Or why of the women on the bridge the alien chooses Pulaski to do (apparently some kind of gynecologic examination to) instead of Deana who was already there?
The least disliked episode 2021 - TNG Season Two
- Thread starter BlueStuff
- Start date
Or why of the women on the bridge the alien chooses Pulaski to do (apparently some kind of gynecologic examination to) instead of Deana who was already there?
Of those that are left, I dislike "The Emissary" the most since I dislike the others the least. It bred for the show more of that soap opera drama that would be the norm in later seasons. It also gave us a reason for Alexander to show up later. The biggest problem is, in this season 2 episode it's all actually genuinely good.
What's left:
The Child
Elementary, Dear Data
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Q Who?
What's left:
The Child
Elementary, Dear Data
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Q Who?
Or why Wesley chose to do his potty break just so Ensign Haskell, first name "Eddie", could be the sacrificial lamb. Since Wesley returns later in the episode for the same reason he vanishes, it's either (a) caffeine-induced need for potty break, or (b) script didn't want to bother due to laziness. I pretend "a" because the show was demure enough to get around potty issues without the need to break the fourth wall whatsoever.
Well, I think we've eliminated the bad stuff, now we're left with the, at least, interesting.
"The Child" because it's a bit too much. Deanna is a victim of rape but that issue is never addressed.
Her attachment for a faux child that was "in reality " some kind of visiting alien is also a bit overplayed.
Basically, he came for a tour and left... raping a woman in the process...
What's left:
Elementary, Dear Data
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Q Who?
"The Child" because it's a bit too much. Deanna is a victim of rape but that issue is never addressed.
Her attachment for a faux child that was "in reality " some kind of visiting alien is also a bit overplayed.
Basically, he came for a tour and left... raping a woman in the process...
What's left:
Elementary, Dear Data
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Q Who?
"Unnatural Selection"? More like illogical selection! One thing that jumped out at me immediately is that rapid maturity is no advantage in a highly-technological society -- what good does it do one to look like a teen at age eight when one still has the maturity of an eight-year-old and needs another dozen years of education to do anything? (It would actually make more sense in a primitive society, where extra size would be helpful in fending off attacking animals or people.) Also, the emphasis on Pulaski's transporter phobia only served to reinforce her status as a less-likable knockoff of McCoy.
Elementary, Dear Data
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Q Who?
Elementary, Dear Data
A Matter of Honor
The Measure of a Man
Q Who?
Whip out the tape, because the Measure of The Man is really long in the contrivance department only. There's a decent enough plot and some great acting, but it's never really determined that Data is sentient any more than the claim he was nothing more than a walking toaster, the real key to sentience is free will* and not responding just to a set of innate instinctive behaviors (e.g. nature's programming), and the whole season is a build-up of having Pulaski treating the walking toaster as if it was an actual living being... Also, who else wasn't curious to see just where that alleged toast would pop out of?
* Sadly, we have to wait for an answer and even more sadly, an episode a year and a half finally attempts something. "The Most Toys" gleefully hints at this as Data goes beyond his programming and fires the weapon just as the transporter process begins - a quarter second earlier and the sadistic sociopath Fajo would have been toast. Never mind Data lying at the end yet his nose doesn't grow long enough to be used in a high jump/pole vaulting competition - much to the endless debate from fans.
What's left:
Elementary, Dear Data
A Matter of Honor
Q Who?
* Sadly, we have to wait for an answer and even more sadly, an episode a year and a half finally attempts something. "The Most Toys" gleefully hints at this as Data goes beyond his programming and fires the weapon just as the transporter process begins - a quarter second earlier and the sadistic sociopath Fajo would have been toast. Never mind Data lying at the end yet his nose doesn't grow long enough to be used in a high jump/pole vaulting competition - much to the endless debate from fans.
What's left:
Elementary, Dear Data
A Matter of Honor
Q Who?
Down with Elementary, Dear Data. Once again, I'm not interested in the characters playing around in period wear on the holodeck. True, it did a bit more with the scifi setting by having a hologram become self-aware, but that's not enough to save the episode for me.
A Matter of Honor
Q Who?
A Matter of Honor
Q Who?
Well, it's not a bad choice but I prefer "Elementary Dear Data" for the whimsy.
One of my favorites as well, it's a great Geordi/Data double-act - of which uses Dr Pulaski in a great way as well and sets up the "Is Data human?" running theme of season 2 strongly enough. (No, he's not human but he's amicable and seems genuine, and doesn't refer to himself as "we" either.) (I'll get to whiny nitpicks later, don't let that detract as I truly adore this story and is in my top 10 with ease.)
Daniel Davis stole the show as Moriarty. The holodeck is explained not unreasonably cleverly as to how people move around in such a small space.
It' s funny how the ship's computer created its own AI, except it's still only responding within the limitations set by Geordi. "To defeat Data." Did Moriarty really grow above and beyond? In some ways, yes. Completely? Maybe. Real sentience would have Moriarty not be slave to the instruction, which is demonstrated at the end - albeit by using logic and rote rather than actual inspiration. The underlying idea is still rather good and very interesting, and kept as metaphor in this episode is a lot more compelling than later spins on it. I need to rewatch this one again and see what I take from it this time around...
Yes, Geordi keeps a piece of paper that's ostensibly generated by the holodeck but others have already postulated that the holodeck works with replicator technology as well as transporters - just another example of technology that has multiple uses. Like how autotune was devised to find oil pockets but ended up making anyone sound like a better singer. Or sort of, it had artistic merit as the occasional song throughout the ages has had some form of reverberation or other effect to add emphasis to the lyrics as an artistic effect, but became so overused and solely for the sake to artificially induce "perfection" to the point everyone using it sounds unintentionally worse as a result... there, that's my nitpick of the episode. There was a scene cut as I recall, and Picard's ending was changed (and for the better, too.)
Worst of all, the sequel to this story pretends Dr Pulaski never existed, as Moriarty never mentions her again and when they departed he lamented on how he could never fill her with his crumpets again. Maybe he was nothing more than a program after all, in a way similar to how Minuet was. (Season 1 did swap stories between this and another that would explain the Bynars' modifications being the cause of the holodeck's newfound abilities to have more interactive characters, I think Memory Alpha had the full scoop - I need to re-read that too...)
Manhunt was officially eliminated by Vger23.
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