A Fresh Look and Hindsight

[Amaris]

Put it this way: when the time came where I could buy the blu-ray seasons of TNG, I started with seasons 1 and 2. Those are still my favorite seasons specifically because the look and feel is so different from the 3rd season onward, and while I enjoy those seasons as well, the first two made me really feel like they were going where no one had gone before.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

Put it this way: when the time came where I could buy the blu-ray seasons of TNG, I started with seasons 1 and 2. Those are still my favorite seasons specifically because the look and feel is so different from the 3rd season onward, and while I enjoy those seasons as well, the first two made me really feel like they were going where no one had gone before.

I see it a bit differently. For me Season 1 was mostly everyone getting the feel of what they were doing and where they wanted to go. Getting their bearings so to speak. Seasons 2 thru 5 were pretty much golden. Not perfect, but consistently superior storytelling across a pretty substantial range. What's weird is I'd probably pinpoint the down turn with the Time's Arrow two-parter even though part 1 was a Season 5 finale episode. Things just seam to go from drama to melodrama. Maybe it was a case of everyone getting too comfortable or the strain of such a sustained run was finally taking it's toll. Anyway the shift is noticeable and, to me, a negative.

 

[Amaris]

I see it a bit differently. For me Season 1 was mostly everyone getting the feel of what they were doing and where they wanted to go. Getting their bearings so to speak. Seasons 2 thru 5 were pretty much golden. Not perfect, but consistently superior storytelling across a pretty substantial range. What's weird is I'd probably pinpoint the down turn with the Time's Arrow two-parter even though part 1 was a Season 5 finale episode. Things just seam to go from drama to melodrama. Maybe it was a case of everyone getting too comfortable or the strain of such a sustained run was finally taking it's toll. Anyway the shift is noticeable and, to me, a negative.

Season 1 has a lot of warm memories for me, so it clearly colors my perceptions of the season overall. Still, I agree on season 2, because that was the Pulaski season, and I adore her.

 

[Spirit of 73]

I'm in the same boat. I'm into season four right now, and my opinion is pretty much the same as it was back in the day. Season one mostly sucks, season two was feast or famine, and season three was the first very strong season.

So far in season four, I liked Future Imperfect and Remember Me a touch more when I was a kid, although Remember Me is still very strong. Future Imperfect is good as well.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

Just finished S6E23, Rightful Heir. Still one of the better episodes. I find the issue of "faith" and it's various meanings to be one of the greatest sources of drama. When done respectfully it is compelling. This was far superior to the previous Worf-centric story, Birthright, which was a whole lot of processed cheese. And despite Gowron's ultimate fate towards the end of DS9 every Robert O'Reilly appearance is enjoyable.

This episode was also another example of how oddly uneven Picard was starting to be written. A sadly stand out feature of TNG's penultimate season. Almost as if the Jean-Luc character had experienced an undiagnosed stroke. What he would care about and go to the mat for versus what he would dismiss or even obstruct was consistently inconsistent. In the previous episode, Suspicions, Picard was uncharacteristically sedate (as was all the other series regulars) in supporting Beverly Crusher's investigation into a possible murder. Brannon Braga was a story editor so maybe it was just his lackadaisical attitudes creeping in and serving as a portent to his future involvements, IDK.

 

[Armus]

^Picard is not the man he used to be in TNG's final seasons. The new writing staff wanted to soften him and Patrick Stewart was getting tired. If you watch All Good Things, Stewart seems so tired as the present day Picard, yet, when he plays old cranky future Picard, he has energy and authority.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

Finished Descent I&II (S6 E26, S7E1). Probably the worst two-parter of the entire SERIES as it never rose above cartoonish melodrama.

I was actually looking forward to revisiting this episode. Hoping I would now see something I had overlooked the first time it aired that would justify Picard leaving a skeleton crew on board Enterprise with the ship's CMO in command. No such luck. It was every bit as imbecilic today as it was back in 1993. There simply was NO reasonable justification for Jean-Luc's actions. He should have treated this situation as the series had previously established by sending Riker planet-side to coordinate and command the away teams (which would have been limited to security personnel). Especially since above all else Picard knew there was a hostile ship in the area would be problematic even for an experienced commander.

Sadly, this was also the poorest of the Lore episodes. He went from being a well-written and well motivated (arguably sympathetic) protagonist to nothing more than a clean shaven Snidely Whiplash who all but tied poor Geordi to some train tracks to meet his doom.

This was just a terrible episode whose biggest message was that it really was no achievement to command a Starfleet starship.

 

[Lance]

Finished Descent I&II (S6 E26, S7E1). Probably the worst two-parter of the entire season as it never rose above cartoonish melodrama.

I was actually looking forward to revisiting this episode. Hoping I would now see something I had overlooked the first time it aired that would justify Picard leaving a skeleton crew on board Enterprise with the ship's CMO in command. No such luck. It was every bit as imbecilic today as it was back in 1993. There simply was NO reasonable justification for Jean-Luc's actions. He should have treated this situation as the series had previously established by sending Riker planet-side to coordinate and command the away teams (which would have been limited to security personnel). Especially since above all else Picard knew there was a hostile ship in the area would be problematic even for an experienced commander.

Sadly, this was also the poorest of the Lore episodes. He went from being a well-written and well motivated (arguably sympathetic) protagonist to nothing more than a clean shaven Snidely Whiplash who all but tied poor Geordi to some train tracks to meet his doom.

This was just a terrible episode whose biggest message was that it really was no achievement to command a Starfleet starship.

I've always felt like "Descent" feels like it foreshadows the direction taken by the TNG movies. And not in a good way.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

I've always felt like "Descent" feels like it foreshadows the direction taken by the TNG movies. And not in a good way.

Absolutely agree, and upon reflection that kind of makes sense as Ron Moore and Braga were ascending in the last two seasons of TNG and then in power for the movies. Their lack of experience and youth led them to be lighter in both style and substance.

Don't want to sound curmudgeonly, however, in television during the TOS era you had writers who had life experience that, in many cases, had included military service (and possibly war) then a career path that had them doing stagecraft and radio and short stories. By the time they got to TV they had a lot of life under their belt, a sense of classic drama and practical wisdom in storytelling. The rise of folks like Ron Moore and Braga signaled the era of college only knowledge and then largely just perpetuating what TV was doing.

The design of TOS and TNG was such that, unlike any other television series going, they could truly tell any type of story … if they chose. They could do L.A. Law one week, E.R. the next, Indian Jones the next, a fusion of genres the next week etc. and it would have been true to the premise of the show, but towards the end of the TNG you had writers who didn't yet have the chops or ambition to fully explore the gift their job presented. Basically, I don't think they had anything they felt they needed to say so they didn't. Unfortunately, Star Trek is at its best when it IS saying something.

Sorry for the ramble.

 

[Lance]

Absolutely agree, and upon reflection that kind of makes sense as Ron Moore and Braga were ascending in the last two seasons of TNG and then in power for the movies. Their lack of experience and youth led them to be lighter in both style and substance.

Don't want to sound curmudgeonly, however, in television during the TOS era you had writers who had life experience that, in many cases, had included military service (and possibly war) then a career path that had them doing stagecraft and radio and short stories. By the time they got to TV they had a lot of life under their belt, a sense of classic drama and practical wisdom in storytelling. The rise of folks like Ron Moore and Braga signaled the era of college only knowledge and then largely just perpetuating what TV was doing.

The design of TOS and TNG was such that, unlike any other television series going, they could truly tell any type of story … if they chose. They could do L.A. Law one week, E.R. the next, Indian Jones the next, a fusion of genres the next week etc. and it would have been true to the premise of the show, but towards the end of the TNG you had writers who didn't yet have the chops or ambition to fully explore the gift their job presented. Basically, I don't think they had anything they felt they needed to say so they didn't. Unfortunately, Star Trek is at its best when it IS saying something.

Sorry for the ramble.

I've had similar thoughts, re: the writers and generational change reflecting different approaches in storytelling. Another good way of putting it is that the generation who wrote for television in the 1960s were much more likely to have grown up with radio and classic movies, and perhaps even classic literature, as a basis for what production was all about, whereas the writers of the 1980s onward were certainly more likely to have grown up watching TV. So, the TV viewers were now the TV writers, and their field of reference was therefore cyclical. Instead of simply writing stories that were told in a Star Trek format, they wrote Star Trek stories...

 

[Roundabout]

Finished Descent I&II (S6 E26, S7E1). Probably the worst two-parter of the entire season as it never rose above cartoonish melodrama.

I was actually looking forward to revisiting this episode. Hoping I would now see something I had overlooked the first time it aired that would justify Picard leaving a skeleton crew on board Enterprise with the ship's CMO in command. No such luck. It was every bit as imbecilic today as it was back in 1993. There simply was NO reasonable justification for Jean-Luc's actions. He should have treated this situation as the series had previously established by sending Riker planet-side to coordinate and command the away teams (which would have been limited to security personnel). Especially since above all else Picard knew there was a hostile ship in the area would be problematic even for an experienced commander.

Sadly, this was also the poorest of the Lore episodes. He went from being a well-written and well motivated (arguably sympathetic) protagonist to nothing more than a clean shaven Snidely Whiplash who all but tied poor Geordi to some train tracks to meet his doom.

This was just a terrible episode whose biggest message was that it really was no achievement to command a Starfleet starship.

One thing that I liked about "Descent" was that it showed the consequence of Picard's decision to return Hugh to the collective with his newfound individuality intact at the end of "I, Borg".

Btw, there are other episodes that I wish had a follow-up episode(s). Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

At least we found out what happened to Hugh. It turned out that Picard's decision was a disaster for Hugh and his Borg friends. I did find that part of the story of what became of Hugh very believable. He even blamed Picard for their misery. It was interesting to know that not all of Picard's decision turned out to be rosy.

I give Picard a pass because he made the decision in good faith. What was odd about this episode was that Picard essentially abandoned Hugh and his friends once again at the end. Picard didn't offer assistance to Hugh and his pals to help them adjust to their new life. He just said good luck and left.

 

[Gary7]

^ For me, @Roundabout, the follow-up finding out about the consequences to Picard's decision to return Hugh was a terrific development. It's a shame the 2 part episode was so fraught with problems. It's nowhere nearly as good as Time's Arrow or The Gambit.

 

[Roundabout]

^ For me, @Roundabout, the follow-up finding out about the consequences to Picard's decision to return Hugh was a terrific development. It's a shame the 2 part episode was so fraught with problems. It's nowhere nearly as good as Time's Arrow or The Gambit.

I too thought "The Gambit" was good. It doesn't seem to get as much recognition or attention as other TNG 2 parters though.

 

[bolak]

I remember laughing in the midst of the phaser melée with the Borg when Riker was crouching under a desk. And then Never-Before-Seen Security Girl was killed and I just groaned. Six seasons in and they were still trying to give us the Expendable Redshirt guff.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

I've had similar thoughts, re: the writers and generational change reflecting different approaches in storytelling. Another good way of putting it is that the generation who wrote for television in the 1960s were much more likely to have grown up with radio and classic movies, and perhaps even classic literature, as a basis for what production was all about, whereas the writers of the 1980s onward were certainly more likely to have grown up watching TV. So, the TV viewers were now the TV writers, and their field of reference was therefore cyclical. Instead of simply writing stories that were told in a Star Trek format, they wrote Star Trek stories...

Yours was a superior way of putting it. I thank you.

I just finished watching Gambit I & II (S7, E4 & E5) as well as Phantasms (S7, E6).

The Gambit two-parter was good. It seemed a bit light though and it's premise ridiculously improbable. It reminded me of the TOS novel Black Fire by Sonni Cooper (I read it back in '83 and hated it). The performances rather than the actual story itself made this one as good as it was (or at least a 100% better than the previous 2-part episode, Descent).

Phantasms was also a good but not great episode. So far the bar for season 7 seems to be set to "good" with an eye towards "good enough" as everything, so far, feels like a formality to get the series finish line in order to jump into the TNG movies. Once one gets the idea of this episode it starts to feel somewhat too long as we wait for the characters to catch up and resolve the plot. Not too bad though.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

Finished "Attached" (S7E8) Written by Carl Sagan's son, Nicholas.

I liked this episode before I realized who wrote it, and thought I was going to have to do a mea culpa on the maturity of writing at this point in the season. Initially I was going to focus on how little interest I originally paid these little shared breakfast interludes between Jean-Luc and Beverly, but this episode really seemed to change my estimation of them. Then the wonderful intimacy of "Attached" began to unfold and it became this brilliant little story in the vein of French cinema. It was proof that Star Trek's strength lies in the variety of stories it can tell (which also speaks to my ongoing criticism of the Kelvin Universe Trek films which are mind-numbingly one note). This was an insightful episode whose bittersweet conclusion was truly impactful to the characters.

On the downside, Prytt and Kes plot was a bit of a weak backdrop to lay the foundation for the character-driven episode, but perhaps that was by necessity. If that part of the story had been stronger then perhaps it would have overshadowed, overpowered, the Picard/Crusher dynamic. As it stands this episode is definitely the best, most satisfying episode I have revisited so far in season 7. "A+"

 

[Doc Mugatu]

getting closer to the end …

"Pegasus" (S7E12): A good episode, technically. I still feel the whole Federation giving up the pursuit of cloaking technology to be one of the stupidest bits ever written as it makes no sense on ANY level, and was the reason I embraced the introduction of Section-31 on DS9 because some group had to be there to save Starfleet from itself. It also, however, informed us as to why, in so many episodes, whether alt-reality or not the Federation was always seemed to be getting defeated.

"Homeward" (S7E13): Paul Sorvino was wonderful in this episode and had real chemistry with Michael Dorn. It was solid story overall. A little clumsy, but compelling.

"Sub Rosa" (S7E14): LOL, what needs to be said has already been said about this episode over the past quarter-century (rounding up). I always wondered if it was meant as a backdoor pilot for a Star Trek After Dark anthology series for Showtime or Cinemax.

"Lower Decks" (S7E15): A really top-notch episode. The Sito Jaxa storyline was very good. They used a character we were already familiar with, gave us reason to really like her, and then used her to motivate and punctuate emotional climax of the story. Nothing beats real world time in adding power to a story. A shame they didn't find a way to keep Alexander Enberg as Taurik in the mix or better yet transfer him to DS9 for occasional appearances. One of the hardest bits of casting, in my opinion, has been finding excellent Vulcans. This was one time they had excelled. Enberg's Vulcan was Nimoy-esque.

 

[Herbert]

Still feel "Relics" was an atrocious episode and did the character of Montgomery Scott as well as James Doohan the actor a great disservice - they don't even take him to a starbase to get reacclimated they just shove him in a shuttlecraft and out into space ... REALLY?!?!

It was his choice to leave with a shuttle. You make it sound like they forced him into it and booted him off the ship. I do agree that the episode itself isn't very good though.

 

[Doc Mugatu]

It was his choice to leave with a shuttle. You make it sound like they forced him into it and booted him off the ship. I do agree that the episode itself isn't very good though.

No, it was a scripted piece of nonsense. I made it sound as ridiculous as it came off as it was the classic "bum's rush," and was only a half-step better than if they had booted Mr. Scott out an airlock. It was ignominious.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I've always felt like "Descent" feels like it foreshadows the direction taken by the TNG movies. And not in a good way.

I felt all of TNG and it's spinoff two parters were padded to stretch out a story which could've been told in 50 minutes. I think "Encounter at Farpoint", "All Good Things...", and DS9's "Emissary" were originally developed as telefilms where I thought flowed better.