Revisiting ST-TNG...

[Warped9]

"Half A Life" ****

A scientist trying to save his planet must die before he can complete his work.

Llwaxana Troi--ACK!!! ...Okay, that said this is actually a good and moving story, and credit must go to Majel Barrett and David Ogden Stiers for making this thoughtful story work. This story actually has some resonance of Logan's Run to it only here the mandatory death age is a lot higher. I also credit the writers for taking a goofy character and allowing us to see another side to her, something I wouldn't have believed until it was actually put onscreen.


I have to say I don't remember Season 4, particularly the latter part of the season, being this consistent. It's a pleasant surprise considering I feel the first half of the season was a disappointment after Season 3. At this point I'm not seeing any real series fatigue.

Still...


"The Host" *

Riker volunteers to host a parasitic lifeform in order to mediate between warring factions.

A Beverly Crusher love story with an alien...parasite. I found this plodding and downright excruciating to endure. The one curious note about it was how different this depiction of the Trill species is from the direction they would take with Jadzia Dax in DS9. Mind you I think Dax was a somewhat better direction because even by mid run I'm getting tired of TNG's forehead-of-the-week aliens.

What a disappointment after several good episodes.

 

[Trekker4747]

"Half A Life" ****

Half A Life is probably the one episode where Lwaxana Troi is bearable and actually sympathetic and she actually has a realistic and meaningful impact on the plot. The story itself is also interesting take on "ageism" that can exist in societies.

I do find it interesting that when she's communicating telepathically while crying Mrs. Troi still gasps for air.

"The Host" *

Yeah, though I probably wouldn't personally rate it so low this episode isn't one I enjoy. It feels too much like a soap-opera or just like something I couldn't get into. The scene with Crusher and Troi in their hideous aerobics outfits doing stretches and stuff infront of the mirrors is just an odd looking and embarrassing scene to watch that's not flattering to either of the lovely ladies.

As for the differences between the "Trill" we see in this episode and the "Trill" we see during DS9 we can either chalk that up to either completely different species (one with the more parasitic shared experience, one with the symbiotic one) or just different "races" of the same species. The difference of how the host and parasite interact making enough of a difference to jack with transporters, have different physical appearances, among other things. The more "symbiotic" version being the one we see in DS9 and having operated in Starfleet for centuries without any ill effects or being noticed until TNG's time.

The other parasitic "race" being very different and the parasitic nature of the interaction resulting in a danger when it comes to using transporters.

It's a stretch but it seems "logical" for it to be the case.

It's also interesting to point out that this episode is one of very few that suggests how homosexuality operates in TNG's time and maybe even suggests a touch of everyone being a bit "non-sexual" or not aggressively preferring of one gender over the other. I say this because Beverly doesn't turn away Odan because he's not in the body of a comely young blond woman but because she's not sure "who" "he" is or "who" "he" will be a year from now or even longer down the road. The relationship can't work for her not because he is now a woman but because she doesn't know who "he" is.

The other time comes in "The Outcast" where Riker seems actively interested enough in androgynous alien who while identifies with being female is physically androgynous looking. Our handsome first-officer we've seen actively pursue obviously female beings for several seasons with very female features, but in that episode we see him show interest in a person who identifies with being female but barely fits the physical requirements (and likely wouldn't offer much in the bedroom either.)

 

[Warped9]

"The Mind's Eye" **

Laforge is manipulated by the Romulans to foster distrust between the Federation and the Klingons.

I didn't really care for this. I just found it rather predictable and couldn't get interested in watching the mechanics of this story unfolding.

It should be noted that not once in the end is it mentioned that what the Romulans did to Laforge is effectively an act of war. They violate Federation space to abduct him (and I'd like to know how they knew where he'd be), they physically and mentally abuse him and force him to commit criminal acts on their behalf including attempted assassination. Not one brief scene to depict any outrage for what has been done. You also can't miss that this presages some of what is forthcoming in "Redemption."


I should also note that at this point I've decided to pick up the Season 5 dvd set rather than just watch the episodes on YouTube. I'm getting enough out of this so far that I don't mind having it in my video library, at least not the first five seasons.

 

[Trekker4747]

"The Mind's Eye" **

Laforge is manipulated by the Romulans to foster distrust between the Federation and the Klingons.

I didn't really care for this. I just found it rather predictable and couldn't get interested in watching the mechanics of this story unfolding.

It should be noted that not once in the end is it mentioned that what the Romulans did to Laforge is effectively an act of war. They violate Federation space to abduct him (and I'd like to know how they knew where he'd be), they physically and mentally abuse him and force him to commit criminal acts on their behalf including attempted assassination. Not one brief scene to depict any outrage for what has been done. You also can't miss that this presages some of what is forthcoming in "Redemption."

Yeah, you'd think all of this would've had some considerable backlash but I guess that's for the diplomats to work over and not our heroes.

I should also note that at this point I've decided to pick up the Season 5 dvd set rather than just watch the episodes on YouTube. I'm getting enough out of this so far that I don't mind having it in my video library, at least not the first five seasons.

If you're going to get five of the seasons you might was well go whole-hog and get all seven. Six and Seven are certainly weaker than the other seasons (probably the weakest) but there's still a few gems in there.

 

[Anwar]

All the stuff the Romulans and Feds do to one another seems to always get fixed off-screen. In Balance of Terror the Romulans destroy several outposts and kill hundreds, an act of open war. Nothing happens.

Enterprise Incident, the Feds go in and steal both a cloaking device and a Romulan Commander, no repercussions.

 

[tomalak301]

All the stuff the Romulans and Feds do to one another seems to always get fixed off-screen. In Balance of Terror the Romulans destroy several outposts and kill hundreds, an act of open war. Nothing happens.

Enterprise Incident, the Feds go in and steal both a cloaking device and a Romulan Commander, no repercussions.

Yet in The Enemy and Defector, seems like the whole preventing war thing get's done onscreen.

If there's one thing I wished more in 80s, and 90s trek, it was more being done with the Romulans. We got Klingons and Cardassians and Borg, but it seemed like the Romulans always got kind of shafted, which sucks because they became a whole lot more interesting than, say, the Klingons.

 

[Warped9]

Part of the disappointment with the Romulans in contemporary Trek (on TNG anyways) is that few if any of them had any real screen presence. I think Andreas Katsulas as Tomolak could have pulled it off if he had had more to do (he was brilliant as Gkar in Babylon 5). But as is none of them had the presence of Mark Lenard ("Balance Of Terror") or Joanne Linville ("The Enterprise Incident") in TOS. The Klingons fared better:

Kor (John Colicos)
Kang (Michael Ansara)
Worf (Michael Dorn)
K'Ehleyr (Susie Plakson)
K'mpec (Charles Cooper)
Gowron (Robert O'Reilly)
Kahless (Kevin Conroy)
Martok (J. G. Hertzler)

Mind you I think Colicos' and Ansara's appearances in TOS were far better than their turns in DS9.

 

[Anwar]

I thought Tomalok had good presence, wish they'd used him more often.

They tried with Sela, but Crosby just didn't have what it took.

 

[Warped9]

"In Theory" *

Data becomes romantically involved with a fellow crewman.

Watching Laforge trying to get busy is cringe inducing. Watching Data going through the motions is . This was a waste of forty-two minutes. The one vaguely interesting (and creepy) part was seeing the female crewman partially merged into the deck.


"Redemption" (Part I) ****

Worf's loyalties are divided when the Klingon Empire erupts in civil war.

More Klingon political intrigue. Not great, but pretty good. Again it's the comic opera nature of contemporary Klingons that keeps me from really getting into this. It should be dramatic and without the hint of a smirk running throughout it. Gowron is somewhat amusing to see onscreen. And we get the big reveal of Sela hinted at a couple of episodes ago.

At least it's a decent ending to the season after a couple of disappointing episodes.

 

[Warped9]

Season 1 episode average = 2.56
Season 2 episode average = 2.95
Season 3 episode average = 3.23
Season 4 episode average = 3.15

So Season 4 takes a slight dip in overall quality and I attribute most of that to a generally lacklustre first half of the season. If that trend had maintained then the seaon overall would have been much worse. But fortunately the second half of the season rebounded with a decent run of better episodes.

30.7% poor to bad episodes
69.3% fair to excellent episodes

Season 4 ratings:
***** Excellent (3.8%)
"Best Of Both Worlds" (Part II)

**** Good (38.4%)
"Reunion"
"Future Imperfect"
"First Contact"
"Galaxy's Child"
“Night Terrors”
"Identity Crises"
"The Nth Degree"
"The Drumhead"
"Half A Life"
"Redemption" (Part I)

*** Fair (29.6%)
"Family"
"Legacy"
"Final Mission"
"The Loss"
“The Wounded”
"Devil's Due"
"Clues"

** Poor (19.2%)
"Suddenly Human"
"Brothers"
"Remember Me"
"Qpid"
"The Mind's Eye"

* Bad (11.5%)
"Data's Day"
"The Host"
"In Theory"


***** The season takes a big hit in far fewer excellent episodes than previous seasons.
1st Season = 0 episodes
2nd Season = 3 episodes (13%)
3rd Season = 5 episodes (19%)
4th Season = 1 episode (3%)

**** The season improves in overall number of good episodes yet at the sacrifice of not being able to nudge a few into a higher rating.
1st Season = 4 episodes (16%)
2nd Season = 6 episodes (27%)
3rd Season = 6 episodes (23%)
4th Season = 10 episodes (38%)

*** The season seems to hold close to the previous average here.
1st Season = 9 episodes (36%)
2nd Season = 5 episodes (22%)
3rd Season = 8 episodes (30%)
4th Season = 7 episodes (26%)

** Marginally higher than two previous seasons.
1st Season = 9 episodes (36%)
2nd Season = 4 episodes (18%)
3rd Season = 4 episodes (18%)
4th Season = 5 episodes (19%)

* Stays pretty much the same.
1st Season = 3 episodes (12%)
2nd Season = 4 episodes (18%)
3rd Season = 3 episodes (11%)
4th Season = 3 episodes (11%)

The season slips a bit in overall quality from Season 3 and it looks like it got more 4 ratings at the sacrifice of 5 rated episodes thus bringing the average down.

I admit to some surprise because my impression was that Season 4 would not approach the same overall consistency of Season 3. And that impression was initially affirmed during the first half of the season. But the second half rebounded strongly to come close to evening things out. The second half of the season also minimized any sense I might have gotten earlier of series fatigue.

And so my overall impression of the series over the first four seasons is that the show was somewhat better than remembered early on, improved and became more consistent and is generally steady overall. This actually looks promising going into Season 5.


Some other observations at this point. The show can really be good, but when not it can feel awfully bland. I'm tired of forehead-of-the-week style aliens---it really comes across as unimaginative. Picard's too obvious affectation gesturing when saying "engage" looks silly. The cast often look stiff and uncomfortable in their uniforms which as is I don't find flattering or convincing as everyday service wear. Sometimes some of the dialogue comes across as over written and wordier than it needs to be. They often seem to use a lot of pronouns as if they think the audience is too inattentive to remember what is going on or who or what is being referred to.

 

[GalaxyX]

"Where No One Has Gone Before" ****

During a propulsion test the Enterprise is flung into a distant region where thoughts become real.

Yes, I'm being generous with the rating because I have a soft spot for this episode even though I'd like to have seen more done with it. It feels almost like a TOS episode. And if I recall correctly it is a rare adaptation of a pre-existing work, the TOS novel The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane. In that book the original Enterprise undergoes propulsion tests that throw the ship far beyond known space and even threatens to rip open the fabric of the universe. This story also had an alien, a being described as a glass spider. Now that I'd like to have seen in a Trek episode. As is the TNG version is okay, but I'd like to have seen more elements of the original story in the episode even though I know a glass spider alien would likely have been beyond the existing f/x resources.

The role of Starfleet Engineer Kozinsky comes across perhaps a bit too pompous and arrogant and over-the-top, but not really intolerably so. Part of what I like about this story is the subject matter, literally going beyond the final frontier to encounter something unforeseeable. Here again the cast mostly seems to have a better handle on their performances. And once again not a blessed sign of technobabble in a story that in later seasons would likely be rife with it. The only time I rolled my eyes was when Deanna Troi spoke up regarding the feelings she sensed from everyone aboard---oh, please, just shut up!

I also rather like some of the music in this episode, and that's a rarity in contemporary Trek which I think has mostly deplorable, soulless and totally forgettable music.

I liked the opening shot of the Enterprise and the Fearless side-by-side. The strange void sequences looked kind nice. But the extreme warp effect as well as the space shots where the ship is about two million light years from home looked more like animation and rather cartoony.

I do have one other minor quibble: although the episode title is appropriate I'd rather they had used something else so as to seem less like reusing an almost identical title from TOS.

You've pretty much captured every reason why this is my favorite Star Trek episode.

 

[Trekker4747]

"In Theory" *

Data becomes romantically involved with a fellow crewman.

Watching Laforge trying to get busy is cringe inducing. Watching Data going through the motions is .

Yeah Data's behavior in this is just... Ugh. It's also interesting that his actions of a husband coming home from work to a loved one is something that's centuries old for him. Certainly contemporary material was out there for him on how to be a good partner?

And as much as I like Data and considered him a life-form I couldn't get over the idea that Jenna was basically crushing on a walking, sentient, vibrator.

 

[Holdfast]

"The Loss" ***

I suppose I have some professional empathy with Troi in this episode, though I'm a shrink and she's a counsellor, because when I rewatch this ep now I enjoy it much more than I did before I specialised. While the disability analogy is fairly trite and barely worth the 3* you gave it, it's much more interesting from the perspective of what happens when a mental health professional ends up on the other side of the couch. I've never been in that situation myself, but it's an interesting exploration of that, if resolved a bit too quickly. So I give it 4 stars myself.

"Data's Day" *
"In Theory" *

I always get these two eps confused with each other. Neither really stands out in my mind, though from your descriptions, I think I preferred Data's Day.

"The Wounded" ***

The idea and script are better than the execution. Colm Meaney was good though. The guy playing Maxwell was OK too. The Cardassians could have been better.

"Devil's Due" ***

A bit of fluff, but quite fun. I like it.

"Clues" ***

I'd definitely give this a higher score. Conceptually sound, good execution, nice conclusion.

"First Contact" ****

Your mention of a Cold War paranoid vibe is spot-on; that's something that comes across really strongly and I think is quite deliberate.

"Galaxy's Child" ****

Worth four stars if only for the scenes where Leah busts Geordi.

"Night Terrors" ****"
Identity Crises" ****

Star Trek, in any incarnation, meshes exceptionally well with horror. Great episodes; I'd give them both 5 stars.

"The Nth Degree" ****

Another 5-star episode for me. Just good storytelling.

"Qpid" **

I lol'ed. 4 stars.

"The Drumhead" ****

I don't like episodes where the real-world parallel is done with sledgehammer subtlety like this one. I prefer at least some attempt at disguising the link. Fortunately the acting saves this one and I'd agree with your overall rating.

"Half A Life" ****

In contrast to The Drumhead, Half A Life doesn't just directly transplant a real-world controversy, it develops and extends it in surprising directions. Very good episode.

"The Host" *

Nothing really happens in this episode that I care about. Two stars, because I kind of liked the Trill parasite idea.

"The Mind's Eye" **

I really enjoyed this episode, and thought the ending was excellent.

"Redemption" (Part I) ****

A decent set-up for a fairly good two-parter (which differs from some later two-parters in having a good conclusion too).

 

[Warped9]

I'm generally enjoying revisiting the series, but I must say there are times I struggle not to fast-forward through some episodes. There have been some mangy dogs that I could barely stand looking at.

Just for fun I've gone back and looked at the four seasons as a whole statistically. It's 100 episodes at this point although I counted "Encounter At Farpoint" as one episode so it comes to 99.


There have been 35 episodes rated from poor to bad. That's 35% over the four seasons. Wow! Now a third of that (12) is from the first season, but the rest is spread pretty evenly throughout Seasons 2-4.

Now here's an interesting counterpoint: there have been 35 episodes (35%) rated from good to excellent. And again the fewest (4) are in first season with the rest spread pretty evenly over the next three seasons.

That leaves 29 episodes (29%) that I thought were just okay. I didn't find them seriously disappointing, but I also didn't find anything particularly engaging or memorable about them. I see these episodes in a sort of grey area that different people will see one way or the other. Some might be inclined to lump most if not all of these with the higher rated episodes and conclude that 64% of the series (to this point) is eminently watchable. In counterpoint some might be inclined to lump the "just okay" episodes with the disappointing group and conclude that 64% of the series is bland and disappointing.

It really comes down to perspective.

Something to ponder...


If you are someone who generally likes the series then you might see that third of the series that is "just okay" as something like comfort food. It isn't what you'd really rather have, but it'll tide you over. If you're someone who sees the show less favorably then you may not have the patience to hang in through mediocrity to get to those few tasty morsels.

In all candor at this point I would lean towards the latter group, but with qualification. For quite some time I recall thinking that perhaps a quarter of the series was noteworthy, that I could cobble together perhaps two seasons worth of episodes that were worth watching. Revisiting the show that I find that percentage is a bit higher. I also find a third of the show isn't as horrible as I remember it.

I'm looking at it from the perspective that while there are things that I do quite like there are also quite a few things that I question conceptually and that I find disappointing. But note that this is still coming from someone who remains critical of much, if not most, of post TOS Trek.

I've still three seasons to revisit and so it remains to be seen if that favorable percentage remains at about 30-35%.

 

[Holdfast]

It really comes down to perspective.

Something to ponder...

Just to take that thought a step further, that makes the meta-discussion upthread about what themes, values, atmosphere, character interaction, etc an entry in the Star Trek franchise should have, much more relevant.

If one approaches the other series through expectations generated by watching one's favourite series (whichever that may be), that influences perspective enough to downgrade those grey-area eps.

For instance, there are plenty of VOY and ENT episodes I find extraordinarily mediocre, but that's partly because my expectations of what Star Trek should be doing are influenced by a combination of what TNG and TOS did, in about a 70-30 mix. If I approach them simply as entertainment, rather than Star Trek, even those VOY/ENT episodes are fairly watchable in a pass-the-time-amusingly sort of way. Large chunks of them are not great Star Trek in my personal opinion, but as sci-fi entertainment, they're fine if unspectacular.

If you can actively put aside your expectations of what a Star Trek series should be about, I think you may enjoy TNG a little more too. And since enjoyment is what any of these series is meant to be about, I don't mind putitng aside my perspective of the franchise as a whole.

It's the same way I think it's a shame (for them) when people complain about a movie ruining the rest of a series (eg PT vs OT in Star Wars), or Batman & Robin, or Matrix Revolutions, or whatever.

Now, from the perspective of running a franchise, then dilution of core values is a serious problem, and that dilution IMO was part of the reason (alongside many other more practical issues) why Star Trek ended up going off the air. But from a viewer perspective, I don't mind "switching hats", as it were.

 

[Warped9]

Much depends on what it takes to entertain you. To say "if you look at it just as entertainment" you'll get more out of it doesn't hold much meaning for me. To me it says "if you're not as critical then you'll like it more." But we all have expectations of what is entertaining.

If a show is just okay most of the time then odds are good I'll drift away because I can think of other things to do I'll enjoy more. Something that is just filler won't cut it for me. I have to feel a sense of expectation that more often than not I'll be well entertained or most likely I won't bother.

I loved the first season of Earth Final Conflict. I was terribly disappointed with Season 2 such that I just gave up. It imploded creatively and whenever I tried tuning in over the season or two I thought it was still crap so I soon didn't bother anymore. As is now I own Season 1 on dvd, but I won't bother with the rest.

Stargate (both SG-1 and Atlantis) are shows that are not generally brilliant, but hold just enough appeal that I can hang in there. I can't recall my brain hurting or feeling bored. But I can say that most of SG-1's last two seasons left something to be desired.

DS9 is generally revered around here, but after the first two and a half seasons I just couldn't care anymore. And I did try dropping in occasionally over seasons 3-7, but I never saw anything that engaged me enough to want to come back. As is I've no real interest to revisit DS9.

Part of what bugs me about contemporary Trek, and it's something I'm starting to find more noticeable in TNG's fourth season, is a certain way of writing that I can find tedious. I find it over written or wordy for lack of a better way of saying it. I often feel the characters don't talk like believable people. Of course, practically no one on television talks like real people with common pauses and hesitations. But there is a distinction where I find many of the characters in contemporary Trek often don't strike me as convincing.

It's already popped up in TNG, but as things progress technobabble will become more noticeable and the way action and space battles are staged will really start to grate on the nerves. So far technobabble in TNG hasn't been bad to this point, but in Season 4 I've started to notice it more.

We all draw the line somewhere and so it comes done to individual tastes.

 

[Warped9]

Actually...the more I think of it the more I find the space combat scenes in TNG to be lacklustre. Believe it or not, but I thought the way it was done in "The Wounded," where we didn't actually see anything, was more effective than what we see at the end of "Yesterday's Enterprise." Telling us ships are tens, hundreds or thousands of kilometers apart and then seeing them actually on top of each other really ruins your suspension of disbelief.

TOS has been criticized for rarely showing two ships in the same frame, but this actually came across more believably because if the ships are hundreds or thousands of kilometers apart then they couldn't possibly be viewed in the same frame. Mind you for this to work you have to be able to play with the viewer's imagination and create effective tension and suspense onscreen

 

[Anwar]

JMS said that in Babylon 5, he knew that the combat SHOULD'VE not had the ships be so close but he also recognized that for dramatic purposes it's the way it had to be.

Same with Star Wars, Lucas admits the combat makes no sense but it was more fun.

 

[Warped9]

In earlier episodes of B5 they didn't do it so much, but as the series progressed they also started putting them into the same frame. I criticized them then for it as well...and I quite like Babylon 5.

 

[Anwar]

It's just a conceit of the genre, it's always to happen.