Revisiting ST-TNG...

[Warped9]

Although statistically similar to Season 4 I find Season 5 left me disappointed. It had some good moments, but overall I don't find it that memorable. If I'd never seen Season 5 I don't think I'd feel I missed anything of significance.

Looking forward to Season 6 these are the episodes I remember in a positive light:
"Relics"
"Tapestry"
"Rightful Heir"



"Time's Arrow" Part II ****

The crew try to find Data and stop the alien hunters in 19th century San Francisco.

Like Part I this gets nudged up into Good because it was amusing in the right spots and I can't find it in myself to be wholly indifferent to it. That said there are some questionable moments to it. I found the portrayal of the 19th century characters, including Samuel Clemens, to be mostly caricatures. And Picard's method of sending a message to the future seemed a little too complex. What I found funny was how Data managed better in old San Francisco than the rest of the human crew. At least he grasped the value of having money in hand.

 

[Tomalak]

Funny, I remember Rightful Heir being more tedious Klingon bilge!

 

[Ubik]

Although statistically similar to Season 4 I find Season 5 left me disappointed. It had some good moments, but overall I don't find it that memorable. If I'd never seen Season 5 I don't think I'd feel I missed anything of significance.

Looking forward to Season 6 these are the episodes I remember in a positive light:
"Relics"
"Tapestry"
"Rightful Heir"



"Time's Arrow" Part II ****

The crew try to find Data and stop the alien hunters in 19th century San Francisco.

Like Part I this gets nudged up into Good because it was amusing in the right spots and I can't find it in myself to be wholly indifferent to it. That said there are some questionable moments to it. I found the portrayal of the 19th century characters, including Samuel Clemens, to be mostly caricatures. And Picard's method of sending a message to the future seemed a little too complex. What I found funny was how Data managed better in old San Francisco than the rest of the human crew. At least he grasped the value of having money in hand.

Also fantastic from Season 6 are Chain of Command (just ignore that Picard being sent on this mission is a bit implausible, and the episode is masterful), Ship in a Bottle, Face of the Enemy, Frame of Mind, Timescape....tons of fun to be had here. A truly great (and non-cozy/non-formulaic) season.

 

[Warped9]

Well, not having seen these in quite some time it'll be interesting to see what impression the Season 6 episodes make now.

 

[Warped9]

"Realm Of Fear" *

Lt. Barclay's fear of the transporter turns out to have some justification.

This was patently stupid. Firstly it's dull and plodding. And I simply can't accept this doofus serving aboard the Enterprise. Secondly how the transporter process is depicted strikes me as patent bullshit. If you're taken apart as they describe then you are effectively in some form os stasis---you're not going to perceive or interact with anything let alone see something while dematerialized and actually be able to reach out and grab it. You are dematerialized and don't exist as matter until you're rematerialized again.

The whole thing is stupid.

 

[Ubik]

"Realm Of Fear" *

Lt. Barclay's fear of the transporter turns out to have some justification.

This was patently stupid. Firstly it's dull and plodding. And I simply can't accept this doofus serving aboard the Enterprise. Secondly how the transporter process is depicted strikes me as patent bullshit. If you're taken apart as they describe then you are effectively in some form os stasis---you're not going to perceive or interact with anything let alone see something while dematerialized and actually be able to reach out and grab it. You are dematerialized and don't exist as matter until you're rematerialized again.

The whole thing is stupid.

Yeah? The next episode is even worse....(although possibly more entertaining)

 

[Warped9]

"Man Of The People" *

Troi falls prey to a life force vampire.

Yeesh! An alien feeding off Troi's life energy turns her into an aging and predatory bitch. I always knew that's what she was at heart. I really couldn't be less interested. What I found really laughable was that while it took at least a number of days for Troi to deteriorate she reverts back to her normal self in mere seconds. Eh...yeah.

 

[Tomalak]

"Man Of The People" *

Troi falls prey to a life force vampire.

Yeesh! An alien feeding off Troi's life energy turns her into an aging and predatory bitch. I always knew that's what she was at heart. I really couldn't be less interested. What I found really laughable was that while it took at least a number of days for Troi to deteriorate she reverts back to her normal self in mere seconds. Eh...yeah.

That's my vote for TNG's worst episode actually. Just.... horrendous.

 

[TrekAlliance92]

I don't care for "Realm of Fear," but as a standalone, near-kitschy episode, I like "Man of the People." It's reasonably entertaining in its own right.

 

[Warped9]

"Relics" ***

Montgomery Scott emerges from a suspended transporter beam after seventy-five years.

James Doohan's presence evokes a measure of nostalgia as does a brief glimpse of the TOS' bridge (the episode's saving grace), but much of this is written like a piece of fan fiction. Some of the dialogue is just so hokey and fanboyish. I also found it sad to hear Scotty spouting TNG era technobabble.

Scotty's presence and his scene with Picard are the only real good things about this episode and solely what motivates me to give this a 3 rating. Otherwise I don't really care for it anymore. I understood and empathized with Scotty's situation and at the same time I could also understand Laforge's point of view. In the end, though, I really didn't care much for how Scotty is portrayed here. He never once passed himself off as a miracle worker---that was something someone else says about him in one of the films.

I'd also like to understand how an energy field (which are what shields are) can hold back such massive solid matter such as the Dyson Sphere's hatch doors.

 

[Trekker4747]

Although statistically similar to Season 4 I find Season 5 left me disappointed. It had some good moments, but overall I don't find it that memorable. If I'd never seen Season 5 I don't think I'd feel I missed anything of significance.

Looking forward to Season 6 these are the episodes I remember in a positive light:
"Relics"
"Tapestry"
"Rightful Heir"



"Time's Arrow" Part II ****

The crew try to find Data and stop the alien hunters in 19th century San Francisco.

Like Part I this gets nudged up into Good because it was amusing in the right spots and I can't find it in myself to be wholly indifferent to it. That said there are some questionable moments to it. I found the portrayal of the 19th century characters, including Samuel Clemens, to be mostly caricatures. And Picard's method of sending a message to the future seemed a little too complex. What I found funny was how Data managed better in old San Francisco than the rest of the human crew. At least he grasped the value of having money in hand.

Yeah, I thought the guy who was doing Clemens/Twain did a good job but played things maybe a bit over-the-top his behavior on the Enterprise just felt very out of place.

 

[BillJ]

Yeah, I thought the guy who was doing Clemens/Twain did a good job but played things maybe a bit over-the-top his behavior on the Enterprise just felt very out of place.

That's because he actually had a personality.

 

[Warped9]

"Schisms" ***

Crew members are being abducted while they sleep.

On the plus side there is a good story idea at the heart of this and it's told with a decent sense of creepiness. But it's slooow. It takes easily a third of the episode for us to get any sense of what's going on and two thirds in before anything meaty really happens.

This feels like taking the idea of alien abduction as reported today and giving it a 24th century spin. Interesting, but I think it could have been better executed.

 

[Ubik]

"Schisms" ***

Crew members are being abducted while they sleep.

On the plus side there is a good story idea at the heart of this and it's told with a decent sense of creepiness. But it's slooow. It takes easily a third of the episode for us to get any sense of what's going on and two thirds in before anything meaty really happens.

This feels like taking the idea of alien abduction as reported today and giving it a 24th century spin. Interesting, but I think it could have been better executed.

You failed to mention or give credit to the fact that, mediocre as this episode is, it has probably the single creepiest scene in the entire series, along with the best use of the Holodeck: the scene where they put together the abduction table, and someone says, "I've been in this room before." It's an extremely well-executed scene, don't you think?

But, yeah - too much technobabble, too slow a pace. And the mediocrity of the 6th season more or less continues for another 4 episodes or so. Then it picks up like mad.

 

[Ubik]

"Relics" ***

Montgomery Scott emerges from a suspended transporter beam after seventy-five years.

James Doohan's presence evokes a measure of nostalgia as does a brief glimpse of the TOS' bridge (the episode's saving grace), but much of this is written like a piece of fan fiction. Some of the dialogue is just so hokey and fanboyish. I also found it sad to hear Scotty spouting TNG era technobabble.

Scotty's presence and his scene with Picard are the only real good things about this episode and solely what motivates me to give this a 3 rating. Otherwise I don't really care for it anymore. I understood and empathized with Scotty's situation and at the same time I could also understand Laforge's point of view. In the end, though, I really didn't care much for how Scotty is portrayed here. He never once passed himself off as a miracle worker---that was something someone else says about him in one of the films.

I'd also like to understand how an energy field (which are what shields are) can hold back such massive solid matter such as the Dyson Sphere's hatch doors.

Oh, by the way, you're wrong - Scotty absolutely does pass himself off as a miracle worker. Remember the lines: Kirk: Mr. Scott, have you always multiplied your repair estimates by a factor of 4?" Scotty: Aye, sir. How else could I keep my reputation as a miracle worker?" So, it's perfectly in character for Scotty to act that way in this episode.

Also, this is easily a 4-star episode. The stuff with the Dyson sphere is largely irrelevant to the main themes of the show, namely how Scotty feels old and obsolete. Considering how fast technology is developing these days, it's a significant theme to explore, and they explore it with great sympathy and insight.

 

[Warped9]

Regarding the holodeck scene in "Schisms"---yes, it is quite eerie.

Regarding the Dyson Sphere in "Relics"---it left me frustrated because it was a cool idea introduced and then left hanging. Argh!

 

[Ubik]

Regarding the holodeck scene in "Schisms"---yes, it is quite eerie.

Regarding the Dyson Sphere in "Relics"---it left me frustrated because it was a cool idea introduced and then left hanging. Argh!

See, but that's the thing about TNG. And you've certainly watched enough episodes to recognize this now for yourself, but oftentimes, a TNG episode is not even remotely about its technological sci-fi plot; they're trying to rescue a planet from the sun, or cure a disease, or fix a machine that feeds people, or whatever - it's their B-plot, a going-through-the-motions that is there for no reason but to fill up space and give the characters a reason to interact with each other, and to give the main character some kind of character conflict. That character conflict is often the main point. So, you must have realized that to judge a TNG episode by its throwaway sci-fi plot is kind of deliberately missing the point. The question for a show like Relics is, does the Scotty/Geordie plot work? Does the Scotty/Picard relationship work? And I think the answer to those 2 questions is a resounding yes. The throwaway nature of the Dyson sphere plot is completely and deliberately forgettable, but so what? The main part of the episode, the point of the whole thing, is fantastic, some real great character work. Isn't that enough to make an episode great? To judge Relics badly because of its technology plot is sort of like judging Blade Runner badly because you don't find the technology of the replicants believable. But isn't the technology of the replicants (and of the Dyson sphere) irrelevant?

 

[Warped9]

^^ Oh I must certainly understand. But that doesn't wash for me. This is supposed to be Star Trek, not the weekly family drama. And it's made worse when the character driven plot isn't even well done.

Truth is TNG was doing well enough during it's first four seasons, but now it feels like it's gone off the rails. That's how I see it and I make no apologies about that.

 

[Ubik]

^^ Oh I must certainly understand. But that doesn't wash for me. This is supposed to be Star Trek, not the weekly family drama. And it's made worse when the character driven plot isn't even well done.

Truth is TNG was doing well enough during it's first four seasons, but now it feels like it's gone off the rails. That's how I see it and I make no apologies about that.

And here lies, I think, the basic problem; you simply don't like the fact that TNG often, quite consciously, was written and produced as a weekly family drama - in space. When they therefore produce episodes of that sort, it is no failure of the show; it's just a choice you don't approve of. Which is fine. But their episodes don't feel like weekly family dramas by accident. There is a long and illustrious history of science fiction literature that is very soft on the science and very hard on the fiction (Ursula K. Leguin, Robert Silverberg, etc), and TNG simply chose, after a season or two, to be less science and adventure oriented, and more character oriented. DS9 took Star Trek even further in that direction, and added war, politics, and religion to the mix, eliminating the sense of adventure from TOS almost altogether. Again, this is not an accident - it's just a deliberate choice on the part of the writers that you don't sympathize with.

Anyway, hold on. I promise, the season does get significantly better after Chain of Command.

 

[TrekAlliance92]

But, and I like on the side of Warped9 here, there's nothing wrong with a Trek fan that prefers action/adventure/sci-fi over the more "character" based episodes. I'm the same way--I prefer plot-heavy episodes that develop the character through the machinations of the plot (like most of TNG Season 1 and 2) than I do purely character based pieces (like the boring "Icarus Factor," the dreadful "Family," and the overrated "The Inner Light"). That's likely why my favorite Trek series Voyager, followed by Adventure-TNG (Seasons 1 - 3), then TOS, then Enterprise, then pre-Dominion DS9 (Seasons 1 - 2), then the rest.