Faster than anticipated, we rejoin this rewatch of TNG, already in progress. What are its best to worst episodes? Beats me. Here, though, are my least-to-most favorite.
26.
An obsessed collector is determined to add Data
to his private collection of unique items.
to his private collection of unique items.
My least favorite but still has two worthy bits: (1) Data’s learning where his self-destruct-vs.-kill boundaries lie. (A Starfleet rite of passage). And (2) Data learning he can bluff Riker. (“Perhaps something occurred during transport, Commander.”)
David Rappaport (Time Bandits, The Wizard) was slated to play Kivas Fajo, but his tragic death left the episode without a guest lead. Saul Rubinek stepped in and more or less played the part as Rappaport might’ve played it (and it seems to me they costumed him in an impish or elfin way – don’t shoot the messenger please). I don’t know if that was the right way to go.
25.
The Q Continuum strips Q of his powers
and dumps him aboard the Enterprise.
and dumps him aboard the Enterprise.
I don’t feel like trashing Q every time one of these episodes come around, it gets tiresome. The good news is I won’t have to, really, after this episode. Each of the Q appearances still to come – unless my math is off, we’ll see soon enough – are good. Apparently, this was a prompt by Gene to the writer’s room: ‘a godlike creature cut down to size.’ Sometimes Gene really got a little OCD about certain themes and motifs.
I often post that “We Didn’t Start the Series” promo from the UHF days of yore. (Here it is again, as a matter of fact.) This is the episode whence the “visitor from LA Law” reference. Another LA Law cross-over: that’s where Dr. Pulaski ended up after s2.
24.
A gifted but tortured telepath whom Deanna Troi once treated as a patient comes aboard to establish first contact with an unknown sentient space thing near an unstable star before the Romulans do.
Not as bad as I remembered, but this is a very emo reboot of the story already perfected in The Motion Picture. I know Gene was deteriorating during this time, but sometimes it’s like sheesh: again with this, the exact same thing? "You've got like literally five ideas, really?" Then again, it’s a retread of something I like, and Trek I like, to boot, so it could be worse.
And really, it’s not as bad as I remembered. My memory had this one as one of the more irritating episodes of TNG, and while it stops just short of enjoyable, there’s some interesting stuff going on. The guest lead (Harry Groener) plays Tam Elbrun sensibly, as someone overwhelmed by a lifetime of telepathy, forever alone even though surrounded by an endless chorus of others’ thoughts and feelings. It's not, however, a particularly enjoyable performance, as his realization of the Mayor from Buffy s3 very much was. You’d never know it was the same guy, practically. Throw a giant space loneliness metaphor into it – who everyone insists on calling Tin Man over and over again, despite knowing its name is “Gomtuu” – and there are times where you just want to slowly back away from this episode and let it cry itself out in a dark room somewhere. Let us be compassionate, friends, and leave them to it.
23.
Dr. Crusher is kidnapped by terrorists who need medical assistance as the technology employed in their attacks is killing them.
This one’s got bits that are worth thinking about, certainly, but it lacks the complexity of POV, empathy, or theatricality to make it really effective Trek-metaphor. It's tough to invent a credible metaphor for this type of conflict. You either end up with "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," which satisfies no one, or "The Cloud-Minders," which fails at its metaphorical mission but satisfies (and how!) in other ways. Or sometimes you get "Arena" aka one of the greatest uses of forty-five minutes invented by man. This one needed some sort of Kirk-crazed-by-space-dust-and-screaming sort of deal to push it over the edge, and it didn't get one.
I like when Beverly and Picard dance around their inevitable romance. Well, inevitable until Picard, I guess (the show). Now very much evitable. Technically I guess they still could, but I assume they have some wokier destination in mind than merely ending his character arc where it was clearly set up to go.
22.
A genetically modified soldier exposes the social
problems of a world hoping to join the Federation.
problems of a world hoping to join the Federation.
This one's okay for what it is. The whole thing should be contrasted more starkly against the Trek way of life, sort of a “Taste of Armageddon” situation. Another way of saying the concept isn't explored as well as it might've been. The escape from the Enterprise bit was okay, although the series streamlined this sort of thing ("Starship Mine," "Rascals," others) as it went along.
The whole thing is about five years too late for the Vietnam Vet angle they were probably going for.
21.
The Ferengi kidnap Troi, her mother Lwaxana, and Riker.
Ten-Forward seems to have one server who is in more than a few episodes. I keep trying to get a proper screencap of her but have failed. Does anyone know who I’m talking about? Is she only in a handful of season 3 episodes? It seems like every last person has been profiled at some point, so it's always surprising to see someone in more than a couple of episodes and have remained off my radar all these years. I'll keep an eye on this.
Is it weird that Gene's mistress - whose middle name was Deanna - wrote this one, i.e. the once-a-season showcase episode for Gene's wife? And naming it (Troi-entendre aside) after a threesome? (Sure it’s just French for any kind of love triangle, but I’d argue its connotation in the popular mind is mostly sexual. I'm an American and terribly unsophisticated.) And given all this Freudian-ness, what are we to make of a tall, bald eunuch that follows Lxwana around and never says a word?
Even without this context, though, which admittedly is entirely a projection, everything is in questionable taste. Beyond taste, though, the script does not really add up either.
20.
Determined to avert a war, a Romulan officer defects to warn Captain Picard of his Empire's invasion plans.
James Sloyan - last seen round these parts in the Voyager episode "Jetrel" which I need to watch again as when I wrote this I was still anti-Neelix - plays the title role. Not a bad performance, but not the best episode. I never really buy the defector’s story, so the big plot twist only makes it worse. This Jarok guy never would’ve done this based only on what he saw. There are a lot of Cold War stories like this this, though, where someone defects and then realizes they were played by their own intelligence and then commits suicide. So, I guess it’s of that tradition.
There has to be some way to neutralize the advantage a cloaking device gives you. If only Starfleet ever got their hands on one – twice!
While we’re here, I don’t have a problem with the crew having extracurricular activities, like concerts or painting classes or holodeck adventures or what not. But the theater bits always seem to be too much. I guess the idea is in the future theater is enough of a part of people’s lives where they can dive into plays and play production in their spare time. A nice thought, but theater will always be a highly specialized art form. This isn’t a dealbreaker or anything, it’s just a bit much to see the entire senior crew (except Worf and Geordi) so involved in theater productions over the seven seasons on the show. And not just involved - directors or leading parts. Have you ever done a play? I mean, if you’re a starship captain or the chief medical officer, you don't have time to do this.
19.
Riker falls for an assassin bent on carrying out an ancient blood feud in the midst of critical peace talks with a band of nomadic marauders.
A word on guest performances here: I spent this whole episode thinking the lady who plays the Sovereign was the lady from that one episode of Cheers where Sam hires someone to replace Diane on the promise made to Carla that he won't sleep with her daughter. Which, of course, goes badly. But nope, it's Nancy Parsons, who was in so many things I've seen that I slapped myself upside the head. Yuta is played by Lisa Wilcox, who was in quite a bit herself but notably for my own "Oh that's where I've seen her" moments, no less than two Nightmare on Elm Street films.
Yuta’s whole deal is somewhat overcomplicated, both the multi-decade micro-virus plan and the cell-transformed instrument of vengeance denying her passion, etc. Chorgan reminded me too much of Pete DeLouise from 21 Jump Street. (Wait is it him? No it is not.)
Then, at episode's end, Riker kills her? For real? No stun? No just beaming her into the brig? Wow. But: Trek can be inconsistent on such things. It sets up some good stuff from Stewart and Frakes in Ten-Forward at the very end.
18.
The Enterprise rescues a humanoid with amnesia and incredible healing powers.
I didn’t write down too much about this one in my notes. It’s okay, I guess? No great shakes. It has that feel of here-we-go-again-Gene to it, for me. I like how the evolution of people from savage to beings of light, in most of Trek’s reckonings, is just the humanoid journey, the galaxy over. Over a long enough timeline, hey maybe so.
17.
A mysterious entity seeks to comfort a boy who has lost his mother
in an accident on its planet.
in an accident on its planet.
Ron Moore’s 1st script for TNG could’ve used a little more time in the oven. It’s a nice idea hampered by three things: (1) Wil Wheaton’s performance just isn’t that great. It needs to be to give the episode the oomph it deserves. Ditto for the kid playing Jeremy. (2) The whole thing hinges on Picard’s saying “on the starship Enterprise, no one is alone.” Nice sentiment, but how many times do we see Jeremy alone, here? Practically every scene he’s in! Is it meant to be ironic? Sorry about your parents, kid, now go sit in your quarters, surrounded by memories, until we remember to send someone to check on you. And (3) the alien lifeform isn’t fleshed out very well at all.
I wonder if Jeremy and Sam Kirk ever exchanged letters about no one ever following up with them after their respective parents-died episodes.
16.
The Enterprise is plagued by an outbreak of violence when it is visited by the renowned Vulcan ambassador, Sarek. Discovering that Sarek is suffering from an incurable disease, Captain Picard must allow a mind-meld with him so that the ambassador can complete a last vital negotiation between the Federation and the Legaran.
Story by Peter S Beagle? Far out.
I applaud Trek for dealing with uncomfortable subject matter in a sensitive way, but it’s a bit much. There’s a quality of actorly-indulgence to it al. It gives Mark Lenard a memorable exit episode, at least. I forget: is this mind-meld mentioned in Generations? If both Kirk and Picard mind-melded with Spock (and with Sarek) perhaps that was another connection between the two Captains inside the Matrix. Not that this makes Generations/ the matrix any more sensible. (And it would've ruined that wonderful bit at the ending of "Unification" if, after Nimoy's subtle emotion, remembering his father, the camera panned to Shatner, joining the mind-meld, the camera uncomfortably close to his trembling lips... But man! Comedy gold for a certain Trek fan. Namely me.)
Picard met Sarek briefly at “his son’s wedding.” Which son, though? Spock? Sybok? Michael? Some yet-to-be-discovered branch of the family tree? That’s the good thing about Spock’s family; there’s always a sibling when you need one.
15.
Troi falls for a charismatic negotiator who vies for rights to a wormhole. But several different groups are after the wormhole as it may be the only known stable wormhole in existence.
As I’m typing these up I can’t believe where some of them are falling. This one is embedded in memory as two things: (1) completely over the top in the forced-romance/ seductive side, and (2) the one with the Beverly and Troi gratuitous-yoga scene. How did it end up here at number fifteen? Is it a middle of the pack episode or more of a clunker? I assure you this isn't for the gratuitous leotard yoga. Although I am developing a bit of a crush on the Ten Forward lady and one of the extras in Sick Bay.
Matt McCoy’s character is creepy-eyed from the jump, so that’s no fun, and it's just another episode where Troi seems violated somehow.
The wormhole stuff is all great. That sense of utter “Oh shit” of being stuck on the other side of it, collapsing, is well-conveyed. (Come to think of it, that's why it's here at number fifteen; I love that scene.)
14.
Geordi is trapped on a harsh planet with a hostile Romulan named Bochra, but the two must work together to survive.
Solid episode, although it’s a bit boilerplate (struggle among enemies, soundstage storm, Worf’s dilemma, although that last one has a bit of surprise to it since Worf doesn’t have a chance of heart at the end to ‘do the right thing.’ Who’s to say the right thing for a Klingon is the same, even if directed to do so by a superior officer? The script handles it all well.)
The guy playing Brocha is a bit overdone, but I like Tomalak. Seems like a good place to say it. TNG perhaps did not exploit the Romulans as well as they might have, but Tomalak (Andreas Katsulas, perhaps better known as Ambassador G'kar on Babylon Five) was cool.
13.
Nanites escape Wesley Crusher's lab and form a collective intelligence,
threatening the Enterprise.
threatening the Enterprise.
Pretty fine beginning to the third season. I thought so the night it aired (hello, September 25h, 1989! Say something for the camera). It has a bit of that zany-plotline-of-the-week quality (“Wesley’s science experiment escapes!”) but it’s handled well, and juxtaposed well against the older scientist character who has lost his ethical way.
Or, looked at another way, perhaps not lost his ethical way, but whose science is based on a harder set of variables than Wesley’s. Kind of a generational-gap sort of episode. It’s a nice contrast. I kind of would have preferred a harder confrontation there, one that perhaps made the necessary point of trade-offs, even in a Trek utopia.
12.
The Enterprise falls victim to an ancient booby trap set to snare starships. Geordi enlists the aid of the holodeck's representation of an accomplished Federation engineer Dr. Leah Brahms.
I don’t have a screencap for you, unfortunately, but at one point the subtitles refer to “Hungarian Rhapsody by Franz Liszt,” while clearly playing “Hungarian Dance” by Johannes Brahms. Come on, closed-captions-guy! It's even a tie-in to the name of the engines-designer we’re about to meet, for crying out loud.
I love Data’s “uh-oh” towards the beginning of this one in 10-forward re: Geordi’s appearance in Ten-Forward signaling a bad date. (Guess they do okay, though, as Geordi is seeing her again in a couple of episodes. He’d have probably said something stronger had he known what was about to happen in the holodeck with Leah Brahms.
Let’s talk about that for a second. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what Geordi is trying to accomplish here or how he’s going about it. If there was a real-life holodeck and a group of scientists were sexually harassing poor Gregor Mendell, or something, right now, and it resulted in a Covid-cure, I say, hey, whatever works. Reminds me of an obscure SNL skit with Ray Romano where he plays a soldier whose morale-raising bravado is unfortunately all very perverse and impossible to relate to (“just because the thought of me going down on a chicken right now is the only thing keeping us all alive is no reason to get violent!” or something like that). It’s mainly the dialogue that Brahms gets. I suppose if LeVar Burton had eyes to work with as an actor in this scene, perhaps he could’ve rolled them once or twice. Anyway, her dialogue and demeanor -and Geordi’s eating it up – is both somewhat uncomfortable and also kind of awesome, I think.
Not that I want to see him alone, but it all works better, though, if Geordi never gets the girl. Not that he does here, but in another episode, like I say.
Does it rob the episode of some of its poignancy to do so? I think so, a little.
11.
Lt. Reginald Barclay's use of the holodeck as an escape interferes with his duties. Meanwhile, the Enterprise suffers from mysterious and random malfunctions.
Speaking of “Is there anything wrong with this?” well… here’s one where there kinda is. But I also think it’s wrong for people to be able to walk into your holodeck program, too. What’s up with that? Lord knows Riker has enough of these holo-babe programs; does he want Captain Picard walking in on his giving a little oo-mox to some Ferengi tart? There should be hard and fast rules about utilizing your shipmates, though, as holodeck characters.
Still: like so many things on TNG, everyone shrugs and says hey, you do you, weirdo. Even weirdos bring valuable assets to the table. If “Tin Man” is emo fantasy, this one is the cool-kids – cool being a highly relative term in this discussion – team up to help the awkward kid find his confidence and along the way find a way to integrate his perverse and wacky coping mechanisms into their dynamic, then he saves the day.
All the holodeck stuff is gold, and this is probably Dwight Schultz’s finest hour as an actor. The discomfort and awkwardness is not just part of its charm but also of its redemption. The Broccolis of the world need to hear stuff like this.
10.
Troi and Riker must rectify the damage done when two primitives from Mintaka III catch a glimpse of a Federation observation team and eventually conclude that Captain Picard is a god.
This is a good fleshing out of the concept (first contact / surveillance/ prime directive, etc.) Dr. Barron recommends a Kirk-like solutions, and Picard is appropriately indignant. He’s the Jean-Luc of Insurrection, here, and then later the Jean-Luc of First Contact, with Nuria. The sermonizing is perhaps too much on the pedantic side, but not too much.
Is this the most elaborately scored episode of the series? It might be.
Ray Wise starred with Jonathan Frakes in Henry VII. Not sure whiat roles they had, but given Patrick Stewart’s background in Shakespeare, I bet there was some actor-nerd-stuff going on in the make-up chair and between takes. "Isn't there another way we can look at Horatio, my dear fellow?" and the like.
9.
The Enterprise investigates the last two survivors of an annihilated world, as the entire surface has been transformed to dust except their one little house and garden.
An amusing enough little mystery, with nice performances from Anne Haney and John Anderson . Worf’s “good tea, nice house” small talk is somewhat iconic.
It has always amused me that there’s this alien mystery guy named “Kevin.”
Picard's line about having no law with which to judge him makes sense, but seems somewhat haphazardly applied by Starfleet.
8.
Aliens kidnap Captain Picard and replace him with a duplicate who sends
the Enterprise to a pulsar. Meanwhile, the real Picard and three other captives try to escape from their prison.
the Enterprise to a pulsar. Meanwhile, the real Picard and three other captives try to escape from their prison.
Another amusing little mystery. Are these the same aliens as from “The Empath”? I think they did one of those things where if they explicitly made it so, they’d have to pay royalties to someone somewhere, so they made the visual just enough to put the idea in anyone’s head and left it at that. I didn’t look it up.
The fake Picard is very fun. Is there any imdb connection to the X-Files doppelganger episode? Some of the beats play out somewhat similarly. I didn't find any on first pass; I thought perhaps I'd find both were directed by Rob Bowman or something but not the case.
7.
Commander Riker is accused of murder and the holodeck is used to reconstruct the events from different perspectives.
(Re: the header screencap: it's perspective, see? It's not just the naked model, I'm telling you.)
The legal mechanics of this make a little more sense than they do in something like “Wolf in the Fold” or (way more than) “Court Martial.” Really if they rely on psycho-tricorders and computer testimony the way they do then “tampering with the computer” should be the first thing anyone checks. Or: roll back the video. Oh right, they don’t surveil everyone in the world of Trek. Which sounds like I’m criticizing – I am not, I love that. I hope that’s the same future for us, too.
This one is a very enjoyable one. It’s just written into the concept. Fun stuff. I think I’ve seen it like twenty times, and I’ll see it twenty more I’m sure. When my wife and I got engaged I made a list of ten TNG episodes and said look, we need to watch these, if only so you know what you’re getting into / understand my references to come down the pike. She watched them all (bless her) but I can’t remember if this one was one of them. I don’t think it was, but it’s the sort of story I think she’d like. I don’t think she’d get past the alien visuals, though; she has low tolerance for that.
6.
Data must persuade a stubborn colony to evacuate their homeland under threat of a powerful and mysterious race.
Outside of some of its minor flaws, this is really a perfect little prototypical slice of Trek. It even has chamber music symmetry in beginning and end, which is very cool. Every character has something to work on, every little bit propels things forward. Well done, writers room. It’s very satisfying seeing both Data and Picard get the upper hand, and the Sheliak Corporate are a memorable race.
Goshevon is a little overdone, but that’s good drama. Maybe it’d have been better if he was more sympathetic instead of so obstructive? But it all works very well. The colony’s machines were rendered inoperable by the radiation and they lost some of their faith in such things even if they still use Starfleet technology; their hardship leads to their attitude, as embodied by Goshevon. Data is like a literalized reminder of the fears from their beginning.
What is the title a reference to? Is that where the ‘thee and me’ comes from?
Two last things: (1) I can’t recall where I saw it but someone did one of those mash-ups where Data gets the mission at the beginning and then it cuts to him phaser-firing at everyone and everything and him yelling “I COULD REDUCE THIS PUMPING STATION TO A PULP!” Just thinking about it makes me laugh; I wish I could find it for you.
And (2) The colony is like twenty thousand people isn’t it? Yet Goshevon is always available for an audience. And when he calls a meeting – the most important in the colony’s recent memory- it’s an impromptu gathering by the fountain, and like twenty people show up? They could’ve worked that up a bit.
5.
The USS Enterprise-C arrives from the past causing a shift in reality and the return of the deceased Tasha Yar.
This was my favorite episode of the series for awhile. I’d given up on TNG at this point. Not sure what episode did it, but it’d been a few weeks since I checked in and I remember only watching this one because my brother spoke highly of it. And I loved it – for years, it was the only TNG episode I said I liked. It took me until years later and two different ex-girlfriends for me to fully embrace the show and finally see every episode.
Anyway: I loved it then, I love it now, I just got a little burnt out on it. Hits all the beats it’s meant to hit and then some.
Michael Piller co-wrote this but took his name off for Writers Guild reasons so his staff could get their credits. What a guy. Has anyone ever said anything bad about Michael Piller? I’ve never seen it. I was amused to discover Ron Moore’s original contributions included grisly deaths in graphic detail of all the principal cast members (Data electrocuted, Wesley’s head blown off, etc.) Those were the times.
4.
Data creates a young android, Lal, which he considers his daughter. But a Starfleet Admiral arrives demanding she be removed from the Enterprise.
Frakes’ directorial debut. Kind of “The Child” but for Data (i.e. cast member has a kid; conveniently gone by episode’s end) but man this one packs a lot of punch. Is it ever so slightly emotionally manipulative? I mean, sure, but only in the way something like “The Inner Light” is, too. A lot of great (and some uncomfortable) truths wrapped up in these forty-odd minutes. It hits some surprisingly poignant notes on its way to restoring the status quo.
One thing I rather enjoy about TNG (and VOY too) is that you can sense a lot of the intelligence, sensitivity, and social awkwardness of the writers of the show. These were young men and women (for the most part) still grappling with big questions of life, gifted a chance to work it out on the Trek soundstage. Something like this represents the best of such an approach in many ways.
That scene where Lal is alone at school – ugh. Man that hits me in the gut. And her whole farewell with Data. Great stuff from both Spiner and guest Hallie Todd as Lal.
3.
Lt. Worf goes on trial to prove his father's innocence after the Klingon High Council declares that Worf's father is a traitor and had worked with the Romulans all along.
“It is a good day to die, Duras, and the day is not yet over.”
Heeeey Worf’s got a brudda.
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| "I got a brudda!" |
And it’s Tony Todd! Apparently TT had auditioned for several roles, and the producers kept calling him back trying to find something to fit him. Makes sense – he’s perfect here as Kurn. I was so happy they didn’t kill him off. Yet. I love when he smears the caviar on the dead bird. (Which is replicated with bones, for some reason? Wacky choice, no? Though I guess you want to impress the Klingons.)
That waitress in Ten Forward is back. Okay, I am attempting to get a screencap now.
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| Here she is. I have trouble getting screencaps from Netflix sometimes, that pause/play thing always gets delayed a nanosecond and screws it up. But this one worked. |
Another non-episode-related comment: the little rated PG thing in the corner has "Sex and Fear" as the reasons given for the rating. Sex and fear? On TNG?
It’s such a trip to watch this one and remember when it was pretty much the first real glimpse into Klingon goings-on. I remember when this was all such an unknown, and every little blank filled in was cool as hell.
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| I like, too, how it’s literally called “the Klingon High Council,” like, among themselves. I hope in between ruining everyone’s lives on a daily basis our congresspeople refer to themselves as “the Human Congress.” Extra points if they pronounce it “hu-mon”. |
This was also one of the first episodes where Picard kicked a little ass (something the actor had been advocating for behind the scenes) and that was cool to see. I remember talking about that to my Trek friends after this aired, actually; we were all very impressed to discover Captain Picard could take on several Klingons in hand to hand combat.
2.
Captain Picard is kidnapped by the Borg
as they begin their invasion of Federation space.
One reads many anecdotes about the impact this cliffhanger had on the future of the franchise, namely that for the first time, despite being the most popular show in syndication (an opaque distinction to Nielson-watchers) they realized they were onto something. Cast and crew were bothered wherever they went about how it was going to end; it was a bit of a cultural moment. Not much of one, really (not a Who Shot JR moment, or even a Who Shot Mr. Burns moment) but pretty cool.
I, however, was not one of them. I wish I could say I was, but I’d punted on the show by this point. No one could ever believe – after talking to me for five minutes and Trek coming up four or five times – I’d never seen it. But I only ever saw it years and years later. Really, for most of the nineties, I was familiar only with the first two-and-a-half seasons of TNG, minus the finale which I watched (and loved) the night it aired (albeit a few hours later, as I had to work and my Mom bless her taped it for me).
This is both under and overrated. Under in that each time I watch it I’m so caught up in it, and the pacing is terrific, likewise the twists, all the performances, the sets, everything. And over just because people haven’t shut up about it since it aired, and I think there are better (and even Trekkier/ TNG-ier) episodes.
A single caveat – much like Geordi’s romance with Leah Brahms being slightly more impactful had he not got the girl whose rejection sent him to the holodeck (so to speak) in the first place, everything we see here would’ve made a fantastic actual departure for Riker. I’m glad it wasn’t, I’m just saying: it’s Riker’s finest hour, here, up to this point, and the story would’ve resolved itself better had it ended with his taking the captain’s chair on the Melbourne. (Well, once they built a new one.)
Things that are futile according to the Borg: resistance. Irrelevant: strength, freedom, self-determination, death.
People hated on Lt. Shelby (Liz Dennehy) for a long time. Do they still? Unfair if so. Too bad they never referenced her again.
More to say on this one next time when we watch pt. 2. One last thing for now, at the beginning, they pointedly say "put us down in the center of town." And then they appear on the edge of a huge crater.
The Borg have done one of their scoop-up-the-whole-city things. (Although we never actually see them do anything like this, in any episode. They must have a Cube with one of those giant-claws on the bottom in drydock somewhere.) I'm indebted to the Nitpickers guide for this, but... does that picture really make sense as the center of town? Wouldn't they be in the center of the crater? It's a better shot to be at the edge of the crater, although not really: a digital pullback to the edge would've been easy enough. I guess the issue would be: how would the transporter chief justify beaming them to the new center of town, i.e. a hundred feet below the surface, at the bottom of the crater?
Maybe the transporter just automatically makes these decisions.
1.
Captain Picard is convinced to take some much needed shore leave on Risa and becomes embroiled in a woman's treasure hunt.
And what a time to discover I have no notes on this one! I don’t really need them, though. This has always been one of my favorite episodes of the show. I love the adventure-on-holiday trope, as well as the time-traveling historians one, as well as the sex-tourism-planet one. The whole thing is kind of the closest Trek will come to Romancing the Stone, and I like the odd success of pulling that off.
Ira Steven-Behr tells an amusing story about pitching this episode to an erratic Gene, one that ended with his being told "Oh don't listen to anything Gene says; just get the Captain laid." It's funny how one of my favorite episodes had such a crazy genesis.
The ending of this, when Picard destroys to the Tox Uthat and the Vorgons fade out, having seen destiny unfold, is so cool. I predicted this would be the ending the first time I saw this and have always been happy with myself about it.
Is Vash (Jennifer Hetrick, another LA Law connection) Picard's coolest girlfriend? Probably.
And now for some leftover screencaps:
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| Appraising the Captain's painting. |
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| Wesley Crusher, Teenage F**k Machine. (As someone once said.) So incongruent to the Wesley we see everywhere else on the show. More of this should've been done. |
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| Imperious leader. |
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| Directed by Wes Anderson. |
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| Solid. |
~
Until next time!
