Lynch's Summary Review: Season 4 of TNG
Timothy W. Lynch
but has a few opinions here and there and is generally a summation of season 4
of TNG. Those not wishing to see the few mild spoilers (for season 4, not
future stuff) or be subjected to these opinions had best leave now. :-)
Well...better late than never, I suppose. So what if everyone else who did
something like this did it more than a month ago? :-) (I bet they didn't go
back and watch them all again to get a final appraisal, either...:-) )
Anyways, here's a brief rundown of season 4 as I saw it. As I've warned in
previous seasons, these ratings are by no means guaranteed to agree with the
ones in my initial review. It's first-impression vs. final-impression here.
Anyway...
"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II": Hmm. This definitely did not age well as
the season progressed. Most of the threads I thought they were going to
stretch out over another few shows (e.g. Riker's career) were simply dropped,
which is depressing. What we have left, though, was a straight action story
which DID work for me quite well. 7.
"Family"--That's more like it. The Wes stuff is still flat, although less so
than it seemed the first time through. But it was the smallest plot of the
three, and the other two are good definitions of "solid character stories" and
"generally good comic relief" respectively. 9.5.
"Brothers"--The subplot with the kids _does_ get a little wearing,
unfortunately. But everything else was bliss. 9.
"Suddenly Human"--Oof. I can see what they wanted to do...and bits of it
worked...but in general this was vastly in the "mediocre" camp. 5.
"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
comments both on and off the screen. 10.
"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
show, it's not a good sign. 3.
"Reunion"--I said 10 and I MEANT 10. It's still one of TNG's best.
"Future Imperfect"--A few nice bits with Riker and "Ethan" and some nice
window-dressing for future changes does not make up for a story that was both
a cheat and time-worn. 5.
"Final Mission"--The same rating as for BOBW2, but for very different reasons.
Very sound character work here, some pretty location shots, and a main plot
that made sense. The Scow from Hell [TM] didn't help, but the rest of it was
a nice working of a common idea. 7.
"The Loss"--If only it had been. I didn't care for this back in January, and
I don't care for it much now either. Psychic trauma that leaves _physical
marks_? No thanks--and no thanks to Troi, either. 3.
"Data's Day"--Not the greatest "day in the life" story ever made (most of the
scenes with the "ambassador" really didn't work), but a lot of good clean fun.
:-) 8.
"The Wounded"--Some thought this too talky. I didn't. Both of the main guest
roles were meaty enough to get me interested, and the whole thing just worked
very well. 9.
"Devil's Due"--Someone _please_ give Michael Piller a swift kick the next time
he decides to rework a "Star Trek II" plot? Please? 3.
"Clues"--A boring Dixon Hill opener that led to a better and better show. Not
perfect, but pretty damn good. 8.5.
"First Contact"--An amazing change of pace, and a solid one. 10.
"Galaxy's Child"--This one went into free-fall on a repeat viewing. Some bits
of it worked, but not most of them--and this time I really _did_ cringe at
that seduction scene--ecch. 4.
"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a devastating
horror story. 8.
"Identity Crisis"--Interesting story with a pretty lackluster director. Oh,
what this could've been with Rob Bowman instead of Winrich Kolbe... 6.5.
"The Nth Degree"--Beautiful 40 minutes, rushed 5. 9.
"Qpid"--"Funny or not funny?" "Not funny." "VERY unfunny." --MST3000. This
gets a 1.
"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best performances
to date in TNG. 10.
"Half a Life"--If they'd paired David Ogden Stiers with someone who could ACT
and made the exposition less obvious, this could've been outright good. As it
is...halfway there. 5.
"The Host"--Nice concept, very nice concept. Some good performances,
especially from Frakes--and some really awful dialogue, especially from
Sirtis. Enjoyable, though--and no, I _don't_ think they wimped out with the
ending. 7.
"The Mind's Eye"--Did you expect anything but a 10? Magnificent--at least if
the series had to start the Tasha Wars [TM], they did it with an awful lot of
class. 10.
"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity) is
at least a BIT better than this? 4.
"Redemption"--Weak for a Klingon story, but fairly strong in general. Can't
wait for part 2. 8.5.
Let's see...that gives us an average of 180/26, or 6.92 for the season. Hmm.
That's considerably down from the last two seasons (both were in the low 8's).
Either this year has made me more critical (probably thanks to a certain
Rawdonlike gadfly :-) ), or this year has taken a bit of a downturn. I
suspect it's some of each. This season had a few absolute gems: "Remember
Me", "Reunion", "First Contact", The Drumhead", and "The Mind's Eye", for
instance, with things like "Brothers", "Family", and "The Nth Degree" coming
close behind, but it also had a lot more severe misses than last year. We
shall see--hopefully they can hit their stride more often next season.
Well, it's 28 days to Redemption II--and counting. As they say in the
Village, "Be seeing you..."
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
"With the first link, a chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first
thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
--Jean-Luc Picard, "The Drumhead"
--
Copyright 1991, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Michael Rawdon
>WARNING: The following article doesn't contain much in the way of spoilers,
>but has a few opinions here and there and is generally a summation of season 4
>of TNG. Those not wishing to see the few mild spoilers (for season 4, not
>future stuff) or be subjected to these opinions had best leave now. :-)
And the obligatory response. (So am I Siskel and you Ebert or the other
way around? I've forgotten! :-)
>Anyways, here's a brief rundown of season 4 as I saw it. As I've warned in
>previous seasons, these ratings are by no means guaranteed to agree with the
>ones in my initial review. It's first-impression vs. final-impression here.
>Anyway...
Mine are a bit off-the-cuff, so don't hold me to them like glue
(especially since they're in a different rating system from my usual one),
but they should convey some basic ideas.
>"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II": Hmm. This definitely did not age well as
>the season progressed. Most of the threads I thought they were going to
>stretch out over another few shows (e.g. Riker's career) were simply dropped,
>which is depressing. What we have left, though, was a straight action story
>which DID work for me quite well. 7.
That the Riker bit was the most important part of the story - to me - hurt
this episode substantially from the outset. Deus ex mechanizing the ending
hurt, too. I'd give it about a 5.
>"Family"--That's more like it. The Wes stuff is still flat, although less so
>than it seemed the first time through. But it was the smallest plot of the
>three, and the other two are good definitions of "solid character stories" and
>"generally good comic relief" respectively. 9.5.
Sounds good.
>"Brothers"--The subplot with the kids _does_ get a little wearing,
>unfortunately. But everything else was bliss. 9.
Replace "bliss" with "gloss" and I'll agree. :-) On the other hand, except
for the thoroughly botched hijack sequence, it was good gloss. 7.
>"Suddenly Human"--Oof. I can see what they wanted to do...and bits of it
>worked...but in general this was vastly in the "mediocre" camp. 5.
Yeah. Another rewrite or two, plus actually using the Klingons instead of
the forgettable whoevers would have helped hold my attention.
>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
No arguments. My only quandry is which I liked more - this one or "The
Mind's Eye". This one's got the clever ideas and character focus (though
"Eye" isn't wholly lacking in the latter), but "Eye" has the visceral kick
as it builds to its climax. A tough call there.
>"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
>show, it's not a good sign. 3.
True enough. I don't think I liked it even that much. 1.5. (It was
truly terrible. I'd say it ranks alongside "The Cloudminders" from TOS.)
>"Reunion"--I said 10 and I MEANT 10. It's still one of TNG's best.
I said A and I MEANT B. It was fun the first time, though even then it had
its flaws (strange shift of focus toward the end of the episode, the
uninteresting K'Eleher, and a sort of anticlimactic feeling), but the
second time it dragged havily for me. Some nice direction though, and I
thought Gowron was one of the most visually interesting guest stars of the
series. 7.5.
>"Future Imperfect"--A few nice bits with Riker and "Ethan" and some nice
>window-dressing for future changes does not make up for a story that was both
>a cheat and time-worn. 5.
Predictable, too. 2.
>"Final Mission"--The same rating as for BOBW2, but for very different reasons.
>Very sound character work here, some pretty location shots, and a main plot
>that made sense. The Scow from Hell [TM] didn't help, but the rest of it was
>a nice working of a common idea. 7.
I might just bump it up to a 7.5 or even an 8 because of nice extras like the
sets and music.
>"The Loss"--If only it had been. I didn't care for this back in January, and
>I don't care for it much now either. Psychic trauma that leaves _physical
>marks_? No thanks--and no thanks to Troi, either. 3.
I definitely liked this one less than you did. Gets a 1.
>"Data's Day"--Not the greatest "day in the life" story ever made (most of the
>scenes with the "ambassador" really didn't work), but a lot of good clean fun.
>:-) 8.
I've only seen it once, but it seems rather unremarkable in retrospect.
It did have its fun moments, though. 7.
>"The Wounded"--Some thought this too talky. I didn't. Both of the main guest
>roles were meaty enough to get me interested, and the whole thing just worked
>very well. 9.
I didn't like the plot. I didn't like the script. I didn't like the acting.
There wasn't really a whole lot I did like, though at least it didn't
spring from an out-and-out stupid idea (far from it, actually). Just
poor execution all around. 4.
>"Devil's Due"--Someone _please_ give Michael Piller a swift kick the next time
>he decides to rework a "Star Trek II" plot? Please? 3.
Granted, I can think of many better things to spend the time and money on.
On the other hand, I did find this mildly entertaining, though I mostly
watched it the second time out of boredom. 4.
>"Clues"--A boring Dixon Hill opener that led to a better and better show. Not
>perfect, but pretty damn good. 8.5.
I thought the ending was atrocious, but the mystery was great. I'd knock it
down a tad, to an 8.
>"First Contact"--An amazing change of pace, and a solid one. 10.
Seemed rather blah, especially with the amazing array of 2D characters
walking around. Had its good points, though, like the POV from the aliens'
side. 6.
>"Galaxy's Child"--This one went into free-fall on a repeat viewing. Some bits
>of it worked, but not most of them--and this time I really _did_ cringe at
>that seduction scene--ecch. 4.
I cringed the whole time through the first time. Nothing here worked for me.
1.
>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a devastating
>horror story. 8.
A somewhat unworkable premise, from a scientific stance, too, but the
execution was beautiful, and I think I agree with your grade.
>"Identity Crisis"--Interesting story with a pretty lackluster director. Oh,
>what this could've been with Rob Bowman instead of Winrich Kolbe... 6.5.
I think I liked it better. I found much of the direction superb. 8.
>"The Nth Degree"--Beautiful 40 minutes, rushed 5. 9.
Horrendous 5, actually, and it dashed much of the episode to pieces for me. 6.
>"Qpid"--"Funny or not funny?" "Not funny." "VERY unfunny." --MST3000. This
>gets a 1.
What? You mean this was supposed to be funny? 1.
>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best performances
>to date in TNG. 10.
Yeah, this was good. I'm not sure it was quite that good, though. For
one thing, the story was nothing new. (Maybe I ODed on these tales after
seeing the Justice Society tried by the UAAC in a '70s Adventure Comics.
I dunno.) Nonetheless, it's still a (very) good 'un. 9.
>"Half a Life"--If they'd paired David Ogden Stiers with someone who could ACT
>and made the exposition less obvious, this could've been outright good. As it
>is...halfway there. 5.
Your analysis sounds not half bad. 5.
>"The Host"--Nice concept, very nice concept. Some good performances,
>especially from Frakes--and some really awful dialogue, especially from
>Sirtis. Enjoyable, though--and no, I _don't_ think they wimped out with the
>ending. 7.
I don't think they wimped out, but I think they timed out. It could have
used a little more development. Much of the story felt a little
rushed. Maybe a 6.5?
>"The Mind's Eye"--Did you expect anything but a 10? Magnificent--at least if
>the series had to start the Tasha Wars [TM], they did it with an awful lot of
>class. 10.
True enough.
>"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
>bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
>the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity) is
>at least a BIT better than this? 4.
Gaah. An episode to set Data's character back two years. 2.
>"Redemption"--Weak for a Klingon story, but fairly strong in general. Can't
>wait for part 2. 8.5.
I can. I was snoozing through the first half of this one, had problems with
the plotting, and thought the cliffhanger was awful. 5.
>Let's see...that gives us an average of 180/26, or 6.92 for the season. Hmm.
I get 147/26 = 5.65 for the season, which sounds about right, give or take
a bit.
>That's considerably down from the last two seasons (both were in the low 8's).
>Either this year has made me more critical (probably thanks to a certain
>Rawdonlike gadfly :-) ),
Aw, it's good for you, sort of like Grape Nuts. :-)
If it makes you feel better ( :-), consciousness that others will be "reviewing
my reviews" plays havoc with my critical eye at times, too. (Witness
revisions of "Reunion" and "Night Terrors"."
> or this year has taken a bit of a downturn. I
>suspect it's some of each. This season had a few absolute gems: "Remember
>Me", "Reunion", "First Contact", The Drumhead", and "The Mind's Eye", for
>instance, with things like "Brothers", "Family", and "The Nth Degree" coming
>close behind, but it also had a lot more severe misses than last year. We
>shall see--hopefully they can hit their stride more often next season.
"Remember Me", "Family", "The Mind's Eye" and "The Drumhead" stick in my
mind as the four gems of this season, with "Final Mission" and "Night Terrors"
getting honorable mention. In contrast to your analysis, I think this
season had fewer abject failures than previously (but then, season 2 was
about 1/3 abject failure, I think), but still plenty of chaff.
>Well, it's 28 days to Redemption II--and counting. As they say in the
>Village, "Be seeing you..."
"And you."
--
Michael Rawdon raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu
(Now in Madison, Wisconsin. Stay tuned for new e-mail address...)
"Communication is hard to establish
when things like a state of mind get in the way.
People don't eat, they just think what you feed them now;
The horse with the blinders eating the hay."
- Men Without Hats, "The Great Ones Remember"
Matthew Wayne Gertz
Hmm, whazzat noise? Huh? Hey, lookit that! They're talkin' about
Star Trek! Hey, wake up, fella! I watched the bboard, just like you asked,
until they started to talk about Trek again. Wake up, shorty! Gimme my
five dollars. <kick>
Ouch! Okay, time to wake up! (Thanks for coming down to the basement to wake
me up, Mom.)
Okay, that's a joke. I don't really live in my parent's basement. Hmm...
let's see... oh, a review from Tim? Fine, let's check this out...
In <1991Aug29.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>WARNING: The following article doesn't contain much in the way of spoilers,
>but has a few opinions here and there and is generally a summation of season
>4 of TNG. Those not wishing to see the few mild spoilers (for season 4, not
>future stuff) or be subjected to these opinions had best leave now. :-)
>"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II": Hmm. This definitely did not age well
>as the season progressed. Most of the threads I thought they were going to
>stretch out over another few shows (e.g. Riker's career) were simply dropped
>which is depressing. What we have left, though, was a straight action story
>which DID work for me quite well. 7.
Agreed. I can think of a lot of other episodes that were worse than this.
The worst thing about BOBWII is that BOBWI was so good. If BOBWII was a
similar (but unrelated to BOBWI -- obviously this would take a few plot
rewrites) episode, it would have seemed to be a lot better. Standing in the
shadow of BOBWI, though, it can't help but be diminished.
>"Family"--That's more like it. The Wes stuff is still flat, although less so
>than it seemed the first time through. But it was the smallest plot of the
>three, and the other two are good definitions of "solid character stories"
>and "generally good comic relief" respectively. 9.5.
The scene with Picard and his brother at the end was one of my favorites of
the season. Why? It proved that our characters actually ARE changed by
previous experiences. At the end of BOBWII, I felt cheated when Picard
merely reacted by saying he had a headache (this was redeemed somewhat by
Picard's last scene, staring out the window). I said to myself, "And they'll
never refer to this again in the series. His character won't change." And
then Surprise! There it is the next week. "Family" is really the third
part of a trilogy, and in my mind I refer to it as "Best of Both Worlds III,"
since without it, BOBW is incomplete.
>"Brothers"--The subplot with the kids _does_ get a little wearing,
>unfortunately. But everything else was bliss. 9.
I liked it too, but still think it's amazing how, in all that space, the
Enterprise crew so often meets friends, old lovers, relatives, and so on
(yes, I know this meeting was contrived by Dr. Soong, but still...).
>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
How many teenagers have secretly wanted to put their parents in a collapsing
warp bubble after seeing that episode? 8^) Poor Wesley, he always screws up.
I'd have given this episode a "10" if the Traveler hadn't shown up to help
things. "Use the Force, Luke" belongs to another series in sf, and I feel
uneasy about seeing it in Trek, where it looks somewhat cliche and deus ex
machina.
>"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
>show, it's not a good sign. 3.
Was there any real reason to make her a relative of Tasha? It was kind of
a cheap way to try to generate interest in the character, and the relationship
figured in only minorly (causing them to trust her a little more). It was
like the plot was secondary to having another Star Trek Relative show up.
>"Future Imperfect"--A few nice bits with Riker and "Ethan" and some nice
>window-dressing for future changes does not make up for a story that was both
>a cheat and time-worn. 5.
I liked this one, although the second deception was telegraphed to the
viewers (fool me once, shame on you, ...). The future Enterprise changes
(Geordi's eyes, new uniforms, etc.) were almost gratuitous, and were probably
prompted by the Enterprise's changes in "Yesterday's Enterprise" being so
popular.
>"Final Mission"--The same rating as for BOBW2, but for very different
>reasons. Very sound character work here, some pretty location shots, and a
>main plot that made sense. The Scow from Hell [TM] didn't help, but the rest
>of it was a nice working of a common idea. 7.
I'd go a bit higher. I thought it was a great "coming-of-age" show. Nor did
they try to explain all the mysteries in 44 minutes (like, "Who put that
fountain there? Why have it guarded? Religious reasons? Etc.) Some nice
insights into Picard's background. IMHO, the best "Wesley" episode of the
bunch, and a nice way for Wheaton to gracefully exit the show.
>"Data's Day"--Not the greatest "day in the life" story ever made (most of the
>scenes with the "ambassador" really didn't work),
Until they revealed her to be a Romulan, I was thinking, "This actress just
doesn't know how to play a Vulcan."
>but a lot of good clean fun. :-) 8.
And it's kind of sad that "In Theory" did a kludgey job to screw up Data's
character, which seemed to be evolving in _DD_ and devolving in _IT_.
>"Devil's Due"--Someone _please_ give Michael Piller a swift kick the next
>time he decides to rework a "Star Trek II" plot? Please? 3.
I maintain that given a decent soundtrack, this episode would've come of a
lot better (a la the comedic themes of "I, Mudd," and "The Trouble With
Tribbles." Mix a (supposedly) amusing plot with bland music, and the result
is viewer confusion about the story.
>"Clues"--A boring Dixon Hill opener that led to a better and better show.
>Not perfect, but pretty damn good. 8.5.
I was disappointed with this story. Once again, Deanna is mentally zapped
by "something" (don't the Vulcans on that ship ever get mentally attacked),
and the rushed ending left me saying, "Er, could you run that past me again?"
Also, I was confused about why Picard should suddenly think of erasing
everyone's memory within about 10 seconds of hearing the sentence of death
from the xenophobes. And what happens when the Enterprise gets to Starfleet
and find out that their calendar is off? Actually, just looking at the
position of the stars and planets might tell them! Sloppy, sloppy writing.
>"Galaxy's Child"--This one went into free-fall on a repeat viewing. Some bits
>of it worked, but not most of them--and this time I really _did_ cringe at
>that seduction scene--ecch. 4.
Seduction scene??? In Galaxy's Child?
>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a
>devastating horror story. 8.
The scene with the bodies sitting up still gives me the creeps. Brr...! A
good use of Troi, maybe, but the scene with her flying about was less than
flattering.
>"Identity Crisis"--Interesting story with a pretty lackluster director. Oh,
>what this could've been with Rob Bowman instead of Winrich Kolbe... 6.5.
The ending was too sugary for me, and I have trouble with Geordi's friend
recovering so fast from the parasite, but, yeah, good story.
>"The Nth Degree"--Beautiful 40 minutes, rushed 5. 9.
That pretty well sums it up.
>"Qpid"--"Funny or not funny?" "Not funny." "VERY unfunny." --MST3000.
>This gets a 1.
I gave it an 8.5 first viewing, 5 on the second viewing. The bits with "Q"
hold up well, but Picard and Vash just can't generate the "Dave and Maddie"
atmosphere that TPTB were obviously trying to create.
>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best
>performances to date in TNG. 10.
I agree. Great story. Why does every Starfleet official turn out to be a
psycho? Is the job *that* stressful?
>
>"Half a Life"--If they'd paired David Ogden Stiers with someone who could ACT
>and made the exposition less obvious, this could've been outright good. As it
>is...halfway there. 5.
Besides, the concept was old. Dinosaurs had to deal with this issue millions
of years ago 8^)
>"The Host"--Nice concept, very nice concept. [stuff deleted]
I liked it. After the last month-and-a-half of r.a.s. postings, I don't wanna
talk about it! 8^)
>"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
>bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
>the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity)
>is at least a BIT better than this? 4.
But I liked the "midshipman" scene... heh, heh, another shocker...
>"Redemption"--Weak for a Klingon story, but fairly strong in general. Can't
>wait for part 2. 8.5.
I'll have to wait for Part II before I can properly rate Part I. No grade
here.
>Let's see...that gives us an average of 180/26, or 6.92 for the season. Hmm.
>That's considerably down from the last two seasons (both were in the low
> 8's).
Like the little girl with the curl, when it was good, it was very, very good,
but when it was bad, it was disgustingly putrid.
Here's to an excellent next season!
--
--Matt Gertz--*
ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu
Timothy W. Lynch
>In <1991Aug29.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>Those not wishing to see the few mild spoilers (for season 4, not
>>future stuff) or be subjected to these opinions had best leave now. :-)
>And the obligatory response. (So am I Siskel and you Ebert or the other
>way around? I've forgotten! :-)
I don't know about you, but I don't have nearly the...er...build...to be Ebert.
:-)
>>"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II": Hmm. This definitely did not age well as
>>the season progressed. Most of the threads I thought they were going to
>>stretch out over another few shows (e.g. Riker's career) were simply dropped,
>>which is depressing. What we have left, though, was a straight action story
>>which DID work for me quite well. 7.
>That the Riker bit was the most important part of the story - to me - hurt
>this episode substantially from the outset. Deus ex mechanizing the ending
>hurt, too. I'd give it about a 5.
I don't see the ending as deus ex machina...never have. (I don't agree with
it for "The Nth Degree" either, but it's a lot closer to the mark there than it
is here.)
>>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
>No arguments. My only quandry is which I liked more - this one or "The
>Mind's Eye". This one's got the clever ideas and character focus (though
>"Eye" isn't wholly lacking in the latter), but "Eye" has the visceral kick
>as it builds to its climax. A tough call there.
"The Mind's Eye", no doubt about it. The visceral edge clinches it. :-)
>>"Reunion"--I said 10 and I MEANT 10. It's still one of TNG's best.
>I said A and I MEANT B. It was fun the first time, though even then it had
>its flaws (strange shift of focus toward the end of the episode, the
>uninteresting K'Eleher, and a sort of anticlimactic feeling), but the
>second time it dragged havily for me.
I had that problem with other episodes, but not this one. This one's held up
through substantially more than two viewings.
>>"The Loss"--If only it had been. I didn't care for this back in January, and
>>I don't care for it much now either. Psychic trauma that leaves _physical
>>marks_? No thanks--and no thanks to Troi, either. 3.
>I definitely liked this one less than you did. Gets a 1.
I have to save my ones for things that are absolutely awful, like "Qpid". This
was pretty poor, but not down on that level by any means.
>>"The Wounded"--Some thought this too talky. I didn't. Both of the main guest
>>roles were meaty enough to get me interested, and the whole thing just worked
>>very well. 9.
>I didn't like the plot. I didn't like the script. I didn't like the acting.
>There wasn't really a whole lot I did like, though at least it didn't
>spring from an out-and-out stupid idea (far from it, actually). Just
>poor execution all around. 4.
Seemed fine to me--the only thing that got wearing second time 'round was most
of the O'Brien/Keiko stuff...yeesh.
>>"Identity Crisis"--Interesting story with a pretty lackluster director. Oh,
>>what this could've been with Rob Bowman instead of Winrich Kolbe... 6.5.
>I think I liked it better. I found much of the direction superb. 8.
The "eerie" bits, as I've said before, were fine. It was most of the "normal"
bits that fell flat for me. That's why I like Bowman--he can do both. :-)
>>"The Nth Degree"--Beautiful 40 minutes, rushed 5. 9.
>Horrendous 5, actually, and it dashed much of the episode to pieces for me. 6.
That 5 minutes does seem the important 5, yes. I've said it before and I'll
say it again, though...not a problem for me apart from being rushed.
>>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best perfor-
>>mances to date in TNG. 10.
>Yeah, this was good. I'm not sure it was quite that good, though. For
>one thing, the story was nothing new. (Maybe I ODed on these tales after
>seeing the Justice Society tried by the UAAC in a '70s Adventure Comics.
>I dunno.)
It's new for Trek, and it was done amazingly well.
>>"Half a Life"--If they'd paired David Ogden Stiers with someone who could ACT
>>and made the exposition less obvious, this could've been outright good. As it
>>is...halfway there. 5.
>Your analysis sounds not half bad. 5.
At least I didn't mention explicitly that it got half a ten. :-)
>>"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
>>bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
>>the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity)
>>is at least a BIT better than this? 4.
>Gaah. An episode to set Data's character back two years. 2.
Unfortunately, I mostly agree (though not with the grade). Data's interactions
with most of the other crewmembers (a la Wes's in "The Dauphin") were enter-
taining enough to bring this up a bit, though not hugely.
>>"Redemption"--Weak for a Klingon story, but fairly strong in general. Can't
>>wait for part 2. 8.5.
>I can. I was snoozing through the first half of this one, had problems with
>the plotting, and thought the cliffhanger was awful. 5.
So I've gathered. Well, you've got to be dead wrong at least once. :-)
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
"Between the pen and the paperwork, I know there's passion in the language.
Between the muscle and the brainwork, there must be feeling in the pipeline..."
--Suzanne Vega, "Big Space"
Gym Z. Quirk
In article <89...@cs.tulane.edu> raw...@cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>In <1991Aug29.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>WARNING: The following article doesn't contain much in the way of spoilers,
>>but has a few opinions here and there and is generally a summation of season 4
>>of TNG. Those not wishing to see the few mild spoilers (for season 4, not
>>future stuff) or be subjected to these opinions had best leave now. :-)
>
>And the obligatory response. (So am I Siskel and you Ebert or the other
>way around? I've forgotten! :-)
It doesn't matter. You two tend to interchange every week or so. ;-)
>>Anyways, here's a brief rundown of season 4 as I saw it. As I've warned in
>>previous seasons, these ratings are by no means guaranteed to agree with the
>>ones in my initial review. It's first-impression vs. final-impression here.
>>Anyway...
>
>Mine are a bit off-the-cuff, so don't hold me to them like glue
>(especially since they're in a different rating system from my usual one),
>but they should convey some basic ideas.
Do you mean I actually have to include my opinions? Awwww...that's
not fair! ;-)
>>"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II": Hmm. This definitely did not age well as
>>the season progressed. Most of the threads I thought they were going to
>>stretch out over another few shows (e.g. Riker's career) were simply dropped,
>>which is depressing. What we have left, though, was a straight action story
>>which DID work for me quite well. 7.
>
>That the Riker bit was the most important part of the story - to me - hurt
>this episode substantially from the outset. Deus ex mechanizing the ending
>hurt, too. I'd give it about a 5.
Well...I guess this leaves me to split the difference. Easy 6.
>>"Family"--That's more like it. The Wes stuff is still flat, although less so
>>than it seemed the first time through. But it was the smallest plot of the
>>three, and the other two are good definitions of "solid character stories" and
>>"generally good comic relief" respectively. 9.5.
>
>Sounds good.
I do rather wish that they'd dropped the Wes sub-plot to concentrate
on Picard more. It struck me as time wasted. Solid 9.
>>"Brothers"--The subplot with the kids _does_ get a little wearing,
>>unfortunately. But everything else was bliss. 9.
>
>Replace "bliss" with "gloss" and I'll agree. :-) On the other hand, except
>for the thoroughly botched hijack sequence, it was good gloss. 7.
And I end up splitting the difference again. 8.
>>"Suddenly Human"--Oof. I can see what they wanted to do...and bits of it
>>worked...but in general this was vastly in the "mediocre" camp. 5.
>
>Yeah. Another rewrite or two, plus actually using the Klingons instead of
>the forgettable whoevers would have helped hold my attention.
Well...I was expecting a major "message overkill" episode. Instead I
get a mish-mash. I'm not sure which I would have preferred.
>>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
>
>No arguments. My only quandry is which I liked more - this one or "The
>Mind's Eye". This one's got the clever ideas and character focus (though
>"Eye" isn't wholly lacking in the latter), but "Eye" has the visceral kick
>as it builds to its climax. A tough call there.
"Use the Force, Wes." knocks it down a tad for me. Call it a 9.
>>"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
>>show, it's not a good sign. 3.
>
>True enough. I don't think I liked it even that much. 1.5. (It was
>truly terrible. I'd say it ranks alongside "The Cloudminders" from TOS.)
Hmmm...I'm feeling a little more charitable than you two. I'll give
it a 4 for the decent F/X.
>>"Reunion"--I said 10 and I MEANT 10. It's still one of TNG's best.
>
>I said A and I MEANT B. It was fun the first time, though even then it had
>its flaws (strange shift of focus toward the end of the episode, the
>uninteresting K'Eleher, and a sort of anticlimactic feeling), but the
>second time it dragged havily for me. Some nice direction though, and I
>thought Gowron was one of the most visually interesting guest stars of the
>series. 7.5.
Yes...this one diddn't age that well for me either. Still worth an 8,
tho.
>>"Future Imperfect"--A few nice bits with Riker and "Ethan" and some nice
>>window-dressing for future changes does not make up for a story that was both
>>a cheat and time-worn. 5.
>
>Predictable, too. 2.
Hmmm...Nice bits are worth a 3 from me.
>>"Final Mission"--The same rating as for BOBW2, but for very different reasons.
>>Very sound character work here, some pretty location shots, and a main plot
>>that made sense. The Scow from Hell [TM] didn't help, but the rest of it was
>>a nice working of a common idea. 7.
>
>I might just bump it up to a 7.5 or even an 8 because of nice extras like the
>sets and music.
Decent way to get rid of Wes. ;-) I think I'll stick with Tim's 7.
>>"The Loss"--If only it had been. I didn't care for this back in January, and
>>I don't care for it much now either. Psychic trauma that leaves _physical
>>marks_? No thanks--and no thanks to Troi, either. 3.
>
>I definitely liked this one less than you did. Gets a 1.
Let's not forget the (more) questionable (than usual) physics. Mike
get's the "ditto." (glug!)
>>"Data's Day"--Not the greatest "day in the life" story ever made (most of the
>>scenes with the "ambassador" really didn't work), but a lot of good clean fun.
>>:-) 8.
>
>I've only seen it once, but it seems rather unremarkable in retrospect.
>It did have its fun moments, though. 7.
It hasn't aged that well for me. I'll second the 7.
>>"The Wounded"--Some thought this too talky. I didn't. Both of the main guest
>>roles were meaty enough to get me interested, and the whole thing just worked
>>very well. 9.
>
>I didn't like the plot. I didn't like the script. I didn't like the acting.
>There wasn't really a whole lot I did like, though at least it didn't
>spring from an out-and-out stupid idea (far from it, actually). Just
>poor execution all around. 4.
Diddn't work for me either. They could have done more with either the
character conflict, or the F/X. Another 4.
>>"Devil's Due"--Someone _please_ give Michael Piller a swift kick the next time
>>he decides to rework a "Star Trek II" plot? Please? 3.
>
>Granted, I can think of many better things to spend the time and money on.
>On the other hand, I did find this mildly entertaining, though I mostly
>watched it the second time out of boredom. 4.
The trial scene is worth a 4. Beyond that, I'd rather watch "This Old
House".
>>"Clues"--A boring Dixon Hill opener that led to a better and better show. Not
>>perfect, but pretty damn good. 8.5.
>
>I thought the ending was atrocious, but the mystery was great. I'd knock it
>down a tad, to an 8.
That was a *painfull* teaser. However, I agree that all but the
ending was great. Agreed with 8.
>>"First Contact"--An amazing change of pace, and a solid one. 10.
>
>Seemed rather blah, especially with the amazing array of 2D characters
>walking around. Had its good points, though, like the POV from the aliens'
>side. 6.
Lilith Sternin-Crane would never act that way. However, I liked it
enough to give it a 7.
>>"Galaxy's Child"--This one went into free-fall on a repeat viewing. Some bits
>>of it worked, but not most of them--and this time I really _did_ cringe at
>>that seduction scene--ecch. 4.
>
>I cringed the whole time through the first time. Nothing here worked for me.
>1.
Uh oh, Mike. I'm starting to agree with you more and more. Ditto the
1. (Glug!)
>>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a devastating
>>horror story. 8.
>
>A somewhat unworkable premise, from a scientific stance, too, but the
>execution was beautiful, and I think I agree with your grade.
No argument here. (Oops...there goes the local stability of
space-time...;-)
>>"Identity Crisis"--Interesting story with a pretty lackluster director. Oh,
>>what this could've been with Rob Bowman instead of Winrich Kolbe... 6.5.
>
>I think I liked it better. I found much of the direction superb. 8.
Nice visuals. Good use of Holodeck. Decent story. 7.5
>>"The Nth Degree"--Beautiful 40 minutes, rushed 5. 9.
>
>Horrendous 5, actually, and it dashed much of the episode to pieces for me. 6.
I'm willing to overlook the "Clues syndrome" on this one. Agreed with
9.
>>"Qpid"--"Funny or not funny?" "Not funny." "VERY unfunny." --MST3000. This
>>gets a 1.
>
>What? You mean this was supposed to be funny? 1.
And the Captain makes three. 1's all around.
>>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best performances
>>to date in TNG. 10.
>
>Yeah, this was good. I'm not sure it was quite that good, though. For
>one thing, the story was nothing new. (Maybe I ODed on these tales after
>seeing the Justice Society tried by the UAAC in a '70s Adventure Comics.
>I dunno.) Nonetheless, it's still a (very) good 'un. 9.
Very good performances. But a little too preachy for me. 8.
>>"Half a Life"--If they'd paired David Ogden Stiers with someone who could ACT
>>and made the exposition less obvious, this could've been outright good. As it
>>is...halfway there. 5.
>
>Your analysis sounds not half bad. 5.
For once, I felt that this episode needed a third sub-plot. There
wasn't quite enough material to maintain my interest. 4.
>>"The Host"--Nice concept, very nice concept. Some good performances,
>>especially from Frakes--and some really awful dialogue, especially from
>>Sirtis. Enjoyable, though--and no, I _don't_ think they wimped out with the
>>ending. 7.
>
>I don't think they wimped out, but I think they timed out. It could have
>used a little more development. Much of the story felt a little
>rushed. Maybe a 6.5?
This one diddn't do much for me. Still, a watchable episode. 6.
>>"The Mind's Eye"--Did you expect anything but a 10? Magnificent--at least if
>>the series had to start the Tasha Wars [TM], they did it with an awful lot of
>>class. 10.
>
>True enough.
Definitely the best "Atmosphere" episode of the season. Kept me
guessing conpletely through. (Even though, in retrospect, I *should*
have seen it comming. ;-)
>>"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
>>bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
>>the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity) is
>>at least a BIT better than this? 4.
>
>Gaah. An episode to set Data's character back two years. 2.
Two years? How 'bout three?
>>"Redemption"--Weak for a Klingon story, but fairly strong in general. Can't
>>wait for part 2. 8.5.
>
>I can. I was snoozing through the first half of this one, had problems with
>the plotting, and thought the cliffhanger was awful. 5.
Not sterling, but certainly not bad. 7.5.
[I won't bother with the math. Suffice it to say that I think that
the overall quality dropped a little from last season, but it was
still better than the majority of the second season.]
>> or this year has taken a bit of a downturn. I
>>suspect it's some of each. This season had a few absolute gems: "Remember
>>Me", "Reunion", "First Contact", The Drumhead", and "The Mind's Eye", for
>>instance, with things like "Brothers", "Family", and "The Nth Degree" coming
>>close behind, but it also had a lot more severe misses than last year. We
>>shall see--hopefully they can hit their stride more often next season.
>
>"Remember Me", "Family", "The Mind's Eye" and "The Drumhead" stick in my
>mind as the four gems of this season, with "Final Mission" and "Night Terrors"
>getting honorable mention. In contrast to your analysis, I think this
>season had fewer abject failures than previously (but then, season 2 was
>about 1/3 abject failure, I think), but still plenty of chaff.
I can't argue with any of these "Favorites" and "Honorable Mentions".
(Try as I might...;-)
>>Well, it's 28 days to Redemption II--and counting. As they say in the
>>Village, "Be seeing you..."
>
>"And you."
Ditto. (Glug!!)
>Michael Rawdon raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu
--
Capt. Gym Z. Quirk (Known to some as Taki Kogoma) tko...@triton.unm.edu
Veteran of the "Grand sf-lovers fiasco" of July-August '91.
-= Insert witty quote here =-
Michael Rawdon
>In article <1991Aug29.1...@fs7.ece.cmu.edu> ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu (Matthew Wayne Gertz) writes:
>> At the end of BOBWII, I felt cheated when Picard
>>merely reacted by saying he had a headache (this was redeemed somewhat by
>>Picard's last scene, staring out the window). I said to myself, "And they'll
>>never refer to this again in the series. His character won't change." And
>>then Surprise! There it is the next week.
>And they'll never refer to this again in the series. His character
>hasn't changed. Surprise! :-(
Actually, that's not QUITE true. It was referred to in "The Drumhead",
but it was also made clear that Picard had "completely recovered", so in
that sense, you're right - his character HASN'T changed. (Indeed, I'm
not sure ANY character in TNG has experienced a net change over the series,
especially considering the recent backpedaling on Data's character.
However, that didn't bother me in TOS and it doesn't bother me here...)
--
Michael Rawdon raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu
(Now in Madison, Wisconsin. Stay tuned for new e-mail address...)
"I think that (one of) TNG's problems is that it considers lacking
action, humor and character interplay to be interchangable with cerebral.
(just like it often considers civility and lack of conflict interchangable
with friendship.)"
- Atsushi Kanamori on rec.arts.startrek, 7 July 1991
Michael Rawdon
>raw...@cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>>In <1991Aug29.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II": Hmm. This definitely did not age well as
>>>the season progressed. Most of the threads I thought they were going to
>>>stretch out over another few shows (e.g. Riker's career) were simply dropped,
>>>which is depressing. What we have left, though, was a straight action story
>>>which DID work for me quite well. 7.
>>That the Riker bit was the most important part of the story - to me - hurt
>>this episode substantially from the outset. Deus ex mechanizing the ending
>>hurt, too. I'd give it about a 5.
>I don't see the ending as deus ex machina...never have. (I don't agree with
>it for "The Nth Degree" either, but it's a lot closer to the mark there than it
>is here.)
That's ironic. I find BOBW2's ending to be very deus ex machina, in that
it seemed a silly solution that was just pulled out of a hat at the last
moment. On the other hand, "The Nth Degree" did NOT have a deus ex machina
ending, IMHO, but it did have a just-plain-stupid ending. (I can't offhand
think of an episode of either series which had an ending I liked less.
Though if I pore over some of the real drek episodes I'm sure I can
come up with something. :-)
>>>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>>>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>>>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
>>No arguments. My only quandry is which I liked more - this one or "The
>>Mind's Eye". This one's got the clever ideas and character focus (though
>>"Eye" isn't wholly lacking in the latter), but "Eye" has the visceral kick
>>as it builds to its climax. A tough call there.
>"The Mind's Eye", no doubt about it. The visceral edge clinches it. :-)
I think I'm inclined to agree, actually, though I'm also inclined to
point out that at this level of quality, such distinctions are pretty
meaningless, yes? :-)
>>>"The Loss"--If only it had been. I didn't care for this back in January, and
>>>I don't care for it much now either. Psychic trauma that leaves _physical
>>>marks_? No thanks--and no thanks to Troi, either. 3.
>>I definitely liked this one less than you did. Gets a 1.
>I have to save my ones for things that are absolutely awful, like "Qpid". This
>was pretty poor, but not down on that level by any means.
"Absolutely awful" describes this one fine, I think. "Insipid" would work,
too (and could also apply to "Qpid", "Galaxy's Child", and probably "Legacy"
and "Future Imperfect" as well).
(Actually, "Future Imperfect" had an ending that might rival "The Nth
Degree" for stupidity, now that I think of it.)
>>>"The Wounded"--Some thought this too talky. I didn't. Both of the main guest
>>>roles were meaty enough to get me interested, and the whole thing just worked
>>>very well. 9.
>>I didn't like the plot. I didn't like the script. I didn't like the acting.
>>There wasn't really a whole lot I did like, though at least it didn't
>>spring from an out-and-out stupid idea (far from it, actually). Just
>>poor execution all around. 4.
>Seemed fine to me--the only thing that got wearing second time 'round was most
>of the O'Brien/Keiko stuff...yeesh.
Wow, I'd forgotten all about that stuff. I awarded the 4 on the basis
of the rest of the story alone!
>>>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>>>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best perfor-
>>>mances to date in TNG. 10.
>>Yeah, this was good. I'm not sure it was quite that good, though. For
>>one thing, the story was nothing new. (Maybe I ODed on these tales after
>>seeing the Justice Society tried by the UAAC in a '70s Adventure Comics.
>>I dunno.)
>It's new for Trek, and it was done amazingly well.
Being "new to Trek" does not make it "new to me", but we already knew that
we differed on this point.
>>>"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
>>>bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
>>>the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity)
>>>is at least a BIT better than this? 4.
>>Gaah. An episode to set Data's character back two years. 2.
>Unfortunately, I mostly agree (though not with the grade). Data's interactions
>with most of the other crewmembers (a la Wes's in "The Dauphin") were enter-
>taining enough to bring this up a bit, though not hugely.
I don't think it says much for the episode that the one that mainly
sticks in my mind if the exchange with Riker. :-)
>>>"Redemption"--Weak for a Klingon story, but fairly strong in general. Can't
>>>wait for part 2. 8.5.
>>I can. I was snoozing through the first half of this one, had problems with
>>the plotting, and thought the cliffhanger was awful. 5.
>So I've gathered. Well, you've got to be dead wrong at least once. :-)
Of course, this isn't the once... :-)
--
Michael Rawdon raw...@rex.cs.tulane.edu
(Now in Madison, Wisconsin. Stay tuned for new e-mail address...)
"I think that (one of) TNG's problems is that it considers lacking
Timothy W. Lynch
>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>Well...better late than never, I suppose. So what if everyone else who did
>>something like this did it more than a month ago? :-) (I bet they didn't go
>>back and watch them all again to get a final appraisal, either...:-) )
>And it's just chance that you finished rewatching them just as Michael
>started posting to r.a.s. again? G'wan, you're not fooling me... :-)
Actually, I finished rewatching them around this time last week or slightly
earlier; it just took me a while to find enough time to write the review,
that's all. (If I'd known that it would get the kind of "wow, someone's
finally talking about Trek!" response it has, I'd have done so earlier...)
>>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
>For the first half, anyway. The last half just had me waiting for
>Beverly to catch up to everyone else's understanding.
Everyone else (us included) had the advantage of having it explained to us
by the Traveler. Bev didn't have that luxury. :-)
>>"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
>>show, it's not a good sign. 3.
>Eh... popcorn action adventure.
Make it stale popcorn action-adventure.
>>"Future Imperfect"--A few nice bits with Riker and "Ethan" and some nice
>>window-dressing for future changes does not make up for a story that was both
>>a cheat and time-worn. 5.
>Not to mention full of bad Trek cliches. 1. Oops -- The Royale and Qpid
>already have dibs on that. Okay, 1.5.
Actually, "The Royale" got a 0--hopefully the only show to ever bear that
shame. ("Qpid" made me laugh once, which was once more than "The Royale"
did.)
And FI wasn't THAT bad...highly mediocre, but hardly down at "Qpid" level.
It tried to make everyone think it was another "Yesterday's Enterprise" and
failed pretty badly, but at least the premise (the first one, of jumping
forward 15 years) was kind of interesting.
>>"Data's Day"--Not the greatest "day in the life" story ever made (most of the
>>scenes with the "ambassador" really didn't work), but a lot of good clean
>>fun. :-) 8.
>Those scenes with the ambassador REALLY did not work. I can't think of
>a Trek story that made itself more obvious to me. But there was a lot of
>"good clean fun" so I'll stick with my 5.
The ambassador story was a very small part of the show, though, so I didn't
fault it nearly as much as you did.
>>"The Wounded"--Some thought this too talky.
>"Lethargic" is what I would have said.
>>I didn't. Both of the main guest
>>roles were meaty enough to get me interested, and the whole thing just worked
>>very well. 9.
>Each to his own. I honestly felt like turning the TV off on this one --
>I had the feeling nobody on the production gave a damn about giving
>this episode any life. 3.
All I can say is that we must have different ways of measuring life signs. I
saw an awful lot of tension here, and Picard's closing sequence with Gul Macet
was a hell of a kicker.
>>"First Contact"--An amazing change of pace, and a solid one. 10.
>Leave me to fill the gap between you and Michael --- I had fun with
>the alien POV concept and the opening scene was pretty effective (and
>that was *after* I'd read all the spoilers on this show.) OTOH, I do
>agree with Michael about the scene where the nurse comes on to Riker ---
>ouch.
It's the one sequence that really didn't age well at all. Everything else
worked just as well this time around, but that scene didn't. I was willing to
forgive it.
>>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best
>>performances to date in TNG. 10.
>As long as the "issue" qualifier is there, I won't dispute this too heavily.
It's still up there for TNG in general--possibly the top 10, but I haven't
rethought about that list lately.
>But, as you already know, performances and direction don't count nearly
>as much characterization and plot in my book. 4.
Right. And you already know that I considered this solid in all four
qualities. Performances and direction without plot can at least be evocative,
which is helpful. Straight plot with horrible direction and poor performances
just plods along.
>>"The Mind's Eye"--Did you expect anything but a 10? Magnificent--at least if
>>the series had to start the Tasha Wars [TM], they did it with an awful lot of
>>class. 10.
>Juiciest of the season, I'd say. First episode to use both Klingons and
>Romulans in a big way.
If you mean both at once, I agree--but it's the first Trek ever to use both
in a big way. If you mean them singly, I'd have to differ--the previous
three Klingon stories all qualify, as does "The Defector".
>Brought back Denise Crosby.
This isn't necessarily a plus...we shall see.
>Big step
>towards serialization. Generated the first ever r.a.s. concensus.
>Yep, lots of accomplishments for one episode. 9.
>>"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
>>bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
>>the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity)
>>is at least a BIT better than this? 4.
>Triteness was its cardinal sin for me (unlike many others, I have no
>problem with idea of Data "retrenching" -- there are already too many
>TNG-style humans on the show.) 3.
So you'd prefer to make him Stoopid [TM]? Not my chosen alternative, no.
>I'm not going to go through the math, but my overall impression is
>that they got complacent around "The Loss."
I think they had a complacent PERIOD starting with "The Loss", yes--except for
"The Wounded", none of the first four post-Christmas shows really grabbed me.
But they had a number of real gems in the second part of the season even so--
"First Contact", "The Drumhead" and "The Mind's Eye" are ones I'd stack up
against a lot of other Trek with some confidence.
>In fact, I think they
>used up too much material too fast in the 1990 part (all those
>relatives coming and going) and was at a loss for anything spectacular
>to match in 1991 (though I'm definitely looking forward to "Unification"
>or whatever it's called.)
I think that it's more that they had an idea for the '90 part (let's do the
first season RIGHT this time!), and then said, "er...okay, now what do we
do?" I also suspect that Wil Wheaton's departure may have resulted in a few
rewritten scripts for the first few shows after he left. They hit their
stride a bit further down the line.
>I think the show's gotten a little too comfy
>for its own good --- there isn't quite the sense of innovation or
>barrier-breaking that there was at the end of season 3. Not in a way that
>has people talking like they were then, anyhow.
You mean like by possibly bringing back Tasha? That seems barrier-breaking
(albeit a pretty cruddy barrier in my opinion), and certainly has people
talking...whether they're talking _coherently_ is another matter, of course.
:-)
I'll be very interested to see what happens in the 1991 section of next
season. If they stick to some of the guns they've set up (i.e. do
_something_ fairly important with Redemption II, and actually have Geordi
go nuts next time he sees a Romulan), I think the complacency you're worried
about will fly out the window. On the other hand, if they follow up their
second cliffhanger with their second "oh, no real changes here", I'm going to
be a bit...disturbed, to say the least. (And any comments about how I'm
already quite disturbed have already been thought of and used, thank you very
much. ;-) )
Atsushi Kanamori
>WARNING: The following article doesn't contain much in the way of spoilers,
>but has a few opinions here and there and is generally a summation of season {>4
>of TNG. Those not wishing to see the few mild spoilers (for season 4, not
>future stuff) or be subjected to these opinions had best leave now. :-)
>Well...better late than never, I suppose. So what if everyone else who did
>something like this did it more than a month ago? :-) (I bet they didn't go
>back and watch them all again to get a final appraisal, either...:-) )
And it's just chance that you finished rewatching them just as Michael
started posting to r.a.s. again? G'wan, you're not fooling me... :-)
(in my case, you won your bet, by the way.)
>"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II": Hmm. This definitely did not age well
>as
>the season progressed. Most of the threads I thought they were going to
>stretch out over another few shows (e.g. Riker's career) were simply dropped,
>which is depressing. What we have left, though, was a straight action story
>which DID work for me quite well. 7.
Throw in a pretty rushed ending and it comes down to about a 3 for me.
I considered knocking it down to a 1 for while (because of the disappointment
factor) but in the overall context, it's not *that* bad. But still not
one of TNG's proudest moments.
>"Family"--That's more like it. The Wes stuff is still flat, although less so
>than it seemed the first time through. But it was the smallest plot of the
>three, and the other two are good definitions of "solid character stories"
>and "generally good comic relief" respectively. 9.5.
I think I'd go for an 8 or 8.5 - your analysis feels about right.
>"Brothers"--The subplot with the kids _does_ get a little wearing,
>unfortunately. But everything else was bliss. 9.
A provisional 5 (if a better episode follows through on the Lore/Soong
developments, the grade will rise.)
>"Suddenly Human"--Oof. I can see what they wanted to do...and bits of it
>worked...but in general this was vastly in the "mediocre" camp. 5.
I came up with the same grade as you did, though I tend to see this
one as half-full rather than half-empty (of course, a 5 *is* slightly above
average when you consider my ratings for season 4.)
>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
For the first half, anyway. The last half just had me waiting for
Beverly to catch up to everyone else's understanding. My rating for
this one has improved over what it was originally, but I'm still
the dissentor on this one. 5.
>"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
>show, it's not a good sign. 3.
Eh... popcorn action adventure. 3 for the basic concept, 3 for the
downbeat atmosphere, -1 for the hackneyed plot elements. 5.
>"Reunion"--I said 10 and I MEANT 10. It's still one of TNG's best.
9 (I haven't had a 10 yet). Other than our (obviously) different rating
bases, I'm in agreement with you on this one.
>"Future Imperfect"--A few nice bits with Riker and "Ethan" and some nice
>window-dressing for future changes does not make up for a story that was both
>a cheat and time-worn. 5.
Not to mention full of bad Trek cliches. 1. Oops -- The Royale and Qpid
already have dibs on that. Okay, 1.5.
>"Final Mission"--The same rating as for BOBW2, but for very different
>reasons.
>Very sound character work here, some pretty location shots, and a main plot
>that made sense. The Scow from Hell [TM] didn't help, but the rest of it was
>a nice working of a common idea. 7.
Add in some above-average music too. I think a 7 is about right.
>"The Loss"--If only it had been. I didn't care for this back in January, and
>I don't care for it much now either. Psychic trauma that leaves _physical
>marks_? No thanks--and no thanks to Troi, either. 3.
Nothing needs saying here. 3.
>"Data's Day"--Not the greatest "day in the life" story ever made (most of the
>scenes with the "ambassador" really didn't work), but a lot of good clean
>fun. >:-) 8.
Those scenes with the ambassador REALLY did not work. I can't think of
a Trek story that made itself more obvious to me. But there was a lot of
"good clean fun" so I'll stick with my 5.
>"The Wounded"--Some thought this too talky.
"Lethargic" is what I would have said.
>I didn't. Both of the main guest
>roles were meaty enough to get me interested, and the whole thing just worked
>very well. 9.
Each to his own. I honestly felt like turning the TV off on this one --
I had the feeling nobody on the production gave a damn about giving
this episode any life. 3.
>"Devil's Due"--Someone _please_ give Michael Piller a swift kick the next
>time he decides to rework a "Star Trek II" plot? Please? 3.
Here's one volunteer. :-) 2.
>"Clues"--A boring Dixon Hill opener that led to a better and better show.
>Not perfect, but pretty damn good. 8.5.
Yes, I wish they'd do more mysteries. I think I'll go with the 8.5 too.
>"First Contact"--An amazing change of pace, and a solid one. 10.
Leave me to fill the gap between you and Michael --- I had fun with
the alien POV concept and the opening scene was pretty effective (and
that was *after* I'd read all the spoilers on this show.) OTOH, I do
agree with Michael about the scene where the nurse comes on to Riker ---
ouch. I file this one as "I wouldn't want this kind of story too often
but this time was fun."
I think a 7 or 7.5 does nicely for me.
>"Galaxy's Child"--This one went into free-fall on a repeat viewing. Some
>bits
>of it worked, but not most of them--and this time I really _did_ cringe at
>that seduction scene--ecch. 4.
I'll stay with my 5 (I haven't rewatched it so I don't know how it'll age
with me.)
>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a
>devastating horror story. 8.
A 7 or 7.5 -- and another solid reason to put more Twilight Zone into TNG.
>"Identity Crisis"--Interesting story with a pretty lackluster director. Oh,
>what this could've been with Rob Bowman instead of Winrich Kolbe... 6.5.
Lots of colorful and whiz-bang story props --- unfortunately, lots of
powdered sugar and syrup spoiled the flavor. Uninvolving to the
nth degree. 3.
>"The Nth Degree"--Beautiful 40 minutes, rushed 5. 9.
If any episode had an identity crisis, this was it. It looked like a great
episode but those last 5 minutes killed most of what made it interesting
to me in the first place. Besides, I have truly had my fill of
Roddenberry-style benevolent super-aliens. 6.
>"Qpid"--"Funny or not funny?" "Not funny." "VERY unfunny." --MST3000.
>This gets a 1.
1.0000000001 (The Royale gets a 1.)
>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best
>performances to date in TNG. 10.
As long as the "issue" qualifier is there, I won't dispute this too heavily.
But, as you already know, performances and direction don't count nearly
as much characterization and plot in my book. 4.
>"Half a Life"--If they'd paired David Ogden Stiers with someone who could ACT
>and made the exposition less obvious, this could've been outright good. As
>it is...halfway there. 5.
Or it could have been YAIS (yet another issue story.) Let's just say
it was... an episode. 5.
>"The Host"--Nice concept, very nice concept. Some good performances,
>especially from Frakes--and some really awful dialogue, especially from
>Sirtis. Enjoyable, though--and no, I _don't_ think they wimped out with the
>ending. 7.
Well it *was* enjoyable in a nobrainer kind of way --- maybe a 6 or 7.
Besides, watching Frakes play the alien was fascinating.
>"The Mind's Eye"--Did you expect anything but a 10? Magnificent--at least if
>the series had to start the Tasha Wars [TM], they did it with an awful lot of
>class. 10.
Juiciest of the season, I'd say. First episode to use both Klingons and
Romulans in a big way. Brought back Denise Crosby. Big step
towards serialization. Generated the first ever r.a.s. concensus.
Yep, lots of accomplishments for one episode. 9.
>"In Theory"--Another one that took a big drop in repeat viewing. Some good
>bits, and mostly decent, if unspectacular, directing--but someone please tell
>the writers that Data's command of language (and understanding of humanity)
>is at least a BIT better than this? 4.
Triteness was its cardinal sin for me (unlike many others, I have no
problem with idea of Data "retrenching" -- there are already too many
TNG-style humans on the show.) 3.
>"Redemption"--Weak for a Klingon story, but fairly strong in general. Can't
>wait for part 2. 8.5.
8 or 8.5. This one suffered from over-anticipation, methinks (some of the
perennial technical problems, like the middle-of-the-road direction
and stillborn music hurt too.) Still, I'm quite interested in finding
out what happens in R2.
>Let's see...that gives us an average of 180/26, or 6.92 for the season.
>Hmm.
>That's considerably down from the last two seasons (both were in the low
>8's).
>Either this year has made me more critical (probably thanks to a certain
>Rawdonlike gadfly :-) ), or this year has taken a bit of a downturn.
I'm not going to go through the math, but my overall impression is
that they got complacent around "The Loss." In fact, I think they
used up too much material too fast in the 1990 part (all those
relatives coming and going) and was at a loss for anything spectacular
to match in 1991 (though I'm definitely looking forward to "Unification"
or whatever it's called.) I think the show's gotten a little too comfy
Just another theatre geek.....
>In <1991Aug29.1...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>raw...@cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>>>In <1991Aug29.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>So just why IS there a spoiler warning here anyway? Whatever...
I dunno....but I think it's from force of habit.
>>>That the Riker bit was the most important part of the story - to me - hurt
>>>this episode substantially from the outset. Deus ex mechanizing the ending
>>>hurt, too. I'd give it about a 5.
>>I don't see the ending as deus ex machina...never have.
>That's ironic. I find BOBW2's ending to be very deus ex machina, in that
>it seemed a silly solution that was just pulled out of a hat at the last
>moment.
Hm? I think we disagree about silly, but it was definitely NOT
a deus ex machina ending. The general idea for the solution to the Borg
dilemma was laid out in Part I, even though it had not been conceived at
that time, i.e., the general strategy is to attack the Borg through the
mechanism of its collectivity. That was fairly clear and was suggested
several times over here on the net and elsewhere/
The next most specific tactic, capturing Picard to gain access via
Data is also not out of a hat; it also was a fairly logical tactic to try.
Perhaps the specific tactic of ordering the Borg to "sleep" might be
considered "left-fieldish," but even here, you, of all people, should know
its fairly logical to attack an enemy through a lower security/priority
guarded process. A true deus ex machina ending would be to bring in the
Organians or Q in during the last five minutes to save the day. This ending
just isn't in that class.
>>>>"The Loss"--If only it had been. I didn't care for this back in January, and
>>>>I don't care for it much now either. Psychic trauma that leaves _physical
>>>>marks_? No thanks--and no thanks to Troi, either. 3.
>"Absolutely awful" describes this one fine, I think. "Insipid" would work,
>too (and could also apply to "Qpid", "Galaxy's Child", and probably "Legacy"
>and "Future Imperfect" as well).
I don't agree. "Perfectly awful" is the only possible choice.
From theme to conception to characterization to writing, this was incompetent
beyond all measure.
And what makes it work is that there was certainly a very good story
that could have sprung from the basic premise (as opposed to Q-pid).
--
Roger Tang, gwan...@milton.u.washington.edu; Uncle Bonsai Memorial Fan Club
"Originally, I got into theatre to pick up girls. Unfortunately, all
I found were women."
Just another theatre geek.....
R-rhatings? W-we don' need no st-st-stinkin' rhatin's!
Glug! (hic) Glug!.....
Evo the Changing Man
>
>Actually, it's been made clear that Picard _claims_ to have completely
>recovered. I seem to recall him saying the same thing at the outset of
>"Family". I still claim that the final proof of whether they've held onto
>this or not will come when/if we see the Borg again--if he doesn't go
>completely nuts when faced with them, it'll be a problem. (Similarly, I
>expect a nasty reaction next time Geordi sees a Romulan...)
Yeah, we could have sort of a homage to ST III. Picard could tell Geordi
to aim for the engine only, yet he would blow up the entire ship.
Picard would say, "Geordi, what happened!?!"
And Geordi would simply say, "What'd you expect sir, I am blind, you
know." (-:
A
i
A
"
--
evo the changing man Riker-"This is not a Klingon ship."
iv...@avw.umd.edu Kern-"If this was a Kingon ship, I would
have killed you for making a suggestion!"
----------------------------------ST:TNG Sins of the Father----------
Timothy W. Lynch
> Hmm, whazzat noise? Huh? Hey, lookit that! They're talkin' about
>Star Trek!
I'm sorry, I'll never do it again, promise! :-)
>In <1991Aug29.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
>How many teenagers have secretly wanted to put their parents in a collapsing
>warp bubble after seeing that episode? 8^)
Why limit yourself to teenagers? :-)
>Poor Wesley, he always screws up.
>I'd have given this episode a "10" if the Traveler hadn't shown up to help
>things. "Use the Force, Luke" belongs to another series in sf, and I feel
>uneasy about seeing it in Trek, where it looks somewhat cliche and deus ex
>machina.
It came close to sending me over the "oh, come ON" edge, but managed to avoid
it, fortunately.
>>"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
>>show, it's not a good sign. 3.
>Was there any real reason to make her a relative of Tasha?
Was there any real reason to make this show? :-)
>It was kind of
>a cheap way to try to generate interest in the character, and the relationship
>figured in only minorly (causing them to trust her a little more). It was
>like the plot was secondary to having another Star Trek Relative show up.
A friend of mine insists that this was meant to be an allegory about TOS and
TNG; a treasured memory changing views of a new experience, etc. I think he's
just not feeling well. :-)
>>"Future Imperfect"--A few nice bits with Riker and "Ethan" and some nice
>>window-dressing for future changes does not make up for a story that was both
>>a cheat and time-worn. 5.
>I liked this one, although the second deception was telegraphed to the
>viewers (fool me once, shame on you, ...). The future Enterprise changes
>(Geordi's eyes, new uniforms, etc.) were almost gratuitous, and were probably
>prompted by the Enterprise's changes in "Yesterday's Enterprise" being so
>popular.
Almost undoubtedly they were, yes. They tried for another YE, and didn't
cut it as far as I'm concerned.
>And it's kind of sad that "In Theory" did a kludgey job to screw up Data's
>character, which seemed to be evolving in _DD_ and devolving in _IT_.
True. As long as they ignore the developments of "In Theory" later, it
shouldn't be a problem.
>>"Devil's Due"--Someone _please_ give Michael Piller a swift kick the next
>>time he decides to rework a "Star Trek II" plot? Please? 3.
>I maintain that given a decent soundtrack, this episode would've come of a
>lot better (a la the comedic themes of "I, Mudd," and "The Trouble With
>Tribbles." Mix a (supposedly) amusing plot with bland music, and the result
>is viewer confusion about the story.
And make it a little more comedic in the dialogue. The thing kept bouncing
back and forth 'tween "this is silly, now it's serious, now it's silly
again..." No thank you.
>>"Galaxy's Child"--This one went into free-fall on a repeat viewing. Some bits
>>of it worked, but not most of them--and this time I really _did_ cringe at
>>that seduction scene--ecch. 4.
>Seduction scene??? In Galaxy's Child?
Perhaps "attempted seduction scene" applies better. :-)
>>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a
>>devastating horror story. 8.
>The scene with the bodies sitting up still gives me the creeps. Brr...! A
>good use of Troi, maybe, but the scene with her flying about was less than
>flattering.
File that under one of the "few cheesy scenes" I mentioned. :-)
>>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best
>>performances to date in TNG. 10.
>I agree. Great story. Why does every Starfleet official turn out to be a
>psycho? Is the job *that* stressful?
"Dammit, I outrank them all, but I don't get as much air time!" :-)
Tim Lynch
Timothy W. Lynch
>Well...it's nice to be able to argue about Trek again...
Shh...not so loud...:-)
>In article <89...@cs.tulane.edu> raw...@cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>>In <1991Aug29.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>"Legacy"--When Ishara Yar in Spandex is the most interesting thing about the
>>>show, it's not a good sign. 3.
>>
>>True enough. I don't think I liked it even that much. 1.5. (It was
>>truly terrible. I'd say it ranks alongside "The Cloudminders" from TOS.)
>Hmmm...I'm feeling a little more charitable than you two. I'll give
>it a 4 for the decent F/X.
WHAT decent FX? :-)
>>>"First Contact"--An amazing change of pace, and a solid one. 10.
>>
>>Seemed rather blah, especially with the amazing array of 2D characters
>>walking around. Had its good points, though, like the POV from the aliens'
>>side. 6.
>Lilith Sternin-Crane would never act that way.
Bebe Neuwirth, however, might. :-)
>>>"The Drumhead"--Probably the single best "issue" story they've ever done.
>>>Hats off to Frakes for directing, and Stewart for one of his best performan-
>>>ces to date in TNG. 10.
>>
>>Yeah, this was good. I'm not sure it was quite that good, though. For
>>one thing, the story was nothing new. (Maybe I ODed on these tales after
>>seeing the Justice Society tried by the UAAC in a '70s Adventure Comics.
>>I dunno.) Nonetheless, it's still a (very) good 'un. 9.
>Very good performances. But a little too preachy for me. 8.
Depends on one's feelings on the issue, I've always said. This was one of my
pet ones (and still is), so I got into it.
>[I won't bother with the math. Suffice it to say that I think that
>the overall quality dropped a little from last season, but it was
>still better than the majority of the second season.]
Could well be. I'm not sure, though--my rating system keeps mutating from
year to year. :-)
Tim Lynch
Timothy W. Lynch
>In <1991Aug29.1...@stsci.edu> wmo...@stsci.edu (Windsor A. Morgan) writes:
>>In article <1991Aug29.1...@fs7.ece.cmu.edu> ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu (Matthew Wayne Gertz) writes:
>>> At the end of BOBWII, I felt cheated when Picard
>>>merely reacted by saying he had a headache (this was redeemed somewhat by
>>>Picard's last scene, staring out the window). I said to myself, "And
>>>they'll never refer to this again in the series. His character won't
>>>change." And then Surprise! There it is the next week.
>>And they'll never refer to this again in the series. His character
>>hasn't changed. Surprise! :-(
>Actually, that's not QUITE true. It was referred to in "The Drumhead",
>but it was also made clear that Picard had "completely recovered",
Actually, it's been made clear that Picard _claims_ to have completely
recovered. I seem to recall him saying the same thing at the outset of
"Family". I still claim that the final proof of whether they've held onto
this or not will come when/if we see the Borg again--if he doesn't go
completely nuts when faced with them, it'll be a problem. (Similarly, I
expect a nasty reaction next time Geordi sees a Romulan...)
>so in
>that sense, you're right - his character HASN'T changed. (Indeed, I'm
>not sure ANY character in TNG has experienced a net change over the series,
>especially considering the recent backpedaling on Data's character.
More like "backsliding" than backpedaling, methinks. We'll have to find out
which one they stick to.
Tim Lynch
Timothy W. Lynch
>In <1991Aug29.1...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
[on BOBW2]
>>I don't see the ending as deus ex machina...never have. (I don't agree with
>>it for "The Nth Degree" either, but it's a lot closer to the mark there than
>>it is here.)
>That's ironic. I find BOBW2's ending to be very deus ex machina, in that
>it seemed a silly solution that was just pulled out of a hat at the last
>moment.
Roger's already taken this one, so I'll bow out. :-)
>On the other hand, "The Nth Degree" did NOT have a deus ex machina
>ending, IMHO, but it did have a just-plain-stupid ending. (I can't offhand
>think of an episode of either series which had an ending I liked less.
>Though if I pore over some of the real drek episodes I'm sure I can
>come up with something. :-)
I still don't understand why this fostered so much opposition, honestly. It
made sense to me, although I'll admit there were certainly ones I'd have
preferred (and making this a two-parter could have been interesting).
The only horrible feeling I got when the ending happened was "oh, god, half of
r.a.s. is going to SCREAM..."
>>I have to save my ones for things that are absolutely awful, like "Qpid".
>>This was pretty poor, but not down on that level by any means.
>"Absolutely awful" describes this one fine, I think. "Insipid" would work,
>too (and could also apply to "Qpid", "Galaxy's Child", and probably "Legacy"
>and "Future Imperfect" as well).
Nah. Very little goes as low as "Qpid". :-)
["The Drumhead"]
>>>Yeah, this was good. I'm not sure it was quite that good, though. For
>>>one thing, the story was nothing new. (Maybe I ODed on these tales after
>>>seeing the Justice Society tried by the UAAC in a '70s Adventure Comics.
>>>I dunno.)
>>It's new for Trek, and it was done amazingly well.
>Being "new to Trek" does not make it "new to me", but we already knew that
>we differed on this point.
I didn't imply it made it new to you, or even new to me (it wasn't). But it
was a fresh take on the subject, and certainly something one doesn't normally
expect in Trek's optimistic universe.
Tim Lynch
Matthew Wayne Gertz
>ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu (Matthew Wayne Gertz) writes:
>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>
>>>"Remember Me"--Yes. Like that. A nicely surreal mystery, one of the few
>>>decent uses of a superbeing, and some great "what the HELL is going on"
>>>comments both on and off the screen. 10.
>
>>How many teenagers have secretly wanted to put their parents in a collapsing
>>warp bubble after seeing that episode? 8^)
>
>Why limit yourself to teenagers? :-)
Or, indeed, why limit yourself to parents? I can think of a few professors
I'd like to throw into a warp bubble... 8^)
>>The future Enterprise changes [...stuff deleted...] were probably
>>prompted by the Enterprise's changes in "Yesterday's Enterprise" being so
>>popular.
>
>Almost undoubtedly they were, yes. They tried for another YE, and didn't
>cut it as far as I'm concerned.
And yet I wonder why I like _YE_ so much (and I do, I really do), because it's
much the same, all boiling down to science fiction's version of "It was just
a bad dream," just like _FP_. I have this wonderful picture of the scene
right after the final scene, where Riker would be saying, "And you were there,
Captain, and you, Mr. Data, and some parts of the illusion were bad, and some
were just beautiful" a la "Wizard of Oz."
--
--Matt Gertz--*
ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu
KELSEY, Michael H.
legitimate one in a long time :-) :-{ *hic* ...
In article <1991Aug30.1...@fs7.ece.cmu.edu>, ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu
(Matthew Wayne Gertz) says:
>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu (Matthew Wayne Gertz) writes:
>>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>
Yes! It is! Two net.gods playing ping-pong reviews! And the new season
hasn't even started yet! Maybe this should be a demonstration event in the
next Usenet Olympics!
-- Mike Kelsey
[ My opinions are not endorsed by SLAC, Caltech, or the US government ]
What is your _name_? "kel...@slacvm.slac.stanford.edu"
What is your _quest_? "To get a Ph.D. in high-energy physics"
When will you _finish_? "I don't know. Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh..."
Matthew Wayne Gertz
>
>In article <1991Aug30.1...@fs7.ece.cmu.edu>, ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu
>(Matthew Wayne Gertz) says:
>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu (Matthew Wayne Gertz) writes:
>>>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>
>
>Yes! It is! Two net.gods playing ping-pong reviews! And the new season
>hasn't even started yet! Maybe this should be a demonstration event in the
>next Usenet Olympics!
??? Net.god??? When did I get promoted to such a status? 8^)
--
--Matt Gertz--*
ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu
Mark A. Lindsay
| Hm? I think we disagree about silly, but it was definitely NOT
|a deus ex machina ending. The general idea for the solution to the Borg
|dilemma was laid out in Part I, even though it had not been conceived at
|that time, i.e., the general strategy is to attack the Borg through the
|mechanism of its collectivity. That was fairly clear and was suggested
|several times over here on the net and elsewhere/
What was DEM about the ending was the Borg power feedback. THey we
to the ship, saw them asleep, found some "fluctuating" readings and
immediately decided that they were about to explode. There was no explanation
at all. The Borg could have been trying to come out of sleep mode. What
indications were there that they were going to go boom? Up to that point
of the show I had been enjoying it. It was the typical TNG rush ending.
--
I doubt any god who inflicts pain for his own pleasure.
-- McCoy, "The Final Frontier," stardate 8451.1.
ma...@stat.tamu.edu Texas A&M University
KELSEY, Michael H.
(Matthew Wayne Gertz) says:
>
>In article <91242.080...@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU>
>KEL...@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (KELSEY, Michael H.) writes:
>>
>>In article <1991Aug30.1...@fs7.ece.cmu.edu>, ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu
>>(Matthew Wayne Gertz) says:
>>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>>ge...@bilge.ece.cmu.edu (Matthew Wayne Gertz) writes:
>>>>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>>
>>
>>Yes! It is! Two net.gods playing ping-pong reviews! And the new season
>>hasn't even started yet! Maybe this should be a demonstration event in the
>>next Usenet Olympics!
>
>??? Net.god??? When did I get promoted to such a status? 8^)
>
the same level as our other net.publishers (Vidiot, Tim, Michael, et al).
Since these are the r.a.s.pantheon, you are too!
Hey, why don't we form a new group, r.a.s.pantheon, where all these guys can
post followups to each others articles? RFD anyone? (No, not the tomatoes!)
Michael Rawdon
>raw...@cs.tulane.edu (Michael Rawdon) writes:
>>In <1991Aug29.1...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>On the other hand, "The Nth Degree" did NOT have a deus ex machina
>>ending, IMHO, but it did have a just-plain-stupid ending. (I can't offhand
>>think of an episode of either series which had an ending I liked less.
>>Though if I pore over some of the real drek episodes I'm sure I can
>>come up with something. :-)
>I still don't understand why this fostered so much opposition, honestly. It
>made sense to me, although I'll admit there were certainly ones I'd have
>preferred (and making this a two-parter could have been interesting).
>The only horrible feeling I got when the ending happened was "oh, god, half of
>r.a.s. is going to SCREAM..."
It made some mild sense in retrospect, though the basic concept of the
aliens ("Explore the galaxy from the comfort and safety of your own
living room!") was basically ridiculous, as was their method of contact.
What really made me want to heave a brick at the TV, though, was that the
ending pretty much nullified most of the drama the episode had generated.
Suddenly, BANG! Barclay is restored to normal, the ship is back under
Picard's control, the aliens are friendly (almost sickenly so) and everything
is rosy. And the crew is left with a "Gee, whiz, what just happened?"
look on their collective face.
(Then, of course, there was the silly "Well, we spent several weeks with
the aliens (that the viewer never sees) and now we're going to go home"
(and probably never see the aliens mentioned again). I felt cheated.
The whole episode seemed (almost) meaningless when you factor in the
conclusion, especially since the conclusion was such a crucial part of
the plot.
This ending virtually epitomizes "How not to end a ST: TNG story", as far
as I'm concerned.
>["The Drumhead"]
>>>>Yeah, this was good. I'm not sure it was quite that good, though. For
>>>>one thing, the story was nothing new. (Maybe I ODed on these tales after
>>>>seeing the Justice Society tried by the UAAC in a '70s Adventure Comics.
>>>>I dunno.)
>>>It's new for Trek, and it was done amazingly well.
>>Being "new to Trek" does not make it "new to me", but we already knew that
>>we differed on this point.
>I didn't imply it made it new to you, or even new to me (it wasn't). But it
>was a fresh take on the subject, and certainly something one doesn't normally
>expect in Trek's optimistic universe.
(I would amend that to "ST:TNG's optimistic universe". TOS had plenty of
less-than-optimistic stories, starting with "Court-Martial", "The
Ultimate Computer" and "The Doomsday Machine" and working down from there.)
True, but since this is the sort of story (in character, not in quality,
if you follow me) that I think should be par for the course in Star Trek
(it's the sort of story I wish ST4:TVH had been, speaking of stories
that made me feel robbed), the TYPE of story "The Drumhead" delivered
doesn't earn any special kudos for me (except maybe an "It's about time"
remark). I felt much the same about the first part of "The Best Of
Both Worlds".
--
Michael Rawdon raw...@cs.wisc.edu
Recent grad of Tulane's CS Department, now at U Wisconsin - Madison.
"And they said we were heroes, they said we were fine.
We were kings in command, we had god on our side,
And we said nothing will make us change in any way."
- Chris De Burgh, "Last Night"
Timothy W. Lynch
[on the ending of "The Nth Degree"]
>It made some mild sense in retrospect, though the basic concept of the
>aliens ("Explore the galaxy from the comfort and safety of your own
>living room!") was basically ridiculous, as was their method of contact.
I don't consider the concept ridiculous in the least; far from it, in fact.
It seems a fairly straightforward variation on the exploring concept. (First
you have people who use ships, then people who perhaps just blink their
planet around from place to place, then people who decide "the hell with this,
they can come to US" and arrange it so. I don't see the ridiculous aspect.)
>What really made me want to heave a brick at the TV, though, was that the
>ending pretty much nullified most of the drama the episode had generated.
>Suddenly, BANG! Barclay is restored to normal, the ship is back under
>Picard's control, the aliens are friendly (almost sickenly so) and everything
>is rosy. And the crew is left with a "Gee, whiz, what just happened?"
As though they're supposed to fully know and understand everything. No thanks.
A few mysteries here and there will do just fine. (I'm not saying that this
was the ideal ending by ANY means, but it was hardly the monster that a lot of
people make it out to be.)
I think it might've worked better had it been two parts; end the first with
them emerging at the center of the galaxy, with Barclay still trapped on the
holodeck and firmly in control of the Enterprise. Spend most of the second
show trying to figure out where the hell they are, where they might be able to
go that's going to do them any good (suppose here that the aliens who "altered"
Barclay didn't quite get it right this time, so he's as confused as any of
them), and towards the end of the second part, have them stumble on the
Cytherians, hang out there for a little while (though we still don't need to
see the stay, I maintain), then go home.
A lot less rushed, the Cytherians aren't quite as omnipotent, and yet keep
the concept intact. Does that work better?
["The Drumhead" and its negative tone]
>>I didn't imply it made it new to you, or even new to me (it wasn't). But it
>>was a fresh take on the subject, and certainly something one doesn't normally
>>expect in Trek's optimistic universe.
>(I would amend that to "ST:TNG's optimistic universe". TOS had plenty of
>less-than-optimistic stories, starting with "Court-Martial",
Nope. "Court-Martial" was about an honest-to-God mistake and Kirk's efforts
to avoid being framed--in the end, everything was right and good and just one
deranged person was at fault. Fit easily into the optimistic universe.
>"The
>Ultimate Computer" and "The Doomsday Machine" and working down from there.)
Those two, perhaps...but there still wasn't the same sense of "here is a
continual problem _within_ the Federation that needs to be guarded against".
I mean, they were joking around at the end of TDM, when it's pretty obvious
that if there is a second one around someplace (_Vendetta_, anyone? :-) ),
everyone's in pretty deep trouble. The last minute or so of that show seems
amazingly out of place to me.
>True, but since this is the sort of story (in character, not in quality,
>if you follow me) that I think should be par for the course in Star Trek
>(it's the sort of story I wish ST4:TVH had been, speaking of stories
>that made me feel robbed), the TYPE of story "The Drumhead" delivered
>doesn't earn any special kudos for me (except maybe an "It's about time"
>remark). I felt much the same about the first part of "The Best Of
>Both Worlds".
So your reaction when they do a story you actually want to see is "well, it's
about time?" Gee, don't get TOO excited or anything...yeesh. I'm all for
dark-toned stories myself, and that's why I automatically perk up when one
such as this comes along.
Tim Lynch
ta...@isuvax.iastate.edu
>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>
>>WARNING: The following article doesn't contain much in the way of spoilers,
>>but has a few opinions here and there and is generally a summation of season {>4
>>of TNG. Those not wishing to see the few mild spoilers (for season 4, not
>>future stuff) or be subjected to these opinions had best leave now. :-)
[Lots of episode reviews deleted, b4 & after]
>>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a
>>devastating horror story. 8.
>
>A 7 or 7.5 -- and another solid reason to put more Twilight Zone into TNG.
Are you guys serious about this?!? A FEW cheesy scenes?!? How about a
whole EPISODE of cheesy scenes! I thought it was the general consensus that
this was the worst episode of the season (the only thing that saves "Qpid"
from this is Q's usual charm and wit :))! I read in the Star Trek magazine
episode reviews that Frakes (and most of the rest of the crew, except for
probably Sirtis, of course! :)) also thought that this was the stinker of the
season.
Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPERTROI!
(Sorry, I couldn't resist!) %:*)
--Dan M.
Michael Rawdon
>In article <kanamori....@Neon.Stanford.EDU>, kana...@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Atsushi Kanamori) writes:
>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a
>>>devastating horror story. 8.
>>A 7 or 7.5 -- and another solid reason to put more Twilight Zone into TNG.
> Are you guys serious about this?!? A FEW cheesy scenes?!? How about a
>whole EPISODE of cheesy scenes! I thought it was the general consensus that
>this was the worst episode of the season (the only thing that saves "Qpid"
>from this is Q's usual charm and wit :))!
You obviously haven't been following the thread about consensuses (consensi?)
on r.a.s. :-)
But seriously, I, too, thought this was one of the highlights of the season,
aside from the scientific gaffes (and the poorly-executed "flying Troi").
The parts that were played for outright horror were superb, and this may
be my favorite Patrick Stewart performance in all of TNG.
"Night Terrors" easily ranks in the upper half, if not upper quarter, of
fourth season episodes, as far as I'm concerned.
> I read in the Star Trek magazine
>episode reviews that Frakes (and most of the rest of the crew, except for
>probably Sirtis, of course! :)) also thought that this was the stinker of the
>season.
Well, what do they know? :-)
--
Michael Rawdon U Wisconsin - Madison
raw...@cs.wisc.edu
Feeling a little surly at the moment.
Timothy W. Lynch
>In article <kanamori....@Neon.Stanford.EDU>, kana...@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Atsushi Kanamori) writes:
>>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>>"Night Terrors"--A few cheesy scenes, but a good use of Troi and a
>>>devastating horror story. 8.
>>
>>A 7 or 7.5 -- and another solid reason to put more Twilight Zone into TNG.
> Are you guys serious about this?!?
Yep.
>A FEW cheesy scenes?!? How about a whole EPISODE of cheesy scenes!
No, thanks. I've seen that--it was called "Qpid".
>I thought it was the general consensus that
>this was the worst episode of the season
"General consensus"...on r.a.s? Pardon me a second...
[muffled hysterical laughter]
Thanks. I needed that. :-)
More seriously...no, not at all. Opinion was fairly evenly divided on "Night
Terrors", actually; if I remember rightly, Michael, Roger, Atsushi and I all
liked it to a certain extent, and had a decent portion of people agreeing with
us; but there were also a lot of people who hated it.
>(the only thing that saves "Qpid"
>from this is Q's usual charm and wit :))!
No...no...I promised I wasn't going to slam "Qpid" again...
>I read in the Star Trek magazine
>episode reviews that Frakes (and most of the rest of the crew, except for
>probably Sirtis, of course! :)) also thought that this was the stinker of the
>season.
That's their right. I don't agree. Patrick Stewart's said that one of his
favorite episodes was "Captain's Holiday", which I thought was absolutely
_awful_. Just 'cos the cast enjoys making it doesn't mean anybody will
enjoy watching it...
Tim Lynch