Should have been better, but...

[AdmiralScreed]

If this arc had been done on Deep Space 9 instead of TNG, Picard would have been a Borg for the entire season. At the very least, rescue him in Part II but take several months to deBorgify him.

And that would've sucked.

And what's this about "after Picard is rescued, there's no need to care anymore?" - huh?? What about stopping the Borg? Saving Earth? Sure, this stuff is guaranteed, but it's all about the "how".

I've heard many times that BOBW2 should've been better, but I really don't agree.

After Picard is rescued it just turns into low budget action movie schlock. Been there, done that......not much reason to care anymore.

 

[Disruptor]

Redemption part 2.

The Sela thing.

How does one blockade space...with so few ship to boot?

Gambit felt like it was written for another series...Picard acting like a tough mercenary? The whole thing was comic booky for TNG.

 

[RandyS]

Unification for sure. First off, Spock was only in the Last half. Second, the whole Romulan invasion of Vulcan seemed silly.

While I like both parts of Unification, I must say I agree with this last part, I never did understand the invasion bit. It just seemed tacked on.

But the rest of the episode was pretty good.

 

[AdmiralScreed]

Unification for sure. First off, Spock was only in the Last half. Second, the whole Romulan invasion of Vulcan seemed silly.

While I like both parts of Unification, I must say I agree with this last part, I never did understand the invasion bit. It just seemed tacked on.

But the rest of the episode was pretty good.

Agreed. With the exception of the ending, I thought Unification was a really great two parter. It's definitely one of my favorite episodes of season five.

 

[horatio83]

"The Chase" - It had so much going for it. It was a great "Whodunit". It was an interesting premise. And even though I liked the episode, it just doesn't seem to deliver in the end. The meeting of the races watching the hologram seemed forced and just plain cheesy. Maybe it needed to be a two-part episode?

"The Chase" was super-cheesy. It was building up to something huge, and everyone seemed to know something that the others didn't. When we finally figure out what the big secret is, it comes off as lame.

What did you expect, that these humanoid folks who spread their genetic material in the galaxy are some kind of semigods? The point of the episode was that everybody besides the humans does not want to believe the story, hence the mundane, anti-climactic atmosphere.

 

[ModusOperandi]

The Chase is a good solid episode, but I think what prevents it from being *great* is mainly its length. Considering the galaxy and species-spanning implications of the story, Picard's own quest for redemption by exploring a possible alternate career, and the possibilities for expanded action sequences and FX, this episode really deserves to be a feature film. You could argue that it's more epic, and truer to the ideals of Star Trek, than either Insurrection or Nemesis. As it is, the writers and producers did a great job cramming it into a coherent and engaging 45 minutes.

 

[Paper Moon]

The Chase is a good solid episode, but I think what prevents it from being *great* is mainly its length. Considering the galaxy and species-spanning implications of the story, Picard's own quest for redemption by exploring a possible alternate career, and the possibilities for expanded action sequences and FX, this episode really deserves to be a feature film. You could argue that it's more epic, and truer to the ideals of Star Trek, than either Insurrection or Nemesis. As it is, the writers and producers did a great job cramming it into a coherent and engaging 45 minutes.

Totally and completely agree. (Well, I mean, I still maintain that The Chase is a great episode as is, but, you know, you say potayto, I say potahto, that sort of thing.) Damn, now you have me wishing that Nemesis actually had been The Chase... what a movie that would have been.

 

[Pseudo]

The Chase is a good solid episode, but I think what prevents it from being *great* is mainly its length. Considering the galaxy and species-spanning implications of the story, Picard's own quest for redemption by exploring a possible alternate career, and the possibilities for expanded action sequences and FX, this episode really deserves to be a feature film. You could argue that it's more epic, and truer to the ideals of Star Trek, than either Insurrection or Nemesis. As it is, the writers and producers did a great job cramming it into a coherent and engaging 45 minutes.

Totally and completely agree. (Well, I mean, I still maintain that The Chase is a great episode as is, but, you know, you say potayto, I say potahto, that sort of thing.) Damn, now you have me wishing that Nemesis actually had been The Chase... what a movie that would have been.

As much a I like The Chase, I have an awful feeling that it as a movie it would have been seen as TNG's The Final Frontier.

 

[Maurice]

I've said it before, but part of what makes BOBW pt.2 not work is that there's no sense of how to make parts of it dramatic. We come back from months of anticipation of "fire" and we get a Tinkerbell fairy-dust sparkly beam out of the deflector dish. This shoulda been the mother of all energy blasts on Trek up to that point which still can't take out the Borg. The visual effect was antidramatic, and it got the episode off on the wrong foot. Then, when the Borg go to "sleep" they decide to beam over and check it out. I was thinking, "whaaa...?" You have no idea how long you can maintain this "sleep" state, and instead of even discussing blowing the crap out of them while you have the chance, they just merrily pop over to see them sleeping. Again, no sense of drama or rising tension. That's why it doesn't work.

 

[AFEK ESLCAFE W]

I've said it before, but part of what makes BOBW pt.2 not work is that there's no sense of how to make parts of it dramatic. We come back from months of anticipation of "fire" and we get a Tinkerbell fairy-dust sparkly beam out of the deflector dish. This shoulda been the mother of all energy blasts on Trek up to that point which still can't take out the Borg. The visual effect was antidramatic, and it got the episode off on the wrong foot. Then, when the Borg go to "sleep" they decide to beam over and check it out. I was thinking, "whaaa...?" You have no idea how long you can maintain this "sleep" state, and instead of even discussing blowing the crap out of them while you have the chance, they just merrily pop over to see them sleeping. Again, no sense of drama or rising tension. That's why it doesn't work.

In my opinion, part 2 doesn't hold up to closer scruitny because the moment Locutus is beamed back to the Enterprise you know that they are going to be home free and in the clear.

 

[Trek Survivor]

In my opinion, part 2 doesn't hold up to closer scruitny because the moment Locutus is beamed back to the Enterprise you know that they are going to be home free and in the clear.

This is Star Trek for crying out loud! Did you really think they weren't going to succeed, or that the Enterprise and Earth might be destroyed???

 

[Worf'sParmach]

In my opinion, part 2 doesn't hold up to closer scruitny because the moment Locutus is beamed back to the Enterprise you know that they are going to be home free and in the clear.

This is Star Trek for crying out loud! Did you really think they weren't going to succeed, or that the Enterprise and Earth might be destroyed???

Agreed. You know the Good Guys are going to win so it's not a matter of if but how that makes it interesting.

(Well, unless you're watching DS9, where anything can happen)

 

[Paper Moon]

In my opinion, part 2 doesn't hold up to closer scruitny because the moment Locutus is beamed back to the Enterprise you know that they are going to be home free and in the clear.

This is Star Trek for crying out loud! Did you really think they weren't going to succeed, or that the Enterprise and Earth might be destroyed???

Agreed. You know the Good Guys are going to win so it's not a matter of if but how that makes it interesting.

(Well, unless you're watching DS9, where anything can happen)

This. Particularly the DS9 part.

The Chase is a good solid episode, but I think what prevents it from being *great* is mainly its length. Considering the galaxy and species-spanning implications of the story, Picard's own quest for redemption by exploring a possible alternate career, and the possibilities for expanded action sequences and FX, this episode really deserves to be a feature film. You could argue that it's more epic, and truer to the ideals of Star Trek, than either Insurrection or Nemesis. As it is, the writers and producers did a great job cramming it into a coherent and engaging 45 minutes.

Totally and completely agree. (Well, I mean, I still maintain that The Chase is a great episode as is, but, you know, you say potayto, I say potahto, that sort of thing.) Damn, now you have me wishing that Nemesis actually had been The Chase... what a movie that would have been.

As much a I like The Chase, I have an awful feeling that it as a movie it would have been seen as TNG's The Final Frontier.

Hmm, I can see that, especially if it had been made 10 years ago. But I really hope that the people behind Star Trek (X)II look to "The Chase" for inspiration. If they emphasized the urgency element, the time sensitive nature of the narrative, and played the mystery well, I think it could work really well. (And have a great message, too.)

But yeah, I can definitely see how it could have turned into TNG's TFF.

 

[AdmiralScreed]

I've said it before, but part of what makes BOBW pt.2 not work is that there's no sense of how to make parts of it dramatic. We come back from months of anticipation of "fire" and we get a Tinkerbell fairy-dust sparkly beam out of the deflector dish. This shoulda been the mother of all energy blasts on Trek up to that point which still can't take out the Borg. The visual effect was antidramatic, and it got the episode off on the wrong foot. Then, when the Borg go to "sleep" they decide to beam over and check it out. I was thinking, "whaaa...?" You have no idea how long you can maintain this "sleep" state, and instead of even discussing blowing the crap out of them while you have the chance, they just merrily pop over to see them sleeping. Again, no sense of drama or rising tension. That's why it doesn't work.

In my opinion, part 2 doesn't hold up to closer scruitny because the moment Locutus is beamed back to the Enterprise you know that they are going to be home free and in the clear.

I completely agree. They should have at least waited until the end of the episode to rescue Picard. It would have made the tension and drama last a lot longer.

 

[Worf'sParmach]

I completely agree. They should have at least waited until the end of the episode to rescue Picard. It would have made the tension and drama last a lot longer.

Yeah, I think I have to agree. I think BoBW 1 is great, 2 is kind of "eh" because they rescued him so quickly. Yes, you knew he'd get rescued, but they could have stretched out the drama a little longer.

 

[RAMA]

We've mentioned overrated, underrated. How about we tackle the episodes that had everything going for them to be classics, but for one reason or another, fell short. Maybe it was the acting, or a silly ending - something that just didn't translate to the final product. I'll go first:

"The Chase" - It had so much going for it. It was a great "Whodunit". It was an interesting premise. And even though I liked the episode, it just doesn't seem to deliver in the end. The meeting of the races watching the hologram seemed forced and just plain cheesy. Maybe it needed to be a two-part episode?

I disagree on that one, I think it had a perfect ending...

Maybe Unification fits the bill, it certainly is momentous and historic, but ultimately it doesn't quite get there, there are simply too many problems with it.

RAMA

 

[Balrog]

^I'm not saying it's a bad episode. It just didn't hit he mark of being great. Same goes for Unification, I agree.