"Home" vs. "Away"

[JCDaly]

When I was growing up watching TNG, I was disappointed when the majority of an episode took place on a planet or in the Holodeck ("Away"). I wanted to see the adventures in space and on the ship ("Home")!

I wonder if anyone else ever had (or still has) felt that way. Rewatching the series now, I don't mind the "Away" episodes as I did when I was young, and certainly, going outside the ship (whether real or through the Holodeck) allows for more creative opportunities I'd think.

 

[Marsden]

While some had some entertainment value and a few were good, to me a holodeck episode was like "why not make a real episode" this week. An adventure where they find strange new civilizations and go places, not play pretend in the rec room.

 

[RoJoHen]

I definitely have a fondness for bottle shows that take place on the ship. Often times those episodes are better for character exploration because we're not distracted by crazy new sets and species.

 

[JCDaly]

Mm good points both of you. I think I do still prefer ship-based episodes too, though I've been more receptive to "Away" eps than I used to, lol

 

[Clare1701d]

I think a mixture is good.

 

[Hippocrates Noah]

I prefer the bottle/ship/space episode to most of the ones on planets, but I'm also a sucker for the holodeck shows. The DS9 holodeck episode Our Man Bashir (which I took my name from) is possibly my favorite Trek episode ever due to mixing 2 of my 3 favorite franchises. James Bond and Star Trek. Or at least my favorite since TOS. A Fistful Of Datas was great as well. But the ship based stuff is what got me into Star Trek and kept me interested, as I wouldn't want to see the holodeck every week. And if they did it too often you'd start to wonder why they ever bothered getting in the things since the safeties were always malfunctioning. I love spaceships though, and barring the occasional holodeck treat I'd rather see ships in action than people walking around on some alien planet. No matter how interesting they may be. When I was a kid and wanted to be an astronaut it was because I wanted to fly around space in a cool ship, I didn't care about landing it on strange new worlds and meeting the locals. I wanted to command the Enterprise in a battle against the Klingons or fly an X-Wing down the Death Star Trench. Though I wouldn't mind landing on Risa for a day or two.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think 'Away' episodes best fit the true spirit of Star Trek, but really they should do whichever they have the best idea for at the time. I'll take a brilliantly conceived home or away episode over a mediocre one designed to fill a quota.

 

[Shalashaska]

I usually prefer ship-based episodes as they more often than not focus on the characters, while planet-based episodes are more about the situation or monster of the week.

Some are exceptions though, such as Family and Darmok.

 

[Natasitrix]

I know exactly what you mean, I definitely prefer ship-based episodes because I love seeing the characters utilize their own technology to solve problems and interact within their familiar environment. It also gives me a better feel for the spatial relationship of all the different departments and decks and helps me imagine what it would be like if I lived onboard a starship.

 

[Griffeytrek]

I tend to prefer the home or space based episodes. They generally seem more polished. Have better visual appeal and more often than not seem to have more varrying stories. I will make a minor exception for most but not all time travel episodes, the vast majority of which I would shed no tears should they be subjected to fire.

At least for the TOS and TNG era production limitations tended to make on planet stories feel more like stage plays. A lot of paper mache rocks and potted plants lit by "random sky color of the week". The actual more permanent ship sets always seemed better designed to permit more creative lighting, camera angles and framing. The Holodeck stories, while often better looking just rarely felt a part of the universe. They seemed more a clever way to make use of Paramounts backlots and prop departments as a cost savings measure. Something we even recognized as teenagers on first viewing back in the day. Plus as soon as the away team beamed down you could almost predict the story beats of most planetary based episodes, with few exceptions.

This is not to say all ship board episodes are good. There are some horrid examples, such as "The Game".