Season 6: Is it me?

[Orphalesion]

Well, no, we know the magnitude of how many stars are in the galaxy. And we know the Federation's aware of a couple hundred humanoid lifeforms because we've seen them. And we also know that humanoids are a tiny minority of the galaxy's population; Spock said so. What needs explaining?

I meant in real life. In real life we don't know what aliens look like if they exist. And there are theories that they could be completely exotic creatures we don't even recognize as life and there are theories that they could be painfully mundane because evolution and "survival of the fittest" only allows for so many viable forms.
People complained about Star Trek mostly showing humanoid aliens, because many prefer the explanation of the "so exotic we don't even recognize as life" theory and said Star Trek is unrealistic because of it.
However we won't know what's the score with that IRL until/if we meet real aliens.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

Silicon based lifeforms could probably survive under harsher conditions than we do. They can visit us but if we reciprocate we die!!!

 

[MikeS]

I can understand that. The thing I think that is important to remember is that back in 1993, people watched TV in a much different way than we do today. As such, TV episodes were produced in a much different way as well. Think about it -- the majority of people back then had to wait a week between broadcasts to watch episodes. There was no Netflix, no Blu-Ray, nothing but an episode every Saturday at 6pm. You'd have a week to digest such a heavy episode like "Chain of Command" before the existential romp of "Ship in a Bottle." It sounds like you watched the shows back to back and just didn't have that "digestion" period and it's probably affecting how you received "Ship in a Bottle."

This is exactly why I have found the "Episode of the Week" thread to be so useful. Slow down. Digest the series. It's not Breaking Bad.

 

[EnriqueH]

'Aquiel' is a strange departure from the tone of the rest of the season, which makes me think that rewatching a film that influenced it might be enlightening. I still have a feeling it was a botched reference, but I'll give it a shot.

I loved the dog. Too bad it was a bad guy in disguise.

Neither of you have seen John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982)? See it. Feel it. Stay up nights, in terror.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(1982_film)

Seen it many times! Great movie. I loved Kurt Russell in the film, lots of great lines.

What? A big step down? A comedic romp? Did you even watch the same episode I did? "Ship in a Bottle" is one of the highlights of Season 6, and one of the best TNG episodes! You Monster!

It was a good episode!

But I just didn't like the shift in tone from Chain of Command to Ship in a Bottle.

It's like listening to The Doors and shifting to Motley Crue.

I might enjoy both but transitioning between the two can be a little jarring.

I can understand that. The thing I think that is important to remember is that back in 1993, people watched TV in a much different way than we do today. As such, TV episodes were produced in a much different way as well. Think about it -- the majority of people back then had to wait a week between broadcasts to watch episodes. There was no Netflix, no Blu-Ray, nothing but an episode every Saturday at 6pm. You'd have a week to digest such a heavy episode like "Chain of Command" before the existential romp of "Ship in a Bottle." It sounds like you watched the shows back to back and just didn't have that "digestion" period and it's probably affecting how you received "Ship in a Bottle."

EXCELLENT point.

This was in the days before...shit, what do they call it? Marathon viewings?

"Frame Of Mind" really felt like the writers got together and one of them said:

"Let's do a Riker episode this time."

"Agreed, it's been a while since the last one, do you have any ideas?"

"What would be a good Riker story?"

"One Where he yells a lot?"

"Bingo!"

"Let's do it, people!"


Later:

"LET ME OUT OF HERE! LET ME OUT OF HERE!"

Good take, but try it a little louder next time.

Frame Of Mind is a trippy episode. I was like 10 when it first aired and my overprotective mother wanted to stop me from seeing it. At the time of the episode "Trapped in a dream" was a lot less common.

The Chase was less of a midochlorian situation than the Klingon forehead thing was. I saw the main intent of the episode was to have enemies come together and discover they had a common origin, and explaining why most intelligent species are humanoid was a fun by-product.

It is pretty statistically improbable that all intelligent species in the immediate vicinity are either humanoids or all powerful energy wisps. But, it's also pretty unnecessary to explain because the audience knows the real reason, because the actors who play them are human.

I *LOVE* *LOVE *LOVE* Frame of Mind!

I haven't seen it in YEARS and I'm looking forward to watching it.

So far, Season 6 is not holding up. I just saw "Face of the Enemy" and it was ok, but just ok. (Maybe even above average, but I was not blown away.) Talking about Spock, and not revealing him seemed half-assed.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

Starship Mine is a really good episode! IMO, it is one of the few that actually redeem the whole season.

It'd be interesting to know why Picard chose to pretend to be the Bolian barber though...

 

[doubleohfive]

So far, Season 6 is not holding up. I just saw "Face of the Enemy" and it was ok, but just ok. (Maybe even above average, but I was not blown away.) Talking about Spock, and not revealing him seemed half-assed.

Whatever issue I might have had with this (I didn't, honestly) is utterly diminished and outshined by how completely badass Troi gets to be in this episode. I think if we'd seen more of this Counselor Troi through the series, she might not get the unfair rap she gets a lot of the time from some fans.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

So far, Season 6 is not holding up. I just saw "Face of the Enemy" and it was ok, but just ok. (Maybe even above average, but I was not blown away.) Talking about Spock, and not revealing him seemed half-assed.

Whatever issue I might have had with this (I didn't, honestly) is utterly diminished and outshined by how completely badass Troi gets to be in this episode. I think if we'd seen more of this Counselor Troi through the series, she might not get the unfair rap she gets a lot of the time from some fans.

Personally, I didn't find her very convincing. I found it a bit contradictory that the Romulans would have such intense fear of the Tal Shiar and at the same time would speak in such loose terms of how much they dislike them. I mean, it's either one or the other but not both. For instance if everything Deanna said to the crew about their families being in jeopardy and all that were true then she wouldn't even need to say it in the first place, people would either obey her orders without discussion or become revolutionary and blow a hole inside her. The latter being by far the least likely of the two.

 

[Orphalesion]

Whatever issue I might have had with this (I didn't, honestly) is utterly diminished and outshined by how completely badass Troi gets to be in this episode. I think if we'd seen more of this Counselor Troi through the series, she might not get the unfair rap she gets a lot of the time from some fans.

Hear, hear! If they had just allowed her to be useful and competent! Intelligence Officer: another position that would have fit a telepath well and would have looked better sitting next to the Captain. Of course I still think she could just as easily just being "Ship's Telepath/Telepathic Officer" like the ones on Babylon 5.

I found it a bit contradictory that the Romulans would have such intense fear of the Tal Shiar and at the same time would speak in such loose terms of how much they dislike them

Don't we also see that in totalitarian human societies? And don't forget that the Romulan's "hat" was to be scheming, egotistical and grand-standing, so even if they had intense fear of the Tel Shiar, they'd still try to badmouth them, especially to their faces.

 

[EnriqueH]

I've always liked Troi (as a 15 year old, I had a poster of her on my wall along with Alyssa Milano).

So I never bought into Troi criticisms. No, her episodes weren't always the best, but I blame the writers/directors, not the actress or the character.

In this case, I thought the episode was about a "6" on a scale from 1-10.

I know everyone speaks English on Star Trek, but it's usually smoothed over in a way that seems believable, (universal translator, or previously established contact). But it stood out in this particular episode because Troi is under cover. Where was the Universal Translator or was really speaking Romulan?

And who was that Ensign guy? Was he in an earlier episode? I don't remember. He seemed like an Earth man who had gone over to Romulus? In a way, he was more interesting than the stuff on the Romulan warbird.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Yeah, there are an immense amount of stars in the galaxy and only a few hundred stated to have sapient life. But a bunch of them are established to be pretty damn close to Earth.

If Vulcan were really as close to Earth as it has been implied to be, we would have found it by now.

I thought Troi was a good character in episodes where she wasn't the center. But her empathy does tend to be selectively useful. There are many episodes where characters get away with lying who shouldn't be able to. And she has a tendency to state the obvious.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Season 6 is totally you! Not many can pull it off, but you rock it!

 

[Lance]

There are several things that we get hints of, that Troi could have been but wasn't:

For example: An intimate counsel to the Captain. We saw this from time to time (for example, "The Big Goodbye", "We'll Always Have Paris", with the in-Command Geordi in "Arsenal Of Freedom"). But I don't think it was as accentuated as it could've been. Sure, Picard's the captain, and he should be able to make autonomous decisions. But it might've been nice to have suggested more often that she's as important an aide to him as Riker is. The left arm and the right arm of the captain. It'd sure explain why she's got a chair on the bridge right there in the command circle, as well.

 

[FormerLurker]

The problem with that being that Guinan usurped that role almost from her first appearance. While they did try on occasion to re-establish Troi in the adviser/counselor role for the Captain in particular, once Guinan was a presence on the ship they kept using her and expanding her relationship with Picard until Troi became little more than the Voice of Feelings.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

...Don't we also see that in totalitarian human societies? And don't forget that the Romulan's "hat" was to be scheming, egotistical and grand-standing, so even if they had intense fear of the Tel Shiar, they'd still try to badmouth them, especially to their faces.

And in any totalitarian regime that would be suicidal, equivalent to put a disruptor to their own heads and pull the trigger.

One of my great grand fathers spent his last days in Siberia for being a little too vocal, so I know whereof I speak.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

I've always liked Troi (as a 15 year old, I had a poster of her on my wall along with Alyssa Milano).

So I never bought into Troi criticisms. No, her episodes weren't always the best, but I blame the writers/directors, not the actress or the character.

In this case, I thought the episode was about a "6" on a scale from 1-10.

I know everyone speaks English on Star Trek, but it's usually smoothed over in a way that seems believable, (universal translator, or previously established contact). But it stood out in this particular episode because Troi is under cover. Where was the Universal Translator or was really speaking Romulan?

And who was that Ensign guy? Was he in an earlier episode? I don't remember. He seemed like an Earth man who had gone over to Romulus? In a way, he was more interesting than the stuff on the Romulan warbird.

I just assumed that the UT is so close to perfection that it can make you successfully pass off as one of the natives.

 

[Orphalesion]

And in any totalitarian regime that would be suicidal, equivalent to put a disruptor to their own heads and pull the trigger.

One of my great grand fathers spent his last days in Siberia for being a little too vocal, so I know whereof I speak.

Oh sorry, I meant two different things;

1) In any totalitarian society people will grumble against the group in power, in real life that happens privately, among people they (hope) they can trust.

2)The Romulans are all about egotism, so trash talking might be an acceptable part of their culture and accepted within certain limits. They are aliens after all.

And my grandfather was in Siberia as well and my grandmother lived under the Nazis. I heard enough stories as a child and have read about it it since then to know of what I speak as well.

 

[EnriqueH]

Just saw Tapestry again for the first time in years.

Now THIS is more like it.

Loved it from start to finish. Best episode since Relics.

I wish the writers had followed up on the Lenarians that attacked Picard and his team.

They must've felt comfortable initially because it looked like Picard AND Riker were both down there.

Aside from the Borg, it looked like a pretty vicious attack and I would've liked to have seen them deal with them in the next episode.

But what are you going to do?

 

[FormerLurker]

Silicon based lifeforms could probably survive under harsher conditions than we do. They can visit us but if we reciprocate we die!!!

That's what the spacesuits are for.

 

[JD5000]

...Don't we also see that in totalitarian human societies? And don't forget that the Romulan's "hat" was to be scheming, egotistical and grand-standing, so even if they had intense fear of the Tel Shiar, they'd still try to badmouth them, especially to their faces.

And in any totalitarian regime that would be suicidal, equivalent to put a disruptor to their own heads and pull the trigger.

One of my great grand fathers spent his last days in Siberia for being a little too vocal, so I know whereof I speak.

Applies perfectly to modern, real, human fascist societies...fictional Romulan cultural and political standards can't just be directly compared to 20th century non-fictional history. They're aliens and it's centuries into the future. And they are aliens.

The reference is indisputably there, but it's not a mirror image.

 

[Kobayshi Maru]

...Don't we also see that in totalitarian human societies? And don't forget that the Romulan's "hat" was to be scheming, egotistical and grand-standing, so even if they had intense fear of the Tel Shiar, they'd still try to badmouth them, especially to their faces.

And in any totalitarian regime that would be suicidal, equivalent to put a disruptor to their own heads and pull the trigger.

One of my great grand fathers spent his last days in Siberia for being a little too vocal, so I know whereof I speak.

Applies perfectly to modern, real, human fascist societies...fictional Romulan cultural and political standards can't just be directly compared to 20th century non-fictional history. They're aliens and it's centuries into the future. And they are aliens.

The reference is indisputably there, but it's not a mirror image.

But isn't that what good fiction is supposed to do, measure up to real life experiences?