Frakes rules. I always liked talking to him. Guy's hysterical. Get him and Spiner in a room together and let the voiding of bowels commence.
As for TATV, I disliked it more at the time it aired because:
1) disappointment in the premature ending of the series. Trek on TV was ending for the foreseeable future and this not particularly well written story was the final episode.
2) Terra Prime was so damned good (your mileage may vary on that though).
3) The focus was wrong and they missed an opportunity to show us a post-Nemesis Riker.
4) Trip died poorly; it's not his death that bothered me, just the manner of it. Had he gone out in style, in a touching fashion, then I'd have been fine with it. As it stands it happened during the commercials. Ugh.
5) The main characters were treated poorly; nobody seemed to care Trip died, nobody got promotions or changed at all - etc. They were just "there." Granted, guys like Maywether always were just "there" but they deserved better.
6) The whole episode built up to an event we never get to see (the speech) and it ends on a "sly joke" ("End Program"). Now I admit, having two episodes in a rwo conclude with a rousing speech would be a tad repetitive, but it's still a narrative letdown. I guess the journey really was more important, right Harry Kim?
I dislike it less now because:
1) I got over it.
2) There have been worse episodes.
3) I got over it.
I still think the show got ripped off and deserved a full 7 year run. But now that we're many years beyond and viewing order is at my own whim, it doesn't bother me much. There were some good bits in there and it's still better than "Trip gets pregnant" or something.
