Revisiting ST-TNG...

[Warped9]

The silly zip up jumpsuits, the attempt to capture the spirit of TOS with the short skirts on female crew members and frankly the acting was inconsistent at best (all IMHO, of of course)

Yes, the acting was inconsistent, but not as wholesale bad as I once thought. As far as the uniforms I think they needed to be of better materiel and they should have been two piece. I didn't like the 3rd season and onward uniform with its ridiculous zipper up the back and very stiff look that was also always riding up. It certainly didn't look like decent everyday service wear.

 

[Warped9]

"Hide & Q" *

Q returns to imperil the crew and to tempt Riker.

Yeesh! What a throughly pointless episode. We're left with the question as to whether Q is and has always been acting on his own or with the knowledge and blessing of his fellow Q. Are they just curious about humanity or actually afraid? Doesn't matter because they don't really address the issue and it's cluttered up by Q's manufactured manipulation of the crew.

I know he was simply working with what he was given, but Frakes as Riker comes off like a jackass in this and not one whit sympathetically or admirably. And the whole episode even looks like it was made on the cheap as well as being cheaply written.

What a complete waste of time.

 

[BillJ]

What a complete waste of time.

Another one I have a soft spot for.

 

[Warped9]

"Too Short A Season" **

A Starfleet Admiral takes a rejuvenating drug to face an old enemy.

This could have been a somewhat interesting tale, but I was constantly distracted by Admiral Jameson's thoroughly bad makeup and equally bad performance. Maybe if he hadn't been so focal to the story...maybe.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, Hide and Q is just too goofy and doesn't take it's poorly-thought out premise very seriously, mostly a product of the First Season, I suppose. It's got some ideas in it and fits with the implied "arc" the series is supposed to have (testing humanity) but it just doesn't come across good. The "tender moment" with Picard and Yar in the "penalty box" is vomit-inducing, the "adult" Wesley (while still having young Wes' voice), the be-sighted Geordi, the Worf with the Klingon mate it's all just cheesy.

And as I think back to these episodes I'm just reminded how terrible McFadden's acting was in these early episodes. Her "No! Shutup! My son!" rants in "Justice", her relieving Picard of his duty (in Lonely Among Us) and her, again, overly-motherness to her teenaged son in this episode is all just terrible.

And I stress that last part because I'm sure in Trek's time a 14-year-old boy is hardly the innocent, doofus, little needs protecting punks of today. And even today mothers aren't as protective and hand-wringing as Beverly is in pretty much every episode where she has to "worry" about Wesley. She always seemed more like a mother out of 1955 rather than 2364. Cut the cord, Bev!

Too Short a Season: I found the makeup effects in the episode fairly decent (but better done in the 2nd-season episode dealing with rapid aging) for the time and budget but probably would have worked better if done with the lighting and other production effects employed after season 3. The harsh lighting in the first two seasons probably didn't really help the makeup. But, yeah, the guy's "acting" as an old man is just plain terrible and really ruins the whole episode. Actually his acting as his own age is fairly terrible too, I'd probably also chalk that up to some of the poor directing choices in the first two seasons as many of those problems seem solved by the time the series hits the third season.

 

[Warped9]

"The Big Goodbye" **

Picard and company are trapped aboard the holodeck while visiting the fictional world of Dixon Hill.

This episode has some amusing moments while also having some silly ones. Of course this is the very first of such stories where the crew are trapped and endangered within the holodeck. The first few times it was done was mildly interesting, but it quickly got tiresome as they kept revisiting this well far too often. Of course when this episode first aired we hadn't yet any idea how often this story idea would be used.

I liked seeing Beverly Crusher dressed up in 1940s attire, but I thought it rather silly seeing her apparent total unfamiliarity with wearing high heels and how to touch up her makeup and fussing with her hair. Picard's earlier behaviour extolling the upgraded holodeck also struck me as silly. Are you telling me there are no visual entertainment forms in the 24th century analogous to today's movies where folks could have become at least somewhat familiar with period settings?

This was essentially a small story where folks are mostly going through the motions. It could be mildly amusing yet certainly little more than that.

 

[Trekker4747]

I think the holodeck's improvements were just a number of ones to make the experience that much more real. Wondering why Picard is raving about the experience, IMO, is sort of like wondering why a person raves about the quality of the picture on their new HDTV set. I mean, did he have no form of visual entertainment before?

The "upgrade" could've just made the experience "more real" with better visuals, better sounds, better smells, and better manipulation of space (more precisely the perception of depth on the holodeck walls.)

Beverly's unfamiliarity with 20th century clothing and such is odd too, I mean she really thinks and an inedible lump of flavorful of rubber is meant to be swallowed right away after a couple of chews? Is she that stupid? (Don't answer that.) We also plenty of times in the series still see women wearing high-heels and make-up so both should be familiar to Beverly making her infamiliarity with them that much sillier.

In a 4th (?) season episode "Clues" we get a similar unfamiliarity with 20th century stuff when Guinan expresses confusion over how to work a pair of nylons and a garter. First of all we know that tights and hosery still exists in the 24th century as women still wear them and I think that "you put these-leg shaped things on your legs and then use these clips to hold them up" would be something that someone could figure out easily enough without looking it up on the 24th Century version of Wikipedia. (As Gunian likely did in her process of figuring out how to use them .)

TBG I still find to be a fun diversion episode, however, and wish it had focused more on the "adventure" in the holodeck than the diversion of the meeting with the insectian aliens which was just a "throw that plot in there for the fuck of it!" diversion. And, oh, yeah let the inexperienced kid mess around with the machine that can vaporize key members of your crew! Great idea!

 

[Warped9]

^^ You touch on good points of them throwing all sorts of stupid things into a story that have absolutely no value other than just mucking things up and ruining what little you have.

So far, yes, there are some damned dumb episodes yet in general I'm seeing some potentially interesting things that they generally don't know what to do with.

One thing in TBG I found amusing: Wesley is just about to launch into our first real taste of technobabble and Riker cuts him off(!) and simply says, "Get on with it!"

I have to say that I'm liking this earlier Picard. He seems to have more range and some genuine life in him as opposed to how stiff I've seen him become in later seasons. It's not just a matter of vocal expression but also in body language. My impression of Picard in later seasons is a guy who just stands there stiff as a board and spouts lines. And I commend them for casting someone who initially seems so against expected type as a series lead.

 

[Trekker4747]

I do want to point this out on my feelings on technobabble.

First of all, for the most part, the techobabble in TNG "makes sense." Yeah it's all made up but more or less it seemed to have some sort of "logic" to it as if the people coaching the technobabble had "some idea" on what it meant or should mean. (This no longer is the case in very late TNG and especially in Voyager.)

Another point on it that it's never used in TNG for the most part to solve the main problem of the story. There's a few episode where the "logical technobabble" is just flying around rapidly and while it make sense to a degree and solves the technological problem it doesn't solve the main problem of the story. The Season-3 episode dealing with a human Q ("Thank Q"?) does this, the problem the Enterprise is facing is solved with techobabble (dicking around with the tractor beam or something like that) and while that may be annoying it's not what the story's focus is on. The story's focus is on Q and him "learning" about humanity and finding the touch of humanity within himself. Similarly in "Matter of Time" (Fifth season episode featuring the traveler from the [26th] century) a lot of technobabble is used to solve the problem the Enterprise is facing (a planet undergoing an asteroid-strike generated climate change) but that's not what the story is about, it's more about the traveler from the future and how Picard deals with the concept of "choice" when this resource is available to him.

If you pay attention to the technobabble in TNG as a whole it's not used a whole heck of a lot to solve the main story's focus and it makes a degree or two of sense and it hardly ever reached the terrible levels it'd reach in Voyager. (Where Seven's nanoprobes or the deflector dish can do pretty much anything and technobabble is used to actually solve the main problem the characters are facing with no underlying theme about the human condition.)

And, honestly, I don't have a huge problem with it. If were watching a show taking place on a present-day nuclear ship we wouldn't have a problem with that ship's engineer/mechanic talking about the uranium injectors or problems with the hydraulics in the jet lifts to the flight-deck, nor do we criticize procedural crime dramas for talking about DNA gels and luminol. So I don't think the "technobabble" in TNG is a "big deal" as it "fits the time" the characters are in and messing with their technology, it's not often used to solve the main problem in the story as much of the time there's a deeper theme.

Hell, in "Redemption 2" Data uses technobabble to get his ship to detect cloaked Romulan ships, thus stopping a Romulan arms supply from getting into Federation space and while what Data does "solves the problem" in the story it still has a deeper meaning in showcasing Data's growth into being "more human" by disobeying Picard's orders.

But I cannot think of an instance in TNG, no major instance anway, where technobabble is used to actually solve the crisis of the story and the "main problem." There's many episodes of Voyager where some-sort-of attack or other problem plagues the ship and then at the last minute the deflector/nanoprobes are used to save the day. TNG was a bit more restrained in this area.

 

[Warped9]

"Datalore" ***

While the Enterprise visits the world where Data originated they find another identical android.

I think this is a decent step up from the handful of preceding episodes. For the most part I found myself still interested even though I was already familiar with the story. And they seemed to handle things better overall.

I do have one quibble, though. Once Wesley and Beverly revive Data and ascertain that Lore has indeed been impersonating him then why is it them who track him down in the cargo transporter area rather than a security team? It doesn't make any sense.

Otherwise I think this was a better effort.

 

[RAMA]

"The Big Goodbye" **

Picard and company are trapped aboard the holodeck while visiting the fictional world of Dixon Hill.

This episode has some amusing moments while also having some silly ones. Of course this is the very first of such stories where the crew are trapped and endangered within the holodeck. The first few times it was done was mildly interesting, but it quickly got tiresome as they kept revisiting this well far too often. Of course when this episode first aired we hadn't yet any idea how often this story idea would be used.

I liked seeing Beverly Crusher dressed up in 1940s attire, but I thought it rather silly seeing her apparent total unfamiliarity with wearing high heels and how to touch up her makeup and fussing with her hair. Picard's earlier behaviour extolling the upgraded holodeck also struck me as silly. Are you telling me there are no visual entertainment forms in the 24th century analogous to today's movies where folks could have become at least somewhat familiar with period settings?

This was essentially a small story where folks are mostly going through the motions. It could be mildly amusing yet certainly little more than that.

Its funny, you didn't even mention the central theme in the episode, the question of existence on the holodeck, the first time they handled that question...one they sort of used in a similar vein on the "Thirteenth Floor" movie a decade later. Its the main reason the episode won a Peabody Award. Production was outstanding, winning an Emmy for costume design and a nomination for cinematography...a strong point of season 1.

"Datalore" ***

While the Enterprise visits the world where Data originated they find another identical android.

I think this is a decent step up from the handful of preceding episodes. For the most part I found myself still interested even though I was already familiar with the story. And they seemed to handle things better overall.

I do have one quibble, though. Once Wesley and Beverly revive Data and ascertain that Lore has indeed been impersonating him then why is it them who track him down in the cargo transporter area rather than a security team? It doesn't make any sense.

Otherwise I think this was a better effort.

Datalore marks an upturn in season one...leading to solid/good episodes such as: Too Short a Season, 11001001, Home Soil, Heart of Glory, Arsenal of Freedom, Conspiracy. Before Datalore, the episodes were generally avg with maybe 2 real high points.

Well That's why Brent SPiner, Wil Wheaton, and Gates are paid to be the stars, they're going to be on screen more, much like it makes more sense that Kirk does not go on away teams, or that security teams would better handle most of the situations he was personally in, but Shatner got paid to be the star.

RAMA

 

[Warped9]

Its funny, you didn't even mention the central theme in the episode, the question of existence on the holodeck, the first time they handled that question...one they sort of used in a similar vein on the "Thirteenth Floor" movie a decade later. Its the main reason the episode won a Peabody Award. Production was outstanding, winning an Emmy for costume design and a nomination for cinematography...a strong point of season 1.

RAMA

I did note that, but they didn't really do anything with it. If they had then it could have made for a better, more interesting episode. As is the holodeck characters don't really behave in a convincing manner when faced with the possibility that their existence is manufactured. If they were really in keeping with denizens of the 1940s faced with something as incredible as what Picard showed them they likely would have run from the room screaming.

No I don't think they did much with this idea this first time around. I think they deal with it better in the 2nd season with "Elementary, Dear Data."



"Angel One" **

The Enterprise visits a world ruled by women while searching for survivors of a wrecked ship.

The point of this episode is obvious: the issue of inequality in society. While they're using gender to illustrate inequality it could easily be applied to differing races. But I found this whole thing ham fisted and loaded with bad dialogue. I'm also getting tired of the A and B plot structure to some of these episodes. In most cases I think they would have been better off just focusing on the central story idea and get the most out of that.

While it's a minor and irrelevant point I also didn't find any of the Angel One women attractive.

 

[Warped9]

"11001001" ****

While getting a computer upgrade the Enterprise is hijacked by a group of aliens.

It's certainly not perfect but I rather like this one and it works better partly because there isn't such an obvious delineation between the A and B plots. It has to be noted to that Minuet still doesn't behave as a genuine 20th character because she expresses self-awareness of being a holodeck program. Of course, that's possibly part of the point in order to keep Riker and Picard distracted and out of the way. And note also none of the holodeck characters made mention of Riker and Picard's out-of-setting attire as happened previously in "The Big Goodbye."

 

[marillion]

The silly zip up jumpsuits, the attempt to capture the spirit of TOS with the short skirts on female crew members and frankly the acting was inconsistent at best (all IMHO, of of course)

Yes, the acting was inconsistent, but not as wholesale bad as I once thought. As far as the uniforms I think they needed to be of better materiel and they should have been two piece. I didn't like the 3rd season and onward uniform with its ridiculous zipper up the back and very stiff look that was also always riding up. It certainly didn't look like decent everyday service wear.

But the "ride-up" certainly gave Riker something to do when he stood up..

 

[BillJ]

But the "ride-up" certainly gave Riker something to do when he stood up..

Which is all he had to do after Best of Both Worlds.

 

[Warped9]

Ahh! How refreshing when a story isn't hampered by a B plot... (-:


"Home Soil" ***

A terraforming team unknowingly pick a fight with a previously unknown form of life.

Not awesome, but not bad. A genuine science fiction story dealing with encountering a new form of life: inorganic life. Of course I couldn't help but be reminded of the gigantic crystaline entity from "Datalore," but this was taken in a different direction. Still, I did think the acting of some of the guest characters was somewhat forced.


"When The Bough Breaks" ***

The inhabitants of a mythical world abduct children from the Enterprise.

Another decent story, one partly of self aggrandizing people also living in denial of the effects of their science. Normally a story involving kids likely wouldn't interest me much, but this wasn't badly done and it finally dealt, in some measure, with the idea of families aboard ship. That said I still think this was an ill-conceived idea unless the ship truly was on an extended deep space voyage. But we soon see the crew visited by off-ship family members (most notably Llwaxanna Troi) and the Enterprise able to return to Earth practically whenever it pleases. This completely undermines the concept of having families aboard ship.

 

[Botany Bay]

I have to say that I'm liking this earlier Picard. He seems to have more range and some genuine life in him as opposed to how stiff I've seen him become in later seasons. It's not just a matter of vocal expression but also in body language. My impression of Picard in later seasons is a guy who just stands there stiff as a board and spouts lines. And I commend them for casting someone who initially seems so against expected type as a series lead.

TOS veteran Bob Justman convinced GR that Stewart was the man for the job. It was a brilliant decision by Roddenberry. Imagine season 1 without Stewart...he really held the show together early on, as the others improved as actors gradually.

The episodes really improve around this point before the early part of Season 2 undoes all the good work. Anyway, keep the reviews coming!

 

[Warped9]

I'm already developing overall impressions of Season One, but I'm holding up comment until I finish revisiting the entire season. Yes, I already know what episodes are coming, but I'm trying to have a more open mind and trying to refrain from letting past impressions sway me too much.

That said while some of my initial impressions from previous viewing years ago are being re-affirmed I'm also finding that either I've mellowed some (possibly) or some of what I'm seeing isn't as wholesale bad as I initially believed.

One small example: the overall acting of the main cast. After a rough start during the pilot and the first few episodes the acting overall does distinctly improve, most notably with Patrick Stewart. I'd say he got a handle on things better and more quickly than everyone else. Levar Burton does pretty well early on, but then candidly he didn't have a lot to mess up. Since the beginning only one or twice do I think his character was off and I attribute that more to bad dialogue and direction than his performance. I'd have to say the same about Michael Dorn---he's not bad considering what he has was given to work with.

Brent Spiner's portrayal of Data is uneven and from what I'm seeing I'm attributing that directly to inconsistent materiel. I don't think they really thought Data's character through, particularly in terms of appreciating what he would more likely be like after twenty some years among humans before we meet him during "Encounter At Farpoint."

I also have to say that even a character I really don't like at all, Deanna Troi, her performance gets better. Same with Tasha Yar.

I'm willing to say that after the initial handful of episodes the problem with the characters is ever less their performance and evermore the materiel they're given to work with. Sometimes they're given brutally clumsy dialogue that really needed to be rewritten.

I also have to say I'm finding Riker a bit grating. I find him at this point a bit smarmy and a bit too quick to suck up to the Captain. He's also a poser in the sense of the poses he strikes particularly when he's stepping onto the transporter pad or waiting to be beamed up. It's just a little too obvious.

I can also say quite a few of these stories would have come off better if they'd been done a season or two later when the writing staff and directors have a better grasp of what they were doing.

 

[SchwEnt]

^^^That's a thought I've often had about TNG.
Many early eps would have played differently (and better) if the stories had been done in later seasons.

Season One Riker dealing with Q in "Hide and Q" is much different than if we had seen Season Four or Five Riker dealing with the same situation. Or maybe that's the point.

Sometimes I think, damn... some good eps stories were "wasted" in the first season (due to that seasons problems) and would have been much better if done in the later seasons when TNG was running more smoothly. Ehh.

 

[Warped9]

"Coming Of Age" **

Wesley tests to attend Starfleet Academy while an Admiral investigates Picard and the Enterprise.

I have mixed feelings about this episode. It has some decent moments sprinkled throughout it, and I can't really fault any of the performances, but I didn't really care for it overall. Essentially it didn't really engage me.

Firstly I found the whole issue of the tests the Academy candidates underwent patently boring. I think this could have been interesting, but just not the way it was done here. I also found it amusing that the monitors the candidates were working off of were CRT's. Funny, but I don't recall ever seeing any CRT monitors on the TOS Enterprise and that had been done twenty years earlier.

Regarding the investigation aboard the ship I found it mostly dull and predictable. Notably, though, I found Riker's behaviour distinctly unprofessional. This guy really needs to mellow out.

My lower rating is partly due to my not finding this episode particularly interesting. It isn't that what they gave us was executed poorly, but that it was just dull.