So The Best of Both Worlds 1&2 is supposed to be two of the finest eps

[JoeD80]

Re: So The Best of Both Worlds 1&2 is supposed to be two of the finest

You had people who had never seen a episode of Trek, or had never previously given a damn about it, talking about what would happen to Captain Picard. It was an unprecedented cliffhanger that has been imitated countless times ever since, in all manner of genres. That alone would place it among the most influential episodes of any show.

It was great but it wasn't unprecedented. Shows like Soap, Dallas, Dynasty, and Knots Landing (with a cliffhanger involving an actual cliff), had some nail-biting cliffhanger episodes as well, and they all preceded TNG. The shooting of J.R. and the waiting for the next season of Dallas to find out the shooter's identity was certainly one of the bigger deals on television at the time. It did seem to be more of a standard way to end a season after Best of Both Worlds aired though.

 

[flemm]

Re: So The Best of Both Worlds 1&2 is supposed to be two of the finest

It was great but it wasn't unprecedented.

To clarify: it was not unprecedented as a cliffhanger per se. Of course there have been many cliffhangers in cinema and television, going back to the silent films (which is where I think the expression originated). It was unprecedented in its impact on the audience (certainly in Trek history) and probably in its impact on modern television. I'm sure there have been a few other influential cliffhangers in television history, though, but that doesn't really detract from the influence of this particular one.

 

[JoeD80]

Re: So The Best of Both Worlds 1&2 is supposed to be two of the finest

It was unprecedented in its impact on the audience (certainly in Trek history) and probably in its impact on modern television.

The impact on television is what I was referring to with the examples I gave above. The Dallas cliffhanger still rates near the top of all-time ratings.

I'm sure there have been a few other influential cliffhangers in television history, though, but that doesn't really detract from the influence of this particular one.

I was agreeing with this; that cliffhangers became more standard after BOBW.

 

[flemm]

Re: So The Best of Both Worlds 1&2 is supposed to be two of the finest

I was agreeing with this; that cliffhangers became more standard after BOBW.

Right, I was not disagreeing with you, merely seeking to clarify my original sentence.

 

[15wss]

Re: So The Best of Both Worlds 1&2 is supposed to be two of the finest

From this statment, I'm really getting the impression that you neither watched Family, the episode following BoBW or watched First Contact...which I would find hard to believe to be honest. Remember, BoBW was a two parter of a television series. By the end of the second episode they had just beaten back the borg. There wouldnt be enough time in that episode to handle all the emotional stuff, that was saved for the episode Family where Picard had to deal with the demons of his assimilation. If the scene of Picard crying in his brothers arms saying "they made me do such horrible things and I was powerless to stop them" doesnt count as a character moment then I don't know what does. We see more of that in First Contact when Picard is clearly still struggling with what happened and actualy shows signs of PTSD several years after the event...which is to be expected as a result of such horrific treatment.

In regards to Riker, the decision wasn't made for him at all. On at least 3 occasions he was offered the command of his own ship (possibly more). One was the episode in which he comes to terms with his father, one was in BoBW, and the final one that I can think of was in Nemesis. He simply did not want the command. In the beginning of the episode he turned down the chance of having his own ship because the Enterprise was where he felt he belonged. The decision was not made for him, he made it himself.

I totally agree with you that I've come to appreciate "BoBW" even more as it becomes a part of Picard and as it is a part of an arc-like story - "Family" as the next episode after BoBW Part 2 and "First Contact" really show how Picard did/didn't recover from the episodes of "BoBW" (I think even the Hugh episode is where Picard is again reminded by the Borg trauma). To me, the impact of "BoBW" becomes even richer once you put it into the context of the series.

"BoBW" certainly seemed to be about Riker as well - because he's trying to come to terms about being promoted - if he really wants it - and being comfortable with himself (and he usually is, except for his dad issues and how he never quite got over Troi as a romantic interest). I remember how the Worf episode ("Parallels" I think), where Worf got stuck in parallel universes and glimpsed an Enterprise where Riker's in command and getting awfully tired of fighting the Borg; to me, that haunted Riker in the Borg-dominated universe felt sad. That scene wouldn't have worked quite as well without there being "BoBW" - and I could keep on watching "BoBW" for how much it affected Star Trek onward.

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: So The Best of Both Worlds 1&2 is supposed to be two of the finest

Don't sell your DVDs! Simply mail them to me!