I'm slowly working my way through all of trek in order of it airing and am up to tng. Now sure if this will fly here or not but I thought I'd give it a try and write a bit about each episode.
I would start off with my customary complaints about the packaging; but I actually like the package. A cardboard box. Is that really so hard to deliver. Simple, functional, and sits nicely on the shelf.
Now this may amuse some younger members, but I didn't see the first few episodes of tng when they first aired. It wasn't for lack of interest, I had heard all about it and have to say I thought a new star trek with all new characters was the stupidest idea I'd ever heard. How could they recreate the magic that was star tek with no Kirk? no Spock? Sacrilege. But I was eager to see what they came up with. But the only channel carrying TNG was a fox channel in Washington state that aired on channel 15. Most tv's in those days didn't have a converter that would take you above channel 12. They had a dial you had to turn. Since I didn't have a converter on the little tv I had I couldn't watch it. But I did get one just so I could see itl. But not till about the middle of the first season.
I admit it's been a long time since I've watched tng. I just catch one now and then when I happen to see one on and don't have anything more pressing to watch. I don't have good memories of the first season so I wasn't expecting much from this episode. I couldn't be more wrong. This is a brilliant opening for the series.
Sometimes when you look back at a pilot for a show you have come to love it is almost unrecognizable as the series you have come to love. Not the case with tng. The characters are all fully realized and are recognizable as the same characters throughout the entire series. The ship is really showcased in this episode as well. While it is still recognizable as a star trek ship we see all the ways in which it is different. Though I still find it to be a bit cruise ship like. I have to admit this is pretty low on my list of favourite enterprises.
The episode is fast paced and a lot of ground is covered. Yet the technobable that became so prevalent by the end of the series is absent. There is really two separate plots: the Q trial, and the Farpoint station. Both are strong stories that would stand on thier own. Despite these two strong stories we also have a great deal of character development as they meet each other and establish the tone of thier relationship. Knowing the relationship the characters have later on it's interesting to see the way they are established right from the first moment. I especially was happily surprised to see Riker call Data Pinochio. I've always thought of Data as a Pinochio story and didn't realize there was a reference to it.
I especially loved how fully realized Picard was. He is the same tough yet compasionate man he is throughout the series. He is socially awkward, yet brilliant in his understanding of interpersonal relationships. There were a couple of examples of this. He is clearly uncomfortable around children, yet when Wesley is on the bridge he is kind to him and knows enough to be amazed at the level of knowlege Wesley demonstrates. He abruptly removes him from the bridge when a danger is exposed, yet knows this might be misinterpreted and goes to smooth things over. The other instance where we see him at his best is when he orders Riker to manually rejoin the saucer section. It comes accross as kind of a meanspirited challenge of Riker's ability, but as it happens we can see that really what he is doing is setting up a situation where Riker can earn the bridge crews trust. Something that any commanding officer is going to need in order to function in his job.
some other little things I noticed: the special effects are still wonderfull they have held up very well, Q is well established for later appearances, DeForrest Kelley's cameo was lovely though they didn't mention him by name, and O'brien is sooo young!
I would start off with my customary complaints about the packaging; but I actually like the package. A cardboard box. Is that really so hard to deliver. Simple, functional, and sits nicely on the shelf.
Now this may amuse some younger members, but I didn't see the first few episodes of tng when they first aired. It wasn't for lack of interest, I had heard all about it and have to say I thought a new star trek with all new characters was the stupidest idea I'd ever heard. How could they recreate the magic that was star tek with no Kirk? no Spock? Sacrilege. But I was eager to see what they came up with. But the only channel carrying TNG was a fox channel in Washington state that aired on channel 15. Most tv's in those days didn't have a converter that would take you above channel 12. They had a dial you had to turn. Since I didn't have a converter on the little tv I had I couldn't watch it. But I did get one just so I could see itl. But not till about the middle of the first season.
I admit it's been a long time since I've watched tng. I just catch one now and then when I happen to see one on and don't have anything more pressing to watch. I don't have good memories of the first season so I wasn't expecting much from this episode. I couldn't be more wrong. This is a brilliant opening for the series.
Sometimes when you look back at a pilot for a show you have come to love it is almost unrecognizable as the series you have come to love. Not the case with tng. The characters are all fully realized and are recognizable as the same characters throughout the entire series. The ship is really showcased in this episode as well. While it is still recognizable as a star trek ship we see all the ways in which it is different. Though I still find it to be a bit cruise ship like. I have to admit this is pretty low on my list of favourite enterprises.
The episode is fast paced and a lot of ground is covered. Yet the technobable that became so prevalent by the end of the series is absent. There is really two separate plots: the Q trial, and the Farpoint station. Both are strong stories that would stand on thier own. Despite these two strong stories we also have a great deal of character development as they meet each other and establish the tone of thier relationship. Knowing the relationship the characters have later on it's interesting to see the way they are established right from the first moment. I especially was happily surprised to see Riker call Data Pinochio. I've always thought of Data as a Pinochio story and didn't realize there was a reference to it.
I especially loved how fully realized Picard was. He is the same tough yet compasionate man he is throughout the series. He is socially awkward, yet brilliant in his understanding of interpersonal relationships. There were a couple of examples of this. He is clearly uncomfortable around children, yet when Wesley is on the bridge he is kind to him and knows enough to be amazed at the level of knowlege Wesley demonstrates. He abruptly removes him from the bridge when a danger is exposed, yet knows this might be misinterpreted and goes to smooth things over. The other instance where we see him at his best is when he orders Riker to manually rejoin the saucer section. It comes accross as kind of a meanspirited challenge of Riker's ability, but as it happens we can see that really what he is doing is setting up a situation where Riker can earn the bridge crews trust. Something that any commanding officer is going to need in order to function in his job.
some other little things I noticed: the special effects are still wonderfull they have held up very well, Q is well established for later appearances, DeForrest Kelley's cameo was lovely though they didn't mention him by name, and O'brien is sooo young!
