Suspicions - Guilty Pleasure?

[tomalak301]

This episode get's no mention around these parts at all, but when I checked the "Hurt and Heal" standings that was done a while back, this episode came in last. What is everyone's opinions on this episode.

I ask because we were talking about Descent, I had watched that episode last night and there was a reference to the sheilding design brought up in this episode. This has always been a favorite of mine from the season because it had mostly Crusher, Guinan being her cool self, and a great murder mystery that TNG does so well. The twist at the end (At least the first time) when JoBril was revealed as the guy behind everything was great and it was just great seeing Crusher kick his ass.

I'm wondering why this episode isn't as well liked apparently in this forum.

 

[WillsBabe]

Suspicions isn't a favourite episode of mine. This is because Crusher isn't a favourite character of mine and probably there are many other episodes I'd choose to watch before I'd think of putting in a Crusher-centric epsiode. Another reason I never think to watch this episode is because when I think of it, I think of science, and science isn't necessarily something that I'm that much interested in. In addition I don't like the guest characters. I don't think they did well with the Vulcan, Ferengi bore me and I didn't care for Jobril. On the good side, I like the character moments with Guinan and Riker, and I like the narrative structure of this episode: if I remember correctly, it's one of those episodes that starts at the end of the narrative and then do the "24 hours earlier" thing. Normally, I hate that as a story-telling device, but I seem to recall it works well here. (At least, I hope I recall it well since I think it must be 10 years at least since I last saw the episode.)

 

[Seven of Five]

I kind of like this episode but I think that's because it was one of my first TNG episodes. I saw 'Tapestry' first (Picard getting stabbed must be what hooked me ), then 'Suspicions' (what the hell is Whoopi doing in Star Trek?) and then 'Decent,' funnily enough. Since this is where I started being a fan, my perception of some of season seven is more warped than the general 'it sucks' theory, especially because after season seven I started watching season one.

So yeah, 'Suspicions.' I still like it because it shows Beverly in a more prominent role. Between solving the 'murder' here and being in command in 'Decent' she seems slightly awesome.

 

[Tomalak]

I think this is just another one of those episodes which reveals that no-one had a clue what to do with Crusher. She was by far the least-developed TNG character, with very little in the way of personality. Once Wesley was gone, they couldn't even do mother episodes.

Really TNG started out with far too many characters, and Crusher suffered the most.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I think this is just another one of those episodes which reveals that no-one had a clue what to do with Crusher. She was by far the least-developed TNG character, with very little in the way of personality. Once Wesley was gone, they couldn't even do mother episodes.

Really TNG started out with far too many characters, and Crusher suffered the most.

I think that about sums it up - mysteries suit security officers more than medical officers, even if it is about an unexplained murder. Likewise, shouldn't a conference on the metaphasic shielding have been something the SCIENCE officer dealt with?

For what it's worth, though, I do like Suspicions. Unlikely as it is that Doctor Crusher would actually be doing all these things herself, I think it is a good opportunity for her to showcase skills outside of being a doctor - problem is, it came at the tail end of the sixth season, when people are pretty set in their opinions.

 

[tomalak301]

I'm curious. To those who had a problem with Crusher, did you like Remember Me? That seems to be a very popular episode, yet it featured the Good Doctor. Why does that one get a free pass.

 

[JustKate]

Crusher isn't my favorite character, but I don't dislike her. I love "Remember Me," though. And I rather like "Suspicions," too. It's not a great episode, but it's a solid episode. I can't really understand why anybody would really dislike it, unless they are just that much anti-Crusher.

 

[WillsBabe]

I'm curious. To those who had a problem with Crusher, did you like Remember Me? That seems to be a very popular episode, yet it featured the Good Doctor. Why does that one get a free pass.

It's funny you should mention this. I was only thinking, as I made my reply up thread, that I liked Remember Me, and I wonder why that was. I think it's because I like the story of Remember Me. In fact I think it's a great story. Also, Crusher is active, proactive and energetic in a way that I don't think she is in Suspicions. I wonder if that contributes, too. I really, really love the way, in Remember Me that she only resorts to referring to Worf as "the Klingon" only as a last resort when describing him to Picard.

 

[JustKate]

The other thing about "Remember Me" is that it is, as far as I know (which may not be that far ), a pretty unusual story...I wouldn't go so far as to say it's unique, since I doubt if very many scifi plots are unique, but it's very unusual, and it's done in a very unusual way. And you know? It gets really creepy! That's not easy to do, at least not without using a single weird-looking alien or anything. That's a sign of the quality of the writing...and of the acting, too, much as Crusher-haters won't like to admit it.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I think Remember Me has great strength in that it's drawing on a very basic human fear - that of being alone. Humans are social creatures, and we need contact with others, even if the 'other' is an animal or an object we've humanized. So by having everyone on the ship vanish and making it so that she is all alone, it's something that speaks to our deepest fears.

 

[Tomalak]

I'm curious. To those who had a problem with Crusher, did you like Remember Me? That seems to be a very popular episode, yet it featured the Good Doctor. Why does that one get a free pass.

I didn't have a problem with her as such, but she was something of a non-entity in most shows. Remember Me is a good episode, but it could have been done with any character. Ethics is probably her meatiest story, but they are few and far between.

I think it's actually quite hard to form Star Trek stories around doctors, and it is the same if you look at DS9 and Voyager. Bashir's best stories have him in action/spy stories, often with Garak, or they are introspective episodes like Dr Bashir, I Presume or Inquisition. Hippocratic Oath and The Quickening are more medical shows that do work. Voyager's Doctor often had comedic stories, or he was struggling to enforce his holographic rights, or bed Seven of Nine.

Crusher was never really given a niche outside her medical role, and the writers struggled to find ways to include her. They always mention Troi as the hardest to write for, but over the seven years they did rise to the challenge. When did Crusher ever get something like Disaster, The Loss or Face of the Enemy? - the "dancing doctor" in Data's Day is a nice insight, but it didn't really amount to much. What else can you say about her after six years?

 

[Myasishchev]

^Agreed, the doctor is usually a very ancillary job in Trek, and lends itself to ancillary characters, unless the particular character is very interesting in and of him or herself, like McCoy or Bashir or the EMH or, arguably, Phlox. (Although he was intrinsicially interesting, they actually cheated with McCoy quite a bit by having him on the bridge or being part of away missions, for no really good reason; that, plus the copious amount of extra death in TOS, gave McCoy a lot more actual doctoring to do.)

Now, I liked Crusher just fine, but she didn't seem to have much to push her out of the twilight, you know?

Remember Me, however, was awesome, and maybe in my top ten favorite Trek episodes. If all of the Crusher episodes were of such high quality, she'd probably be everyone's favorite character. Unfortunately, there's Sub Rosa.

 

[JustKate]

Yeah, there is always Sub Rosa. Would that there were not!

 

[CaptainStoner]

Likewise, shouldn't a conference on the metaphasic shielding have been something the SCIENCE officer dealt with?

Well of course, Medicine is science, but I catch the point. Between LaForge, O'Brien, Wesley Crusher, Barclay, and of course Data, there was just no room at all for a science officer. They more than cover it, and they're all in Engineering.
Might have been nice to have Barclay in blue, in retrospect.
VOY is the same way, except the EMT is clearly doubling as science officer as well in many instances, as is Torres, Tuvok, and Kim.
"Suspicions" I don't remember very well. Will have to pop that episode in some time.

 

[NCC74894A]

I never cared for "Suspicions", but not because of Dr. Crusher. There was a huge plot hole in the story that was never explained. The alien Jo'Bril is apparently killed about halfway through the episode - we even see him getting stuffed into the morgue - but then he suddenly turns up in her shuttle to threaten her in the show's climax. How the hell did he get out of the morgue and onto the shuttle undetected?

 

[Tomalak]

Likewise, shouldn't a conference on the metaphasic shielding have been something the SCIENCE officer dealt with?

Well of course, Medicine is science, but I catch the point. Between LaForge, O'Brien, Wesley Crusher, Barclay, and of course Data, there was just no room at all for a science officer. They more than cover it, and they're all in Engineering.
Might have been nice to have Barclay in blue, in retrospect.
VOY is the same way, except the EMT is clearly doubling as science officer as well in many instances, as is Torres, Tuvok, and Kim.
"Suspicions" I don't remember very well. Will have to pop that episode in some time.

Data is the science officer. I think they even tested him in a blue uniform, but it looked awful with his make-up. Instead he was given a gold shirt, and they created the "operations officer" title. He's still essentially the science officer though. On Voyager, Kim does the same job.

 

[Jaespol]

"Suspicions" is a pretty good episode and I enjoy it. Its quite unique in the way its narrated and structured which I really liked.

 

[GalaxyX]

Well instead of quoting like 20 different people above me, I will try to answer you all in general.

Crusher is my favorite female character in Star Trek. I guess people could argue it, but to me she was the hottest, and on top of that the most realistic woman on the show. Admittedly I don't think they ever made her seem like a realistic physician, but I don't think this was too important to the show.

I do agree with what some have said. Crusher was somewhat bland. She was never given a niche, or a hobby, or something. She was Picard's love interest for.....5 mins, and she was the boy's mother for another 5 mins : and that's it.

I still enjoyed her episodes. Remember me is my second favorite episode in all of TNG. Suspicions was great also, a bit bland in some spots but I liked a couple of things about it:

1. A Ferengi scientist is shown, and he isn't some sniveling weazel only interested in profit.

2. Damn Crusher fights back! Take THAT people who say women in TNG were weak.

3. I loved the phaser blast and how it cut a hole thru the middle of that guy, most realistic phaser effect done in the series.


Now even Sub Rosa had something to like. I will watch Beverly have an orgasm any day of the week

 

[tomalak301]

1. A Ferengi scientist is shown, and he isn't some sniveling weazel only interested in profit.

That was another thing I liked about this episode, even though watching it I was trying to wonder why he wasn't interested in Profit. Granted, this was before the Ferengi were really fleshed out, but then I started thinking about Nog and how he joined Starfleet instead of gaining profit.

Also, the Phaser through the chest was awesome and made some sense.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I always thought "Suspicions" was a cool episode if only due to the fact that the actor who plays Jobril also plays the tactical officer in "Descent", the episode where the metaphasic shielding is used to hide out from the Borg.