Eh, "The Measure of a Man" is largely considered the best TNG Star Trek episode by many aside from TBOBW. Just like "Living Witness" is considered the best VOY episode.
But it's different fandoms and markets.
Spoilers So, what do we think of Season 2 now that it's done?
- Thread starter Charles Phipps
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Eh, "The Measure of a Man" is largely considered the best TNG Star Trek episode by many aside from TBOBW. Just like "Living Witness" is considered the best VOY episode.
But it's different fandoms and markets.
True enough and I don't think I would be inclined to set a hard and fast rule. But, my observation, especially with Trek, is the tendency to move towards the more popular episodes and films, and draw elements from each. Which, is more action, more ship combat, less emphasis on the exploration piece.
Ultimately, what it comes down to is the simple idea that writing teams needs to just write good stories that will have broad appeal, not check boxes on canon and fan lists.
Er, I think "Yesterday's Enterprise" beats "Measure of a Man" as the best TNG episode aside from BoBW.
Anyway, I finally had a chance to see the final episode of season 2. As far as what I think? Well, I have lots of thoughts, but I think the main issue I have with the season is this: After watching all ten episodes, I'm not quite buying the concept of the Confederacy.
So basically, the reason why the Confederacy formed was because in the alternate timeline, Renee Picard didn't go on the Europa mission and didn't discover this microbe which helps Earth's environment. Because of this, the environment erodes, necessitating the shield technology originally invented by Adam Soong. But here's where things get muddy...
Because of this, for some strange reason that is never adequately explained, the people of Earth decide that all aliens are bad and need exterminating, and despite living on a dying planet, humans are somehow able to build advanced warships all on their own, and pretty much kill or enslave all other aliens, even the Borg. And their figurehead is Soong, whose catchphrase is "A safe galaxy is a Human galaxy," despite the fact that to his knowledge Soong never actually encountered aliens and would have no reason to fear them.
The 'evil Federation' trope (like the Mirror universe) just didn't work for me. Having the show take place in 2024, I would have thought that they would have linked it to "Past Tense," where it was implied that because of the change in that timeline, Earth never amounted to anything because things were so bad that humans never had a chance fix their problems and become part of the Federation, if the Federation even existed at all. Instead Earth became this all-super-conquering fascistic space power for some completely contrived shock value. Nothing about it made an ounce of sense. Why do humans hate and fear aliens? How did they get the resources to build war fleets when their own planet is in environmental collapse? How did they gain the technology to be able to defeat the Borg, for crying out loud?
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Eh, I'd argue that the write-up holds up here more than the vast majority of time travel stories in Star Trek.
Divergent Timeline
1. Rene Picard doesn't head to space/is killed.
2. Without the microbe and the little boy raised by Rios, the Earth's environment collapses.
3. Adam Soong, who invested a solar energy shield to protect Kore (we see it in her episode), becomes the richest and most powerful man on Earth.
4. Adam Soong, the man who created Khan Noonian Singh, and an eugenicist dickbag, proceeds to exert a vast amount of influence on humanity. Presumably, this includes making a large chunk of humans into Augments.
5. The "baddies" win the Eugenics Wars/World War 3 if such a conflict happens at all.
6. Humanity never gets its shit together.
7. Adam Soong and his reactionary transhumanist ideals dominate humanity for the next few centuries.
(Soong may well live long enough to see First Contact too since he's a master geneticist)
Huh? None of that was implied in the show. First of all, there's nothing stating that Adam Soong created Khan. He just had a confidential report about the 'Khan Project' from 1996. Which we saw only after the timeline was restored, so whatever he did with that report was meaningless. It was basically an Easter Egg about his descendant Arik Soong. Second, there's no evidence that the Confederacy humans were Augments or descendants of Augments.
Well, his name is Adam Soong and his descendant is named Noonian Soong and another of his descendants was obsessed with Augmentation while he, himself, is making superhuman children via genetic engineering. He also has a confidential file on Project: Khan.
I'm not sure what exactly your definition of "implied" is but I think we cross that line.
And we know that transhumanism is an accepted practice in the Confederation because Picard is stated to have been uploaded into an android body and there's nothing remotely strange about their most celebrated general having done this. They also employ household servant robots. This, if nothing else, shows they're more comfortable with immortality and transhumanism than the Federation.
I may be reaching but I'm pretty sure the high shelf is in plain view.
But you stated that he outright created Khan, which despite what he did with his daughters, was not stated or implied to be the case.
Imply: "Strongly suggesting the truth or existence of something not expressly stated."
Being uploaded into an android body is not the same as being an Augment.
You don't believe Project: Khan is likely the project that created the genetically engineered man called Khan?
The file being in the hands of a man known for genetically engineering people with the same name?
That's not implying?
What do you think the file was implying?
Serious question. Not sarcasm.
Yes I do.
The file was in Soong’s hands, however it got there.
It was implying that his knowledge of genetic engineering, coupled with whatever information was in that file, would lead to his descendant Arik Soong’s involvement with the Augments over a hundred years later.
Showrunner Terry Matalas just explictly confirmed on Twitter that the Borg as a whole have not joined the Federation, just one peaceful faction.
Not gonna lie I think it takes away a lot of the impact of the season.
Not gonna lie I think it takes away a lot of the impact of the season.
Feels very much in line with TNG.
I was expecting the whole Borg, but actually it does something that the Borg needed; added some variety. They tried in Voyager and failed. At least here it feels like this faction will stick, kind of like the Tok'Ra against the Goa'uld.
We just saw the last episode, and the story just doesn't make any sense. I was also mostly boring. If I could choose between the litverse books and this show the choice would be easy.
I would have preferred to know more about the status of everyone in the 24th and 25th century.
I would have preferred to know more about the status of everyone in the 24th and 25th century.
Season 3 is literally "where are they now" with the TNG cast.
I hope so. And I am curious of the status of the Klingons, Cardassians and other races.
Cardassians are members of the Federation, according to a computer graphic in Admiral Clancy's office.
Season Two had a stronger beginning and a stronger ending.
Season 1 had a stronger middle. More really good episodes (Absolute Candor, The Impossible Box, Nepenthe), and the best scene (Data's exit).
Season 1 had a stronger middle. More really good episodes (Absolute Candor, The Impossible Box, Nepenthe), and the best scene (Data's exit).
Darmok.
I think Trek is better when it is more about out-thinking than out-shooting.
Some of the best "action" episodes are more about thinking & tension than the shooting part. Balance of Terror, TWOK, TBOBW, and the recent SNW episode are all in that category for me.
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