Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so much

[Jaespol]

The whole episode would have been so awesome of only for one thing - if they didn't keep cutting back to Picard lying unconscious on the bridge!
It completely ruined any mystery or suspense and it became painfully obvious how the episode was going to end. That decision seriously tainted the episode for me, it was a great emotional episode, it didn't need the mystery revealed immediately or the accompanying intermittent technobabble.

 

[The Sneeze Police]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

It's been a long time since I viewed the episode. Funny thing is that I do not recall any part of the episode except Picard's storyline now.

 

[AdmiralGarak]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

I didn't think the mystery was important to the story in the first place. It was character piece, not a detective story.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

Exactly, what mystery was ruined? There wasn't a mystery to begin with. We knew it was the probe the moment the probe knocked him out. I don't even know how you can turn that into a mystery.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

The whole episode would have been so awesome of only for one thing - if they didn't keep cutting back to Picard lying unconscious on the bridge!
It completely ruined any mystery or suspense and it became painfully obvious how the episode was going to end. That decision seriously tainted the episode for me, it was a great emotional episode, it didn't need the mystery revealed immediately or the accompanying intermittent technobabble.

They did the same fucking thing with AGT--it would have been far more effective had that story begun in the vinyard and stayed in that future for a least an act. What do they do instead? Give us that insipid date between Troi anf Worf.

 

[Ro Boat]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

The whole episode would have been so awesome of only for one thing - if they didn't keep cutting back to Picard lying unconscious on the bridge!
It completely ruined any mystery or suspense and it became painfully obvious how the episode was going to end. That decision seriously tainted the episode for me, it was a great emotional episode, it didn't need the mystery revealed immediately or the accompanying intermittent technobabble.

Do you mean if it had played like Workforce? Picard would have been on this planet without us knowing why, just as the Voyager crew were working at the plant.

I don't know. I think not knowing what happened would have detracted from some of the emotional impact. We would have been wondering how Picard got where he was rather than following his connections with the other characters.

Also, the mystery is more about WHY the people did this to him rather than WHAT HAPPENED to Picard. It is slowly revealed why—so that the civilization will live on. I think this is the mystery that we were supposed to be focusing on.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

I don't recall them cutting back to the Bridge much, and I don't see how it ruins the episode. If you're going to start with the prologue on the Enterprise, then it makes sense to cut back a few times. I guess what you're wishing is that it began with Picard bewildered, on the planet, with no cuts to the Enterprise until the end.
I'll give you that would be more suspensful, but as others said, this wasn't meant to be a mystery.

 

[Bacon King]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

They did the same fucking thing with AGT--it would have been far more effective had that story begun in the vinyard and stayed in that future for a least an act. What do they do instead? Give us that insipid date between Troi anf Worf.

I agree, that would have been awesome. There'd be an entirely new element where you wouldn't be sure that old Picard wasn't just senile.

 

[WillsBabe]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

it would have been far more effective had that story begun in the vinyard and stayed in that future for a least an act. What do they do instead? Give us that insipid date between Troi anf Worf.

I've not considered that before. I like the idea. I sometimes wonder, with the cutting back, if writers/producers are scared that they'll lose the audience if it changes too much, that what we want to see is familiarity and if we don't get that then we'll turn over - which is just rubbish.

Inner Light wasn't diminished for me that they kept cutting back to the bridge. I liked the counterpoint of what was happening to Picard's body versus what was going on in his head. Also, the more the life went on on the planet and his life progressed then it was sad to see this against Picard who is isolated and somewhat loney figure "in reality".

 

[Lt.Cmdr.LaForge]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

It had to cut back to scenes on the Ent's bridge, otherwise how would we have known that years in picard's head were passing in the space of minutes?

 

[Jaespol]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

It had to cut back to scenes on the Ent's bridge, otherwise how would we have known that years in picard's head were passing in the space of minutes?

Did we want to know?

Some people are being quite facetious, obviously its not a "detective" story but there is no element of surprise or tension or mystery at all for me.
Once the probe came and Picard appeared somewhere else, it could have been any number of things, he could have been transported in space or time or spirit or anything (this is Star Trek after all) but having him lying on the bridge leaves it so painfully obvious how the episode will play out.
I enjoy being immersed in a drama and the way the inner light was anything but immersive.
It seemed to me like they were short on running time so just shoved all that unnecessary bridge crap in. I mean we didn't need the fake suspense, it was clear he wasn't going to die. Also we knew what was happening to him so watching the people on the bridge try and figure it out wasn't exactly exciting.
It was a real disappointment the first time I watched it and it could have been so much more intriguing and immersive!

 

[Ro Boat]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

there is no element of surprise or tension or mystery at all for me.

What we didn't know is why the people who made the probe create it. What was the purpose of having someone think they are living a life that isn't theirs? This is what is revealed to us in the end.

This might not be as suspenseful as, "Where is Picard and how did he get there?" but it is still good storytelling. The emphasis chosen by the writers seems appropriate for me.

 

[tomalak301]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

How many times did we see the bridge in this episode, 3 times? That wasn't much in a 45 minute show. For me, this episode wasn't meant to have mystery, and I did want to know what was happening. For example, the scene where the crew is trying to revive Picard and Kamin faint's showing us the strength of the connection with the probe was important to the overall story. This was a character emotional piece which allowed Stewart to shine. That in itself is what makes this episode so memorable for me.

 

[Jaespol]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

there is no element of surprise or tension or mystery at all for me.

What we didn't know is why the people who made the probe create it. What was the purpose of having someone think they are living a life that isn't theirs? This is what is revealed to us in the end.

This might not be as suspenseful as, "Where is Picard and how did he get there?" but it is still good storytelling. The emphasis chosen by the writers seems appropriate for me.

I guessed pretty much immediately, but maybe that is because I had already seen Voyager's "Memorial" before this.
Overall though I don't see why people want a LESS immersive episode than could be possible.

 

[Warped9]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

The whole episode would have been so awesome of only for one thing - if they didn't keep cutting back to Picard lying unconscious on the bridge!
It completely ruined any mystery or suspense and it became painfully obvious how the episode was going to end. That decision seriously tainted the episode for me, it was a great emotional episode, it didn't need the mystery revealed immediately or the accompanying intermittent technobabble.

This episode never really wowed me in the first place, but you're absolutely right that always cutting back to Picard unconscious really undermined the rest of it. It was done better in DS9 when we all thought O'Brien really was serving a life sentence. Well, we knew he actually couldn't be, but we didn't know how it would turn out until the end.

 

[Alrik]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

The whole episode would have been so awesome of only for one thing - if they didn't keep cutting back to Picard lying unconscious on the bridge!
It completely ruined any mystery or suspense and it became painfully obvious how the episode was going to end. That decision seriously tainted the episode for me, it was a great emotional episode, it didn't need the mystery revealed immediately or the accompanying intermittent technobabble.

Sorry that you didn't care for it. Personally, I liked it just the way it is. One of my favorite Eps.

 

[The Badger]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

I can see Jaespol's point. Without the bridge scenes, we would have had a mystery over 'how did Picard get to this planet?'. How can he get back to the Enterprise, especially after decades have passed?

Whilst I like the episode as it is, it is an excellent character piece, knowing that Picard is still on the bridge floor (what? They couldn't take him to sickbay?) removes what could have been an interesting element.

 

[JTK2099]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

The whole episode would have been so awesome of only for one thing - if they didn't keep cutting back to Picard lying unconscious on the bridge!
It completely ruined any mystery or suspense and it became painfully obvious how the episode was going to end. That decision seriously tainted the episode for me, it was a great emotional episode, it didn't need the mystery revealed immediately or the accompanying intermittent technobabble.

They did the same fucking thing with AGT--it would have been far more effective had that story begun in the vinyard and stayed in that future for a least an act. What do they do instead? Give us that insipid date between Troi anf Worf.

The Troi/Worf romantic relationship is one of the true low points of season 7.

 

[Alrik]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

The Troi/Worf romantic relationship is one of the true low points of season 7.

Now THAT I totally agree with.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Re: Sorry but the Inner Light was ruined for me, didn't enjoy it so mu

The Troi/Worf romantic relationship is one of the true low points of season 7.

Now THAT I totally agree with.

Well, it came out of a cool episode, 'Parallels'. And wasn't followed up on that much.
It was good for Troi that they broke up, though (or bad if you dislike Troi), since Worf's women tend to have a lowered life expectancy.