Lynch's Spoiler Review: "The Game"
Timothy W. Lynch
episode, "The Game". Those not wishing to have the plot and related beasties
spoilt for them should probably move on.
Hmm. Well, it had its moments...
...but not necessarily many of them. I'll have to mull this over for a bit.
Fortunately, I can mull and write a synopsis at the same time :-) :
A few days after Riker is introduced to a strange new game while vacationing
on Risa, he brings it back to the Enterprise, which is running a little ragged
with a large science investigation underway. The game quickly spreads (to
Deanna, and then to Beverly), as Wesley comes back on board for a vacation
from the Academy.
Wes and Data talk for a bit about their mutual experiences at the Academy
(among other topics, the Sadie Hawkins dance and practical jokes), and Wes
then meets and quickly takes a shine to Ensign Robin Lefler, who has friends
back at the Academy who've mentioned Wes to her. Meanwhile, Beverly calls
Data to sickbay to help her with something--but when he arrives, she
deactivates him, moves him onto a med-table, and begins positronic brain
surgery.
Picard and Wes talk for a bit about Wes's experiences at the Academy, only to
be interrupted by a call from Bev about how Data's suddenly gone into the
android equivalent of a coma. Geordi and Riker check Data's quarters to see
if he's left behind any records about what to do in cases like this, but find
nothing--and Riker says that Geordi looks tired, and needs a break--and he has
just the thing...
Wes's and Robin's relationship is taking a turn for the better--enough so that
Wes, hurrying for a dinner date, doesn't have time to try the game, despite
Beverly's best efforts. At dinner, conversation eventually turns to the game
(everyone but the two of them seem to be playing it), and they eventually get
a copy and test it on a med-simulation, which reveals that it stimulates the
pleasure centers of the brain directly, and is highly addictive. (It also is
somehow affecting the brain's higher reasoning centers, although they're not
sure how.) Wes runs to tell Picard about this, who promises a full
investigation--but as soon as Wes leaves, Picard straps on his own copy...
Wes and Robin, besieged by requests and demands to try the game, decide to see
what's wrong with Data, correctly reasoning that his sudden injury was just a
little too convenient. They find that a few of his positronic pathways have
been severed--severed so finely, in fact, that only Beverly or Geordi would
have the expertise to do it. Something more than a simple addiction is
clearly going on. As a ship comes into range, Picard orders copies of the
game distributed shipwide, including to Wesley. Worf and Beverly find Wes and
Robin hooked already, and leave--and Wes and Robin remove their fake games,
relieved. Robin heads for Engineering (she's on duty), and the nearby ship
comes close enough for Picard to hail her. "The Enterprise has been secured.
We await your further instructions."
Those instructions involve spreading the game to other ships and
starbases--and, with Wes's presence, the Academy. Wes eventually goes to
Engineering with a plan, but finds Robin hooked, and Riker and Worf in wait.
He eludes them for a while, but eventually is caught, taken to the bridge, and
forcibly made to "play". Just then, the lights dim, and a very functional
Data (whom Wes managed to repair) shines a palm beacon with a particular
series of flashes that snaps everyone out of it. The Kitarian ship is
captured easily and taken to starbase 82, and Wes and Robin bid each other
fond farewells as Wes returns to the Academy.
There, that should do. Now for my thoughts (such as they are).
I must admit to very mixed feelings here. On the one hand, this show had a
fairly old and tired premise (addictive games, as were pointed out back when
the preview aired, have appeared similarly in both "Max Headroom" and "Red
Dwarf"), and rejuvenated a cliche I hoped long dead (Wes saving the ship). On
the other hand, in between that, there were some nice character bits--and much
of the plot was executed well.
First, a few plot holes (though not many...certainly not nearly as many as in
"Disaster", although that's not exactly high praise :-) ). Firstly, how did
Data (and/or Wes) know that the bright flashes were going to work? How did
they even think to try them? Secondly, since the game was clearly visual in
nature (the addiction wasn't, but the initial "hook" was), how was Geordi
suborned?
Most of my other particular plot complaints (specific details, that is) center
around Wes. Wes was just too much the wonder kid and not enough the bright
teenager in many places. Let's see--he's an Engineering expert (no
problem--that's old news), a medical expert (he knew everything that game was
doing to the simulation), and suddenly enough of an expert in cybernetics to
fix Data (something which he couldn't do in "Datalore" for a much simpler
problem). It was just too much for me.
It could have been worse--Wes did have feet of clay in a few places, to be
sure (mostly in his tactics--going straight to Picard and telling him
everything was a bad move, but a very welcome one). But given that the
primary reason for the antipathy some fans (though not I...I happen to like
Wes, thank you very much) have for Wesley is that "he's always the one who
saves everything!", I think this was poor judgement. Having him be involved
in solving it, yes. Having him use some experience from the Academy to help
himself out of a situation, yes. Having him be almost singlehandedly
responsible for saving the Federation--no. No thanks.
On the other hand, I rather enjoyed the non-Wonder-Boy bits of Wes, which were
numerous. All but one of the scenes between himself and Robin, in fact, were
probably the best "casual" scenes of Wes that TNG has made [the one exception
being their examination of Data, when Robin suddenly turns into Ensign Plot
Exposition, unfortunately]. Wil Wheaton's come a long way since the dark days
of the first season (and occasional throwbacks like "The Dauphin"--the
difference between his scenes with Salia there and his scenes with Robin here
is phenomenal), and I do welcome his return.
While I'm on the subject, kudos to Ashley Judd, the actress who played Robin
Lefler. Her delivery was a little weird here and there (but then again, so is
the character, deliberately so :-) ), but she and Wil played off each other
extremely well. (It also helps that I thought she was *very* cute, but that's
not a fair criterion. :-) ) I'd like to see a few more supporting characters
here and there--with luck, we'll see more of Ms. Lefler.
Most of the other character bits were good as well. Wes's conversations with
Data and Picard were both about what I'd expect to hear from him, and both
well done. (I cheered up a lot as soon as Wes mentioned Boothby and "A.F."
:-) ) The Riker/Troi scene in Ten-Forward began and ended well, although I
have to ask who made the decision to suddenly turn Troi into Space Bimbo from
Hell--I mean, that chocolate scene was *waaaaaay* too much to swallow, pun not
intended. (The beginning was great, though--"Would you like me to leave you
two alone?" :-) )
(And I want to hear more about Wes's practical jokes. An antimatter regulator
that sprays chili sauce? *That* I want to see.)
A couple of other things that bugged me involved Geordi. Given the events of
"The Mind's Eye", I think he should have had a slightly wary reaction to
things from Risa (although since he presumably knew about Riker's trip before
he left, I'll forgive this), and should have had a *much* stronger reaction to
being brainwashed again. "I can't believe what we almost did," indeed--that's
way too calm. If they redeem this by having him react very strongly to
Romulans in "Unification", I'll forgive it--but if not, they've dropped the
good Geordi threads from "The Mind's Eye". Sigh...
If I seem to be skimping on discussing the plot, it's deliberate--I don't have
much to say about it. The plot itself was tired, as I've said, and not enough
new stuff came out of it to really justify it. Some of the execution,
however, was excellent. Both Bev's ambush of Data and Data's appearance on
the bridge come to mind--both were a little bit telegraphed, but were
presented well enough that I still seemed a little surprised--and Data's
silhouette in the 'lift doorway was a striking image. To a lesser degree, the
same applies to the "revelation" about Picard being hooked--it was telegraphed
so far ahead that anyone who hadn't guessed it before he strapped on the game
had to be brain-dead, but Picard's spinning chair somehow added a little flair
to it for me. I'm not sure why. :-)
The chase sequence was well done (aside from its beginning--I find it a little
hard to believe that Wes could get away with the old "run around the table"
trick, but whatever). Wes's two decoys [the site transport and the repeating
phaser] were ones I could readily accept, and he got about as far with it as
I'd expect him to (i.e. he bought a few minutes, but that's all). Wes isn't
Data--if the whole ship's against him, he should lose--and if he'd lasted much
longer than he had, or actually escaped, I'd have been rather annoyed.
Fortunately, the writers were bright enough not to do that. (The chase
sequence was also good in that it was the only time the music caught my
attention this go-round. Maybe Chattaway *is* slipping, if he only made five
minutes or so of it that worthwhile.)
(One quick gripe--the teaser. Okay, I think I see what they were *trying* to
do with this, but it really didn't work. This was probably the most boring
teaser I've seen in a long time.)
I really don't know that there's much else I can think of to say here. My
mind's not really into this this week, I guess. (I'm sure I'll come up with
things once I've seen some other posts about it. :-) ) I was happy to see
Wes back, and look forward to his next visit--but I wish they hadn't fallen
back on the old cliches.
So, the numbers:
Plot: 4. Old, but at least fairly well-knit.
Plot Handling: 8. The surprises were only slightly telegraphed, and the
whole thing was certainly presented well.
Characterization: 6. Using Wes as the panacea hurt (and the Geordi problems
didn't help either), but the bits NOT relating to the "jeopardy" angle
were very nice.
TOTAL: 6. Very watchable, but spectacular it's not.
NEXT WEEK:
Spock. Sarek. Vulcans. Romulans. Klingons. Shit. Fan. Mix ingredients,
stir vigourously, and watch the ratings soar...yep, it's sweeps month, and
"Unification"...
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
"Chocolate is a serious thing."
--D. Troi, "The Game"
--
Copyright 1991, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
MSH...@psuvm.psu.edu
When Wes enters the Ready Room, we are at extreme close-up on Picard's seated c
hest, facing away from the door. The little bird noise, he *sets something down
with an audible <click>* and spins the chair...hiding the Game, and then says,
"Come."
I saw it coming...I agree w/ Tim, it was telegraphed.
Rebis
Michael Scott Shappe
what the heck, CTL-L's are free)
tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>NEXT WEEK:
>Spock. Sarek. Vulcans. Romulans. Klingons. Shit. Fan. Mix ingredients,
>stir vigourously, and watch the ratings soar...yep, it's sweeps month, and
>"Unification"...
Thief! Thief!
Actually, this is if nothing else proof that, at some fundamentally
twisted level, Tim and I still think frighteningly alike.
(Now if only we could agree on ratings or RAS splits...)
Mikey
--
In memoriam: Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991). Light with you always--and with us.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven."
-- Ecclesiastes.
Dave Schaumann
>WARNING: This article contains spoiler information regarding this week's TNG
>episode, "The Game". Those not wishing to have the plot and related beasties
>spoilt for them should probably move on.
>Hmm. Well, it had its moments...
>Most of my other particular plot complaints (specific details, that is) center
>around Wes. Wes was just too much the wonder kid and not enough the bright
>teenager in many places. Let's see--he's an Engineering expert (no
>problem--that's old news), a medical expert (he knew everything that game was
>doing to the simulation), and suddenly enough of an expert in cybernetics to
>fix Data (something which he couldn't do in "Datalore" for a much simpler
>problem). It was just too much for me.
I have no problem with him being reasonably well-versed with the medical
equipment & brain functions; his mother is CMO, after all, and he spent
~3.5 years living in & around the sickbay. Also, being a "wunderkind",
it seems to me he would have at least a little natural curiosity about
how the brain works. I don't think it's unreasonable he knew that stuff.
Also, in "Datalore", I don't think it was a "much simpler problem" as
you say. There, Lore had kicked Data in the head, causing a hunk to
break loose -- who knows what's damaged here? In "The Game", we saw
6 wires cut. A big difference, IMHO, and much easier to fix. Also,
the events in "Datalore" were 4 years ago. You may remember that
going from age 14 or 15 to 18 or 19 makes a big difference in self-
confidence and problem-solving ability.
I agree with you pretty much about the rest of the stuff though; the
"chocolate" scene was mostly a waste, and I did know that Picard was
addicted when Wesly went to see him.
I think this scene should have been directed differently; instead of
having the "revelation" of Picard being addicted at the end, it should
have been at the beginning as Wes enters. Perhaps with a camera shot
behind Picard showing the game where Wes couldn't see it. Then have
the "ominous forboding" music that's been perfected for thrillers
playing during their conversation. It would've made it a lot more
effective, IMHO.
Come to think of it, this is what I most enjoyed about this episode:
the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" aspect of it. I think if it had
been directed much more at that level, it would've been much more
effective...
Of course, there still would've been a lot of posts about how cliched
it was...
-
--
Oh, we are us, sir. But they are also us. So indeed -- we are both us.
-Data, in "We'll Always Have Paris"
Roger Noe
>No spoilers for "The Game" (neither any real ones for "The Unification, but
>what the heck, CTL-L's are free)
No, they're not. If this article cost the net thousands, if not millions
of dollars, then each form feed must cost some nonzero fraction of this.
It all adds up!
>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>NEXT WEEK:
>>Spock. Sarek. Vulcans. Romulans. Klingons. Shit. Fan. Mix ingredients,
>>stir vigourously, and watch the ratings soar...yep, it's sweeps month, and
>>"Unification"...
>
>Thief! Thief!
>
>Actually, this is if nothing else proof that, at some fundamentally
>twisted level, Tim and I still think frighteningly alike.
Identical twins, separated at birth, next on Herrrraldo!
(No, it's NOT really "Geraldo", it's Jerry Rivers.)
--
Roger Noe n...@cs.uiuc.edu
Department of Computer Science 40:06:39 N. 88:13:41 W.
University of Illinois (217) 244-6173
Urbana, IL 61801 USA
Timothy W. Lynch
[2 >'s is me]
>>WARNING: This article contains spoiler information regarding this week's TNG
>>episode, "The Game". Those not wishing to have the plot and related beasties
>>spoilt for them should probably move on.
>Also, in "Datalore", I don't think it was a "much simpler problem" as
>you say. There, Lore had kicked Data in the head, causing a hunk to
>break loose -- who knows what's damaged here? In "The Game", we saw
>6 wires cut. A big difference, IMHO, and much easier to fix.
Well, "Datalore" wasn't clear on it, but Data just seemed to click that sucker
right back in place with a minimum of fuss.
>Also,
>the events in "Datalore" were 4 years ago. You may remember that
>going from age 14 or 15 to 18 or 19 makes a big difference in self-
>confidence and problem-solving ability.
I realize that, and it's a good point. Even taking that into account, though,
this was a little much.
>I agree with you pretty much about the rest of the stuff though; the
>"chocolate" scene was mostly a waste, and I did know that Picard was
>addicted when Wesly went to see him.
Ah...now, are you a chocolate fiend? I'm trying to find counterexamples to the
charges leveled against me elsewhere. :-)
>I think this scene should have been directed differently; instead of
>having the "revelation" of Picard being addicted at the end, it should
>have been at the beginning as Wes enters. Perhaps with a camera shot
>behind Picard showing the game where Wes couldn't see it. Then have
>the "ominous forboding" music that's been perfected for thrillers
>playing during their conversation. It would've made it a lot more
>effective, IMHO.
Perhaps, although this reads like something they could easily overdo. It would
certainly stand a good chance.
>Come to think of it, this is what I most enjoyed about this episode:
>the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" aspect of it. I think if it had
>been directed much more at that level, it would've been much more
>effective...
Possibly. The direction seemed all right, mostly--it was the plot itself
I didn't care for, personally.
Tim Lynch
Gym Z. Quirk
>WARNING: This article contains spoiler information regarding this week's TNG
>episode, "The Game". Those not wishing to have the plot and related beasties
>spoilt for them should probably move on.
>Hmm. Well, it had its moments...
Yeah...and again, I'm not quite as harsh as you are...;-)
>...but not necessarily many of them. I'll have to mull this over for a bit.
>Fortunately, I can mull and write a synopsis at the same time :-) :
>[Synop deleted so I could feed it to this Targ which seems to have
followed me to the terminal pod...;-) ]
>
>There, that should do. Now for my thoughts (such as they are).
>
>I must admit to very mixed feelings here. On the one hand, this show had a
>fairly old and tired premise (addictive games, as were pointed out back when
>the preview aired, have appeared similarly in both "Max Headroom" and "Red
>Dwarf"), and rejuvenated a cliche I hoped long dead (Wes saving the ship). On
>the other hand, in between that, there were some nice character bits--and much
>of the plot was executed well.
Not having seen said episode of "Red Dwarf" (I've only seen a few
episodes as time allowed), I can't say anything about the comparison.
However, I was reminded of the old saw about "Tetris" being a soviet
plot to reduce American productivity...;-)
>First, a few plot holes (though not many...certainly not nearly as many as in
>"Disaster", although that's not exactly high praise :-) ). Firstly, how did
>Data (and/or Wes) know that the bright flashes were going to work? How did
>they even think to try them? Secondly, since the game was clearly visual in
>nature (the addiction wasn't, but the initial "hook" was), how was Geordi
>suborned?
Hmmm...the "Strobe light reprogramming" could have been a "It's the
best shot we've got" ploy.
As for Geordi, your guess is as good as mine...
>Most of my other particular plot complaints (specific details, that is) center
>around Wes. Wes was just too much the wonder kid and not enough the bright
>teenager in many places. Let's see--he's an Engineering expert (no
>problem--that's old news), a medical expert (he knew everything that game was
>doing to the simulation), and suddenly enough of an expert in cybernetics to
>fix Data (something which he couldn't do in "Datalore" for a much simpler
>problem). It was just too much for me.
Hmmm...I wonder how much Anat/Phys and Cybernetics Wes took at the
acadamy his first year. Considering his background, I wouldn't be
surprised if he diddn't take those as electives...;-)
(Of course, a throwaway line like "...One of my Neuropsych TAs said
something about..." would have helped in this regard.)
>It could have been worse--Wes did have feet of clay in a few places, to be
>sure (mostly in his tactics--going straight to Picard and telling him
>everything was a bad move, but a very welcome one). But given that the
>primary reason for the antipathy some fans (though not I...I happen to like
>Wes, thank you very much) have for Wesley is that "he's always the one who
>saves everything!", I think this was poor judgement. Having him be involved
>in solving it, yes. Having him use some experience from the Academy to help
>himself out of a situation, yes. Having him be almost singlehandedly
>responsible for saving the Federation--no. No thanks.
Yeah. "Wes saves the day" (again) really grated at me. However, seen
as an individual event, as opposed to an overworked trend, it wasn't
all that inplausible.
>On the other hand, I rather enjoyed the non-Wonder-Boy bits of Wes, which were
>numerous. All but one of the scenes between himself and Robin, in fact, were
>probably the best "casual" scenes of Wes that TNG has made [the one exception
>being their examination of Data, when Robin suddenly turns into Ensign Plot
>Exposition, unfortunately]. Wil Wheaton's come a long way since the dark days
>of the first season (and occasional throwbacks like "The Dauphin"--the
>difference between his scenes with Salia there and his scenes with Robin here
>is phenomenal), and I do welcome his return.
Yeah. I have been a "Wes neutral", but I really started to like him
with this episode.
>While I'm on the subject, kudos to Ashley Judd, the actress who played Robin
>Lefler. Her delivery was a little weird here and there (but then again, so is
>the character, deliberately so :-) ), but she and Wil played off each other
>extremely well. (It also helps that I thought she was *very* cute, but that's
>not a fair criterion. :-) ) I'd like to see a few more supporting characters
>here and there--with luck, we'll see more of Ms. Lefler.
Well, I'll wait for the females to chime in on this (;-), but from the
standpoint of my hormones, I agree...;-)
>Most of the other character bits were good as well. Wes's conversations with
>Data and Picard were both about what I'd expect to hear from him, and both
>well done. (I cheered up a lot as soon as Wes mentioned Boothby and "A.F."
>:-) ) The Riker/Troi scene in Ten-Forward began and ended well, although I
>have to ask who made the decision to suddenly turn Troi into Space Bimbo from
>Hell--I mean, that chocolate scene was *waaaaaay* too much to swallow, pun not
>intended. (The beginning was great, though--"Would you like me to leave you
>two alone?" :-) )
I do feel that they milked the scene (Aarrgghh!! Another pun! ;-) a
little long, but it was nice to see Troi not sensing something...;-)
>(And I want to hear more about Wes's practical jokes. An antimatter regulator
>that sprays chili sauce? *That* I want to see.)
Well, a sonic shower that produces mud is another interesting trick...
>A couple of other things that bugged me involved Geordi. Given the events of
>"The Mind's Eye", I think he should have had a slightly wary reaction to
>things from Risa (although since he presumably knew about Riker's trip before
>he left, I'll forgive this), and should have had a *much* stronger reaction to
>being brainwashed again. "I can't believe what we almost did," indeed--that's
>way too calm. If they redeem this by having him react very strongly to
>Romulans in "Unification", I'll forgive it--but if not, they've dropped the
>good Geordi threads from "The Mind's Eye". Sigh...
Therein lies the problem with individual episode writers as opposed to
series writing teams. It becomes very difficult to co-ordinate past and
future events.
>If I seem to be skimping on discussing the plot, it's deliberate--I don't have
>much to say about it. The plot itself was tired, as I've said, and not enough
>new stuff came out of it to really justify it. Some of the execution,
>however, was excellent. Both Bev's ambush of Data and Data's appearance on
>the bridge come to mind--both were a little bit telegraphed, but were
>presented well enough that I still seemed a little surprised--and Data's
>silhouette in the 'lift doorway was a striking image. To a lesser degree, the
>same applies to the "revelation" about Picard being hooked--it was telegraphed
>so far ahead that anyone who hadn't guessed it before he strapped on the game
>had to be brain-dead, but Picard's spinning chair somehow added a little flair
>to it for me. I'm not sure why. :-)
Hmmm...let's see...how many times have we seen Kirk spin the command
chair to face the viewscreen? (Pitty they can't to that anymore...;-)
And, of course, there's the scene in _Return of the Jedi_ where the
Emperor turns to face Luke...
>[Stuff deleted.]
>So, the numbers:
>
>Plot: 4. Old, but at least fairly well-knit.
I'd give it a 5. I've seen it before, but it's a decent plot. ;-)
>Plot Handling: 8. The surprises were only slightly telegraphed, and the
> whole thing was certainly presented well.
I think the presentation was quite good. Call it a 9 from here...
>Characterization: 6. Using Wes as the panacea hurt (and the Geordi problems
> didn't help either), but the bits NOT relating to the "jeopardy" angle
> were very nice.
And I *like* Robin. Solid 7.
>TOTAL: 6. Very watchable, but spectacular it's not.
Hmmm...for some reason I get a 7. (;-) Very watchable indeed.
>NEXT WEEK:
>Spock. Sarek. Vulcans. Romulans. Klingons. Shit. Fan. Mix ingredients,
>stir vigourously, and watch the ratings soar...yep, it's sweeps month, and
>"Unification"...
I'm dreading the "Overhype" pheomennon I've seen all to frequently in
the past several years. However, I certainly won't miss it...
>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
>"Chocolate is a serious thing."
> --D. Troi, "The Game"
>--
>Copyright 1991, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
--
Capt. Gym Z. Quirk (Known to some as Taki Kogoma) tko...@triton.unm.edu
Nervous observer of the "Grand Startrek reorg" of Oct '91
R.I.P Gene Roddenberry. I may not have agreed with everything you
said, but you will be missed...
Timothy W. Lynch
>In article <1991Oct31.0...@cco.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>WARNING: This article contains spoiler information regarding this week's TNG
>>episode, "The Game". Those not wishing to have the plot and related beasties
>>spoilt for them should probably move on.
>However, I was reminded of the old saw about "Tetris" being a soviet
>plot to reduce American productivity...;-)
You mean it's not? :-)
>>First, a few plot holes (though not many...certainly not nearly as many as in
>>"Disaster", although that's not exactly high praise :-) ). Firstly, how did
>>Data (and/or Wes) know that the bright flashes were going to work? How did
>>they even think to try them? Secondly, since the game was clearly visual in
>>nature (the addiction wasn't, but the initial "hook" was), how was Geordi
>>suborned?
>Hmmm...the "Strobe light reprogramming" could have been a "It's the
>best shot we've got" ploy.
That's certainly likely--but again, a small throwaway line could have solved
this with a minimum of time. (The whole ending needed more buildup--the first
time through, I couldn't even remember Wes having the time to go fix Data. I
had to go back a second time and find it.)
>>Most of my other particular plot complaints (specific details, that is)
>>center around Wes. Wes was just too much the wonder kid and not enough the
>>bright teenager in many places. Let's see--he's an Engineering expert (no
>>problem--that's old news), a medical expert (he knew everything that game was
>>doing to the simulation), and suddenly enough of an expert in cybernetics to
>>fix Data (something which he couldn't do in "Datalore" for a much simpler
>>problem). It was just too much for me.
>Hmmm...I wonder how much Anat/Phys and Cybernetics Wes took at the
>acadamy his first year. Considering his background, I wouldn't be
>surprised if he diddn't take those as electives...;-)
>(Of course, a throwaway line like "...One of my Neuropsych TAs said
>something about..." would have helped in this regard.)
It would have helped, but not necessarily much. This was too stereotyped a
plot.
>>(And I want to hear more about Wes's practical jokes. An antimatter regulator
>>that sprays chili sauce? *That* I want to see.)
>Well, a sonic shower that produces mud is another interesting trick...
Not nearly as much fun, though. :-)
>>TOTAL: 6. Very watchable, but spectacular it's not.
>Hmmm...for some reason I get a 7. (;-) Very watchable indeed.
I may end up giving it a 7 in the wrapup--I'll have to see how well it ages.
Tim Lynch