Q Who overshadowed by BOBW?

[Unicron]

^^ Yeah, with a race like the Borg you're kind of in a tight spot. They can't be too powerful for the heroes to defeat (or at least survive), but if they're largely an unseen force then they also lose some of that ability to inspire fear.

Sometimes I think StarCraft handled it very well with the Zerg, who are similar in some respects to the Borg and definitely have the same potential to cause immense destruction. In StarCraft, they did exactly that - the Terran and Protoss forces won some victories against them, but even with the loss of the Overmind (the Zerg equivalent of the Queen), they're still a power to be reckoned with. The Brood War expansion ended with the Zerg winning a major military victory against both races, so it's not clear yet what the next step might be.

 

[Charlie Kelly]

Q Who is one of my favourite episodes but Best of Both Worlds was and is truly epic. I also think it has the greatest cliffhanger in the whole of Trek.

Charlie

 

[Red Ranger]

People,

To answer the original question, I'd say to some extent. I still think "Q Who" stands on its own as a creepy ep.

Also, for those of you decrying the inconsistencies between the Borg from their first to second appearances, think of this: who were our heroes getting their information about the Borg from? Q, who is, as Picard called him in a later ep, a liar and misanthrope. He intentionally gave Picard and co. incorrect information, another version of his damn test of humanity.

For example, he refers to the first drone who beams into engineering as "not a he, not a she. An enhanced humanoid." As we now know, that wasn't true.

Q also said that the Borg were only interested in their technology and that Picard and the rest of the crew were "nothing to him." Again, a lie.

I would've liked to see an ep where Picard said, "let's remember that some of the things Q said about the Borg turned out to be lies."

Having Picard assimilated by the Borg in BOBW added a more personal layer of menace as they used his knowledge to inflict death and destruction on Starfleet and the Federation.

I also agree that when Locutus is first speaking with Riker, when he says, "Your resistance is hopeless . . . Number One," the use of that familiar and friendly nickname is chilling when uttered by the automaton Picard has been transformed into. In fact, all his lines are bone-chilling, esp. my personal favorite, when Locutus says the Borg are doing other life forms a favor and only "wish to raise quality of life for all species" by assimilating them.

I wish they would have delved into that more: the Borg as cosmic missionaries, on a quest not only for their own perfection, but to assist other, less advanced species in achieving this apotheosis by combining the organic and technological.

My one nitpick: Giving Picard's Borg alter ego an actual name. It would have made more sense if he had a more impersonal designation, like First Among All, or Speaker 001, like how they named Seven of Nine.

Red Ranger

 

[Unicron]

Well, it's also possible that Q's statement about the crew being "nothing" to the Borg could be accurate, if by "nothing" he meant their individuality.

 

[Red Ranger]

Unicron said:
Well, it's also possible that Q's statement about the crew being "nothing" to the Borg could be accurate, if by "nothing" he meant their individuality.

That's a good point. Think you're onto something, Unicron!

 

[Unicron]

That's how I've always interpreted that comment, personally. I think it fits nicely with the concept of individuality having practically no value to the Collective.

 

[scotthm]

blockaderunner said:
if someone were to reboot Trek in the future, I hope they have some gifted, creative writers who could take what was established in Q Who regarding the Borg and run with that. No Hugh, no Queen, and no "resistance is futile" crap.

The last we should have seen of the Borg should have been in Q Who. We learned everything about them we needed to know in that episode: they're bad, and the Federation doesn't want to mess with them.

---------------

 

[Unicron]

Eh, I dunno. I agree that the Borg suffered from bad writers in both TNG and VOY, but I don't think they should have just been left as some obscure AROTW. They were originally intended to be the aliens from "Conspiracy" but creating insects was too complicated and expensive SFX wise. So we got the Borg, and the ending of "Conspiracy" was just sort of left hanging.

 

[nickyboy]

It was overshadowed by it, but I think that Qwho was a genius way to introduce the new menace. the episode more than does the job it was supposed to

 

[Kegek]

My one nitpick: Giving Picard's Borg alter ego an actual name. It would have made more sense if he had a more impersonal designation, like First Among All, or Speaker 001, like how they named Seven of Nine.

Locutus is Latin for 'to speak'. (Hence e[ilocut[/i]ion.) So they basically did that, even if it isn't immediately obvious.

 

[Vulcanian]

In "Q Who" the Enteprise was geting pwned by this unknown cybernetic enemy and only Q could stop it. Truly great creepy atmosphere.

BOBW had the borg weakness found and beaten. It also used the cliche of the captain being kidnapped.

 

[Computer]

Kegek said:

My one nitpick: Giving Picard's Borg alter ego an actual name. It would have made more sense if he had a more impersonal designation, like First Among All, or Speaker 001, like how they named Seven of Nine.

Locutus is Latin for 'to speak'. (Hence e[ilocut[/i]ion.) So they basically did that, even if it isn't immediately obvious.

No crap. Thats actually very interesting, I didnt know that.

 

[The Castellan]

I also liked the background music of Q-who, the real soft creppy music at the begining and just at the end.

 

[Red Ranger]

Kegek said:

My one nitpick: Giving Picard's Borg alter ego an actual name. It would have made more sense if he had a more impersonal designation, like First Among All, or Speaker 001, like how they named Seven of Nine.

Locutus is Latin for 'to speak'. (Hence e[ilocut[/i]ion.) So they basically did that, even if it isn't immediately obvious.

Oh, thanks for the info! I had no idea. That's actually rather clever then. And here I thought the writers just made up some alien-sounding name for Picard's Borg ID. -- RR

 

[Nick086]

I like both Q Who and The Best Of Both Worlds. Did I find the Borg scary? No, I just think they are interesting race. I never really like the idea of the Borg having a Queen or leader. Voyager's last episode End Game Part II a Borg Sphere enters the Alpha Quadrant flowing Voyager from behide. A fleet of federation starships fire at the sphere without taking any damage. I thought it was really stupid, I can understand if it was the Borg Tactical Cube which is a different story.

 

[Malleus]

blockaderunner said:
Man, if someone were to reboot Trek in the future, I hope they have some gifted, creative writers who could take what was established in Q Who regarding the Borg and run with that. No Hugh, no Queen, and no "resistance is futile" crap.

Well, start with the original premise for BOBW. It was supposed to air at the end of the SECOND season, with extensive damage to the Romulans and a possible alliance with their remnants.

 

[Redshirts_Widow]

Hammer said:
Well, start with the original premise for BOBW. It was supposed to air at the end of the SECOND season, with extensive damage to the Romulans and a possible alliance with their remnants.

Now that is interesting, I hadn't heard that before. Thinking about it I suppose it would build on the Season 1's 'The Neutral Zone'. As I recall, weren't the Borg originally have meant to be the mysterious force attacking all of the outposts?

 

[Noname Given]

Redshirts_Widow said:

Hammer said:
Well, start with the original premise for BOBW. It was supposed to air at the end of the SECOND season, with extensive damage to the Romulans and a possible alliance with their remnants.

Now that is interesting, I hadn't heard that before. Thinking about it I suppose it would build on the Season 1's 'The Neutral Zone'. As I recall, weren't the Borg originally have meant to be the mysterious force attacking all of the outposts?

The original version had the 'attackers' being the Conspiracy epiosode aliens; but, due to the WGA strike, and the fact that they didn't think they could do a good job portraying them as incetoids (in a cost effective; that element of the script was re-worked into another story Q-Who; and the Conspiracy aliens re-worked into The Borg.

 

[exalted one]

Did it occur to you that, maybe, Borg DIDN'T originally have an assimilation technology - until they acquired it from Enterprise?

We know that there are nanobots used in Enterprise sickbay and various other tasks. Now, since Borg cube did literally cut and scooped out a slice of Enterprise saucer, well - there could've been a nanobot storage bin somewhere in that part of the ship...

 

[Mojochi]

I like both episodes for very different reasons. I like Q-Who a bit more, but that was mostly because of Q