I rewatched "The Masterpiece Society".
It's better than I'd remembered it as being.
Okay,the human colony that's all isolated and closed off and other contaminating cooties stuff has Okudagrams everywhere - even in Hannah's lab that looks like a TARDIS console, and they all speak Federation lingo, but that's the most I can complain about. Drat.
Conor is quick to say "screw it" regarding their closed environment, to let in the Federation folk, partly due because he wants to get busy with Troi but because of the larger problem that they can't get around. Conor/Troi (Tronor? Croi?) is a subtle and metaphorical parallel to what the planet is about to endure.
While this story is a good Troi episode, this is a GREAT Geordi episode! One of his best, if not the best, IMHO.
The ending proves the multifaceted nature of the piece. The Enterprise crew win on a technological level, but the colony never figured out how to cordon off impulses since now everyone leaves. This is a catastrophe despite the script trying to wiggle around it at the start.
The incidental music is very sparse, much to its credit. The dialogue and content are strong enough to carry this story and it shows. The times it is used do make me wonder if the cinematic style used in the early seasons would have fared better. Considering how far "Power Play" would be elevated, it's not too much of a leap to think that the earlier style would have benefitted this story's big action scene where the tractor beam is used to lure the big snowball 1.21 degrees. And don't get me wrong; with the scale of galactic space, 1.21 degrees is huge. Accompanying it via coma-inducing elevator muzak dampered things.
Also, life support is a bizarre concept in this show. Even if power went out, they'd just float there until it's fixed - if gravity is part of life support. Either way, the air might go stale - but this is a big ship. Like real big and stuff. They could all be there looking at a bag of marshmallows and wishing they could roast a few for a few hours before asphyxiation begins to become a concern. Less if there's enough plant life that hasn't died due to lack of lighting.
This one's definitely one of season 5's better stories.
8/10
It's better than I'd remembered it as being.
Okay,the human colony that's all isolated and closed off and other contaminating cooties stuff has Okudagrams everywhere - even in Hannah's lab that looks like a TARDIS console, and they all speak Federation lingo, but that's the most I can complain about. Drat.
Conor is quick to say "screw it" regarding their closed environment, to let in the Federation folk, partly due because he wants to get busy with Troi but because of the larger problem that they can't get around. Conor/Troi (Tronor? Croi?) is a subtle and metaphorical parallel to what the planet is about to endure.
While this story is a good Troi episode, this is a GREAT Geordi episode! One of his best, if not the best, IMHO.
The ending proves the multifaceted nature of the piece. The Enterprise crew win on a technological level, but the colony never figured out how to cordon off impulses since now everyone leaves. This is a catastrophe despite the script trying to wiggle around it at the start.
The incidental music is very sparse, much to its credit. The dialogue and content are strong enough to carry this story and it shows. The times it is used do make me wonder if the cinematic style used in the early seasons would have fared better. Considering how far "Power Play" would be elevated, it's not too much of a leap to think that the earlier style would have benefitted this story's big action scene where the tractor beam is used to lure the big snowball 1.21 degrees. And don't get me wrong; with the scale of galactic space, 1.21 degrees is huge. Accompanying it via coma-inducing elevator muzak dampered things.
Also, life support is a bizarre concept in this show. Even if power went out, they'd just float there until it's fixed - if gravity is part of life support. Either way, the air might go stale - but this is a big ship. Like real big and stuff. They could all be there looking at a bag of marshmallows and wishing they could roast a few for a few hours before asphyxiation begins to become a concern. Less if there's enough plant life that hasn't died due to lack of lighting.
This one's definitely one of season 5's better stories.
8/10