There's much about this story that's pretty good. Indeed, having rewatched "The Changeling" from TOS lore lately, I couldn't help but to notice it being an influence and, in many ways, the inspiration makes for what is often a very understated entry in TNG's catalog of episodes. Indeed, the new Borg have a palpable menace that really works in this episode, a trait long missing - but in a way needed to have been, for a while...
First off is how TNG the TV show, the Borg's development is fairly clever. Even if the execution was a tad woolly. In the latest episode here, one big standout of this is when the Borg are all seemingly killed by phasers. Now, they've conquered a Federation base, never mind enough prior instances where the Borg know the range of phaser energy discharge. I think the reason is in the script, but given how other scenes just happen unexpectedly, it's hard to believe that the crew would not make notice of how easily they're popped off. Indeed, a later scene where two Borg beam onto the bridge are quickly dispatched proves this is the one thing they didn't make exposition on during the episode. That would have been the icing on the cake as it's one nibble of mystery that would have been explained later when Riker and Picard realize the Borg's new tactics mid-episode.
The opening credits being told before the theme is a big giveaway that something's about to go boom. Indeed, Riker's giveaway exposition (the antithesis of the Borg) and then the door opens, followed by credits, followed by a surprisingly exciting action scene is pretty great, even if the music fights against it...
Post-theme, all of a sudden we see the big-heiney Borg ship attacking the Enterprise. True, exposition prior to the opening theme suggests this unknown ship could be another victim, or an aggressor. Yet this ship is bigger than a typical Borg cube and surely has some of those Borg energy signatures that would have been picked up on. But no mention if that is made, just that "It looks different to anything we have in our coloring book, sir." This story is going out of its way to hide this, but that aside I must say that the new Borg ship looks impressive as hell. But it is a surprise that nary a second was wasted and they immediately show the attack *slap* on screen; a brief moment of the ship zooming in imposingly would have been that much more satisfying.
Also note, Borg now are giving themselves names. A definite clue right there for anyone who stayed awake during "I, Borg". There's no talking down at the audience, so this is a really nice touch. True, Hugh is mentioned later on and in a way that feels authentic to the script (another bonus). Even better, we don't see Hugh - so if you're relying on the old trope of where a special guest star is going to appear, like Davy Jones in "The Brady Bunch", expect your expectations to be subverted. I love this episode even more now.
Given how Riker mentions how these new Borg aren't acting like the Collective, we're just going to assume there are more than two Cubes by now and it turns out later that the Borg did stop their ruffians from contaminating the rest of the Collective (well, probably, I've not seen pt 2 yet...). One Cube was at J25, and the other was at Wolf 359 - for which Data said it had precisely the same dimensions but in a deliciously vague way...
There's never a Geordi/Data scene that can be bad, BTW. This has a great one exploring how we determine what emotions are, we just feel them. Remember that...
Admiral Necheyev is 100% right in admonishing Picard. Indeed, the fact that Crusher doesn't do her big speech and instantly obeys Picard to revive him is pretty telling. But how come he's certain that the MC Escher style drawing would have killed off the Borg? (Absolutely not, chances are that the anomaly would have been trapped by an error handling system long before any real damage was done. But also, the fact that the main collective halted this splinter of rogues conclusively proves they have a failsafe diagnostic to stop drones going gaa-gaa, but obviously a critical mass is needed rather than at singular level. So either way, Necheyev had a genuine point, but she too is working off an assumption that the Enterprise crew found a way to wipe out all the Borg by introducing them to glorified versions of Escher's own artworks of Penroses, Relativity, Gravitation, Castrovalva, and dozens more?! Nary a syllable had to be said on screen as we know the plan of Picard and Crusher plan would have been better if any were to work at all... but Necheyev did read the logs of the bridge crew gushing over making a shiny new friend so she's still 90% or more right.)
The Troi/Data scene is pretty great as well, though this "finding myself" stutff feels more at home with "Season 1 and 2 Data" where he was more an AI trying to be human rather than "I am an an-droid Data" from season 3 onward. But it's not a flop, and the scene rightly centers on Troi and her reactions.
Okay, so Data is now recreating the incident. He's right in turning off the safeties, but if he's comparing his system logs to the time of the attack, he should have noticed an anomalous signal then. He does notice this later when he stands close to Crossus, but it's like being 5 feet or 25 feet from a wifi router. You might not feel the EM radiating from the router that far away but might do so close up. Or even when fiddling with a tower (Dyingllama's youtube channel has him reflecting on what it feels like being too close to one in one of his videos.) But 5 or 25 feet away, I can't fathom how Data wouldn't have noticed anything.
Oh yeah, the Geordi/Data scene where they're replaying - but at 75rpm - the old trope of "I will risk my life if I want" / "As a friend I cannot allow that!" from "Ethics". So in this episode it's as brief as it is contrived, but manages to work nonetheless.
Effects reuse time! It's from "Time Squared", but it's season 2 so nobody back in the day remembered.
Requiem for hot delicious Franklin doing that overacted straddling behind the entrance to the briefing room when the Borg arrive and kill the haplessred gold shirt. How come TNG never got the barrel full of joke regarding "ah, a gold shirt, you know what will happen" in the same way TOS got the trope for red shirt security officers?
I'm amazed Crossus doesn't walk through the forcefield. Hugh was at reduced power, what's Crossus' excuse? Apart from "no story otherwise".
Crossus is one hell of a villain (henchborg) with his cult indoctrination tactics. Seriously, the threat of the Borg - if it wasn't palpable before - sure as hell is now. Did I say the h-word again? Oh well. So anyway, the guard listening to him and Data converse must have been listening to The 13th Floor Elevators or napping or something since he was readily killed (off screen as we're just going infer how that happened due to what was shown early on in the story). Oh, this is the scene where Data recognizes the interfering signal before being taken over right on time.
"Would you like to feel that way again, Data?" Sounds not unlike my ex...
Okay, so Geordi can scan the transwarp conduit thingy and finds the source is in the Delta Quadrant. This is a nice bit of puzzle piece-fitting to help define their origin, which fits past...and future... episodes nicely.
Also, aren't they all lucky that Geordi managed to recreate the signal so perfectly as to land on the doorstep of where the shuttle was?
The cinematography on the planet is a delight with a warm and inviting glow. There is no better juxtaposition than the vicious new Borg than for them to build a base on this beautifully shot area.
So anyhoo, we're back to Dr Crusher with a great cliffhanger for her - to hightail the ship out of there. Meanwhile, Troi finds the way to advance the plot again.
The Borg emblem could first be seen in "Q Who", but was never more prominent than now. Looks more like a bear claw - not the delicious doughnut-like confectionary but a print that a big growly thing would emit. Or me after a bag of pretzels and two pints of beer, which is why I don't drink beer or eat as many pretzels in one sitting. Neighbors 200ft away would hear the resultant belch and it's gross.
Another obviousred gold shirt is killed off. Was the goal to get people in 1993 to finally get "gold shirt deaths" into the zeitgeist in the way that "red shirt deaths" had for 0.27 centuries?? Well... no... but that's another story...
Lore's insult to Picard is icing on the cake, even if undeserved because Picard's had his heiney on his chair while Data was spending far more time with Troi. But after that, we get a cliffhanger that would have felt right at home on Batman in 1966. That said, the introduction of Lore as "The One™" nimbly gets aroundDavy Jones I mean Hugh.
Not to mention, the other pre-credits teaser where Data plays poker with historical scientist figures - the wit utilized always brings a smile to my face...
The incidental music, post season 4, was often designed as "wallpaper music". I think that can work in some stories, but the music draws energy OUT of so many scenes in this story. Fortunately, the music is minimal and the plotting and characterizations are so strong. Prior to season 5, most scores had a lush, inviting and cinematic feel that boosted them immensely. We have the same composers as back then... at least the score isn't as bad as "Power Play", which had me bursting out laughing at just the wrong moments.
So, will we see Hugh get down in part 2? How will Lore deal with the non-goldshirt crew since they're main characters? Will Crusher be knitting a cardigan for Wesley or will she step up to the Borg in defiance of Picard because she always does that whenever she gets a chance. Problem is, I recall pt2 being utterly atrocious, which means I'm going to have to sit through it again and hope it's not as galling as it was last time with flat muzak, flat acting, flat cookie cutter plotting, flat plot tropes that are nowhere near as creepy as they should be (unlike Crossus). I'll be ordering a flat pizza, so at least there will be at least one flat thing during all this that will be enjoyable for sure... So stay tuned...
Yup, here come the inevitable video clips!
Heck yeah!! now imagine that restored bass on a Borg ship!
No worries, his name is mentioned even more times than the official count... and there's Marcia Wallace in this eppy as well. She's so much more fun as Ms Krabappel in "The Simpsons" or as a panelist on "Match Game", for which she got reprimanded for being too naughty in an episode early on, hehehe. Oh, the seventies...
First off is how TNG the TV show, the Borg's development is fairly clever. Even if the execution was a tad woolly. In the latest episode here, one big standout of this is when the Borg are all seemingly killed by phasers. Now, they've conquered a Federation base, never mind enough prior instances where the Borg know the range of phaser energy discharge. I think the reason is in the script, but given how other scenes just happen unexpectedly, it's hard to believe that the crew would not make notice of how easily they're popped off. Indeed, a later scene where two Borg beam onto the bridge are quickly dispatched proves this is the one thing they didn't make exposition on during the episode. That would have been the icing on the cake as it's one nibble of mystery that would have been explained later when Riker and Picard realize the Borg's new tactics mid-episode.
The opening credits being told before the theme is a big giveaway that something's about to go boom. Indeed, Riker's giveaway exposition (the antithesis of the Borg) and then the door opens, followed by credits, followed by a surprisingly exciting action scene is pretty great, even if the music fights against it...
Post-theme, all of a sudden we see the big-heiney Borg ship attacking the Enterprise. True, exposition prior to the opening theme suggests this unknown ship could be another victim, or an aggressor. Yet this ship is bigger than a typical Borg cube and surely has some of those Borg energy signatures that would have been picked up on. But no mention if that is made, just that "It looks different to anything we have in our coloring book, sir." This story is going out of its way to hide this, but that aside I must say that the new Borg ship looks impressive as hell. But it is a surprise that nary a second was wasted and they immediately show the attack *slap* on screen; a brief moment of the ship zooming in imposingly would have been that much more satisfying.
Also note, Borg now are giving themselves names. A definite clue right there for anyone who stayed awake during "I, Borg". There's no talking down at the audience, so this is a really nice touch. True, Hugh is mentioned later on and in a way that feels authentic to the script (another bonus). Even better, we don't see Hugh - so if you're relying on the old trope of where a special guest star is going to appear, like Davy Jones in "The Brady Bunch", expect your expectations to be subverted. I love this episode even more now.
Given how Riker mentions how these new Borg aren't acting like the Collective, we're just going to assume there are more than two Cubes by now and it turns out later that the Borg did stop their ruffians from contaminating the rest of the Collective (well, probably, I've not seen pt 2 yet...). One Cube was at J25, and the other was at Wolf 359 - for which Data said it had precisely the same dimensions but in a deliciously vague way...
There's never a Geordi/Data scene that can be bad, BTW. This has a great one exploring how we determine what emotions are, we just feel them. Remember that...
Admiral Necheyev is 100% right in admonishing Picard. Indeed, the fact that Crusher doesn't do her big speech and instantly obeys Picard to revive him is pretty telling. But how come he's certain that the MC Escher style drawing would have killed off the Borg? (Absolutely not, chances are that the anomaly would have been trapped by an error handling system long before any real damage was done. But also, the fact that the main collective halted this splinter of rogues conclusively proves they have a failsafe diagnostic to stop drones going gaa-gaa, but obviously a critical mass is needed rather than at singular level. So either way, Necheyev had a genuine point, but she too is working off an assumption that the Enterprise crew found a way to wipe out all the Borg by introducing them to glorified versions of Escher's own artworks of Penroses, Relativity, Gravitation, Castrovalva, and dozens more?! Nary a syllable had to be said on screen as we know the plan of Picard and Crusher plan would have been better if any were to work at all... but Necheyev did read the logs of the bridge crew gushing over making a shiny new friend so she's still 90% or more right.)
The Troi/Data scene is pretty great as well, though this "finding myself" stutff feels more at home with "Season 1 and 2 Data" where he was more an AI trying to be human rather than "I am an an-droid Data" from season 3 onward. But it's not a flop, and the scene rightly centers on Troi and her reactions.
Okay, so Data is now recreating the incident. He's right in turning off the safeties, but if he's comparing his system logs to the time of the attack, he should have noticed an anomalous signal then. He does notice this later when he stands close to Crossus, but it's like being 5 feet or 25 feet from a wifi router. You might not feel the EM radiating from the router that far away but might do so close up. Or even when fiddling with a tower (Dyingllama's youtube channel has him reflecting on what it feels like being too close to one in one of his videos.) But 5 or 25 feet away, I can't fathom how Data wouldn't have noticed anything.
Oh yeah, the Geordi/Data scene where they're replaying - but at 75rpm - the old trope of "I will risk my life if I want" / "As a friend I cannot allow that!" from "Ethics". So in this episode it's as brief as it is contrived, but manages to work nonetheless.
Effects reuse time! It's from "Time Squared", but it's season 2 so nobody back in the day remembered.
Requiem for hot delicious Franklin doing that overacted straddling behind the entrance to the briefing room when the Borg arrive and kill the hapless
I'm amazed Crossus doesn't walk through the forcefield. Hugh was at reduced power, what's Crossus' excuse? Apart from "no story otherwise".
Crossus is one hell of a villain (henchborg) with his cult indoctrination tactics. Seriously, the threat of the Borg - if it wasn't palpable before - sure as hell is now. Did I say the h-word again? Oh well. So anyway, the guard listening to him and Data converse must have been listening to The 13th Floor Elevators or napping or something since he was readily killed (off screen as we're just going infer how that happened due to what was shown early on in the story). Oh, this is the scene where Data recognizes the interfering signal before being taken over right on time.
"Would you like to feel that way again, Data?" Sounds not unlike my ex...
Okay, so Geordi can scan the transwarp conduit thingy and finds the source is in the Delta Quadrant. This is a nice bit of puzzle piece-fitting to help define their origin, which fits past...and future... episodes nicely.
Also, aren't they all lucky that Geordi managed to recreate the signal so perfectly as to land on the doorstep of where the shuttle was?
The cinematography on the planet is a delight with a warm and inviting glow. There is no better juxtaposition than the vicious new Borg than for them to build a base on this beautifully shot area.
So anyhoo, we're back to Dr Crusher with a great cliffhanger for her - to hightail the ship out of there. Meanwhile, Troi finds the way to advance the plot again.
The Borg emblem could first be seen in "Q Who", but was never more prominent than now. Looks more like a bear claw - not the delicious doughnut-like confectionary but a print that a big growly thing would emit. Or me after a bag of pretzels and two pints of beer, which is why I don't drink beer or eat as many pretzels in one sitting. Neighbors 200ft away would hear the resultant belch and it's gross.
Another obvious
Lore's insult to Picard is icing on the cake, even if undeserved because Picard's had his heiney on his chair while Data was spending far more time with Troi. But after that, we get a cliffhanger that would have felt right at home on Batman in 1966. That said, the introduction of Lore as "The One™" nimbly gets around
Not to mention, the other pre-credits teaser where Data plays poker with historical scientist figures - the wit utilized always brings a smile to my face...
The incidental music, post season 4, was often designed as "wallpaper music". I think that can work in some stories, but the music draws energy OUT of so many scenes in this story. Fortunately, the music is minimal and the plotting and characterizations are so strong. Prior to season 5, most scores had a lush, inviting and cinematic feel that boosted them immensely. We have the same composers as back then... at least the score isn't as bad as "Power Play", which had me bursting out laughing at just the wrong moments.
So, will we see Hugh get down in part 2? How will Lore deal with the non-goldshirt crew since they're main characters? Will Crusher be knitting a cardigan for Wesley or will she step up to the Borg in defiance of Picard because she always does that whenever she gets a chance. Problem is, I recall pt2 being utterly atrocious, which means I'm going to have to sit through it again and hope it's not as galling as it was last time with flat muzak, flat acting, flat cookie cutter plotting, flat plot tropes that are nowhere near as creepy as they should be (unlike Crossus). I'll be ordering a flat pizza, so at least there will be at least one flat thing during all this that will be enjoyable for sure... So stay tuned...
Yup, here come the inevitable video clips!
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