"Shades of Gray": As Bad as its Reputation?

[CoveTom]

I was re-watching "Shades of Gray" recently, and that's certainly not an episode I watch on a regular basis. As I was watching it, though, it occurred to me that it's not really as bad as it's made out to be.

Yes, it's a clip show, and those are generally a disappointment. But I've seen many series do clip shows that have nothing more of a framing device than the main characters sitting around the living room saying "hey, remember when..." and then we dissolve to the clips. "Shades of Gray" at least made the attempt to frame the clips in a science fiction plot. We still have a decent percentage of the episode that is new material, and features our main characters.

And I thought we actually had some decent character moments thrown in. I thought the exchange between Pulaski and O'Brien in the transporter room was nice, and I liked the Data/Geordi moments as well. And, of course, we got some nice Riker/Troi moments, and some decent acting from Jonathan Frakes as his character faced the possibility of death, probably for the first time since at that point Riker was still very much young and cocky.

I'm not saying this is a great episode. It's probably not even a good episode. But I certainly don't think it's a poor or awful episode either. I'd say fair. I'd definitely rather re-watch it than, say, "Sub Rosa" or, if we're going cross-series, "Meridian" or "Threshold."

What does everyone else think?

 

[Makarov]

Well I watched it for the first time when I got the s2 bluray, and I didn't hate it. I'd definitely rather watch Shades of Gray than Up the Long Ladder or a few other S1 episodes.

Clip shows are fairly bad in general, and maybe even worse as a season finale. But at least there was a pretty good reason for the clip show being there, the surrounding plot wasn't too bad either. Maybe this is just because I heard all the hate before seeing it and I was ready to watch something really bad.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I've always said that it was a missed opportunity not to have used some previously unseen footage. For example, a whole, wonderful scene was scripted and filmed of Wesley having a birthday party ("Coming of Age") and it was dropped because that episode was too long.

And I was puzzled about how Riker's memory of Armus was an external view of himself being dragged into the oil slick.

 

[jimbotron]

Shades of Gray isn't horrible. It's most innocuous and at worst lazy. Ron Jones' score was excellent though.

The Outrageous Okona and Sub Rosa were much much worse. Sub Rosa you could at least laugh at. Okona is beyond redemption.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Shades of Gray is bad ... but there are worse episodes. "Too Short A Season" comes to mind.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

"Shades of Grey" is - like most clip shows - redundant because it's for the most part nothing more than a glorified 45-minute long recap of previous events.

 

[Therin of Andor]

For example, a whole, wonderful scene was scripted and filmed of Wesley having a birthday party ("Coming of Age") and it was dropped because that episode was too long.

http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/09/scenes-worth-saving-happy-16th-birthday-wesley/

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think any merit the episode could have had was ruined by the "Good memory make more sick bad memory make better" stuff.

Star Trek's made up science usually at least creates the illusion of not being silly.

 

[Bad Atom]

I think any merit the episode could have had was ruined by the "Good memory make more sick bad memory make better" stuff.

Star Trek's made up science usually at least creates the illusion of not being silly.

I'll take a weak sci-fi explanation for using the clips over some cliched sitcom excuse. "Trapped in the turbolift!"

I've always cut the show some slack considering it was written in three days and the new material shot in three days. They spent all the money on "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Q Who" and Paramount wanted the season over and done with - fast and cheap.

And the score is really, really nice. Great to hear Ron Jones' interpretation of scenes from episodes originally scored by Dennis McCarthy.

 

[T'Girl]

And I was puzzled about how Riker's memory of Armus was an external view of himself being dragged into the oil slick.

My memories of my past often have a "viewpoint" of seeing it from an external perspective, they're not alway what I saw through my own eyes.

I've always cut the show some slack considering it was written in three days and the new material shot in three days. They spent all the money on "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Q Who" and Paramount wanted the season over and done with - fast and cheap.

Wasn't there also a writer's strike?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

TNG is often successful with bottle episodes, though. You don't need some sitcom excuse for something if you want a cheap episode done in three days. Just have Data explore humanity in some way. Do a "From this character's perspective" episode. Make up some very contagious disease that somehow exposes the characters' deep yearnings and insecurities. Wouldn't make a great episode most of the time but it'd be better than a clip show. At least it'd be character driven.

 

[Trekker4747]

"Shades of Gray" is sloppily constructed, shat out the ass, "we need to do an episode to pad out the season but we don't have any money left/writers to do an actual episode" piece of shit.

It's a damn clip show of a show that was only two season old. Most sitcoms wait until at least the 100th episode or so before doing a clip show. TNG waited for 48.

There's *nothing* worth watching in this episode. Most other "bad" episodes of TNG I can stand on some level or another but there's literally nothing worth watching in SoG. A thin, ridiculous, premise to for even doing a clip show too if I ever saw one. Not to mention the clip show trope of the scenes in the clips being from a POV that was not Riker's!

Ugh. A flippin' clip show! They should have just spent the money having the cast sitting on the bridge playing Twister or something instead. That would've been immensely better than A DAMN CLIP SHOW!!!!!

 

[Lance]

It's a damn clip show of a show that was only two season old. Most sitcoms wait until at least the 100th episode or so before doing a clip show.

Trekker4747 has nailed it down here. That's exactly what the problem is. I've always felt it to be the biggest problem, in fact. It isn't so much that it's a clip show )although clip shows SUCK anyway), but more the fact that the show was only two years old. There just wasn't nearly enough material to source clips from.

Personally, I always skip "Shades Of Shit" whenever I watch season two. I always stop at "Peak Performance" and move straight on to season three from there.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Alias had a clip show in it's first season but at least they made it interesting and have an impact on the show's narrative. TNG's Shade of Grey affected the show not a whit. Plus it was done so horribly. I wish they had just scrapped it entirely.

 

[Rarewolf]

I was greatful for the clips at the time; I only had a few episodes from season 1 on VHS.

Also strangely the BBC cut the worst from Conspiracy, but didn't cut so much of the same scene in Shades.

I think its a shame clip shows can't be made up from alternate angle/takes. Then even long term fans get something out of them.

 

[Langenscheiss]

I absolutely agree with the OP, especially concerning the reasons for it not being the worst episode. It's not great, but definitely not the worst episode (count me in on those who consider "Up the long ladder" a promising candidate) in the series. It's just the mainstream opinion, and thats why most people consider it "the truth", further promoted by the various comments on that episode in the audio commentaries. I guess that most people are just afraid to admit that, maybe because it is easier??? Fortunately, I had not watched the show before I watched it on BluRay in HD. I just knew about its reputation, and was quite surprised that I did not find it half as bad as people claimed and still claim it to be.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Stargate SG1 had a clip show in the first season. And you know what? It was a good episode. Being a clip show isn't an excuse. In season 8 they did a clip show where some guy was seeing through O'Neall's eyes for the run of the show, and it wasn't that good an episode, but it was at least a clever, interesting idea.

Shades of Grey is in no way clever or interesting. They could have slapped something together that was at least fun to watch, AND made it a clip show in three days if the writers gave a crap. But at that point all the writers who gave a crap had left and they didn't hire more until next season. It's just a bad, lazy episode.

 

[CoveTom]

I've always said that it was a missed opportunity not to have used some previously unseen footage. For example, a whole, wonderful scene was scripted and filmed of Wesley having a birthday party ("Coming of Age") and it was dropped because that episode was too long.

The problem, I suspect, with using previously unused scenes, takes, angles, etc. is that a lot of that stuff was never finished. Sure, they would have shot the birthday party stuff. But at what point in the process was it decided to discard it? There's a lot more to be done once film is shot, and they probably didn't have the money to go complete unfinished scenes for a clip show.

I'll take a weak sci-fi explanation for using the clips over some cliched sitcom excuse. "Trapped in the turbolift!"

Exactly. They could have just had the cast sitting around the observation lounge or someone's quarters and reminiscing. They at least made the attempt to have some sci-fi to the plot.

TNG is often successful with bottle episodes, though. You don't need some sitcom excuse for something if you want a cheap episode done in three days. Just have Data explore humanity in some way. Do a "From this character's perspective" episode. Make up some very contagious disease that somehow exposes the characters' deep yearnings and insecurities. Wouldn't make a great episode most of the time but it'd be better than a clip show. At least it'd be character driven.

They were, yes, but remember that this is season two we're talking about. It wasn't until the third season and beyond, when you got a new slate of writers, that we got excellent bottle shows like "The Drumhead." I'm not sure the season two writers could have pulled it off.

There's *nothing* worth watching in this episode.

Since you chose to make your pronouncements with absolute metaphysical certitude, I'll not debate you, but simply offer my equally concrete reply: You are wrong.

 

[Trekker4747]

Since you chose to make your pronouncements with absolute metaphysical certitude, I'll not debate you, but simply offer my equally concrete reply: You are wrong.

It's not possible to be wrong in one's opinion.

 

[Harvey]

And I was puzzled about how Riker's memory of Armus was an external view of himself being dragged into the oil slick.

My memories of my past often have a "viewpoint" of seeing it from an external perspective, they're not alway what I saw through my own eyes.

I've always cut the show some slack considering it was written in three days and the new material shot in three days. They spent all the money on "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Q Who" and Paramount wanted the season over and done with - fast and cheap.

Wasn't there also a writer's strike?

The WGA strike affected the end of season one and the beginning of season two. Shooting a clip show to end the season was purely a budgetary consequence of overages on the episodes mentioned.