TNG revisited

[Start Wreck]

Too Short A Season
Too long an episode, more like!
Yeah, this one bored me a little bit. Are we supposed to care about this admiral we've never met before and who is a bit of a jerk? Oh look, he's getting younger! Oh no, he's dying!

Let's be honest, the 'corrupt admiral' thing is a bit of a cliché, and the moustache-twiddling villain isn't much better. There could have been some good context here about the futility of war, the usefullness of age, but it falls a bit flat and I couldn't really care about any of them.

Um, I don't really have much else to say about the episode, other than the make-up was pretty good, I suppose. There weren't really any sub-plots here. The whole episode has a 'TOS' vibe to it, but none of the charm.


Noteworthy things:

- Admiral Jameson was only supposed to be 85 years old. He looked over a hundred! If people in the 24th century are supposed to live longer, I would have to put his ragged looks down to the degenerative disease he had.

- Ummm...

 

[Anwar]

Jameson was also supposed to be Kirk, and the planet they traveled to was supposed to be Neral from "A Private little war".

 

[Start Wreck]

Oh, really? What made them change their mind? Would Kirk have died in the episode?

 

[Anwar]

Shatner wouldn't do it. The TOS cast apparently thought TNG wouldn't last 1 season.

Except for Kelly's great cameo in the premiere.

 

[NBG011]

"When the bough breaks" is a good idea but I always found it somewhat unbelievable that a technologically advanced race such as the Aldeans could not find the reason behind their infertility. In fact I don't recall stating that they have even tried, which is a bit odd considering the magnitude of their problem and it's consequences.

 

[Start Wreck]

When The Bough Breaks
The fact that the Aldeans were so naively unaware of the underlying issue is, I think, the episode's strong point. The idea that a society can be so dependant on a system that maintains their 'perfect' life that they have lost the ability to question it, is intriguing. Could it happen? Is it plausible? Probably not; it is human nature to learn and to understand, even if the majority are happy not to, someone would be surely study the 'Custodian' or the cloaking field - it would be their passion, their art.

Still, these people aren't human, despite their looks - they're Aldeans, and this is science fiction! I do have more of a problem with the nature of their solution, though. There's supposed to be thousands of Aldeans left, yet they kidnap six children?! They're going to repopulate their whole race with six children? Enjoy your twelve-toed grandchildren, freaks!

So, there's the issue with scale, which is a common one. Plausbility I can overlook. The plot device of sending the Enterprise hurtling through space on a three-day journey was fairly pointless - since the plot picks up again after the passage of time has passed. Then there's the resolution. Our heroes save the day, and apparently 'fix' the radiation damage of their whole society so they can have children again, then they leave on their merry way. A little too neat and tidy for my liking.

Otherwise, not too bad an episode, considering it's Wesley-centric. He's not intolerable here, although he gets given some dreadful dialogue ("it was scary at first, but I didn't really feel anything" - re: the scanner beam. A simple "yes I'm fine, Captain" would have sufficed). And there's that season 1 exotic space mystery vibe thing going on too. Ancient races thought to be myths, and so on.


Noteworthy things:

- The kid's learning Calculus? And he's, what, about ten years old at most? I know this is the future, folks, but I don't think a child's learning ability is gonna shoot up to that sort of extreme in the next three-hundred years.

- We destroyed our ozone layer? When did I miss this?

- "You claim to be civilized but you have just commited an act of utter barbarity!" You tell 'em, Picard!!

 

[Start Wreck]

Home Soil
In this episode, the Enterprise actually does what it's supposed to do - seek out new life. In a kookie sci-fi twist, the life is inorganic, thus went undetected until it tried to kill the terraformers who were destroying its habitat.

Another science fiction concept is explored here - terraforming. We learn a little about the process and about the type of people involved with it. The mission director, 'Kurt', is played extremely well here; a great character who is not entirely innocent but who let his job get in the way of his instincts, ignoring the signs of life, and suffers with the guilt of it in the end. His performance is quite theatrical and gives a slightly 'TOS' flavour to the episode.

Data gets a bit of an action scene here, although it's mostly behind closed doors, as he dodges the possessed laser drill and then dismantles it.

Inexplicably, the lifeform gains control of the ship somehow, but eventually agrees to leave our heroes alone when it discovers they weild the awesome power of being able to turn the lights on and off.


Noteworthy things:

- Geordi says "how can it be alive, it's inorganic?" when Data is standing right behind him. Way to kick an android when he's down, man!

- Data claims that humans are around 90% water, as was thought at the time. We now know this isn't true; we're closer to 70% water. Whoops!

- One of the engineers identifies Data as an android just by shaking his hand. Impressive, considering he wasn't aware of his existence prior. Does he have cold hands or something?

 

[Hober Mallow]

- "You claim to be civilized but you have just commited an act of utter barbarity!" You tell 'em, Picard!!

Actually, it's "uttuh BAH-BAHR-I-TEE!"

 

[Anwar]

- "You claim to be civilized but you have just commited an act of utter barbarity!" You tell 'em, Picard!!

Actually, it's "uttuh BAH-BAHR-I-TEE!"

Arnold Schwarzenegger played Picard for this episode?

 

[Start Wreck]

Coming Of Age
Wow. I keep forgetting this little gem exists in season 1. Seeing Admiral Quinn and Remmick beam aboard, I almost did a double take and thought I'd skipped ahead to Conspiracy - but no, this is a foreshadowing episode. Something isn't 'right' in the Federation and Quinn needs Picard close by, if he can trust him. A promotion offer so soon in the show!

The tension that Remmick's investigation of the Enterprise crew brings makes for a refreshing change. We get some actual acting from all the cast, some continuity with referencing previous episodes, and we feel, for the first time, that this crew is already starting to become something of a family.

Remarkably, this is actually just the side story. The episode is principally about Wesley's entrance exam into Star Fleet acadamy, and although he's once again an annoying know-it-all, I enjoyed the way the 'psych' test was set up, with the empty room and the staged accident.

However, it's not very believable that Starfleet would be quite so picky in letting new students in. Maybe it's because this is a relatively peaceful time when they're not at war and not desparate for new troops, as it were. How many of these testing facilities are there throughout Federation space? How many applicants are actually successful every year? Is it a once-a-year thing only?

That's really the big question here, not the other stuff about the conspiracy! Because, of course, I already know what's going to happen there, and this episode sets it up nicely. A shame they can't all be this good. See you soon, Remmick.


Noteworthy things:

- I liked the scene in the holodeck where Worf talks to Wesley about the psych test. We get a better feel for Worf's character, how he fears dependance on others.

- The lighting in this episode seemed a little less moody, a little more 'season 3'-ish. Notice the metal of the corridor walls, there aren't so many areas of shadow or strong reflections that a lot of season 1 episodes have. That's not a bad thing. That, plus the improvements in writing and story, show signs of TNG moving onward and upward.

- There's a painted wall set extention in the exam facility that I knew was there and now I can't unsee it. It's of the remainder of a corridor with a door at the end, and it's right behind Wesley when he's arguing with the web-fingered man, and again when he's running towards the malfunctioning environmental room. I imagine if this show ever got an HD makeover, stuff like this would stand out even more.

 

[Hober Mallow]

Coming Of Age
Wow. I keep forgetting this little gem exists in season 1. Seeing Admiral Quinn and Remmick beam aboard, I almost did a double take and thought I'd skipped ahead to Conspiracy - but no, this is a foreshadowing episode. Something isn't 'right' in the Federation--

You got that right!

 

[Michael]

Coming Of Age

I love love love Coming of Age! It and Conspiracy are my favorite episodes of the first season of The Next Generation. Robert Schenkkan as Dexter Remmick was terrific – I really liked that character and wish we would have seen more of him.

And you are quite right, Remmick's investigation makes for a rather interesting plot thread and some nice moments of familiarity and solidarity among the crew of this new Enterprise. It's also nice how The Next Generation's original writing staff tried to incorporate some continuity even in this early stage of the series. It's all a rather neat set-up for the events in Conspiracy. And it works fine on its own, too.

Like you, I enjoyed the brief character moment with Wes and Worf on the holodeck. Worf is not my favorite character by any stretch of the imagination. But I liked him in that scene.

There's a painted wall set extention in the exam facility that I knew was there and now I can't unsee it. It's of the remainder of a corridor with a door at the end, and it's right behind Wesley when he's arguing with the web-fingered man, and again when he's running towards the malfunctioning environmental room.

You know, I noticed that, too. But I am wondering if that was even supposed to represent a longer corridor. I mean, it looked so fake, that I can't believe someone actually thought it would pass as a part of the set. Maybe it was supposed to look like a painting?

 

[Start Wreck]

There are quite a few painted walls in the various Star Trek shows. I don't think any of them are supposed to look fake; it's just an unfortunate accident.

It'd be funny if it was part of the psych test. "This way, Wesley, through that door!"

*THUMP!*

"HAHAHAAAA!! PSYCH!!"

 

[Start Wreck]

Heart Of Glory
Season 1's "Klingon episode". Up until now, we've had very little insight into 24th century Klingon culture, other than via Worf. Some Klingons are not happy with the alliance with the Federation and want to break away from the empire.

Well, this episode isn't very good. Perhaps it was more interesting at the time it first aired, when Klingon episodes weren't so overused. Now it just seems a bit silly. The dialogue is all "glory" this and "honor" that, yada yada yada. Worf gets to preach about duty and loyalty, and in doing so, we learn a little bit more about him, and gain a bit more respect for the character, but that's about it. There's still some clunky writing for him; when asked what exposure he's had to his own culture, Worf responds with something along the lines of "hardly none". Shouldn't that be hardly any?

Found aboard a Talerian/Tarelian/Telarien/Teralean (delete as applicable, I can't recall which of these annoyingly similar-sounding species it was) vessel in the Neutral Zone of all places, the away team has to first rescue the survivors. Why were they in the Neutral Zone? Presumably the Romulan Neutral zone, yes? The weapons signature was thought to be Romulan, yet we later learn it was Klingons who attacked them. Picard also mentioned Romulans was a name they hadn't heard for a while... are you sure, Captain? I think it was only a few episodes ago when you were called to the Neutral Zone to avert a Romulan conflict! Maybe these episodes were supposed to be shown in a different order...

LaForge plugs a transmitter into his visor, for some reason. It's just an excuse to let us see what he can see, which is interesting, but it raises too many questions for my liking. Why is such a thing necessary? Why, in the 24th century, are they not able to take cameras with them? Why can't their tricorders transmit EM data back to the ship? Why rely on a flaky technology just to 'see' what's happening over there? Technology fail.


Noteworthy things:

- Geordi sees an aura around androids. Except, apparently, when they're disguised as humans, eh, Season 7? Wink, wink.

- One of the Klingons talks about the "traitors of Kling". This is interesting because the episode was made prior to Star Trek VI (despite being set long after it) in which Kronos (Qo'noS [OhNoes!]) was the name given to the Klingon homeworld. Was it originally intended to be called 'Kling'? Perhaps it was, but perhaps it is an alternative name for it, like Earth is Terra, or Vulcan is Vulcanis, Andor is Andoria, and so on. Or the name of the planet and the system differ. Or 'Kling' is a nickname for the culture on the whole. Or maybe Qo'noS was destroyed and they set up a new colony planet which was called Kling and then later renamed Qo-... ah, I don't care.

- Why did both of the Klingons die from phaser fire? Surely those weapons were not set to kill?! Granted, one of them fell through glass, but come on!

- The bridge of the approaching Klingon captain's ship has both Klingon and Federation emblems on the wall behind him. There is Klingon text underneath the Federation banner, although I don't know what it says.

 

[Hober Mallow]

- The bridge of the approaching Klingon captain's ship has both Klingon and Federation emblems on the wall behind him. There is Klingon text underneath the Federation banner, although I don't know what it says.

I think there was some hint early on that the Klingon Empire had actually joined the Federation. Wesley asks Picard in a season two episode if an event happened, "before the Klingons joined the Federation?"

 

[Start Wreck]

I think there was some hint early on that the Klingon Empire had actually joined the Federation. Wesley asks Picard in a season two episode if an event happened, "before the Klingons joined the Federation?"

Yeah, I seem to remember that one. I prefer to think Wesley meant joined as in "allied with", rather than "became a member of", but that may not have been the writers' intent at the time.

 

[Start Wreck]

The Arsenal Of Freedom
There's a lot to like about this one, quite aside from it having a healthy dose of planet- and space-based action. I like the idea of computer system responding automatically and trying to sell weapons to new arrivals, having wiped out its creators. It would be sinister if it wasn't so methodical and calculated about it.

And our heroes use some proper tactics, sort of! Yar, Data and Riker work together to take down the probes with cross-fire. Although the probes are terrible shots, always missing with the first one. Hardly selling their capabilities!

There's some role-switching here which really lets the characters shine. Picard becomes Crusher's doctor, and they have a nice chat; Geordi takes command of the ship... there's even a bit of tension when one of the Engineers tries to pull rank and LaForge puts him in his place. Then there's Worf taking over on the tactical console... a role he was born to play.

Finally, we see the battle bridge again, and the saucer separation! It's a good sequence. Can't waste that expensive footage by never using it again, eh?


Noteworthy things:

- Conveniently, the away team leave the bridge just as their station replacements arrive on the bridge by turbolift.

- The planet would have looked considerably better if it was filmed on location, rather than on a cramped soundstage... with shrubbery.

- "No, my ship is called the Lollipop."

- Captain Rice's scout ship could only do warp three?! No wonder Riker turned down command.

- Chief Engineer Logan is another new one. How do they get anything done down there?

 

[Start Wreck]

Symbiosis
By all accounts, this is "classic Trek", a quintessential episode of moral choices, prime directives, alien societies and contempory themes rolled into a science fiction premise.

I quite like the idea of the two worlds forming a relationship out of exploitation; I like how the apparent sickness is revealed to be an addition; and I like how the Prime Directive is ultimately used to do the right thing. All in all, it's pretty good. Nothing terribly exciting happens but it's a good concept done well enough.

There's lots of juicy moral debate throughout the episode, and it's quite engaging. The Captain's solution to withhold the parts for their decaying ships, thus staying true to the Prime Directive, is clever and just the sort of thing he's good at.

I could have done without Yar's cringeworthy "drugs are bad, m'kay" speech, though. And Wesley continues to be intolerable.


Noteworthy things:

- Why would interference from a star cause so many technical problems aboard the ship? It's a STAR ship - it should be able to handle this sort of thing!

- Denise Crosby waves goodbye to the camera in this episode, just as Picard and Crusher are leaving the cargo bay. It's brief, but you can see it. Apparently, the director couldn't!

 

[T.D. Possum]

I remember when I first saw Arsenal of Freedom, I was interested in hearing more about the disaster Crusher mentioned on the colony where she grew up. I waited for seven years to hear the rest of the story - too bad it was never fleshed out in the series, although of course, it has been addressed in various non-canon novels.

Yar's drugs are bad speech made me cringe all those years ago and still does. Other than that, I liked that episode.

 

[Start Wreck]

Is Crusher's grandmother she mentioned the same one from Sub Rosa? I thought at first she was referring to her when she mentioned setting up a colony, but then she went on about the disaster and I figured maybe not (otherwise would have been a good bit of retconning).