Episode of the Week: Hide and Q

[BillJ]

Jeyl wrote:

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And if this episode really wanted to go to the extreme in Riker using his powers to help others, he should have brought the child back to life with her parents there. Do you think that the parents of this recently deceased child are going to reject having their daughter back because they don't want to risk Riker, a person who they don't even know, from being corrupted by this power? I think something different would happen.

Like I've said before, pick up The Gift, it's a TNG Annual from DC Comics...

[Jeyl]

BillJ wrote:

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Like I've said before, pick up The Gift, it's a TNG Annual from DC Comics...

You want me to give this episode credit with a non-canon comic that was made after the fact?

[Ghrakh]

Jeyl wrote:

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To make this "big idea" ploy even more narrow minded, no one talks about or even considers the possibility of letting Riker keep his powers and using it in a responsible way.

What exactly is a "responsible" way? Something like seen in Superman comics?

[Jeyl]

Ghrakh wrote:

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What exactly is a "responsible" way? Something like seen in Superman comics?

I would see Riker's understanding about everyone not wanting their gifts and restoring things to what they were to be responsible. I still don't see how that means he should flat out reject his power. When you learn to use something in a responsible manner, why throw it away?

I would have liked to have seen this episode actually delve into that discussion on how someone would want to use these powers in a responsible way. But instead of getting that, we have our main heroes resorting to opinion based absolutes to say it's wrong.

[Mott the barber]

Above average bc of Q but definitely some wonky lines throughout.

[davejames]

Jeyl wrote:

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I would see Riker's understanding about everyone not wanting their gifts and restoring things to what they were to be responsible. I still don't see how that means he should flat out reject his power. When you learn to use something in a responsible manner, why throw it away?

I would have liked to have seen this episode actually delve into that discussion on how someone would want to use these powers in a responsible way. But instead of getting that, we have our main heroes resorting to opinion based absolutes to say it's wrong.

Well to be fair, this wasn't any old power, but the "Power of the Q." It's possible Picard felt there was something much more corrupting and insidious about it's use-- and considering Q's behavior towards them, I'd say that's probably a safe assumption.

And indeed, Riker does very quickly start to develop a massive, Q-sized ego.

[Dream]

This was pretty much another character becomes a god episode. I would say it was average.

The only difference here is that the human character doesn't turn insane and try to take over the ship or kill everyone like Gary Mitchell and Charles Evans did.

I still don't think the writers realized the chemistry that De Lancie and Stewart had with each other yet, and the nice contrast they had to each other as characters, the trained diplomat and the childish god like being. They didn't really start focusing on it until the next Q episode.

[Captrek]

Dream wrote:

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I still don't think the writers realized the chemistry that De Lancie and Stewart had with each other yet, and the nice contrast they had to each other as characters, the trained diplomat and the childish god like being.

Picard doesn’t act like much of diplomat in this episode.

[Nightdiamond]

I liked this episode because Q was always a favorite. He was also more sinister than in the later episode, so he was more threatening.

But the whole 'become a god, have a morale dilemma, solve it all within a day' thing was silly.

Riker saved Wesley and Worf who definitely were killed in Q's little game.

Riker points out why was it any different with bringing the girl back, and bringing Wesley and Worf back.

Picard says it's because they were killed in a fantasy created by Q. Should that really make any difference?

I think Picard and crew were too used to death and loss of life they encountered on the job.

There was no soul searching, and at the end it was set course for wherever with the usual smile.

[MikeS]

Where No Man Has Gone Before and Charlie X are far superior moral tales about power and corruption. I can see what they were after with this but it falls flat. Patrick Stewart quoting Shakespeare is the highlight - as already pointed out Picard notes that "what [Hamlet] said with irony, I say with conviction".

[Agent Richard07]

I really liked this episode more for the fantasy of having power than any lesson on how power corrupts.

[davejames]

Nightdiamond wrote:

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Picard says it's because they were killed in a fantasy created by Q. Should that really make any difference?

I would tend to think so. In the first case, Riker was simply reversing another god's created fantasy.

That's a bit different from reversing a death that occured in the natural world, from a natural event. There were probably a bunch of other colonists who died from one cause or another over the years too. Should Riker bring every one of them back to life too?

I think most people would probably think that would be wrong and unnatural.

[Jeyl]

davejames wrote:

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I think most people would probably think that would be wrong and unnatural.

Most people have never lost a child in a tragic accident like this. I think instead of assuming what most people would think, you should think about the people who have actually been through the horrors of losing a child.

And when you're dealing with a tragedy that cost the lives of many people, the one person you shouldn't be getting guidance from is the Captain who doesn't care about what the victims might think.

[Nightdiamond]

I agree about the one situation being conjured and that the other would have happened anyway, with or without them, but....

What if Riker gave that promise to Picard before Wesley got killed?

I'm not sure Picard would have held him to it. Wesley and Worf were to close, and Beverly definitely would have been a factor.

[Dream]

In later TNG books, it is revealed that the Q Continuum had ordered Q to give the powers to Picard, but Q gave it to Riker instead to make it more entertaining. That would have been an interesting what if.