TNG was really good. It filled a sci-fi vaccuum that existed way too long in the early 90's. The thing I got kind of sick of was the seeming fact that the future was filled with snobs.
Just once, I wanted to see ONE just ONE crew member that liked to Rock n' roll and eat a cheese burger rather than attending a symphony and having some wine.
I thought that Worf, of any of them, might like a little AC/DC or Springsteen. Ah well.
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
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A Gunslinger
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I think Ryker would have liked RUSH. Dude was from Alaska. He probably had illegal mp3s of 2112 stashed in his quarters. I think there was a lot of unsophisticated behavior going on that was never depicted in the show. Come on. Ryker loved the ladies and frequented the holodeck for lots of "recreation". Dude had to have blown out his ears with some Metallica from time to time.A Gunslinger wrote:TNG was really good. It filled a sci-fi vaccuum that existed way too long in the early 90's. The thing I got kind of sick of was the seeming fact that the future was filled with snobs.
Just once, I wanted to see ONE just ONE crew member that liked to Rock n' roll and eat a cheese burger rather than attending a symphony and having some wine.
I thought that Worf, of any of them, might like a little AC/DC or Springsteen. Ah well.
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Perhaps. But on the other hand...Riker did play a freakin' trombone! The instrument that is the geekiest of any of the marching band fare. I do realize, that given his proclivity with the ladies the trombone does include the word "bone" in it.
Yes, lets call the holodeck what it is. I'm here to tell you, I might spend 4 hours a day in that damn thing.
Yes, lets call the holodeck what it is. I'm here to tell you, I might spend 4 hours a day in that damn thing.
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You are right of course. I forgot about that whole trumpet thing and Ryker's affection for jazz. Blows my theory sky high. "Hell and blood!" I'm afraid that Rock and STNG don't mix. (Unless you coun't Zephrum Cockran's musical taste in First Contact.)A Gunslinger wrote:Perhaps. But on the other hand...Riker did play a freakin' trombone! The instrument that is the geekiest of any of the marching band fare. I do realize, that given his proclivity with the ladies the trombone does include the word "bone" in it.
Yes, lets call the holodeck what it is. I'm here to tell you, I might spend 4 hours a day in that damn thing.
"If you can't tell the difference, what difference does it make?"
"There is tic and toc in atomic" - Neil Peart
I'm still not convinced. Why would a liking for jazz preclude someone from also enjoying rock? And speaking of Ryker et al, poker isn't exactly the most intellectual pursuit...
On the other hand, one of the many things I enjoy about STV is Tom's enthusiasm for classic cars, bad SF & RPG's.
On the other hand, one of the many things I enjoy about STV is Tom's enthusiasm for classic cars, bad SF & RPG's.
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Crusher and Troi talked about getting hot and heavy with guys. Crusher was telling Troi to go for the above mentioned Thomas Riker. And they agreed that there was no reason for Troi to slow down and take things easy with that part-Betazoid who was negotiating for a wormhole. And how about the time Riker temporarily hosted the Trill, and he and Crusher got naked? Troi helped talk her into that, iirc. Oh yeah, those two ladies reminded us how Rock & Roll got its name!!!
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon
A drunk Cockrane making an ass of himself in front of the Vulcans ranks in my mind as one of the dumbest scenes of any ST film. See, this is just the kind of thing I keep ranting about: the earlier films were visually interesting, had some basic sense of dignity about the Trek universe, and had something to say, but the later TNG films dragged the Trek mythos down to the level of cheap gags like a dancing, whacked-out-of-his-mind Cockrane. Ooh, such brilliant humor. Sadly, I think it was the retarded antics of Shatner and crew in ST V: The Fouled Up Frontier that paved the way for the later silliness. Picard and crew now had license to be stupid. Am I being harsh? Not harsh enough, man.TOM C wrote:I'm afraid that Rock and STNG don't mix. (Unless you coun't Zephrum Cockran's musical taste in First Contact.)
Uh, what were we talking about? Oh, rock music (absence of) in TNG and Trek in general. I've wondered about this too. Maybe Gene Roddenberry's utopian vision of humanity doesn't include rock 'n' roll. Maybe all the rock n rollers got rounded up and wiped out in the Eugenics War or something. Who the heck knows.
Maybe TNG should never have depicted any scenes involving people playing music. Spaceships, androids and laser guns are all neutral, generic symbols of "the future", if I may put it. But as soon as you insert something as culturally specific and identifiable as a string quartet (!), well, you've just destroyed the illusion of a generic, nonspecific future culture. It is kind of funny that Star Trek goes out of its way to present a multicultural Enterprise crew, but then has them listening to and playing only the music of long-dead European white guys. But it's the same thing with rock, only it's the music of long-dead American white guys. Or black guys.
(Go to Vespers if you want to air your opinion on who started rock n roll, Chuck or Elvis.)Yes, they should just leave out all visible means of music. It should be heard as part of the background soundtrack, not seen.
Remember some of the sci-fi shows that tried to incorporate "live" pop music? Remember those disco singing sisters from Battlestar Galactica? Or the kitsch, "futuristic" band Andromeda featured in Buck Rogers (the Gil Gerard version)? It just doesn't work.
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I think you may have got me there, Fist.
It just hit me: live music also worked in Star Wars, in the form of the Mos Eisley Cantina band. Both the music and the band (love those guys!) struck a nice balance between something oddly familiar yet still wonderfully alien. There is no obvious reference to any one specific style of music from Earth, so the illusion of a far away place is maintained. Sure, you can hear jazziness in the Cantina band, but there's also a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean component that's been blended in to create a sound all its own.
The Max Rebo band in Jabba's palace in ROTJ works okay, but I think Lucas pushed his luck here. The music and the band here don't have the casual charm and the convincing feel of the Mos Eisley fellows.
(Suddenly, I'm a sci-fi music critic...)
It just hit me: live music also worked in Star Wars, in the form of the Mos Eisley Cantina band. Both the music and the band (love those guys!) struck a nice balance between something oddly familiar yet still wonderfully alien. There is no obvious reference to any one specific style of music from Earth, so the illusion of a far away place is maintained. Sure, you can hear jazziness in the Cantina band, but there's also a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean component that's been blended in to create a sound all its own.
The Max Rebo band in Jabba's palace in ROTJ works okay, but I think Lucas pushed his luck here. The music and the band here don't have the casual charm and the convincing feel of the Mos Eisley fellows.
(Suddenly, I'm a sci-fi music critic...)
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Matrixman wrote:I think you may have got me there, Fist.
It just hit me: live music also worked in Star Wars, in the form of the Mos Eisley Cantina band. Both the music and the band (love those guys!) struck a nice balance between something oddly familiar yet still wonderfully alien. There is no obvious reference to any one specific style of music from Earth, so the illusion of a far away place is maintained. Sure, you can hear jazziness in the Cantina band, but there's also a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean component that's been blended in to create a sound all its own.
The Max Rebo band in Jabba's palace in ROTJ works okay, but I think Lucas pushed his luck here. The music and the band here don't have the casual charm and the convincing feel of the Mos Eisley fellows.
(Suddenly, I'm a sci-fi music critic...)
I totally agree with you, MM. I guess we should all be thankful that given the time period that Star Wars was created it wasn't repleat with a funky roller disco vibe in the Cantina. Whew!
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STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
As I spoke about my motivations for posting in the thread STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, so I will speak of, here:
This last Christmas I received a gift from my sister: twelve Star Trek VHS tapes, seven of them original series episodes, and five of them Next Generation episodes. I've been watching them one by one, and writing reviews of them, in an effort to somewhat improve my participation in this subforum.
Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Measure Of A Man" (episode #35)
On the Enterprise D, docked at Starbase 173, Data is playing poker with other crew members. It makes sense to Data to not bet when Ryker seems confident about having a flush. So, Data folds with three queens, it turns out Ryker has nothing, and Data learns from Ryker how bluffing can be a way to win. He didn't have all the facts about playing poker, after all, though he thought that he did. Data had to be a DOER to find out the full dimensions of playing the game.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard sees someone on the Starbase he hasn't seen in ten years, Captain Phillipa Louvois, a JAG officer and friend that once had to prosecute him over the loss of the U.S.S. Stargazer. She tells him he's "still a pompous ass and a damn sexy man". Then an Admiral, Nakamura, comes over to Picard as Louvois leaves, introducing to Picard a Commander Maddox who wants to disassemble and study Data. Picard refuses to allow this to be done to Data, especially since he is suspicious of Maddox's competence. Clearly anticipating this, Maddox produces a transfer order from Starfleet Command to compel Picard's cooperation.
Picard goes to his JAG officer friend Captain Louvois, to plea for Data's right to avoid the transfer to Maddox's power. Louvois wants to flirt with him at first, and can hardly believe that Picard is intent on treating Data like a living being. But, she quickly takes Picard more seriously in his request, and tells him Data can resign from Starfleet to avoid being decompiled by Maddox. Data resigns, but Maddox warns Data he'll end up leaving with him.
Picard and Louvois resist Maddox's assertion that Data can't choose to resign, until Maddox uses a case where computers can't choose to resign, and states Data is more computer than sentient being. But Louvois becomes more likely to grant Maddox's request when she studies the 21st-Century Acts Of Cumberland, which state someone like Data could be considered a machine that's property of Starfleet Command, and therefore unable to resign.
Picard demands Louvois hold a hearing, and she agrees with this, providing that Picard be the defense lawyer, and an unwilling Ryker be the prosecutor. Captain Louvois warns Ryker that he has to try his best to prove Data is a machine, or she'll terminate the hearing and turn Data over to Maddox.
In the hearing, Ryker has Data admit he's an android created by a human, has him bend a metal bar, pulls out Data's hand, and turns Data off to show Data is nonliving property. (In my opinion, Jonathan Frakes does a convincing job here of someone being disgusted about the job he has to do.) Picard requests a recess, and away from court talks with Guinan, who predicts Maddox wants to create an army of android slaves.
The resumption of the hearing starts with Picard calling Data to the stand. Picard asks Data why he collects his medals and keeps gifts gotten from friends. From Data's answers, Picard concludes that Data is able to feel vanity and sentimentality. Picard asks Data why he keeps a small holographic photo of deceased Security Officer Tasha Yar, and Data answers reluctantly that they were intimate. Having made Data appear much more sentient, Picard is ready for the final phase of his defense of Data's right to choose.
Picard calls Maddox to the stand as a hostile witness, and Maddox promptly denies Data is a sentient being. Picard asks Maddox what qualities comprise a sentient being, and Maddox answers intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness. Picard proceeds to demonstrate that Data has all of these things. Then he gets Maddox to admit he wants to create copies of Data, which prompts Picard to say Maddox will create a race of slaves.
Captain Louvois admits that she doesn't know if Data has a soul, but rules that Data has freedom of choice. Data formally refuses Maddox. Louvois remarks that sometimes the system works, and Picard offers to buy her dinner.
Data looks up a guilt-ridden Ryker, to get Ryker to join a party celebrating Data's victory. Ryker protests that he's not worthy to attend, because he prosecuted Data and almost won. Data reminds Ryker that he had to prosecute to keep Louvois from summarily ruling Data belonged to Maddox. So, Data sees that Ryker hurt himself to save Data. Data shows his most admirable sentient trait so far, in this episode: thoughtfulness!
Ryker acknowledges Data is wise, and they go together to party with the crew.
I'd never seen this episode before. I rather liked it. There was something compelling about it, and it felt like it asked important questions.
This last Christmas I received a gift from my sister: twelve Star Trek VHS tapes, seven of them original series episodes, and five of them Next Generation episodes. I've been watching them one by one, and writing reviews of them, in an effort to somewhat improve my participation in this subforum.
Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Measure Of A Man" (episode #35)
On the Enterprise D, docked at Starbase 173, Data is playing poker with other crew members. It makes sense to Data to not bet when Ryker seems confident about having a flush. So, Data folds with three queens, it turns out Ryker has nothing, and Data learns from Ryker how bluffing can be a way to win. He didn't have all the facts about playing poker, after all, though he thought that he did. Data had to be a DOER to find out the full dimensions of playing the game.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard sees someone on the Starbase he hasn't seen in ten years, Captain Phillipa Louvois, a JAG officer and friend that once had to prosecute him over the loss of the U.S.S. Stargazer. She tells him he's "still a pompous ass and a damn sexy man". Then an Admiral, Nakamura, comes over to Picard as Louvois leaves, introducing to Picard a Commander Maddox who wants to disassemble and study Data. Picard refuses to allow this to be done to Data, especially since he is suspicious of Maddox's competence. Clearly anticipating this, Maddox produces a transfer order from Starfleet Command to compel Picard's cooperation.
Picard goes to his JAG officer friend Captain Louvois, to plea for Data's right to avoid the transfer to Maddox's power. Louvois wants to flirt with him at first, and can hardly believe that Picard is intent on treating Data like a living being. But, she quickly takes Picard more seriously in his request, and tells him Data can resign from Starfleet to avoid being decompiled by Maddox. Data resigns, but Maddox warns Data he'll end up leaving with him.
Picard and Louvois resist Maddox's assertion that Data can't choose to resign, until Maddox uses a case where computers can't choose to resign, and states Data is more computer than sentient being. But Louvois becomes more likely to grant Maddox's request when she studies the 21st-Century Acts Of Cumberland, which state someone like Data could be considered a machine that's property of Starfleet Command, and therefore unable to resign.
Picard demands Louvois hold a hearing, and she agrees with this, providing that Picard be the defense lawyer, and an unwilling Ryker be the prosecutor. Captain Louvois warns Ryker that he has to try his best to prove Data is a machine, or she'll terminate the hearing and turn Data over to Maddox.
In the hearing, Ryker has Data admit he's an android created by a human, has him bend a metal bar, pulls out Data's hand, and turns Data off to show Data is nonliving property. (In my opinion, Jonathan Frakes does a convincing job here of someone being disgusted about the job he has to do.) Picard requests a recess, and away from court talks with Guinan, who predicts Maddox wants to create an army of android slaves.
The resumption of the hearing starts with Picard calling Data to the stand. Picard asks Data why he collects his medals and keeps gifts gotten from friends. From Data's answers, Picard concludes that Data is able to feel vanity and sentimentality. Picard asks Data why he keeps a small holographic photo of deceased Security Officer Tasha Yar, and Data answers reluctantly that they were intimate. Having made Data appear much more sentient, Picard is ready for the final phase of his defense of Data's right to choose.
Picard calls Maddox to the stand as a hostile witness, and Maddox promptly denies Data is a sentient being. Picard asks Maddox what qualities comprise a sentient being, and Maddox answers intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness. Picard proceeds to demonstrate that Data has all of these things. Then he gets Maddox to admit he wants to create copies of Data, which prompts Picard to say Maddox will create a race of slaves.
Captain Louvois admits that she doesn't know if Data has a soul, but rules that Data has freedom of choice. Data formally refuses Maddox. Louvois remarks that sometimes the system works, and Picard offers to buy her dinner.
Data looks up a guilt-ridden Ryker, to get Ryker to join a party celebrating Data's victory. Ryker protests that he's not worthy to attend, because he prosecuted Data and almost won. Data reminds Ryker that he had to prosecute to keep Louvois from summarily ruling Data belonged to Maddox. So, Data sees that Ryker hurt himself to save Data. Data shows his most admirable sentient trait so far, in this episode: thoughtfulness!
Ryker acknowledges Data is wise, and they go together to party with the crew.
I'd never seen this episode before. I rather liked it. There was something compelling about it, and it felt like it asked important questions.
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Cord Hurn
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Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Dauphin" (episode # 36)
I looked up the word, "dauphin". It is French for dolphin, a mammal often found on the coat-of-arms of any heir apparent to the French throne.
Geordi LaForge is busy doing adjustment on the Enterprise's engineering systems as the ship orbits planet Klavdia III. On that planet, a communication from the future head of state for another Federation planet (Daled IV) is sent to Captain Jen-Luc Picard. Picard has that head of state beamed aboard with her governess. The head of state, a young women named Salia, has impressed Wesley Crusher at first sight (Wesley's last name is appropriate here, as he certainly develops a powerful crush on Salia). Wesley asks advice on how to talk to Salia from several crewmembers. None seem to have much useful advice to give him, although it IS funny listening to Worf describing Klingon mating rituals.
On the bridge, Counsellor Deanna Troi tells Picard that Salia and her governess Anya are not what they appear to be, but can give no further information on them. (Anya is played by actress Paddy Edwards, with convincing menace.)
When Worf wants to take Salia and Anya on a tour, Anya forbids Salia to go, insisting she will take the tour for both of them. While taking the tour, Anya tries to tell Geordi how to do his engine repairs. Is Anya's race really superior in technological knowledge, or is she just arrogant? I can't tell from watching this story thus far. [Edit: at story's end, I'm still not sure.]
A threat to the Enterprise becomes apparent when Anya turns into a beast, looking rather like a furry Teletubby, and tries to kill one of Dr. Pulaski's patients suffering from a minimally contagious disease, with the excuse that Salia could become sick and die. Worf has his hands full trying to block Anya, and prevails because other Security personnel come to his assistance. At this point, Anya, ability is no surprise to viewers, as we've seen Anya transform while with Salia, and Troi has already told us the passengers are not what they seem.
Meanwhile, Wesley shows Salia via holosuite the wondrous views of several places in the explored galaxy. It seems that Salia and Wesley have great mutual admiration for each other. But, under pressure from Anya, Picard orders Wesley to stay away from Salia.
Salia seeks Wesley out, anyway. Wesley warns Salia he isn't supposed to see her (to his credit), but cannot find it in himself to tell her to leave. Anya follows Salia to Wesley's room, transforms to threaten Wesley, and Salia transforms into another beast to protect him. Wesley alerts Security, and they come to escort both Salia and Anya out of Wesley's room. Anya submits to staying in a force field area, yet taunts Work that she can handle him in a fight any time.
Wesley seems unaccepting of Salia's real nature, yet makes sure before she transports off the ship that she gets a taste of chocolate mousse, one of the pleasant sensations she experienced while on an unofficial tour with Wesley. They part on good terms.
Later, at the bar Ten Forward, nursing a soda, Wesley tells barkeep Guinan that seeing Salia "on a transporter pad...it was like seeing pure light." Guinan tells Wesley, "Anytime you feel love for someone new, it's going to be different." Wesley replies, "That doesn't make me feel better." Guinan returns with, "It's not supposed to," then leaves Wesley alone with his thoughts. Guinan's apparently trying to prepare Wesley for the idea that things will never be quite the same again, I suppose. I don't find her talk to be very helpful for Wesley, but we know he'll get over Salia and move on. This episode isn't particularly deep or entertaining, and there's not a lot of mystery as to the physical nature of the passengers, as we viewers learn early on they are shape-shifters. And we never know if Salia will turn out to be an effective leader of Daled IV, or not. This is really a mediocre episode, in my view.
I looked up the word, "dauphin". It is French for dolphin, a mammal often found on the coat-of-arms of any heir apparent to the French throne.
Geordi LaForge is busy doing adjustment on the Enterprise's engineering systems as the ship orbits planet Klavdia III. On that planet, a communication from the future head of state for another Federation planet (Daled IV) is sent to Captain Jen-Luc Picard. Picard has that head of state beamed aboard with her governess. The head of state, a young women named Salia, has impressed Wesley Crusher at first sight (Wesley's last name is appropriate here, as he certainly develops a powerful crush on Salia). Wesley asks advice on how to talk to Salia from several crewmembers. None seem to have much useful advice to give him, although it IS funny listening to Worf describing Klingon mating rituals.
On the bridge, Counsellor Deanna Troi tells Picard that Salia and her governess Anya are not what they appear to be, but can give no further information on them. (Anya is played by actress Paddy Edwards, with convincing menace.)
When Worf wants to take Salia and Anya on a tour, Anya forbids Salia to go, insisting she will take the tour for both of them. While taking the tour, Anya tries to tell Geordi how to do his engine repairs. Is Anya's race really superior in technological knowledge, or is she just arrogant? I can't tell from watching this story thus far. [Edit: at story's end, I'm still not sure.]
A threat to the Enterprise becomes apparent when Anya turns into a beast, looking rather like a furry Teletubby, and tries to kill one of Dr. Pulaski's patients suffering from a minimally contagious disease, with the excuse that Salia could become sick and die. Worf has his hands full trying to block Anya, and prevails because other Security personnel come to his assistance. At this point, Anya, ability is no surprise to viewers, as we've seen Anya transform while with Salia, and Troi has already told us the passengers are not what they seem.
Meanwhile, Wesley shows Salia via holosuite the wondrous views of several places in the explored galaxy. It seems that Salia and Wesley have great mutual admiration for each other. But, under pressure from Anya, Picard orders Wesley to stay away from Salia.
Salia seeks Wesley out, anyway. Wesley warns Salia he isn't supposed to see her (to his credit), but cannot find it in himself to tell her to leave. Anya follows Salia to Wesley's room, transforms to threaten Wesley, and Salia transforms into another beast to protect him. Wesley alerts Security, and they come to escort both Salia and Anya out of Wesley's room. Anya submits to staying in a force field area, yet taunts Work that she can handle him in a fight any time.
Wesley seems unaccepting of Salia's real nature, yet makes sure before she transports off the ship that she gets a taste of chocolate mousse, one of the pleasant sensations she experienced while on an unofficial tour with Wesley. They part on good terms.
Later, at the bar Ten Forward, nursing a soda, Wesley tells barkeep Guinan that seeing Salia "on a transporter pad...it was like seeing pure light." Guinan tells Wesley, "Anytime you feel love for someone new, it's going to be different." Wesley replies, "That doesn't make me feel better." Guinan returns with, "It's not supposed to," then leaves Wesley alone with his thoughts. Guinan's apparently trying to prepare Wesley for the idea that things will never be quite the same again, I suppose. I don't find her talk to be very helpful for Wesley, but we know he'll get over Salia and move on. This episode isn't particularly deep or entertaining, and there's not a lot of mystery as to the physical nature of the passengers, as we viewers learn early on they are shape-shifters. And we never know if Salia will turn out to be an effective leader of Daled IV, or not. This is really a mediocre episode, in my view.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation "Menage A Troi" (episode # 72)
The Enterprise is orbiting Betazed, with a number of planetary races involved in trade discussions there and on the ship. Jean-Luc Picard has allowed Ferengi representatives on board. Deanna Troi is being nagged telepathically and verbally by her mother Lwaxana (Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry's wife and famous as both Christine Chapel and as the Federation's computer voice) over dinner. After Lwaxana gets up from her meal, she is propositioned by one of the Ferengi, Damian Tog (Frank Corsetino, who does just fine playing someone who is simultaneously scheming and smitten). She rebuffs him, but Tog feels even more charmed by her at the end of this episode's teaser. Okay, I'm thinking to myself, this might be a little tedious for me to watch, being an episode with both Ferengi and Lwaxana Troi.
Act one starts with Lwaxana harping on Deanna to settle down with a husband and start a family. Next, Picard is having a meeting with some crew members about a mapping expedition, and orders Ryker to take shore leave. Ryker chooses to take shore leave with Deann, but they soon run into Lwaxana. Then the Ferengi Damien Tog shows up, and has them all beamed to his ship. Damien wants Lwaxana to use her telepathic powers to give him profit. She doesn't want to help him, but fakes being attracted to Tog.
At the same time, Deanna, in a force-field brig with Ryker, is monitoring her mother's experience. Ryker is taunting their Ferengi guard about his chess game. It's not hard to foresee Ryker will talk the Ferengi into letting down the force field, and then disable the guard. Ryker and Deanna go to the communications system, but find they cannot send a distress call without knowing the Ferengi ship's computer's access code. Deanna lets Lwaxana know about this, and Lwaxana tries to charm the access code information out of Tog. She nearly succeeds. but Ferengi medical officer Farek (Ethan Phillips, easily recognizable by voice as the actor who later plays Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager) interrupts before Tog can finish the code sequence. Farek demands that Lwaxana be turned over to him to be subjected to his mind-probe machine, and threatens Tog with a report to their superiors that mentions Tog's almost revealing the access codes to Lwaxana. Tog reluctantly agrees to hand Lwaxana over to Farek, though he protests that the mind-probe procedure could be painful and potentially damaging to Lwaxana.
Deanna tells Ryker her mother is in trouble, so Ryker and Deanna go to the sickbay and rescue Lwaxana from Farek at phaser-point. But Tog comes behind Ryker and Deanna and disarms them. Tog makes Farek release Lwaxana from the mind-probe machine (a dentist's chair, looks like), but then Lwaxana convinces Tog to send Deanna and Ryker back to the Enterprise.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise receives a message from the Ferengi ship, due to Ryker's and Deanna's efforts, and Wesley Crusher figures out where the Ferengi ship must be. Wesley is promoted to ensign by Picard, and is preparing to go to Starfleet Academy very soon.
Then there's a really silly moment when Lwaxana wants to have Picard act like he's in a jealous rage, as conveyed to him by Deanna. So Picard thinks reciting Shakespeare's poetry to Lwaxana within Damien Tog's hearing will convince Tog he's ready to fire on the Ferengi ship is Lwaxana isn't returned. A cringe-worthy scene, to me. Things are made slightly more tolerable for me by the humor of Lwaxana's being charmed by Picard's recitation, and once she' rescued, she keeps touching him and asking him to recite more poetry to her. Picard quickly gets up from his command chair and orders Wesley to take them back to Betazed , "Warp nine!" Heh.
There was cleverness in Ryker's causing the Ferengi communications system to put out static in a musical pattern that would be recognized by someone in the Enterprise crew as (it turned out to be Wesley). The episode wasn't entirely tedious for me, because of that. And Wesley's leaving the ship to go to the Academy make this an important episode in terms of "character arc". Having said that, this episode mostly just annoyed me.
The Enterprise is orbiting Betazed, with a number of planetary races involved in trade discussions there and on the ship. Jean-Luc Picard has allowed Ferengi representatives on board. Deanna Troi is being nagged telepathically and verbally by her mother Lwaxana (Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry's wife and famous as both Christine Chapel and as the Federation's computer voice) over dinner. After Lwaxana gets up from her meal, she is propositioned by one of the Ferengi, Damian Tog (Frank Corsetino, who does just fine playing someone who is simultaneously scheming and smitten). She rebuffs him, but Tog feels even more charmed by her at the end of this episode's teaser. Okay, I'm thinking to myself, this might be a little tedious for me to watch, being an episode with both Ferengi and Lwaxana Troi.
Act one starts with Lwaxana harping on Deanna to settle down with a husband and start a family. Next, Picard is having a meeting with some crew members about a mapping expedition, and orders Ryker to take shore leave. Ryker chooses to take shore leave with Deann, but they soon run into Lwaxana. Then the Ferengi Damien Tog shows up, and has them all beamed to his ship. Damien wants Lwaxana to use her telepathic powers to give him profit. She doesn't want to help him, but fakes being attracted to Tog.
At the same time, Deanna, in a force-field brig with Ryker, is monitoring her mother's experience. Ryker is taunting their Ferengi guard about his chess game. It's not hard to foresee Ryker will talk the Ferengi into letting down the force field, and then disable the guard. Ryker and Deanna go to the communications system, but find they cannot send a distress call without knowing the Ferengi ship's computer's access code. Deanna lets Lwaxana know about this, and Lwaxana tries to charm the access code information out of Tog. She nearly succeeds. but Ferengi medical officer Farek (Ethan Phillips, easily recognizable by voice as the actor who later plays Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager) interrupts before Tog can finish the code sequence. Farek demands that Lwaxana be turned over to him to be subjected to his mind-probe machine, and threatens Tog with a report to their superiors that mentions Tog's almost revealing the access codes to Lwaxana. Tog reluctantly agrees to hand Lwaxana over to Farek, though he protests that the mind-probe procedure could be painful and potentially damaging to Lwaxana.
Deanna tells Ryker her mother is in trouble, so Ryker and Deanna go to the sickbay and rescue Lwaxana from Farek at phaser-point. But Tog comes behind Ryker and Deanna and disarms them. Tog makes Farek release Lwaxana from the mind-probe machine (a dentist's chair, looks like), but then Lwaxana convinces Tog to send Deanna and Ryker back to the Enterprise.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise receives a message from the Ferengi ship, due to Ryker's and Deanna's efforts, and Wesley Crusher figures out where the Ferengi ship must be. Wesley is promoted to ensign by Picard, and is preparing to go to Starfleet Academy very soon.
Then there's a really silly moment when Lwaxana wants to have Picard act like he's in a jealous rage, as conveyed to him by Deanna. So Picard thinks reciting Shakespeare's poetry to Lwaxana within Damien Tog's hearing will convince Tog he's ready to fire on the Ferengi ship is Lwaxana isn't returned. A cringe-worthy scene, to me. Things are made slightly more tolerable for me by the humor of Lwaxana's being charmed by Picard's recitation, and once she' rescued, she keeps touching him and asking him to recite more poetry to her. Picard quickly gets up from his command chair and orders Wesley to take them back to Betazed , "Warp nine!" Heh.
There was cleverness in Ryker's causing the Ferengi communications system to put out static in a musical pattern that would be recognized by someone in the Enterprise crew as (it turned out to be Wesley). The episode wasn't entirely tedious for me, because of that. And Wesley's leaving the ship to go to the Academy make this an important episode in terms of "character arc". Having said that, this episode mostly just annoyed me.
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Cord Hurn
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Star Trek: The Next Generation "Remember Me" (episode # 79)
I first watched this episode back in late 1990, and I remember dreaming shortly thereafter about being trapped in an ever-shrinking world. So I guess that on some subconscious level this made quite an impression on me.
The Enterprise is docked at Starbase 133, and Doctor Daylon Quaice is transported from the starbase to the ship by Miles O'Brien, and is greeted and escorted to his quarters by Dr. Beverly Crusher, a long-time associate of his. She gives Quaice condolences on the loss of his wife, listens to him talk about appreciating people while they're still around, and talks about the relatively short time she had with Jack, Wesley's late father.
Once she's seen Quaice to his quarters, she heads to the engineering area, where her son Wesley is trying a new warp field out to be used in the ship. One moment she's there a few paces from Wesley, and the next moment when Wesley flips the switch to activate the warp field, she's gone (but Wesley and the audience do not see her disappear, because visual concentration is on Wesley's control board). Wesley leaves the engineering area with the vague feeling that something is wrong, that it's not likely his mother would leave the area without saying something to him, but moves on out of the room, dampened in disquiet.
Meanwhile, Beverly walks around on what appears to be the ship, and soon discovers that Dr. Quaice isn't in his room, and knowledge of him is not in the computers. No one remembers Daylon Quaice being aboard the Enterprise, not even O'Brien who transported him. There is no knowledge of him in the computers. Soon no one remembers Dr. Crusher ever having medical staff to assist her, but others onboard "the ship" don't seem to think that's unusual and don't remember her EVER having staff!
The number of crewmembers keeps shrinking, according to Dr. Crusher's perspective, but it doesn't seem strange to anybody else, as no one remembers the disappeared. It gets down to the ship's crew being just Dr. Crusher and Capt. Picard. No doubt Dr. Crusher suspects she is going mad, as I would in such a predicament. All the same, she gives Picard a great speech, well-acted by Gates McFadden, about how the disappeared crew members deserve to be honored and appreciated, not just forgotten.
A vortex of light twice appears in front of Dr. Beverly Crusher, a strange rent in reality that forms a vacuum and pulls her and other objects towards it. This happens first in "sickbay", and later on "the bridge" after "Picard" disappears from Crusher's reality. Dr. Crusher fights the pull of the vortex, which seems threatening and may be the cause of the disappearances, for all she knows.
Before the vortex collapses the viewpoint pans out so that we realize that we are now looking at happenings on the other side of the vortex, and find that Wesley and Geordi LaForge are working to keep the vortex open as a pathway for Dr. Crusher to come back to the REAL universe. They are getting advice from an extraterrestrial who has come aboard the ship, someone that they have met once before, a being called The Traveler (Eric Menyuk, displaying a calm but caring confidence that suits his role in this story well). The Traveler tells them that Dr. Crusher is in a static warp bubble, but the thoughts she was thinking at the time she entered that bubble determined the reality she is experiencing while there. The Traveler tells the Enterprise officers the ship needs to go back to the area of space where the warp bubble was created, as close to the same place as possible. Then The Traveler tells Wesley to reject guilt over his mother's disappearance, see past the numbers involved in the warp experiment, and trust himself.
Dr. Crusher sees her universe collapsing to an energy field around the ship that is 705 meters in diameter (according to the Majel Barrett-voiced computer). Beverley ingeniously uses the knowledge of "the computer" in her world to see what the area around the ship looks like diagrammatically, and realizes it's the warp field her son Wesley was working on right before the disappearances started to happen. So she knows she's in a warp bubble, and also finds out she has just four minutes left before that bubble collapses with herself inside of it.
Outside the bubble, in our universe, Wesley and The Traveler are in engineering trying to keep a vortex of bright energy open for Dr. Crusher to pass through, while LaForge and Picard watch them. Both the Traveler and Wesley seem to partially shimmer out of this reality while doing this, appearing to be quite transparent.
Still inside the collapsing warp-bubble universe, Dr. Crusher asks her computer what an escape from this warp bubble would look like, and gets a description of the vortex. So she goes to engineering, as reality starts fading behind her, and jumps through the vortex, escaping back to our universe before the warp bubble collapses. Also collapsing is her son Wesley, from sheer exhaustion. Dr. Crusher asks Picard how many people are aboard the Enterprise, and is told, "1,114, including your guest, Dr. Quaice." Her eyes slightly widen as she holds her tired son in her arms. With a slight edge in his voice, LaForge asks, "Something wrong with that number, Doctor?" And in nearly-tearful relief while hugging her son, Beverly says, "That's just the number it should be!" End of episode.
At first, this episode seemed annoying when we didn't know what was going on, and it seemed to be all about Dr. Crusher getting frustrated that Dr. Quaice had disappeared, and no one even knows about him. But once the true nature of Beverly's dilemma is known, the story seems really compelling. Worse than having dear ones disappear, is having them disappear and no one else honors them with any memory of them.
The title "Remember Me" is really apt for this story, because I find it to be one of the most memorable Next Generation episodes, ever!
I first watched this episode back in late 1990, and I remember dreaming shortly thereafter about being trapped in an ever-shrinking world. So I guess that on some subconscious level this made quite an impression on me.
The Enterprise is docked at Starbase 133, and Doctor Daylon Quaice is transported from the starbase to the ship by Miles O'Brien, and is greeted and escorted to his quarters by Dr. Beverly Crusher, a long-time associate of his. She gives Quaice condolences on the loss of his wife, listens to him talk about appreciating people while they're still around, and talks about the relatively short time she had with Jack, Wesley's late father.
Once she's seen Quaice to his quarters, she heads to the engineering area, where her son Wesley is trying a new warp field out to be used in the ship. One moment she's there a few paces from Wesley, and the next moment when Wesley flips the switch to activate the warp field, she's gone (but Wesley and the audience do not see her disappear, because visual concentration is on Wesley's control board). Wesley leaves the engineering area with the vague feeling that something is wrong, that it's not likely his mother would leave the area without saying something to him, but moves on out of the room, dampened in disquiet.
Meanwhile, Beverly walks around on what appears to be the ship, and soon discovers that Dr. Quaice isn't in his room, and knowledge of him is not in the computers. No one remembers Daylon Quaice being aboard the Enterprise, not even O'Brien who transported him. There is no knowledge of him in the computers. Soon no one remembers Dr. Crusher ever having medical staff to assist her, but others onboard "the ship" don't seem to think that's unusual and don't remember her EVER having staff!
The number of crewmembers keeps shrinking, according to Dr. Crusher's perspective, but it doesn't seem strange to anybody else, as no one remembers the disappeared. It gets down to the ship's crew being just Dr. Crusher and Capt. Picard. No doubt Dr. Crusher suspects she is going mad, as I would in such a predicament. All the same, she gives Picard a great speech, well-acted by Gates McFadden, about how the disappeared crew members deserve to be honored and appreciated, not just forgotten.
A vortex of light twice appears in front of Dr. Beverly Crusher, a strange rent in reality that forms a vacuum and pulls her and other objects towards it. This happens first in "sickbay", and later on "the bridge" after "Picard" disappears from Crusher's reality. Dr. Crusher fights the pull of the vortex, which seems threatening and may be the cause of the disappearances, for all she knows.
Before the vortex collapses the viewpoint pans out so that we realize that we are now looking at happenings on the other side of the vortex, and find that Wesley and Geordi LaForge are working to keep the vortex open as a pathway for Dr. Crusher to come back to the REAL universe. They are getting advice from an extraterrestrial who has come aboard the ship, someone that they have met once before, a being called The Traveler (Eric Menyuk, displaying a calm but caring confidence that suits his role in this story well). The Traveler tells them that Dr. Crusher is in a static warp bubble, but the thoughts she was thinking at the time she entered that bubble determined the reality she is experiencing while there. The Traveler tells the Enterprise officers the ship needs to go back to the area of space where the warp bubble was created, as close to the same place as possible. Then The Traveler tells Wesley to reject guilt over his mother's disappearance, see past the numbers involved in the warp experiment, and trust himself.
Dr. Crusher sees her universe collapsing to an energy field around the ship that is 705 meters in diameter (according to the Majel Barrett-voiced computer). Beverley ingeniously uses the knowledge of "the computer" in her world to see what the area around the ship looks like diagrammatically, and realizes it's the warp field her son Wesley was working on right before the disappearances started to happen. So she knows she's in a warp bubble, and also finds out she has just four minutes left before that bubble collapses with herself inside of it.
Outside the bubble, in our universe, Wesley and The Traveler are in engineering trying to keep a vortex of bright energy open for Dr. Crusher to pass through, while LaForge and Picard watch them. Both the Traveler and Wesley seem to partially shimmer out of this reality while doing this, appearing to be quite transparent.
Still inside the collapsing warp-bubble universe, Dr. Crusher asks her computer what an escape from this warp bubble would look like, and gets a description of the vortex. So she goes to engineering, as reality starts fading behind her, and jumps through the vortex, escaping back to our universe before the warp bubble collapses. Also collapsing is her son Wesley, from sheer exhaustion. Dr. Crusher asks Picard how many people are aboard the Enterprise, and is told, "1,114, including your guest, Dr. Quaice." Her eyes slightly widen as she holds her tired son in her arms. With a slight edge in his voice, LaForge asks, "Something wrong with that number, Doctor?" And in nearly-tearful relief while hugging her son, Beverly says, "That's just the number it should be!" End of episode.
At first, this episode seemed annoying when we didn't know what was going on, and it seemed to be all about Dr. Crusher getting frustrated that Dr. Quaice had disappeared, and no one even knows about him. But once the true nature of Beverly's dilemma is known, the story seems really compelling. Worse than having dear ones disappear, is having them disappear and no one else honors them with any memory of them.
The title "Remember Me" is really apt for this story, because I find it to be one of the most memorable Next Generation episodes, ever!
ANY episode with Ferengi annoyed me . Just never found them interesting or compelling characters. My personal example [which I know many disagree with] is that Q was annoying but at least interesting character whereas Ferengi were just annoying - fingernail on chalkboard annoying to the point of being almost unwatchable annoying.Cord Hurn wrote:Star Trek: The Next Generation "Menage A Troi" (episode # 72)
Okay, I'm thinking to myself, this might be a little tedious for me to watch, being an episode with both Ferengi and Lwaxana Troi.
Having said that, this episode mostly just annoyed me.
Not every person is going to understand you and that's okay. They have a right to their opinion and you have every right to ignore it.
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Cord Hurn
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I liked a few of the ST:DS9 Ferengi-based episodes (especially "Little Green Men", where Quark, Rom, and Nog accidentally land in 1947 Roswell, New Mexico), but mostly share this opinion that Ferengi episodes are nearly unwatchable.samrw3 wrote:ANY episode with Ferengi annoyed me . Just never found them interesting or compelling characters. My personal example [which I know many disagree with] is that Q was annoying but at least interesting character whereas Ferengi were just annoying - fingernail on chalkboard annoying to the point of being almost unwatchable annoying.Cord Hurn wrote:Star Trek: The Next Generation "Menage A Troi" (episode # 72)
Okay, I'm thinking to myself, this might be a little tedious for me to watch, being an episode with both Ferengi and Lwaxana Troi.
Having said that, this episode mostly just annoyed me.
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Cord Hurn
- Servant of the Band
- Posts: 7650
- Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 7:08 pm
- Location: Tucson, Arizona, USA
- Has thanked: 6 times
- Been thanked: 4 times
Star Trek: The Next Generation "Final Mission" (episode # 83)
This is the last episode I have to review from the twelve Star Trek VHS tapes that my younger sister gave me for Christmas. I saw this episode once before, some years after this series had finished its run, sometime in the late 1990s. I had forgotten the details of this one until I saw it again just today.
Ensign Wesley Crusher has been summoned by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and learns he's got a position in the academy. He also learns that Picard wants him to accompany him to the surface of planet Pentarus V, as he's meeting with Pentarus representatives over some mining negotiations. This plot setup somewhat annoys me, as I don't see clearly how Wesley is supposed to be an asset for such a mission.
Picard and Wesley go on a mining captain's shuttle ship, and Picard has Wesley handles Ops while he studies up on Regalian law (it's not clear to me who the Regalians are, but I assume they are important in coming up with effective mining policy--that's another strike against this episode, that this detail doesn't seem to be explained). Picard seems to have qualms about going on to the ship, but is reassured by Geordi LaForge it is space-worthy, though somewhat oddly put together in some ways. But after they are headed to Pentarus Five, control of the ship is in jeopardy when the port thruster module gets blown.
Picard, Wesley, and the shuttle captain (named Dirgo) survive a hard landing on the hot desert moon of Pentarus III, and Picard and Wesley find out there's not food or water supplies present on Dirgo's shuttle ship. Picard should have listened to his qualms about this transport ship, it seems.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise discovers than an abandoned garbage scow of a space ship is irradiating the atmosphere of a planet that's made a distress call. So, the Enterprise must help the planet by getting rid of the garbage scow, and on LaForge's advice Will Ryker tries to get thrusters attached to the scow so that the ship won't be exposed to harmful radiation levels. Somehow that doesn't work, and the ship risks some radiation exposure by moving the scow with a tractor beam. Soon, Ryker, Wesley's mom Dr. Crusher, and the rest of the Enterprise know that Picard and Wesley's shuttle hasn't arrived at Pentarus V. Nevertheless, they must continue to move the garbage scow ship by pulling it through an asteroid field until it's set on a trajectory to go into the sun of the Pentarus system. A good explanation for why Picard and Wesley will be stuck on the desert moon for awhile.
I like the continuity of the Enterprise using the drug hyronalin as protection against radiation poisoning from close proximity to the garbage scow ship they're towing. The continuity I'm talking about is due to Dr. McCoy once stating that hyronalin is standard treatment for radiation poisoning (in the original series' episode "The Deadly Years").
Picard, Wesley, and shuttle Captain Dirgo find a water fountain in a cave, but Dirgo phaser-firing at a force field surrounding the fountain alerts an alien energy force that disarms the phaser and starts a partial ceiling collapse that injures Picard. Dirgo later gets himself killed trying to again fire on the fountain's force field defenses.
So, Wesley is left alone to tend Picard. Picard admits he wanted Wesley along because he wasn't going to see him for awhile, and Wesley admits that it was always important for Picard to be proud of him. Wesley acts like he's going to leave Picard, but instead goes to the fountain to fire on its force field. He modulates the responding energy coming after him with his tricorder until it passes harmlessly through him and deactivates the force field. Wesley is able to get water for himself and Picard at last, and after they both get their thirst assuaged, Wesley falls asleep.
Wesley wakes up with his mother Dr. Beverly Crusher and a search party telling him they're being taken back to the Enterprise, as Picard is about to be moved via stretcher.
I was thinking that this episode was mediocre, but I do like the ending when Picard and Wesley show their appreciation for each other after the ordeal they've been through by Picard telling Wesley what a filthy uniform he's wearing and Wesley telling Picard he doesn't look so good himself. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it made me grin, and Patrick Stewart and Wil Wheaton perform convincingly to make me believe their characters are in trouble, but they seem to do it in an understated way.
And there's a feeling of "coming full circle" in this episode, as Picard was jokingly giving Wesley a hard time about being late to the bridge, but Wesley was more defensive at this treatment at episode's beginning. So this manages to get across the message that Picard and Wesley have solidified their bonds of mutual understanding and appreciation.
This episode is a good send-off for the Wesley Crusher character, with him coming through for a critically injured Picard, and having Picard tell him that he'll be missed at episode's end. I don't like this episode a lot, but I like it moderately. It's okay, but I would have liked more information about the alien intelligence that set up a guarding force field over that water fountain.
This ends my reviews of the Star Trek episodes I received as Christmas presents.
This is the last episode I have to review from the twelve Star Trek VHS tapes that my younger sister gave me for Christmas. I saw this episode once before, some years after this series had finished its run, sometime in the late 1990s. I had forgotten the details of this one until I saw it again just today.
Ensign Wesley Crusher has been summoned by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and learns he's got a position in the academy. He also learns that Picard wants him to accompany him to the surface of planet Pentarus V, as he's meeting with Pentarus representatives over some mining negotiations. This plot setup somewhat annoys me, as I don't see clearly how Wesley is supposed to be an asset for such a mission.
Picard and Wesley go on a mining captain's shuttle ship, and Picard has Wesley handles Ops while he studies up on Regalian law (it's not clear to me who the Regalians are, but I assume they are important in coming up with effective mining policy--that's another strike against this episode, that this detail doesn't seem to be explained). Picard seems to have qualms about going on to the ship, but is reassured by Geordi LaForge it is space-worthy, though somewhat oddly put together in some ways. But after they are headed to Pentarus Five, control of the ship is in jeopardy when the port thruster module gets blown.
Picard, Wesley, and the shuttle captain (named Dirgo) survive a hard landing on the hot desert moon of Pentarus III, and Picard and Wesley find out there's not food or water supplies present on Dirgo's shuttle ship. Picard should have listened to his qualms about this transport ship, it seems.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise discovers than an abandoned garbage scow of a space ship is irradiating the atmosphere of a planet that's made a distress call. So, the Enterprise must help the planet by getting rid of the garbage scow, and on LaForge's advice Will Ryker tries to get thrusters attached to the scow so that the ship won't be exposed to harmful radiation levels. Somehow that doesn't work, and the ship risks some radiation exposure by moving the scow with a tractor beam. Soon, Ryker, Wesley's mom Dr. Crusher, and the rest of the Enterprise know that Picard and Wesley's shuttle hasn't arrived at Pentarus V. Nevertheless, they must continue to move the garbage scow ship by pulling it through an asteroid field until it's set on a trajectory to go into the sun of the Pentarus system. A good explanation for why Picard and Wesley will be stuck on the desert moon for awhile.
I like the continuity of the Enterprise using the drug hyronalin as protection against radiation poisoning from close proximity to the garbage scow ship they're towing. The continuity I'm talking about is due to Dr. McCoy once stating that hyronalin is standard treatment for radiation poisoning (in the original series' episode "The Deadly Years").
Picard, Wesley, and shuttle Captain Dirgo find a water fountain in a cave, but Dirgo phaser-firing at a force field surrounding the fountain alerts an alien energy force that disarms the phaser and starts a partial ceiling collapse that injures Picard. Dirgo later gets himself killed trying to again fire on the fountain's force field defenses.
So, Wesley is left alone to tend Picard. Picard admits he wanted Wesley along because he wasn't going to see him for awhile, and Wesley admits that it was always important for Picard to be proud of him. Wesley acts like he's going to leave Picard, but instead goes to the fountain to fire on its force field. He modulates the responding energy coming after him with his tricorder until it passes harmlessly through him and deactivates the force field. Wesley is able to get water for himself and Picard at last, and after they both get their thirst assuaged, Wesley falls asleep.
Wesley wakes up with his mother Dr. Beverly Crusher and a search party telling him they're being taken back to the Enterprise, as Picard is about to be moved via stretcher.
I was thinking that this episode was mediocre, but I do like the ending when Picard and Wesley show their appreciation for each other after the ordeal they've been through by Picard telling Wesley what a filthy uniform he's wearing and Wesley telling Picard he doesn't look so good himself. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it made me grin, and Patrick Stewart and Wil Wheaton perform convincingly to make me believe their characters are in trouble, but they seem to do it in an understated way.
And there's a feeling of "coming full circle" in this episode, as Picard was jokingly giving Wesley a hard time about being late to the bridge, but Wesley was more defensive at this treatment at episode's beginning. So this manages to get across the message that Picard and Wesley have solidified their bonds of mutual understanding and appreciation.
This episode is a good send-off for the Wesley Crusher character, with him coming through for a critically injured Picard, and having Picard tell him that he'll be missed at episode's end. I don't like this episode a lot, but I like it moderately. It's okay, but I would have liked more information about the alien intelligence that set up a guarding force field over that water fountain.
This ends my reviews of the Star Trek episodes I received as Christmas presents.
