wowed by the ship during Encounter at Farpoint. Imagine being
able to see your world from the heavens, what an incredible experience that
would be. The lightning steaks through the flame licked sets – this is a gorgeous
looking episode.
Moment to Watch Out For: All the scenes dealing with divine
intervention to bring the dead back to life is stunning in its simplicity and
depth and leads to the brilliant moment where Picard is shot by an arrow to
prove his mortality.
Moral of the Week: The Prime Directive is there for a reason
but sometimes things work out when it is broken. Oh and Picard is not a God. I
think some people forget that sometimes.
Fashion Statement: Riker and Troi make quite convincing
looking proto Vulcans decked out in some pleasant garb. Shame they have to go
back to looking like bureaucrats by the end of the episode.
Orchestra: Another of my favourite musical scores for Star
Trek, it seems to me that series three was the pinnacle of music in Trek with
some truly outstanding soundtracks. For some odd reason as this show continued
the music got duller and duller and even infected DS9 and the early years of
Voyager. During the latter stages of DS9 and Voyager the music was a lot more dramatic
and tasty which in one show reflects the storylines and in the other is putting
an exciting wrapping on a pretty boring gift. I really like the music during
the chase sequence, its fun, quirky and exciting. Pan pipes are used in places
which makes for a refreshing change from the usual horns. The music creates a
sense of dazzlement as Nuria experiences the Enterprise with the violin in
particular sweeping in to make this as magical an experience as possible.
Result: The idea of turning Picard into a Godlike figure to
a race of primitive people sounds like the perfect recipe for a camp disaster
and yet this is one of the finest crafted episodes of TNG you will come across
in its run. It’s a script with great roles for Picard, Troi and Riker and a handful
of guest characters that spring from the page and the story that unfolds is
highly engaging with plenty of considerate dialogue. The production matches the
quality of the script and treats us to some stunning location work, a superb
musical score and plenty of moments of excitement and tension. Who Watches the
Watchers the second of two back to back classics that show Picard at his very
best and Patrick Stewart is magnificent. Tossing technobabble out of the window
and going for something far more interesting, this is a stunning example of TNG
at its absolute best: 10/10
What’s it about: Lt. Aster is killed on an away mission and
her son is living on the Enterprise…
The Bonding written by Ronald D. Moore and directed by
Winrich Kolbe
To Baldly Go: Picard lets out a massive sigh as he realises
that he is going to have to tell Jeremy that his mother was killed on an away
mission. What an awful commitment to uphold. To be fair to Picard he has always
questioned the policy of having children on a starship and here is a great
reason to side against it. The way he takes Jeremy’s hand and says that nobody
is alone on the Starship Enterprise is very touching.
Mr Wolf: Worf proves himself to be a man of honour in every
respect by wanting to be there to tell Jeremy what happened to his mother
because he was in charge of the away team. He wants to honour Lt. Aster by
performing the Bonding ritual with Jeremy and taking the child under his wing.
Fully Functional: Data asks if the feelings of loss should
run just as deep regardless of who has died and questions why everybody keeps
asking how well he knew the deceased – sometimes Data is used to highlight the
illogic of human behaviour and this is a great example.
Alien Empath: Well blow me down with a feather and call me
George…Troi is put to good use again! I’m starting to wonder if this is going
to be the turning point for the two weakest characters of the first two years,
Wesley and Deanna. With the death of a crewmember affecting those who survived
her and a young son to deal with there is plenty of work cut out for the ships
counsellor. Picard tells Troi that her way is a sensitive one and I almost
choked on my coffee, from what we have seen in the past two seasons that is far
from the truth! However it is nice to hear her say that her job does have its
rewards when she helps somebody to recover.
Boy Genius: Using Wesley in a dramatic, surprising fashion
again there is a sudden cut to Bridge and focus on the young Ensign who
remembers what it was like when the Captain visited him to tell him that his
father was dead. Jeremy losing his mother and being asked to speak to him about
his experiences is painful for Wesley because he hasn’t dealt with the loss of
his father himself. It brings back all those feelings he felt the day that
Picard visited. When he was told of his fathers death Wesley tried to hide how
he was really feeling and acted brave and mature as everybody expected him to
be but it felt as though somebody was kicking him in head. He was angry with
the Captain because he led the mission and came home and his father didn’t and
now finally he gets to tell him that. Wil Wheaton gives a very strong
performance in these scenes – it is clear that this young actor was capable of
much more than copious amounts of technobabble and this is a fine example of
what he could bring to the role.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Her death with senseless. The last
victim of a forgotten war!’
‘Lets just hope it doesn’t blow us to Kingdom Come whilst
its trying to figure out how to blow us to Kingdom Come!’
The Good: Its great that the second you start thinking how
twee this is all getting with Jeremy watching old memories of him playing with
his mum she actually turns up in his quarters smiling and calling out his name.
Its absolutely chilling. You have to wonder how Jeremy is going to start
grieving when his mother reappears and their home on Earth is recreated in his
quarters. I bet O’Brien was relieved when that gaseous entity attacked him in
the transporter room…finally he has something to say in Ten Forward when he
gets together with his mates! Isn’t it lovely that the being from the planet
isn’t corrupt or evil but simply an apologetic lifeform that wants to help
Jeremy to cope with the loss of his mother out of a sense of guilt that she
died needlessly.
The Bad: I have always questioned the logic of keeping
families aboard a ship that walks into danger week in, week out but this is a
particularly tragic example.
Moral of the Week: Accept your grief because that is the only
way you can move on.
Orchestra: The music when Lt Aster turns up in Jeremy’s
quarters and talks of taking him down to the planet literally sounds like
something moving up and down your spine. Brrr…
Result: The Bonding is an episode that makes you think it is
going to be about coping with loss which it deals with very well but halfway
through twists into something far more chilling and interesting. Like the best
Ronald D. Moore episodes this is saturated in strong character material and
there is a great role for both Wesley, Worf and Troi as they have to try and
comfort Jeremy through the loss of his mother. Gabriel Damon gives a
surprisingly subtle and touching performance in a role that could have diluted
into syrupy melodrama. As a metaphor for pushing away fantasy and accepting and
embracing loss no matter how painful that might be, The Bonding is a little gem
that gives you much to think about: 8/10
Booby Trap written by Ron Roman, Michael Piller &
Richard Danus and directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
What’s it about: Geordi gets it on with a nobody and spouts
a whole lot of technobabble…
To Baldly Go: He used to build model ships when he was a
child and wished he could climb into them inside the bottle. Actually that’s
something I can relate to because I have always wondered about the adventures
of the ships inside bottles. Its nice to see the Captain loosen up a bit and
get excited about something other than protocol. He’s appalled to learn that
nobody else builds ships in bottles but then O’Brien comes to his rescue
(although this may be the first example of the Chief’s cringeworthy ability to
suck up to any Captain as we would see many times again in DS9!). Even Troi
finds it a rare pleasure to see Picard enjoying himself and she stands there basking
in this rare display of emotion from the Captain.
Blind Engineer: Poor Geordi, what an incredible loser he is
in not even able to seduce a date with a holodeck at his fingertips! It might
have something to do with his approach – I like a date to be simple but fun but
somebody playing a violin on a moonlit beach would leave me with only one
impression. Sleaze ball. When even Wesley Crusher can see what you’re doing
wrong you’re in serious trouble. Guinan gets to the root of the problem with
her usual skill (it’s a gift) and that is that Geordi is trying too hard with
women he likes which scares them away but relaxes around women he doesn’t.
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘I know my ship, inside and out’ ‘Well
then you must know me, inside and out because a lot of me is in here’ – Only
Star Wars can rival Star Trek for vomit inducing romantic dialogue.
‘Every time you look at this engine you’re looking at me.
Every time you touch it, its me’ – pass me the bucket, there’s something
venomous growing inside of me and it wants out.
The Bad: Isn’t it obvious when a ship has been derelict and
stuck in its position for centuries that there is probably a reason for that? A
dangerous one. Does Picard approach with caution? Nope, he heads
straight over without no thoughts as to the consequences and once the
Enterprise starts exhibiting the same problems he’s all ‘Dagnabbit we’ve
fallen into a booby trap!’ Who even calls things booby traps? Every moment
of this episode is predictable as hell – as soon as Geordi calls up Leah Brahms
on the holodeck and she just happens to be a beautiful woman all the signposts
are pointing at the two of them getting it on. But not before a few technical
disputes of course. Yawn. Talking of making out with people that don’t really
exist…is this masturbation? How far can you go with a holodeck character? Who
cleans up the mess? Sorry I know I’m being tasteless but whilst I can see the
appeal of being able to have it off with anybody your heart desires surely it
is as empty and meaningless as a one night stand and would fuck you up in the
same way? How much technobabble can one person handle? I have to be honest but
I switch off completely when we go into scientific overdrive because all the
gobbledegook really isn’t Shakespeare as much as some fans might like to
convince you that it is. With Booby Trap I was switched off for a long time,
possibly half the episode.
Fashion Statement: Is it my imagination or is Wesley Crusher
growing into a fine looking adult? There were a few moments in this episode
where I did a double take!
Orchestra: I can’t tell when the composer is using a
synthesiser or an orchestra in this show but this episode definitely veered
towards the former in an intrusive, distracting way. I’m not saying Rick Berman
had a point but it could have been toned down a tad.
Foreboding: Guinan says that a bald man took care of her
once and that is why she is attracted to bald men which could be a reference to
Time’s Arrow.
Result: Two of the dullest clichés on TNG are Geordi’s
inability to attract women and his penchant for technobabble and it astonishes
me it took three writers to magic up this ‘prop my eyes open with matchsticks’
dull episode. When written well Star Trek can grip you with its morality tales
and high concept ideas but when it is left to rest on its laurels you get
something as dreary as Booby Trap. To save you guys the trouble of putting
yourselves through this…the Enterprise is stuck between some rocks,
Geordi takes 40 minutes to figure out a technobabble solution and Picard rides
the ship home. In the meantime Geordi flirts with a holodeck character and
finally gets a snog. Except she isn’t real. There now don’t you want to thank
me for sparing you this hour of your life that you can do something more
productive with? Dismal: 1/10
The Enemy written by David Kemper & Michael Piller and
directed by David Carson
What’s it about: Geordi is trapped on an inhospitable planet
and Worf has an impossible choice to make…
To Baldly Go: Picard makes a fine assessment that they need
to give a considered response to the Romulans…although he does have delusions
of grandeur in suggesting that this situation could escalate to such a degree
that is remembered in the same vein of Pearl Harbour! He doesn’t want to order
Worf to have the transfusion and he puts his ego aside and begs him to do it by
choice.
Number One: Riker has come along in leaps and bounds this
year, shirking off that macho persona that made me laugh so hard in the first
season and a half for something far more professional (what a half arsed
compliment that is) and interesting… However he stalks the ship in this episode
and screams abuse at the crew because he is frustrated that Geordi is on the
planet still whereas Picard calmly assesses the situation. You can see why one
is a Captain and one isn’t.
Mr Wolf: Worf is immediately on edge with a Romulan on the
Enterprise and orders a guard to be posted at sickbay much to Dr Bev’s chargin.
It always frightens me when I say that it is refreshing to see racism rearing
its head in the 24th century because obviously I wouldn’t want it to
be the case that people were killing each other ad nauseum over race issues but
it is such a natural flaw to have and these idealistic characters need as many
of those as they can get to make them seem more real. Worf despises the
Romulans and would rather that Dr Bev’s patient died than provide for her as a
donor. His parents were killed by the species and he wont help even one of
them. There is a similar character thread running on DS9 about Kira and
Cardassians (although that is dealt with more often and far more powerfully).
Blind Engineer: How much more effective is this episode for
Geordi than Booby Trap? He’s stuck in an impossible situation and he manages to
think his way out of it. Trapped in a filthy hole on the planet from hell he
melts down some metal pieces into a pair of pickaxes that he can use to try and
climb his way out. He manages to form a relationship with the Romulan by being
charming and irreverent and revealing his weakness (the way he reacts to being
asked if without his visor he is blind is very telling). He gets through to him
by agreeing that there are times when you should lay down your life for your
ideals but this isn’t one of those times. If they work together they can get
off this hell hole of a planet and back to the safety of their respective
people. If this all sounds twee it really isn’t written or performed that way.
It’s extremely well done.
Dancing Doctor: To be fair Gates McFadden has been
reasonably effective since her return because she hasn’t been asked to do
anything particularly challenging. However it all changes her where Dr Bev is
thrown into the role of a Doctor desperate to convince a Klingon that he needs
to help a Romulan and McFadden simply isn’t up to the task. She fudges the
scene where she initially asks Worf to be a donor, saying the lines with a airy
detachment and then when she shows him the Romulan close to death she is
extremely robotic. It’s a shame because this is exactly the sort of material
that Diane Muldaur would have really gotten her teeth into.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I would rather die than pollute my body
with Klingon filth.’
‘Put on your best poker face, Number One.’
The Good: Avoiding the usual ‘Captain’s Log’ at the beginning
of the episode means that I was instantly more gripped with this than I have
been with practically any other episode of TNG. This is how to pull off
an alien world in a studio, turn the lights right down, swathe it in mist and
have shocking electric lightning strike the scene at unpredictable moments.
It’s so nice to see the usually pristine Federation uniforms muddy and wet and
it’s such a rare pleasure to see these people get dirty. Being able to look
through Geordi’s visor is once again a visual delight. I really liked the
throwaway comment from Dr Bev that there are too many subtle differences
between Romulans and Vulcans to mention – its all you need to recognise that
they look similar but are in fact a completely different species. Andreas Katsulas
is one of Babylon 5’s strongest performers and he does a great job here as the
Romulan Tomalak. The sets really are impressive in this tale, there’s a scene
that barely last 30 seconds where Geordi is climbing across a mountainous maw
with water running down to a lake below. I really admire how the episode allows
Worf to stick to his beliefs and the Romulan dies – its not the usual sort of
tidy ending we are used to. Suddenly you are left feeling ‘oh shit’ as Picard
is going to have to explain this death away without starting a war.
Teaser-tastic: Wow, this is how to get an audience hooked
within minutes. A bloody Romulan attacking Worf, Geordi falling down a muddy
crevice and a general feeling of foreboding and horror.
Moment to Watch Out For: The performances of Patrick Stewart
and Michael Dorn as Picard begs Worf to save the Romulans life. When the
Captain sits down I could have sworn he was going to order Worf to do it but he
sighs hard and respects his beliefs. A top notch moment of restrained drama.
Moral of the Week: Work together and you can achieve more.
Orchestra: The rising tension in the music as you realise
that Geordi is going to be left behind is fantastic.
Foreboding: Interestingly Riker asks Worf what he would do
if the Romulans made peace with the Federation – he should wait until the last
few seasons of DS9 where they are openly fighting alongside them against the
Dominion.
Result: A story of mistrust and racism, The Enemy is a
strikingly effective episode that tackles the story in two equally strong
narratives. Series three is where the Romulans really made their presence felt
in TNG and they feel like a real threat despite whatever bridges are made in
this piece. I love the look of the episode with the scenes on the planet proving
to be refreshingly dirty and wet rather than the usual dusty studio bound
planet. Worf continues to be one of the strongest characters on this show and
he really has to question his beliefs here and the writers do a lot to salvage
Geordi’s character after his dismal handling in the previous episode. I hope
season three keeps up this intense storytelling because the writers are just
starting to tap into something very powerful. Only Gates McFadden’s wooden
performance mars: 9/10
The Price written by Hannah Louise Shearer and directed by
Robert Scheerer
What’s it about: Troi has a passionate romance during
negotiations for a wormhole…
Number One: Ral is such a clever sod. He knows that he
cannot manipulate Commander Riker with talk as he does with the other delegates
and so he goes for his heart and exploits his feelings for Deanna. However
Riker outsmarts him at his own game and tells him that Troi is exactly the sort
of woman to bring meaning to his sorry existence, practically handing her on a
plate to him.
Alien Empath: Knock me down with a feather and call me Billy
Jean! In the first scene Troi feels more real than she ever has to this point
in the shows history. Not just an emotion seeking plot device but a genuine
person who wants a real chocolate sundae (not replicated muck) and sighs ‘now
what?’ when Picard calls for her. ‘God forbid I should miss my first
look at the wormhole…’ Maybe Troi is always just out of shot in all scenes
insulting her fellow crewmembers and its only when we cut back to focus on her
when she is her usual bland self. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if we as the
audience could hear what she is thinking telepathically and she could comment
dryly like this on all of Picard’s dreary sermons! Whilst it is a little
uncomfortable to see somebody take advantage of Troi so easily (its never nice
seeing women looking uncomfortable being touched) I love the way that Ral
breaks through her counsellor persona in about five seconds and gets to the
heart of who she is behind the mask of concern and empathy. I could have
grabbed Ral and snogged him for a few decades when he turned the tables of Troi
and accused her of invading peoples privacy on a daily basis the whims of he
Captain.
Dancing Doctor: She fell in love in a day once and the affair
only lasted a week but what a week…then she met Jack. Is she talking about
Picard?
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Have your Klingon servant get us some
chairs!’
‘Your Captain. Your crew. Your edge.’
‘What? I was tense! I was ready to blow it up!’
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘Anticipation is fun!’ – more dreadful
romantic dialogue.
‘I rather like that I’m more difficult to read than your
other men…’
The Good: The first stable wormhole known to exist (which is
the exact same term coined to the wormhole in DS9 so something has to go wrong
here!) being sold for a price is quite an intriguing notion. They think it
leads to the Gamma Quadrant but actually it is a link to the Delta Quadrant.
Mind you neither are places you want to go especially unless you fancy tackling
the Borg en masse or the combined might of the Dominion. Its nice to have some
real sensuality on Star Trek and although I find a whopping great close up on
Troi’s oily and recently massaged feet quite revolting (feet just aren’t my
thing) it is nice to see something as erotic as Troi massaging oil into Ral’s
chest.
The Bad: What a hilariously inept bunch of representatives
we meet in Ten Forward! You have the disdainful alien, the one with the massive
forehead, the Indian and the gorgeous stud. While it is nice to see Troi do
something other than invade peoples privacy (indeed it is quite pleasant to see
somebody else doing it to her for a change) there is only so much mucky romance
that I can handle and scenes of Troi staring dewy eyed at Ral whilst the violins
play in the background. When Ral started going on about being half Betazed and
not needing his heart until he met Troi I felt slightly nauseous.
Moment to Watch Out For: Picard’s comedy eyeball roll as the
Ferengi complain about a Federation probe going through the wormhole. Oh and
the look that Data gives Geordi in the shuttlecraft at around 28.35. That is
the look of a confused actor and not an emotionless android.
Moral of the Week: Remember your duty even when your bit of
fluff is manipulating you.
Fashion Statement: Nothing could quite have prepared for the
sight of Troi and Dr Bev in those hideous exercise outfits!
Foreboding: We will catch up with the two Ferengi trapped in
the Delta Quadrant in the Voyager yawnathon False Profits.
Result: The Price is fine for what it is but I could see
ways that it could be wittier and with lots of clever screwball twists but it
opts for a mushy Troi romance instead. Season three seems to be the point where
the writers have really gotten a handle on her character and at times it felt
as though they had read my mind and the list of complaints about her and
written this episode to address some of them. I don’t think that Marina Sirtis
is an especially strong actress (like Gates McFadden there she veers between
vacant and melodramatic) but this episode serves her well. The negotiations for
the wormhole are enlivened by the involvement of the Ferengi and I wished we
could have seen more of them rather than focussing on Ral’s subtle techniques
of negotiation. As I said it is pleasant enough but the moments where it strays
into sloppy romance threatened to turn my stomach: 5/10
What’s it about: The Sovereign of Acamaria wants to
reintroduce the Gatherers into their society…
The Vengeance Factor written by Sam Rolfe and directed by
Timothy Bond
Number One: As soon as Riker claps eyes on Yuta we don’t
even need the usual violins (although I’m sure I can hear them approaching in
the distance) as it is clear by his masculine pose in her presence that he will
be working his way into her affections before long. He’s not comfortable with
the company of servants, he prefers to treat people as equals. When he lies
back in his quarters Riker genuinely looks like he is about to knock one off
but when Yuta turns up on his doorstep I guess he figures that is a far better
alternative! Riker’s ‘fifty three years ago and she hasn’t aged a day!’
make me howl with laughter - he hasn’t quite lost his melodramatic streak!
Fully Functional: The joke of Data describing something in
incredible scientific detail whilst everybody smirks and then tells him the
simplistic name for it (in this case a camp fire) is starting to get old fast.
You would think an android of his calibre would be programmed for more
sophisticated humour.
Alien Empath: Wouldn’t it have been much funnier had Troi
tried the alien dish and spat it out screaming ‘It’s awful!’ Deanna has
the good sense to notice the sexual chemistry between Riker and Yuta and
skidaddles out of Ten Forward so they can enjoy an evening together.
Dancing Doctor: Dr Bev is like Columbo in this episode as
she refuses to see things at face value and doesn’t rest until she can prove
that the old Gatherer was murdered. Rather wonderfully she turns up every now
and again in this episode with some other new piece of information surrounding
his death – proving that she is little more than a plot device than a
character.
Boy Genius: Poor Wes, every time a butch bloke comes on the
ship he is made to look like a little squit of a man! It happened with The
Outrageous Okona and now it happens with the leader of the Gatherers.
The Good: The first scene is quite atmospherically shot with
some unsettling lighting and a camera that is in no hurry to get where it needs
to be. The set for the planet is truly impressive, it is created on a scale
that we aren’t used to and the mess of scaffolding and burning fires gives it a
hellish look (and the opportunity to shoot on multi levels).
The Bad: A sophisticated race wanting to eradicate their
primal and unsophisticated cast offs is a premise that would be dealt with with
far more complexity in Voyager’s Remember – this almost feels like a comic book
precursor to that tale. Marouk reminds me an awful lot of Kai Winn, only no
where near as well played or written. The trouble with the premise is the
Gatherers really aren’t that bad a bunch, I’ve seen worse behaviour on a stag
weekend! They are just a bit laddish rather than outright violent and barbaric.
It would have been nice had they saved the twist that Yuta is sabotaging the
negotiations until the end of episode because having the audience so far ahead
of the rest of the characters means we are constantly waiting for them to catch
up and there isn’t much of a lift at the conclusion. Is it my imagination or
does everybody look a bit bored during the climax where Yuta is exposed? Picard
watches on trying to stifle a yawn and Riker can barely muster any anger as he
reveals the evidence against her. Maybe I was just projecting my own coma.
Moment to Watch Out For: Obviously infected by all the
testosterone wafting from Raul, watch out for the manly slap Picard gives Riker
as he heads off to negotiate with the leader of the Gatherers.
Moral of the Week: You need to let old grudges pass. And
don’t trust the brandy.
Fashion Statement: Notice when Picard sits down in the
conference scenes – his uniform looks far too baggy for him! The subtlety in
the look of the Gatherers is astonishing – they all have nasty scars, dirty
stubble, thick hairy chests on display and they wear grungy leathers covered in
studs! Just so we know they are bad. He swaggers too, and steals other
peoples drinks. Oh and they all have mullets.
Orchestra: Go listen to the music that plays when the
Gatherers open fire – if there was ever a more 1980s piece of science fiction
music I have yet to hear it!
Result: About as subtle as throwing a brick through a window
to find out if somebody’s home, The Vengeance Factor is the flip side to The
Enemy a few episodes back by dealing with similar themes of mistrust and
enemies coming together but without any of the delicacy that made the former
episode work like a dream. We’ve had some slow episodes before but this one
crawls at a snails pace and the viewer is always one step ahead of the characters
which leaves little room for tension or surprise. Even the space battle (I use
the term loosely) is so slack it might as well be two men shoving at each other
in the street. The Gatherers prove to be the least subtle bunch of cowboys in
the galaxy (besides The Outrageous Okona, naturally) and you have to wonder why
the Sovereign wants them back and this episode is wrapped up with arse aching
simplicity, even for TNG. This was a chore to sit through: 3/10
The Defector written by Ronald D. Moore and directed by
Robert Scheerer
What’s it about: A Romulan officer asks for sanctuary on the
Enterprise but is he everything he claims to be?
To Baldly Go: You get some insight into why Picard enjoys
his chats with Data, it is for his clarity of thought and objectivity that he
seeks his counsel. Sometimes I find Picard’s conception of his actions to make
the history books a little egotistical but the suggestion of war gives credence
to his request to ask Data to record these events with a dispassionate eye so
history can be their judge. Jerak tells
Picard that he has sacrificed too much for his career by failing to have a
family. Patrick Stewart always gives his best performances in episodes of this
nature where Picard has to think his way out of tricky situations and he can
give as much gravitas to a sigh as he ponders the opportunities as he can to
the complex dialogue. The Shakespearean connotations draw on Stewart’s time
with the RSC and coaxes a number of scenes where I was gripped simply by the
intensity of his acting.
Mr Wolf: The casual racism between Worf and Setal adds a
real edge to this story, Worf’s continuing mistrust of the species that killed
his father is a gift of the writers because it makes him so real.
Fully Functional: When Picard tells Data that there is no
better place for him to discover the human condition than through Shakespeare I
couldn’t agree with him more. This is certainly the most eye opening and
literate of Data’s attempts to become more human and it opens the episode on an
attention grabbing note. His attempts to gain the wisdom of Geordi about gut
instincts is fine in theory but is practice it seems to consist of staring
awkwardly across Ten Forward at the Romulan making him feel extremely
uncomfortable.
Dancing Doctor: I love the awkward look between Dr Bev and
Worf when she says she had the opportunity to study Romulans lately. Its nice
to see that Ron Moore even this early in his Trek career manages to add some
continuity between episodes.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘We have 48 hours to prevent a war. Or
perhaps to start one…’
‘A Romulan defector is almost a contradiction in terms!’
‘I will not risk my people because you think you can dance
at the edge of the Neutral Zone. You’ve crossed over Admiral.’
The Good: Its such an exciting opening mystery – why is one
Romulan ship chasing another – that it drags you kicking and screaming into the
episode. The model work for the Romulan ship and the shuttle is superb, the
camera lingers exquisitely over every detail of this gorgeously designed ships.
James Sloyan is one of those actors that turns up on every Star Trek show and
never gives a duff performance - his turn here as a Romulan defector is very
memorable but then so was Jetrel in Voyager and Dr Mora in DS9. I love it when
we get to spend more time around the Romulans, as Picard says everything with
them is a game of chess and these episodes are always cleverly plotted and full
of surprises. The sudden explosion of the Romulan ship comes as a real surprise
but it is treated like a throwaway moment in this magnificent episode. It’s
nice to see science being used to uncover the Romulan plot - the way that
Geordi reveals that the Romulan ship changed its speed three times so it didn’t
catch up with Setal’s craft but still appeared to be pursuing it. It’s
wonderful how Jarok reveals his true identity in such a low key manner since it
adds credence to his claims and the more Picard tries to pick holes the more I believed
him. Andreas Katsulas makes another impressive showing and his reappearance so
soon makes TNG almost feel like a serialised show. Isn’t it great that
earlier in the episode when Jarok pulls the pill from its hiding place that the
writing and music convince you that this is instrumental some kind of sabotage
and yet it turns out to be a suicide pill that he brought to end his life
because it is in disgrace. An honourable Romulan? As Garak might say…there’s
hope for you yet!
The Bad: When Setal describes Romulus as beautiful it does
not correlate with what we later see in Nemesis and the special effects aren’t
quite up to the task of bringing the moonlit valley to life.
Moment to Watch Out For: The brilliant, brilliant
climactic face off between Picard and Tomalak with the Romulan Commander
proving remarkably smug until Jean Luc pulls a rabbit out of his hat and wipes
the smile off his face. One of the best conclusions to any TNG episode.
Moral of the Week: Sometimes people are exactly what they
seem to be.
Orchestra: The reintroduction of the Romulans again brings
out the best in Ron Jones and the bombastic music during the teaser is his work
at its best.
Result: The Defector is another season three gem and the
episode that confirms Ronald D. Moore as the strongest writer on staff at this
point. His engaging, labyrinthe script is full of twists and turns that keep
you on your toes and offers the actors some very stirring chances to prove
their mettle. The script spends some time playing games with the audiences
expectations in attempting to convince you of Jarok’s good faith and building
up to a possible conflict that could lead to war before the devastating final
twist jettisons all the bluster and becomes a touching character drama all
about one man. This is a TNG episode that is firing on all cylinders and the
acting of everybody involved deserves massive kudos. Breathtakingly good: 10/10
The Hunted written by Robert Burnheim and directed by Cliff
Bole
What’s it about: The Enterprise is a refuge of a war
criminal…
Alien Empath: A huge round of applause for Deanna Troi who
proves her worth exponentially with her thorough summing up of Danar: ‘There
is something unusual about him!’ Nice one Counsellor, how much training did
it take to come to that conclusion?
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘Eluded the Enterprise?’ questions Picard,
agog at the thought that anybody could outmanoeuvre the flagship of the
Federation! Ego much?
‘He came out of nowhere! I didn’t know anyone
could be that fast!’ – Geordi letting us know how amazing Danar is!
The Good: Hang on a minute is that a brand new matte design
planet that isn’t overused? I love the transit tubes that run beneath the city
and there just feels like there is more detail in the effects work than usual.
Jeff McCarthy gives a charismatic performance as Danar and he makes for a likable
rogue in the same vein as (the outrageous) Okona from series two. A programmed
super soldier is a popular idea in science fiction and at least The Hunted
takes half the episode to drop its bombshell on the audience giving them some
time to make up their own mind about Danar.
The Bad: The shuttle cruising past the rock in space looks
strangely cheap for a series that usually flaunts some very impressive model
work. Listen to the first scene after the opening credits and notice not only
how many times people mention the word ‘sensors’ but also how uneasy everybody
suddenly feels coping with the technobabble. It’s an oddly discordant scene
considering this should be like a second language to the actors by now.
Hilariously Wesley is there to point out the plot to us so enjoy the moments
where he informs us ‘he just bounced right off the shields!’ and ‘it’s
an escape pod!’ Wow, this episode really is awkwardly realised – check out
the cut to the blandest security member on the Enterprise who cannot get
two lines out in the transporter room realistically and a choking funny fight
scene that fails to convince. I can see the director was going for a real Die
Hard hand to hand feel but weak action choreography and bland camera work means
this looks like kiddie playground fighting (plus when one character lands on
the transporter pad you can see how cheaply it has been constructed when it
wobbles!). There is a very funny moment when Worf and his security team enter
security and it looks like one of the engineers has been humping the console!
The fight between Worf and Danar is quite nicely done (at last some real
aggression!) but the containers they fall into are quite clearly contain
nothing. Because the latter half of the story spends so long dealing with Danar’s
attempted escape from the Enterprise there is no time left to deal with the
consequences of what they have learnt about him – and the consequences for the
Angosians of not joining the Federation. Can you imagine a worse fate than
Picard and Troi beaming down to give you a moralistic lecture on how badly you
run your planet? Somehow I knew this was coming as soon as the truth about
Danar was revealed.
Moral of the Week: Fight your own battles, don’t programme
people to do it for you.
Orchestra: On the plus side The Hunted features some of the
best Ron Jones music we have heard for a while – I especially like the drums as
Danar escapes his transport and wanders the Enterprise. Mind you in some
points I wonder if Rick Berman had a point about the music being too intrusive,
the scene where Danar faces his leaders at gunpoint is performing a very camp
over score.
Result: Well meaning, but any episode that sees Deanna Troi
empathising with a war criminal is going to be full of the sort of earnest
psychobabble that she has become known for and this is no exception. What makes
things worse is the first ten minutes which see a shockingly inept action
sequence kick things off in the worst way imaginable. The director is going for
Die Hard but what we get is more Blakes’ 7. Things are a lot more fun when
Danar is on the loose but it (once again) exposes the weakness in the Enterprise
crew because he runs rings around them so spectacularly. I couldn’t quite get a
handle on whether they wanted to tell an action adventure or preach about using
people as weapons during wartime and in trying to do both I think they missed
out at excelling at either. I was pretty much entertained but it fails to reach
the heights of this excellent season, there isn’t a hint of humour here and we
learn very little that is new of the Enterprise crew: 6/10
Number One: Commander Riker is on personal leave so Jonathan
Frakes can helm this episode. However he appears briefly in what might just be
the finest scene in the piece, where Lal manhandles him off his feet and plants
a smacker on his lips. It isn’t often we see Riker floored by the sexual
advances of a woman.
Dancing Doctor: Seeking Dr Bev’s advice as a successful
parent…there is so much that is wrong with that statement I don’t know where to
begin. Dr Bev remembers a time when she wasn’t very popular…she’s just trying
to give me material to work with, isn’t she?
The Bad: What a shame Lal didn’t choose the Andorian persona
because that would have made for a very different sort of episode. By the time
Lal starts working with Guinan and grabs Commander Riker for her first snog (or
biting experience) my goodwill had started to run out for the syrupy tone of
this episode. I can handle an awful lot of twee (I managed to stick with Glee
for three seasons on the strength of the musical numbers) but this pushed me to
the limit. What is up with those godawful Admirals who turn up in episodes like
this just to get in the way. They have no logical function beyond trying to
create some false drama and certainly no personality of note. At least Guinan
takes the piss out of his po faced attitude.
Result: I don’t want to be too hard on an episode that
has such good intentions and some genuine emotional beats but whatever came
after Yesterday’s Enterprise was always going to suffer by comparison and The
Offspring doesn’t do enough to keep the impetus of this incredible season
going. It’s slow and talky and contains the usual idiotic Starfleet bureaucracy
(I swear their only function is to cause wrap everybody in red tape) and in the
grand scheme of things it is pretty forgettable stuff. Coming after such a
momentous episode it gives the impression that whilst things are exciting in an
alternative universe, back in our universe very little of note is going on.
However kudos to Brent Spiner and Hallie Todd who give their all to make their
relationship as watchable as possible. The episode passes by harmlessly enough
and the last ten minutes are unexpectedly powerful as we realise that Lal is
frightened of being taken from her father. Sweet, but disposable: 5/10
What’s it about: The honour of Worf’s father comes under
scrutiny and the Enterprise visits to Qo’noS…
Mr Wolf: Kurn patronises Worf, treats him like a child and
as a rule bound Starfleet officer who is caught between two worlds he takes the
punishment from his brother. He uses every opportunity to insult Worf – at the
dinner table he suggests that the food that has been prepared is too bland for
the stomach of a Klingon whilst his brother is tucking in. He even suggests that
Worf’s blood has thinned in this environment. Worf discovers that his father is
accused of aiding an abetting the Romulans on the attack on Khitomer, the
attack where his father died.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I shall try some of your burnt
replicated bird meat!’
Moment to Watch Out For: Worf agreeing to accept the public
humiliation of banishment in his fathers name reveals exceptional character
growth. I’m not sure who decided to turn everything around as far as Worf is
concerned (I am willing to bet it was Ronald D. Moore but you can never be too
sure when the ideas/development is decided by a committee) but he has grown
from a grunting savage in the first season into a character if rare depth and
distinction in season three. When I moan about a lack of character development
on TNG, I should be reminded of Worf who really has come such a long way. How
anyone can fail to love the guy after this baffles me. A private moment to tell
Duras that he is the son of a traitor is enough for Worf.
Result: Another powerhouse and further proof that TNG
was really willing to widen its scope and further explore the universe as a
whole in it’s third year. Star Trek has
always been an expensive form of theatre so it is great to see them strip away
all the effects and really go for the most elaborately theatrical script and
setting possible. The performances are heightened accordingly, as is the drama
and the Trek universe is a much richer place for this visit to the Klingon home
world. There is a strong mystery at the centre of this episode (what really
happened at Khitomer?), brilliant character revelations (Worf has a brother)
and an unforgettable setting (this is a world where Picard can be caught in a
knife fight in a back street). Worf stands proud throughout the episode in the
face of belittling accusations and proves once again why he is TNG’s standout
character and a man of rare depth and honour. A tense atmosphere, awesome
dialogue and powerful performances (especially Patrick Stewart who has truly
come into his own of late) combine to make this another season three delight: 9/10
The Bad: I say that the make up of all the captives is good,
that is until the great lumbering toothy beast appears which might just be the
least subtle alien make up job ever seen in this show. Goodness knows how he is
supposed to eat that food with those daft teeth! You should go and watch the
film Cube to see how this sort of thing can be done to enhance maximum
tension – I love the premise of four strangers waking up in a room together and
trying to piece together why they are there but the direction here is so
mundane it feels like the weekly meeting of the local WI. How on Earth does
Picard figure that they are in a laboratory maze being observed at how they
work together under pressure? They haven’t been under any pressure! When the
aliens reveal themselves they are dressed in the campest clothing this side of
Rocky Horror.
What’s it about: Picard heads of to Risa for a vacation…
Number One: Of any character in the Star Trek universe it
comes as no surprise to me that Riker recommends Risa, a planet of sensuality.
Maybe he thought it would loosen him up a bit. Riker is such a rogue, he asks
Picard to buy him a Horgon which is the Risian equivalent of asking for a
prostitute. He’s definitely trying to show his Captain a good time.
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘From the moment I met you I knew you
were going to be trouble’ – Indiana Jones you aint, Picard.
The Bad: I don’t enjoy knocking the unoriginality of this
show but the two aliens that materialise in Risa look practically identical,
sound practically identical and walk identically to the pair from the last
episode. Even the fact that they are from the future with dire prophecies fails
to spawn any curiosity about them, they talk in a dull monotone and walk as
though they have crapped themselves. Gah – the dialogue in the first scene on
the Bridge is so stilted I felt as though we had beamed back to the first season!
Marina Sirtis in particular seems completely at sea and fails to convince. It
is impossible to correlate Max Grodenchik’s performance as Sovak which is
pantomime and ridiculous, with his very sweet creation of Rom in DS9. Still if
this excruciating turn earned him the regular spot on the sister show then I
will endure it. Not enjoy it, endure it. Picard grabs the Ferengi’s gun and
punches him out like the Karate Kid, this second childhood for the Captain just
gets more embarrassing by the minute. Strangely enough had you swapped Picard
with Kirk I think 50% of this episodes problems would be solved (there would
still be the forced humour but at least it wouldn’t feel so out of character).
Watching Picard and Vash sleeping together under the stars like first year
archaeology students should be quite sweet but the scripting makes them sound
like a couple of naughty kids.
The High Ground written by Melinda M Snodgrass and directed
by Gabrielle Beaumont
What’s it about: Dr Bev is kidnapped by a terrorist cell…
To Baldly Go: Look at Picard’s face when they discuss Dr
Bev’s abduction, he looks like he is ready to pull down the heavens to get her
back. And he supports Wesley in a very fatherly fashion. It is such a shame
that they didn’t let this family unit evolve into something tangible because it
would have made for some interesting viewing but alas hints and whispers is all
we get.
Dancing Doctor: The pre-titles sequences might just be my
favourite scene featuring Dr Bev where she runs into the debris of a terrorist
explosion completely unafraid and trying to help the wounded. She’s absolutely
fearless and it is the first time I have genuinely rooted for her character
especially when she defies Picard’s orders to save somebody’s life. Her hunger
strike is understandable but when Finn tells her the only person she is hurting
is herself it makes sense that she should keep her strength up. When Dr Bev
says that she lives in an ideal culture with no need for violence I wondered if
she knew how naïve she sounded. I could
have applauded Finn when he accuses her of sitting on the comfort that has come
from the battles of the past whilst arrogantly frowning on his immorality. How
awful to learn that the Enterprise is going to be the target of a
terrorist attack knowing that Wesley is on board.
Boy Genius: Wesley looks an awful lot like Pike from Dad’s
Army when he is told that his mother has been taken – completely forlorn and
puppyish. Wesley’s sugary sweet ‘I was just part of the team’ in the last scene
almost dissipated all my goodwill for this episode.
Sparkling Dialogue: Instead of the usual TNG posturing and
moralising there is a real attempt to keep the dialogue real and hard hitting
in this episode…
‘A dead martyr is worth ten posturing leaders.’
‘In a world where children blow up children, everyone is a
threat.’
‘The difference between Generals and terrorists is only the
difference between winners and losers.’
‘Is fear the only weapon you have?’
‘Its an imperfect solution for an imperfect world.’
The Good: This is a good example to show people who want to
see how Trek should create a planet for a one off episode. Rutia III has a
believable conflict that started long ago and sees people behaving against
their nature in violent ways and is populated by plausible characters who are
trying to cope with the situation on both sides. If you are going to write a
plot about terrorism you need to be able to see both sides of the conflict and
give them both a good reason for doing what they are doing and I really admire
the way Snodgrass gives the Ansata terrorists a very human face rather than
just painting them as villains. As soon as we realise that the Enterprise is
under threat the whole episode steps up a gear and unbearable waiting game to
see just how they plan to destroy the ship. Would Finn have shot Picard at the
end? His death gives credence to the terrorist movement – if they are being
treated this brutally maybe they have a good reason to fight. The symbolic
gesture of the little boy putting down his gun makes for a very memorable
ending. Perhaps if more people act the same way this conflict can come to an
end. Its just a gesture rather than an easy solution and I will take that over
a million easy solutions that has already become a cliché on TNG.
The Bad: What with The Hunted, The Defector and The High
Ground (what is it with all these ‘The…’ titles this season) we have had quite
a few serious episodes in a row. Has TNG started to lose its sense of humour?
The scene of Worf creeping up on the least observant terrorists is
unintentionally very funny. And then you can see him hiding behind a rock in
plain sight! I think he needs to brush up on his sneak tactics!
Moment to Watch Out For: The attempts to get the bomb off
the Enterprise are very exciting, probably the most exciting set piece all
season. And then for them to storm the Bridge! How fantastic to see people like
Troi and Wesley running for cover!
Moral of the Week: Talking can begin when one little boy
puts down his gun.
Orchestra: Ron Jones’ music is far too intrusive in this
episode, it is a piece that needs contemplative silences rather than TNG action
music. Where his music comes into its own is when the Enterprise is under siege
by terrorists and that is when you hear his work at its best.
Result: What a brave episode to screen by giving a human
face to terrorism, The High Ground doesn’t shy away from its subject matter and
as a result is one of the most honest and gripping episodes of TNG. It’s a
fantastic episode for Dr Bev who gets to show what she is made of and make up
her own mind about the terrorist cell. There aren’t that many episodes of TNG
that keep me guessing what might happen next but this is one of them and I
admired its ability to manage to keep this both action packed and have moments
to spare for some thoughtful dialogue. This is precisely the sort of thing I
expect from DS9 so I hope we see more this type again soon: 9/10
Deja Q written by Richard Danus and directed by Les Landau
What’s it about: The inevitable Q turns human episode…
To Baldly Go: Hurrah! I have finally reached the episode
with the Picard head-in-palm scene! Picard decides that saving Q might be a
good idea because ‘it’s a perfectly good shuttlecraft’ in a statement that is
loaded with meaning.
Number One: The Callamaraine have no sense of humour, a
character flaw that Q feels Riker shares with them.
Only Human: John de Lancie is always a delight to welcome
back (Q-Pid and The Q and the Grey excepted) and he is given some of his best
material in this episode. This is a real learning curve for the demi God and a
truly humbling experience and naturally he throws out insulting one liners like
a Noel Coward firework. You have to feel sorry for Q who has been so
mischievous in the past that he is now treated with contempt and suspicion even
when he is telling the truth. His powers have been stripped and as a punishment
he has to choose one form and one place to be. He chooses humanity because he
remembers all of his fabulous times with Picard he had torturing his crew! Now
he starts to regret it realising that he will be trapped in one shell and
forced to cover himself with fabric because of some outdate morality. Q is
terrified as the life oozes out of him…when he falls asleep! This is also the
perfect chance for all those races that Q has pissed off over the years to come
back and exact their revenge on him and he is duly tortured by one such gaseous
entity. The episode takes on a whole new meaning when Q starts questioning his
mortality and Data willingness to sacrifice himself. He gets a sudden and
personal peek at what humanity is really all about and it is channelled
entirely through the android. Without his powers he is frightened of
everything, a coward and miserable. Q’s selfless act of self sacrifice is not
the sort of behaviour that the continuum expects and goes to show how he has
been influenced by his chats with Jean Luc…and the other Q would rather give
him his powers back than go back to the continuum and face all the questions
and tribunals about this appalling act.
Fully Functional: ‘Sir he is reading as human’ ‘What is
there and echo in here?’ Thank Christ somebody has finally pointed out that
these characters point out the obvious all the time! Data makes the wonderful
observation that chocolate sundaes have a profound psychological effect on
people! His belly laugh is the perfect finishing touch to this episode.
Blind Engineer: It is interesting to note that of all the
characters who insult and torture Q in this episode it is Geordi who expresses
the strongest opinion with his quiet but nasty ‘Commander, he’s not worth
it.’
Dancing Doctor: Q calls Beverly’s return to the Enterprise
as nothing more than Starfleet shuttling her back into exile!
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘What must I do to convince you people?’
‘Die’ ‘Oh very clever Worf, eat any good books lately?’
‘I can’t disappear! Any more than you could win a beauty
contest!’
‘Please don’t feel compelled to tell me the story of the boy
who cried Worf!’
‘Romulan!’
‘The robot who teaches the course in humanity!’
‘I don’t perceive your skills to be in doubt Q. The Captain
is merely concerned with your ability to successfully interact with his little
trained minions.’
‘If it means anything to you you’re a better human than I.’
‘I wasn’t the one who misplaced the entire Deltived asteroid
belt!’
‘Oh you’re so stolid! You weren’t like that before the
beard!’
The Good: Isn’t it wonderful that this episode lulls you
into a false sense of mediocrity by making you believe it is going to be
another preachy, dreary natural disaster Trek tale (with two of the least
inspiring guest perfomers bringing to life the population of this planet!). All
you need to cut through this patchiness is for Q to appear naked on the Bridge
with a pithy one liner (‘Red alert!’). Throughout the episode we do keep
heading back to the jeopardy plot to remind us of the usual drivel we have to
endure and highlighting how energetic and delightful the Q material is. This is
a chokingly funny episode and really shows how much this show has learnt to
lighten up and take the piss out of its characters (I especially loved Q’s list
of appalling human weakness and settles on ‘having to bath’ when looking
at Worf!). Q’s solution to the planets problems by changing the gravitational
constant of the universe is precisely the sort whacked out idea that he used to
be able to perform on a whim. Corbin Bernsen turns up at the climax to give Q
his powers back and sort this messy situation out and gives a delightful
performance while he does.
Moment to Watch Out For: The reunion between Q and Guinan is
everything you could hope it be with her basking in his newfound
vulnerabilities and testing that he really is human by stabbing him with a
fork! I also howl with laughter every time I see Q materialise that little
cloud into his palm after he gets his powers back…it’s nice to see that he
hasn’t learnt his lesson at all! The last scene on the Bridge is one of the
most blisteringly funny things I have ever watched…especially when Q sticks a
pair of cigars in Picard and Riker’s mouths!
Moral of the Week: Humanity isn’t all flesh and blood,
sometimes its just how you react.
Fashion Statement: They really should have put Q in a
different outfit because his newly formed package is accentuated throughout the
entire episode.
Result: What was that I was saying in The High Ground about
this showing having lost its sense of humour? Its not just that this is a
screamingly funny episode with more brilliant lines than you can shake a stick
at but it is also a thoughtful treatise on what it is to be human and amazingly
manages to avoid the usual Trek preachiness about such issues. John de Lancie
joins the Enterprise crew for one episode and it lights up season three like a
supernova; his charming, charismatic performance is an absolute delight in a
show that was starting to become a little too serious for its own good. The
fact that Q is willing to commit suicide rather than endanger the Enterprise
crew is the point where he and Jean Luc stop considering each other enemies and
have a grudging mutual respect. I know I was as shocked as you…development of
characters on TNG! I don’t know what has happened in season three of TNG but it
has completely pulled its act together and is producing one quality episode
after another. Clearly that learning curve was worth it because this is
gorgeous television. Even Picard’s closing ‘engage’ is laugh out loud
funny: 10/10
What’s it about: Framed for murder, Riker has to try and get
himself out of a tight hole (oh stop being filthy…)
Alien Empath: ‘I didn’t sense any deception from her’ –
thank goodness we don’t have to rely on Deanna’s intuition to prove Riker’s
innocence! Why is Troi even there? She doesn’t contribute a thing to the
episode.
Moral of the Week: Guilty until proven innocent is a lousy
way to run a justice system.
What’s it about: The Enterprise NCC-1701C survives its final
battle and history is irrevocably changed…
Mr Wolf: All those prune juice jokes for Worf in seasons to
come, the joke starts here with Guinan introducing him to the bowel opening
drink. Worf considers Earth females to be too fragile but Guinan disagrees and
says she can think of a few women that would find him tame!
Brilliant Bartender: Guinan finally gets a blisteringly good
role in an episode and it pleases me to see that it is in one that is so fondly
remembered by fandom. Her instincts are spot on but when she comes to Picard
telling him that everything is wrong she sounds like some mad old soothsayer.
She cannot explain it to herself so she cannot explain it to Picard but she
knows that those 40 billion people should not have died in this war. In a very
chilling scene Guinan tells Tasha that she died an empty death without purpose
and that they weren’t meant to know each other at all.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Families. There should be children on
this ship’ ‘What? Children on the Enterprise? Guinan we’re at war!’ – if
only Picard, if only…
The Bad: This has been pointed out in my favourite Trek
review website (Jammer’s Reviews) but I completely agree so it is worth
re-iterating. This is not so much a criticism of the episode itself but of the
running series but it seems it takes a spatial anomaly to bring this series to
the brink of war. It is easily the most cynical portrayal of the Federation at
war that we ever get in TNG and it is absolutely gripping. With DS9 they
actually take the series down this route proper and come the beginning of
series six we are literally in this kind of hell.
Fashion Statement: Wesley looks awesome in a red uniform and
the sooner they pour him into one and out of the grey tunic the better. The
uniforms of the old Enterprise are just one step further than those from the
movies which is a lovely touch of continuity.
A Matter of Perspective written by Ed Zuckerman and directed
by Cliff Bole
To Baldly Go: Picard is trying to enrich his life by trying
his hand at painting but Mister Data slaughters his first attempt and as such
he never attempts it again.
Number One: I never thought I would say this but I kind of
miss the carefree Riker from the first season. I know I whinged and complained
about his being a macho stereotype who climbed over chairs like an ape and had
and climbed to bed with women about as much as he carried out his duties but he
was a lot more fun back then. Watch the character and Jonathan Frakes’
performance in this episode because both are pretty stiff and forgettable. At
least when he was melodramatic there was something to watch…nowadays he is just
another dreary Starfleet lackey. The scene showing Riker forcing himself onto
Manua is wonderfully appalling because he is characterised so over the top
unpleasant.
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘I certainly didn’t try to rape her!’ –
I’m sure if I am comfortable with a show as camp as TNG playing about with
words like rape.
The Bad: As soon as Riker is arrested the episode already
feels terribly contrived – its another one of those ‘guilty until proven
innocent’ cultures that Trek has a habit of introducing us to. The second Manua
appears you know where this is all heading with Riker being accused of thinking
with his lower half rather than his brain. The characterisation of this trouble
married couple walks past cliché and keeps going until it is within waving
distance. I probably would have filmed the scenes of Picard and company
watching the holodeck evidence head on rather than from behind simply because
they are not superimposed terribly convincingly on the scenes and it makes me
chuckle to think of Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes nodding thoughtfully at
a green screen. Surely the very idea of evidence being revealed via a holodeck
is nonsensical – this is a device that can happily be programmed to show
whatever you want it to show. It would probably be the work of seconds to
manipulate the programme and frame Riker. The conclusion fails to rouse any
interest because it consists of little more than an awkward technobabble rabbit
out of the hat and a solution that fails to be intelligently reasoned. Hang
on…if Dr Apgar is responsible for his own death then why was his wife trying to
suggest that Riker tried to rape her? She had nothing to do with this at
all?
Fashion Statement: Manua dresses in sleek underwear and
strokes a door control as though she is fingering herself! In series one Riker
would have been right in there.
Orchestra: Bless Ron Jones who is trying to inject mystery
and tension into this episode where there is none - his music is by and large the best on the show as far as I am
concerned but I sometimes get the impression that he often gives an episode
what he thinks it needs rather than what it does need. I get the impression
that he thinks every show is going to be fantastic and scores it appropriately
but it is only when his ambitions and the quality of the episode match that he
scores a great result (his score for The Best of Both Worlds is still one of my
favourites in Trek).
Result: I have seen this kind of episode done on various
cult shows but this might be the earliest attempt I remember outside of the
Japanese film, Rashomon. Like everything this season it is an attempt to
do something a bit different but this is one of the shows with lofty ambitions
that it fails to reach. The mystery surrounding Riker’s guilt is marred by the
fact that he is such a Starfleet drone these days there is never any doubt that
he would sleep with another mans wife or kill anybody. At one point Riker
shakes his head in his hands whilst watching the damning evidence unfold and I
was in a pretty similar situation watching this episode play out. There are few
episodes of Trek that scream ‘set up!’ more than this one: 3/10
Yesterday’s Enterprise written by Ira Steven Behr, Richard
Manning, Hans Beimler & Ronald D Moore and directed by David Carson
To Baldly Go: Patrick Stewart’s angry performance in
Yesterday’s Enterprise is one of the things that really makes it stand out as a
dramatic classic. This is a Picard that has been hardened by warfare and wont
stand for any of the usual nonsense that our Picard lets slide. He is still a
man of integrity but he pulls his punches when he needs to and makes tough
choices without doubting himself. The scene between Picard and Tasha when she
reveals Guinan’s foreknowledge is beautifully performed by both actors –
‘There’s no sense in this at all!’
Security Chief: Denise Crosby must have stepped back into
this greatly improved (and ever popular) version of the show that she abandoned
ship and regretted her decision. The return of Tasha is not something that I am
particularly interested given the handling of her character in the first season
but even I have to admit it is pulled off with some verve here and it might
have been an interesting shake up to have kept her back for a few episodes.
Many people say that the Tasha/Costillo romance is an unnecessary distraction
but it is vital for two reasons. The first is that we need a reason for Tasha
to choose to go with them and the second is to prove how given the right
writers this character could have been toned down enough to be made to work.
Dancing Doctor: ‘Nonsense Doctor’s always over protect their
patients’ ‘And Captain’s always push themselves too hard’ – even Dr Bev is
getting in on the great characterisation.
‘Who knows if we’re even dead or alive?’
Tasha…you are not supposed to be here.’
‘We’ll make it one for the history books’ ‘I know you will
Captain.’
‘Lets make sure history never forgets the name Enterprise.’
The Good: The shift from the reality we know to the much
darker version when the Enterprise survived is seamlessly achieved and pulled
off without any kind of explanation at first. It is like an electric shock to
the audience that are left floundering as to how Tasha Yar could be back and
the ship can have changed so much and I love that they are willing to take that
kind of risk with the show. The new Bridge is gloomy, dramatically designed and
just about a million times more evocative than the beige airport lounge we are
used to. You can definitely see where the increased budget went. Can we keep it
please? The Enterprise is now a battleship in a war with the Klingons and the
Captain begins his usual voiceovers with ‘military log.’ The Bridge that the
Away Team beam over to is smoky, dirty, destroyed, littered with corpses and
fires – probably the most haunting beam in site to the whole series (until the
teaser to Best of Both Worlds). We don’t require the changes explained to us in
laborious detail, Picard merely mentions that the act of a Federation starship
saving a Klingon colony may have averted 20 years of war and we have all the
answers we need. Suddenly we are in Trek moral dilemma territory at its best.
To make things as they were Garrett needs to send her ship back into a conflict
that she knows she wont survive – would you become a martyr to prevent two
decades of war? Whilst many people would simply say yes that is a near
impossible choice to make because by accepting it you are agreeing to go to
your death so history remembers you fondly. We have had many scenes of debate
amongst this crew over the mot trivial of issues but here is a whopping great
decision for them to make and suddenly the differing opinions of the crew make
for terrific drama. One more ship will make no difference in the here and now
and ultimately going back to their deaths might be the only way to help – to
prevent the war altogether is the only way that the Federation is going to win.
Garrett’s death is shocking enough but then the camera pans down to show a
piece of shrapnel sticking from her bloody forehead. Gorgeous model work and
effects make the final battles scenes stirring and exciting, exactly the sort
of sensational climax this episode needed. Riker is killed, Picard leaps over
to tactical and the Enterprise is hammered by Klingon firepower…
Moment to Watch Out For: The tension when Guinan walks into
Ten Forward and sees Tasha standing at the bar is one of the most uncomfortable
moments in Trek. She knows that Tasha is supposed to be dead and Whoopee
Goldberg does more with a stare than most actors could do with an episode.
Moral of the Week: Small events can have vast consequences.
Orchestra: A huge round of applause for Dennis McCarthy in
this episode who delivers a knockout score for a knockout episode. The early
scenes featuring Guinan have a discomforting discordant sting playing through
them and the later battle scenes are made all the more dramatic and dynamic for
the music.
Result: In the season three sweep stakes Voyager has been
running on the spot with little interest and DS9 has been using its first half
to build to a kick ass second half but it is TNG where all the classics are. I
have awarded no less than four episodes perfect marks so far and Yesterday’s
Enterprise wont be the last masterpiece before the year is out. It doesn’t
surprise me that this episode is written by strongest of DS9 writers and the
ones that would take the sister show down this exact path for real. You can
almost imagine that this is what the Enterprise was like during the Dominion
War. There is a fantastic role for Guinan who acts as an anchor to our universe
and the return of Tasha Yar is far better than I could have ever expected. The
story only has one route to travel down and that is for things to return to
normal but as a peek into a dirty, violent and uncomfortable Alpha Quadrant
with the Federation spirit blasted to hell by war this is an absolute work of
tour de force. Yesterday’ Enterprise is about as dramatic as TNG comes and it
has a premise that I wished they had saved for the movies because it is ripe to
be exploited with a big budget. Its certainly far more effective than any of
the TNG movies we got. Stunning: 10/10
The Offspring written by Rene Echevarria and
directed by Jonathan Frakes
What’s it about: Data builds himself a daughter…
To Baldly Go: He was never happy with having children on the
ship but to have his first officer create an android and refer to it as his
child is all too much for Picard. He might have made a case for Data as a
sentient lifeform in A Measure of a Man, but that does not give him the right
to further populate the ship with others of his kind. At least without
permission. It shouldn’t be but it is different to somebody falling pregnant.
It has far greater implications than just another human child. Patrick Stewart
brings the core of the episode to light stupendously when he angrily tells Data
that he has created a new life and it cannot just be switched off. This is the
second time that Picard has put his reputation on the line for an android, it
is starting to become something of a crusade for him.
Fully Functional: Picard looks positively affronted that
Data would build a new life form on the Enterprise and says that he
would have liked to have been consulted. Data’s response that he doesn’t see
anybody else consulting him about their leisure activities. Whilst procreation
is a very natural, there is something wholly unnatural about Lal and her
construction and it is one of the few times Data’s robotic personality actually
seems like it could be dangerous simply through not thinking through the consequences
of his actions. If this android had turned out to be destructive (like Lore) it
would have been a costly whim. By creating Lal he wanted to give something back
to Starfleet for what it has given him, which is a sweet gesture. Transferring
Lal’s memories into his own positronic brain means that she will be with him
forever. Aww. How Brent Spiner plays this episode so unresponsively given the
tone of the material is a credit to his skills as an actor.
Boy Genius: Wesley gets a haircut. Clearly things are busy
in the Alpha Quadrant.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Father says I would learn a great deal
working with someone as old as you’ ‘You’re hired.’
‘There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot
blindly follow orders.’
‘I love you father’ ‘I wish I could feel it with you’ ‘I
will feel it for us both.’
The Good: The make up for the androgynous version of Lal is
extraordinarily good and the scenes of it wandering the corridors naked
certainly raised an eyebrow. Perhaps they should have adopted this approach
when it came to designing an aesthetic for the J’naii, the androgynous species
that are visibly being played by men and women in The Outcast. The scenes of
Data teaching Lal about life should have been irredeemably twee but both Brent
Spiner and Hallie Todd play the scenes so delicately they have a childlike,
fairytale atmosphere to them. It astonishes me that I get a real
father/daughter vibe from a pair of androids but that comes down to the effort
of the actors. The shot of Lal in the classroom on her own always pulls at the
heartstrings, ostracised from the other children. Who hasn’t had a moment like
that in their lives?
Moment to Watch Out For: The unexpected moment where Lal
walks into Troi’s quarters and experiences fear for the first time.
Moral of the Week: The ties of family are more important
than duty.
Sins of the Father written by Ronald D. Moore & W. Reed
Moran and directed by Les Landau
To Baldly Go: Patrick Stewart is perfectly at home in such
an overtly theatrical episode and it gives him the chance to get his mouth
around some seriously meaty dialogue. Nobody can argue with quite the same
intensity as Stewart when he is on form and the way Picard negotiates Klingon
politics in Sins of the Father is very impressive. It doesn’t surprise me in
the slightest that one of Jean Luc’s favourite dishes is caviar. It says a lot
about a character. At least he sees the good in shaking up the status quo of
his crew and keeping them on their toes. Worf can think of nobody he would want
at his side more than Picard and he is clearly touched by the remark and puts
himself forward.
Boy Genius: Sometimes I wonder if the term boy genius has
breached the trades description act. When a Klingon officer is barking
instruction on the Bridge the last thing it is wise to do is to start gossiping
with your android neighbour!
‘Just a short while ago I had to stop myself from killing
Commander Riker…’
‘It is a good day to die Duras and the die is not yet over.’
‘You are still fat, K’mpec.’
‘The Empire will not be destroyed for the sake of one
family’s honour.’
The Good: Having a Klingon officer visit the Enterprise
tells us as much about our culture as it does there’s and proves to be an
intriguing counterpoint to season two’s A Matter of Honour. Tony Todd is such an fine actor and whilst I don’t think
Kurn is his Todd’s most memorable performance in Trek (for me that still goes
to his turn as the older Jake Sisko in The Visitor, although it is a world away
from the older Alexander in season seven of TNG) it is still a nuanced turn and
easily the one he is most recognised for in the franchise. It is long past time
that somebody instilled a little professionalism on the ultra relaxed Bridge (I
loved the momentary look of disgust he throws when he sits down on one of the
padded chairs – half the time Data and Wesley look as if they are lying down
the incline is so comfortable). Listen to Wesley and Geordi moan about Kurn’s
criticisms of their performance, perhaps Picard is too lenient with his crew
since it appears they aren’t able to take constructive criticism and having
their work monitored. I love the faux Dallas moment when the revelation
that Kurn and Worf are brothers is dropped, it feels like it has stepped out of
a corny daytime soap opera. Qo’noS is one of those Trek worlds that leaps off
the screen vividly and it is a brutal landscape, struck by lightning and
dominated by exotic buildings consisting of blood lit chambers. Clearly some
effort has gone to getting the aesthetic of this ancient, honourable race
right. K’mpec is a big and bold Shakespearean villain who can rattle off a
speech to crush a mans character with absolute ease. I love the scenes between
Kahlest and Picard because it feels as though Star Trek is entering into an
exciting new territory of underhanded politics played in dark rooms on alien
worlds. The truth of the Duras involvement at Khitomer is hardly a blinding
revelation but the way it is all hushed up to prevent the High Council from
shattering shows Worf to be a man of rare selflessness. He excepts the
dishonour that the lie of his fathers betrayal brings him to keep his people
united and strong. To have a race which is proven to be honour bound and
completely hypocritical and to take an innocent man and make a traitor of him
is highly unusual in Trek on both counts. It is rare when the protagonists are
rewarded for their integrity on this show and it makes a real impact when it
stirs in a little injustice. The franchise is far more potent because of the
events of this episode, there is a ready made world and a sub genre of Trek
that TNG (and DS9 and VOY) can dip into on the odd occasion.
Moral of the Week: One mans honour is worth less than an
Empire.
Foreboding: The talk of a Klingon civil war is brought to
fruition towards the end of season four.
Allegiance written by Richard Manning & Hans Beimler and
directed by Winrich Kolbe
What’s it about: Picard is kidnapped and his double moves in
on Dr Bev…
To Baldly Go: I’m willing to bet that Patrick Stewart
enjoyed being let off the leash this one time and it is great fun to watch him
playing what is essentially a parody of his usual character with all his quirks
exaggerated (even the way the double says ‘engage’ feels like he is taking the
piss). I can’t be the only person who prefers this laid back Picard that
socialises with his crew and enjoys a good flirt with Dr Bev? He slaps Geordi
on the back, toasts his crew, guzzles down ale and sings songs! As soon as he
invites her to dance and tries to kiss her she should have called security straight
away – there is no way that our Captain Picard would ever pull that bug out of
his butt and relax like this! Isn’t it hilarious that as soon as Picard loosens
up and starts enjoying himself all his senior officers start questioning
whether he is an imposter…says something about his character, doesn’t it? At
the same time ‘our’ Picard is just authorative as ever, tackling the
not-so-difficult puzzle with an intensity it doesn’t really deserve.
Blind Engineer: Geordi uses the Captain’s request to improve
engine efficiency to leave the poker table ASAP because lady luck left him long
ago.
Dancing Doctor: Even though they have history I still can’t
imagine why Picard would want to pursue somebody as vacuous as Dr Bev. Beneath
that blank stare of hers all I see is Federation medical training and an
overprotective love for her irritating son. Virtues in some peoples eyes maybe,
but not mine. Admittedly Gates McFadden looks pretty hot when she dresses up in
this episode so perhaps that is enough to turn the doppelgangers head. The
after sex conversation would be so dreary though. Dr Bev thinks that their
positions force a sense of professional detachment – see what a barrel of
laughs she is! If she is happy with their relationship the way it is then why
would she turn up at his quarters for dinner looking smoking hot? She then
accepts his invitation to dance and kisses him. Unless she just enjoys
stringing him along?
The Good: I wasn’t quite sure what to think of the
precredits sequence because it features the least atmospheric alien abduction
ever captured on film but they then managed to pull out a half decent surprise
when Picard wakes up in the strange room and another version of his greets Worf
on the Enterprise. It’s nice to be able to see a Bolian female and the
make up for all the captives is of an extremely high quality.
The Bad: I say that the make up of all the captives is good,
that is until the great lumbering toothy beast appears which might just be the
least subtle alien make up job ever seen in this show. Goodness knows how he is
supposed to eat that food with those daft teeth! You should go and watch the
film Cube to see how this sort of thing can be done to enhance maximum
tension – I love the premise of four strangers waking up in a room together and
trying to piece together why they are there but the direction here is so
mundane it feels like the weekly meeting of the local WI. How on Earth does
Picard figure that they are in a laboratory maze being observed at how they
work together under pressure? They haven’t been under any pressure! When the
aliens reveal themselves they are dressed in the campest clothing this side of
Rocky Horror.
Moment to Watch Out For: Picard telling Riker that he is the
one that has got a problem. Riker looks as if he might cry at any minute.
Moral of the Week: Dr Bev is not willing to thawed out by Picard.
Result: The most banal episode for an age is let down by
some pedestrian direction which could have made it a far more tense experience.
I have this vision in my head of an altogether different episode where Pulaski
never left the ship and the faux Picard came onto her instead. That would have
been a hilarious experience. Allegiance should have been a real endurance test
for the captives; preying on their fears, starving them, turning them against
each other violently (they do question each other but its more like a cosy chat
than intense paranoia) but the worst that happens is that they have a green
light shone in their faces. Ooh, scary. The episode ambles along blandly enough
and then suddenly the writer realises he needs to restore the status quo so
Picard makes some nonsensical deductions (based on very little information he
has gleamed from the situation) and the aliens are caught in the most foolish
of traps. It worries me that TNG can swing from powerful drama to toe curling
childishness in single step and this is definitely a rather desperate version
of the latter: 4/10
Captain’s Holiday written by Ira Steven Behr and directed by
Chip Chalmers
To Baldly Go: I remember reading news stories about Patrick
Stewart being unhappy about the apparently asexual Captain role he had been
handed on the show and was going to the lengths of suggesting that he would
quit if something wasn’t done about it. So it comes to two episodes in a row
where the Captain has become irresistible to women (well Dr Bev and Vash) and
he even starts getting his chest out to prove his virility. It is not a shift
in his favour as far as I am concerned, I rather thought the idea was to
contrast Picard with Kirk and it was his more thoughtful, less kinky behaviour
that really stood him out as being something different. I should have known
that Picard hated going on vacation, clearly the man lives for his work and
little else. Fortunately Dr Bev is on standby to force him out the door when he
tries to wangle his way out of it. His idea of a great holiday is visiting a
symposium on rogue star clusters which sounds about as pleasurable as
recovering from scabies and so instead Riker (who knows all the sleaziest
vacation spots, I would imagine) points him in the direction of a planet famed
for its lustrous exploits. When a gorgeous woman snogs his face off the only
thing he can say is ‘a simple handshake would have sufficed!’ – get that
bug out of your butt Picard! We need the duplicate from Allegiance back because
he would bent Vash over backwards and giving her a quick seeing to without a
moments compunction. Mind you if I was engrossed in a good book in the sun and
had women bothering me and people splashing me I would get cross too…but then
I’m usually engrossed in something a little more lowbrow than a study on
ethics. This experiment might have made more of an impact if we hadn’t seen the
imposter Picard letting his hair down (metaphorically speaking) last week but
as a consequence of following that episode ‘our’ Picard comes across a little
too stilted to truly have fun.
Alien Empath: Even Troi is in on the conspiracy to get the
Captain on holiday by pretending that her mother will be visiting shortly and cannot
wait to catch up with him. She comments quietly that Riker mentions too
often how imaginative the Risian women are, highlighting her jealousy.
‘Lies! Treachery!’ – doesn’t Sovak remind you of Kenneth
Williams’ character from Carry On Don’t Lose Your Head (‘Infamy! Infamy!
They’ve all got it in for me!’).
The Good: It’s great to see an Andorian vacationing on Risa,
a most neglected species in the post-TOS universe (until Enterprise came
along). Vash is such a marvellous, devious character that uses her feminine
wiles to disguise her lies and I wish we could have seen a lot more of her in
Trek. Unfortunately she only turned up in two lame TNG comedies – her best
appearance is in a so-so DS9 episode and that is hardly a screaming endorsement
of her potential. Jennifer Hetrick makes an instant impression and I would have
enjoyed her presence on the Enterprise a little more, embarrassing the good
Captain with her forthright attitude (but in a very different way to Lwaxana
Troi).
Moment to Watch Out For: Sovak digging furiously in the sand
to find the device –pure pantomime and cringeworthy and epitomises the episode
perfectly.
Moral of the Week: Picard loves adventure and women fall
over themselves for him.
Fashion Statement: ‘You look very handsome if I may say
so, sir’ says Troi of Picard wearing the most hideous grey hospital gown to
go on holiday in! Stewart has far too much flesh on display than my stomach
could take.
Result: Less of an episode of Star Trek and more of an
instalment of Patrick Stewart’s mid life crisis with him parading around in his
underpants with his hairy chest on display and being the object of lust for
some of the most beautiful women in the galaxy. It’s all a bit embarrassing to
watch and with static direction and a slack pace even the Indian Jones style
adventure fails to rouse much interest. Surely this is one episode which earned
the right to be shot on location and feature some glorious sunny coastline
photography? The writing team were pretty much held to ransom by a demanding
Stewart but the simple fact of the matter is that Captain Picard does not fit
this kind of episode and the way it ploddingly plays out almost feels like an
expression of that awkwardness. Saying that, I’m not letting Ira Steven Behr
off the hook for writing this drivel. On form he is one of the strongest Trek
writers but he is known to have his off days (usually when it revolves around
tacky comedy or anything to do with Risa – Let He Who Is Without Sin). This
episode would have been ten times more watchable had it been assigned to Wesley,
a character who genuinely needs to let his hair down: 3/10
What’s it about: A race between the Romulans and the
Federation to reach a mysterious sentient spaceship…
Alien Empath: You might think that I would be salivating at
the thought of any episode that takes a cynical approach towards Troi and her
invasive gift but my psychobabble alarms started ringing cacophonously once an
ex-patient of hers was introduced. Saying that Troi means well is like saying
that moralising episodes like Symbiosis mean well, it’s an accepted annoyance
of this show that she will poke her nose into the business with anybody with
the slightest personality flaw. The only real way to survive on the Enterprise
without her interference in your life is to pretend that everything is normal
and you are a satisfied Starfleet drone otherwise that dreaded door chime might
ring and she’ll be on your doorstep; sympathetic, persistent and really
exasperating.
The Good: I don’t mean to suggest that I am some kind of
schizophrenic but I find myself sympathising with Harry Groener’s Tam Elbrun
more than I do with the crews reaction to him. This is a character with poor
social skills but a brilliant telepathic mind who hates the way the crew evades
their real feelings and prevaricate to keep the peace. His sharp criticisms are
welcome because it is always fun to see the most relaxed crew in Starfleet on
their toes. The way he is so impatient that he can’t even be bothered to let
people finish their own sentences and does it for them would be very annoying
in practice but it does makes me smirk to see characters like Riker and Picard
so wound up. A living starship dead is space with the Federation and the
Romulans racing each other to lay claim to it is one of those instantly engaging
ideas that makes you wonder why nobody has thought of it before. We learn that
Betazoids only discover how to read minds as they hit puberty and it is very
rare for children to be born with telepathic ability and those rare individuals
are often socially challenged by the experience of growing up with so many
thoughts screaming in their heads. The Tin Man ship is quite unassuming and
cute looking, laced with veins of energy and I wonder if that was a deliberate
design choice to lull the audience into a false sense of security so the moment
it defends itself really hits home. This is precisely the sort of being that
the Original Series crew used to come across week in, week out, encountering an
ancient mysterious and it highlights the thirst for knowledge that this
promotes but doesn’t engage in nearly enough. Knowing that the star will go
nova, Tin Man has parked itself on its doorstep so it can be torn apart in the
approaching storm. With its curved corridors and organic pulsing you have to
wonder if the designers of Farscape weren’t paying attention to this episode
when they came to design Moya, another living ship.
The Bad: I was waiting for the scene where Troi visits Tam
in his quarters and with depressingly predictability the episode does not
disappoint. Given how much he hates counsellors I wonder if O’Brien has a
tripwire set up to detect Troi if she enters his quarters which sets an axe on
a pendulous trajectory with her head? There is more than the usual amount of
Bridge throw-yourself-at-the-wall acting required in this story. I’m not sure
why it bothered me so much with this episode but the lighting on the Bridge is
so thoroughly beige and colourless it really spoils the atmosphere of the
series. I wish they could have kept the deliciously dark look that they took
for a test drive in Yesterday’s Enterprise.
Moral of the Week: Not everybody in the 24th
Century is a Starfleet drone. Thank goodness.
Result: Few episodes of TNG will make you laugh and
squirm in equal measure with this much aplomb. This is the kind of character
drama I always praise DS9 for but it is handled with the same kind of
sensitivity and charm as I expect from my favourite Trek show (ahem, the other
one). Dwight Schultz brings a brand new energy to the show that you didn’t even
realise had been missing and Barclay becoming a regular is another terrific
development for the series in it’s ever improving third year. It’s kind of a
shame that they bothered to include the technobabble plot but then I guess
there had to be some problem for Barclay to solve in order to integrate him but
I find these scenes take you away from what is important about this episode –
the trials of socially inept member of Starfleet. Such a simple premise and so
well done, this is another winner for season three: 8/10
The Most Toys written by Sharri Goodhartz and directed by Timothy Bond
What’s it about: Data is acquired for the museum of a
wealthy and unstable man…
Fully Functional: It feels as though it has been ages since
we last had the spotlight on Data but that is the result of watching three
shows simultaneously because it has only been five episodes since The
Offspring. In reality, we haven’t seen the spotlight on Riker or Wesley for an
age and I hope that can rectified soon. Data tries being reasonable with Fajo
by requesting to be able to leave and when he declines he tries a forceful
approach which causes him substantial pain. We’re not used to seeing the
android in such a situation of being quite this impotent and it’s an intriguing
device to create some tension. It is especially clever to show the android in
such a vulnerable state since Data cannot feel emotion. Is it part of his
programme to seek out vulnerabilities in his enemies – I guess so if his
existence is threatened. Look at Data’s face as he watches his uniform burn
away, for a moment I thought I saw a flicker of modesty and sadness. Data has
no way of defying Fajo except by refusing to do as he says and he stands there
like a lifeless mannequin when he tries to exhibit him. Holding the gun on Fajo
is an astonishing sequence for the possibilities it presents. He has a choice
of killing Fajo and freeing himself from this life of slavery or going back to
sit on the chair and performing as a puppet to his every whim. Add the feelings
that he must have about Varria’s blood on his hands and it’s a surprisingly
tense and unpredictable moment. Would he have broken his programming? By all
accounts he did fire the weapon which is a surprising (but not unwelcome)
development.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘For an android with no feelings he sure
managed to invoke them in others.’
The Bad: For a show that is said to have a futuristic
Shakespearean language style of its own you have listen carefully to Picard’s
opening speech which is so full of long science fiction guff that you have to
wonder if it was written to deliberately trip Patrick Stewart up. There is a
gorgeously lit and designed set that the Away Team beam down to check on the
water supply but I swear it is identical to the set used when Geordi was
trapped on the planet in The Enemy.
Moral of the Week: Don’t push Data too far. He will crack
eventually and it wont be pretty.
Result: Another superb episode that starts with a
simple premise and builds it until the characters are really surprising you. It’s
another vital step on Data’s road to humanity where he learns to handle
humility and aggression and Brent Spiner gives a paradoxical performance that
allows Data to show no emotion at all and yet engage our sympathies completely.
Regardless of the behind the scenes nightmare of having to recast at the last
minute, Saul Rubinek also brings a lot to the role of Fajo and he remains the
most dangerously unpredictable character in the third season. I am so happy
with the quality that TNG is producing at the moment, this is easily the shows
most consistently excellent season and fills me with no but hope for the
future. The Most Toys manages moments of depth and tension with equal aplomb
and it barely leaves two sets: 8/10
What’s it about: Spock’s father comes aboard the Enterprise
to host a peace treaty but his mind is not what it once was…
Dancing Doctor: I wonder if perhaps the extreme emotions
that the crew are feeling aren’t intensified versions of how they really do
feel about things. Dr Bev slaps Wesley because he talked back to her and
because he is starting to care more about going on a date than embarrassing his
mother in front of the Captain (which would never have happened a couple of
years ago).
The Good: Where precisely is this set in relation to the
movies? Had Sarek and his wife appeared in The Voyage Home yet
(obviously they have within the Trek timeline but how did these two stories
correlate with their time of airing)? Either way this is the sort of cross
pollination between the series that I really like because it makes us feel as
if they are all taking place within the same universe. The concert is one of
those exceptionally powerful moments that comes along every now and again in
TNG with the rising music giving way to a single tear that causes ripples
throughout the audience. So simple and yet so startling in its emotional power.
Mark Lenard gives a bravura performance as a man who wants to keep his emotions
under control but cannot help sudden bursts of intense feeling – he is such an
erratic character it is uncomfortable to watch him because you don’t know which
way he is going to jump.
Moment to Watch Out For: Strip away all the nonsense with
the regulars behaving out of character and focus on two fantastic actors giving
their all with some genuinely affecting material (Stewart and Lenard) and that
is where you get the results. Picard breaking through Sarek’s barriers of logic
and dispassion in his quarters commands your full attention and Sarek’s robotic
repetition of ‘ILLOGICAL!’ as though he can fight the emotion that is coursing
through him breaks your heart. If you want to see everything that Patrick
Stewart is capable of as an actor it is channelled in the scene where he
unleashes Sarek’s emotions and he gets to be sinister, playful, sleazy and
controlled. It’s remarkably uncomfortable to watch and reveals many of Sarek’s
inner demons to the audience (he wants to feel everything and all of his
friends have turned to ashes). Stewart is simply astonishing. I defy anybody
who doubts his credentials as an actor to watch this scene and hold their
opinion.
Result: Mark Lenard and Patrick Stewart give extraordinary
performances in this episode with the former offering a mixture of calm logic
and unpredictable bursts of emotion and the latter proving his worth in the
intense frenzy of feeling brewed after the mind meld. They both hold this
episode up because despite its lofty ambitions to add to the mythology of the
Trek universe there are some unfortunate moments where the crew start turning
on each other. TNG has made its bed by suggesting it is the cosiest of Trek
shows and as a result this kind of tension has an unreal quality to it, almost
pantomime. How dreadful to watch a great man stumble and it is sensitively
handled but I feel that the writers missed a trick by not showing the
conference and having Sarek suffer a breakdown in front of the delegates. That
would have been devastatingly uncomfortable to watch. If you want to watch an
episode that deals with the poignancy and uselessness of senility check out
Once More Unto the Breach, it handles the themes with far more sympathy and
passion. There is something very clinical about the handling of the theme here
that befits the Vulcan presence but only feels as if it has been nudged at
rather than embraced fully. What you are left with is a flawed episode with
moments of powerful tension that is raised above average by some extraordinary
performances: 7/10
What’s it about: Riker and Troi go on holiday and wind up as
prisoners of the Ferengi!
Alien Empath: ‘I’m sure counsellor Troi appreciates the
chance to spend some time with her mother…’ Not from where I’m sitting! I
would be over the moon to have a mother as deliriously insane as Lwaxana (for
the record the mother that I have is wonderful but the point still stands) but
Deanna sits there griping and moaning at her eccentric and attention seeking
mother. She really does turn everything into an epitaph. Her mother tells her
that if she had stayed on Betazed she might have been a happier person. Why
does Troi have such a problem with her mother talking to her telepathically? If
I shared that gift with somebody in the room you could but your bottom dollar I
would be chatting away in my head. And not in a bitchy way, oh no. It’s true,
how much happiness can Troi get at always being there for other people (read:
poking her nose in their business) and never being there for herself.
Interestingly she heads for her mothers quarters and apologises for being so
grouchy with her at the reception (yay) but then proceeds to lay into her again
(boo!).
Boy Genius: While it is nice to see that Wesley’s story is
(finally) being pushed forward with talk of him heading of to the Academy, once
again his naiveté comes to the fore when he expects to be posted back to the Enterprise
once he passes his exams (actually that is two examples of jumping the gun
because he is assuming he will make it into the Academy). Because of his
heritage (and I prefer the actor) I find Nog’s struggle to join Starfleet far
more rewarding.
The Good: Is that Ethan Philips as one of the Ferengi
characters? Notice how toned down he is in this show? With a mixture of effects
work and some gorgeous location work Betazed comes alive as a colourful and
vibrant planet. Certainly more so than Risa ever did. Perhaps this should have
been the pleasure planet?
Moral of the Week: Lwaxana really isn’t as daft as looks.
She is even willing to sacrifice herself for her daughter.
Tin Man written by Dennis Putman Bailey & David Bischoff
and directed by Robert Scheerer
To Baldly Go: It is surprising that Picard is so accepting
of Deanna because he clearly feels quite uncomfortable around Betazoids. His
fear of Mrs Troi and her voracious sexual appetite is legendary and the look he
gives Tam when he reads his mind upon their introduction could wither fruit. I
understand his apprehension since we all have feelings we like to keep hidden
away. The trouble with this particular
Betazoid is that he fails to put on his poke face whilst he is reading you and
you don’t need to be a telepath to know what he is thinking. It would make
anybody uncomfortable.
Fully Functional: It is a rare occurrence that the
characters in TNG mirror my own thoughts but I was questioning the bareness of
Data’s quarters just seconds before Tam mentions it. Data thinks a great deal
about humanity and he is an honest researcher, not treating anything as trivial
or irrelevant. Tam tells Data it is not a sin to be different even though he
may have heard otherwise. There is a lovely little coda that sees Data return
to the Enterprise and realise that that is where he belongs just as Tam
belongs on Tin Man. For an android, he has found his spiritual home.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘It seems you have woke your Tin Man.’
‘Tin Man hurts and wants to die.’
Moment to Watch Out For: A Romulan ship swings into view and
blasts at the Enterprise – I love moments like this in Trek that take you by
surprise.
Orchestra: As the Romulans approach there is an intriguingly
sinister violin score like shivers running up and down your spine that made the
moment.
Result: The success of Harry Groener’s socially inept
Betazoid in this episode makes me wonder if it led to the creation of Reg
Barclay, proving to the production team that a flawed character would work
within this setting. It is so invigorating to meet a character that speaks his
mind and turns his nose up at authority, once Pulaski left the ship I thought
that all belligerence had been erased from the Enterprise. I would
happily swap Tam for Troi any day of the week, a socially dysfunctional
counsellor would make for a fantastic addition to the show. Tin Man is an
intriguing piece which deftly walks between moments of drama and depth and as I
raced towards the conclusion for once I had no idea how it was going to end
which is a rare and exciting feeling on this show. I am so happy about the
increased presence of the Romulans this season since every time they show up
the shows excitement levels increase exponentially. The ending where a man who
cannot settle into society and a being that has lost its crew decide to form a
partnership and roam the galaxy is both predictable and twee (this is
TNG after all) but for once they get away with it because both elements are so
well handled throughout the episode that you can see how much they are made for
each other. Rather lovely and a healthy antidote after the last couple of clunkers:
8/10
Hollow Pursuits written by Sally Caves and directed by Cliff Bole
Hollow Pursuits written by Sally Caves and directed by Cliff Bole
What’s it about: Introducing Reg Barclay and his wonderful
flights of fancy…
To Baldly Go: Picard is not used to seeing an unsatisfactory
rating on a member of his crew, after all his ship is a refuge for the best of
the best. I would have loved for somebody to have mentioned that back in season
one when this bunch of misfits were always making daft mistakes. Thank goodness
Picard doesn’t stoop to the level of name calling. Having worked with autistic
children I can say with some certainty that the way that Patrick Stewart plays
his scenes showing Picard’s discomfort with Reg is akin to watching people
interact with socially awkward individuals. It’s quite a subtle level of
uneasiness but it is nevertheless easy to spot.
Number One: In his holodeck programme Barclay describes
Riker as ‘a pretty mannequin in a uniform full of hot air.’ Whatever his
faults are socially he is clearly an excellent judge of character. It looks
like office gossip has remained a staple of
humanity right the way through to the 24th Century with Riker
and Geordi bitching about Barclay and even calling him names. It seems that if
you aren’t the best of the best then you are penalised on this ship. What a
pair of wankers. I realise a certain level of aptitude is required on the
Enterprise and that Reg doesn’t make the grade in some areas, however I find
the way Riker intimidates him verges on bullying at times. It’s fascinating
that a character I thought I knew inside out could be shown in such an
unlikable light – in his own inept way at handling this delicate situation
Riker is as flawed as Barclay.
Blind Engineer: It is extremely intrusive of Geordi to
simply walk into somebody’s holodeck programme – I’m sure it’s something that
the Chief Engineer wouldn’t have appreciated considering his sexual activity
with the Leah Brahms fake earlier in the season. Again I accept that Barclay
should be living up to his responsibilities and not hiding away in a fantasy
world but there are more subtle ways that this could have been handled than
embarrassing him like this. Geordi could have prevented Riker and Troi from
walking into his fantasy world like this but instead he seems to actively
encourage them. As though he wants to humiliate him back in line.
Alien Empath: It makes me laugh that in Reg’s fantasy life
Troi is the nurturing counsellor that we all know and tolerate but with it she
also sexual favours to aid their treatment. I hate to sound like a horny
Ferengi but I prefer her this way, she’s far more relaxed and less
histrionic. When Troi finally gets her claws on Barclay it looks like she is
going to use the same seduction techniques that he favours, dimming the less
and moving closer to him on the couch. At least she has the decency to admit
that she is intimidating.
Boy Genius: Of all the people to be making up nicknames
about others Wesley ‘I’ll save the ship/irritating boy genius/apple of his
mothers eye’ Crusher is taking the proverbial. A shame we didn’t get to see
Barclay dissecting him on the holodeck.
Brilliant Bartender: Guinan is always full of such great
advice, I wonder if we shouldn’t dump the rest of the crew and have a sitcom
set in Ten Forward with her and Barclay. I enjoyed her tale about her mothers
brother, the one who refused to fit in and how she loves spending time around
him because he was the only one who was normal (she was making a comment on you
and your chums there, LaForge). And she’s a sympathetic voice for Barclay
suggesting his social clumsiness is a result of how the people on the ship
treat him. Guinan is the best character on this show by several light years.
Perhaps that is why the shows later years suffer where Goldberg vanishes
without a trace.
Socially Inept: Reg Barclay is precisely what the Enterprise
needs to balance things out a little. He’s seclusive, a fantasist, social
incompetent and only mediocre at his work. I can really believe in a guy like
Barclay who shies away from the world. Dwight Schultz is such a likable actor
and poured into this role he really makes you feel for Reg – every time he
opens his mouth you want him to be confident and sure of himself and sink in
your seat as people react to his nervous tendencies. In private Reg is a swaggeringly
charismatic macho stereotype and the person he will never be in public. You can
see how there is something therapeutic about Barclay letting off steam in the
holodeck and being able to say things to people within a fantasy environment
that he can’t in real life (I bet there is somebody in everybody’s professional
life they wish they could do this to).
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I am the Goddess of Empathy! Cast off
your inhibitions and embrace love, truth, joy!’
‘Why is Lieutenant Barclay being referred to clandestinely
as a vegetable?’
‘I look forward to your report Mr Broccoli!’ – I actually
screamed out loud at this – of all the people to make this faux pas so
publicly!
‘Cast aside your masks and let me slip into your minds…’
‘Muzzle it!’
The Good: The teaser tells you practically everything you
need to know about the episode and the opening scene is very funny (Troi has
never been better). But it’s no where near as laugh out loud hilarious as
seeing Troi wind swept in a sunset lit Garden of Eden. Then we hop to another
gigglesome scene with Dr Bev swinging from a tree and Wesley filling his face
full of pie. It is so refreshing to see this show taking the piss out of itself
so completely since it doesn’t come around too often. Patrick Stewart, Levar
Burton and Brent Spiner as the Three Musketeers had me cheering and then
Jonathan Frakes bumbles onto the set. This is comedy gold. The last scene is a
gorgeous piece of theatre, we know that this isn’t the real Enterprise crew but
Reg is actually saying goodbye to something far more important than that.
The Bad: The stuntman playing Barclay during the swordfight
is clumsily apparent as he has much darker hair than Schultz.
Moment to Watch Out For: Any of the scenes in the holodeck.
Absolute genius.
Moral of the Week: Don’t bully the awkward members of your
team, try to understand them.
The Most Toys written by Sharri Goodhartz and directed by Timothy Bond
Mr Wolf: Worf’s answer to Deanna’s comment that he has
replaced the role of two dead crewmembers who both happened to be friends is
succinct and convincing. He attempts to honour their name by living up to the
high standards of which they performed their duties. Worf looks so odd sitting
down at the Conn!
‘What a marvellous contradiction! A military pacifist…’
‘Perhaps something occurred during transport, Commander’ –
that is quite a chilling line.
The Good: I keep seeing names of writers that I do not
recognise in the third season of TNG so obviously they were shopping around to
see what fresh writing talent would bring to the show. The difference between
this and Voyager, which is pretty much entirely written by a pool of
about five staff writers (who began by working on the latter seasons of TNG),
is clear when you compare the quality of their respective third seasons. The
teaser is a great hook into the show with the shuttle destroyed and the crew’s
stunned reaction to the sudden loss of Data. Plus they really have gotten those
explosions down pat now with the effect of debris screaming past the camera
making a very dramatic visual. Saul Rubinek (who as far as I understand wasn’t
the first actor offered the role but replaced the original actor after tragic
circumstances) is another guest actor who gives an extremely charismatic
performance and after Harry Groener and Dwight Shultz this is starting to
become a great show for guest actors to cut their teeth on. Fajo is like an
overgrown child who is too used to getting his own way but also capable of the
unpredictability and viciousness of a child which makes him quite frightening.
Fajo revealing his collection of unique
works suddenly explains why he has kidnapped Data (his little puppet in a glass
cage is very cute too). To have to tidy away the house of a departed family
member is horrible and that sense of there being something missing is
wonderfully realised as Geordi and Wesley explore Data’s quarters posthumously.
When Fajo cannot get his own way he forces the issue violently and you see that
this man will go to any lengths to exploit Data to willingly join his museum of
unique relics. Would Fajo have pulled the trigger and killed Varria? Who knows
but it is a catch your breath moment of shock saved by Data’s timely obedience.
For once technobabble is used in a satisfying way to show the crew figuring out
how they have been duped by Fajo. The climax is left entirely down to the
actors to show the complexities of the stand off between Fajo and Varria, it’s
a completely dialogue free scene where he cruelly makes her believe that he is
going to let her live and then kills her anyway.
Moment to Watch Out For: Data trying to mimic the smile of
the Mona Lisa is so lovely I feel that the entire episode has been justified
just for that small moment of glory.
Fashion Statement: Fajo’s visitor has the oddest looking
golden strip of metal that seems to be coming out of his ear, curls around his
face and heads straight up his left nostril. Goodness knows what that is all
about! Their just making up these alien designs now!
Sarek written by Peter S. Beagle and directed by Les Landau
To Baldly Go: Picard met Sarek as an awe struck youth and
just stood their grinning as he spoke to him wondering how to make small talk
with somebody who shaped the Federation. He was hoping to get the chance to
talk with him again and share his experiences and memories about the history he
has made but it is all scuppered by his illness (hidden behind overprotective
aides). Sarek finds Picard’s career to be satisfactory, which is high praise
from a Vulcan. Picard’s decision to perform a mind meld with Sarek in order to
give the man his moment of triumph is probably the most selfless thing we ever see
him do. If it goes wrong there is every possibility that he could be afflicted
by the same mental illness. Pleasingly he admits to feelings of apprehension
about the process and even he couldn’t predict the outpouring of such a
forceful regrets and feelings. Patrick Stewart is never frightened to make
Picard a flawed character capable of admitting feelings of weakness and as the
show develops they are allowing him more opportunities to do so. Given what
Picard is about to go through in the hands of the Borg I might have set this
episode back in the season a bit because surely there is only so much
punishment a man can take before his mind breaks. Now wonder the show had to
take an episodes pause in Family to allow him to try and put himself back
together again.
Fully Functional: There is a lovely moment when Picard asks
Data if he still wants to be human when he can see for himself the effects of
old age ravaging a once great man.
Boy Genius: What would it have taken for Wesley to have
mentioned that he was going on a date with a guy and not a gal? It’s such a
simple throwaway line and it would have done a lot to redress the balance in the
sexuality stakes in the 24th Century. If anybody would have truly
made an impact as a homosexual example in the 24th Century it would
have been Wesley and it’s a shame they missed this opportunity to show how all
minority groups are accepted in the future. It could have been slipped into
conversation as it is here with nobody reacting in the slightest.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘You are accusing the greatest man of
his time of losing his mind on the eve of his moment of triumph…’
The Bad: Geordi and Wesley suddenly turning on each other is
handled as well as it can be but it reminds me but coming from a show that
shirks this kind of tension it feels forced (although I do love the insults
they throw at each other with Geordi telling Wesley that every man on the Enterprise
knows women better than he does and Wesley accusing Geordi of having to find
his women on the holodeck – great points both). Appropriately enough had this
occurred on DS9 you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that anybody was acting
out of character. The scene in Ten Forward with O’Brien brawling over a table
is similarly unconvincing. The fight is a mixture of some genuinely nasty
stunts (one guy gets his head rammed into the bar) and some dodgy moments of
playground feuding (with two guys shoving at each others faces either side of
Geordi). Even Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes cannot make their sudden
outburst on the Bridge convincing – these moments are too pantomime to take
seriously.
Moral of the Week: Old age comes to everybody, even great
men, and it cannot be fought.
Ménage a Troi written by Fred Bronson & Susan Sackett
and directed by Robert Legato
To Baldly Go: Rather wonderfully, Picard tells Riker to piss
off and have a holiday with Deanna since they are on an extremely routine
mission. Picard’s Shakespearean rantings to Lwaxana are funny but it is weird
to see the usually unfaultable Patrick Stewart going so far over the top that
he’s somewhere over the rainbow.
Number One: How glorious to see Riker in civvies and
enjoying himself because all he has done this year is behave in a very dreary
Starfleet fashion. It would seem that that the growth of the beard has turned
him into a true Starfleet drone. He tosses away any of that kind of pretence,
grabs Deanna and plants one on her on the smacker almost as soon as they are
down on the planet.
Mrs Troi: ‘Darling you are so excitable lately! Have you
ever thought of a leave of absence?’ People find Mrs Troi and her
relentless pursuit of men for herself and her daughter as something of a parody
of a sitcom mother who is always interfering but in reality matriarchal figures
have been behaving this way in fiction right back to the time of Mrs Bennett in
Pride & Prejudice. Yes that is right, I have made a spiritual link
between TNG and Austen. Mind you she should really take a hint with Picard who
would rather spend his time showing guests the new door mechanisms of the
turbolift than grace her with his company!
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘The sacred chalice of Reeks is an old
clay pot with mould growing inside of it!’
‘When will you get it into your head that it is over between
us, Jean Luc!’
Moment to Watch Out For: Mrs Troi and Deanna are beamed out
of their clothing and stand there naked as the day they were born in front of a
Ferengi sleaze bag in a moment of pure titillation. Whilst I’m hardly an expert
I actually found Majel Barrett to be the more womanly of the two with her
curves in all the right places.
Fashion Statement: Mrs Troi’s outfit at the reception has to
be seen to be believed since it looks as though somebody has ripped away a
section that should be covering her breasts in the heat of passion! Plus the
skirt ticks upwards in the style of a 50s waitress in a casino! Why are
Wesley’s trousers always open at the back? I could think of some rude answers
to that but I’ll leave that to you imagination!
Result: For those of you who don’t like Ferengi shows or
Lwaxana shows you are in for a whole heap of trouble with this one. As this
tale played out I was reasonably entertained but I couldn’t really understand
the point of the story since we have already experienced (pretty lame) examples
of both types of stories before. Season three of TNG has its highest number of
classics in its entire run but it also has a high number of ‘meh’ episodes too
and like a lie detector graph it goes up and down with alarming frequency.
There is no tension whatsoever on the Ferengi ship because they are all
portrayed as being so dumb and it is an insult that mother and daughter Troi
are imprisoned for so long and the Enterprise investigations is about as
sophisticated as an Enid Blyton mystery. Riker plays chess, Lwaxana masturbates
a Ferengi and Wesley gets to save the day and misses his exams – it’s as
exciting as that: 5/10
Transfigurations written by Rene Echevarria and directed by
Tom Benko
What’s it about: John Doe metamorphasising…
Blind Engineer: Even Worf is embarrassed by Geordi’s
horrendous flirting skills and that is coming from one of the least attractive
men on the ship. Worf gets to remind Geordi with the awesomely succinct line
‘less talk, more synthahol’ when he indulges in even more technobabble than
usual relaxing in Ten Forward.
Dancing Doctor: Sometimes lines give you an opening and
force you to comment and ‘sickbay is a very boring place to be’ happens
to be one of them. I wonder why that is the case because I am sure it wasn’t
when Dr Pulaski was on the case. It stands to reason that Dr Bev would fall for
such an unmemorable man, when everybody talks about his confidence and charisma
all I see is a mild man who is happy to be getting better.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘We do not want relations with you!’ –
stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Picard!
The Good: Wey-hey! The first instance of O’Brien running
into sickbay in a wet suit having broken his arm thanks to his passion for
kayaking. I’m surprised he didn’t lamp Wesley when he slapped him on the arm.
The Bad: Worf and Geordi at the bar in Ten Forward fails to
work as two jocks eyeing up a lady simply because the pair of them are both so…sanitised.
O’Brien and Bashir would have pulled it off with much more laddish charm. It
annoys me that Trek can be so predictable at times but as soon as Geordi’s
visor is hooked up to the victim I could spell out the rest of the episode
there and then – alien interference. And since he has been so dreadful with the
ladies in the pre titles sequence (and the past), I was willing to bet that
suddenly he would be mister charisma. Surprise surprise, I was right. Why is it
on Trek shows that when crewmembers get possessed and start behaving in a
particular out of character manner (in real like this never happens but on Trek
it is pretty much a twice a week job) that nobody seems to notice. Instead of
realising immediately that there is something wrong with Geordi because of his
sudden ability to pick up women at a drop of a hat, Worf believes that it is
his tutoring that has caused this sudden transformation. Listening to Wesley
and Dr Bev talking about who they both feel attracted to is a very odd experience.
Precisely halfway through this episode there is a scene that poses as a
scientific investigation but in fact is line after line of impenetrable and
tedious technical bollocks, featuring no drama or characterisation, just dull
characters spouting geeky nonsense. This really isn’t good enough. John’s
escape attempt is one of the dullest on record and Ron Jones tries to
compensate with one of his most exciting scores – unfortunately the former
makes a mockery of the latter and it feels like trying to gift wrap nothing.
Although there is a moments worth of entertainment when a stunt man who clearly
isn’t Michael Dorn takes a dive into the shuttle bay.
Result: I really don’t know what to say about
Transfigurations because I have just finished watching it and it has made no
impression whatsoever. Focussing on two of the dullest TNG characters (Dr Bev
and Geordi) and packed full of technobabble, it feels as though we are just
treading water until we reach the finale. It is a vacuous mystery that leads to
the dreariest of speeches, the sort I thought we had left behind in season one.
What with his unexpected anger in Sarek and his newfound confidence here it
would appear the only time Geordi registers is when he is behaving out of
character and he still isn’t very interesting. They seem to have turned
him into something of a whipping boy, either hopeless with the ladies or
possessed by the latest nomad to wander onto the ship. I kept seeing moments of
potential that were wasted – John Doe being able to heal people could have been
dealt with far more enticingly and his apparent charismatic magnetic pull (even
Wesley comments on this) could have led to an amusing comedy episode. In the
end what we get is another dull self-righteous TNG episode which takes itself
far too seriously and winds up feeling like a waste of 45 minutes. So close to
the end of the finest year of this series it is a shame that the series seems
to be running out of steam again: 3/10
The Best of Both Worlds Part I written by Michael Piller and
directed Cliff Bole
What’s it about: The Borg have finally caught up with the
Federation and they just aren’t ready…
To Baldly Go: I don’t think we will ever see a Picard/Riker
scenes of the likes of the Captain asking his First Officer ‘what the hell
are you still doing here?’ again. It’s the type of razor sharp
characterisation that Michael Piller favours and takes your breath away in its
simplicity and power. Picard knows he is ready to work without a net and take
command and suggests he looks at his career objectively. The final nail to
Riker’s ego is the Captain suggesting that the Enterprise will go on
just fine without him. He’s not giving up on his First Officer but rather
trying to encourage him to make the next step which he is clearly more than
capable of taking. Picard gives one of his famous defiant speeches to the Borg
but this time he is facing an implacable enemy that doesn’t care for his words
and proceed to rape him of his identity. After three years of relatively
placatable foes, Jean-Luc has butted heads with a species that plays dirty and
doesn’t even care about it.
Number One: ‘This is the third time we’ve pulled out the
Captain’s chair for Riker…he just wont sit down’ It’s been a long while
since we have seen Riker’s career given such focus and with a third commission
of a Starship he is starting to look like a coward for continually hiding in
Jean Luc’s shadow. It is as though he has been physically struck when Shelby
admits that she is after his job, suddenly his poker face slips and we can see
a man unsure of where his future lies. It’s arresting when Picard compares
Shelby with the Commander Riker he recruited when he first took command of the
Enterprise and it shows how much of a Starfleet drone he has devolved into
since Encounter at Farpoint. Riker might have been ridiculously macho and camp
in season one but he took far more risks and was much more entertaining as a
result. He plays things absolutely by the book these days and when even whiter
than white Troi is calling you seasoned there needs to be some
modification of your character! Even he can recognise Shelby’s drive and
ambition and he misses those things in himself. Riker wonders if he is too
comfortable in his current position. It turns out he is ready for the Captain’s
chair but events will manipulate him into the seat of power of the flagship of
the Federation. His defiant look of confidence when he orders the Enterprise
to fire on the Borg ship with Picard aboard is possibly his finest moment in
the series.
Boy Genius: He may get straight As at school but he has a
lot to learn about poker. It’s lovely to see Wesley chilling out for a change.
Brilliant Bartender: The wonderful Picard/Guinan scenes
continue and together they foreshadow the loss of the Captain by discussing
Nelson at Trafalgar. Her knowledge and wisdom come in very handy in these
circumstances and she tells Picard that humanity will survive whatever the
losses. Given the events of Times Arrow are in her past and Picard’s future she
has knowledge that he is going to be fine. She could have tipped him the wink
at least but by doing so she may have changed the future.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Inform Starfleet Command. We have
engaged the Borg’ – the words we have been longing to hear.
‘May I speak frankly, Sir?’ ‘Always’ ‘You’re in my way’ and
‘If you can’t make the big decisions Commander I suggest you make room for
someone who can’ – I love Shelby’s straight talking attitude.
‘I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life as it
has been is over. From this time forward you will service us.’
Dreadful Dialogue: ‘Data was a available. I took him. We
came…’ – I’ve heard some lines that are open to interpretation before but this
one takes the biscuit!
The Good: You know the Borg remind me an awful lot of the
Daleks when they were first set up in Doctor Who, not in their specifications
or aesthetics but in how they were introduced. Opening with a story that showed
them as a terrifying unstoppable force and then following that up with a big
budget blockbuster that showed them at their epic best. I love how this episode
begins with what seems to be a standard TNG plot device of a colony in trouble
only to completely pull the rug out from under this franchise weary Trek fan
with the gob smacking matte painting of the entire colony scooped away from the
planet. Immediately attention grabbing, this should be the kind of shock that
opens every other episode. It just goes to show how unprepared the Federation
is for an attack, the naiveté of their mission to head out into space and
explore regardless of the consequences is what almost brings them down. Shelby
is an instantly engaging character and the sort that sets the cat amongst the
pigeons with the usually unflappable Commander Riker. I love how she manages to
rile him in a way that few characters can (but then she is after his job) and I
would have welcomed her continued presence on the Enterprise beyond this
story. They tried to emulate her success with Ensign Ro but after a strong
introduction, the Bajoran Ensign was indoctrinated a little more than I would
have liked. Using the poker game to expose the power game between Riker and
Shelby is clever and as the two of them go head to head the tension in the room
is electric. Even the technobabble makes an impact with its ominous projections
– if a Borg ship is 78% damaged it can continue to function effectively and
their best shot on their last encounter barely scratched the surface. Suddenly
the shrewdness of introducing this foe in a quieter story where their
implacability was exposed, now we know how relentless this race are when they
have the scent. Once a cube shaped ship has been sighted in Federation space
there is a palpable sense of tension as Picard marches around the Bridge
waiting for their encounter. The Borg cube fills the view screen as it tears
through space hungry for another victim to assimilate. The Enterprise fires
everything it has and it doesn’t even make a dent and you start to wonder if
any of them will make it out of this one alive. This episode isn’t content with
just bringing the Borg back it also assaults us with stunning visuals such as
the Enterprise gliding into a strikingly painted nebula. It’s tense
watching the crew desperately improvising to simply disable the Borg crew and prevent
themselves from being destroyed. It really does go to show that the Federation
has been twiddling its thumbs since the first Borg incident rather than
throwing everything they have got into aiding their defence during their next
encounter. There is one very menacing close up of a Borg drone after it has
beamed onto the Bridge, a single entity of the sort that would normally be
disabled in seconds but one with the instruction to kidnap rather than kill.
Piller raises the game of the entire series by tossing the threat not solely at
the Enterprise, but moving onto Earth. It makes total sense that they
would need a human voice to talk for them and why not aim for the top. Just how
moody is the lighting on the Borg ship? It is lit from below and shifts about
to throw menacing shadows across the actors’ faces. It’s the ultimate
cliffhanger – destroy the Borg and destroy the Captain or let them both loose
into Sector 001 to wreck havoc. An impossible choice but Riker proves he really
does have what it takes to make it in the Captains chair by ordering LaForge to
fire. What a cruel, exciting way to leave the season. I can only imagine how
people were feeling when their screens went blank and they had to wait so long
for the next season. It’s breathtaking in its conception and execution and has
been adopted into popular culture as one of the ultimate cliffhangers.
The Bad: Whilst there is something terrifying about the Borg
being able to bring down the Federation with only one ship it does beg the
question of why they didn’t send an armada?
Moment to Watch Out For: Nothing can quite prepare you for
that first sight of Picard converted into a Borg drone – it isn’t the zombie
white make up or the technological attachments that shock me it is whoever
thought of the laser eye which reaches straight out to the viewer as he turns
towards the camera. Absolute genius.
Orchestra: One of the best scores in Treks entire run and by
far Ron Jones’ greatest triumph, The Best of Both Worlds goes to show how much
atmosphere the music can bring to a show. Early scenes feature ominous
undertones which suggests that dark days are coming before the Borg reveal
themselves and Jones lets rip with a gorgeous electronic vocal and the
orchestra goes nuts to stress the drama of the situation. I love how the music
builds and builds during the raid on the Borg Cube until you literally left
panting with excitement. And that surely has to be the ultimate cliffhanging
sting, it stretches out for about ten seconds of pure dramatic bliss.
Result: So tense I don’t think I unclenched my buttocks for
45 minutes. This is quite simply the best episode of TNG by a country mile and
everything that season three perfected is exemplified and amplified here; the
characterisation is so good it sings, the production values are out of this
world, the dialogue gets to the heart of the situation and there is a sense of
ominous foreboding that pervades every second of the episode. It’s so gripping
its almost a shame because there is no way that the second part can live up to
the shocks and surprises of this superlative build up. The Borg were a gamble
that has paid dividends and at this point in their history they are the most
frightening alien race the Trek universe has ever coughed up. With the threat
to Earth and the perversion of the Captain it manages to feel both epic and
intimate and the escalating anxiety builds to one of the most celebrated
cliffhangers not just in Trek but in television history. The best finale from
the best season of TNG, this really is as fantastic as it gets: 10/10
"The Ensigns of Command" is fairly poor but I really like the final confrontation between Picard and the Sheliak commander.
ReplyDeleteNice blogger
ReplyDeleteIt occurred to me reading your praise of BOBW...I can't help but feel heartbreak that these fx don't dazzle as they used to! I remember sitting in front of the 8'' black & white set in my room (the color set was downstairs) and basking in the ship models and deaths rays and always wondering, how did they do that? In some ways it was more impressive than a feature film because it was on TV, and on a weekly basis! That's one advantage of the bigger, slovenly Trek franchise that is painstakingly micro-managed; they overcame both the shooting schedule and the technical restrictions of their time to craft some truly timeless images.
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