TNG...again...

[Warped9]

A few years ago I did a complete rewatch of TNG. Throughout that revisit I found some episodes that were better than I originally recalled and some worse than I remembered. It was enlightening. I hope it also laid to rest the notion that I feel TOS was the only form of Trek I could enjoy.

I've reread some of that thread once in awhile and recently I've gotten the notion to revisit the show again. However, this time I'm not inclined to doing a complete rewatch. I'm thinking of focusing on the episodes I found watchable ranging from Fair*** to Good**** to Excellent*****.

And those episodes are such based on my previous revisit and ratings of the episodes (I'm not including the episodes I thought were bad and outright poor):

TNG Viewing List

Season 1
"The Last Outpost"***
"Where No One Has Gone Before"****
"Haven"***
"Datalore"***
"11001001"****
"When The Bough Breaks"***
"Home Soil"***
"Heart Of Glory"***
"The Arsenal Of Freedom"***
"Symbiosis"****
"Skin Of Evil"***
"Conspiracy"****
"The Neutral Zone"***

Season 2
“The Child”***
“Where Silence Has Lease”****
“Elementary, Dear Data”*****
“Loud As A Whisper”***
“The Schizoid Man"***
“Unnatural Selection”****
“A Matter Of Honor”****
“The Measure Of A Man”*****
“Contagion”****
“Pen Pals”****
“Q Who”*****
“Up The Long Ladder”****
“The Emissary”***
“Peak Performance”***

Season 3
“Evolution”***
“The Ensigns Of Command”****
“The Survivors”****
“Who Watches The Watchers”***
“Booby Trap”***
“The Enemy”****
“The Vengeance Factor”****
“The Defector”****
“The Hunted”***
“The High Ground”***
“Yesterday’s Enterprise”*****
“The Offspring”*****
"Sins Of The Father"*****
“Captain’s Holiday”****
“Tin Man”***
“The Most Toys”***
“Sarek”*****
“Transfigurations”***
“The Best Of Both Worlds” (Part I)*****

Season 4
"Best Of Both Worlds" (Part II)*****
"Family"***
"Legacy"***
"Reunion"****
"Future Imperfect"****
"Final Mission"***
"The Loss"***
“The Wounded”***
"Devil's Due"***
"Clues"***
"First Contact"****
"Galaxy's Child"****
“Night Terrors”****
"Identity Crises"****
"The Nth Degree"****
"The Drumhead"****
"Half A Life"****
"Redemption" (Part I)****

Season 5
“Redemption” (Part II)***
“Darmok”*****
“Ensign Ro”*****
“Silicon Avatar”***
“Unification” (Part I)***
“Unification” (Part II)***
“A Matter Of Time”****
“The Masterpiece Society”****
“Conundrum”***
“Power Play”***
“Ethics”****
“Cause And Effect”***
“The First Duty”****
“The Perfect Mate”***
“I, Borg”****
“The Next Phase”***
“Inner Light”****
“Time’s Arrow” (Part I)****

Season 6
“Time’s Arrow” (Part II)****
“Relics”***
“Schisms”***
“The Quality Of Life”***
“Chain Of Command” (Part I)***
“Chain Of Command” (Part II)****
“Ship In A Bottle”****
“Face Of The Enemy”****
“Tapestry”***
“Birthright” (Part I)***
“Birthright” (Part II)****
“Starship Mine”***
“The Chase”****
“Frame Of Mind”****
“Rightful Heir”****
“Second Chances”***
“Timescape”***

Season 7
“Interface”***
“Attached”***
“Force Of Nature”***
“Inheritance”****
“Parallels”*****
“The Pegasus”*****
“Homeward”***
“Lower Decks”*****
“Genesis”***
“Journey’s End”***
“Preemptive Strike”***
“All Good Things” (Part I)***
“All Good Things” (Part II)***

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

Any specific meaning to titles that are Bold, Italicized or both?

 

[Warped9]

Any specific meaning to titles that are Bold, Italicized or both?

My original ratings system was:

***** Excellent (also shown here in bold and italics)
**** Good (also shown here in bold)
*** Fair (also shown here in standard text)
** Poor (not included here)
* Bad (not included here)

The 4 and 5 star rated episodes are self-evident as to why I've included them. The 1 and 2 rated episodes are also self-evident as to why they've been excluded--I'm not bothering to endure those again. The 3 star rated episodes are the border line ones that are just watchable without being bad enough to downgrade or good enough to deserve a better rating. And I might change my opinion of those for the better or worse upon rewatching.

 

[erastus25]

Damn. You're a lot more generous with 4 and 5 star ratings than I am.

 

[Warped9]

Damn. You're a lot more generous with 4 and 5 star ratings than I am.

It must be said that in Season 1 the episodes that stand out (to me) made them seem like 4 star ratings.

Sometimes an episode might be just okay in overall execution and yet there's something about it that really appeals to you. Conversely sometimes an episode can be reasonably well executed and yet it still largely leaves you unmoved. I felt like that about The West Wing as a series. I tthought it was well done, but it just didn't engage me.

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

Thanks Warped9, I completely missed the correlation. DOH!

 

[JRoss]

I wouldn't have included Masterpiece Society as watchable, let alone good. The same goes for Homeward. Those episodes both highlight the ridiculous lengths that the non-interference clause of the PD got taken to.

 

[Warped9]

I wouldn't have included Masterpiece Society as watchable, let alone good. The same goes for Homeward. Those episodes both highlight the ridiculous lengths that the non-interference clause of the PD got taken to.

"Homeward" I rated as Fair or Just Okay. It was watchable. Then again like I said I might change my mind about some of these, for better or worse. Maybe when I watched them last I was feeling generous or conversely unforgiving on those particular days. We'll see.

 

[wulfio]

Where's the Outrageous Okana?

Surprising list though.

All Good Things to me is among the best of the show. Especially part 2. The final scene still gets me.

And then Family, The Wounded, Unification, and Relics are among my favorites.

 

[suarezguy]

I would rate "Encounter at Farpoint," "Time Squared," "The Icarus Factor" and "The Price" plus the lighter "Qpid" and "Rascals" as at least watchable.

 

[Warped9]

Anyone curious about my previous revisit (including those episodes I ranked poor or bad as well as the ensuing discussions) can see the thread here: http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=136980

 

[Warped9]

If I had considered watching only the episodes I thought were good or excellent it would have been a substantially shorter list.

Season 1
"Where No One Has Gone Before"****
"11001001"****
"Symbiosis"****
"Conspiracy"****

Season 2
“Where Silence Has Lease”****
“Elementary, Dear Data”*****
“Unnatural Selection”****
“A Matter Of Honor”****
“The Measure Of A Man”*****
“Contagion”****
“Pen Pals”****
“Q Who”*****
“Up The Long Ladder”****

Season 3
“The Ensigns Of Command”****
“The Survivors”****
“The Enemy”****
“The Vengeance Factor”****
“The Defector”****
“Yesterday’s Enterprise”*****
“The Offspring”*****
"Sins Of The Father"*****
“Captain’s Holiday”****
“Sarek”*****
“The Best Of Both Worlds” (Part I)*****

Season 4
"Best Of Both Worlds" (Part II)*****
"Reunion"****
"Future Imperfect"****
"First Contact"****
"Galaxy's Child"****
“Night Terrors”****
"Identity Crises"****
"The Nth Degree"****
"The Drumhead"****
"Half A Life"****
"Redemption" (Part I)****

Season 5
“Darmok”*****
“Ensign Ro”*****
“A Matter Of Time”****
“The Masterpiece Society”****
“Ethics”****
“The First Duty”****
“I, Borg”****
“Inner Light”****
“Time’s Arrow” (Part I)****

Season 6
“Time’s Arrow” (Part II)****
“Chain Of Command” (Part II)****
“Ship In A Bottle”****
“Face Of The Enemy”****
“Birthright” (Part II)****
“The Chase”****
“Frame Of Mind”****
“Rightful Heir”****

Season 7
“Inheritance”****
“Parallels”*****
“The Pegasus”*****
“Lower Decks”*****

 

[Lord Garth]

I ought to do a complete start-to-finish re-watch of the series (any of them) when I have time. To see if my perspective has (or hasn't) changed. Yeah, that's not happening...

Last December, I binge-watched the entirety of Breaking Bad -- 63 episodes -- in one week. Something I shouldn't have done, and I knew I shouldn't have been doing it even as I was watching it... but I Just. Couldn't. Stop. Had to watch one more. One more. Even if it was 3:30 in the morning.

Unless I felt that way with any of the Star Trek series, I wouldn't be able to do it. So I always enjoy reading the observations of people who actually do go through revisiting the series in a form that's not "one episode here, one episode there".

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I can't make it all the way through any of the Trek series without skipping a few episodes.

 

[Warped9]

Barring the inexpected I should start the rewatch today.


It's a bit amusing to see that my viewing list numbers 13-18 episodes per season. Strikes me that a well done new Trek series could be done in a 13-15 episode per season format probably on a specialty channel if not CBS.

Yeah, if done right I'd probably watch something like that.

 

[Melakon]

5 stars on BOBW 2 seems a bit generous to me, because it's not quite as tight as Part 1. Of course, it's kind of hard to top Part 1's cliffhanger with Patrick of Borg. There was some speculation at the time on whether he was leaving the show.

I'd probably rate "Family" at 4, primarily due to the lesson Picard learns and Stewart's performance. I thought young David Tristan Birkin was especially good as "Uncle" Rene. The location work also helps.

 

[wulfio]

Barring the inexpected I should start the rewatch today.


It's a bit amusing to see that my viewing list numbers 13-18 episodes per season. Strikes me that a well done new Trek series could be done in a 13-15 episode per season format probably on a specialty channel if not CBS.

Yeah, if done right I'd probably watch something like that.

It depends on the format. TNG was episodic. 20 episodes or 13 would have no effect on the story telling. Just that the latter would yield less stories.

I honestly prefer episodic, especially for this genre. I think when shows are so focused on their arc it becomes contrived. Some shows more than others. But I dislike it when character development is only there to serve the plot, rather than the character development driving the plot. I like it when it occurs organically the way it did in TNG for me.

 

[Warped9]

I, too, generally prefer episodic, but I could see where it could be largely that with some continuing threads running in mostly the background.

When you look at shows like Stargate and early seasons of Babylon 5 it was much like that--episodic storytelling with things running in the background.

 

[Lord Garth]

It depends on the format. TNG was episodic. 20 episodes or 13 would have no effect on the story telling. Just that the latter would yield less stories.

Maybe, maybe not. TNG (and the other series) usually had to meet a 26-episode-per-year quota no matter what. Didn't matter if they didn't have 26 good ideas, they had to do 26 episodes within a span of nine months, period.

With 13 episodes, there's less strain to come up with enough ideas and there's more time to develop them.

In several seasons of Star Trek, you'll have a case where one part of a season has a better stretch of episodes than another. Sticking to TNG: The middle of the fifth season isn't as strong as the beginning or end. The sixth season got better as it moved along.

 

[wulfio]

I'll take 10 bad-average episodes over none at all.