Q, what did you think?

[Wes-Cutting]

I really enjoyed the episodes that had Q running about doing mayhem and whatnot. I found that he added some flare to TNG from the very first episode to the very last episode. Quite literately he was there for the entire series and I only wish the writers had done more with him.

What were your opinions on Q?


Plus a side note: Some may say that the Star Trek books are not canon, I don't really like the word canon but anyway. If you have the opportunity pick up the most recent book about Q on the Enterprise titled Q&A by:Keith R. A. DeCandido. This tied all the things Q did very nicely into one story arc.

 

[Admiral2]

Overused and overrated.

 

[mattburgess]

I didn't like the 'other Qs' that were brought in to the series, particularly the one in Voyager who wanted to off himself. And that whole child thing in Voyager too... he was just very badly used in Voyager all round.
I really liked his appearance in DS9 (especially the moment where O'Brien recognises him first and mutters a brief "Oh damn!" before looking for Ben Sisko. And when Q says to O'Brien "I remember you, weren't you one of the little people?" )
I wonder if Q would have made a better character on DS9 - whether he was more suited to their style (don't know if he was more their style than TNG, but was certainly more than he was to VGR).

I thought he started off quite well - judge of humanity, then offering Riker an interesting choice, then introducing the Federation to the Borg - but he played the role of the joker a little too often. That's why I liked Q&A - because KRAD sort of gave us a reason for all of that, and one that made sense, too.

 

[Wes-Cutting]

I love the quote:

Q:"You hit me! Picard never hit me."

Sisko:"I am not Picard."

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Q grew on me. When he first made his appearance i thought he was too over-the-top. As time went on he grew on me like a fungus. Eventually i came to like him very much (speaking of Delancey).

I VERY much liked the "Other Q" episodes...i thought True Q was a really great episode. How would one deal with discovering they were Q? Would i give up life as a human to be one? Or, conversely, would i give up my powers to live a full human life?

I liked the Q episodes in Voyager too...especially the one about the Q who wanted to end his life.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

A tired and overused concept saved by John de Lancie's scenery chewing.

 

[Kegg]

I don't think we needed any more of him then we got, in fact I found his appearances on non-TNG shows superfluous ('Death Wish' gets a pass for being good, but honestly, it's just a solid TNG episode that got made on VOY).

That said, he was an excellent foil for Picard - the Patrick Stewart/John de Lancie interplay was brilliant at the best of times - I also really liked how he bookended the series in "All Good Things", and in addition to that he played a key role in some of TNG's strongest episodes, like "Tapestry" and "Q Who?".

Altogether, really liked the character. While there are problems in how concieving him and his motives evolved (or devolved) over the years, all said he's one of the best godlike aliens out there on TV, a real trickster Loki archetype who was a lot of fun.

 

[Farrens]

I enjoyed Q. I admit the "godlike alien" concept had been used in Star Trek quite often before (TOS especially). But ultimately I saw the use of Q as a step up in this type of character. With him at least some time was spent actually developing his character, which they stayed (mostly) true to, as opposed to the godlike alien of the week seen in TOS which we saw once and then never again.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I enjoyed Q. I admit the "godlike alien" concept had been used in Star Trek quite often before (TOS especially).

Yes, Q was very Roddenberry, or, very TOS.
I'm glad, in the TNG context, that there weren't a lot of all-powerful alien concepts, not that I recall. They stuck with Q for that.
I didn't much care for his first couple eps - the pilot, and Hide and Q. But after that, Q is pure gold in TNG. I'd say the best Q ep is probably "Tapestry".

 

[Ziz]

he was an excellent foil for Picard - the Patrick Stewart/John de Lancie interplay was brilliant at the best of times - I also really liked how he bookended the series in "All Good Things", and in addition to that he played a key role in some of TNG's strongest episodes, like "Tapestry" and "Q Who?".

"Tapestry" ranks high with me because that was the one Q episode where, as Picard himself even said at the end, you weren't sure it truly WAS Q who put him thru the whole "It's a Wonderful Life" routine.

 

[Farrens]

he was an excellent foil for Picard - the Patrick Stewart/John de Lancie interplay was brilliant at the best of times - I also really liked how he bookended the series in "All Good Things", and in addition to that he played a key role in some of TNG's strongest episodes, like "Tapestry" and "Q Who?".

"Tapestry" ranks high with me because that was the one Q episode where, as Picard himself even said at the end, you weren't sure it truly WAS Q who put him thru the whole "It's a Wonderful Life" routine.

Q: This is the afterlife Jean Luc, you're dead, and I'm God.

Picard: You're not God! I refuse to believe the universe is that poorly designed!


One of my favorite Q moments.

 

[docrice]

"Tapestry" and "Q Who?" were my only favorites with Q in them. Aside from them, I thought he was a little over-used. When he showed up, I figured the writers had ran out of ideas or the budget didn't allow for a new alien race. Using Q as much as they did felt very much like using Q as a convenient off-the-shelf plot device. There were fun moments, but he knocked on the Enterprise door a little too frequently for me.

 

[Ziz]

he was an excellent foil for Picard - the Patrick Stewart/John de Lancie interplay was brilliant at the best of times - I also really liked how he bookended the series in "All Good Things", and in addition to that he played a key role in some of TNG's strongest episodes, like "Tapestry" and "Q Who?".

"Tapestry" ranks high with me because that was the one Q episode where, as Picard himself even said at the end, you weren't sure it truly WAS Q who put him thru the whole "It's a Wonderful Life" routine.

Q: This is the afterlife Jean Luc, you're dead, and I'm God.

Picard: You're not God! I refuse to believe the universe is that poorly designed!


One of my favorite Q moments.

Not to be nitpicky, but the exact lines were

Q: Welcome to the afterlife, Jean-Luc...you're dead.

P: I refuse to believe the afterlife is run by you. The universe is not so badly designed!

 

[tomalak301]

Just curious, but how does Q showing up in 8 episodes out of 170+ make him overused again?

 

[Canuck69]

"Tapestry" ranks high with me because that was the one Q episode where, as Picard himself even said at the end, you weren't sure it truly WAS Q who put him thru the whole "It's a Wonderful Life" routine.

Q: This is the afterlife Jean Luc, you're dead, and I'm God.

Picard: You're not God! I refuse to believe the universe is that poorly designed!


One of my favorite Q moments.

Not to be nitpicky, but the exact lines were

Q: Welcome to the afterlife, Jean-Luc...you're dead.

P: I refuse to believe the afterlife is run by you. The universe is not so badly designed!

To be extra nitpicky, the whole line is:

Q: "Welcome to the afterlife Jean-Luc...you're dead."

JLP: "No. I am not dead, because I refuse to believe that the afterlife is run by you! The universe is not so badly designed."

One of my all time favorite lines in TNG.

 

[mattburgess]

Originally posted by Ziz:
Not to be nitpicky, but the exact lines were

Not to be nitpicky? How is that not being nitpicky?
Where is the nit not being picked?
Is that not the pickiest of nits?
Have my words lost all meaning yet?

 

[SRFX]

I have been a Q fan since day dot (i.e. Encounter at Farpoint). I thought he and the Q continuum were highly intriguing and John DeLancie's portrayal was highly entertaining throughout the series.

Using Q to bookend TNG was an excellent idea as well.

That said, his appearances after TNG were less than memorable. His appearance in DS9 whilst entertaining, was not necessary, revealing or memorable. Yeah, we know there's some strange shit out here - we don't need Q to point that out for us.

His first appearance in Voyager (Death Wish) was excellent, although that's more because Quinn was an interesting Q to play off DeLancie and I really like the exploration of euthanasia in relation to the Q. It provided more insight into the species, without answering everything about them.

Unfortunately Q's later appearances in Voyager were pretty dire and by the time you get to his appearance in the final season, I just don't care anymore.