I Just Watched Sub Rosa For The First Time

[Danny99]

I know there is another Sub Rosa thread going on, but I wanted to keep it separate for comments.

Sub Rosa was the only episode of Trek I had yet to see, so when I found it on YouTube, I was looking to remedy the situation.

Why oh why did I make this choice? Did I really need another reason to detest Gates McFadden's acting and the character of Beverly Crusher? I think Picard's line in this episode sums up my feelings: "What the hell is going on?"

Crusher and Troi's scenes remind me of something you might see on "The Hills", but far less entertaining.

All the guest stars are poor, especially the Ned Quint character. However I doubt Braga gave him or anyone else much to work with.

Fog on the bridge? Really?

Is Crusher so controlled by Ronin that she neglects her duties and runs to him like a battered wife?

This episode is lucky that it was the last one I had to see or I would've shut it off faster than warp speed.

 

[Captain Fine]

I couldn't stand this episode when it aired. It and "Liaisons" ("LOVE ME!") left a bad taste in my mouth in the 7th season. I don't think I've ever rewatched those two.

 

[RyuRoots]

Incidentally, I watched this episode last night for the first time. My friend who got me into TNG...'screened' certain episodes for my benefit through the show, this was one of them. And yeesh, do I ever appreciate that now. I really like Dr. Crusher, so this episode was absolutely painful. I think the only thing I enjoyed was seeing her in the formal dress uniform at the beginning. As Trekker4747 said in the "Salvaging Sub Rosa" thread:

"Don't make episodes for Science-Fiction TV series set around 24th century interplanetary space-faring vessels by reading $4 grocery-store romance novels."

 

[Trekker4747]

Anyone else but me a little creeped out by Crusher spending the night reading her grandmother's pornographic diary? And was anyone else not surprised that Troi bolted out of the conversation as early as she could?

 

[arasam22]

^yes and yes. like the OP said, this episode really just gave me another chance to hate beverly crusher. i never liked her.

 

[RyuRoots]

Anyone else but me a little creeped out by Crusher spending the night reading her grandmother's pornographic diary? And was anyone else not surprised that Troi bolted out of the conversation as early as she could?

Indeed. I mean...a "stimulating" story is one thing, but these are the personal experiences of one's grandmother.

Definitely can't say I blame Troi for a moment (for once).

 

[Trekker4747]

"I found my grandmother's diary."
"Really? How interesting."
"I couldn't help but read a few pages. Some of it was quite erotic."
"Uh-huh."
"I must say, the way she wrote; she was obviously a very passionate woman. Her prose was something out of a popular Ferengi romance novel written by a Deltan, I mean..."
:Troi imitates the sound of the com paging: "What? Oh, Ok I'll be right there! Sorry Bev, got to run!"

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I liked the "ghost story" angle for the episode. It was something different. And I like the idea of Geordie and Data as "ghostbusters." But like most Braga episodes, this was much more about style than substance. And even the style wasn't that great.

 

[Bones2]

I never minded this episode. Or, indeed, most of season 7.

 

[Zameaze]

I think the episode was a tip of the hat to the horror genre, and to the romance novel. It likely would have been better if they had scrapped the romance novel angle.

 

[Luckyflux]

Huge TNG fan, loved them all. Then Sub-Rosa came into existence and I hated every bit of it. Hated it to an unhealthy point. Then I read a post about Sub-Rosa and someone pointed out that this episode is the highest regarded episode by female viewers. That got me perplexed? Why on Earth would anyone let alone females like this episode so much. I never really understood why, I guess it is for the love story aspect, but that bit of insight gave me a new appreciation for the episode. Don't get me wrong I still don't like it, but my extreme hatred has transformed into admiration since I know that many other people enjoy, and it would be wrong of me to erase it from existence since other people like it so much.

Now whenever Sub-Rosa comes on, I no longer cringe with disgust, I simply change the chanel and curse my bad luck for having this TNG ep come on istead of a really good one.

 

[number6]

Sub-Rosa: Absolute Rubbish.

The TNG writers had run out of ideas by season six and it really shows by the time this episode came about. Anything good out of Season six and seven seemed to be the exception to the mediocre norm.

 

[Trekker4747]

Sub-Rosa: Absolute Rubbish.

The TNG writers had run out of ideas by season six and it really shows by the time this episode came about. Anything good out of Season six and seven seemed to be the exception to the mediocre norm.

It was less "ran out of ideas" and more "all the good writers were moved to DS9."

 

[toughlittleship]

There are many reasons to hate Sub Rosa. One of mine is how it makes Scottish people "quaint" (I f*****g hate it when I hear Americans describing Scotland and Ireland as that) even in the 24th century. Not the first time TNG made a joke out of Scottish and Irish people and Voyager would do something even worse years later.

Edit: The above posters comment is right. Berman and Piller were focusing on DS9, leaving Jeri Taylor free to make this abortion of an episode.

 

[JustKate]

I'm a female and I hate hate hate hate this episode. I'm offended (OK, not really, but I ought to be ) that anybody could even suggest that females are supposed to like this episode. I don't understand why even somebody who likes romance novels better than I do would be supposed to like it since it's not romantic. At all. He's a lifeform who uses other lifeforms and throws in a bit of romance/sex as payoff. This is romance?

Also, let's face it, it's just icky. I mean, really, really, really icky.

 

[number6]

Sub-Rosa: Absolute Rubbish.

The TNG writers had run out of ideas by season six and it really shows by the time this episode came about. Anything good out of Season six and seven seemed to be the exception to the mediocre norm.

It was less "ran out of ideas" and more "all the good writers were moved to DS9."

Agreed.
The worst part of that was the overlap of ideas between the two.

DS9 fights an anomoly in space, TNG fights an anomoly...

 

[Morpheus 02]

This was one episode of TNG I also missed....glad to know it's not something I have to make time for...

 

[QuasarVM]

Anyone watching this episode for the first time has my sympathies...

Pure drek.

This makes Spock's Brain look like freakin' Citizen Kane! Come to think of it, there's several episodes of TNG like that.

 

[Zameaze]

Anyone watching this episode for the first time has my sympathies...

Pure drek.

This makes Spock's Brain look like freakin' Citizen Kane! Come to think of it, there's several episodes of TNG like that.

Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Clive Barker sit in a loose circle. They are taking turns poking pins into something in the center of the circle. As we move closer, we see that it is a voodoo doll of QuasarVM.

 

[GalaxyX]

At all. He's a lifeform who uses other lifeforms and throws in a bit of romance/sex as payoff. This is romance?

The concept is interesting. I mean if some lifeform wanted to use me as a body with no ill effects at all to me, and the perks that it would look like a gorgeous woman who I could roll in the hay with anytime, hmm, I'm not sure I could say no to that