Lonely Among Us

[EnriqueH]

I had seen this before, and remember mildly enjoying it, but I just saw it again today and wow.

I don't think I ever saw a Star Trek episode start off with such promise fall apart so badly.

By the end of the episode, I began wondering if this wasn't the worst Trek episode I had ever seen in the entire franchise.

A Selay delegate killed and offered up as a boiled meal? Picard is present when the murder is announced and he takes the day off? That's not the Picard we know. And offering the delegate's death as a joke is the most un-Trek element I've ever seen.

I can't imagine Roddenberry approving this aspect.

I actually thought the Selay-Antican rivalry had the potential to tell a very Trekkish story, but the focus was on the demon cloud possessing different members. This plot point had potential too, but by the time the cloud takes over Picard, this plot element has begun to unravel as well.

It's a shame they never tried to redo the Selay-Antican storyline.

The only thing I enjoyed was seeing the start of the Sherlock Holmes fascination in TNG, though there were times that it went overboard.

I also enjoyed seeing O'Brien again.

But the cannibalism at the end makes it the worst Trek episode I've ever seen. Yes, worse than Spock's Brain or The Alternative Factor. I'm still in awe that Trek's respect for all lifeforms and IDIC went out the window.

 

[BillJ]

You have Spock talking about attempted rape like its no big deal at the end of "The Enemy Within".

SPOCK: The, er, impostor had some interesting qualities, wouldn't you say, Yeoman?

I've always liked "Lonely Among Us". As far as Picard is concerned, he probably figured that the death was a likely outcome of having two races that hate each other in such close proximity to one another. Nothing you can do but the paperwork on it and move on. Considering he had just been pure energy, he probably figured Riker was better equipped to handle the minutiae.

 

[erastus25]

Yeah...playing the death for comedy was in poor taste. Not sure what they were going for there.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Yeah, you can't really play the idea of two races of people hunting and murdering each other in the corridors of the ship as a comic relief B plot. That was pretty ridiculous. I remember when the antican attacked the security officer with a rope around his neck and then said "Sorry, wrong species", but he said it in a cartoonish voice like he was some lovable bumbling cartoon animal.

That entire B plot is the kind of thing that somebody would do as a parody of cartoon shows. Taking a Tom and Jerry like plot and making it dark and realistic but still treating it with the light attitude of a cartoon. Kind of like that episode of Family Guy where Elmer Fudd just kind of walks up to Bugs Bunny and shoots him.

 

[EnriqueH]

It's a shame because when the Anticans and Selay beamed aboard, I thought: shit, this is kinda cool! Two new alien races, at each other's throats, there's some potential here! Why didn't I remember this episode very much???

And then I got my answer: it's not very good.

There are definitely cool aspects, but overall? They dropped the ball.

Right up until the climax, I was thinking this is "just ok". Not bad, but not as good as I was hoping. They focused on the cloud, and not the conflict. Ok, whatever. But then the death at the end just killed it.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

^^
I've seen this episode a few times and I never caught a death on either side. I've always thought that both the Antican and the Selay were hunting one another over the course of the episode, but Yar (and other officers like O'Brien) were babysitting them...and keeping both delegates apart.

I have to watch it again.

 

[BillJ]

^^
I've seen this episode a few times and I never caught a death on either side. I've always thought that both the Antican and the Selay were hunting one another over the course of the episode, but Yar (and other officers like O'Brien) were babysitting them...and keeping both delegates apart.

I have to watch it again.

From Chakoteya.net:

TASHA: Captain!
PICARD: Yes, Lieutenant.
TASHA: Sorry, Commander, but Security Team Two reports they've discovered a puddle of blood outside the Selay Quarters and they can't find one of the delegates and so
RIKER: Lieutenant. This couldn't have waited a moment?
TASHA: It's good to see you, sir. The problem is that one of the cooks has just been asked to broil reptile for the Anticans, and it looks like the Selay delegate.
PICARD: Riker, with the peace delegates and all, I think I do need a rest. Take charge, Number One.

I still don't understand the surprise or the comment that Roddenberry wouldn't approve. Quite a few TOS episodes end in laughter after several crewmen and women have been killed.

 

[EnriqueH]

TASHA: Captain!
PICARD: Yes, Lieutenant.
TASHA: Sorry, Commander, but Security Team Two reports they've discovered a puddle of blood outside the Selay Quarters and they can't find one of the delegates and so
RIKER: Lieutenant. This couldn't have waited a moment?
TASHA: It's good to see you, sir. The problem is that one of the cooks has just been asked to broil reptile for the Anticans, and it looks like the Selay delegate.
PICARD: Riker, with the peace delegates and all, I think I do need a rest. Take charge, Number One.

I still don't understand the surprise or the comment that Roddenberry wouldn't approve. Quite a few TOS episodes end in laughter after several crewmen and women have been killed.

You disappoint me, Bill.

You forget:

Those laughs in TOS were never at the expense of the person that died (at least not that I recall).

But in Lonely Among Us, the death *IS* the source of laughter.

 

[BillJ]

But in Lonely Among Us, the death *IS* the source of laughter.

But, if I remember correctly, there is no actual laughter.

I just confirmed this via Netflix (the episodes look horrible after getting use to HD). Troi offers a half smile at the situation being dumped in Riker's lap and they play the whimsical music, but no one is laughing.

You oversold the reactions.

 

[EnriqueH]

Actually, I didn't. Where did I say the crew was actually laughing?

But it was played for a laugh.

 

[BillJ]

Actually, I didn't. Where did I say the crew was actually laughing?

Fair enough. I have some other things going on.

But it was played for a laugh.

I don't ever thinking it was humorous or played for laughs. It was played as an uncomfortable situation. Hence, the uncomfortable expressions on Yar, Riker and Picard's faces.

 

[EnriqueH]

Actually, I didn't. Where did I say the crew was actually laughing?

Fair enough. I have some other things going on.

It's perfectly ok to say, "Enrique, you're right." as I did for you in another thread. We all make mistakes. Or to quote Bones McCoy, "Nobody is perfect."

I don't ever thinking it was humorous or played for laughs. It was played as an uncomfortable situation. Hence, the uncomfortable expressions on Yar, Riker and Picard's faces.

Don't back track. You said so yourself: The music was whimsical and Troi SMILED. Are you really going to deny that it was played for a gag?

Come on, Bill...

 

[Orac]

I laughed. I also laughed at the line: P? P for Picard!

Do I have to hand in my Trekkie membership card now?

 

[EnriqueH]

I laughed. I also laughed at the line: P? P for Picard!

Do I have to hand in my Trekkie membership card now?

Part of me wants to say "IDIC", but another part of me feels like any serious Trekkie would reject any humor relating to the (probable) murder of a sentient species.

I don't believe even Spock's Brain stooped that low.

It's just totally un-Trek.

 

[BillJ]

I laughed. I also laughed at the line: P? P for Picard!

Do I have to hand in my Trekkie membership card now?

Part of me wants to say "IDIC", but another part of me feels like any serious Trekkie would reject any humor relating to the (probable) murder of a sentient species.

I don't believe even Spock's Brain stooped that low.

It's just totally un-Trek.

Oh please. You might want to climb down off of that high horse.

What do you think happened to all those Tribbles they belly-laugh about Scotty beaming to the Klingon engine room? Do you think that the Klingons took them to the local humane shelter? Sentient or not, they belly-laughed about something that was likely to be brutally murdered by the Klingons that they had a direct hand in.

Or Spock talking about Evil Kirk being "interesting" to the woman that was almost raped by him.

 

[EnriqueH]

Speaking of high horses, you forgot the part where you admitted to being wrong in your previous post, Bill.

Or are you not big enough to admit your mistakes?

As for TOS, you're grasping at straws. The Klingons didn't kill the tribbles. It was done to ANNOY the Klingons. The Klingons of the episode were not the murderers we saw in Trek III. Either way, there was NO killing.

On the other hand, there was a DEFINITE killing/death in Lonely Among Us...and it was played for a LAUGH.

 

[erastus25]

Speaking of high horses, you forgot the part where you admitted to being wrong in your previous post, Bill.

Or are you not big enough to admit your mistakes?

As for TOS, you're grasping at straws. The Klingons didn't kill the tribbles. It was done to ANNOY the Klingons. The Klingons of the episode were not the murderers we saw in Trek III. Either way, there was NO killing.

On the other hand, there was a DEFINITE killing/death in Lonely Among Us...and it was played for a LAUGH.

I totally agree with this. The crew members don't laugh, they even cringe a little, but it's clearly intended to be comical to the audience. All in all, it's a stupidly written subplot capped off by a tasteless ending.

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

Bill & Enrique, enough bickering. Drop it please.

 

[EnriqueH]

Uhhh, a little late there, Mutai. The last post was, what, 13 hours prior? We stopped on our own.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

This is the greater question, anyway: what is this, and what does it do?!