TNG Spoiler: "Preemptive Strike"
Martin H. Duke
spoilers for TNG's latest episode coming up, so no whining...
At least TNG will go out with a bang on its last two weeks <assuming the
finale is all it's cracked up to be.> This episode is such a contrast to
the last 6 or 7 weeks, it's like a breath of fresh air.
PLOT:
I was awful kind to "Emergence" last week, giving it a 7, because I was
intrigued by a few of its ideas and was in a good mood. I now wish I hadn't,
since I will now seem to understate the difference in quality between
"Emergence" and "Preemptive Strike."
This whole Maquis thread running through TNG and DS9 is really just a plain
good storyline; I haven't been groaning about Voyager tie-ins because the
quality of these things has made Voyager the farthest thing from my mind. Gul
Ivek, Nyachev, these people are all old pals now.
Advanced Tactical Training School, hmmm? Maybe Worf needs to go to this,
given his recurring bouts of incompetence. I'm reminded of the "Airborne
School" and "Air Assault School" that Army cadets can go to. As I understand
it, half the students wash out of Air Assault School the first day.
Whenever Starfleet laments about how heavily armed the Maquis are, I can't
help but chuckle at the thought that Quark is at the center. I mean, the guy
has his fingers in everything in the sector. He isn't just some petty fence
anymore.
Unlike "Chain of Command," the writers attempt to justify these starship
crews going undercover. We have a few sentences about why Ro was chosen, and
Picard may be the only officer in the galaxy she'll listen to.
When they first re-introduced Ro, I was afraid she had become the standard
shiny-happy TNG crewmember from her time on the E, but luckily it turns out
she had not lost her edge.
Who was it that spread the rumor that Picard falls for Ro? I was on the
lookout for signs of that the whole time, and I must say that there seemed
to be a chemistry between the two.
The infiltration itself was done very nicely. By far the best part of the
episode was the portrayal of the Maquis as decent people fighting a war for
survival. My loyalties were questioned; I'm not sure what side I'm on anymore.
And I didn't even have the leader turn into my father.
Which was another great point of execution. Patrick Stewart did a great job
of directing this episode. That sweet old man was brilliantly portrayed; I
almost thought he was Ro's long-lost father. That last line, when he dies,
about "when an old leader dies, someone's there to take his place" cut my heart
out and threw it against the wall. I'm almost on the verge of tears thinking
of it now.
To tell you the truth, I think Ro made the most honorable decision. I don't
know if I could have respected her if she tricked these people that she had
grown so close to. By betraying them, she would have effectively ended their
existences; by betraying Picard, she really only annoys him when it comes down
to it.
The worst thing about TNG compared to the other two series has always been
the technobabble replacing thought out, rational solutions. This is not a
problem this time around, as Ro faces a hard choice and makes it. There is
no vertion field in the end coming to save the day. The only part that went
nuts with the technobabble was the infiltration of the shields, but that was
a means to an end, and stuff like that is what technobabble is supposed to be
used for, not as a plot resolution.
There was also the detection of the fleet in the nebula, but again, that's
a means to an end, and not the resolution of the primary conflict. The episode
would be better without it, but it's not a terminal problem.
I do kind of have a problem with Riker going undercover. I mean, this man
is kind of historical figure since he *saved Earth* from the Borg. We're
dealing with a lot of ex-starfleet here. Surely they would recognize him,
especially since the association with the Enterprise was not hidden. Picard
should have sent somebody else. Maybe Troi or Crusher, or Ensign Random.
Whenever I see Starfleet hemmorhage a few officers to the Maquis, I can't
help but think of those damn civil war films. Brother against brother, and all
that. Look at Cal and Sisko; the Enterprise is supposed to be one big happy
family. It's nice to see that is broken up for once, and the must mourn the
defection of a friend. Very effective stuff.
When Picard his upset, is he capable of anything more than a blank stare into
space?
CHARACTERIZATION:
We see Picard in this one rigidly following orders. I can't help but wonder
if he's having the same crisis of confidence Sisko is. Right now, he seems to
be pro-treaty, but surely he must notice the severe problems on the border. If
only we had a little more time: I have a feeling Picard would begin to change
his feelings on the subject in a few months.
And wouldn't it be fun to see the flagship of the Federation *join* the
Maquis? :-)
Ro was, well, Ro in this episode. She did what she always does: what she
thinks is honorable, regardless of what rules or orders say. And the haircut
is much better than the last one. :-)
No one else did too much in this one, though Data lied in the bar! I guess
he can be ordered to lie <"Clues">, but it's still kind of a jolt when he does.
Riker must be especially stung by Ro's defection, given what they've shared.
He's just losing everyone: first Troi gravitates toward Worf, and now this.
FINE POINTS:
- Ro kissing that guy in the bar was great stuff. Especially the "not
tonight" line the second time around.
- The John/prostitute act with Picard and Ro was kind of humorous, since I
envision Picard as not exactly the kind of guy to do that. <Sorry, my mind has
taken a turn into the gutter.>
- Did we know the name of the black flight control officer <Ensign Gates>
before this? A bunch of people were wondering.
- I just can't get over how good the scenes were between the old man and
Ro. The acting, music, direction, lighting, everything.
It seems like TNG might know the right way to go out after all. A solid
outing that continues the Star Trek story arc, resolves what happens to Ro,
and pulls at the heart strings. If this is what Voyager will be like, sign me
up now.
My score: 9.0.
-Martin H. Duke
Maquis sympathizer - maybe
Oh, and by the way, termination of my internet access has been delayed by one
weekend. What's the earliest date of the "All Good Things" satellite feed?
Jeff Wutzke
H. Duke) wrote:
>
> Wow. I'm launching a "Preemptive Strike" by telling you now that there are
> spoilers for TNG's latest episode coming up, so no whining...
> Who was it that spread the rumor that Picard falls for Ro? I was on the
> lookout for signs of that the whole time, and I must say that there seemed
> to be a chemistry between the two.
Hmm, that could explain some of his stiffness at the end - stilted
personally
as well as professionally. But I thought Picard's actions were a little
unbelievable in this episode. Specifically, at the first sign of Ro's
hesitancy with the trap plan, he threatens her with court-martial (he who
virtually rehabilitated her in the first place). I would have expected a
greater effort to find out her feelings from JLP.
> The infiltration itself was done very nicely. By far the best part of the
> episode was the portrayal of the Maquis as decent people fighting a war for
> survival. My loyalties were questioned; I'm not sure what side I'm on anymore.
> To tell you the truth, I think Ro made the most honorable decision. I don't
> know if I could have respected her if she tricked these people that she had
> grown so close to. By betraying them, she would have effectively ended their
> existences; by betraying Picard, she really only annoys him when it comes down
> to it.
... annoy him, and allow the situation to continue to escalate until
there's a war between the Cardies and the Feds! A better solution would
have
been to draw out the Maquis, disable their ships (engines and weapons), and
tow them off to a starbase. Ro could have even planted some devices on the
ships that the E could have activated once the Maquis were beyond the
"border",
so no need for risky phaser fight.
Of course if she hadn't betrayed Picard, Paramount would have had to have
cancelled "Voyager", so I guess its for the best that she did after all...
:-)
Closing scene from the Voyager pilot:
Maquis leader Ro Laren piloting a ship in hot pursuit of a Federation
ship, itself pursuing a Maquis scout. Suddenly a strange technobabblehole
opens in front of the Maquis scout, which flies into it. The Feds pursue.
Ro gasps, says "Whoa, I'd better pull up now. I'm not supposed to be a
regular on this show", and we see an exterior shot of her ship in a tight
curve, narrowly missing the now closing technobabblehole.
Jeff Wutzke
jef...@nature.berkeley.edu
D...@cardio.hosp.wisc.edu
> Which was another great point of execution. Patrick Stewart did a great job
> of directing this episode. That sweet old man was brilliantly portrayed; I
> almost thought he was Ro's long-lost father. That last line, when he dies,
> about "when an old leader dies, someone's there to take his place" cut my heart
> out and threw it against the wall. I'm almost on the verge of tears thinking
> of it now.
Another fine example of directing occurred when Ro first appears in the opening
scene. Ro walked into a welcome-back party thrown in her honor and was visibly
uncomfortable with the attention. Then, while she was talking with Bev and
Troi, we saw her catch sight of Picard as he's leaving the room. She started
to move as if to catch Picard, but quickly stopped when she realized how rude
it would be to leave Bev and Troi after only saying a few words. Then, we cut
to a shot were we saw that Bev had followed Ro's glance and seemed to
comprehend and empathize with Ro's aborted move. I was struck with how much
information and emotion was transmitted in this little scene. All of the
important information in the scene was non-verbal and this information was
presented very effectively and succinctly by the actors.
This show was a fine effort. If I may be more effusive, this show was as good
as "Genesis" was bad. And that's saying a lot.
Michael Stegbauer
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael Stegbauer - MikeS - stegbau...@tandem.com - formerly mikesteg
Tandem On-Line Support Center, Austin, TX - TNSC UNIX Support Analyst
1992 Laser RS AWD, Red - 1993 750 Nighthawk, Blue - trekkie(TOS,TNG,DS9,V)
options trader and coordinator of the NRSIG (tandem internal)
Warning: Color name "LimeGreen " is not defined in server database
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neil Sarver
> Wow. I'm launching a "Preemptive Strike" by telling you now that there are
>spoilers for TNG's latest episode coming up, so no whining...
>
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> I was awful kind to "Emergence" last week, giving it a 7, because I was
>intrigued by a few of its ideas and was in a good mood. I now wish I hadn't,
>since I will now seem to understate the difference in quality between
>"Emergence" and "Preemptive Strike."
> This whole Maquis thread running through TNG and DS9 is really just a plain
>good storyline; I haven't been groaning about Voyager tie-ins because the
>quality of these things has made Voyager the farthest thing from my mind. Gul
>Ivek, Nyachev, these people are all old pals now.
> The infiltration itself was done very nicely. By far the best part of the
>episode was the portrayal of the Maquis as decent people fighting a war for
>survival. My loyalties were questioned; I'm not sure what side I'm on anymore.
>And I didn't even have the leader turn into my father.
they've showed the Maquis in a light that I was able to REALLY sympathize
with them - I mean in "The Maquis", I understood the point and saw how I was
supposed to sympathize dramatically, etc... so I followed along, but these
characters really had some truth to them.
> Which was another great point of execution. Patrick Stewart did a great job
>of directing this episode. That sweet old man was brilliantly portrayed; I
>almost thought he was Ro's long-lost father. That last line, when he dies,
>about "when an old leader dies, someone's there to take his place" cut my heart
>out and threw it against the wall. I'm almost on the verge of tears thinking
>of it now.
understand the Marquis. He was a well written and well acted.
> To tell you the truth, I think Ro made the most honorable decision. I don't
>know if I could have respected her if she tricked these people that she had
>grown so close to. By betraying them, she would have effectively ended their
>existences; by betraying Picard, she really only annoys him when it comes down
>to it.
of what it means to be a part of the Star Trek universe.
I thought her betrayal of Picard was much deeper than that. Think back to
"Ensign Ro" and fill in to the beginning of this episode, Picard implicitly
trusted her against the better judgement of others. In betraying that trust,
she became someone who isn't worth trusting by anyone and showed Picard to
have poor judgement in who to and not to trust - and for what... that's what
really confused me. I understand that she was torn between father figures and
that she was forced to be sympathetic to anyone who was against the
Cardassians, but I didn't understand the motivation on any level near what I
thought it should have taken for her to betray the Federation and more
importantly Picard. It didn't click for me.
> We see Picard in this one rigidly following orders. I can't help but wonder
>if he's having the same crisis of confidence Sisko is. Right now, he seems to
>be pro-treaty, but surely he must notice the severe problems on the border. If
>only we had a little more time: I have a feeling Picard would begin to change
>his feelings on the subject in a few months.
that I think they are inappropriate in the Star Trek universe. But, I suppose
if I understood them, maybe I would understand this point better...
> Ro was, well, Ro in this episode. She did what she always does: what she
>thinks is honorable, regardless of what rules or orders say. And the haircut
>is much better than the last one. :-)
to draw from HER *herself* was in the scene when she was reminiscing about her
father and that was hardly the tough, Bajoran woman that Ro had been, although
it would have proved an effective moment if she been that in the rest of the
episode.
> It seems like TNG might know the right way to go out after all. A solid
>outing that continues the Star Trek story arc, resolves what happens to Ro,
>and pulls at the heart strings. If this is what Voyager will be like, sign me
>up now.
and then brought it to disappointing and (for me) confusing conclusion. If
this is what Voyager is like, then it will be an insult to all that Star Trek
is supposed to represent.
>My score: 9.0.
>
>-Martin H. Duke
>Maquis sympathizer - maybe
Neil
Charles Lin
spoilers
Interesting episode. Were it not for the fact that this is the
next to last episode, it might be an episode that might be worth
following up. This episode is, in many ways, a copy of the
episode, Journey's End (the Wesley episode), and a better one
at that. In both cases, we have someone who is in Starfleet
who eventually becomes disenchanted with Starfleet, though Wesley's
change comes before the episode starts, and Ro's comes in the
middle of the show. However, in Ro's case, it seems more
plausible because she is choosing something that is within
the realm of possibility in her history.
While the older character was well done, he did seem a little
unusual to be leading that group of the Maquis, almost a bit too
sympathetic for a leader. In addition, it was perhaps a little
too coincidental that he shared that much in common with Ro (though
in reality, it was really two things. The sandwich like thing
he was eating, and being able to play the same instrument as her
father).
One other thing I was thinking might happen would be that
they would have caught the Cardassians actually trying to
somehow ship the biological weapons. Of course, that would
have made the episode a bit more complicated.
--
Charles Lin
cl...@eng.umd.edu
Robin E. Baylor
in Paradise & trying to function in a galaxy that was definitely
NOT paradise. Whose brilliant idea was it to send Ro? The very
reason she would not be caught was that her "defection" was
too likely to turn true. *I* think the reason she got away
at all, was that Riker didn't have the heart to stop her.
(Yes, I know she had a phaser on him, but he's jumped enemies
with weapons before & usually won.) Ro could have become one
of Starfleet's finest officers, but she couldn't become one of
Starfleet's finest spies. She is too forthright for that, and
at this point her loyalties were too fragile. ("I've spent my
whole life FIGHTING Cardassians . . . ") Picard broke her
as far as her usefulness to the federation goes, by sending her
on that mission. He should have known it.
--
It's none of your business what my .sig says
REB