Guinan: How do you feel about her?

[EnriqueH]

I like her on-screen chemistry with Patrick Stewart, but most of all, I really like her face.

There's just something about her, about Whoopi Goldberg really, that just exudes kindness. And I like when we see her.

But sometimes, she's a bit of a smartass. And sometimes, I feel like she stole Troi's thunder (though she was good at playing the 2nd counselor, if you catch my drift).

But that face.

I love her face.

 

[Wingsley]

I enjoyed seeing Whoopi Goldberg portraying a civilian aboard the Enterprise-D. Correct me if I'm wrong, but she was the most consistent non-Starfleet character stationed on the ship.

As for the substance of what Guinan was supposed to be about, I can say positively that her interaction for the crew, especially Picard and Riker, was great. But the TNG TV series itself never really explored her or her background. Who was she supposed to be? It seemed all tease and no pay-off. GENERATIONS seemed to me to be too little, too late. Then she disappeared after the Enterprise-D was abandoned. Kind of a bummer.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I like her on-screen chemistry with Patrick Stewart...

She was actually good playing against everyone...even Wesley! Worf...Q...little kids. Everybody that I recall, anyway. That sort of benefits her character somehow, in a very positive way.

 

[EnriqueH]

Yeah, I agree with you. She played well with the whole cast, but there was something deeper going on in her scenes with Stewart.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Yeah, I agree with you. She played well with the whole cast, but there was something deeper going on in her scenes with Stewart.

True, but since they supposedly knew each other for a long time, it seems only natural I guess. Goldberg and Stewart really made that work onscreen.

Funny thing...she was probably the biggest 'star' that was on the show (any of the shows, really), yet it's surprising her name doesn't come up too much on here.

 

[EnriqueH]

Well, I have to admit that her involvement sometimes does seem arbitrary in the sense of: "Whoopi loves Star Trek, let's fit her innnnnnn...right here."

So yeah, she sometimes feel thrown in "because she's Whoopi", but hey, she's a good performer and a healing presence on the ship.

 

[Dukhat]

I liked that the show was popular enough for someone with her stature at the time to want to be part of the cast.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Guinan was untapped potential. She had some very strange growth pains though, particularly Q feeling threatened by her. Q?!?! Come on. And her friendship with Picard always felt forced and tacked on to me, having only to do with who was playing her. I did like that they tried to give her an unusual look, with those hats, but she should've had more in her wardrobe than various colours of the same outfit. It just made her seem kind of cartoonish to me. But I liked how they invented Guinan's race, just for this show, and how mysterious they were supposed to be, at first. But in the end, despite Q shaking in his boots and Picard's inexplicably taking every scrap of advice from her, she turned out to just be a regular Human, for the most part.

 

[bbjeg]

I always liked the character. Personally, I would have loved to see a solo episode dedicated to her (in the present). She even had a ship (which we never saw) and I bet she made powerful friends along the way other than Picard.

...Then she disappeared after the Enterprise-D was abandoned. Kind of a bummer.

If they didn't show her at Riker and Deanna's wedding, I would have continued to assume she died in Generations during the landing.

Yeah, I agree with you. She played well with the whole cast, but there was something deeper going on in her scenes with Stewart.

Her and Picard probably had sex. Something him and Q probably have in common. (come on, who stabs someone with a fork to test if they're human other than an ex?)

Guinan was untapped potential. She had some very strange growth pains though, particularly Q feeling threatened by her. Q?!?! Come on...

I wish they followed up on Q and Guinan's past. Did Guinan have a defense to the Q (why did she raise her hands when Q was about to use his powers on her)? Also, how old is she?

I agree, sometimes she was squeezed in the episode, but she was old. When people get old, they have a right to but-in every conversation, and she's as old as she gets.

 

[Makarov]

She has some good moments but the character doesn't really work for me the way they intended it. They were going for a wise character but her advice is usually condescending.

Geordi needed some serious dating advice and she didn't really help him, she practically laughs at him. She barely helps Barclay when everyone's ripping him. And her advice to Tasha Yarr in Yesterday's Enterprise results in a horrific life revealed in Reunification. Tasha's original death wasn't meaningless like Guinan says - she was attempting to protect Troi and probably saved someone else from being killed in her place. She also advises Riker to let Picard go in BOBW, another brilliant suggestion considering they saved him.

Her backstory in Times Arrow was interesting but falls kinda flat for me. I feel like her whole character could be added to Troi and I wouldn't miss it that much, although she had a cool hat.

I'd rather go to Troi for advice, Guinan just seems to leave characters feeling bad!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Depends on how El-Aurians look at various ages, as she looked basically the same in Time's Arrow as she did in the 24th century.

So Guinan was over 500 years old, but we really don't know by how much. There has to be some appearances in novels that might shed some light on this.

 

[borgboy]

I figured El-Alurians were near to the point of evolving into something comparable to Q, so it put Guinan on a level as close to Q as anyone outside the continnium and thus she might have some ability to block his power or something.

I love Guinan. Whoppi had chemistry with everybody and has a really broad range of emoting - she could do humor and then turn on a dime and break your heart.

I just hate that she didn't get a bigger role after Generations.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I'm not personally a fan of the new Star Trek movies, but just imagine the depth of mystery that could still be added to Guinan's character if Whoopi Goldberg popped up in one of them as Guinan!

 

[borgboy]

I would love if Guinan showed up in New Trek, that idea has occurred to me too.

I have a friend who thought that Guinan and Picard were lovers. I found that idea shocking at the time but I can see where a reading of them as lovers works if you want it to.

 

[Forbin]

I enjoyed the way Whoopi played her very low key and serious.

In Measure of a Man:
Picard: "You're talking about slavery!"
Guinian: "I think that's a little harsh."

Perfect.

That said, Whoopi and I are about as far apart politically as can be, and sometimes I want to shake her and ask her what's wrong with her. But that doesn't diminish my enjoyment of her art.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Interesting character, criminally under-utilized.

 

[suarezguy]

I liked that she was used occasionally enough and in different enough roles that she didn't take over Troi's role and that her lack of background (or use of possible powers) didn't became excessive.

She has some good moments but the character doesn't really work for me the way they intended it. They were going for a wise character but her advice is usually condescending.

Geordi needed some serious dating advice and she didn't really help him, she practically laughs at him.

Getting him to realize "with you I'm not trying" was a little snide but effective and entertaining enough.

Tasha's original death wasn't meaningless like Guinan says - she was attempting to protect Troi and probably saved someone else from being killed in her place. She also advises Riker to let Picard go in BOBW, another brilliant suggestion considering they saved him.

Both are pretty weird; the former seems much more trying to channel the fans' reactions than an in-character judgment but I liked the ambiguity with the second, that Riker probably did choose to ignore her advice but it may have been necessary for him to come up with such a plan.

 

[borgboy]

I always did think it odd to have Tasha's death be characterized as pointless. Tasha died in the line of duty, trying to save Troi - it was a noble, heroic death. Pointless? Well, death often is.
All that said I love Yesterday's Enterprise, and that's a great episode for Guinan.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Guinan played an important role in the series of a confidant that no other character had authority over.

 

[Forbin]

I'll say my standard criticism of yesterday's Enterprise - Guinan was totally unnecessary on 2 levels.

1: A civilian bartender (contractor) on a Starfleet exploration vessel in peacetime is fine. A civilian bartender on a battleship in the middle of a war is ridiculous.

2 (and my main point) : Tasha was a strong enough character to decide for herself to go back and help the C. there was no need at all for the mystic "you don't belong here" mumbo jumbo. She could have maybe felt out of place herself and decided to go with the C because of that, or she could simply have done it because she was a brave and noble person. Having Guinan sense something wrong, decide what it was, and tell Tasha, was ham-handed storytelling, spoon-feeding the plot to us poor stupid viewers. We're smarter than that, and Tasha was a better character than that.