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A Journey

Oh come on! I liked Loud as a Whisper the first time I watched it, and wouldn't mind watching it again when it comes up on the list!
 
I saw one episode last night, so since we're starting season 2, I'll write about the one I saw:

The Child

I can understand Spider's points about this show (Sirtis can't act and there was only a few sporadic episodes where she could, plus the movies and Voyager) but I still kind of liked it. I think what I liked the most was some of the shots, like seeing the new Ten Forward from the outside view of the Enterprise, or seeing the warping effect from Ten Forward. Also, the stuff with Guinan and Wesley were really well done and highlighted the episode for me. Other than that, yeah, I could take or leave it, but I still found it enjoyable.
 
The Child - My first memory of TNG is from this episode. It was a rerun at the time, at least one or two years old. I had seen the light enter Troi and asked dad what was going on. Since he'd seen the episode already, he told me that it made her pregnant. For a year or so afterwards (at least until my little brother was born and maybe sometime after that), I believed that was how babies were made.

Also, I love the scene between Pulaski and Data ("One is my name... the other is not." LOL!), and the scene where Troi gives birth.

Where Silence Has Lease - Not exactly a favorite, but interesting enough.

Elementary, Dear Data - I like this episode alot, but I think I've watched it a bit too much. The whole part with Pulaski challenging Data is pretty good. Also like the part where that guy pulls a knife on Picard and Data grabs him by the thumb (then is calmly called off when the guy complains).
 
I've been happily reading this thread and thought, oh why not add my two cents, seeing as how I've been watching through TNG again?

So, I think I'll work backwards a bit, since I just finished Season 2 last night. :thumbsup:

Shades of Gray
I don't hate this one like everyone else seems to. Yeah, it's a clip show, but it's not all clip show, not even mostly. Riker dealing with being sick is cute, Picard pestering Pulaski is fun, and even Troi & Pulaski's joy at having conquered the infection makes me smile.

Peak Performance
I really like almost everything about this episode. It's fun, and when Data announces "I busted him up," I just cheer with the cheesiest grin on my face. :D

The Emissary
Worf's character didn't really deserve a character like K'Ehleyr yet. But wow do I love her. I love her interactions with Deanna more even than the relationship with Worf. The plot of the episode itself is meh, but it gave us K'Ehleyr, which makes it very worthwhile.

Manhunt
I really usually like Lwaxana, but this is not my favorite of her appearances. The scene with Riker, Troi, and Picard in the Ready Room pretty much makes the episode for me. Frakes' delighted & slightly freaked-out expression of surprise is just fantastic. The less said about the Antedeans the better.

Up the Long Ladder
I don't hate it. It has its funny moments. So what if it's completely stupid. Someone had fun in the costume and props departments.

Samaritan Snare
Now this one drives me bonkers. If it weren't for the B-plot of Picard & Wesley's shuttle conversation, this episode would probably be unwatchable. In fact, forgetting that the B-plot was there, I know I avoided re-watching this one for a long time.

Q Who?
It introduced the Borg. It introduced Q & Guinan's mutual antipathy. Beyond that, meh.

Pen Pals
Love the fact that they actually dealt with the Prime Directive from all angles. Did not like the fingers on Sarjenka - they were not very well done, and the director made a point of literally putting them in your face way too often. I think putting Wesley in charge of a geological survey wasn't that big a deal, but when it became "save the planet so people don't die" I really think they should have had an experienced officer take over.

The Icarus Factor
I really like the relationship between Pulaski and Troi, so this one interests me for that reason. I also like the goodbye scene between Will & Deanna - what can I say, I'm a hopeless shipper for that couple. And the subplot of Worf's rite of ascension was more interesting than Riker's promotion/father angst.

Time Squared
Oh, how I hate this episode. It's just too weird, and makes no sense. As there's no B-plot, there's no reason to stick around, so I don't think I'll be watching this one again for a long time.

The Royale
I actually like this episode. Yeah, the hotel plot is hokey, but it's just such a fun hokey! I like the basic idea of them finding an earth vessel that had disappeared long ago. And goofy as it is, the betting spree at the end is just plain fun to me.

And I have to stop there for now. There's huge nostalgia wrapped up in these old episodes, and with the very rare exception, I can find character moments to appreciate in nearly all of them.

A couple Season 2 points:

I like Worf & Pulaski's relationship. The Klingon tea ceremony is a neat little scene.

I'd like to know why we didn't get to keep Sonya Gomez. She was cute, and looked to be originally intended to stick around for a while.

Good to see the beginnings of the poker games. Season 2 gives us the fun of Pulaski & O'Brien participating. I don't remember Miles ever getting in on the game again - a pity.

When I was first watching TNG, I remember hating Pulaski. Over the years I've come to realize the main reason I hated her was because she wasn't Dr. Crusher. The character is actually quite delightful in her own way, and while her attitude toward Data is not how WE might have treated him, I think her character pushed him in ways that only an antagonist could. And she wound up betting on him in the end. :)

Finally, I have no idea why Worf was made Chief of Security. No one EVER takes any of his ideas seriously. Every single time he offers a security recommendation, he is told it is too extreme, not necessary, he's just being paranoid, etc. If he is, you need someone else in that position. If not, let him do his job! Sheesh! :rolleyes:
 
Sakrysta said:

Shades of Gray
I don't hate this one like everyone else seems to. Yeah, it's a clip show, but it's not all clip show, not even mostly. Riker dealing with being sick is cute, Picard pestering Pulaski is fun, and even Troi & Pulaski's joy at having conquered the infection makes me smile.

I still think this episode was Pulaski's finest hour and I mean that in a very good way. She worked really hard to figure out the infection and cure Riker and it showed how much dedication she had as a Doctor. It's one reason I liked Pulaski during the season and wish she could have made a comeback in a guest role in some capacity.
 
Sakrysta said:
Up the Long Ladder
I don't hate it. It has its funny moments. So what if it's completely stupid. Someone had fun in the costume and props departments.

They also had fun making an episode which, in its absurd, broad stereotypes, is every bit as offensive as 'Code of Honor.' :mad: (to the episode, not you). In fact, moreso, as it doesn't pretend to really be about a bunch of aliens.

This cheesy, folksy, 'oh look at the silly, stupid Irish and their rustic farming charm' attitude that was irksome in the nineteenth century has now been transposed three hundred years in the future. It's really hard to put into words how much this episode disgusts me without souding vitriolic.

Worst. Episode. Ever.


The Icarus Factor
I really like the relationship between Pulaski and Troi, so this one interests me for that reason. I also like the goodbye scene between Will & Deanna - what can I say, I'm a hopeless shipper for that couple. And the subplot of Worf's rite of ascension was more interesting than Riker's promotion/father angst.

I also like this. Underrated gem. :) Mainly for the Pulaski stuff.

Time Squared
Oh, how I hate this episode. It's just too weird, and makes no sense. As there's no B-plot, there's no reason to stick around, so I don't think I'll be watching this one again for a long time.

Best time-travel episode TNG did, in my view. Weird, creepy, and totally inexplicable. But each to his own (except with Up the Long Ladder).

I like Worf & Pulaski's relationship. The Klingon tea ceremony is a neat little scene.

Agreed.

I'd like to know why we didn't get to keep Sonya Gomez. She was cute, and looked to be originally intended to stick around for a while.

She was intended as a romantic foil for Geordi. I'm not sure why they dropped her, but it had something to do with the writer's strike. IIRC, the original season finale was to have the return of the Borg.

Good to see the beginnings of the poker games. Season 2 gives us the fun of Pulaski & O'Brien participating. I don't remember Miles ever getting in on the game again - a pity.

The season actually gives us O'Brien, on a more positive note. While Colm Meaney appears a few times in the first season - and his role in the pilot was retconned into being O'Brien - it wasn't until the second season he had the steady recurring role of O'Brien, the Transporter Chief, and was well on his way to becoming one of the most memorable characters on Star Trek. :)

When I was first watching TNG, I remember hating Pulaski. Over the years I've come to realize the main reason I hated her was because she wasn't Dr. Crusher. The character is actually quite delightful in her own way, and while her attitude toward Data is not how WE might have treated him, I think her character pushed him in ways that only an antagonist could. And she wound up betting on him in the end. :)
 
Kegek said:
This cheesy, folksy, 'oh look at the silly, stupid Irish and their rustic farming charm' attitude that was irksome in the nineteenth century has now been transposed three hundred years in the future. It's really hard to put into words how much this episode disgusts me without souding vitriolic.
But it was supposed to be a 22nd Century "back to nature" movement, a la TOS's space hippies. I think of them as an Irish equivalent to the Amish.
 
The Old Mixer said:
But it was supposed to be a 22nd Century "back to nature" movement, a la TOS's space hippies. I think of them as an Irish equivalent to the Amish.

Real rustic Irish people, even those historically, don't speak with stage folksy rusticity. And the romantic gauze to one side, it was a hard goddamn life of poverty, misery and famine. To use this analogy, this is more like a group of blacks who decided to emulate their equivalent nineteenth century stereotypes.

(Apologies if I'm a little hot under the collar. But I loathe this episode, as you may have deduced.)
 
Great episode reviews and comments, Sakrysta.

Sakrysta said:
I don't remember Miles ever getting in on the game again - a pity.

I hadn't realised this, but I think you may be right. I've spent 20 years thinking he was there every game. :eek:
 
Unexpected day off = opportunity to get at least somewhat caught up. Back to season one, everyone. :D


"Hide and Q" - there are four Trek episodes where I find Q anything other than insufferable. This is not one of them. People playing puerile games in order to prove some sort of point just doesn't appeal to me. When that person is a raging egomaniac it's even more pathetic. Oh, and the episode is also incredibly boring. 2 / 10.

"Haven" - OMG, Deanna's marrying T-Bag from Prison Break!!! Thank God a plot complication stopped her. :lol:

Leaving that aside... Wyatt is still a dweeb and the Riker / Troi angst is still dreary (at least - unlike the Picard / Crusher thing :mad: - it pays off eventually) but the ep isn't quite as dire as I remembered it. "Could you please continue the 'petty bickering'? I find it most intriguing" still cracks me up. :guffaw: 4 / 10.

"The Big Goodbye" - this was among my favourite S1 eps back in the day, and it still stands up well. Riker comes across as a complete prat at times (he's told the holodeck intercom isn't working yet he tries it anyway), and the idea of Wesley being more capable in holodeck repair than the (apparently incompetent) engineers aboard is absurd, but the ep is still immensely enjoyable. I especially like the Picard / Crusher interaction - Bev's eyeroll when Data and Whelan invite themselves along to Picard / Hill's office is priceless. :lol: Decent ep then and now. 7 / 10.

"Datalore" - I never much liked the Lore episodes. The character was just a bit too far over the top - too much of a contrast with Data. Why a more "human" android would necessarily be evil is a question that, as I recall, was never adequately explored - if at all - and it's a strike against the character. I'd managed to forget the Crystalline Entity appeared this far back, so that was mildly interesting. Otherwise...blah. 4 / 10.

"Angel One" – this ep is as bad as I'd remembered it. Awful plot, rotten acting, preachy speeches... No, thanks. Horrible. 2 / 10.

"1001001" – this is more like it. :bolian: Riker's meat market on the holodeck is pretty tacky but the rest of it is pretty entertaining stuff. Another ep that's as enjoyable now as it was then. 7 / 10.

"Too Short a Season" – this was almost like a new episode, as I hadn't really remembered anything about it when I started watching. It wasn't too bad, but neither was it anything outstanding. Perhaps that's why I forgot about it. :lol: 5 / 10.


More to follow. Eventually. :D
 
The Outrageous Okona - I love this episode. It's totally hilarious! More a fan of the subplot, though.

Loud as a Whisper - I do like this episode, unlike certain people here...

The Schizoid Man - I know what you're thinking, "Another Data episode, how can she not like it?" Well to be honest... I don't like this episode. It is my least favorite Data episode, mostly due to his completely out of character behavior even though it's justified (and yet I liked Masks... hmm.) Also, I've seen it a bit too often in reruns on TV. Though I have to admit, I love the beard scene at the beginning and the scene at the end where Data's laying on the ground in his quarters asking everyone why he's on the ground.
 
I like "The Schzoid Man"...it's got that vaguely creepy atmosphere that's characteristic of Season 2, and although Graves is pretty OTT played by either actor, the Graves-possessed Data is a more compelling "bad Data" than Lore, IMO.

Suzie Plakson must be the only guest Vulcan on TNG who did her homework and looked at how Nimoy and Lenard behaved as Vulcans...not counting Nimoy and Lenard's own guest stints, of course. There may have been a couple of other decent ones in there...but I remember some pretty lousy ones.
 
Unnatural Selection - Seen this many times. It's pretty good. Pulaski makes some nice comments in this episode.

A Matter of Honor - A good Klingon episode. I liked the discussion during dinner with Riker and the Klingon crew. ("One or both?" LOL!)

The Measure of a Man - Seen this so often it's become a little boring, but still a good ep. And hey, it's a Data episode... ;)

I was actually able to make out most of the text displayed when Riker looks up Data's schematics. Apparently the official name of Data's off switch is the Emergency Manual Control? Guess you learn something new every day! And I even caught that Kei/Yuri reference that I've seen mentioned on various sites. I'd post a nice big screencap of the frames involved with semi-readable text... but for some reason I can't print screen properly from Windows Media Player (when I do, and paste it into PSP9, the resulting screencap is blank.)

If anyone is interested, I can type what I believe the text says. (May do this in another thread. Don't want to sidetrack everyone too badly.)
 
Wow ok so I'm going to have to chime in. TNG being my favorite series I will have a lot of good to say, but also some pretty abysmal stuff. Some episodes are so bad I don't even remember them at all. So....to begin:

S1:

Encounter at Farpoint:

- Interesting beginning, excellent introductions. Immediately like Data, Picard, Crusher. Neutral to Yar, Geordi and Wesley. HATED Troi and Worf

- Great music (To the guy that just got a Yamaha synth, I myself just bought a Korg PA1X Pro at almost a steal! so happy with it!)

- Loved the Flying Saucer encounter, the "nerd" inside me was going "cool!!! the Enterprise D encounters a UFO!!!!"

- The story as a whole is pretty boring and would be a C, but the Q stuff brings it up to a B+

Naked Now:

- Horrible, just horrible, starting with Data's line: "What just happened is.......impossible!!" yuck!!

- Everyone gets infected with a virus that makes them horny as fuck, yeah right! :rolleyes:, even DATA :rolleyes:, ahh.....hello, Data is a computer!!! he's not supposed to get horny, and the whole "fully functional" thing is dumb. What's the point? To emulate sex with women? and even worse is he gets DRUNK!!! Hello??? He's a computer!!! computers can't get drunk!!! Zero rewatchability, F-

Code of Honour:

- The Enterprise meets up with proud African warriors and their Tribes. Right :rolleyes:, I wonder what kind of crack the writers were smoking when they wrote that episode, I can picture it now: "Hey guys, let's do an episode where the whole planet is full of black people, and not only that, but they have the same customs as what most people believe Africans are like!!" I can't even see how that one slipped by without giving the Studio Heads a heart attack. To add insult to injury, they have Yar say some throwaway line about how she's "interested" in the Sultan. Yeah, extremely realistic there. F-------

Last Outpost:

Great episode!! Loved the FX, loved the Ferengi. Loved the concept of how each race thought they other guy "massively overpowered them with superior technology". Ferengi whip was nice as some variety from the "piss" phaser beam. Loved how the Ferengi were strong little fuckers, and only Data could handle them on his own. It gets a B

Where no one has gone before:

The epiphamy of what Trek is to me, a bold exploration into the great unknown. There's so many great things in this episode:

- The BEST musical score in the entire series.
- Who could hate watching the Enterprise stretch out over friggin' Galaxy clusters!!!
- BEAUTIFUL stellar panorama!!
- Great concept about thought and reality becoming one.
- Great ideas about how fucked up we'd be if everything we imagined became real (Picard so desperately wanted to get "home" that he almost got his wish when he stepped off that Turbolift)
- Only bad thing is that it was done in the 1st Season. I'd have loved to see this episode in Season 4 or 5 when the crew gelled so much better. It gets an A

There's always Paris:

- All the love triangle stuff is forgettable to me, but I did like the concept of exploring the "what if" scenario, something we have all probably thought at one time or the other.

- The time distortions were awesome and just off the wall (watching yourself as you just stepped onto the Turbolift BEFORE you stepped into it LOL, great!!"

- The concept of the physics of another dimension tearing a new asshole into ours :)

- The scientist guy DIDN'T DIE!!! Most of today's series would have had him die horribly to squeeze out the "emotions".

- Only thing I hated was the copout by having the scientist cut to talking about his wife right as he's about to tell us what the freak he saw in that other dimension. For that it gets reduced from an A to a B+

Too short a season:

- Asinine episode. So there's a magical potion that makes you younger. Why doesn't everyone frikkin' use it then?

- The whole climax was watching the Admiral die painfully young, and this "moves" the terrorist into releasing the Hostages. If I were the Enterprise crew, I would have lobbed a torpedo up his ass instead. Gets an F

Conspiracy:

- Interesting concept, but really a ripoff of "Alien", and a blatant one at that, all the way up to the "Alien" ripping out of the Commander Remmick's gut.

- The eating of the grubs was pretty cool if not a little disgusting LOL

- I don't care how much adrenaline you have, you are NOT going to magically get 5 times stronger that an old geezer can take out 3 GUYS!! (Riker, Worf and Geordi if I remember correctly) and he has the balls to say "I could snap your neck in a second, but it wouldn't be a much fun". I'd have loved to see Data whoop his ass to the floor a couple of times and put him in his place.

- The beacon thing was cool, but never followed upon, so it is rendered meaningless. Episode gets a C

Datalore:

- Excellent intro. Stretching believability that ONE man was capable of constructing such extremely advanced technology as the Soong Androids however. I'd have much rather see a frikkin' team of Cybernetists, with Soong perhaps the Supervisor of the project.

- Crystalline entity a great idea, a big snowflake that just wants to eat, and unfortunately ends up killing all life for it.

- Lore genuinely psychotic, and a real threat as he has the same strengths as Data, physically and intelectually to use with his "evilness".

- This episode is one of the few that makes me feel sorry for Worf, as he overpowers him so easily (No matter how much of a warrior he is, he is no match for a machine)and add insult to injury as his Klingon pride is stepped on as well with the "where's the great warrior now?" completely humiliating the poor guy. Episode gets a B+

everything else in Season 1 is pretty forgettable to me.

Will continue with Season 2 tomorrow.
 
Only got one for now. I'll watch the others later.

The Dauphin - Meh. Teenage angst. Who cares? Though I did like the various bits of advice Wesley got from everyone. (Kinda interesting how Data automatically jumped to the subject of biological "compatibility," and Worf's comments were pretty good.)
 
Loved reading the reviews. I'll try to watch more TNG this weekend (Three day weekend so that's nice) but had another midterm today to study for.
 
I am definitely going to try and do at least one DVD this weekend, if not two. The Texans don’t play Sunday, so I’ll have some time.
 
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