The Q continuum

[carcinoGeneticist]

So I have just recently watched the episode which I believe is titled 'The Q and The Grey', in which Janeway goes to the Q continuum. What I don't understand is how the show's writers could have possibly thought it a good idea to show the Q continuum on-screen. I understand it was shown the way it is because it is shown in a way a human such as Janeway could comprehend, but I find it much more reasonable from the perspective of the show to have done it so that the Q continuum is completely beyond human comprehension and as such cannot be shown on-screen. Or better yet, just leave Q in TNG.

 

[NCC-73515]

The endless road in the desert with people reading funny newspapers and a weird clock was good. The US civil war depiction was odd

 

[Qonundrum]

Ratings ploy and/or demystification?

The first Q episode is as bit of a stretch as it is vague, but it sets the stage for the next two episodes, which are somehow even vaguer. If it were Star Wars I'd call it "Darth Vaguer", but I digress. The second one starts out with sophomoric humor but then spirals big-time. The third one was hit or miss, culminating in the Q wearing 21st century Earth tribunal outfits because... well, newcomers wouldn't know and think the Q dress like us only slightly differently, fans who hadn't balked actually would by now over such an impressive gaffe in continuity, and so on.

But Q was such an exaggerated character by this point. Also used as spinoff audience-associative fodder in a spinoff that was going out of its way plenty of times already to say "We're not TNG, the new commander acts differently, didn't you notice by now? No? Let's hit you with it even more!", Q really was best served as a foil for Picard and Q has a much bigger universe to explore and without the hollow frivolity that his VOY episodes largely were.

 

[at Quark's]

Generally, I see the Q episodes in Voyager as going on a downward arc.

Death Wish - A fun and thoughtful adventure (where to go next when you've achieved everything you could possibly think of?) (leaving aside for now whether it was wise to show the Continuum or not)
The Q and the Grey - OK-ish, I suppose.
Q2 - tired and insipid.

Also seeing Q devolve from a supposedly omniscient, powerful, mysterious and capricious entity to someone begging for parenting advice from Janeway (who doesn't even have children) was .... disappointing.

 

[carcinoGeneticist]

Also seeing Q devolve from a supposedly omniscient, powerful, mysterious and capricious entity to someone begging for parenting advice from Janeway (who doesn't even have children) was .... disappointing.

This precisely.

 

[Moonglum]

Generally, I see the Q episodes in Voyager as going on a downward arc.

Death Wish - A fun and thoughtful adventure (where to go next when you've achieved everything you could possibly think of?) (leaving aside for now whether it was wise to show the Continuum or not)
The Q and the Grey - OK-ish, I suppose.
Q2 - tired and insipid.

Also seeing Q devolve from a supposedly omniscient, powerful, mysterious and capricious entity to someone begging for parenting advice from Janeway (who doesn't even have children) was .... disappointing.

How omnipotent could Q really be though. The first episode with him made it look like Guinan thought she could counteract his powers by making scrunchy claw hands at him.

 

[fireproof78]

So I have just recently watched the episode which I believe is titled 'The Q and The Grey', in which Janeway goes to the Q continuum. What I don't understand is how the show's writers could have possibly thought it a good idea to show the Q continuum on-screen. I understand it was shown the way it is because it is shown in a way a human such as Janeway could comprehend, but I find it much more reasonable from the perspective of the show to have done it so that the Q continuum is completely beyond human comprehension and as such cannot be shown on-screen. Or better yet, just leave Q in TNG.

The Q and the Grey also do the unfortunate thing and ignore TNG since in one Q episode two Q have a baby and leave the Continuum, forgoing their powers but the Continuum kills them and is wanting to kill their daughter too, Amanda Rogers.

Q ends up helping her but it seems that was forgotten since the whole resolution of the Q and the Grey was two Q having a child.

As for how the Continuum looks, another idea would be for the crew to see a psychedelic void with intense flashes of color and sound before the simplification is done so the crew can actually be helpful.

 

[carcinoGeneticist]

How omnipotent could Q really be though. The first episode with him made it look like Guinan thought she could counteract his powers by making scrunchy claw hands at him.

True enough.

I don't understand why we've never been told why Q is afraid of Guinan. Either give it a reason or don't make it a thing.

 

[NCC-73515]

One of S2's many odd failures is that the Guinan/Q interaction we finally did see was her screaming till the room shakes

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

That was in the episode before they met. I actually appreciated that the two of them were given a scene together in the next episode and had a proper talk. Well, Q did most of the talking, but that's normal.

 

[knightgrace]

The very first episode showed that Q is anything but.

He assumed Captain's uniforms, but didn't realize that a United States Marine Corps Captain is pay grade O-3, as opposed to the United States Navy Captain being pay grade O-6...

 

[NCC-73515]

Were pay grades mentioned?
His Admiral uniform was an exaggeration as well

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Q in Voyager, while he maintained all his powers, wasn't much to feared. He was all snark and light-hearted banter.

The thing that made Q a good character in TNG was that while he was sarcastic and somewhat humorous, there was always a tension and uncertainty behind his words, as if you had to appease him to an extent after seeing what he can do.

The only thing I like about Q in Voyager was that he called Chakotey "Chuckles" and he demeaningly put Janeway in romantic sleepwear.

 

[maneth]

My hatred for Q is completely and utterly irrational. He's the reason why Encounter at Farpoint is my least favorite Trek pilot episode out of the ones that I've seen (TOS doesn't have one, TNG, DS9, VGR, PIC).

The only good thing about Q2 is that John deLancie's son appears as Q Junior, and the father-son dynamic works at least somewhat.

 

[carcinoGeneticist]

Q in Voyager, while he maintained all his powers, wasn't much to feared. He was all snark and light-hearted banter.

The thing that made Q a good character in TNG was that while he was sarcastic and somewhat humorous, there was always a tension and uncertainty behind his words, as if you had to appease him to an extent after seeing what he can do.

The only thing I like about Q in Voyager was that he called Chakotey "Chuckles" and he demeaningly put Janeway in romantic sleepwear.

Haha, I agree with this. They took the character in a bit of a different direction on Voyager and I don't really think that made a lot of snese to do. Probably was best to just leave the character in TNG.