Seasons 7 is harder to get through than Season 1

[Oddish]

It also fleshes out a character arc they pursued in the later seasons, that Riker is something of a guilt riddled guy over his involvement in the Pegasus disaster, & that his career is built on a reputation paid for, in large part, with the blood of that crew. It better realizes an explanation for a lot of his traits thereafter, & perhaps why he'd recoil from being a captain if he felt it unearned

Maybe. But, the events of "Best of Both Worlds" showed us, showed the crew, and should have showed him that he belonged in that captain's chair. Not having him complete such an obvious character journey felt unnatural.

 

[Mojochi]

Maybe. But, the events of "Best of Both Worlds" showed us, showed the crew, and should have showed him that he belonged in that captain's chair. Not having him complete such an obvious character journey felt unnatural.

Hell, BoBW should've earned Data a promotion even more than Riker. He's the one who was indispensable to the Earth & all hands aboard ship being saved, including Riker lol

 

[Oddish]

Hell, BoBW should've earned Data a promotion even more than Riker. He's the one who was indispensable to the Earth & all hands aboard ship being saved, including Riker lol

All the more reason for Riker to move on.

 

[Qonundrum]

Hell, BoBW should've earned Data a promotion even more than Riker. He's the one who was indispensable to the Earth & all hands aboard ship being saved, including Riker lol

Given how Data can supposedly put on his "Capt'n Face" when dealing with Hobson and other contrived cheap drama events and situations, he could have been Fleet Admiral Grand Du Jour by the end of season six! (no worries, Data's special ability is only used then and in the dumb romance episode, and even in season 7 when Data reprimands Worf (where he's not having "Capt'n Face" but is giving Worf a nice three-minute speech on obeying a senior officer and all that... all that's missing is a very special headcanon episode in between that shows why Data would have nobody under his command, since the concept of "Capt'n Face" was created by some, to get around Data's one-time use of "being angry" when otherwise saying "I am an android and do not have emotions" for 3000 episodes. Well, used twice, but that was about it. But there was never any real continuity with this sort of minutiae despite generally solid worldbuilding.)

 

[Phoenix219]

Given how Data can supposedly put on his "Capt'n Face" when dealing with Hobson and other contrived cheap drama events and situations, he could have been Fleet Admiral Grand Du Jour by the end of season six! (no worries, Data's special ability is only used then and in the dumb romance episode, and even in season 7 when Data reprimands Worf (where he's not having "Capt'n Face" but is giving Worf a nice three-minute speech on obeying a senior officer and all that... all that's missing is a very special headcanon episode in between that shows why Data would have nobody under his command, since the concept of "Capt'n Face" was created by some, to get around Data's one-time use of "being angry" when otherwise saying "I am an android and do not have emotions" for 3000 episodes. Well, used twice, but that was about it. But there was never any real continuity with this sort of minutiae despite generally solid worldbuilding.)

Data was odd like that; he could have used contractions any time he wanted, and he surely could show emotions as Sherlock Holmes and as a stand-up comedian in the earlier seasons. His ability to play a role, should have allowed him to "play the role" of a more human person, and when playing those roles, he apparently could decipher jokes and sarcasm and all sorts of emotional responses became entwined in the performance. That is very close to developing personality, especially for someone like Data that has to try a little harder.

 

[Moonglum]

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say Season 7 is worse than Season 1, but I do find it harder to get through on rewatches.

And I think the reason why is there is a noticeable lack of passion in the final season, like they're just going through the motions and trying to get the season over with as evidenced by how often we get a "long lost relative of a cast member" episode over the course of the season. The last time I did a rewatch, roughly half the episodes had me glancing back and forth on my phone or tablet about halfway through because they can't hold my interest.

By comparison, as poor as Season 1 is, I wasn't usually bored watching it. Because there actually is effort being put in. The writers were just hampered either by Gene's restrictions, over reliance on TOS nostalgia, or just plain incompetence. But I never got the sense they were phoning it in.

I suppose if I were to give an honest comparison, Season 7 has a slight advantage due to a handful of episodes that are far better than anything Season 1 has to offer; Lower Decks, The Pegasus, and of course the finale. But it also has a much larger shade of episodes that just lose my interest after a while.

Does anyone else feel this way?

for me, Season seven was one of my favorites. I think the finale was maybe the my favorite series finale of any show ever. There were a few clunkers but mostly episodes that I liked. Season 1 and somewhat season 2 (although Measure of a Man and Q Who are among the best of the entire series) were mostly clunkers with a few decent episodes thrown in (but still good for gaining character familiarity and development even if the story that week was not so good.)

 

[Gaith]

I found this editorial on a key S1 weakness to be illuminating and persuasive:

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