Loved Q. I don't think he was overused at all. Heck, he doesn't even appear in Seasons 4 or 5. I loved the interplay between his character and Picard. The serious stolid Picard and the mischievous fun-loving Q....it was great!
Q - Your Thoughts?
- Thread starter Gkar
- Start date
I don't think Q was over-used (indeed, as LancasterTrek points out, he isn't even in the fourth or fifth seasons) so much as he was mis-used in some of his appearances, like "Q-pid," where he's basically just the Star Trek version of Mr. Mxyzptlk from the Superman comics, or "True Q," which I just thought fell kind of flat (although it does get points for Q transforming Dr. Crusher into a dog!). "Hide and Q" was pretty pointless as well.
I agree that his appearances in DS9 and Voyager were, perhaps, ill-conceived (apart from "Death Wish," which remains one of the few Voyager episodes I can stand to watch). The only really notable facet of his DS9 appearance is being able to watch him interact differently with Sisko than he did with Picard, but not enough was done with this to really justify an entire episode.
I do, however, think that not having him in a Next Generation movie was an enormous missed opportunity; it would have been the chance to really use the character of Q specifically (and perhaps the Q continuum in general) on a really grand scale, in a way that could be done in a movie but not in a TV episode, even a two-parter. (Then again, this was generally the failing of the Next Generation films, in that they were more like two-part episodes than actual feature films.) Using Q in a film might also have been a way to do the oft-mentioned storyline of Q going mad, and distorting the entire universe as a result - a plot much more suited to a feature than to a television episode. And it always drove me bananas to see Berman and his writers struggling to duplicate The Wrath of Khan by manufacturing a foe for Picard equivalent to Khan, when Q pretty well fit this description perfectly, and would have been an audience draw.
Of course, as Dennis Miller used to say before he went all right-wing, this is all just my opinion - I could be wrong.
I agree that his appearances in DS9 and Voyager were, perhaps, ill-conceived (apart from "Death Wish," which remains one of the few Voyager episodes I can stand to watch). The only really notable facet of his DS9 appearance is being able to watch him interact differently with Sisko than he did with Picard, but not enough was done with this to really justify an entire episode.
I do, however, think that not having him in a Next Generation movie was an enormous missed opportunity; it would have been the chance to really use the character of Q specifically (and perhaps the Q continuum in general) on a really grand scale, in a way that could be done in a movie but not in a TV episode, even a two-parter. (Then again, this was generally the failing of the Next Generation films, in that they were more like two-part episodes than actual feature films.) Using Q in a film might also have been a way to do the oft-mentioned storyline of Q going mad, and distorting the entire universe as a result - a plot much more suited to a feature than to a television episode. And it always drove me bananas to see Berman and his writers struggling to duplicate The Wrath of Khan by manufacturing a foe for Picard equivalent to Khan, when Q pretty well fit this description perfectly, and would have been an audience draw.
Of course, as Dennis Miller used to say before he went all right-wing, this is all just my opinion - I could be wrong.
another missed opportunity of Q-relief: Q as Jim Morrison
Do you mean that the movie should have been about Q or that he should have joined Shinzon & the gang?? Having Q in a movie may be popular with the fans, but I wouldn't really like it. To be honest, I never really cared for Q. I appreciated his sense of humor, but didn't like that he was omniscient. It is hard to explain, but to me a character that can do anything is really boring.
That was John de Lancie's problem with the later Q episodes as well, if memory serves. I believe that the brief scene in "True Q" where Q says something like "We may not have to kill the girl" was added at de Lancie's request to add back some menace and darkness to the character.
Why? His story was finished. He was there to test, but in a strange way, help the human race.
I think throughout the series, every Q episode (save Hide and Q), even when not that good (not a big fan of Q-Pid) had some sort of purpose... If only to better develop the character.
In Voyager, he became a joke. In Deep Space Nine, he was pitiful... Even in Deja Q, where he is pretty much humbled, he was still the omnipotent being with allegedly superior morality.
When Q2 came around in Voyager, he was like frickin' Forrest Gump with super powers....
DumbDumb2007
Commander
Q stole the show at times. he was a heavy as the show started but grew to become the likeable villain over the years. he developed.
I met him once at a trek convention. he was the same in real life as he was on the show.
he was perfectly cast.
i did thionk he had something on his mind about Picard.
To bad therewere never any more Q stories about him on DS9. Q would have worked perfectly on Enterprise. and a Kirk vs Q story would have stolen the show.
I met him once at a trek convention. he was the same in real life as he was on the show.
he was perfectly cast.
i did thionk he had something on his mind about Picard.
To bad therewere never any more Q stories about him on DS9. Q would have worked perfectly on Enterprise. and a Kirk vs Q story would have stolen the show.
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
I once thought maybe the Q were humanity...evolved to omnipotency. Q judging TNG crew, well that was like them judging the defrosted 20th century humans in THE NEUTRAL ZONE.
Actually, every season should've ended with Q putting the crew on trial...highlighted by clips from previous episodes. Ha!
Maybe Q should've sent Voyager to the Delta quadrant (since the Caretaker stuff amounted to the pilot episode and one follow-up). Yeah, that's his latest test. Would've made Q villainous again.
Actually, every season should've ended with Q putting the crew on trial...highlighted by clips from previous episodes. Ha!
Maybe Q should've sent Voyager to the Delta quadrant (since the Caretaker stuff amounted to the pilot episode and one follow-up). Yeah, that's his latest test. Would've made Q villainous again.
In writing, Q is an unsettling variable... he is too power and the nature of the continuum is too ambiguous. He started out of a rather interesting figure, but turned into a kind of Loki -- an immature creature with too much power (and possibly less power then he pretends to have). We know that Q exists in a kind of linear time (hence the continuum) which means he's different from a wormhole alien--- we know he can die, but we know he can make serious (yet reversible changes) to our world for better or for worse.
Having said all that, Q doesn't make any sense as a character or as a being. It's better his appearance is limited and ambiguous.
Having said all that, Q doesn't make any sense as a character or as a being. It's better his appearance is limited and ambiguous.
But he was in the fourth season - in said episode QPid
Though I haven't seen them in ages I remember generally enjoying the TNG Q episodes to some degree or another. The DS9 appearance was horrible save for a few moments and the VOY appearances were worse (but I never had a high opinion of DS9 and VOY on the whole anyway). I think Q should have been retired with TNG. A movie appearance would have been nice, but only if they had a good story to go with it.
They said the same thing about the Borg, and look how they turned out.
Yeah, it's a good thing he wasn't there to screw-up that masterpiece.
Good Will Riker
Admiral
My opinions on Q based on his episode appearances -
Encounter at Farpoint: thumbs up
Hide and Q: thumbs up
Q Who: thumbs up
deja Q: thumbs sideways
Qpid: thumbs sideways
True Q: thumbs down
Q-less: thumbs down
Tapestry: thumbs up
All Good Things...: thumbs up
Death Wish: thumbs up
The Q and the Grey: thumbs sideways/thumbs down
Q2: thumbs (way) down
Encounter at Farpoint: thumbs up
Hide and Q: thumbs up
Q Who: thumbs up
deja Q: thumbs sideways
Qpid: thumbs sideways
True Q: thumbs down
Q-less: thumbs down
Tapestry: thumbs up
All Good Things...: thumbs up
Death Wish: thumbs up
The Q and the Grey: thumbs sideways/thumbs down
Q2: thumbs (way) down
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