How 'Pen Pals' sucks - let me count the ways...

[Forbin]

I love this episode. I actually think the conference scene is one of the more sensible discussions of the Prime Directive ever put on film. Certainly WAY more sensible than that assinine shit with Worf's brother when they refused to save the last dozen survivors of an utterly doomed civilization.

 

[Therin of Andor]

"Pen Pals", "Inheritance", "The Child", "Cost of Living" and "Menage á Troi": all personal favourites.

 

[Amaris]

I enjoyed and still enjoy "Pen Pals". It would most certainly not be in the bottom 5 Trek episodes in my book.

-J.

 

[Jose Tyler]

I've always liked Pen Pals; a few parts are a little cringe-worthy, but some of the good things are:

Some really good visual effects and lighting. The scenes with Picard and the horse are some of the most visually attractive in the second season.

The pacing. The episode wasn't rushed, they didn't try and cram the solution into the last three minutes. They gave time for the story to develop.

The meeting in Picard's quarters. Great interaction with the cast members. The reaction and look on Pulaski's face when she hears Sarjenka's voice makes the scene.

Not a bottom fiver at all. Give me "Pen Pals" over "Shades of Grey" or "Masks" any day.

 

[Amaris]

^ I actually like "Masks". It got a little surreal.

-J.

 

[mvkemp]

I always kind of enjoyed Masks when it came on too.

 

[Spider]

"Masks" is a great episode. I just love it.

 

[Amaris]

The episode always seems mystical and adventurous to me. I love different cultures, and here's the perfect opportunity for a brand new culture to explore. I love it.

-J.

 

[DostoyevskyClone]

Does anyone else find it as funny as I do that we can all love TNG but be on COMPLETELY opposite ends of the spectrum about certain episodes?!

 

[General Martok]

I agree. Pen Pals - blech. It's one I skip over when I do a DVD run-through. Masks? LOVED it. Shades of Gray? Stunk like a week-old dead 'possum (but then, I think we're all in agreement on Shades of Gray).

 

[Linklinker]

I Think the prime directive is a stupid directive. I understand about not giving your tech to lesser evolved speciese, but what is wrong with saving a doomed race. If you don't they can't evolve naturaly. The only thing the prime directive is doing is making sure they are wiped out naturaly.

This is the reason I enjoyed Pen Pals. The Prime directive should not be an absolute rule. Its just nothing more than an excuse not to care about a lesser races problems.

 

[Chilli]

The thing about this episode that REALLY pissed me off was the way Data played Picard the voice clip of Sarjenka, after Picard had determined to do nothing .. and that then changed his mind.

Message: "We won't raise a finger to save you. Unless you're cute."

And Data trying to emotionally blackmail Picard made no sense in the first place. Like the data we know would know how to do that.

 

[Unicron]

Linklinker said:
I Think the prime directive is a stupid directive. I understand about not giving your tech to lesser evolved speciese, but what is wrong with saving a doomed race. If you don't they can't evolve naturaly. The only thing the prime directive is doing is making sure they are wiped out naturaly.

This is the reason I enjoyed Pen Pals. The Prime directive should not be an absolute rule. Its just nothing more than an excuse not to care about a lesser races problems.

I'd have to rewatch the ep to see which interpretation of the PD is used, but I agree - there are some instances in TNG and other modern Trek series where the PD is exaggerated, to the point where it seems to forbid the Federation from having any meaningful contact with an alien culture. But I think the main intent, as you pointed out, is only to prevent cultural contamination as happened with the USS Horizon mentioned in "A Piece of the Action."

 

[Trekker4747]

Linklinker said:
I Think the prime directive is a stupid directive. I understand about not giving your tech to lesser evolved speciese, but what is wrong with saving a doomed race. If you don't they can't evolve naturaly. The only thing the prime directive is doing is making sure they are wiped out naturaly.

This is the reason I enjoyed Pen Pals. The Prime directive should not be an absolute rule. Its just nothing more than an excuse not to care about a lesser races problems.

Yeah. That's what I said above, "The Prime Suggestion."

The part where they all sit down and decide what to do is how it SHOULD work. There's a vast difference between stopping a planet's geology from ripping itself apart and the beings (in an undeveloped tech level) not knowing it and beaming down and handing over weapons to a race to stop a war or something. (*cough*Janeway*cough*) Voyager has plenty of great examples of TRUE PD violations, but what the crew did in this episode is how it SHOULD operate.

Sit down and decide if the PD applies and if you can step in and do something without giving yourself away.

"The Prime Suggestion" is something I've used in my, slowly, developing fanfic.

 

[RAMA]

I recall Pen Pals as a nice, agreeable little episode that adds a twist to the usual prime directive story....where Picard uses the lessons learned from the otherwise terrible "Justice" from season one: that laws should not be absolute...and Data gets a chance to be more human, AND fallible, quite a step for what was becoming a very popular, though normally proper character. All in all, handled much more maturely and intelligently than the average TOS episode that deals with the prime directive, such as "The Apple", et al. Good stuff, though I haven't seen it in some time. So no, not even remotely one of the worst.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10 rating.

RAMA

 

[Trekker4747]

THERE. ARE. TEN. CREEPILY LONG FINGERS!!!!

 

[T J]

Once again just to reiterate... SPANKABLE!!!

 

[Amaris]

^ Yeah. She goes from like, 10 to 20 something in seconds. No! No! It burns!

-J.

 

[Good Will Riker]

T J said:
Once again just to reiterate... SPANKABLE!!!

Milk does a body good.


Are you sure she's the same little girl who told the T-1000 in T2 that John Connor was at the Galleria?

 

[DostoyevskyClone]

I should have made my "doesn't act like an android" comment more clear but I meant exactly what a few of you have said - his manipulation when he plays the audio of the girl. Like others, that REALLY pissed me off when I watched it - I can't believe a crew memeber would actually do this, most of all Data - it's so out of character.