You still haven't told us what you think "dark" is...
S1 vs. S2 vs. S3 (comparing seasons)
- Thread starter Admiral Jean-Luc Picard
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You still haven't told us what you think "dark" is...
Missing key context hereNo, it hasn't.War with the Romulans led to the Federation, war with the Klingons in the 23rd century, the Enterprise-C had been destroyed by the Romulans, there'd been a war with the Cardassians, conflict with the Q and the Borg, the Federation is not a utopia, there is continuous conflict that continuously needs to be addressed.
But that misses context. People are not just watching a singular episode in a void but watching TNG in light of other TNG episodes. Up until that point the Federation was an evolved place that dealt with external conflicts. This episode is quite different because the conflict is internal. That's the key difference and creates a darker shadow on the Federation than before.
I had to look this episode up on Wikipedia as I don't remember it. Warp core problem looks like sabotage, retired Admiral is brought on to find the saboteur, the warp core part ended up being wear and tear, retired Admiral sticks around, obsessed with finding traitors. The episode is about yet another Admiral, this time retired, who'd gone looney tunes. Hardly a dark episode, and quite common on the show.
Off the top of my head, I'm thinking she's the first to actually go off the rails. Admiral Mark Jameson paid for the crimes of Captain Mark Jameson.
Dark is subjective.
A witch hunt using a Betazed for finding "traitors" is quite dark to my mind.
Indeed. Again, context of presentation is key here. In TNG at this point conflicts were largely external not internal. The Drumhead takes a much different tone of how Starfleet conducts itself to deal with internal threats.
This is just regular drama. I don't find this dark at all.
This is just regular drama. I don't find this dark at all.
You still haven't defined what you mean by "dark"...
Hence the "subjective" part of my post.This is just regular drama. I don't find this dark at all.
For Trek at the time,in context, it was quite dark and sets a darker tone for what would come later on down the series and franchise.
I just don't see it. Why do you think it's a dark episode? What about the crazy lady is so dark?
Jesus Christ, people have already explained this to you. Over and over. It is like you can't comprehend what is being posted.
Because she can make a person look guilty merely by having the incorrect thoughts. It hews very close to thought crime and is a disturbing use of a Betazoid's abilities.
She doesn't start off looking crazy. She comes across as reasonable and just looking in the name of "security." It's an internal leader against Picard and that's not how leadership has been presented.
Angry Jean-Luc Picard doesn't seem to understand.
People do this all the time in the 2020's, trying to make people guilty for saying / thinking the "wrong thing." My reaction is simply, "Oh, TNG did this back in the 90's? Huh." I consulted with Perplexity. It suggested the episode could be dark due to betrayal of ideals, witch hunt, abuse of power, and erosion of civil liberties in the name of security. This is what I would call drama, not dark. When I think of a dark episode, I think of stuff like "Conspiracy," "Skin of Evil," "Yesterday's Enterprise," "Cause and Effect," and "Genesis."
Understood, but considering how violent and rough life can be, this just isn't dark.
Most of these are fucking Saturday morning cartoons.
EDIT: Ah, well. Time for NFL RedZone!
One more thing. Three of the episodes come after "Skin of Evil" (pretty sure four), two of the three are from season seven. So, clearly, even in your world, TNG did "dark", well after "Skin of Evil".
I've never met anyone that considered "Skin of Evil", a dark episode. It is TNG, at its campiest.
And he won’t, because that defeats the purpose of using the BBS as his personal Memory Alpha and think tank instead of doing the work himself.
Which is why context is key.
But those are all external threats and dangers.
Dark =/= violent or rough. Dark is showing something immoral, unethical, or abuse of power.Understood, but considering how violent and rough life can be, this just isn't dark.
The Drumhead is text book definition, moving from a free place for human growth to thought crime was a dramatic shift.
OK, nooooow we're on the same page. I do not consider those things remotely dark in any sense. To me, dark means violence, injury, death, grieving, war, natural disaster, freak accidents, stuff like that.
To me, "The Drumhead" is just another Tuesday for the Enterprise.
Dark is so many things. Subverting freedoms is high on my list.
And it wasn't another Tuesday because it was from an internal leader not some external threats. You had a much different conflict than had been seen before in Star Trek.
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