Revisiting ST-TNG...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
I can't say we've had huge differences of opinion on any one thing, save perhaps Deja Q. But its been an interesting ride so far.
RAMA
"Best Of Both Worlds" (Part II) *****
Riker takes command and looks for a way to beat the Borg before they attack Earth.
I think this works better now then when I first saw it twenty years ago. Riker goes for a different way to get at the Borg rather than head-on combat. Even the resolution works better because it makes sense (for me). I know a lot of folks felt disappointed with the resolution initially. And it's awfully convenient to keep Borg secrets secret by the ship self-destructing.
A good start to the season.
"Family" ***
While the Enterprise undergoes repairs the crew reconnect with family and home.
It isn't bad, some of it's okay, but it's rather tame after the season opener. This is the kind of thing we usually hear referenced as happening between adventures only here we actually get to see it. I could have done without it. Picard's bother and sister-in-law look a little old to have such a young son, but perhaps he's adopted. I do like the ending scene.
Riker takes command and looks for a way to beat the Borg before they attack Earth.
I think this works better now then when I first saw it twenty years ago. Riker goes for a different way to get at the Borg rather than head-on combat. Even the resolution works better because it makes sense (for me). I know a lot of folks felt disappointed with the resolution initially. And it's awfully convenient to keep Borg secrets secret by the ship self-destructing.
A good start to the season.
"Family" ***
While the Enterprise undergoes repairs the crew reconnect with family and home.
It isn't bad, some of it's okay, but it's rather tame after the season opener. This is the kind of thing we usually hear referenced as happening between adventures only here we actually get to see it. I could have done without it. Picard's bother and sister-in-law look a little old to have such a young son, but perhaps he's adopted. I do like the ending scene.
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Interesting. I find Family one of the most involving of all TNG episodes. Sure, it's not science fiction, but Picard's fight with his brother leading up to his admitting how guilty and humiliated he feels is something, I think, that took a lot of courage on the part of the writers. Kirk, for example, would never have been allowed to appear quite that vulnerable, and the writers may perhaps have been worried that such a breakdown on Picard's part would weaken the character, but on the contrary - it makes him more human, and somehow, even stronger and more interesting. It's also one of the most affecting of scenes - it moved me every time.
I also very much like the Wesley stuff, surprisingly enough. Maybe it's because I'm a father with a baby myself, and that scene on the holodeck, ending with Wesley's choked up, "Bye Dad" almost brings me to tears.
Oh well. To each his own.
We don't meet these two until Family, you accidentally put them in your BOBW2 review.
Anyway, with the longer life-spans we know exist in Trek's future its entirely possible menopause has either been eliminated, put off until later in life or something along those lines and, well, men can father kids until the day the die so it's possible they had a child late in life. I would suspect that Rene is a biological Picard, however.
^^ Thanks. Fixed.
The Picard stuff with his brother are the best parts of the episode, but it's not enough for me to lift the episode above the rest of it.
Like I said it isn't bad or poor, it's okay.
That said Troi skulking around from person to person trying to get them to talk about and examine their feelings just struck me as creepy. Man, I hate that character. In my mind I keep hearing, "Will someone get that stupid bitch to shut up."
It's one thing to seek someone out to talk about your feelings, but it's another for that someone to keep sticking their nose in your affairs unasked.
The Picard stuff with his brother are the best parts of the episode, but it's not enough for me to lift the episode above the rest of it.
Like I said it isn't bad or poor, it's okay.
That said Troi skulking around from person to person trying to get them to talk about and examine their feelings just struck me as creepy. Man, I hate that character. In my mind I keep hearing, "Will someone get that stupid bitch to shut up."
It's one thing to seek someone out to talk about your feelings, but it's another for that someone to keep sticking their nose in your affairs unasked.
Let it out, man. We've got you.
^^ At this point I just want her gone. Why oh why couldn't she have been the one assimilated? They could have kept her, too.
"Suddenly Human" **
A human youth is found aboard a ship of injured aliens.
Simply, this bored me out of my skull. I didn't care for it way back when and I still don't care for it now. This felt more like an after school television program rather than an episode of Star Trek.
And Picard constantly tugging at his tunic looks ridiculous. I'd say his clothing replicator really needs an overhaul.
"Brothers" **
Data is reunited with his creator and his twin brother Lore.
Data's turn for a family reunion episode. Brent Spiner gets to hog the screen and act out as three characters as well as wear a bad makeup job. Occasional moments to it, but in the end I can't find it in me to care.
"Suddenly Human" **
A human youth is found aboard a ship of injured aliens.
Simply, this bored me out of my skull. I didn't care for it way back when and I still don't care for it now. This felt more like an after school television program rather than an episode of Star Trek.
And Picard constantly tugging at his tunic looks ridiculous. I'd say his clothing replicator really needs an overhaul.
"Brothers" **
Data is reunited with his creator and his twin brother Lore.
Data's turn for a family reunion episode. Brent Spiner gets to hog the screen and act out as three characters as well as wear a bad makeup job. Occasional moments to it, but in the end I can't find it in me to care.
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Its funny Syfy is right there with you, showing a marathon of the first part of season 4 2 nights ago. More tomorrow i believe.
RAMA
Yeah, "Family" had the dishonor of being the first episode of Trek to that point to have NO scenes on the bridge. If it had been a battle-bridge-focused episode, fine, but sadly, BOBW2 is the last we see of saucer separation in the series. And, "Family" simply isn't Star Trek to me. It stinks. Don't care for "Suddenly Human" either. Season 4 marked a sharp decline in the series for me and after the excellent "Best of Both Worlds II," the season would take a bit to find another good (to me, at least) episode.
Well, in the next few episodes, you've got Remember Me, Reunion, The Wounded, and First Contact, four very different examples of what TNG does exceptionally well. They're all fantastic episodes. If you don't like those, then I suggest you give up on the whole project, because you're clearly not going to like much else on the show.
May I make a request, Warped?
When you add your reviews could you not phantom-edit your last post even if it mean yours reviews would result in a double post? The board's system doesn't recognize the edit as a "new post" so when you re-enter the thread when there is a new post it's easy to miss the most recent reviews if they were edited into your last post.
When you add your reviews could you not phantom-edit your last post even if it mean yours reviews would result in a double post? The board's system doesn't recognize the edit as a "new post" so when you re-enter the thread when there is a new post it's easy to miss the most recent reviews if they were edited into your last post.
If the last (most recent) post in the thread is someone else's then I'll enter a new post. I try not to add or edit an existing post unless that post is the most recent one. Also sometimes I remember to add something to a review I overlooked, but only if that post was recent.
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