TNG Season Review: Lynch's Spoiler Review: TNG Season 6
Tim Lynch
Review by Tim Lynch <tly...@juliet.caltech.edu>
===============================================
WARNING: This article contains spoiler information for season 6 of "Star
Trek: the Next Generation". Those not acquainted with the season and not
interested in being spoiled should stay clear.
Well, it's summer again -- and that means another year of TNG to review.
(Sorry this is so late, but I was out of town for a bit and also had to, as
is my wont, rewatch the season before writing this.)
The format of last year's review seemed to work rather well, so I'll continue
it. Thus, you can expect two sections to this review. First, there will be
an episode-by-episode rundown, giving final ratings and some quick
commentary. Then, afterwards, there will be talk of the season in general,
including trends good and bad. (Part I is likely to be the longer of the
two, so be warned.) Ready? Hope so.
And so...
I. Season 6, Episode by Episode |
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"Time's Arrow, Part II"
Written by: Jeri Taylor (teleplay), Joe Menosky (story)
Directed by: Les Landau
Initial rating: 5.
Best quote: "I'll see you in five hundred years, Picard."
"And I'll see you -- in a few minutes."
I was hoping for a lot more out of this show than I got. While the
Picard/Guinan bits remain wonderful, and most of the "technical temporal"
issues were dealt with cleverly, there were a lot of details left unexplained
or simply ignored, and everything aside from the Picard/Guinan scenes felt
fairly flat. (In addition, the heavy bit of moralizing on _both_ sides of
the Twain/Troi "conflict" was far too blatant to be even remotely
interesting.) All in all, this falls a bit.
Final rating: 4.
"Realm of Fear"
Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 8.
Best quote: Barclay -- "I'm always nervous. Everybody knows that."
On the good side, this had a lot of humor flowing from the characters
(Barclay in particular), some crackling dialogue here and there (particularly
in the Barclay/Troi interactions), and a nice general air of creepiness in
much of the episode. A lot of mundane transporter chitchat, however, coupled
with an extreme case of technobabblitis, made a lot of this far less
interesting than it might've been. A big upturn from the premiere, but still
not nearly up to the usual levels.
Final rating: 6.
"Man of the People"
Written by: Frank Abatemarco
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Initial rating: 3.
Best quote: None.
You wouldn't think an episode would fall lower than an initial rating of 3,
but this managed it. Unpleasant on a first viewing, this turned almost
unwatchable on a second. About the only thing it has going for it at all is
a vaguely reasonable ending and a nice scene where Alkar defends his actions.
However, putting that against rotten dialogue, stiff acting from virtually
everyone, a squishy "don't be negative" plot and some serious character
mistakes (such as Worf being quite as incompetent as he was shown to be
here) is a seriously unfair contest. If "Relics" weren't the other half of
this tape, the sucker would get a magnet to it.
Final rating: 2.
"Relics"
Written by: Ronald D. Moore
Directed by: Alexander Singer
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: Too many to pick just one, so here are four.
"Synthetic Scotch, synthetic Commanders..."
"Here's to ye, lads..." [said on the bridge of the original
Enterprise]
"Just because something's old doesn't mean you throw it
away."
"I've spent my whole life trying to figure out crazy ways of
doing things."
And then, just as the season seemed to be stumbling without fail, there came
salvation from, of all things, the past. Starting from a wonderful SF
premise (the Dyson sphere and Scotty's transporter desperation), Ron Moore
went on to create a wonderful "fish-out-of-water" story about everyone's
favorite Scotsman. The scene on NCC-1701 is absolutely breathtaking, and
brought a lump to my throat even on a rewatching. With only one very mild
glitch (the shield problem on the Jenolan, discussed to death damn near
everywhere), this show's pretty close to perfect.
Final rating: 10.
"Schisms"
Written by: Brannon Braga (teleplay), Jean Louise Matthias & Ron Wilkerson
(story)
Directed by: Robert Wiemer
Initial rating: 5.
Best quote: The entire Ode to Spot.
"Schisms", like "Realm of Fear", was a show with lots of promise to be
deliciously creepy, only to be bludgeoned back by a technobabble-laden plot.
Although the creepiness shone through in a few cases (particularly in the
aliens' domain itself and in the holodeck recreation sequence), in many cases
it was trying to mask some sloppy logic on the details and lent itself to an
atmosphere just _slightly_ too reminiscent of the Weekly World News for my
tastes. Despite all of that, though, it was a generally good piece.
Final rating: 6.5.
"True Q"
Written by: Rene Echevarria
Directed by: Robert Scheerer
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: Q, when asked what would have happened if Amanda hadn't been
able to stop a warp-core explosion:
"Then I would have known she wasn't a Q!"
"True Q" brought Q back to his scheming, vicious roots, and it was long
overdue. While the show doesn't age nearly as well as some of its
predecessors (thanks mostly to some performances that just felt slightly
"off" from the regulars and some heavy moralizing on the planet-based
scenes), it was a very engaging story with a marvelous heroine, Amanda
Rogers. Q's training of Amanda and Bev getting to play mother-figure in
Wes's absence were also more than welcome.
Final rating: 8.
"Rascals"
Written by: Alison Hock (teleplay),
Ward Botsford & Diana Dru Botsford and Michael Piller (story)
Directed by: Adam Nimoy
Initial rating: 5.
Best quote: "Where did you get the idea that being short and awkward is
some kind of wonderful gift?" -- Ensign Ro
The best thing, by far, that can be said about "Rascals" is that the child
actors found for the roles managed to turn in surprisingly good performances
all around. Unfortunately, that's not even _close_ to enough to redeem this
show, given an exceedingly dumb premise, turning the adult crew into idiots
several times over during the Ferengi attack, and some major doses of both
technobabble and crap science to support the initial premise. Watching the
kids enjoy the roles they were given helped, to be sure -- but not enough to
keep me from wondering just what people were thinking when they filmed this.
Final rating: 4.5.
"A Fistful of Datas"
Written by: Robert Hewitt Wolfe (story), Wolfe and Brannon Braga (teleplay)
Directed by: Patrick Stewart
Initial rating: 6.
Best quote: "I must have a little talk with Mr. Barclay." -- Worf, after
seeing a holo-prostitute in Alexander's program
Here, we have an example of a show that took what I'd have to call a pretty
worthless idea and ran with it pretty well. Although a lot of the incidental
elements were ones I didn't care for in the slightest (Data-as-Eli, for
instance, along with Data-as-Annie, Annie-as-Annie, some blatant production
errors, and having to sit through that blasted saloon scene *twice*), several
of the others were very well done (such as Data-as-Frank and the Enterprise
riding off into the sunset). Add to that some cute bits with Spot, nice
dialogue, and the first real signs of followup to "The Inner Light" in
Picard, and you have a surprisingly decent show.
Final rating: 7.
"The Quality of Life"
Written by: Naren Shankar
Directed by: Jonathan Frakes
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: "Doctor, there is a big difference between you and a _virus_,
but both are alive."
Initially, I jumped on this episode as the savior of a very silly third of a
season. In retrospect, it wasn't quite _that_ good, but it was still the
only thing apart from "Relics" in this segment that I really felt was worth
seeing more than once. Its biggest problems were some somewhat simplistic
arguments on both sides of the dilemma and (surprise, surprise) a great
excess of technobabble. However, Data had some wonderful scenes and
benefited by being put on the side of judge, and the show in general was a
nice working of a good premise. Not exactly the best the season had to offer
(in fact, a great many of the shows _after_ this one were better than it),
but fairly good nonetheless.
Final rating: 8.
"Chain of Command, Part I"
Written by: Frank Abatemarco (story), Ronald D. Moore (teleplay)
Directed by: Robert Scheerer
Initial rating: 9.5.
Best quote: "-- and get that fish out of the ready room."
There is only one thing getting in the way of this being an absolutely
wonderful show, and that's the kludge used to get Picard and company onto
that away mission in the first place. While it doesn't, in my opinion, hurt
the wonderful show we get in part 2, it does scream "setup!" and
"artificial!" loudly enough to hurt my tender sensibilities. :-) However,
apart from that it's fantastic -- great acting on all counts, good pacing,
good tension, good characterization, and a final scene that made the arms of
the chair I was sitting in suffer.
Final rating: 7.5.
"Chain of Command, Part II"
Written by: Frank Abatemarco
Directed by: Les Landau
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: Too many to pick just one for general greatness. The most apt
one I found was,
"When children learn to devalue others, they can devalue anyone --
including their parents."
As in part 1, there's only one complaint, and this time it's one aimed more
at the rest of the season than the show itself. The ending suggests a
long-term effect that we'll probably never see realized. Certainly we
haven't since this show so far.
However, as I said that's more a criticism of the series than of the episode.
Virtually everything I listed as a good point in part 1 was at least as good
here, and we had the addition of the Picard/Madred scenes to truly bring
people in, viscerally. A chilling, dehumanizing show which managed to
provoke a ton of different emotions while I was watching it. Nice, nice job.
Final rating: 9.5.
"Ship in a Bottle"
Written by: Rene Echevarria
Directed by: Alexander Singer
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: Another case of indecision. :-) One of the below:
"A deadline has a wonderful way of concentrating the mind."
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Policemen -- I'd recognize them in any century.", and
"Computer, end program."
"Ship in a Bottle" is definitely in the running for one of the best shows of
the season. At its worst, it tends to run a little slow. At its best, which
is most of the episode, it has a marvelous sense of atmosphere, a goodly
supply of plans-within-plans scheming on *both* sides, an absolutely stunning
performance from Daniel Davis as Moriarty, and one of the most delightfully
offputting endings in years. Bravo to all concerned.
Final rating: 10.
"Aquiel"
Written by: Jeri Taylor (story), Brannon Braga & Ronald D. Moore (teleplay)
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 2.
Best quote: "There are DNA traces here -- Klingon!" -- Worf, in a very
un-surprising revelation. :-)
The best way to describe "Aquiel" is that it's an endurance test for TNG
watchers, to see who's _really_ hooked. (I plead guilty as charged, but this
even gave me second thoughts. :-) ) "Aquiel"'s biggest problem isn't that
it's offensively _bad_ -- it's that it's incredibly BORING. The plot
surrounding the "cellular residue" was drowning in technobabble so deep that
I'm not sure exactly what we were supposed to get out of it, and the
Aquiel-centered stuff wasn't much better, thanks to very flat acting, a poor
mystery, some serious confusion about Klingon/Federation relations, and a
solution that is about as out-of-the-blue as TNG gets. And then, of course,
there's the inevitable rule: "Instant annoyance -- just add yapping puppy."
Bleah.
Final rating: 2.
"Face of the Enemy"
Written by: Rene Echevarria (story), Naren Shankar (teleplay)
Directed by: Gabrielle Beaumont
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: Another tie. Here are two:
Ensign DeSeve: "As I have grown older, I realize that clarity of
purpose is a more ... ambiguous matter than I had thought in
my youth."
or Commander Toreth: "People blame the military for the wars that
we are asked to fight -- but I think it is your kind, Major,
that will be the death of us all."
If "Ship in a Bottle" isn't the best of the season, "Face of the Enemy" just
might be. It definitely ranks as the single best Troi-centered story _ever_,
in my opinion. Possibly more importantly than that, however, this represents
one of the best insights into Romulan culture we've ever seen on film --
between Commander Toreth and Ensign DeSeve, I feel as if I understand
Romulans a lot more than I did before. (As long as this is used and the
Romulans aren't simply turned back into stock villains, I'm all for it.) Add
to that a lot of nice suspense and some surprisingly vibrant musical
passages, and you've got a terrific show.
Final rating: 10.
"Tapestry"
Written by: Ronald D. Moore
Directed by: Les Landau
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: Again, too many. Here's another sampling:
"You're dead, this is the afterlife -- and I'm God."
"Now, look at you -- dead _before_ your time." -- Maurice Picard
"Nothing you do will cause the Federation to collapse or galaxies
to explode. To be blunt, you're _not that important_."
"I would rather die as the man I was, than live the life I just saw."
"Tapestry" was yet another Really Good Show in this part of the season. (In
fact, we had a four week period containing "Ship in a Bottle", "Face of the
Enemy", and this, which probably qualifies it as one of the best months for
Trek in history.) "Tapestry" continued the rehabilitation of Q as a
character, putting Q in his second-best role yet (the first still being "Q
Who", in my opinion), and gave Picard a rather visceral morality play.
There's not much that stands out in this show -- it was sort of all-around
terrific. Definitely a keeper.
Final rating: 10.
"Birthright, Part I"
Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Initial rating: 9.
Best quote: "No man should know where his dreams come from! It spoils the
mystery -- the fun!" -- Dr. Noonian Soong
This was also a winner, though not quite as strongly as many of the efforts
of the preceding weeks. The "Data's dream" subplot ranks as one of the most
innovative, and IMO one of the most _beautiful_ sequences of the season, and
it ticks me off to no end to see the lack of followup given to it so far.
(Hey, now that "The Inner Light" has been given some later consideration, I
need to have at least one sticking point, and this is a prime candidate.)
The only significant negative here was Worf's lack of foresight in planning
ahead when he decided to leave for the prison camp -- however, unlike "Chain
of Command"'s goofs, this one wasn't nearly so bad. Other than that, we had
a remarkably interesting show about fatherhood and searches, and a promising
beginning to a new phase in Data.
Final rating: 9.
"Birthright, Part II"
Written by: Rene Echevarria
Directed by: Dan Curry
Initial rating: 4.
Best quote: "No one survived Khitomer."
And then ... it all fell apart.
This squandered pretty much all of the wonderful capital it had been given by
part I, and left us instead with an extremely routine Klingon/Romulan culture
clash instead. Although there were a couple of intriguing _ideas_ floating
around in this episode here and there, none of it was developed to its
potential (or even close), and much of it (such as L'Kor as father-figure to
Worf, and Data's dream) was simply dropped outright. We also had what I
would have to term a fairly rotten performance from Jennifer Gatti as Ba'el
and a romance that is among TNG's less believable ones. Although Tokath was
an interesting character in spots and the feast-as-rebellion scene was truly
memorable, all in all we had a pretty disappointing effort here. The only
reason the rating here doesn't fall is that B2 unexpectedly provided some
good grist for "Rightful Heir" later in the year.
Final rating: 4.
"Starship Mine"
Written by: Morgan Gendel
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 7.
Best quote: "I have to admit it has a certain strange fascination -- how
long can two people talk about nothing?" -- Riker, on small talk
"Starship Mine" was pure fluff, but after the self-importance of "Birthright
II" it was a pretty substantial relief. And it filled the most important job
of fluff -- it was *fun*. Yes, the logic behind the entire station-based
subplot was, well, _lacking_ -- and yes, the terrorists on the ship were
fairly dumb in not searching and later not killing Picard. If you can put
those thoughts out of your mind, though, you're left with a nice action show
featuring a rarely seen side of Picard and a lot of suspense. And besides,
the "small talk" bits with Data and Hutchinson are a killer. :-)
Final rating: 7.5.
"Lessons"
Written by: Ronald Wilkerson & Jean Louise Matthias
Directed by: Robert Wiemer
Initial rating: 9.
Best quote: "Have you been playing [the flute] long?" "Um... yes, a long
time."
"Lessons" was the sort of show many people would call "just" a love story.
There wasn't much else to it, 'tis true, but personally, that doesn't matter
a bit to me _if the romance is believable_. This one was. Although it
rankles that the powers that be didn't allow Nella to remain on board, it
represents a fairly big step that she wasn't killed off outright. "Lessons"
also represented the first significant indication of change on Picard's part
due to "The Inner Light" -- and as long as it isn't the last, I applaud it
wholeheartedly. (I know, I know -- I'm never satisfied.) Finally, if
"Lessons" doesn't start silencing the complaints about TNG music, nothing
will, because here the music was virtually its own character, and a damned
good one to boot. That flute solo in the Jeffries tube still brings a lump
to my throat.
Final rating: 9.
"The Chase"
Written by: Joe Menosky & Ronald D. Moore (story), Joe Menosky (teleplay)
Directed by: Jonathan Frakes
Initial rating: 7.
Best quote: "Dream not of today, Mr. Picard."
Urgh.
Without getting into any of the ancillary points that caused a lot of fuss
when I first reviewed this, let me say this about "The Chase":
The Galen/Picard interaction and Picard's subsequent obsession are both
excellent, and much of the character interplay was good. (Not all of it,
though -- Bev seemed a bit flatter than usual, for one thing.)
However, "The Chase"'s entire premise (that humans are some special
engineering product of an ultra-advanced race) is both ill-thought-out and
arrogant as all hell, and I cannot in good conscience support an episode that
contains thinking I am so passionately devoted to countering in teaching my
students the value of critical scientific thinking. (More on this later.)
Final rating: 6.
"Frame of Mind"
Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: James L. Conway
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: "Don't let them tell you you're crazy."
Here, on the other hand, is yet another candidate for best of the season.
"Frame of Mind" was a paranoid, imagery-ridden, deeply disturbed show able to
give most viewers the willies -- and _damn_, it was fun. :-) Jonathan
Frakes gives the first of two "performances of his life" in this show as
well. There's really nothing I can say against this one.
Final rating: 10.
"Suspicions"
Written by: Joe Menosky & Naren Shankar
Directed by: Cliff Bole
Initial rating: 3.
Best quote: "Is that an order, Doctor?" "Yes." "Too bad you're not my boss
any more..."
Ouch. In "Suspicions"'s favor, it was trying awfully hard to do something
new, and to give Dr. Crusher some badly-needed star time. Unfortunately, it
all got tangled up in some truly rotten acting (especially from Tricia O'Neil
as Kurak and whoever played the Vulcan scientist), some major lapses of logic
(such as the "autopsy" conflict -- it's not invasive enough on one side and
too invasive on another), and a heavy excess of narration. There were nice
bits nibbling around the edges of this episode, such as Reyga's character and
a couple of scenes between Crusher and Ogawa, but not nearly enough to bring
this one up out of the doldrums. (Fortunately, it was the _last_ loser of
the season.)
Final rating: 3.
"Rightful Heir"
Written by: James E. Brooks (story), Ronald D. Moore (teleplay)
Directed by: Winrich Kolbe
Initial rating: 9.5.
Best quote: Again, a tie for several --
"I _want_ to believe." "That is a beginning."
"Have you ever fought an idea, Picard? It has no weapon to destroy,
no body to kill!" -- Gowron
"If his words hold wisdom and his philosophy is honorable, what does
it matter if he returns? What is important is that we
follow his teachings. Perhaps the words are more important
than the man." -- Kahless
"Rightful Heir" was a show that only got better after I watched it again --
and I liked it a lot to start with. Not only did it give us a marvelous
story about faith of all kinds and its various ups and downs, but it managed
to use the monstrosity that was "Birthright II" as a constructive jumping-off
point, which I didn't think anyone could manage.
The show also had lots of wonderful moments. The "we are Klingons!"
exhortation scene made me think that Kahless might really _be_ legit, Michael
Dorn got to give Worf more range than he's had in a good long while (possibly
as far back as the introduction of Alexander on board, really), Picard got to
give Worf a much-deserved chewing-out, and Worf playing kingmaker makes me
think he might have more of a future in the Empire than I'd originally
thought. All in all, most impressive.
Final rating: 10.
"Second Chances"
Written by: Michael A. Medlock (story), Rene Echevarria (teleplay)
Directed by: LeVar Burton
Initial rating: 9.
Best quote: "I've seen that face in the mirror too many times."
This was almost unexpectedly good -- given the number of "double" stories
Trek has had in its time, the prospect of another one wasn't especially
appealing. However, the worst that can really be said about "Second Chances"
is that it runs a bit slow in places, especially in those blessedly rare
instances when discussion about the distortion field and "retrieving the
database" comes to the forefront. Other than that, we had a wonderful new
accounting of the Riker/Troi history, some good points about uniqueness, a
nice and quiet character drama without technobabble dragging it down, and
another surprising ending, in that Thomas Riker was _not_ killed off.
Another keeper.
Final rating: 8.5.
"Timescape"
Written by: Brannon Braga
Directed by: Adam Nimoy
Initial rating: 10.
Best quote: "The next thing I know, there's a hissing ball of fur coming at
my face..."
"Timescape", not surprisingly, was another reality-bending time-travel story
in the vein of "Cause and Effect", and it worked very nearly as well. It
started from a very neat premise and a great creepy atmosphere, and went on
to give us a very engaging story full of misdirection (_effective_
misdirection, which is somewhat rarer), good use of a silly bit of
technobabble from "Face of the Enemy" [the "artificial quantum singularity"
power source], a sensible solution and a particularly strong showing for the
second week in a row from Deanna Troi, both in writing and in Marina Sirtis's
acting. Where "Timescape" falls down a bit, though, is when it drowns a bit
in its own technobabble. That, combined with a few small logic questions
here and there, keep it from a top rating -- but it's still quite good.
Final rating: 9.
"Descent"
Written by: Jeri Taylor (story), Ronald D. Moore (teleplay)
Directed by: Alexander Singer
Initial rating: 9.5.
Best quote: "You should listen to her, Captain -- she's way ahead of you."
-- Lore
And then, the season came to a close with a bang. "Descent" started with a
very light-hearted poker scene featuring Stephen Hawking -- and that's about
the last time this show was lighthearted at all. "Descent" oozed tension
pretty much throughout the show, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one feeling
very uncomfortable when Data was being put through the wringer
philosophically by Crosis. Both Picard and Data are being put through major
crises of conscience in "Descent", and it remains to be seen what will come
of it.
However, I can't give this a rating -- not yet. There are too many things
that depend on the second half for me really to know confidently how this
will turn out. The change in the Borg and Picard's moral dilemma are two of
the longer-term issues I'm wondering about, but many of the logical problems
in getting to the cliffhanger ending are also ones that can be explained away
with a little work in Part II. As such, I don't want to deduct for them yet
-- but I also don't want to ignore them.
Final rating: Not available.
If I were to strictly average that out, we'd get a 7.2. That's a bit up from
last year, but as with last year doesn't really say much. A whole series is
not really the sum of its parts. So, it's time for...
II. General Commentary |
------------------------+
On the whole, I have a much better feeling about this season just past than I
did about season 5. While I'm not sure season 6 had anything that equalled
the sheer emotional power of "The Inner Light" in a single episode, it had
several richly textured shows in its place, and managed to feel like there
was an uninterrupted run of quality for a while.
While that run wasn't quite uninterrupted, it wasn't at all bad once we hit
"Chain of Command", which was quite early in the season. From "Chain of
Command" onwards, there were only four shows out of 17 that were anything
lower than a 7.5 so far as I'm concerned, and they were spaced out nicely.
(For the record, those four were "Aquiel", "Birthright, Part II", "The
Chase", and "Suspicions".) In fact, the six-episode period from "Chain of
Command II" to "Birthright I" had five shows placing 9 or higher, with only
"Aquiel" causing any problems at all.
That's the sort of sustained run I don't recall seeing since season 3 -- most
of the time it's been much more on-again, off-again. It's a heartening sign
that TNG is correcting more mistakes than it's making.
For instance, there were two trends I noted last year as possible problems,
both of which seem to have been nipped in the bud. I said that the Romulans
had ceased to be interesting villains and had instead turned into faceless
enemies again. Lo and behold, we got "Face of the Enemy", probably the best
Romulan-based show I've seen. I also worried publicly that Worf had become a
laughingstock and nothing at all akin to his former self. Well, "Birthright
II" didn't exactly help that image, but part I of it, and then _especially_
"Rightful Heir" have reinstated him in my eyes. (This is combined with the
near-total absence of Alexander, who didn't show up after "A Fistful of
Datas". Personally, I have to hope it stays that way.)
These are definitely good things. Another is that TNG seems to be getting
looser in its approach to storytelling. "Frame of Mind", for instance, was
almost totally unlike anything TNG had ever done, and the dreaming sequence
in "Birthright, Part I" was definitely far beyond the norm as well. Even
something like "Suspicions", which in my view was a pretty abysmal failure as
an episode, was at least _trying_ to do something new. It failed, but at
least it tried -- and I can live with the occasional failure.
Then, however, we have the new and different worrisome trends, and I'd like
to make a mention of them, since there's only one season left to avoid them
again.
First, there's "technobabble -- threat or menace?"
You've probably noticed that many times in my episode-by-episode rundown, I
said that such and such might have been a good story, "but drowned in
technobabble." That's true far, FAR too often.
Years ago, when I heard the hype about TNG taking pains to be more
scientifically accurate than its predecessors, I took it more or less
seriously. Yes, there were gaffes such as "subatomic bacteria" or the
infamous "-291 degrees Kelvin" then, but they were fairly rare, and also
tended to take up a very small portion of the show.
Now, though, we're getting entire _episodes_ built around the intricacies of
the transporter ("Realm of Fear", though it probably wasn't meant to look
that way) and the structure of subspace ("Schisms"). This is adding
fictitious mumbo-jumbo on top of an _already_ fictitious structure. Maybe
it's meant to suspend disbelief -- with me, the effect is the opposite,
creating an attitude of "if they're tossing phrases this goofy at us, we're
obviously _not_ meant to suspend disbelief." Somehow, I don't think that's
what was intended.
And then, to make matters worse, we get something like "The Chase". At the
bottom line, "The Chase" was butchering everything currently understood about
evolution, genetics, and basic statistics -- and why? Not for the sake of a
good story, it appears, but to "explain" the 20th century necessity of
humanoid aliens. Anyone who _needed_ a 24th-century reason for such a thing
is taking the show too seriously. (In addition, by using the fallacy of "it
couldn't have occurred randomly, therefore it was _consciously designed_", it
has made itself look very silly, along with other "theories" using that
fallacy.)
I realize that TNG takes pride in its scientific "accuracy". I don't fault
it for not getting things right all the time -- sometimes there simply isn't
time, and sometimes the truth is pretty boring. However, I think one of two
things needs to happen. Either:
1) Naren Shankar needs to get together with a biologist and at least make
that side of things _sound_ more vaguely plausible than it does. I won't say
there aren't physics goofs, but they're far fewer and also less likely to be
picked up by laymen. If *I'm* jumping on biology goofs, they're pretty
blatant.
or
2) The technobabble level of the shows needs to be _drastically_ reduced, by
which I mean at least a factor of four. (Note that this is my preference.)
Take "Second Chances", for instance. That's a good case of technobabble
being used well and at an appropriate level -- there were a few quick lines
about how Thomas Riker came about, they sounded realistic enough that no one
cries foul -- and then they're _done_, and we can get on with the rest of the
story. That's the sort of approach I'd like to see.
That leaves the other major issue I have, namely that of "glitches" in the
story that make what comes after seem contrived.
In far too many cases this year, we've seen wonderful executions of wonderful
stories, marred only by one thing -- no one could possibly believe the crew
would be daft enough to get _into_ the situation they're so nobly extracting
themselves from. Some examples of this:
-- "Chain of Command". Yes, part II was among the more riveting things the
season had to offer -- but who honestly believes there was a good
reason advanced for the team that was sent to Celtris Three? Not I.
-- "Birthright". Worf at least thought enough ahead to let the Enterprise
know he was leaving, but given that he knew he was going someplace
dangerous, he could've thought a bit more about how to get _out_ of
the situation. Given all the problems part II had anyway, this
was a comparatively minor point.
-- "Suspicions". It should NOT be that easy for a non-command officer to
steal a shuttle, and the bridge crew should not react that slowly
to an obvious security breach. This particular setup has happened
a great deal, and it's beginning to wear entirely too thin.
-- "Descent". Here, actually, I didn't have much of a problem with Data
stealing the shuttle. I _did_ have a problem with many of Picard's
actions on the planet. Many of the obvious things were taken care
of, such as using shuttles for recon, but that doesn't explain the
lack of attention paid to the building, the top-heavy composition
of the "critical" field team, or their nonchalance about wandering
into a probable Borg headquarters. Most of these are ones that can
still be fixed in part 2, and may well be -- but for now it doesn't
look good.
Basically, what I'm getting at here is that the staff may be getting so
ambitious about the broad strokes of what they want to tell ("Descent" and
"Chain of Command", for instance, are both marvelous pieces of work aside
from what I've mentioned above) that they're losing sight of the details
necessary to make it believable -- sometimes patching over holes with
technobabble, which only makes matters worse. This is the sort of problem
very common to Trek, given how much we as fans overanalyze it -- but a lot of
the problems above are pretty basic, not esoteric. I think it deserves some
attention.
I think, at long last, that that wraps it up. As I said earlier, on the
whole I think this has been a very nice season -- a definite upturn from the
roller-coaster ride in quality that was season 5. As TNG heads into its
final season, I hope it manages to go out with its head held high.
Until September, then, fare thee well.
Tim Lynch (Harvard-Westlake School, Science Dept.)
BITNET: tlynch@citjulie
INTERNET: tly...@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP: ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.ca...@hamlet.caltech.edu
"No man should know where his dreams come from!"
--
Copyright 1993, Timothy W. Lynch. All rights reserved, but feel free to ask...
Matthew Gertz
(The initial post was understandably long; my replies may make it a bit
longer, so be forewarned.)
tly...@Juliet.Caltech.Edu (Tim Lynch) writes:
>Lynch's Spoiler Review: TNG Seaons Six
>Review by Tim Lynch <tly...@juliet.caltech.edu>
>===============================================
>
>WARNING: This article contains spoiler information for season 6 of "Star
>Trek: the Next Generation". Those not acquainted with the season and not
>interested in being spoiled should stay clear.
>I. Season 6, Episode by Episode |
>----------------------------------+
>
>"Time's Arrow, Part II"
>I was hoping for a lot more out of this show than I got. While the
>Picard/Guinan bits remain wonderful, and most of the "technical temporal"
>issues were dealt with cleverly, there were a lot of details left unexplained
>or simply ignored, and everything aside from the Picard/Guinan scenes felt
>fairly flat. (In addition, the heavy bit of moralizing on _both_ sides of
>the Twain/Troi "conflict" was far too blatant to be even remotely
>interesting.) All in all, this falls a bit.
>
>Final rating: 4.
The lead-up to this story (the season 5 cliffhanger) was wonderfully
creepy. I mean, Data's disconnected head found in a cave? Out-of-phase
aliens sucking energy out of 19th century humans? Weird. Of course, it
couldn't last... the writers haven't got a cliffhanger resolution correct yet.
What's happening? Let's take a look:
"Best of Both Worlds:" The season ends on Riker's command of "Fire!"
Yet we know that, no matter what happens in the opening minutes of
part two, there is still 44 minutes of show left to air. There is *no way*
that the level of excitement generated at the end of the first part can
last that long. This is what happens when part 2 isn't even written until
two months after part 1 is filmed...
"Redemption:" The writers manage to end on a more sedate note which,
although less exciting than BOBW I's ending, doesn't put them in the
position of sustaining adrenalin for 44 minutes. The problem here is that
we really don't care! Worf has his honor back; that's nice, but we
all managed to figure out over the summer break how Sela came to exist --
the resulting revelation to Picard was anticlimactic (in fact, Sela was
no suprise at all, since (a) we all knew Denise Crosby was returning and
(b) we see her in the shadows in "The Mind's Eye," and know she's involved
with the Romulans.) The rest of the cliffhanger is simply a shoot-'em-up,
with the only interesting parts taking place on Data's ship.
"Time's Arrow:" And now we come to it! The writers end part 1 on a note
of mystery, but not one of high tension, thereby permitting part 2 to
at least have a chance to succeed. There are two problems, though.
The first is Data's head. Again, just as in the case of Sela, we had
all figured out the head's origins and what was to be done with it over
the summer.
The second problem is perhaps worse. The tone of part 1 is vastly different
than that of part 2. The creepiness and mystery is replaced by "humorous"
(and I use the term lightly) scenes, revelations which aren't revelations,
and unfathomable B.E.M.'s.
"Descent:" Who knows? They could pull it out. I'm not counting on it,
though, and if Data goes back completely to normal at the end of it,
then I will definitely give it a lesser rating.
>"Realm of Fear"
>
>On the good side, this had a lot of humor flowing from the characters
>(Barclay in particular), some crackling dialogue here and there (particularly
>in the Barclay/Troi interactions), and a nice general air of creepiness in
>much of the episode. A lot of mundane transporter chitchat, however, coupled
>with an extreme case of technobabblitis, made a lot of this far less
>interesting than it might've been. A big upturn from the premiere, but still
>not nearly up to the usual levels.
I agree pretty much with what you say here, Tim; I'll just add that it was
about time we saw the transporter effect from the transportee's point of
view, something we were promised in the season 1 "Writer's Guide" but that
never came to fruition.
>"Man of the People"
>You wouldn't think an episode would fall lower than an initial rating of 3,
>but this managed it. Unpleasant on a first viewing, this turned almost
>unwatchable on a second.
It was the only episode that made me seriously consider turning the channel.
Good gods, what garbage. At this point in the season, I really despaired
for TNG. It hadn't reached these depths since the opening of season 2.
> About the only thing it has going for it at all is
>a vaguely reasonable ending
A predictable ending -- but you haven't perused "The Picture of Dorian Gray,"
right? This plot is used in other series a number of times (including
"Blake's Seven," and even "Fantasy Island," fergossake), and, in use, is
second only to the short story which inspired TOS's "Arena" (among others).
>Final rating: 2.
My initial rating was "0;" it stays "0."
>"Relics"
(Tim's text deleted; I agree completely with it.)
>Final rating: 10.
>"Schisms"
>
>"Schisms", like "Realm of Fear", was a show with lots of promise to be
>deliciously creepy, only to be bludgeoned back by a technobabble-laden plot.
>Although the creepiness shone through in a few cases (particularly in the
>aliens' domain itself and in the holodeck recreation sequence), in many cases
>it was trying to mask some sloppy logic on the details and lent itself to an
>atmosphere just _slightly_ too reminiscent of the Weekly World News for my
>tastes. Despite all of that, though, it was a generally good piece.
>
>Final rating: 6.5.
I'd go with an 8, as I did when it aired. After "Man of the People,"
I was grabbing at anything even remotely good. (I've often wondered
if my avoidance of the previews is what makes episodes seem better
to me, since I don't know what's coming. The creepy parts, such as
Riker's arm having been cut off, really made me shiver. Brrr!
>"True Q"
>"True Q" brought Q back to his scheming, vicious roots, and it was long
>overdue. While the show doesn't age nearly as well as some of its
>predecessors (thanks mostly to some performances that just felt slightly
>"off" from the regulars and some heavy moralizing on the planet-based
>scenes), it was a very engaging story with a marvelous heroine, Amanda
>Rogers. Q's training of Amanda and Bev getting to play mother-figure in
>Wes's absence were also more than welcome.
>
>Final rating: 8.
Let's not forget the shadowy presence which questioned Q in the corridor.
One hopes that this will be followed up. (On the other hand, I don't like
the idea of Q having superiors, just rivals. I've always viewed the
Q-continuum as being sort of a democratic anarchy :-)
>"Rascals"
If I wanted to watch "Lost In Space," I'd've said so...
>"A Fistful of Datas"
>
(I agree with Tim; no discussion.)
>
>Final rating: 7.
>"The Quality of Life"
>
>Initially, I jumped on this episode as the savior of a very silly third of a
>season. In retrospect, it wasn't quite _that_ good, but it was still the
>only thing apart from "Relics" in this segment that I really felt was worth
>seeing more than once. Its biggest problems were some somewhat simplistic
>arguments on both sides of the dilemma and (surprise, surprise) a great
>excess of technobabble. However, Data had some wonderful scenes and
>benefited by being put on the side of judge, and the show in general was a
>nice working of a good premise. Not exactly the best the season had to offer
>(in fact, a great many of the shows _after_ this one were better than it),
>but fairly good nonetheless.
>
>Final rating: 8.
I liked the episode, but I felt it had been done before ("The Measure of A
Man," which was referred to in this episode. This episode was "preachin'
to the choir," as far as I'm concerned -- not to say it was a *bad* episode,
but only that this episode had nothing that I needed, or told me nothing
that I didn't know already.
>"Chain of Command, Part I"
>
>There is only one thing getting in the way of this being an absolutely
>wonderful show, and that's the kludge used to get Picard and company onto
>that away mission in the first place. While it doesn't, in my opinion, hurt
>the wonderful show we get in part 2, it does scream "setup!" and
>"artificial!" loudly enough to hurt my tender sensibilities. :-) However,
>apart from that it's fantastic -- great acting on all counts, good pacing,
>good tension, good characterization, and a final scene that made the arms of
>the chair I was sitting in suffer.
>
>Final rating: 7.5.
And didn't you just want to leap up and throw something at Capt. Jellico?
On the other hand, his portayal of a C.O. was closer than any other I've
seen (sorry, Picard fans -- I like the guy, and he's closer than Kirk to
the real thing, but Jellico is closer by far. Take it from someone with
experience in the area :-)
>"Chain of Command, Part II"
(I have nothing to add to Tim's comments.)
>"Ship in a Bottle"
>"Ship in a Bottle" is definitely in the running for one of the best shows of
>the season.
Really? I liked the episode, but I wasn't *that* enthusiastic about it.
> At its worst, it tends to run a little slow. At its best, which
>is most of the episode, it has a marvelous sense of atmosphere, a goodly
>supply of plans-within-plans scheming on *both* sides, an absolutely stunning
>performance from Daniel Davis as Moriarty, and one of the most delightfully
>offputting endings in years. Bravo to all concerned.
Having done work in AI before, my suspension of disbelief was really stretched
to the breaking point on this one (as it was on the other Moriarty episode).
Moriarty can only be as smart (I'm not talking "knowledge" here; I'm talking
*smart*) as the Enterprise's computers. In fact, in one sense, Moriarty
*is* the Enterprise, and since when can the ship perform command functions
without someone of command rank to order it to do so? As plot devices
go, malfunctioning computers (which essentially describes Moriarty) are
right up there with stolen shuttlecraft as Things I'd Rather Not See Again.
>Final rating: 10.
I'd go 8, I guess. I *did* like the episode, despite the computer cliches.
>"Aquiel"
I agree; pretty bad, pretty predictable.
>Final rating: 2.
>"Face of the Enemy"
I agree; simply the best Troi story to date. Not the best of the season,
though; that's yet to come...
>Final rating: 10.
>"Tapestry"
Again, nothing to add. This episode was great, even if the "It's a Wonderful
Life" angle has been overused on TV.
>Final rating: 10.
>"Birthright, Part I"
>Final rating: 9.
>
>"Birthright, Part II"
>And then ... it all fell apart.
>
Agreed. They should've made the Data sub-plot the focus, not the Worf
sub-plot. I suppose that there wasn't enough action in the Data sub-plot,
though. Klingon "honor" is getting pretty cliche, and Klingons themselves
are rather two-dimensional and getting more so (particularly Worf, who
learns lessons but promptly forgets them by the time the next episode
rolls around).
>"Starship Mine"
>
Agreed -- fun fluff. "Mr. Mott?" :-)
>
>Final rating: 7.5.
>"Lessons"
Nothing to add to your comments, Tim, except (as I told you at the time)
that I *knew* you'd like this one, with its "Inner Light" references... :-)
>
>Final rating: 9.
>"The Chase"
[..."pro's" deleted ...]
>However, "The Chase"'s entire premise (that humans are some special
>engineering product of an ultra-advanced race) is both ill-thought-out and
>arrogant as all hell, and I cannot in good conscience support an episode that
>contains thinking I am so passionately devoted to countering in teaching my
>students the value of critical scientific thinking. (More on this later.)
>
>Final rating: 6.
This really did not bother me at all, and I'm still unclear as to why it
bothered you. Actually, I was pleased to have an answer to "Why can all
these races cross-breed, and why do they all look alike?" which I had always
thought was unscientific. (Of course, biologically speaking, this episode
was bunk from beginning to end. But at least they tried... I liked
seeing all the different aliens as well. (Show Matt a pretty picture and he'll
be quiet... :-)
>"Frame of Mind"
>
>Here, on the other hand, is yet another candidate for best of the season.
>"Frame of Mind" was a paranoid, imagery-ridden, deeply disturbed show able to
>give most viewers the willies -- and _damn_, it was fun. :-) Jonathan
>Frakes gives the first of two "performances of his life" in this show as
>well. There's really nothing I can say against this one.
>
>Final rating: 10.
The best of the season, as far as I'm concerned! I managed to avoid *all*
spoilers for it, as well as the previews, and was propelled through this
episode, hanging on by my fingernails. The ending was slightly quick,
but this is the one case where it really had to be. Frakes was superb.
>"Suspicions"
>Ouch. In "Suspicions"'s favor, it was trying awfully hard to do something
>new, and to give Dr. Crusher some badly-needed star time. Unfortunately, it
>all got tangled up in some truly rotten acting (especially from Tricia O'Neil
>as Kurak and whoever played the Vulcan scientist), some major lapses of logic
>(such as the "autopsy" conflict -- it's not invasive enough on one side and
>too invasive on another), and a heavy excess of narration. There were nice
>bits nibbling around the edges of this episode, such as Reyga's character and
>a couple of scenes between Crusher and Ogawa, but not nearly enough to bring
>this one up out of the doldrums. (Fortunately, it was the _last_ loser of
>the season.)
My only question is to which of "Suspicions" or "Man of the People" is the one,
truly, singularly most putrid episode ever. I just couldn't stomach the plot,
nor the narration.
>
>Final rating: 3.
Final rating: 0.
>"Rightful Heir"
>Best quote: Again, a tie for several --
Actually, my favorite quote was Worf's reference the Kahless's having been
grown in a test tube. Worf's burst of cynicism and self-loathing at having
"believed" was great acting on the part of Michael Dorn.
>Final rating: 10.
>"Second Chances"
>
>This was almost unexpectedly good -- given the number of "double" stories
>Trek has had in its time, the prospect of another one wasn't especially
>appealing.
This is one of the few episodes this season where I had heard about the plot
ahead of time, and I was pleasantly suprised -- I had expected the worst.
In fact, I had expected one or the other Riker to die -- even Cdr. Riker!
>Final rating: 8.5.
>"Timescape"
>"Timescape", not surprisingly, was another reality-bending time-travel story
>in the vein of "Cause and Effect", and it worked very nearly as well. It
>started from a very neat premise and a great creepy atmosphere, and went on
>to give us a very engaging story full of misdirection (_effective_
>misdirection, which is somewhat rarer), good use of a silly bit of
>technobabble from "Face of the Enemy" [the "artificial quantum singularity"
>power source], a sensible solution and a particularly strong showing for the
>second week in a row from Deanna Troi, both in writing and in Marina Sirtis's
>acting. Where "Timescape" falls down a bit, though, is when it drowns a bit
>in its own technobabble. That, combined with a few small logic questions
>here and there, keep it from a top rating -- but it's still quite good.
>
>Final rating: 9.
One of my brothers, who sees TNG before I do, called me up and said "You
gotta see it!" So I was all psyched and pumped up for a super episode.
Perhaps I was too pumped, because this episode was a little disappointing.
Unfathomable aliens, reams of technobabble, and an ending which was a
little too-nicely cleaned up (the Romulan wasn't shooting Bev, but the alien;
Riker wasn't being killed, he was being helped up). I *did* like it, but
I'd give it about an 8.5.
>"Descent"
>
No comments from me, either, until the resolution...
>II. General Commentary |
>------------------------+
>1) Naren Shankar needs to get together with a biologist and at least make
>that side of things _sound_ more vaguely plausible than it does. I won't say
>there aren't physics goofs, but they're far fewer and also less likely to be
>picked up by laymen. If *I'm* jumping on biology goofs, they're pretty
>blatant.
My wife is a bio Ph.D. student, and I have to cover her ears whenever
Beverly starts talking about DNA, lest she smash the TV... :-)
One thing I would add: It seems like the writers went out of there way to
give every character at least one special show. When it worked, it was great:
Riker: "Frame of Mind," "Second Chances."
Troi: "Face of the Enemy"
Picard: "Chain of Command II","Lessons," "Tapestry," "Starship Mine"
Data: "Birthright I," "Descent," "The Quality of Life"
Worf: "Rightful Heir"
But, like the little girl with the curl, when it was bad, it was:
Geordi: "Aquiel"
Crusher: "Suspicions"
Worf: "Birthright II"
I feel bad for Burton and McFadden; they basically had one chance to shine,
and the script just wasn't there. As could be predicted, Stewart and Spiner
came out the winners, although Frakes, I feel, turned in the best performance
of them all. Sirtis was superb in "Face of the Enemy;" given the right
script, she can really shine. At least Burton had a good opportunity to
direct.
I'm torn between suggesting that McFadden be given a decent script and
suggesting that her character quietly exit the series; Dr. Crusher is my
least favorite character, which suprises me, since she used to be one of
my favorites. The writers have not been kind to her since her excellent
roles in "Remember Me" and "The Host" a few season or two back; they've
turned a strong, positive character into a single-minded maniac, blind to
everything but whatever is currently obsessing her. I wouldn't mind so much
if that's what the writers and McFadden wanted to do with the character (I
don't think all characters should be angels), but it appears to me that
McFadden is a little uncomfortable with such an interpretation of her
character; her lines come off a little stilted, passive when the mood calls
for a more active delivery. I'm sure, given the right scripts, that the
character (and McFadden) could really deliver a powerful performance, but if
"Suspicions" is the best that can be done, then let it all rest. Shield
technology? At least let the script have some basis in Crusher's field, or
Crusher's personal life.
That's all for me,
--Matt--*
--
Matt Gertz, mwge...@cs.cmu.edu
Dept. of ECE, The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.
Janis Maria C. C. Cortese
>
>(The initial post was understandably long; my replies may make it a bit
>longer, so be forewarned.)
Ditto.
>tly...@Juliet.Caltech.Edu (Tim Lynch) writes:
>
>>Lynch's Spoiler Review: TNG Seaons Six
>>Review by Tim Lynch <tly...@juliet.caltech.edu>
>>===============================================
>>
>>WARNING: This article contains spoiler information for season 6 of "Star
>>Trek: the Next Generation". Those not acquainted with the season and not
>>interested in being spoiled should stay clear.
>
>
>>I. Season 6, Episode by Episode |
>>----------------------------------+
>>
>>"Time's Arrow, Part II"
>>I was hoping for a lot more out of this show than I got. While the
>>Picard/Guinan bits remain wonderful, and most of the "technical temporal"
>>issues were dealt with cleverly, there were a lot of details left unexplained
>>or simply ignored, and everything aside from the Picard/Guinan scenes felt
>>fairly flat. (In addition, the heavy bit of moralizing on _both_ sides of
>>the Twain/Troi "conflict" was far too blatant to be even remotely
>>interesting.) All in all, this falls a bit.
>>
>>Final rating: 4.
>
>The lead-up to this story (the season 5 cliffhanger) was wonderfully
>creepy. I mean, Data's disconnected head found in a cave? Out-of-phase
>aliens sucking energy out of 19th century humans? Weird. Of course, it
>couldn't last... the writers haven't got a cliffhanger resolution correct yet.
I actually liked *all* of "Time's Arrow," and thought it was the only good
cliffhanger since BoBW, which wasn't QUITE as good IMO as most people
think it was; "Family" was far better as a follow-up to those events.
Actually, I'm not too fond of the idea of cliffhangers; they smack too
much of soap operas, and they NEVER resolve as well as you think they
should. "Redemption" was HORRIBLE. I'msorry, I simply cannot buy it
that an entire takeover and invasion plot can be foiled because, "Oops,
one of us slammed the door too hard. Damn. Oh, well. Might as well
drop it; back up, fellas." Sorry.
>"Best of Both Worlds:" The season ends on Riker's command of "Fire!"
>Yet we know that, no matter what happens in the opening minutes of
>part two, there is still 44 minutes of show left to air. There is *no way*
>that the level of excitement generated at the end of the first part can
>last that long. This is what happens when part 2 isn't even written until
>two months after part 1 is filmed...
I have a hard time believing that they wouldn't break the entire story
even before filming. Maybe the script isn't worked out, but what that
means essentially is that the dialogue is still up in the air -- for all
other practical purposes, I have a hard time believing that the story
simply isn't WRITTEN.
>"Redemption:" The writers manage to end on a more sedate note which,
>although less exciting than BOBW I's ending, doesn't put them in the
>position of sustaining adrenalin for 44 minutes. The problem here is that
>we really don't care! Worf has his honor back; that's nice, but we
>all managed to figure out over the summer break how Sela came to exist --
This really annoyed me. I liked Yar when she was on the ship, and
resented Crosby's showing up again. Buzz off. There was no way they
could have explained this enough to suit me -- a daughter who looks
EXACTLY like the mother? This is just NOT BELIEVABLE.
Okay, maybe I was prejudiced against this one going in; I still hated it.
>"Time's Arrow:" And now we come to it! The writers end part 1 on a note
>of mystery, but not one of high tension, thereby permitting part 2 to
>at least have a chance to succeed. There are two problems, though.
>The first is Data's head. Again, just as in the case of Sela, we had
>all figured out the head's origins and what was to be done with it over
>the summer.
*I* didn't. I thought it highly improbably that they could hook up a 500
year old head and have it work. I'd think that Data's functioning would
have been seriously impaired after that; hell, the entire dream sequence
could have brought this up: "Could your neural whatchamacallits have
been damaged by that 500 year old layer of dust you accumulated in San
Francisco?"
Hm. Good thing his head wasn't stored under the I-880 . . . bad joke.
>The second problem is perhaps worse. The tone of part 1 is vastly different
>than that of part 2. The creepiness and mystery is replaced by "humorous"
>(and I use the term lightly) scenes, revelations which aren't revelations,
>and unfathomable B.E.M.'s.
What is a BEM?
I don't know. I found the entire bit with the aliens to be very creepy
and surreal, almost seance-like. Finally, aliens that made me feel like
I was watching REAL aliens. I'd like to see more of them. (When
everyone had to get inside those thingies that Geordi built -- phase
discriminators? -- I turned to my SO and said, "Now place your fingers
on the table and concentrate . . . ")
The humor wasn't out of place, IMO. I liked hearing "Mr. Pickerd,"
m-self, and I also liked one very subtle thing that I've never seen
anyone comment on -- the way Crusher and Troi were sitting there in
their period clothing clutching at their guts. I don't suppose
whalebone corsets would be that comfortable to 24th century women.
Seriously -- watch the scene with them in the sitting room talking again
-- Troi and Crusher are gripping their stomachs like they just ate
something bad, and sitting VERY stiffly. Maybe this was deliberate
because the costumes were uncomfortable, but I've never seen good actors
look discomfited by period costumes. Usually, they'd better be able to
look like they've been wearing the stuff all their lives; that's what
acting IS.
>>"Man of the People"
>
>>You wouldn't think an episode would fall lower than an initial rating of 3,
>>but this managed it. Unpleasant on a first viewing, this turned almost
>>unwatchable on a second.
>
>It was the only episode that made me seriously consider turning the channel.
>Good gods, what garbage. At this point in the season, I really despaired
>for TNG. It hadn't reached these depths since the opening of season 2.
WHAT was so bad about this one? I liked it fine -- then again, I liked
"A Picture of Dorian Grey" as well. Did I spell that right or is it
"Gray?" My major beef is that, for an empath, Deanna has incredible
luck at picking sleazy guys.
>>"Relics"
>
>(Tim's text deleted; I agree completely with it.)
>
>>Final rating: 10.
The only thing I liked about THIS one was, "You didn't tell him how long
it'd REALLY take, did you?!" Other than that -- blah. Sorry. I like
Scotty a LOT -- really like him -- but I'm not fond of the crossovers.
They seem contrived.
The only crossover I enjoyed was McCoy's, since it was early enough, and
since he was old and cranky, like he should have been -- not contrived
at all.
>>"Rascals"
>
>If I wanted to watch "Lost In Space," I'd've said so...
Again, I liked this one. I enjoyed the acting of the kids; they did
BEAUTIFULLY. Especially the Ro and Guinan. That kid who was Guinan got
that "What's up?" smile down PAT in Sickbay! And I was busting a gut
when young Picard said, "And unfortunately, I can only think of one way
to do it."
>>"Ship in a Bottle"
>
>>"Ship in a Bottle" is definitely in the running for one of the best shows of
>>the season.
Eh. It was good, and Picard's comment about "This might all be
happening in a box on someone's table," just about slayed me, but
overall, that's about it. I have to admit, though, that that quote is a
photo finish second place for my favorite TNG quote of all time behind
one from the pilot: "If we're going to be damned, let's be damned for
what we really are."
>>"Aquiel"
>
>I agree; pretty bad, pretty predictable.
And disappointing. I was really looking forward to a Geordi ep.
>>"Face of the Enemy"
>
>I agree; simply the best Troi story to date. Not the best of the season,
>though; that's yet to come...
I have to agree with whoever said they loved the music to this one; it
was really wonderful. It's pathetic for a classical musician to admit
to never paying attention to the score for the show, but I usually
don't. This was the first time I really sat up for it.
>>"Lessons"
>
>Nothing to add to your comments, Tim, except (as I told you at the time)
>that I *knew* you'd like this one, with its "Inner Light" references... :-)
>>
>>Final rating: 9.
Bleah. When Picard and Darren were sitting together talking, it sounded
like a job interview. I don't care HOW "mature" you are, a relationship
is NEVER that flat and tasteless! No life, no sparkle. They barely
smiled when they were together, and almost never touched one another at
all. I just sensed no affection. When they were kissing "passionately"
in the Jeffries tube, it looked like they were going to wipe their
mouths when they were finished. The romantic equivalent of a rice
cake. A PLAIN rice cake.
>>"The Chase"
>
>[..."pro's" deleted ...]
>
>>However, "The Chase"'s entire premise (that humans are some special
>>engineering product of an ultra-advanced race) is both ill-thought-out and
>>arrogant as all hell, and I cannot in good conscience support an episode that
>>contains thinking I am so passionately devoted to countering in teaching my
>>students the value of critical scientific thinking. (More on this later.)
>>
>>Final rating: 6.
>
>This really did not bother me at all, and I'm still unclear as to why it
>bothered you. Actually, I was pleased to have an answer to "Why can all
>these races cross-breed, and why do they all look alike?" which I had always
>thought was unscientific.
Some of the technobabble was bad in this one, and I also disliked the
"it's not random so it must be by conscious design," but again, I enjoyed
it as well. Perhaps not being a teacher, I don't have to confront this
crap over and over like Tim probably does . . .
>>"Frame of Mind"
Goddamn it, I still haven't seen this one . . .
>>"Second Chances"
>>
>>This was almost unexpectedly good -- given the number of "double" stories
>>Trek has had in its time, the prospect of another one wasn't especially
>>appealing.
>
>This is one of the few episodes this season where I had heard about the plot
>ahead of time, and I was pleasantly suprised -- I had expected the worst.
>In fact, I had expected one or the other Riker to die -- even Cdr. Riker!
Same here. When I heard about a transporter and a double, I thought,
"Oh, ICK. Here we go again . . . " and I was shocked to enjoy it as
much as I did. Frakes did such a truly masterful job giving the two
Rikers different feels, and Troi was fantastic.
I'm a softie for a good Troi ep, though, since there have been so few.
>>"Timescape"
An absolute FAVE, partly because Troi was actually allowed to be
COMPETANT.
>>II. General Commentary |
>>------------------------+
>
>The writers have not been kind to her since her excellent
>roles in "Remember Me" and "The Host" a few season or two back;
Kudos to her for these, BUT . . .
>they've
>turned a strong, positive character into a single-minded maniac, blind to
>everything but whatever is currently obsessing her. I wouldn't mind so much
>if that's what the writers and McFadden wanted to do with the character (I
>don't think all characters should be angels), but it appears to me that
>McFadden is a little uncomfortable with such an interpretation of her
>character; her lines come off a little stilted, passive when the mood calls
>for a more active delivery. I'm sure, given the right scripts, that the
>character (and McFadden) could really deliver a powerful performance, but if
>"Suspicions" is the best that can be done, then let it all rest.
Unfortunately, I have to agree. Either Crusher of McFadden has all the
personality of vanilla ice cream.
Regards,
Janis the n.p.h
Janis Cortese || President and Founder: SEFEB, and The ||
cor...@skid.ps.uci.edu || Society of People Who Would Love to ||
UCIrvine Linguistics, || Shove a Stick Up Rush Limbaugh's Ass; ||
for a while more anyway || and Member of The Star Trek Ladies' ||
Irvine, California || Auxiliary and Embroidery/Baking Society ||
====================================================================||
I used to be a bitch and just thought it was my problem. ||
Now, I've learned to make it everyone else's problem, too. ||
=====================DEATH BEFORE BELLBOTTOMS!======================||
Martin Phipps
>
> A predictable ending -- but you haven't perused "The Picture of Dorian Gray,"
> right? This plot is used in other series a number of times (including
> "Blake's Seven," and even "Fantasy Island," fergossake), and, in use, is
> second only to the short story which inspired TOS's "Arena" (among others).
>
> >"Rascals"
>
> If I wanted to watch "Lost In Space," I'd've said so...
>
The only thing I didn't like about "Rascals" was the fact that they claimed
that DNA aged. Duh.
> >"The Chase"
>
> This really did not bother me at all, and I'm still unclear as to why it
> bothered you. Actually, I was pleased to have an answer to "Why can all
> these races cross-breed, and why do they all look alike?" which I had always
> thought was unscientific.
I think if they put the episode together for no other reason than to give an
explanation to something most people just excuse as being a result of TNG not
having any non-humanoid actors then Tim has not only a reason to be annoyed
to be insulted. On the other hand, if the episode was designed to show off
some special effects (People watching "Chain of Command" and hearing about a
weapon that would kill off all life on a planet might, for some reason, have
wondered how Paramount's special effects team would have showed such a thing.)
then I'd be a bit less forgiving. Either way, I too cringed at the thought of
order implying intelligence and of evolution leading to a goal and I agree
with Tim that it smacked of the c-word. :l
Martin Phipps aka Deja Dude The CeLiNeFan
The difference between a critic and a fanboy is that when both of them end
up in Hell it'll be the critic who will be first to figure out where he is
Matthew Gertz
>mwge...@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz) writes:
>
>>(The initial post was understandably long; my replies may make it a bit
>>longer, so be forewarned.)
>
:-)
>>tly...@Juliet.Caltech.Edu (Tim Lynch) writes:
>>>WARNING: This article contains spoiler information for season 6 of "Star
>>>Trek: the Next Generation". Those not acquainted with the season and not
>>>interested in being spoiled should stay clear.
>
>
>>>I. Season 6, Episode by Episode |
>>>----------------------------------+
>I agree with most of what you've said here, but you apparently mean to be
>discussing only _season-ending_ cliffhangers. There have been three other
>cliffhangers so far, after all -- and while "Birthright II" was pretty
>godawful, "Chain of Command II" was definitely "correct", as you put it. :-)
Oops, you caught me. When I said "cliffhanger," I was referring to any
episode where we had to wait three months for the resolution. Sorry for
the confusion.
>>>"The Chase"
>
>>[..."pro's" deleted ...]
>
>>>However, "The Chase"'s entire premise (that humans are some special
>>>engineering product of an ultra-advanced race) is both ill-thought-out and
>>>arrogant as all hell, and I cannot in good conscience support an episode
>>>that
>>>contains thinking I am so passionately devoted to countering in teaching my
>>>students the value of critical scientific thinking. (More on this later.)
>>>
>>>Final rating: 6.
>
>>This really did not bother me at all, and I'm still unclear as to why it
>>bothered you.
>
>Here we go again. :-) I'll try to be a little more clear than I was back
>in the spring.
>
>There are two problems.
>
>First, the leap from "this could not have occurred randomly" to "this must
>have been _artificially designed_" is fallacious. As Janis actually pointed
>out back in May, the acceleration of gravity yields pretty non-random
>results, yet it's not artificially created. That's the classic "grand design"
>fallacy.
Okay, this I can buy.
>[There's actually a side issue, that saying something flat-out "couldn't" be
>random is extreme, but that's not a big deal.]
>
>Second, and more importantly, to assert _anything_ can be an "end product" of
>evolution misrepresents the nature of the process. Evolution is something
>happening constantly and never-ending, not something where anyone can twiddle
>a dial or two and get six fingers instead of five. It's patently absurd to
>expect that simply seeding a little genetic material could make everyone so
>alike. (It also leads to an incredible humanocentric arrogance.)
This I can argue. Consider, for instance, the existence of transposons (which,
in fact, is my wife's field of research), which deliberately cut out segments
of genes and rearrange them (for as yet unclear reasons). If certain
transposons having definite, known effects can be introduced into a biome,
you could have predictable changes in your population -- the changes would
be widespread, rather than random or "semi-random," and would be more
effective than mutation. One can also postulate, in the same vein, a "gene"
for change, which, although no one has found such a thing, could possibly
exist. (Biologist folk, please don't hurt me -- I know I am badly
paraphrasing from discussions I had with my wife on the subject some
time ago. I am but a poor roboticist, and not fluent in biology.)
>[Yay! All that and not a single mention of the dreaded "c" word which got
>me into so much trouble early on. ;-) ]
:-) I do think I understand, now, though we'll have to agree to differ...
>>>"Suspicions"
>
>>My only question is to which of "Suspicions" or "Man of the People" is the
>>one, truly, singularly most putrid episode ever. I just couldn't stomach
>>the plot, nor the narration.
>
>For the season, I'd say "Man of the People" without hesitation. At least
>"Suspicions" was _trying_ to be interesting. MotP, to swipe a phrase from
>alt.tv.mst3k, actively hunted down and killed other good plots.
Dang, I wish we'd get "Comedy Central" in Pittsburgh. Or even the Sci-Fi
channel, for that matter...
>
>Neither is even close to the worst _ever_, though. I can think of three
>shows off the top of my head that make these look like high art: "The Royale"
>[ptui!],
Interesting premise, bad execution....
>"Qpid",
Uh, oh... here we go again... :-)
> and "Cost of Living".
Pretty bad, I'll concede, but with one minor redeeming scene with Lwaxana
pouring her heart out to Alexander.
>>The writers have not been kind to her since her excellent
>>roles in "Remember Me" and "The Host" a few season or two back; they've
>>turned a strong, positive character into a single-minded maniac, blind to
>>everything but whatever is currently obsessing her. I wouldn't mind so much
>>if that's what the writers and McFadden wanted to do with the character (I
>>don't think all characters should be angels), but it appears to me that
>>McFadden is a little uncomfortable with such an interpretation of her
>>character; her lines come off a little stilted, passive when the mood calls
>>for a more active delivery.
>
>That last is an interesting point. I'd like to see someone actually come out
>and ask Gates if what's going on is what she wants to happen to the character.
>Is she con-hopping any time soon?
Good question. I'd sure like to know her feelings about it.
>
>>I'm sure, given the right scripts, that the
>>character (and McFadden) could really deliver a powerful performance,
>
>We don't need to be sure -- we've _seen_ it in things like "Remember Me".
True enough!
Matthew Gertz
>>mwge...@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz) writes:
>>>>Trek: the Next Generation". Those not acquainted with the season and not
>>>>interested in being spoiled should stay clear.
>
>>>>"Rascals"
>>>
>>>If I wanted to watch "Lost In Space," I'd've said so...
>
>>Again, I liked this one.
>
>I liked it better than Matt apparently did. I think the kids were good too,
>but that's not even close to enough.
Well, as I responded to Janis's post, it had its high points, but they were not
enough to save it for me. On a second viewing, it did even worse.
>
>>>>"Lessons"
>>>
>>Bleah. When Picard and Darren were sitting together talking, it sounded
>>like a job interview. I don't care HOW "mature" you are, a relationship
>>is NEVER that flat and tasteless!
>
>It seemed lively enough to me, particularly given Picard. It's interesting
>that Matt and I (who are both married) enjoyed this a bunch, and that you
>(who are not) didn't. I don't know if that's the crucial difference, but
>it's the one that came to mind.
Interesting point. I hadn't thought of that. Since Glenda and I are in very
different fields, and since we both want to learn about the other's work,
I suspect that, if I stopped to think about it, I'd find that some of our
converstions are just as Q&A as Picard's and Darren's were. Hmm...
Deac Moo of the UGC
So Timbo, when we a gonna see some DS9 Season 1 commentary? In many ways,
DS9 has had stronger episodes and a stronger start than TNG.
******
Net postings: Demonstrating the lack of quality psychotherapy in the world.
just another theatre geek
>In article <CB5I4w...@cs.cmu.edu> mwge...@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz) writes:
>>tly...@Juliet.Caltech.Edu (Tim Lynch) writes:
>>>Lynch's Spoiler Review: TNG Seaons Six
>luck at picking sleazy guys.
The problem is, this SHOULD be a major character trait. It's perfect
dramatic irony, it works, it's believable and realistic. You OUGHT to have
some delicious fun with this. (Hmmmm.....wonder what this says about
Cmdr. Riker.....).
>>The writers have not been kind to her since her excellent
>>roles in "Remember Me" and "The Host" a few season or two back;
>Kudos to her for these, BUT . . .
>>they've
>>turned a strong, positive character into a single-minded maniac, blind to
>>everything but whatever is currently obsessing her. I wouldn't mind so much
>>if that's what the writers and McFadden wanted to do with the character (I
>>don't think all characters should be angels), but it appears to me that
>>McFadden is a little uncomfortable with such an interpretation of her
>>character; her lines come off a little stilted, passive when the mood calls
>>for a more active delivery. I'm sure, given the right scripts, that the
>>character (and McFadden) could really deliver a powerful performance, but if
>>"Suspicions" is the best that can be done, then let it all rest.
>Unfortunately, I have to agree. Either Crusher of McFadden has all the
>personality of vanilla ice cream.
I think it's a mismatch of writers, character and actor. I always had
a feeling that Doc Crusher had a strong streak of exhibitionism/flirtacious-
ness that she toned down as a single parent. In fact, I'da thought it woulds
be a good character conflict for her maternal instincts and she's GOOD at
this) to be at war with her sensual side to be at war with her professional
side. A touch of Kirk Syndrome, perhaps, tempered by her needs to be
professional and to be a good mother?
--
Roger Tang, gwan...@u.washington.edu, Artistic Director PC Theatre
"David Henry Hwang's BONDAGE is about an Asian male attaining his fantasy: being
dominated and humilated by a Caucasian blonde. Sheer fantasy, of course; we all
know in real life it's the other way around."
Timothy W. Lynch
>tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>mwge...@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz) writes:
Spoilers ho!
>>>>"The Chase"
>>>This really did not bother me at all, and I'm still unclear as to why it
>>>bothered you.
>>
>>Here we go again. :-) I'll try to be a little more clear than I was back
>>in the spring.
>>
>>There are two problems.
>>
>>First, the leap from "this could not have occurred randomly" to "this must
>>have been _artificially designed_" is fallacious. As Janis actually pointed
>>out back in May, the acceleration of gravity yields pretty non-random
>>results, yet it's not artificially created. That's the classic "grand
>>design" fallacy.
>Okay, this I can buy.
>>Second, and more importantly, to assert _anything_ can be an "end product" of
>>evolution misrepresents the nature of the process. Evolution is something
>>happening constantly and never-ending, not something where anyone can twiddle
>>a dial or two and get six fingers instead of five. It's patently absurd to
>>expect that simply seeding a little genetic material could make everyone so
>>alike. (It also leads to an incredible humanocentric arrogance.)
>This I can argue. Consider, for instance, the existence of transposons (which,
>in fact, is my wife's field of research), which deliberately cut out segments
>of genes and rearrange them (for as yet unclear reasons). If certain
>transposons having definite, known effects can be introduced into a biome,
>you could have predictable changes in your population -- the changes would
>be widespread, rather than random or "semi-random," and would be more
>effective than mutation.
-- and could then be gotten rid of over the next four billion years by random
mutations. Unless these transposons also _eliminate_ other random change,
there's no way to plan for something over four billion years. (There's also
the issue of controlling the environment over that time, such as the meteorite
that very likely killed off the dinosaurs. Did these "progenitors" also plan
for that or arrange that?)
>:-) I do think I understand, now, though we'll have to agree to differ...
Fair enough.
[on the "Suspicions" or "Man of the People" -- which is worse? question]
>>Neither is even close to the worst _ever_, though. I can think of three
>>shows off the top of my head that make these look like high art: "The
>>Royale" [ptui!],
>Interesting premise, bad execution....
Ha. Ha.
Hahahahahaha.
That takes care of that. ;-)
Tim Lynch
Timothy W. Lynch
>In article <23miis...@gap.caltech.edu> tly...@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>>joh...@HALDI.LCS.MIT.EDU (Johnny Piscitello) writes:
>>>>"The Quality of Life"
>>>
>>> I'm not too big on this episode. I did not like the guest actress
>>>at all - her edginess came off as forced. Data asking Beverly "What is
>>>life?" is *much* less believable than the Ferengi taking over the Enterprise
>>>in "Rascals", IMHO.
>>
>>Why is that so unbelievable? Do you think he already knows the answer?
>>Would he ask someone else? Would he be "embarrassed" to ask? I honestly
>>have no idea how that simple question can be so utterly unbelievable.
>>
> Because Data has already been through that question time and time
>again in "Measure of a Man" and "The Offspring".
Only with respect to himself. That's very different from trying to find an
objective criterion to use to evaluate something _else_.
>>>>"Birthright, Part II"
>>> I really disagree with Tim on this one. The unusual plot had alot
>>>of conflict between Worf and L'Kor.
>>
>>Um...where? We didn't even see the two of them interacting half as much as
>>they did at the very end of part 1. There was more tension between L'Kor and
>>_Tokath_ than there was between L'Kor and Worf.
>>
> I'm sorry Tim, I meant Tokath, the Romulan leader. My bad.
In that case, I can very marginally agree with you -- but only just.
>>>We got heavy development of Worf's
>>>character, as we get to see him as a leader, not just a fish out of water
>>
>>He was attempting to be a "leader" in something that should have crashed
>>and burned for him. What business does he have defining Klingon-ness for
>>these kids when he's not exactly a regular Klingon in the first place?
> Worf didn't define anything for them.
He certainly appeared to be doing so. "Klingons use X to hone the body and
the mind." "I can't do that -- it's not the Klingon way." Etcetera.
Looks like he's trying to define their culture for them to me.
>He brought out the passions that existed inside them all the time.
So he claims. Tokath didn't seem to agree, and I'm with him in this instance.
> Ans that's the rub. He was teaching these Klingon kids the truth
>about who they were.
Oh, so a predilection for hunting is bred in? Klingons have an _intrinsically_
violent nature? Tokath's attitude was truly doomed to fail?
Some call that bigotry when it's applied in real life.
>These people running these camps were raising them
>with lies.
Lies about the history -- yes. Lies about the circumstances of their being
there -- yes.
But that's not what you said at first -- you said Worf came with truth about
_who they were_. That isn't Worf's place to say.
>>There was _potential_ for great development of Worf here -- but I'll be
>>damned if I saw more than a whiff of it.
> He got over his absolute hatred of Romulans.
Not that I believe.
>He got over Keh'lar.
One valley-girl Klingon does not a getting-over make, IMO.
>He led a band of Klingons to the point of risking their
>lives for what they believed in. We saw Worf as a teacher of Klingon
>honor, a role that came back later in "Rightful Heir".
I didn't see Worf doing a lot of teaching in RH. *Learning*, yes, but not
teaching.
>>>>"The Chase"
>>
>>Read the recap of them I just wrote in response to Matt Gertz's post and see
>>if they hang together any better.
>>
> I did. I understand your point about the idea of "directing
>evolution" being out of whack. I chalk it up to the explanation that
>the progenitors had excellent mathematical abilities in chaos theory,
>and were smart enough to deal with the "randomness" of evolution when
>they designed the system.
Um...welllll...um...
> I will grant you that it is farfetched.
Whew! :-)
Tim Lynch
Marguerite Petersen
just another theatre geek <gwan...@carson.u.washington.edu> wrote:
>In article <2C5D99...@news.service.uci.edu> cor...@hepxvt.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria C. C. Cortese) writes:
>>In article <CB5I4w...@cs.cmu.edu> mwge...@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz) writes:
>>>tly...@Juliet.Caltech.Edu (Tim Lynch) writes:
>>>>Lynch's Spoiler Review: TNG Seaons Six
>>My major beef is that, for an empath, Deanna has incredible
>>luck at picking sleazy guys.
>
> The problem is, this SHOULD be a major character trait. It's perfect
>dramatic irony, it works, it's believable and realistic. You OUGHT to have
>some delicious fun with this. (Hmmmm.....wonder what this says about
>Cmdr. Riker.....).
Well, she did *pick* him when he was younger. :-)
>>>The writers have not been kind to her since her excellent
>>>roles in "Remember Me" and "The Host" a few season or two back;
>>Kudos to her for these, BUT . . .
>>>they've
>>>turned a strong, positive character into a single-minded maniac, blind to
>>>everything but whatever is currently obsessing her. I wouldn't mind so much
>>>if that's what the writers and McFadden wanted to do with the character (I
>>>don't think all characters should be angels), but it appears to me that
>>>McFadden is a little uncomfortable with such an interpretation of her
>>>character; her lines come off a little stilted, passive when the mood calls
>>>for a more active delivery. I'm sure, given the right scripts, that the
>>>character (and McFadden) could really deliver a powerful performance, but if
>>>"Suspicions" is the best that can be done, then let it all rest.
>>Unfortunately, I have to agree. Either Crusher of McFadden has all the
>>personality of vanilla ice cream.
>
> I think it's a mismatch of writers, character and actor. I always had
>a feeling that Doc Crusher had a strong streak of exhibitionism/flirtacious-
>ness that she toned down as a single parent. In fact, I'da thought it woulds
>be a good character conflict for her maternal instincts and she's GOOD at
>this) to be at war with her sensual side to be at war with her professional
>rg
side. A touch of Kirk Syndrome, perhaps, tempered by her needs to be
>professional and to be a good mother?
Now *this* I would like to have seen. It certainly would have made for
a more interesting character. It would seem that TPTB just didn't want
to take the risk of portraying a passionate single mother. After all,
mothers (as we all know) are *never* sensual individuals. :-) (For the
sarcasm impaired.)
>Roger Tang, gwan...@u.washington.edu, Artistic Director PC Theatre
--
*************************************************************************
"Insufficient facts always invites danger, Captain."- Spock in Space Seed
Marg Petersen pet...@kira.csos.orst.edu Charter Member of Stoff
*************************************************************************
Matthew Gertz
>In article <CB5I4w...@cs.cmu.edu> mwge...@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz)
>writes:
>> >"Man of the People"
>>
>> A predictable ending -- but you haven't perused "The Picture of Dorian Gray,"
>> right? This plot is used in other series a number of times (including
>> "Blake's Seven," and even "Fantasy Island," fergossake), and, in use, is
>> second only to the short story which inspired TOS's "Arena" (among others).
>>
>What short story is that?
Alas, I read it about 15 years ago, so I can't quite remember. I'll bet
the folk on r.a.sf.* probably know. It's mentioned in at least one of the
Star Trek "behind the scenes" books (Asherman's _Compendium_, first edition??
Dunno.), and it mentions some of the other shows that used this same plot.
All I can recall was that it involved a human, an alien (whom no human had
seen before), and a forcefield that would not let living matter pass
through it, all on an otherwise empty planet.
(Perhaps I also saw it mentioned in a newspaper when the movie "Enemy Mine"
came out -- that might be the wrong title, but it was the movie where
Louis Gossett, Jr. played the alien.)
I just re-read the above, and I think I've confused the issue more than
I've helped. Dang. Oh, well, I tried... :-)
>> >"Rascals"
>>
>> If I wanted to watch "Lost In Space," I'd've said so...
>>
>The only thing I didn't like about "Rascals" was the fact that they claimed
>that DNA aged. Duh.
Agreed! They went to great pains to introduce this bogus genetic non-DNA
information which they stated *did* change over a persons lifetime. Bunk!
The transporter doesn't rebuild from the fetal state, after all -- if you
changed my cellular information to that of a cat's, I wouldn't turn into
a cat -- I'd still look like me. Protein stuctures simply don't disappear
into thin air. And once you get into the fact that there was no mass
conservation, and that some agency would have to evenly remove cells
from all over the body (including a few from the brain, which is still growing
slightly at that age), or ideally replace all cells with a new, smaller
set, *AND* somehow get an adult sized artificial heart into a child's
chest (hey, I saw "Tapestry" -- there's no way that thing would fit in
a child's chest), *PLUS*, once returning to adult size, you'd need to age
certain cells and generate new ones, well, my available supply of credulity
is way used up. Sheesh.
>
>> >"The Chase"
>>
>> This really did not bother me at all, and I'm still unclear as to why it
>> bothered you. Actually, I was pleased to have an answer to "Why can all
>> these races cross-breed, and why do they all look alike?" which I had always
>> thought was unscientific.
>
>I think if they put the episode together for no other reason than to give an
>explanation to something most people just excuse as being a result of TNG not
>having any non-humanoid actors then Tim has not only a reason to be annoyed
>to be insulted.
True enough.
Amy I. Sheldon
The short story "Arena" is based on is titled
**big surprise**
"Arena"
its by Fredrik Brown, and was published in 1944.
It is quite good, and worth looking up.
--
Kevin Karmann
Re: TNG Season Review: Lynch's Spoiler Review: TNG Season 6 <=-
>"The Quality of Life"
>Initially, I jumped on this episode as the savior of a very silly third of a
>season. In retrospect, it wasn't quite _that_ good, but it was still the
>only thing apart from "Relics" in this segment that I really felt was worth
>seeing more than once. Its biggest problems were some somewhat simplistic
>arguments on both sides of the dilemma and (surprise, surprise) a great
>excess of technobabble. However, Data had some wonderful scenes and
>benefited by being put on the side of judge, and the show in general was a
>nice working of a good premise. Not exactly the best the season had to offer
>(in fact, a great many of the shows _after_ this one were better than it),
>but fairly good nonetheless.
>Final rating: 8.
JP>
JP> I'm not too big on this episode. I did not like the guest actress
JP> at all - her edginess came off as forced. Data asking Beverly "What is
JP> life?" is *much* less believable than the Ferengi taking over the
JP> Enterprise in "Rascals", IMHO. And the Exocomps looked *awful*. The
JP> entire concept was a recycling of "Measure of a Man" and not nearly as
JP> good. Bleagh.
Personally, I feel that "The Quality of Life" was an EXTENSION of
"The Measure of a Man," not a recycle of it. In "The Measure of a
Man," we have a Data who pursues the trial because of the urging of
his friends. While Data did believe himself sentient, had it not
been for Picard and crew, he would've likely ended up being
disassembled. In that episode, it was Picard who had to prove
that Data had "The quality of life." In the years since then, Data
has developed steadily. He faced command decisions in "The Ensigns
of Command" (later developed further in "Redemption, Part II"). He
faced his moral code in "The Most Toys." He even built a daughter
in "The Offspring." With the exception of "In Theory" and "Hero
Worship" (both of which "machinized" Data), Data's progress has been
steady. "The Quality of Life" ultimately is the culmination of
all that developement. Even though Data has encountered machine
life before, such a his daughter Lal and the nanites, he has never
actually DEFENDED them. In "The Quality of Life," he's forced to
make a tough decision (built up by "The Ensigns of Command" and
"Redemption, Part II") about morality ("The Most Toys") about
the fact that the exocomps were indeed alive (add "The Measure of
a Man" and "The Offspring" to the list of episodes that built up
to this). Data is, in fact, thrust into the Picard role of
"The Measure of a Man." Which, in a way, makes the circle of
developement complete.
JP> I disliked "True Q" alot more than everybody else.
Sorry, but i'm afraid >I< probably have that title. I thought it
was one of the worst episodes of the *series* (right up there with
how I feel about "Shades of Gray," "Time's Arrow II," and the other
"bottom ten" shows). While Q had some good moments, I found the
episode, for the most part, a poorly done re-working of "Hide and
Q" (very similar premise: getting omni-potent powers). "Hide and
Q" isn't a favorite of mine, but I thought it worked out a lot
better.
Kevin
Robert E. Maas rem@btr.com
> "And I'll see you -- in a few minutes."
I disagree. My favorite quote was something like this:
"When did we meet?"
"Three years ago when you came on board."
"Are you sure? If you don't go on this mission, we'll NEVER meet."
(Then picard looks like he's really disturbed.)
Perhaps you can dredge up the actual dialog and we can vote on
which of the two is the best quote? :-)
> "Man of the People"
> Best quote: None.
The only thing I liked was when Troi got bitchy during therapy and
told her patient off in no uncertain terms the problem was her own
behaviour not her co-workers treating her unfairly. Maybe some
really good quote from that could be salvaged here?
> "Relics"
> Best quote: Too many to pick just one, so here are four.
I personally loved the re-do of the old "Green" liquor.
> "True Q"
> Best quote: Q, when asked what would have happened if Amanda hadn't been
> able to stop a warp-core explosion:
> "Then I would have known she wasn't a Q!"
Yeah, I agree with that one, it's a classic example of Q's
disinterest in the welfare of lesser species such as humans. Hard
to find a quote in ANY episode that epitomizes it so well.
>"The Quality of Life"
<<However, Data had some wonderful scenes and benefited by being
put on the side of judge,>>
Hmmm, now that you mention that, this is the second time he did
that, remember when he had to decide whether that woman was the
Devil or a fraud?
> "Starship Mine"
<<the terrorists on the ship were
fairly dumb in not searching and later not killing Picard.>>
They had no time to conduct a manual search. They barely completed
their business in time as it was. As for not killing Picard, but
flirting with him and teasing & taunting him instead? In 1993
women find bald men attractive and enjoyable! :-) :-)
> "Lessons"
> Best quote: "Have you been playing [the flute] long?" "Um... yes, a long
> time."
Yeah, that had a lot of hidden meaning he couldn't reveal to her
yet because he didn't really trust her yet and hadn't yet quite
fallen totally in love with her. I'll accept it as a best quote.
> "The Chase"
> Best quote: "Dream not of today, Mr. Picard."
I liked "Is that all??? If she were alive I'd kill her!", and also
the very subtle peace gesture from the Romulan at the end just
spiked with "If I say more and anybody reads this log I'll be
executed, but you know what I mean, Captain Picard the genius".
This same ability to understand what others are hinting at was
shown in an earlier episode when Worf told the Captain there were
no survivors from Kittimer and Picard gave him "that look" and
said "Yes, I understand", which I think maybe should be a best
quote for that episode, huh? (Hmm, I looked back, and indeed the
first part of that was included, perhaps Picard's reply should be
added to it?)
Jennifer J McGee-1
>phi...@chopin.Physics.McGill.CA (Martin Phipps) writes:
>>In article <CB5I4w...@cs.cmu.edu> mwge...@cs.cmu.edu (Matthew Gertz)
>>writes:
>>> >"Man of the People"
>>>
>>> A predictable ending -- but you haven't perused "The Picture of Dorian Gray,"
>>> right? This plot is used in other series a number of times (including
>>> "Blake's Seven," and even "Fantasy Island," fergossake), and, in use, is
>>> second only to the short story which inspired TOS's "Arena" (among others).
>>>
>>What short story is that?
>
>Alas, I read it about 15 years ago, so I can't quite remember. I'll bet
>the folk on r.a.sf.* probably know. It's mentioned in at least one of the
>Star Trek "behind the scenes" books (Asherman's _Compendium_, first edition??
>Dunno.), and it mentions some of the other shows that used this same plot.
>All I can recall was that it involved a human, an alien (whom no human had
>seen before), and a forcefield that would not let living matter pass
>through it, all on an otherwise empty planet.
>
>(Perhaps I also saw it mentioned in a newspaper when the movie "Enemy Mine"
>came out -- that might be the wrong title, but it was the movie where
>Louis Gossett, Jr. played the alien.)
The short story is Frederic Brown's "Arena," with the major
difference between it and the TOS episode that the alien is completely
unredeemable and the human kills it in the end. It has the same basic
premise (two representatives from two enemy races being flung together in
a battle to determine which race is better), and the same stress on
ingenuity over brawn. But the hero in the Brown story kills the Roller,
and the Roller's entire race is wiped out as a result. A bit more grim
than the TOS.
I think TOS's "Arena" is interesting to compare to TNG's "Darmok."
The change in attitude about communication and cooperation between races
in intriguing to me.
Jen
Kate Orman
> I think TOS's "Arena" is interesting to compare to TNG's "Darmok."
> The change in attitude about communication and cooperation between races
>in intriguing to me.
Kirk would've taken the knife and stabbed the alien. End of story.
"The Enemy" is also a good comparison.
--
Kate Orman, SFLAaE/BS (Assoc.), SEFEB, RAAS, LAS, ALIA, FS47, BBGC
This .sig is really Odo
Youssef Masrour
In a previous article, mcge...@student.tc.umn.edu (Jennifer J McGee-1) says:
> The short story is Frederic Brown's "Arena," with the major
>difference between it and the TOS episode that the alien is completely
>unredeemable and the human kills it in the end.
I have to admit that I read the story years ago and only
vaguely remember it. But I don't remember the alien as completely
unredeemable. I do recall that it was somewhat telepathic (?) and
able to project utter hatred for the human. But it considered the
human it's enemy. What else would you expect?
>It has the same basic
>premise (two representatives from two enemy races being flung together in
>a battle to determine which race is better), and the same stress on
>ingenuity over brawn. But the hero in the Brown story kills the Roller,
>and the Roller's entire race is wiped out as a result. A bit more grim
>than the TOS.
> I think TOS's "Arena" is interesting to compare to TNG's "Darmok."
> The change in attitude about communication and cooperation between races
>in intriguing to me.
Indeed! It's one of my favorite episodes. Finally, I saw
a truly alien race, not just in appearance but also in their
thinking.
--
Youssef Masrour ab...@freenet.carleton.ca
Orleans, Ontario