Lynch's Spoiler Review: "The Inner Light"
Timothy W. Lynch
regarding this week's TNG offering, "The Inner Light." Those not wishing to
have said light shone on them at the moment are advised to remain clear.
Wow.
That was one of the most...interesting and heartfelt shows I've seen from
TNG in a long time. I'm still not sure what I can say.
Fortunately, before I have to say anything, I can synopsize to my heart's
content. :-) Maestro:
The Enterprise encounters an object; a probe of unknown and fairly primitive
design, which quickly begins matching their course and speed. It initially
seems nonthreatening, but soon emits a beam of nucleons. The shields go up,
but it manages to break through the shields in a very narrow region, and
Picard suddenly faints. He blearily sees Riker holding him...and then Riker
dissolves into a youngish woman with a careworn look on her face, who asks
Picard if he's feeling better, referring to him as "Kamin". Picard initially
believes he's stuck in a holodeck program and attempts to leave, but to no
avail. Feeling trapped, he paces. "What is this place?" "This...is your
home, of course."
Picard is taken aback; is he a prisoner? Of course he's not, as she makes
clear; he's been feverish for over a week. She says he's still very weak and
asks him not to go outside, which he promptly does. He finds himself in the
middle of a small village, where a large and happy man has just finished
planting a sapling in the courtyard, as an "affirmation of life" and a symbol
of hope, despite the devastating drought. As the crowd moves on, Picard
accosts this man, who also welcomes "Kamin" back to the land of the fit.
Upon hearing Picard's questions, however, he comes to believe that Picard
has amnesia. Picard, realizing he needs answers, decides to play along with
this. He discovers that his name is Kamin; that the man with him is his
friend and Council leader Batai; that the woman is his wife Eline; and that
they're in the community of Ressic on the planet Kataan. He takes a walk, to
"reacquaint himself with the surroundings", and wanders for hours, seeing a
gleaming city far away.
He returns home to Eline, who tells him she's been worried sick. As she gets
him some dinner ("It's delicious." "You always say that."), he asks her a
number of questions. First, he intends to send a message the next day,
though he's not sure to where. Then, with a little prompting, he begins
asking about them. "We're...married?" "Three years ago. The happiest day
of my life was the day we got married." He discovers that he's an
ironweaver, though he prefers to play his flute (poorly). He thanks her for
her help, and she takes his hand and asks him to come to bed. He demurs and
attempts to make excuses, but she is insistent. He begins to rise, and then
sees the charm she wears, which is identical in shape to the probe they
encountered. When he demands to know where she got it, however, he
discovers that it's the first gift he ever gave her. He watches it
twirl...and Riker, on the bridge, calls to Sickbay for help, as Picard's body
slips into a coma.
Bev arrives and does some scans, finding incredible neurotransmitter
activity. They reason that the probe has somehow connected itself to him
like a tether, and find that the beam is nigh unto unblockable at present.
They can destroy the probe, but Bev strongly urges against that. They wait.
Five years pass on Kataan. Picard is looking through a telescope of his own
construction, charting the sun's path to attempt to find the cause of the
drought. Eline, however, believes he's still looking for that ship of his,
and hurtly upbraids him for not paying attention to the life he has *now*.
When, she asks, will she get him back? When will they start a family?
Batai interrupts to take "Kamin" to the Administrator's visit. The
Administrator is somewhat unsympathetic and unctuous, but Picard seems to
impress him somewhat. Regardless, his idea to build atmospheric condensers
is quickly dismissed as costly and unworkable, and the Administrator leaves
with no firm plan of action in hand (or even in mind). Picard broods, but
Batai notes that it's the first time in years he's heard "Kamin" speak like a
true member of the community again. They return to Picard's house for
dinner.
Later that evening, Picard and Batai sit while Picard plays the flute. Eline
gently tells Batai that it's time he went home, and then chides "Kamin" about
leaving his shoes everywhere. The conversation quickly turns more serious,
with Picard acknowledging her points of that day and apologizing for not
being a better husband to her. He asks her permission to build something
else. She points out that he didn't need her permission to build the
telescope, or the laboratory, and he doesn't need it now, but he insists. He
wants to build a nursery. "Really?" "Unless, of course, if you would prefer
a porch; it would be much easier to build, and I could start on it right
away--" He gets no further.
Meanwhile, on the bridge, Geordi launches a probe to follow the radioactive
traces of the alien probe back to their source. Data has figured out a
likely way to disrupt the beam, and despite Bev's misgivings about the idea,
Riker decides to do so.
Several years pass on Kataan. Kamin and Eline are holding the naming
ceremony for their second child, named Batai for their late friend. After
the formalities are concluded, they look at their daughter Meribor and note
how fast she's grown. (Eline notes that she's accompanying Kamin all over
the place, and is surely her father's daughter.) Kamin remarks that he once
thought he never needed children, but that now he can't imagine life without
them. Suddenly, he turns pale, shudders, and collapses. Eline calls for the
doctor--
--and Bev and Ogawa try frantically to stabilize Picard, but to no avail.
With no choice, Data hastily manages to reestablish the beam, and Picard
stabilizes.
Ten years or so later on Kataan, Meribor is in her late teens, and is turning
into quite the scientist herself. She's continued her father's work on the
drought, and has discovered that the soil is simply dead. She tries to voice
the unspoken conclusion of her work, but Kamin tries to avoid it and change
the subject. Eventually, however, she voices what he already knew: the
planet is dying. He is saddened that she must bear this knowledge as well,
but she bears it well. "I think I should marry Danek sooner rather than
later, don't you?" "Seize the day, Meribor. Live now; make *now* always the
most precious time. Now will never come again."
...And on the bridge, Geordi's managed to trace the probe's path back to its
origin, a system called Kataan. Unfortunately, there are no inhabited
planets there; the sun went nova and all life in that system died roughly a
thousand years ago.
Several more years pass on Kataan. Eline comes out to see a very aged
Kataan, still working on his telescope, and who urges Eline to lie down after
her recent surgery. When they hear Batai playing the flute, she suggests
Kamin talk to him, hinting that there are things that need to be said. Batai
comes out to talk to them, and tells Kamin that he's leaving school to
concentrate on his music. "*This* is the life I want to lead." Kamin is
initially aghast at this, but eventually comes around, telling Batai that
they will "discuss" it later. He explains to a surprised Eline that he
doesn't think he should stand in his son's way; and besides, he may not have
much longer to lead his life anyway. Kamin notes that he'll be talking to
the Administrator tomorrow and will possibly be expelled from the Council for
his findings.
The next morning, he and the Administrator argue. At first, the
Administrator simply refuses to listen, but he eventually tells Kamin in
confidence that their scientists found the same conclusions roughly two years
ago, but have kept it quiet to avoid starting a panic. A plan is currently
underway to save *some* facet of the civilization, but more cannot be said at
this time.
Suddenly, Batai comes running to Kamin; it's Eline. Kamin rushes home, but
there's nothing that can be done. She asks Batai for a moment alone with
Kamin, and is relieved to hear that he won't be thrown off the Council.
"Remember...put your shoes away." "I promise." Eline dies, and a heartsick
Kamin grieves over the body.
Years afterward, an extremely old Kamin is chasing after his grandson.
Meribor and Batai come to take both of them to see "the launching." Kamin is
initially not interested, but is talked into it. They head out to the
courtyard, where Kamin sits on a bench at the outskirts. "What is it they're
launching?"
"You know it, father. You've already seen it."
"Seen it? What are you talking about? I haven't seen any missile."
"Yes, you have, old friend. Don't you remember?"
Kamin turns, awestruck, to see his friend Batai again, as hale and hearty as
he was in the prime of life.
"You saw it just before you came here. We hoped our probe would encounter
someone in the future--someone who could be a teacher, someone who could tell
the others about us."
"Oh...oh, it's me...isn't it? I'm the someone. I'm the one it finds.
That's what this launching is--a probe that finds me in the future!"
"Yes, my love." This comes from Eline, now alive again and flush with the
beauty of youth. "The rest of us have been gone a thousand years. If you
rmember what we were, and how we lived, then we'll have found life again."
"Eline..." He watches the missile lift off.
"Now, we live in you. Tell them of us...my darling..." Kamin stares...
...and Picard wakes up on the bridge of the Enterprise as the probe
breaks contact and shuts down. He's initially very disoriented, but quickly
reacquires at least a cursory knowledge of the situation. He discovers
that he's only been unconscious for 20 or 25 minutes, and accompanies Bev to
sickbay.
Some time later, Riker visits Picard in his ready room. As Picard gets
used to the fact that this is once again his home, Riker hands him a small
box they found inside the probe after they examined it. He leaves, and
Picard opens the box, to find his flute. He cradles it to his breast, then
softly plays it, as we see the ship fading off towards the stars.
Whew. Yep, another long one. Ah, well. Time for me to come up with some
commentary now, I suppose...
First, a note of caution. As you can already tell (from the synop, if
nothing else; I tend to run on a lot longer and get much more flowery in my
phrasing if it's a really good piece :-) ), I loved the show; but I'd predict
right now that this will not be for everyone. It's an extremely, *extremely*
atypical piece so far as Trek is concerned, and that's going to turn some
people off, no question. Just so you're warned; of course, if you are turned
off by something like this, you've probably discovered a ways back that our
tastes don't mix.
Two things figure importantly in whether you'll like or dislike the show.
The first is the respect and liking (or lack thereof) you have for Patrick
Stewart's acting, as this was very definitely a showpiece for him. I think
most people 'round here tend to like his work a great deal, but there are
always exceptions. The second is more difficult, but I think a lot of your
enjoyment will depend on how many, if any, personal chords Kamin's life
struck within you. To some extent, a personal connection to an important
character is always important, of course; but I think it's far more so here.
For my part, I fit both bills a lot. My love for Stewart's acting is
probably close to legendary (or at least folkloric :-) ) by now, and this is
up among his best work, no question. (As an aside, I think that the
slightly-aged Kamin physically looks almost exactly as I would picture
Stewart playing Scrooge with makeup and costuming if he ever changes the
format of his one-man "A Christmas Carol".) As for the second part...well,
this was a deeply introspective show, so you're going to have to pardon me
while I get a little introspective myself here.
At least three things struck resounding chords with me as Kamin's life
unfolded before our eyes. The first was the manner in which he told Eline
about building the nursery; as Mike Shappe alluded to once, long ago (but got
wrong :-) ), I proposed to my wife a few years ago by saying "I had another
present in mind...but I thought I should check with you first before I got
it." "Oh?" "Something about this big...gold...with a diamond in it." I
knew there was a reason I've connected so well with Picard's character. :-)
The second was Kamin's conversation with his son Batai about Batai's plans.
Having recently been in the situation of informing family and friends about
my own decision to leave school and go into science teaching, I can readily,
*readily* sympathize with the soul-searching that must have gone into Batai's
choice there, and Kamin's reaction is exactly the sort of thing I'd like to
have gotten.
The third was more depressing, but still strongly connected. Kamin's last
phase of life, the heavily aged man, reminded me very strongly of my
recently-late grandfather...especially when he had on that old straw hat.
Another week, another year, this might not have hit very strongly; but given
that his memorial service was a scant ten days ago, the parallel was very
strong just now.
Hmm. You see why I said this might not be for everyone? Everything I saw
kept reinforcing itself not only within the context of the show, but within
my *life*; and that's too rare not to be something to cherish.
Anyway. Now that I've bored you with details of my personal life, onwards to
a few more general comments. :-)
Stewart's performance, as I said, was superb, from the initial disbelief and
suspicion, to the eventual acceptance, to the slow passing of age, to the
final revelations as Kamin, down to his touching flute solo at the end.
(I'd be obliged, by the way, if a flautist could let me know whether it
looked like Stewart was *actually* playing the flute himself. I tend to
doubt it, but it looked convincing enough to me.) I saw touches of a lot of
different things as Kamin aged over 35 years or more (including a professor
here in the department; the "Hey, that's my hobby, go find your own!" could
easily have sprung from his lips :-) ), and I can't remember a single
offputting scene in the lot. Wondrous.
The rest of the regulars were fine for what they had to do, which was
exceedingly little. No problems, and at least one plus: Gates McFadden's
reaction to Picard's near-death midway through was one of the most realistic
reactions from her I've seen in a while (and I like her in general, too).
Now to the guest stars. I can't say I've a lot of complaints here either.
All were wonderfully written (in fact, character-wise, I can't think of
*anything* poorly written, honest), and pretty much all were well performed.
Margot Rose's Eline took a little while to grow on me, but I was quite
attached to her by show's end; and I also think she looked *just* enough like
"The Perfect Mate"'s Kamala to throw Picard that much more off guard. Heh.
Richard Riehle's Batai was just fine; initially, I have to say, I was as
suspicious of him as Picard was. That turned out to be unfounded, though,
and he did turn into a good friend in what we saw of him. Scott Jaeck's
Administrator was properly sleazy (hey, I calls 'em as I sees 'em, and I
think Jaeck almost *always* plays pretty sleazy people :-) ), which is about
all that was really needed. (Brief aside: I can't remember for the life
of me just *where* I've seen Scott Jaeck before, though, but I know it's
been in a couple of different places. Any ideas?)
Jennifer Nash's Meribor was extremely good. What she lacked in terms of a
_physical_ resemblance to Stewart (after all, she is s'posed to be his
daughter), she more than made up for in force of personality. Her dedication
to truth and adeptness at conversation and debate were passed very true from
father to daughter, and that's the sort of thing that's tough to fake. I
rather admired her, in fact.
And then there's Daniel Stewart as the younger Batai. Well, he's not his dad
in terms of ability, but he's also two or three decades behind him; give 'im
time. He did just fine for what he had to do (namely, exhibit a lot of quiet
fire), and he certainly *did* have the physical resemblance to Stewart needed
to make things convincing. (Between the two Stewarts and the facial features
that are prominent in my family, I'm starting to wonder if the purest
heredity of all is preserved in the nose. My nose goes back four
generations. :-) )
Let's see...oh, the plot. Well, the Kamin-related plot was very simple, and
very straightforward, and almost in the background, as I believe it should be
in cases like these. There is one suspension of disbelief you need to make,
probably (namely, that a planet with enough primitive patches like those has
the technology to build a probe that can do what it did to Picard), but I'm
perfectly willing to do that. (Hell, if I can swallow "Conundrum", this is
nothing. :-) ) There's not a lot of plot to play with, but there doesn't
need to be in this case.
Peter Lauritson directed, which was a surprise; he's been an associate
producer or producer on TNG since the pilot, but has never directed before.
And while he's not quite up on the Rob Bowman/Jonathan Frakes tier of TNG
directors, he's awfully nice, especially for a rookie. A few shots in
particular really struck me:
--the changeover from Riker to Eline in the teaser
--the slow shot of Eline's charm spinning
--the pan around Picard as he plays the flute at the close
--and most of all, the series of cuts as the old Kamin turns to see first
Batai and then Eline. This one, in particular, reminded me of some of the
end of "2001: A Space Odyssey", with Dave Bowman seeing himself...and
himself...and himself, and let's face it, being reminded of Stanley Kubrick
is not exactly a major problem in this business. :-) (Add to that the fact
that Stewart's final makeup job as Kamin made him virtually unrecognizable
and things got even more surreal.)
All in all, nice work there.
Finally, a word on the music. With all the flute, I knew early on that Jay
Chattaway had to be the one who handled this one, and I was right; but he
came back up to "Darmok" level here, I think. Best music I've heard in a
long, long, *long* time on TNG, particularly in the use of the flute. Not
being a musician, I don't have particularly eloquent or specific ways to
describe it, but I know what I like, and I liked this.
Well, that should about do it. This was in some ways a rather unorthodox
review; but then, in many more ways it was a pretty unorthodox episode. It's
going to be one of my favorites in a few years' time, I bet; and it's mighty
good from the start. Bravo, I say. Bravo.
Oh...numbers? If you hadn't guessed, you can put in 10's for everything this
time. First time I've been able to do that in quite a while (at least since
"Cause and Effect", and that for very different reasons). :-)
NEXT WEEK: Another rerun, this time of "The Masterpiece Society". Catch you
in two weeks for the season finale.
Take care.
Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy B.A.; one of many Caltech grad students)
BITNET: tlynch@citjuliet
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"Now we live in you. Tell them of us...my darling."
--
Copyright 1992, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Richard L. Gralnik
forward to each new episode. Also, there's no way I have time to read all the
postings here if I want to remain gainfully employed, so I generally read Tim's
review and a couple of the others and that's about it.
Most of the episodes lately have not moved me to write (or moved me, period. :-)
but I liked "The Inner Light" and a couple of Tim's comments made me want to
add my two cents.
I also liked the episode very much. No, not the hi-tech special effects Trek
wizardry, but a good story that moved me, made me think a bit, and held my
attention throughout. A couple comments to add to the pool...
I was confused when the second scene on Kataan talked about '5 years'. I
thought I'd heard wrong and couldn't figure out if they were trying to make
Picard think he'd been there 5 years already when he first woke up or if 5
years were to have passed already. I had sinister suspicions of these
'kidnappers', and kept wondering where their technology was hidden. The
time change cleared itself up soon enough though. I also liked the way
Picard accepted the inevitable and adapted to the fact that he was here
and was going to be staying here (I wondered why they didn't show him
sending the message he spoke about. They could have shown then that there
was no way to communicate with the Enterprise and given Picard a chance
to react a bit.)
I thought Kamin (sorry Tim, I wanted to spell it 'Cayman' but I guess then he
would have had to wear Izod shirts.) and Eline's daughter looked a lot like
the mother, and interestingly thought the son looked a bit like both parents.
I didn't realized he was played by Patrick Stewart's real-life son BTW. Cute.
I also wondered where they got the technology to build the probe, and once the
real situation was revealed, how they had the technology to build in the whole
mind game Picard experienced.
I thought the part about finding the flute in the probe was brilliant, even
though I knew what was in the box the moment I saw it. I wondered if Picard
would remember everything or if he'd forget like waking up from a dream. When
he started *playing* the flute, and it was the same song he'd played on Kataan
I got warm fuzzies (ok, so I'm a softy. BTW, did anyone else want Picard to ask
Beverly, "Doctor, will I be able to play the flute after the operation?"
It would have broken the spell, but it would have been classic. :-), and I
very much liked the camera pan around Picard as he played. It caught the mood
beautifully. I only wish Riker had stayed in the room. He and Picard have
talked about personal experiences and emotions before, and I thought it would
have been a nice touch for Picard to actually *say* something to someone on
the ship (NOT Troi) about what he'd experienced.
I'm glad they added the scene with the flute. Once Picard went off to sick bay
with Dr. Crusher and they cut to the stock 'Enterprise cruising in space, start
the credits' shot I thought 'Great, they paced it wrong again and aren't going
to let anyone react to what just happened because they're out of time.' I was
glad I was wrong.
How much do you think Picard will be changed by what just happened? Will we
see a kindler, gentler Picard (sorry) who might start thinking about a family
or will he just write it off as seeing the world through someone else's eyes
and not be affected by it? It could be a good vehicle to advance his
relationship with Dr. Crucher. I thought the flute scene at the end showed that
he was changed by the experience (even 400 years from now I doubt if you'll just
take a flute pill and start playing).
Richard
Claudia Zornow
> WARNING: The following article contains hosts of spoiler information
> regarding this week's TNG offering, "The Inner Light." Those not wishing to
> have said light shone on them at the moment are advised to remain clear.
was striking. I rarely notice lighting in shows, but this added a lot
to the beauty of the show.
> (I'd be obliged, by the way, if a flautist could let me know whether it
> looked like Stewart was *actually* playing the flute himself...
There was at least one scene where he was clearly *not* playing it himself;
the scene where he's playing while sitting on his steps and Eline is talking
to him. The viewpoint cuts back and forth between looking from behind
Eline towards Picard and the wall behind him, and looking from just
behind Picard's left side (back up against the wall) out towards Eline.
The closeups from that perspective show that he's not playing.
I'd have to re-watch the final scene to tell whether he was playing there.
> Jennifer Nash's Meribor was extremely good. What she lacked in terms of a
> _physical_ resemblance to Stewart (after all, she is s'posed to be his
> daughter), she more than made up for in force of personality...
I thought she had a physical resemblance to her "mother," which is
equally believable.
> And then there's Daniel Stewart as the younger Batai.
Someone else mentioned his baldness in the later scene with the grandson.
I thought that the balding character might be Meribor's husband rather
than her brother, but it was hard to tell.
The episode which this most reminds me of is "Family" -- it has the
same sense of spaciousness, of different lives, of boundaries much
larger than the limited confines of the _Enterprise_.
Claudia
Brian Kendig
episode:
There's something about TNG which I've come to call the "ten-minute
rule": at _precisely_ ten minutes before the episode's over,
*suddenly* everything is revealed, or some big event happens to bring
everything together. I tend to think it's because the writers, having
written a good episode up to that point, suddenly say, "Oh my gosh!
We only have ten minutes left! Let's pull everything together, guys!"
In this case, it was the business with Kamin having everything
explained to him as the "rocket" was being launched. I think the
episode could have stood quite well on its own without that gratuitous
explanation, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what the probe's
purpose was (or maybe having the Enterprise crew make some suggestions
that we, as viewers, would know were correct).
And the one other glaring incongruity was Riker's delivery of the
flute to Picard. They just happened to find a small case containing a
flute aboard the probe; what's the most natural thing to do with it?
Go hand it to the captain then leave? Not! (This could have been
smoothed over with a few more lines, something like Picard expressing
a desire to have the flute for a while, perhaps.)
Oh, well. Maybe I expect too much?
<< Brian >>
(scheduled to graduate Starfleet Academy in three days)
P.T.: *Beautiful* way to develop Picard as a character, though! Now
that he's had a taste of marriage and fatherhood, maybe he'd going to
do some unexpected things next season? "Seize the day. Live now;
make *now* always the most precious time. Now will never come again."
--
| Brian S. Kendig --/\-- Tri bske...@phoenix.Princeton.EDU, @PUCC
| Computer Science BSE |/ \| Quad You gave your life to become the person
| Princeton University /____\ clubs you are right now. Was it worth it?
ron c carman
>regarding this week's TNG offering, "The Inner Light." Those not wishing to
>have said light shone on them at the moment are advised to remain clear.
>Wow.
[much text deleted]
>Ten years or so later on Kataan, Meribor is in her late teens, and is turning
>into quite the scientist herself. She's continued her father's work on the
>drought, and has discovered that the soil is simply dead. She tries to voice
>the unspoken conclusion of her work, but Kamin tries to avoid it and change
>the subject. Eventually, however, she voices what he already knew: the
>planet is dying. He is saddened that she must bear this knowledge as well,
>but she bears it well. "I think I should marry Danek sooner rather than
>later, don't you?" "Seize the day, Meribor. Live now; make *now* always the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^whoops... not quite
I believe Picard/Cayman's words were 'Seize the time...'
I believe a poet once said 'Seize the day'... I forget who, though.
>Oh...numbers? If you hadn't guessed, you can put in 10's for everything this
>time. First time I've been able to do that in quite a while (at least since
>"Cause and Effect", and that for very different reasons). :-)
I couldn't agree more... this one definitely gets top marks.
RC Carman
--
/=======================================================================\
| chronos || 'What you want is irrelevant. |
|rcca...@ukpr.uky.edu || What you have chosen is at hand.' |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Smiley
Spoiler, by the way...
:)One major problem that ruined what was, up to that point, a beautiful
:)episode:
:)There's something about TNG which I've come to call the "ten-minute
:)rule": at _precisely_ ten minutes before the episode's over,
:)*suddenly* everything is revealed, or some big event happens to bring[...]
:)In this case, it was the business with Kamin having everything
:)explained to him as the "rocket" was being launched. I think the
:)episode could have stood quite well on its own without that gratuitous
:)explanation, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what the probe's
:)purpose was (or maybe having the Enterprise crew make some suggestions
:)that we, as viewers, would know were correct).
Sorry, but I don't agree with this in the slightest. The purpose of the probe
was no where near obvious enough that it could have gone without explanation.
Furthermore, the viewer would have just said "what was the point of all THAT?"
if Picard just "wakes up" after a certain point.
Picard (Kamin) needed an answer to his dilema; what was this planet doing
to save itself? That question HAD to be answered to him. And it COULDN'T
be answered until the end, because once he knows what's going on, well,
it can't really be going on anymore. :)
:)And the one other glaring incongruity was Riker's delivery of the
:)flute to Picard. They just happened to find a small case containing a
:)flute aboard the probe; what's the most natural thing to do with it?
:)Go hand it to the captain then leave? Not! (This could have been
What else was he supposed to do with it? Obviously Picard told Riker (and
the others) what had happened, and what he experienced. Something like that,
which obviously had nothing to do with the probe's operations, must have
had some point somewhere; the most likely being part of the experience
of whomever it contacted.
As for Riker leaving as soon as Picard received it, why would Riker stick
around? Picard was in his quarters, obviously still trying to get used
to things, and the last thing he needed (which Riker no doubt assumed) was
Riker playing twenty questions about his experience. If nothing else, the
fact that Picard was speachless when he saw it, forgoing even a "thank you"
would signify some REALLY special meaning, and if he wanted to say something,
he would have said it instead of looking at Riker.
--
Josh Laff # #
email to: smi...@uiuc.edu _ _ Hello! I am a signature virus!
(217) 356-6079 |#\_____/#| Join the fun and copy mo*#(*&^!>.
(This is Smiley's signature) \#######/
Smiley
:)>WARNING: The following article contains hosts of spoiler information
:)>regarding this week's TNG offering, "The Inner Light." Those not wishing to
:)>have said light shone on them at the moment are advised to remain clear.
:)>later, don't you?" "Seize the day, Meribor. Live now; make *now* always the
:) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^whoops... not quite
:) I believe Picard/Cayman's words were 'Seize the time...'
:)I believe a poet once said 'Seize the day'... I forget who, though.
Robin Williams :)
michael neylon
: One major problem that ruined what was, up to that point, a beautiful
: episode:
:
: There's something about TNG which I've come to call the "ten-minute
: rule": at _precisely_ ten minutes before the episode's over,
: *suddenly* everything is revealed, or some big event happens to bring
: everything together. I tend to think it's because the writers, having
: written a good episode up to that point, suddenly say, "Oh my gosh!
: We only have ten minutes left! Let's pull everything together, guys!"
:
: In this case, it was the business with Kamin having everything
: explained to him as the "rocket" was being launched. I think the
: episode could have stood quite well on its own without that gratuitous
: explanation, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what the probe's
: purpose was (or maybe having the Enterprise crew make some suggestions
: that we, as viewers, would know were correct).
No, they did the ending perfectly, with the explaination of Kamin's life and
such. (they would have really screwed up if this explaination was at the
start of the episode :). We KNEW the race was peaceful by the end, and the
probes purpose was obviously not meant to harm anyone. The explaination was
used to tie up some loose ends ('Is the rocket that was launched the same
probe that Picard was on?'). But it also did one other thing: By showing
some of Kamin closest relations, it gave a good reminder NOT to forget the
one's he loved and the colony itself.
: And the one other glaring incongruity was Riker's delivery of the
: flute to Picard. They just happened to find a small case containing a
: flute aboard the probe; what's the most natural thing to do with it?
: Go hand it to the captain then leave? Not! (This could have been
: smoothed over with a few more lines, something like Picard expressing
: a desire to have the flute for a while, perhaps.)
:
:
*fwhap*! I would think Picard would have discussed the feelings/memories
that he experienced to at least the senior bridge crew (between the end of
that segment and when he is given the flute). The crew would also know that
the probe's purpose was not harmful. (they could have quickly scanned the
box for possible explosives and such). Also, They probably realize that
Picard felt as part of the race, and that the flute was of major importance
to him in that other life, so who else to give it to? ("Hey, lets give it
to Alexander. He'd love a flute like that....")
Mike Neylon aka Masem the Thermo God mne...@jupiter.cse.utoledo.edu
--+ Recipe to Mind Fry +--
Take 1 cup Calculus, 1 cup Physics, and mix well. Add a bit of Tech. Writing
and a dash of Chemistry. Heat at $20,000/yr. Voila! Instant Engineer!
Nick C De Mello
>rcca...@mik.uky.edu (ron c carman) writes:
>:)>WARNING: The following article contains hosts of spoiler information
>
>:) I believe Picard/Cayman's words were 'Seize the time...'
>:)I believe a poet once said 'Seize the day'... I forget who, though.
>
>Robin Williams :)
Carpe Diam? I think that was the Latin, but I forget which "dead
poet" Robin borrowed it from.
Nick
Timothy W. Lynch
Spoilers for "The Inner Light"; Brian, if you could be more careful, I think
we'd all be much appreciative...
>One major problem that ruined what was, up to that point, a beautiful
>episode:
>There's something about TNG which I've come to call the "ten-minute
>rule": at _precisely_ ten minutes before the episode's over,
>*suddenly* everything is revealed, or some big event happens to bring
>everything together.
It's a common failing, yes; but it's one I don't see as more than marginally
applicable here. We all already knew the basic situation, and we had a
pretty good idea about what the probe was doing. We didn't know exactly
why, though; and that's the only real thing the "ten-minute rule" scene cleared
up. I was quite happy with it, and found the explanation far from gratuitous.
>In this case, it was the business with Kamin having everything
>explained to him as the "rocket" was being launched. I think the
>episode could have stood quite well on its own without that gratuitous
>explanation, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what the probe's
>purpose was
No...then you have too many people saying "what was the point?" There was
and is already a certain murkiness about *how* all this happened; the last
thing you want to do is add on a "why" to that, I think.
>And the one other glaring incongruity was Riker's delivery of the
>flute to Picard. They just happened to find a small case containing a
>flute aboard the probe; what's the most natural thing to do with it?
>Go hand it to the captain then leave?
Yes. Absolutely. As others have already said, odds are good that Picard has
by now at least told Riker and the others at least a sketchy version of what
happened to him (in fact, it's obvious he has by the few lines he does speak
to Riker and Riker's lack of surprise). He may not have mentioned the flute
explicitly, but Riker would know it's a link to the world he's left behind.
Also note that Riker didn't say "hereyagobye" and run out. He handed Picard
the case and stuck around long enough to see Picard's reaction to its
contents. After I'd seen the look on Picard's face, I'd have been uncomfor-
table standing around and staring at him, too. It wasn't dangerous, and it
*was* very personal. I see nothing wrong here.
>Oh, well. Maybe I expect too much?
I'm not sure *what* you expect here, to be honest. That's not meant as any
sort of attack; I'm just not clear from your comments what you were looking
for. (It's certainly more interesting than the "but nothing happened" crowd,
though; there it's obvious what they want, but I don't particularly care.)
Tim Lynch
Timothy W. Lynch
>A few related points which are almost spoilerless but not quite, so...
>> WARNING: The following article contains hosts of spoiler information
>> regarding this week's TNG offering, "The Inner Light." Those not wishing to
>> have said light shone on them at the moment are advised to remain clear.
>> (I'd be obliged, by the way, if a flautist could let me know whether it
>> looked like Stewart was *actually* playing the flute himself...
>There was at least one scene where he was clearly *not* playing it himself;
So I've been informed in private by several people with musical background.
Ah, well; it was a hell of a lot more convincing than Spiner's violin
"playing". Even I could tell the latter had problems; this looked
reasonable.
>> Jennifer Nash's Meribor was extremely good. What she lacked in terms of a
>> _physical_ resemblance to Stewart (after all, she is s'posed to be his
>> daughter), she more than made up for in force of personality...
>I thought she had a physical resemblance to her "mother," which is
>equally believable.
Valid point; and given how much my wife looks like my mother-in-law, one I
really ought to have thought about. Sigh...:-)
>> And then there's Daniel Stewart as the younger Batai.
>Someone else mentioned his baldness in the later scene with the grandson.
>I thought that the balding character might be Meribor's husband rather
>than her brother, but it was hard to tell.
It was quite definitely Daniel Stewart again; that nose is unmistakable.
:-)
Tim Lynch
Timothy W. Lynch
>>WARNING: The following article contains hosts of spoiler information
>>regarding this week's TNG offering, "The Inner Light." Those not wishing to
>>have said light shone on them at the moment are advised to remain clear.
>>the unspoken conclusion of her work, but Kamin tries to avoid it and change
>>the subject. Eventually, however, she voices what he already knew: the
>>planet is dying. He is saddened that she must bear this knowledge as well,
>>but she bears it well. "I think I should marry Danek sooner rather than
>>later, don't you?" "Seize the day, Meribor. Live now; make *now* always the
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^whoops... not quite
Oops. You're right; and after I'd made sure to hand-transcribe the whole
exchange, too. Guess I had "Dead Poets Society" a little too heavy on the
brain at that point. :-)
Tim Lynch
Jeff Jackson
> :)Go hand it to the captain then leave? Not! (This could have been
One thing I've noticed often on TNG, is that exits often seem somewhat
abrupt.
--
============================================================================
Jeffrey Glen Jackson _|_Satan jeered, "You're dead meat Jesus, I'm gonna
j...@ssd.csd.harris.com | bust you up tonight."
x5120 | Jesus said, "Go ahead, make my day."
~~~~~~~~~ -- Carman, "The Champion"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
TJ Wood
>>Oh, well. Maybe I expect too much?
> I'm not sure *what* you expect here, to be honest.
Well, let's consider how this episode would have turned out if:
* Kamen was not an iron-weaver, but rather, an exotic male dancer:
Riker would have brought a "g-string" instead of a flute.
Picard picks up "g-string" and starts the Trekendales.
* Kamen was not a iron-weaver, but rather a used car salesman:
Riker would have brought the keys to a 1960 Studebaker.
Picard would have a new career swindling the Ferengi.
The possibilities are almost endless.
Terry "Warped Out" Wood
--
INTERNET: tj...@pitt.edu BITNET: TJW@PITTVMS
"Laugh while you can, Monkey Boy!" - Lord "John" Warfin
"There can be only one!" - The Highlander
"There should have been only one. I want my money back!" - Terry
Erik R. Jones
TWL> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
TWL> Stewart's performance, as I said, was superb, from the initial
TWL> disbelief and suspicion, to the eventual acceptance, to the slow
TWL> passing of age, to the final revelations as Kamin, down to his
TWL> touching flute solo at the end. (I'd be obliged, by the way, if
TWL> a flautist could let me know whether it looked like Stewart was
TWL> *actually* playing the flute himself. I tend to doubt it, but it
TWL> looked convincing enough to me.)
I'm studying to get my Masters in Music, and I've been a fair hand at
the flute. Some of the errors in previous TNG have sickened me (only
having five players on a piece that is supposed to have eight, etc.)
However, I was impressed with Patrick's job on the vertical flute in
The Inner Light. I decided during the "Brother John" song it must be
him playing the flute, and not just moving his fingers, and I found
nothing to discount that when he played the naming song, both at the
ceremony and at the end of Act Five. I would have to say that Patrick
was indeed playing the flute himself.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Erik Reid Jones | Anything I say is my own, and let no one |
| ejo...@umassmed.ummed.edu | get themselves in an uproar about it. |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|"Couldn't myself have better it said." - Chris Stevens, Northern Exposure |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Turner
> In this case, it was the business with Kamin having everything
> explained to him as the "rocket" was being launched. I think the
> episode could have stood quite well on its own without that gratuitous
> explanation, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what the probe's
> that we, as viewers, would know were correct).
As others have said, not really in this case. Picard needed to know why
things were happening. I had already figured this one out myself, but
if Picard just suddenly woke up back on the big E, we get the Dorothy
syndrome ("But it was real, and you were there....") or the Dallas
problem ("Really, last season was just a bad dream!").
[I couldn't help but think of "Norstrillia", when Rod and C'mell are
sharing a similar life -- again, quite touching...]
Other points:
* I especially liked the meaning in the flute music -- at first, here
Picard/Kamin was playing music from Picard's past, but as time progresses
and Kamin becomes part of the Kataanian society he plays Kataan music. And
back on the Enterprise, he still shows he is (in a big way) still
Kataanian. I got goosebumps on that, even though I knew it was coming.
* No, Patric Stewart wasn't playing the flute for real. The finger
motions just didn't match the music (but then, anytime a non-musician
fakes playing an instrument it just doesn't ring fully true).
* Boy, does Picard get the mental whiplash award! First he become
Locutus, with undetermined residual effects, and now he lives a full
life as another person in another culture, to find that it wasn't
"real".... "Put your analyst on danger pay now."
--Bill Turner (btu...@cv.hp.com)
Timothy W. Lynch
>In article <1992Jun4.0...@cco.caltech.edu>,
>TWL> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>TWL>(I'd be obliged, by the way, if
>TWL> a flautist could let me know whether it looked like Stewart was
>TWL> *actually* playing the flute himself. I tend to doubt it, but it
>TWL> looked convincing enough to me.)
>I'm studying to get my Masters in Music, and I've been a fair hand at
>the flute. Some of the errors in previous TNG have sickened me (only
>having five players on a piece that is supposed to have eight, etc.)
>However, I was impressed with Patrick's job on the vertical flute in
>The Inner Light. I decided during the "Brother John" song it must be
>him playing the flute, and not just moving his fingers, and I found
>nothing to discount that when he played the naming song, both at the
>ceremony and at the end of Act Five. I would have to say that Patrick
>was indeed playing the flute himself.
Oh, dear, now we're in for it. :-) You say yes, several other flute-
experienced people I've heard from say no. Shall you all lock yourselves in a
room somewhere and fight it out? Piccolos at twenty paces. :-)
Tim Lynch
Nick C De Mello
>Maybe some spoilers left....
>* Boy, does Picard get the mental whiplash award! First he become
>Locutus, with undetermined residual effects, and now he lives a full
>life as another person in another culture, to find that it wasn't
>"real".... "Put your analyst on danger pay now."
Don't forget he's sharing a brain with Sarek too! Oh, and for all
those who felt Picard was "unchanged" by his hiatus as Locutus...
Remember his attitude towards the borg in "I borg?" I was shocked
at the way the ultimate diplomat and archaelogist was so set on wiping
out an entire culture! Until I remebered he wasn't exaclty unbiased
towards this particular culture! Course will all these "lifes" floating
arough in his head, I can understand why he is becoming such an
influential figure in federation diplomacy. How many people can
claim to lived the whole life of the premier Vulcan diplomat,
be the last living member of a 1000 old culture, experienced the
entire racial memory of the federations deadliest enemies, and
be captain of the famous flagship of the federation? Wow....
Nick
Jonathan Forbes
> Riker would have brought the keys to a 1960 Studebaker.
> Picard would have a new career swindling the Ferengi.
>
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Forbes | Communications Research Centre
Waterloo Electrical Engineering | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Earth
Trueman Denny
Standing Rib Roast on a Plater there are those who would speculate that
he cooked it himself.
Julie Bixby
>ejo...@umassmed.ummed.edu (Erik R. Jones) writes:
>>In article <1992Jun4.0...@cco.caltech.edu>,
>>TWL> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>
>>TWL>(I'd be obliged, by the way, if
>>TWL> a flautist could let me know whether it looked like Stewart was
>>TWL> *actually* playing the flute himself. I tend to doubt it, but it
>>TWL> looked convincing enough to me.)
>
>>The Inner Light. I decided during the "Brother John" song it must be
>>him playing the flute, and not just moving his fingers, and I found
>>nothing to discount that when he played the naming song, both at the
>>ceremony and at the end of Act Five. I would have to say that Patrick
>>was indeed playing the flute himself.
>
>Oh, dear, now we're in for it. :-) You say yes, several other flute-
>experienced people I've heard from say no. Shall you all lock yourselves in a
>room somewhere and fight it out? Piccolos at twenty paces. :-)
>
March, Stewart himself said that he had just learned how to play a flute for
an upcoming episode, in which his real-life son Daniel appears.
--
Julie Bixby Internet: ma...@spock.dis.cccd.edu
Engage Romulan .sig cloaking device....
Timothy W. Lynch
Ah. *There* we go; something concrete from the horse's mouth. That's
enough for me; thanks, Julie!
Tim Lynch
CHAMBERLAND S - BIOLOGY
>
>I'm studying to get my Masters in Music, and I've been a fair hand at
>the flute. Some of the errors in previous TNG have sickened me (only
>having five players on a piece that is supposed to have eight, etc.)
>However, I was impressed with Patrick's job on the vertical flute in
>The Inner Light. I decided during the "Brother John" song it must be
>him playing the flute, and not just moving his fingers, and I found
>nothing to discount that when he played the naming song, both at the
>ceremony and at the end of Act Five. I would have to say that Patrick
>was indeed playing the flute himself.
I'm not sure. Some times, the movements of his fingers seemed to correspond,
but sometimes not. (I played clarinet for 4 years, so I'm not a complete
ignorant in music). But I'd have to check that to be sure.
Anyway, that "Brother John" song is called "Frere Jacques" in French.
Stewart/Picard also sang it in "Disaster". Is there an equivalent in
English which is called "Brother John", or you translated the name?
(Because "John" is the equivalent of "Jean", not "Jacques".)
Just want to know... (my knowledge of the anglosaxon culture is extremely
limited... as Spock in ST V, I didn't know "Row, row, row your boat"... :) )
>| ejo...@umassmed.ummed.edu | get themselves in an uproar about it. |
--
Sylvain Chamberland | "Trust is earned, not given away!"
University of Waterloo | - Worf, Star Trek The Next Generation
Waterloo, Ontario. |
Karen Black
>Anyway, that "Brother John" song is called "Frere Jacques" in French.
>Stewart/Picard also sang it in "Disaster". Is there an equivalent in
>English which is called "Brother John", or you translated the name?
Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Brother John, Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing,
Ding-ding-dong, ding-ding-dong.
>(Because "John" is the equivalent of "Jean", not "Jacques".)
It was undoubtedly changed to so the line would scan, with help from
the fact that Jack (= Jacques) is a nickname for John.
Karen Black
Warren Gill
: >TWL> a flautist could let me know whether it looked like Stewart was
: >TWL> *actually* playing the flute himself. I tend to doubt it, but it
: >TWL> looked convincing enough to me.)
: >him playing the flute, and not just moving his fingers, and I found
: >was indeed playing the flute himself.
: Oh, dear, now we're in for it. :-) You say yes, several other flute-
: experienced people I've heard from say no. Shall you all lock yourselves
I would say NOT. This type of flute is fingered more like an oboe or
recorder, less like the transverse flute. The quality of tone also
made me thing the flute sound was prerecorded, not on the studio set. I
was somewhat disappointed that Patrick couldn't do a better job of
faking it. I have thought, though, that Cmdr Data has done a pretty
good job at faking the violin.
-- WG --
Laurie Zimmerman, HHMI, Univ. of Pa.
> In article <1992Jun4.0...@cco.caltech.edu>,
> TWL> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>
> (I'd be obliged, by the way, if
> TWL> a flautist could let me know whether it looked like Stewart was
> TWL> *actually* playing the flute himself. I tend to doubt it, but it
> TWL> looked convincing enough to me.)
>
> him playing the flute, and not just moving his fingers, and I found
> nothing to discount that when he played the naming song, both at the
> ceremony and at the end of Act Five. I would have to say that Patrick
> was indeed playing the flute himself.
I am a prof. flutist and have been playing for 17 years. I also perform on the
recorder and tin whistle (more similar to the type Picard was playing).
It is my opinion that he was not playing at the end especially, and probably
not during the rest of the show. As I recall, he did endeavor to imitate
playing and did it well. I will check again as I taped the show and plan to
watch it a few times more. The reason I think he was not playing was that his
fingerings were not accurate to the notes heard. The flute music other than
'Frere Jacques' did not strike me as anything I'd heard before. I am inclined
to say it used a scale which is the base of all folk songs - but, I will check
again when I see it.
Laurie Zimmerman
Genetics, U Penn
"Naar forst du har, sagt farvel, saa kan du ikke, komme tilbage, komme tilbage"
Liz Broadwell
> I
> was somewhat disappointed that Patrick couldn't do a better job of
> faking it. I have thought, though, that Cmdr Data has done a pretty
> good job at faking the violin.
Because I play the violin, and only watch people playing the flute, I'll take
Stewart's flute over Spiner's violin any day of the week. The latter makes the
really obvious mistake of bowing from the shoulder rather than from the elbow
(or, in swift passages, the wrist).
~ Liz Broadwell (anon...@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu) ~ ~
~ Department of English ~ Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam ~
~ The University of Pennsylvania ~ ~
Kyle Jones
Most likely Stewart played *something* approaching the right
length and music we heard was added later. A lot of time could
be wasted waiting for an amateur to get the music right.
Janis Maria Cortese
>In article <Bpp2B...@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, gill@eagle (Warren Gill) writes:
>> I
>> was somewhat disappointed that Patrick couldn't do a better job of
>> faking it. I have thought, though, that Cmdr Data has done a pretty
>> good job at faking the violin.
>
>Because I play the violin, and only watch people playing the flute, I'll take
>Stewart's flute over Spiner's violin any day of the week. The latter makes the
>really obvious mistake of bowing from the shoulder rather than from the elbow
>(or, in swift passages, the wrist).
>
I seem to recall my boyfriend saying the same thing. He was quite good,
though, IMHO, when he was playing the guitar. QUITE good. At least no
one has faked piano yet (to my recollection). I've NEVER seen any actor
that could do it well.
Regards,
Janis C.
Jonathan Forbes
>In article <1992Jun11...@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu> anon...@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu (Liz Broadwell) writes:
>>In article <Bpp2B...@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, gill@eagle (Warren Gill) writes:
>>> I
>one has faked piano yet (to my recollection). I've NEVER seen any actor
>that could do it well.
>
Actually, Riker tried to fake playing the piano in one of the two parter
episodes (where he was in a bar roughing up a fat Ferengi). Being a
pianist myself, it really looked and sounded fake (i.e. his hitting the
keys and the sound appearing were not synchronised).
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Forbes | Communications Research Centre
Waterloo Electrical Engineering | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Earth
Email: jona...@sparky.dgbt.doc.ca | Planet 779169751568816422619-3
Erik R. Jones
CS> In article <EJONES.92...@umassmed.ummed.edu> ejo...@umassmed.ummed.edu (Erik R. Jones) writes:
EJ> I'm studying to get my Masters in Music, and I've been a fair hand
EJ> at the flute. Some of the errors in previous TNG have sickened me
EJ> (only having five players on a piece that is supposed to have
EJ> eight, etc.) However, I was impressed with Patrick's job on the
EJ> vertical flute in The Inner Light. I decided during the "Brother
EJ> John" song it must be him playing the flute, and not just moving
EJ> his fingers, and I found nothing to discount that when he played
EJ> the naming song, both at the ceremony and at the end of Act Five.
EJ> I would have to say that Patrick was indeed playing the flute
EJ> himself.
CS> Anyway, that "Brother John" song is called "Frere Jacques" in
CS> French. Stewart/Picard also sang it in "Disaster". Is there an
CS> equivalent in English which is called "Brother John", or you
CS> translated the name?
I wasn't sure how to spell the French version of it, so instead of
making a blatant spelling error, I used the English title as I had
been taught it as a child.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Erik Reid Jones | Anything I say is my own, and let no one |
| ejo...@umassmed.ummed.edu | get themselves in an uproar about it. |
Erik R. Jones
zi...@hmivax.humgen.upenn.edu (Laurie Zimmerman, HHMI, Univ. of Pa.)
writes:
LZ> In article <EJONES.92...@umassmed.ummed.edu>, ejo...@umassmed.ummed.edu (Erik R. Jones) writes:
EJ> In article <1992Jun4.0...@cco.caltech.edu>,
EJ> I decided during the "Brother John" song it must be him playing
EJ> the flute, and not just moving his fingers, and I found nothing to
EJ> discount that when he played the naming song, both at the ceremony
EJ> and at the end of Act Five. I would have to say that Patrick was
EJ> indeed playing the flute himself.
LZ> I am a prof. flutist and have been playing for 17 years. I also
LZ> perform on the recorder and tin whistle (more similar to the type
LZ> Picard was playing). It is my opinion that he was not playing at
LZ> the end especially, and probably not during the rest of the show.
Well, I'll defer to experience on this one, if support is found.
LZ> As I recall, he did endeavor to imitate playing and did it well.
LZ> I will check again as I taped the show and plan to watch it a few
LZ> times more. The reason I think he was not playing was that his
LZ> fingerings were not accurate to the notes heard. The flute music
LZ> other than 'Frere Jacques' did not strike me as anything I'd heard
LZ> before. I am inclined to say it used a scale which is the base of
LZ> all folk songs - but, I will check again when I see it.
Trying to reconstruct the melody here in my head, I believe he used
the Aeolian mode, not the Dorian mode as you seem to be implying here.
I could easily be wrong, however - the one note difference between the
two scales does not stick out firmly in my head as I think back on the
piece. If I get a chance to see it again, I'll listen to see if it's
a raised or a lowered sixth.
LZ> Laurie Zimmerman Genetics, U Penn "Naar forst du har, sagt farvel,
LZ> saa kan du ikke, komme tilbage, komme tilbage"
Brian Curran
|> In article <BpnFL...@watserv1.waterloo.edu>, scha...@watserv1.waterloo.edu (CHAMBERLAND S - BIOLOGY) writes:
|>
|> CS> Anyway, that "Brother John" song is called "Frere Jacques" in
|> CS> French. Stewart/Picard also sang it in "Disaster". Is there an
|> CS> equivalent in English which is called "Brother John", or you
|> CS> translated the name?
|>
|> I wasn't sure how to spell the French version of it, so instead of
|> making a blatant spelling error, I used the English title as I had
|> been taught it as a child.
The English words I learned as a child go something like this:
Are you sleeping,
Are you sleeping,
Brother John?
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing,
Morning bells are ringing,
Ding, ding, dong.
Ding, ding, dong.
--
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Brian Curran Mead Data Central br...@meaddata.com
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"The Good Lord was good to me. He gave me a strong body, a good right arm,
and a weak mind." - Dizzy Dean, major league pitcher, at his
induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Jan Parcel
>The flute music other than
>'Frere Jacques' did not strike me as anything I'd heard before. I am inclined
>to say it used a scale which is the base of all folk songs - but, I will check
>again when I see it.
It sounded like "Scarborough Fair," which was a traditional before
Simon and Garfunkle did it, except in Inner Light it started like
SFair but then got differnt near the end. I'm wondering if they originally
recorded Stewart playing Scarborough Fair and then dubbed it over with
the changes, having decided to make it more alien. Sort of like the
Vulcan in one of the movies that looks like English if you plug your
ears. (I'm a very poor partial lip reader, a legacy of having
worked in a very loud factory. I can't lip-read unless it's too
loud to hear.) I've seen quite a few things in the films that
look like they were changed later..."Oh, lets make this in Vulcan
instead of English!" is the impression I get.
Maybe they did that with "Scarborough Fair."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ j...@oas.olivetti.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We must worship Universal Consciousness as each of the 5 genders in turn
if we wish to be fully open to Yr glory.
-- St. Xyphlb of Alpha III
donald andrew smith
it immensely as a character study and family story, I have
one question I'd like to toss out.
Are we supposed to assume Picard/Kamin was instrumental
in building the probe by the shape and the presence of the
flute? If so, was the whole scene with his flashbacks to
his dead loved ones just a senile memory loss effect? That
seems rather cheap.
On the other hand, maybe his consciousness was not really
flung back 1000 years into someone else's body, rather the
whole thing was like a recording projected into his mind
so he would remember. This would explain the last scene
on Kataal, but it would make Picard's initial reactions
and exploration (free will) a little odd. Unless it *were*
like a holodeck inside the mind. That seems a bit of a
cruel way to send a message.
So I guess the question reduces to "what happened?"
The basis for this story has my head whirling.
Don Smith
Timothy W. Lynch
>Well, I finally caught "The Inner Light" and, while I enjoyed
>it immensely as a character study and family story, I have
>one question I'd like to toss out.
> Are we supposed to assume Picard/Kamin was instrumental
>in building the probe by the shape and the presence of the
>flute?
I don't think so, no. I think the latter guess (that he wasn't *really*
there, but was basically shown all of this up close and personal) is closer to
the mark, but I do wonder whether Kamin was a real person or not a millenium
back.
>So I guess the question reduces to "what happened?"
Yep. Gotta love these narrow-in-scope shows. :-)
Tim Lynch
Rogene Eichler [mf12801]
>>though, IMHO, when he was playing the guitar. QUITE good. At least no
>>one has faked piano yet (to my recollection). I've NEVER seen any actor
>>that could do it well.
>
>Actually, Riker tried to fake playing the piano in one of the two parter
>episodes (where he was in a bar roughing up a fat Ferengi). Being a
>pianist myself, it really looked and sounded fake (i.e. his hitting the
>keys and the sound appearing were not synchronised).
>
An Entertainment magazine reported that Brent Spinner usually has a guitar
around the set that he plays while waiting for the next scene he is in. So,
there is a possibility he wasn't faking, but playing for real!
- R
Louise Mahoney
> Are we supposed to assume Picard/Kamin was instrumental
>in building the probe by the shape and the presence of the
>flute? If so, was the whole scene with his flashbacks to
>his dead loved ones just a senile memory loss effect? That
>seems rather cheap.
I thought about this and I think that the appearence of the
young version of Elain and Batai were meant to remind "Picard"
of when he first started living as Kaman. This would help
him start adjusting to his life as Picard again.
Louise Mahoney