I'm new to TNG

[Carl West]

“Where No One Has Gone Before”

I’ll mention that this episode’s namesake, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” is one of my top favorite TOS episodes, so I approached this TNG episode with a good deal of curiosity.

The fact is, the connection between the two episodes is completely superficial. Basically the titles are similar, and both episodes involve the crews venturing to the unknown fringes of the universe, but that's where the similarities end. This episode did satisfy my taste for cerebral, huge, slightly bizarre sci-fi concepts, but the episode was not without problems either. Of course, too much Wesley. I think this is where we get the first major cringe line from Troi too: after Picard tells the crew to direct positive thoughts to the traveler, Troi says (misquoting) “I am sensing so much good will right now. It’s… wonderful.”

But the traveler is an excellent character. When he’s in sick bay, and Picard is trying to get answers from him, it’s interesting how he can only give nebulous answers, because the traveler thinks and exists on a plane beyond our conceptions of space and time. And I love the weird galaxies they end up in, especially the second one with the little light clusters flying by. A lot of the visual effects are very reminiscent of TMP, which is by far my favorite Trek film.
Also, I enjoyed Stanley Kamel as Kosinski. You basically hate him at first, but I thought Kamel’s acting was great further on after he is exposed as a fraud and acts more humbled and tries to help solve the problems.

 

[Carl West]

"The Last Outpost" - I've read that the Ferengi were intended to be the new principal villains, given the Federation/Klingon alliance. Immediately in their first story, we can see that this idea wasn't going to work. The Ferengi are too comical. Also, their appearance is just a little too oddball for my liking (particularly the overall shapes of their heads, and the things they wear on the back of their heads). In multiple respects, they fell short of everything that was needed to become iconic like the Klingons or Romulans. Now, the Borg on the other hand...

"Lonely Among Us" - I'm afraid I have practically nothing to say about this one. The Data-as-Sherlock Holmes theme didn't work for me -- it almost felt wedged into the story, and I do recall seeing a later holodeck episode where the Sherlock Holmes idea is woven in much more competently (and fully). By the end of this episode, I was just wondering "what was the point of the Sherlock Holmes thing??"

"Justice" - Oh Lord. Were the natives' outfits left over (all those years) from TOS Season 3?? Embarrassingly bad, and it has aged awfully too. I will acknowledge that I like the "God" ship orbiting the planet. Visually, it makes for some stunning moments in the episode; and, as I said before, I love these kind of huge, strange sci-fi ideas. If they could've just made the planet down below a little less appalling...

 

[RAMA]

Last Outpost: The T'Kon were WAYYY more interesting than the Ferengi! Let me do a rewrite on this damn episode!

Lonely Among Us...not a great episode, but I still like it a lot...partly for character exploration, both Data and Picard(loved the Sherlock stuff); partly because of the aliens(not a single bumpy forheaded one) and for the music and beautiful photography....

Justice: Only the last 10-15 min of the episode were any good, and enjoyed the message quite a bit. Not one of the prouder moments of ST though.

RAMA

 

[RAMA]

Why is any episode that deals with human sexuality (or android for that matter) immediately perverted??

I guess you're referring to my comments about Tasha in "The Naked Now"?

As I said before, I have no problem at all with hot women

I've just come off of a TOS marathon, though, and that scene with Tasha immediately seemed like a continuation of Roddenberry's TOS Season 3 preoccupation with navel-baring.

I don't know. I just don't watch shows like Star Trek for that sort of, uh, "stimulation."

It's more than "hot women", I generally agreed with Gene Roddenberry that both the USA and the studios are way too prudish about sex and human bodies. I'd worry a lot more about crap like "Saw" making it to 7 movies than a few navels on show, or even android sex.

 

[Lance]

It's more than "hot women", I generally agreed with Gene Roddenberry that both the USA and the studios are way too prudish about sex and human bodies. I'd worry a lot more about crap like "Saw" making it to 7 movies than a few navels on show, or even android sex.

I tend to agree. Even today, censorship always seems to skew badly against sexual tropes, whereas violence is able to go all the way. Is violence somehow more acceptable than sex? I'd like to think not, but that's not how the censors see it.

 

[Lance]

"The Last Outpost" - I've read that the Ferengi were intended to be the new principal villains, given the Federation/Klingon alliance. Immediately in their first story, we can see that this idea wasn't going to work. The Ferengi are too comical. Also, their appearance is just a little too oddball for my liking (particularly the overall shapes of their heads, and the things they wear on the back of their heads). In multiple respects, they fell short of everything that was needed to become iconic like the Klingons or Romulans. Now, the Borg on the other hand...

I like some of the themes of The Last Outpost, but it definitely loses something in the execution. I also like the way that for really the first time you get the impression of the cast being fully comfortable with each other. The scenes of Riker and Picard confering on what to do really feel natural, with the same kind of easy chemistry we came to expect later on in the series run.

"Lonely Among Us" - I'm afraid I have practically nothing to say about this one. The Data-as-Sherlock Holmes theme didn't work for me -- it almost felt wedged into the story, and I do recall seeing a later holodeck episode where the Sherlock Holmes idea is woven in much more competently (and fully). By the end of this episode, I was just wondering "what was the point of the Sherlock Holmes thing??"

I'm not a fan of this one either. It feels lousy, with half-baked characters and a storyline that doesn't even get a proper resolution (the aliens they're ferrying).

"Justice" - Oh Lord. Were the natives' outfits left over (all those years) from TOS Season 3?? Embarrassingly bad, and it has aged awfully too. I will acknowledge that I like the "God" ship orbiting the planet. Visually, it makes for some stunning moments in the episode; and, as I said before, I love these kind of huge, strange sci-fi ideas. If they could've just made the planet down below a little less appalling...

The original draft story by 60s Trek's first story editor, John Black, concerned a nightmarish planet similar to that seen in the original series' episode Return Of The Archons. The original concept was supposed to explore what happens if every crime had got the death penalty, but in the process of reaching production it was "sexed up" by Gene Roddenberry, resulting in the episode we eventually got on our screens. John Black, incidentally, was so disgusted that he had his name removed from the finished version.

 

[JRoss]

Stick it out until "Measure of a Man." That's when the show starts to get consistently good.

I think that I'm one of the few people who really dislike that episode. It was classic Snodgrass trying to Make Her Point by bashing the viewer over the head. How on Earth was that trial allowed to proceed/stand when the prosecution clearly had a conflict of interest? And the last bit with Maddox and that lady. Snodgrass just had to point it out to the viewer that Maddox called Data "him" and not just let the moment sink in subtly.

That said, yes, Carl, the show gets really good around that point.

 

[Mr_Homn]

"I envy you, Carl West. You're just at the beginning of the adventure...."

You'll get that reference in season 4!

Thanks for sticking it through season 1. I personally LOVE season 1, but that's only after knowing what the show becomes and I appreciate it's more unique qualities. I recommend you revisit season 1 after finishing the series, because it can be an interesting experience Wait until the blu rays are released, though :P

 

[Carl West]

“The Battle”

From my perspective, this is the first episode where we get to see Patrick Stewart REALLY act, instead of just portraying a standard authoritative starship captain up until now. The Ferengi, unfortunately, continue to prove that they ultimately could not become the new iconic villains to rival the Klingons or the Romulans. I like the “Picard Maneuver” concept. However, Data quickly computing a defense against the maneuver, and then saying there is “no doubt about it” when Riker says it better work, weakens the drama. A little more of an uncertain, wing-and-a-prayer moment would’ve been more satisfying. Perhaps that's an inevitable problem of having an infallible, encyclopedic android character always on the bridge.

“Hide and Q”

I’m always happy to see John de Lancie now. De Lancie provides a color and wit that can sometimes be lacking in the regular cast. As I said before, Data was obviously meant as the humorous character in the cast, but the fact that he is a mechanical android inevitably puts a distance between him and the viewer trying to identify with someone. The Napoleonic stuff on the alien planet is very TOS – maybe the best comparison is “Spectre of the Gun,” in that we see historical elements placed in a surreal fashion on a visibly alien planet. Then there is the further oddity of the Napoleonic soldiers being animal-like aliens, but I think it all works well. One complaint: we needed an extra scene at the end, probably in Picard’s ready-room, with Picard and Riker addressing Riker’s essential abandonment of his team and Starfleet during this episode. That was, basically, a very serious malfeasance on the part of a first officer, and they really needed some sort of apology and forgiveness scene at the end to get the characters back on track for us.

 

[Carl West]

“Haven”

I really wish I could post a picture of the famous “Picard facepalm” here. That is all.


“The Big Goodbye”

Now, that’s more like it. I’ll mention that some of the weakest stories in TOS are, in my own opinion, the ones where the crew stumbles upon some planet out in deep space where there are Chicago gangsters, or Native Americans, or Nazis, or Romans, or the Archon world which obviously consists of costumes and sets borrowed from “The Wild, Wild West.” Even with the (I believe, weak) explanations given for these societies, these are the episodes that I feel really show a lack of a budget, and these are the ones that seem the most embarrassingly “60s” now. I mentioned “Spectre of the Gun” in my previous post, which I actually think works wonderfully simply because they took a surreal approach, and the viewer can always see the alien planet and sky in the background behind the strikingly minimalist set pieces.

In “The Big Goodbye,” the holodeck provides a new conduit for historical stories in Trek, and it works very well. I mentioned a lack of humor in Picard previously, but I’ll admit that his “I lost a bet” line had me laughing for several minutes. Dead-pan humor is probably what Picard is best at (also: “I spell ‘knife’ with an ‘n’, but then I never could spell…”). Anyway, one of the best episodes of Season One, and the writer did a great job of creating an urgent, life-and-death scenario inside what started out as an illusory, recreational computer program.

 

[Mr_Homn]

really enjoying these reviews so far, carl, thank you

 

[JRoss]

In the lists of "worst" TNG episodes, people tend to leave off "Haven," and I think that it's because we've all blocked it from our minds.

 

[Carl West]

really enjoying these reviews so far, carl, thank you

Thanks Mr. Homn. Sorry I maligned "your episode."

Er... um... have some drinks

 

[Mr_Homn]

really enjoying these reviews so far, carl, thank you

Thanks Mr. Homn. Sorry I maligned "your episode."

Er... um... have some drinks

Haha, it's okay. Thank you.. for the drinks...

extremely mild and unimportant spoiler below
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You haven't seen the last of me.


[ There's a few running jokes with Homn appearances that are pretty hilarious IMO. Also the actor played Lurch in the Addams family movies ]

 

[RAMA]

“The Battle”

From my perspective, this is the first episode where we get to see Patrick Stewart REALLY act, instead of just portraying a standard authoritative starship captain up until now. The Ferengi, unfortunately, continue to prove that they ultimately could not become the new iconic villains to rival the Klingons or the Romulans. I like the “Picard Maneuver” concept. However, Data quickly computing a defense against the maneuver, and then saying there is “no doubt about it” when Riker says it better work, weakens the drama. A little more of an uncertain, wing-and-a-prayer moment would’ve been more satisfying. Perhaps that's an inevitable problem of having an infallible, encyclopedic android character always on the bridge.

“Hide and Q”

I’m always happy to see John de Lancie now. De Lancie provides a color and wit that can sometimes be lacking in the regular cast. As I said before, Data was obviously meant as the humorous character in the cast, but the fact that he is a mechanical android inevitably puts a distance between him and the viewer trying to identify with someone. The Napoleonic stuff on the alien planet is very TOS – maybe the best comparison is “Spectre of the Gun,” in that we see historical elements placed in a surreal fashion on a visibly alien planet. Then there is the further oddity of the Napoleonic soldiers being animal-like aliens, but I think it all works well. One complaint: we needed an extra scene at the end, probably in Picard’s ready-room, with Picard and Riker addressing Riker’s essential abandonment of his team and Starfleet during this episode. That was, basically, a very serious malfeasance on the part of a first officer, and they really needed some sort of apology and forgiveness scene at the end to get the characters back on track for us.

The Battle: It was clear that the Ferengi would not be good adversaries by this point, but Daimon Bok was more convincing as a wrathful father than a capitalist warrior.

 

[Carl West]

“Datalore”

Very good episode. Unfortunately, the character of Data seems completely defined even at this early point in the series – to the extent that I am not expecting him to do or say anything particularly surprising from one episode to the next – so it’s good to see Brent Spiner getting to do some different acting with Lore.

A word on the soundtrack: I’ve heard a few synthesizers here and there throughout this season, mostly subtle. This episode’s soundtrack, however, is very synth-driven – the composer seemed to be going for an almost symphonic sound with the synths. You could put it down to the fact that it was 1987, but for a drama about a conflict between two mechanical men, I thought the music was perfect.

I’ll mention that the colonist’s planet, and the interior of their “city,” was extremely TOS – but I love TOS so perhaps I am always trying to make these connections. The “crystal entity” is one of those great, cerebral Trek concepts. The special effects for the entity are very late 80s, but, as with TOS, I strangely enjoy seeing these little things that make retro TV “of its time.”


“Angel One”

Practically nothing to say about this one, I’m afraid. I’ve read that there was a proposed episode for Phase II with a similar plot – perhaps the episode would’ve been more poignant during the era of the 70s women’s movement. What we got in 1987, though, was little more than an unmemorable filler episode, with a rebel leader who looks like Tommy Shaw from Styx…

I’ll also mention that Riker looked quite homo-erotic in the native males’ outfit.

I will throw in one positive: it was quite thrilling to hear repeated mentions of the Romulans – very reminiscent of several TOS episodes where the Romulans are mentioned as an ever-present threat, but not necessarily seen. And I am aware that this is all foreshadowing the season’s final episode…