Meh.
My big TOS and TNG rewatch has hit another slugglish spot. I shot through the first two seasons of TOS with great speed, and then of course the third season came and knocked me down a peg or five. We all know the behind the scenes stories: another drop in budget; most of the S1/2 writing talent had moved on; Roddenberry stepping down as showrunner. There were some highlights along the way, but it's a hard season to sell to a new viewer.
And so I continued with the TOS films, and started TNG. The situation was different here. Season one was one of the worst, with very obvious growing pains showing how the producers were struggling to get a handle on the series. Another tough season to binge through, but what helped was a lot of wonderful music, and the crew were usually amazed at what they were discovering. Season two was a massive step up in consistency, which led to seasons 3-6 that were, for the large part, great viewing.
And then I started season seven. I used to be able to watch this season with rose-tinted glasses, as this was when I originally got into TNG, back when I was 12. I don't know if it's the passage of time and me being more cynical, but it's been a real slog through these episodes.
We have again have more stories of why this happened: the producers were distracted with setting up VOY and continuing DS9; Braga and Moore in particular were busy crafting the All Good Things... and Generations; and thus the writing staff left were burnt out. I understand the family theme the writers went with in order to wrap the show up with, but the way it was done was dull. Everyone seemed to have relatives or secret relatives they knew nothing of, and only some of these stories were done well.
It's such an inconsistent year. With Parallels, Pegasus, Lower Decks, Preemptive Strike and All Good Things... we had some of the series' best, but of course, we also had the opposite, with crap such as Force of Nature, Sub Rosa, Masks, Genesis and Emergence.
There were also lots of middle of the road/below average episodes too: Descent Part 2, Thine Own Self, Liaisons, Interface, Eye of the Beholder, Journey's End, and Bloodlines.
Meh indeed. Too many patches of mediocrity.
Anyway.This thread is kind of a messy, rambling about mediocrity in TNG S7. Almost like the show itself. What episodes stand out for you? Are there any scenes you like in the poorer episodes? What aspects do you find underrated? What are your 'favourite' bad episodes? And which ones just plain stink?
I will say Genesis is a bit of a guilty pleasure, purely for Dr. Crusher being sprayed in the face by Worf. What a shriek!
My big TOS and TNG rewatch has hit another slugglish spot. I shot through the first two seasons of TOS with great speed, and then of course the third season came and knocked me down a peg or five. We all know the behind the scenes stories: another drop in budget; most of the S1/2 writing talent had moved on; Roddenberry stepping down as showrunner. There were some highlights along the way, but it's a hard season to sell to a new viewer.
And so I continued with the TOS films, and started TNG. The situation was different here. Season one was one of the worst, with very obvious growing pains showing how the producers were struggling to get a handle on the series. Another tough season to binge through, but what helped was a lot of wonderful music, and the crew were usually amazed at what they were discovering. Season two was a massive step up in consistency, which led to seasons 3-6 that were, for the large part, great viewing.
And then I started season seven. I used to be able to watch this season with rose-tinted glasses, as this was when I originally got into TNG, back when I was 12. I don't know if it's the passage of time and me being more cynical, but it's been a real slog through these episodes.
We have again have more stories of why this happened: the producers were distracted with setting up VOY and continuing DS9; Braga and Moore in particular were busy crafting the All Good Things... and Generations; and thus the writing staff left were burnt out. I understand the family theme the writers went with in order to wrap the show up with, but the way it was done was dull. Everyone seemed to have relatives or secret relatives they knew nothing of, and only some of these stories were done well.
It's such an inconsistent year. With Parallels, Pegasus, Lower Decks, Preemptive Strike and All Good Things... we had some of the series' best, but of course, we also had the opposite, with crap such as Force of Nature, Sub Rosa, Masks, Genesis and Emergence.
There were also lots of middle of the road/below average episodes too: Descent Part 2, Thine Own Self, Liaisons, Interface, Eye of the Beholder, Journey's End, and Bloodlines.
Meh indeed. Too many patches of mediocrity.
Anyway.This thread is kind of a messy, rambling about mediocrity in TNG S7. Almost like the show itself. What episodes stand out for you? Are there any scenes you like in the poorer episodes? What aspects do you find underrated? What are your 'favourite' bad episodes? And which ones just plain stink?
I will say Genesis is a bit of a guilty pleasure, purely for Dr. Crusher being sprayed in the face by Worf. What a shriek!
