• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Season 1 by Stardate: How would it change things?

DigificWriter

DigificWriter

Vice Admiral
Admiral
Hi, all. A while back, I created a comprehensive document that places all of the canonical Star Trek material that is set in the 24th Century in chronological order, with the exception of the first season of The Next Generation (which I had trimmed down to 22 episodes in order to create some greater symmetry overall), which I had left in Production Order. However, I decided to revisit the document, and hit upon a possible scenario that would allow me to order it by Stardate by cutting it down to 20 episodes as follows:
Encounter at Farpoint
The Naked Now
Code of Honor
Datalore
Lonely Among us
Justice
Where No One Has Gone Before
Haven
Too Short a Season
1001001
The Last Outpost
Coming of Age
Home Soil
Heart of Glory
When the Bough Breaks
Hide and Q
Skin of Evil
We'll Always Have Paris
Conspiracy
The Neutral Zone

However, I'm not familiar enough with the first season (having only seen a handful of its episodes despite having grown up with it on the air in syndication) to determine on my own what changes this would bring not only to the season itself but to the overall narrative - such as it is - of the series as a whole, particularly with regards to characterization, and thought I would therefore turn to you, my fellow Trek fans, for input in this regard.

What changes, be they major or minor, would the above 'by Stardate' episode order for TNG Season 1 make to the season itself and the series overall?
 
^ That's not actually a concern if you look at the episodes I included, so my original question still stands.

It would also be really helpful if I could get some answers to the question ASAP, because my ability to continue watching TNG kind of hinges on the answers I get.
 
I see no real "character arc" problems with this: Data doesn't really develop yet despite undergoing many important events in his life, Riker isn't different before and after his apprenticeship as Q, and old man Picard supposedly is done developing long before the series even begins. Minor references such as to past events or the status of the Ferengi (unknown, poorly known, familiar) don't get tangled up with the above rearranging, either.

I'm sorry to see "The Big Goodbye" gone merely because Tasha makes an extremely brief and dramatically unnecessary appearance, but that's how this has to work. It's weird that all the contradictory bits about the stardate order of TNG S1 seem to have come from the last round of rewrites: TrekCore has several penultimate script versions in evidence, and they don't have the damning bits...

Timo Saloniemi
 
I was worried about two things in particular with this order, so other opinions would be nice. I was worried about the absence of The Battle affecting Picard's backstory adversely, and about there being some disconnect with having Coming of Age occurring before When the Bough Breaks. Anybody have thoughts on those two specific things?
 
Well, if you feel bad about omitting "The Battle", you can always choose to include it with altered stardates instead - the two deviations from onscreen TNG evidence would appear more or less equal. Or you can say the events of "The Battle" took place even when no episode depicting them is actually included in the series you choose to believe in.

What would be significant about "Coming of Age" vs. "When the Bough Breaks"? Wesley's history of command?

Timo Saloniemi
 
When I originally saw both WtBB and CoA, the impression I got is that they represented a paired progression of both Wesley's individual character development and his relationship with Picard, and I'm worried that ordering them by Stardate is going to mess with that progression.
 
^ The following episodes have Tasha present in them and Stardates that place them after "Skin of Evil" chronologically:
Angel One
The Battle
The Arsenal of Freedom
The Big Goodbye

That's the reason I left them off of the above episode list, but I'm considering ignoring the Stardate issue for The Battle and including it (in Production Order) due to the fact that it's explicitly referenced in "Coming of Age".
 
DigificWriter said:
^ That's not actually a concern if you look at the episodes I included, so my original question still stands.

It would also be really helpful if I could get some answers to the question ASAP, because my ability to continue watching TNG kind of hinges on the answers I get.
Click to expand...

Your "ability to continue watching" hinges on this?? In which case, may I respectfully suggest, you're overthinking this.

And you removed episodes - some rather good - just to provide symmetry?

The stardates don't make much sense in TNG season 1; that's just life. You'll have a more satisfying viewing experience watching them in broadcast order, or coming up with a completely different order. Stardates are just a bunch of numbers (heresy, sorry) and if your enjoyment of TNG hinges on them, then... well, I don't know what else to say.


EDIT: having said all that, "Where No One Has Gone Before" really needs to come before "Datalore"; the latter has Wesley having far more responsibility/bridge time, which would seem to come out of Picard's discussion with the Traveller.
 
Trek Survivor: It's not about enjoying the season; it's about committing to a viewing order and sticking with it.

BTW, thanks for the info about Wes' development relative to Stardates, because it's exactly what I was looking for.
 
^ Narrative symmetry, as I would be watching every other season of the show, all of the movies, and most episodes of DS9 and VOY in chronological order by Stardate.
 
You're cutting out The Battle and Coming of Age but leaving some of that other crap?! I'd highly recommend against that. The Battle, especially, is one of the few highlights in a mostly crap season.
 
^ I wouldn't be cutting out Coming of Age, but it's a moot point because the Where No One Has Gone Before vs Datalore character thing vis a vis Wesley has basically put the kibosh on the whole idea of Stardate Order anyway.
 
^The point I was trying to make is that my comment about not being able to continue watching TNG until I had an answer to my query has and had absolutely nothing to do with being able to enjoy the show, and was motivated entirely by wanting to watch it in an order that was narratively consistent and offered overall symmetry with both the rest of the series and its 24th Century companion series.
 
...The airdate order does offer that, too. (Production order has just one point of divergence, and that involves the Dead Yar Issue, so there one should yield to airdate order.) The back-and-forth stardates are an annoyance considering how well they hold together for the other seasons and the other shows, but then again, TNG S1 stardates don't really clash with the stardates of any other show or season.

The Wesley Arc observation was a good one, though, and does rather answer the original question.

Timo Saloniemi
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

BlueStuff
  • Locked
The Least Disliked Episode 2025: TNG Season 1
2
Replies
36
Views
1K
Vger23
Vger23
A
I watched Cost of Living and survived (barely).
Replies
14
Views
317
Oddish
Oddish
Qonundrum
Favorite villain from each season
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
Mother Queen Borg
M
Admiral Jean-Luc Picard
How would you fix the series finale?
8 9 10
Replies
181
Views
11K
Oddish
Oddish
B
Certain similarities between Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Wars: Ahsoka (and why Prodigy did it better).
Replies
2
Views
254
BohandiAnsoid
B
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top