Just re-watched Encounter at Farpoint

[Shatnertage]

And wow, that was a tough one to get through.

About two minutes in, and you've got Data reciting the thesaurus ("snoop..ah, to spy, to skulk, etc, etc,) and Troi "sensing a presence" with an anguished look.

Two of my least favorite things to start out with...throw in the holodeck malfunctioning and a Mark Twain impersonator, and it would have been a superfecta of suck.

Still, it was fun to watch--there's some neat stuff in there, and how can you not like the symbolism of the ancient unnamed admiral walking the halls of the new Enterprise? I kept watching back during the first run because, well, it was Star Trek, but I can see how it would have turned plenty of people off.

Made me wonder...is there anything that GR could have thrown into Encounter that would have made you stop watching?

And also, what exactly is a Groppler? How do you gropple? Is it the kind of thing that only consenting adults do?

 

[Skellington]

You have a point. ST:TNG looks very 1960s up until the end of season 1.

The ancient unnamed admiral was Leonard "Bones" McCoy as played by DeForest Kelley, by the way.

 

[Shatnertage]

The ancient unnamed admiral was Leonard "Bones" McCoy as played by DeForest Kelley, by the way.

Oh yeah, I knew that...that's what gave it the symbolism. His Southern accent sure got more pronounced as he got older though, didn't it?

I genuinely don't know how to gropple, though.

 

[RandyS]

You are both wrong. Encounter at Farpoint was a decent episode.

 

[Amaris]

I actually enjoy EaF quite a bit.

 

[Genesis Does]

It's not bad, especially considering it's the pilot episode.

I dare you to find a show that has everything in place and is perfect right from the pilot. Every TV show that's worth it's salt goes through changes and grows into itself through the years.

Isn't it Grappler, not Groppler?

 

[Amaris]

Groppler.

 

[DevilEyes]

I just rewatched it on SciFi Channel. I always thought it was an OK episode (unlike most of season 1). The story is pretty good, and from that perspective I can understand why it got a Hugo - although it always bothered me that Q, who was positioning himself as a moral arbiter, was so obviously annoying and um, ethically challenged and that it was clear right from the start that he was not just not fit to be any kind of moral arbiter, but that Picard always had a moral high-ground - which makes the whole conflict a foregone conclusion. I liked the story with the space entities though, it's a kind of classic Trek story and the kind that franchise usually did well but did very rarely (there's never enough completely alien entities in Trek, as they stretch the budget more than your usual humanoids).

What really hurts the episode are some of the characters dialogue and performances, so it has mixed results as a pilot episode. It does a good introduction of Picard, including his flaws - his inability to socialize and deal with children. But some of Data's dialogue is rather clunky - his opening lines are the first in the series of scenes that try too much to get comedy out of Data by making him seem clueless about some 'human' things he really should not be clueless about.

But the worst thing about the episode is Troi. Every time I rewatch the episode, it strikes me just how lame a character she was at this point. I also realize it's mostly due to Marina Sirtis. OK, Troi is a telepathic counsellor, but does that mean she has to always have to have that babe in the woods look on her face and to speak in that touchy-feely way? One of the moments I remembered as grating from the previous time I watched it was the last scene when she's speaking about the entities' feelings - ironically it's one of the moments in the early seasons when she has a good reason to talk about what she's sensing, since the entities are too alien to communicate with humanoids - but her delivery really bugs me and spoils the scene.

Frakes is almost as bad, it's funny too see how wooden he was - all his acting consisted of giving a very intense, wide-eyed look. It's very different from the Riker of the later seasons who acted a lot more naturally.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

This is a groppler:


This is a grappler:


Not as big a difference as you'd think, and both just about as interesting. The second is a lot more useful though.

 

[Piper]

I dare you to find a show that has everything in place and is perfect right from the pilot.

Frasier.

 

[DonIago]

While I tend to think previous posters were being facetious, I would assume Groppler to be a title that the UT couldn't easily translate into something more recognizable to us.

I haven't seen EaF in years now, but were I to do so I suspect Troi might not be the only one feeling pain...

I still remember the computer guiding Riker and seeming just a little overly-helpful. And Picard specifying orders be -printed- seemed dated even at the time.

 

[RegFan]

I dare you to find a show that has everything in place and is perfect right from the pilot.

Battlestar Galactica (the new version) is about as close to this as a TV show can get.

In my opinion, while EaF wasn't nearly as good as an average S3-7 episode, it was still one of the better episodes of Season 1.

 

[buckeyenation]

I've watched this one a few times, keeping in mind all the while it's the pilot, a new show yada, yada, yada....and it's still pretty bad.The only satisfaction I get from it is eventually, TNG will become great.

 

[buckeyenation]

This is a groppler:


This is a grappler:


Not as big a difference as you'd think, and both just about as interesting. The second is a lot more useful though.

Hey, Zorn...the 1980's just called, it wants its hair back.

 

[Aslan ch'Shran]

I hate Encounter at Farpoint. The fact that the city turned into an alien lifeform-jellyfish screamed "typical Trek" that I roll my eyes every time.

I still think its essential watching (Pilot of a new Trek series) but it doesn't mean I like it that much.

 

[Kelso]

I've always enjoyed Farpoint. Not the best of Trek, but a lot of fun.

 

[Balrog]

I hate Encounter at Farpoint. The fact that the city turned into an alien lifeform-jellyfish screamed "typical Trek" that I roll my eyes every time.

How is EaF being "typical Trek" a bad thing?

I always liked EaF.

 

[Shazam!]

I liked Encounter at Farpoint. Ditching the miniskirt on female crew members was a mistake though.

 

[DevilEyes]

Oh, and BTW, what's up with the remark about the Ferengi "they'll find you as tasty as their previous business partners"? Are we going to fanwank that as Picard just being facetious and teasing Zorn, or whatever his name was?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ I think they were still planing on the Ferengi being serious bad guys at this point.

That idea seemed to go away right about the time of their first appearance. They ended being a lot of fun later on at least.