Yeah, that's the first one that pops into my head. To me, that is a happy ending, but I'm weird like that.
Non-Happy Endings
- Thread starter plynch
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Yeah, that's the first one that pops into my head. To me, that is a happy ending, but I'm weird like that.
They've already been mentioned but i wanted to comment:
The Outcast was an amazing episode. Some of TNG finest writing, as was the Host. And looking at the lists submitted, i almost tend to think it is the episodes that do not have happy endings that make for the finest work done on TNG.
The Outcast was an amazing episode. Some of TNG finest writing, as was the Host. And looking at the lists submitted, i almost tend to think it is the episodes that do not have happy endings that make for the finest work done on TNG.
I found TNG season one from the first episode after 'Encounter at Farpoint' through 'Justice' to be frustratingly lacking in resolution for at least one of the primary storylines in each episode. The Anticans ate a Selae. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
"A Private Little War": I just rewatched: wowee-wow, what a moving ending. The all-out melee with Tyree all vengeful and wanting more weapons: I teared up, seriously. Kirk's last liine is "We're very tired, Mr. Scott; beam us up home." Then the Enterprise flyaway is accompanied by somber music. Good job, writer/producers.
That episode would have been a lot better if the old admiral had been who it was originally supposed to be: Kirk, facing the fallout of his decisions in "A Private Little War".
Are you for real!?
Don't look at me, I didn't make that up. It's true. "Too Short A Season" was originally supposed to be a direct sequel to "A Private Little War", with Kirk - now an admiral - returning to Neural to confront the results of his actions. They changed it when Shatner declined to appear. Linky
trevanian
Rear Admiral
DC Fontana was quoted as saying the pitch was by a writer going through male menopause, and she sure as shit didn't say anything about Kirk, which would have been antithetical to the whole 'stand on its own' approach everybody on TNG was so heavy on at first. It sounds seriously ludicrous to me, plus it would have smacked of, 'tear down the old show to make the new guys seem better,' which is a shitty way to work.
When I first watched this episode I had no idea that this was the itention, but it seemed blindlingly obvious to me that's what it should have been. I even remember saying that "this episode would have been so much better if...."
A couple of others from TNG:
Frame of Mind - ends on a vaguely distrubring note, watching Riker tearing down the theatre set
Viloations - they catch the bad guy and Picard gets to make his speech but the camera panning around the table suggests the victims are still struggling
^ For me, TUVIX is very disturbing. I still cannot reconcile "killing" Tuvix to bring back Tuvoc and Neelix. Tuvix was a sentient being...the other two were now "gone", so to speak. His (Tuvix's) speech and desperate attempt to convince them that what they wanted to do was wrong.....i found that so incredibly moving. I've never been able to sit comfortably with what was done to him for the sake of their old friends. For me, it just seems horribly wrong.
I think that was one of the best episodes for Voyager. It was one that made you think and feel. And didnt' end with a 'happy ending'. It was writing like that episode that always makes me stick up for Voyager to people that didnt like the series. There are some real gems in Voyager.
I think that was one of the best episodes for Voyager. It was one that made you think and feel. And didnt' end with a 'happy ending'. It was writing like that episode that always makes me stick up for Voyager to people that didnt like the series. There are some real gems in Voyager.
Somewhere in the ether of this bbs there is a thread about this with strong opinions on both sides. I really want to see the ep! Don't remember it from the initial run and I don't have cable for reruns.
Most VOY episodes are available on YouTube now. It shouldn't be hard to find.
There was some talk about it on the Most morally questionable act by a protagonist thread.
I've just sen "Tuvix", and I can see why it was so controversial..but there really was no right thing to do in that situation. Certainly one of the better Voyager episodes so far, and I respect the writers for, for once, not taking the easy way out.
Here is the latest Tuvix thread - at least I think it's the latest: http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=73462&highlight=tuvix
Warning: It's long! There's some interesting stuff there, but...there's a lot of it.
I've been told there are others - this is something that comes up periodically in the VOY forum, or so I'm told - but this is the only one I remember.
Warning: It's long! There's some interesting stuff there, but...there's a lot of it.
I've been told there are others - this is something that comes up periodically in the VOY forum, or so I'm told - but this is the only one I remember.
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Y'know for all the crap Voyager gets, in my mind's ear I remember a lot of ethical discussions between Janeway and Chakotay about questionable actions that will get them home quicker. Probably a bunch of those dilemmas were solved by Kim and Torez pulling a technobabble rabbit out of the sensor array or whatever, but at least they tried dealing with some toughies. IF I remember correctly, which is itself questionable.
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