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thegreaterlink · 8 months

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Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S4E8 "Future Imperfect"

My last review was posted like... nine months ago.

Time flies when you're lazy.

THE PREMISE

Commander Riker’s birthday celebrations are interrupted by reports of strange sensor readings from Alpha Onias 3. He beams down with Geordi and Worf to investigate but they’re quickly knocked out by toxic gases. Upon awakening in sickbay, Riker discovers that sixteen years have passed (though he can't remember any of it) and he is now the captain of the Enterprise.

MY REVIEW

Sixteen years in the future. Assuming that Riker is roughly the same age as Jonathan Frakes, that would put him in his mid-fifties. And if we compare this "middle-aged" Riker to Jonathan Frakes circa mid-2000s...

Not bad. Still, anything beats that weird adult Wesley from Hide and Q.

Then again, if we use Riker's birthday slab as an indicator, then he just turned...

...six.

I guess he was born on a leap year.

Anyway, here we are in the future, where Dr Crusher chalks up Riker's sudden amnesia to a side effect of a dormant infection which he picked up on that away mission all those years ago. An infection which Klingons just so happen to be immune to... and I guess Geordi is just built different.

Dr Crusher recommends associational therapy, with the idea being that surrounding Riker with familiar people and things will help to jog his memory, starting with a trip to the bridge. Because a man fresh out of a coma with a massive gap in his memory is clearly fit to resume command of a starship. Good call.

Riker arrives on the bridge and finds it looking… exactly the same, since new sets ain’t cheap, but there are at least changes among the crew. My boi Data is now First officer, Geordi now has ocular implants so LeVar Burton gets to act without a hunk of plastic on his face, and more species like Klingons and Ferengi are among the crew.

But what concerns Riker is the most is Admiral Picard and Troi arriving on a Romulan Warbird.

That last one is explained by ongoing peace treaty negotiations with the Romulans, which Riker has apparently been leading ever since he rescued the crew of a damaged Warbird which wound up in Federation space. Evidently random acts of kindness go a long way towards stopping wars in this universe. The Enterprise is currently escorting the Romulan ambassador to Outpost 23 to wrap things up and get the treaty signed.

Yep. Here we are in the future, and it's bright. Nothing to fear, no one to fight... I can't believe we've come so far.

Then Tomalak beams aboard.

Future Picard and Troi try to reassure Riker – yeah, he did threaten to take the Enterprise's hull as a trophy last season, but that was one time – but he's still concerned, both by the massive gap in his memory and that he might have to reveal sensitive Starfleet intel to someone he probably can't trust.

With the briefing over and Riker’s memories still thoroughly gone, Troi takes him back to his quarters, where a mysterious child is playing his trombone.

"Hi, Dad!"

Ah. He has his father's... hair?

This is Riker's son, Jean-Luc (Chris Demetral). I remember being surprised that Troi wasn't the mother... but their romance is barely more than subtext at this point, so it's not that shocking. Jean-Luc's mother was actually a woman only known as Min, who Troi explains died two years prior. Even though they have zero evidence of her existing – aside from the child she supposedly birthed, I mean – and Riker can't find any trace of her in the ship's records. They don't even have any photos of her. I guess they had to make room for their... modern art?

I think I saw the Threads logo in there.

Christ, the last time I posted a review Threads didn't even exist it's been so fucking long

The computer's been acting up for a while now, come to think of it. I'm sure Geordi will be done with that diagnostic soon.

Still, I can at least appreciate the script's efforts to make us care about this kid. Riker adjusts pretty well to being a father, though that probably has more to do with Jonathan Frakes' natural daddy– I mean dad energy.

"I guess there's only one thing we can do. We've got to build some new memories!"

But Riker is still bothered that he can't find any trace of his late wife, though Jean-Luc says he's just not being precise enough, and pulls up some old home movies. It's here that we discover that "Min" is actually Minuet (again played by Carolyn McCormick for a single shot – that's dedication for you), that hologram lady he tried to bone way back in his babyface era.

Suddenly everything starts falling into place. And speaking of hologram romantics (or holosexuals, as I like to call them), Geordi calls Riker back up to the bridge.

It's here that the attempts to keep Riker gaslit, gatekept and girlbossed completely fall apart, as he calls out all sorts of holes in the facade, like Geordi taking more than a day to run a simple diagnostic, nobody being able to properly recall past events and even Data using a contraction.

Ha! I knew Lore was going to come back eventually! AND THEY CALLED ME A MADMAN!

...No? It's not Lore? Aight. Maybe next season.

"Would anyone else like to speak up? Or shall we end this charade?"

With the wool thoroughly pulled back from Riker's eyes, Tomalak reveals that the whole thing has actually been a hologram simulation designed to trick him into revealing Federation intel like, say, the location of Outpost 23.

You win this time, Lore.

Turns out that after the away team was hit with the gas, the Romulans intercepted Riker while he was being beamed up. They used their neural scanners to create a perfect replica of the Enterprise and its crew. Add a bit of ageing makeup and some bullshit about amnesia and badda bing badda bang, you’ve got yourself a pretty convincing future AU.

As for Tomalak’s OC, Jean-Luc, he was actually some random kid named Ethan who they had taken prisoner after raiding a research outpost on the edge of the Neutral Zone.

They throw Riker in a cell with him for a lil bit — just long enough for Ethan to tell him about a secret hiding spot elsewhere on the ship — so when the Romulans come back with the intention of taking the intel by force, Riker seizes the opportunity. One distraction and a few punches in the face later, and they’re on the run.

Ethan leads Riker through a convenient crawl space to a convenient forgotten room where some convenient blueprints conveniently tell them the location of the ship’s communication centre where they could send a message to the Enterprise. But there's a catch.

Ethan: The transmitter's on a voice-activated security system only.

Riker: Do you know whose voice activates it?

Ethan: Only Ambassador Tomalak.

...The fuck you say?

Yeah, the plot be thickening. Turns out the original simulation was just crammed inside of another one. So the Romulan ship fades away... as do the Romulans... and Tomalak... until Riker is left standing back in the cave on Alpha Onias 3... with only the boy remaining.

Credit where it's due, decent plot twist.

The boy, whose real name is Barash, reveals that his mother left him in the cave — which essentially functions as Holodeck+ by manifesting anything he wants — to keep him safe. But with his mother long dead and the Enterprise being the planet's first visitors in ages, he baited the away team down to the surface and intercepted Riker mid-transport while Geordi and Worf were safely beamed back up.

But with the game up, Barash drops the facade, allowing the Enterprise to finally get a proper lock on him. Fortunately Riker realises that the kid meant nothing by it and even offers him asylum on the Enterprise, prompting Barash to finally reveal his true form.

Ah... I think you've got the wrong set, my dude. This is Star Trek. Doctor Who is on Stage 4B.

Riker: To me, you'll always be Jean-Luc.

And so Riker has himself and the kid beamed up. Da end.

We're going to see a lot of these "waking up in a different reality" plots going forward, and while I'm usually not really a fan — you're mostly just waiting for the character in question to realise something ain't right and expose whatever tomfuckery is causing it — this one ain't half bad, since it was a bit more subtle about it and had some third act twists to spice things up. So yeah.

7/10 - The first of many.

We are so fucking back.

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#star trek #star trek the next generation #star trek tng #star trek review #star trek tng review #jean luc picard #will riker #romulans #star trek tng s4e8 #future imperfect #reviews #series review #episode review #season 4

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episodicnostalgia · 7 months

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Star Trek: The Next Generation, 111 (Jan. 9, 1988) - “The Big Goodbye”

Written by: Tracy Torme Directed by: Joseph L. Scanlan

The Breakdown

Picard is prepping for an especially stressful diplomatic mission wherein he is required to recite a specific speech in a complex alien language with a species that is deadly serious about grammar; Empasis on the word ‘deadly’. Noting his mounting anxiety, Beverly Crusher writes Picard a prescription for… a play date on the holodeck, and amazingly Picard takes the doctor’s orders to heart. In fact, Jean Luc has such a good time playing a noir private-eye thriller that he invites Beverly, Data, and the ship’s 20th century literary buff along with him (his name isn’t important, because we’ll never see him again). Unfortunately, this transpires at the same time that our Grammar-specific aliens arrive, pre-emptively scanning the ship, which accidentally locks the holodeck and takes the safety protocols offline in one fell swoop (which seems like a pretty substantial design flaw).

While Picard misses every single advance that Crusher makes towards Picard (and folks I gotta tell you, she’s REALLY not being subtle about it), the holo-adventure begins to take a turn for the worse as the program’s mobster-villains show up with fully lethal weapons, which they happily use on Picard’s history-nerd friend (who remarkably survives, but barely). Meanwhile the literal-grammar-nazi-aliens are getting impatient with Riker’s inability to produce Picard for their scheduled meeting (apparently explaining that a ship malfunction has Picard temporarily incapacitated isn’t a viable option). Thankfully the holodeck door eventually opens, and Picard is able to convince the mobsters to walk through first, causing them to disappear (since there are no holo-emitters in the corridor). And so Picard is free to deliver his nonsense speech to the grammar enthusiasts, and the day is saved.

The Verdict

Finally! A holodeck Episode!

‘The Big Goodbye’ gives us our first “just-for-fun” episode and it’s about goddamn time. Oh don’t misunderstand, the episode is exactly as ridiculous as what I’ve described above, but for the most part it’s intentional, and in this case it makes all the difference. I’ve always had a soft spot for holodeck stories, because it gives us a look into what the crew get up to when they aren’t spouting techno-babble, debating the prime directive, or dealing with transporter disasters.

Picard also gets to have some fun here, meaning this might be the first time he doesn’t come across as a total buzzkill. Aside from some clunky pacing and a slightly anticlimactic ending, this is a pretty fun episode. Superior holodeck adventures would follow, but this one had to walk so the others could run.

3 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

Based on what we've seen this season, it would seem that the holodeck is still a fairly new technology, especially considering how Picard marvels at what it can do.

Right off the bat, this episode clearly establishes that holodeck characters are/can become self aware, and are capable experiencing fear (and likely pain). This is just the first of many times that Star Trek will play at this across multiple shows. As fun as these episodes are, it’s always struck me that there should be a greater ethical consideration for Holo-people and their rights.

I have always wondered why the ability to remove safety protocols was ever an option, especially on a holodeck that’s accessible to both crew and civilians alike.

Picard has no business being so clueless about women. In fact when it comes to relationships and courtship the entire crew seems to possess the emotional intelligence of an average 14-year-old.

I gotta hand it to Patrick Stewart, even when he’s spewing absolute nonsense alien gibberish, he commits 100%.

I never mentioned the set design, but this episode also looks great. Really fun to see the noir aesthetic on Star Trek.

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ratleyland · 20 days

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First Contact Day was a few days ago... so it only seemed fitting for me to watch this classic sci-fi movie.

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meme-space-nine · 11 months

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TNG: Genesis

This episode is really dumb, but its also a well-done creepy outing for the TNG crew (well, really just Picard and Data). It was a good idea to break the traditional "steady crescendo of weird events" structure by cutting forward to Data and Picard returning to the ship in a horrible situation, something that only happens to other crews in pre-credit sequences in this show, and its very nice way to up the stakes.

Spot's pregnant! Make up your mind writers, is spot a boy or a girl? Worf starts eating a ton and Troi likes drinking water, and then Troi is really cold and starts turning up the heat. Riker gets really confused at everything about 10 minutes in and then Troi hops in a bath in full uniform???

Everyone gets a behavior quirk this episode, and Barclay's is "slightly weirder than normal". Worf spits on crusher with an effect normally reserved for a tractor beam, and then we cut forward in time.

Data and Picard return in their goofy little cube shuttle, finding that Troi is a frog and Riker is an Australopithecus. Data determines that "a synthetic T cell has activated latent introns, causing the crew to de-evolve". I really don't think that's how this works at all, and Star Trek definitely has an annoying habit of acting like evolution is a set path regardless of the environment as seen in The Chase, as well as Voyager's Threshold.

Data returns to his quarters to find that Spot has had her kittens and also turned into a lizard, determining that amniotic fluid or something in it protects from this technobabble cell. Worf has more prosthetics on than usual and starts beating down the medbay door to get to Troi while Data and Picard are messing around with some enzymes from Nurse Ogawa who is pregnant by the way. Everyone gets over it, and it turns out the whole thing was Crusher doing something wrong trying to cure Barclay's space flu.

Rating: 3/5 (fun)

#star trek tng #star trek data #star trek #star trek review

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anewstartrekfan · 1 year

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So thanks to redlettermedia I have something to look forward to in TNG besides the Gargoyles voice cast in live action.

Black construction paper on the bridge to cover up where the stage lights are reflecting.

#Star Trek #star trek the next generation #TNG #red letter media #I was listening to their Picard review when this came up and I was dying #technical goofs are a massive form of entertainment for me #idk how else to explain it #redlettermedia

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thedreadvampy · 9 months

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Got a paramount+ trial subscription. Just finished watching all of Strange New Worlds (review: solid star trek shenanigans, pretty much all bangers with the exception of the Spock-is-human episode which just suuuuuucked and the Klingon war trauma episode about which I have let's say Philosophical Reservations in that it could have been more Space M*A*S*H. not as gay as I was promised, in fact I would say disappointingly heterosexual. adore uhura, hemmer and la'an. cannot believe they gorned my boy 😢)

Off sick all week with COVID can't really do anything except lie around and watch TV.

#red said #an addendum to the snw review is like #bearing in mind I'm a big time ds9 guy #i really like every episode of this i think it's fun and delightful. however there are certain philosophical undercurrents I'm #at best kind of iffy on. wrt militarism.#there's points where it feels sort of like the message of the show is that it's naive and harmful to seek peace #or reconciliation #and i think that if i hold it up to tng or ds9 or even tos on that front that's a philosophy that doesn't match up with what i like in trek #like both ds9 and tng are very much about commanders doing extrajudicial war crimes but there's something about the framing #i guess like. it feels To Me like when sisko does a war crimes it weighs very heavily on him #whereas idk. it feels like the message of all the time shenanigans in snw keep coming round to You Should Feel Bad For Not Doing War Crimes #and particularly the arc with Pike staring down his fate concluding with 'you shouldn't try to change this'#compared to like. the foundation of Star Trek being 'in between two unacceptable solutions you have to look for a third way'#it sits a bit wrong for me. like. maybe they're planning more on that but it feels like they've concluded that arc with #'guess i have to let people die to prevent a future where i try to make peace then fuck it up'#like the message of season 1 is You Can't Change Your Fate which is. a weirdly doomery one.#don't get me wrong I've really been enjoying snw i think it's probably the most flat out Good Star Trek since DS9 #buuuuuuuut. i have Reservations. as i always do.#also callout post for my pal saying this is the gayest star trek. there's no fucking gays here and the nonbinary character is a 1-ep villain #i mean ortega is for sure a dyke but not explicitly #2 seconds of Andrew Robinson and Alexander Siddig sharing the screen in DS9 is gayer than this whole season and a half of SNW #literally are ANY of this cast canon queer? feel like there's a couple of lines of throwaway bisexuality but be real #we had that in the 90s #it's not toppling DS9 for gay rep any time soon and DS9 was made in the era where you weren't ALLOWED to be gay on star trek #(unless you were evil or a worm)

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star-trek-pop-quiz · 7 months

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Star Trek POP-QUIZ #1

( 07/10/2023 )

Question 1. What year is first contact?

a. 2063

b. 2051

c. 2082

d. 2111

bonus question: What date is first contact?

Question 2.

What does "Taluhk nash-veh k'dular" mean?

a. I cherish thee b. I love thee

c. Thou art valuable

d. I bless thee bonus question: Which species' language is this? Question 3. Which member of the NX-01 Enterprise was massacred on Tarsus IV? a. Charles Tucker III

b. Travis Mayweather

c. Hoshi Sato

d. Jonathon Archer

Question 4.

Where was *Person from Question 3* layed to rest?

a. Tarsus IV

b. Kyoto

c. Space

d. San Francisco Question 5. Which Captain of the Enterprise later went on to become Federation President?

a. Picard

b. Pike

c. Kirk

d. Archer bonus question: How long are they federation president? Score: __/5 + 3 bonus points ( answers under the cut )

Question 1. a. 2063 + The date of first contact is April 5th, 2063. Question 2. a. I cherish thee. + This is a vulcan phrase. Question 3. c. Hoshi Sato Question 4. b. Kyoto Question 5. d. Captain Archer + Served for 8 years, between 2184-2192 How do you stack up against some of my friends? Non-Trekkie: 3/5 Hobgoblin ( semi-trekkie ): 3/5 + 1 bonus Trekkie: 2/5

#star trek #star trek enterprise #vulcan #star trek tos #star trek tng #pop quiz #pop culture #trivia #quizzes #This got a glowing review from my Hobgoblin Pwife: 10/10 stars #So you should probably take the quiz too :>

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startrekucast · 1 year

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Picard 3x10 - "The Last Generation" Review

End of the line, maman. Bring out the tissues and ready the poker chips. All good things have come to an end, maman.

This episode, we're reviewing Star Trek: Picard 3x10, "The Last Generation" -- and it's a doozy. Write us all the feedback, maman. We'll hit it up next episode!

Join Us: Site: http://startrekucast.com Apple: http://bit.ly/StuCast Spotify: http://bit.ly/StarTrekUCast Stitcher: http://bit.ly/StuCast1 Spreaker: http://bit.ly/StuCastSpreaker

#star trek picard #star trek #picard #season 3 #the next generation #tng #the last generation #review #star trek reviews #star trek review #star trek podcast #star trek podcasts #star trek legacy #legacy #Spotify

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tailsrevane · 1 year

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[tv review] tng 7x24 "preemptive strike" (1994)

after its final season spent an awful lot of time flailing around not really knowing what to do with itself, tng does a sudden about-face to end on two (or three if you count “all good things…” as two episodes) of the best episodes of the series, leaving you feeling like they actually could’ve kept this thing going for another few years.

there are just so many things to love about this episode. a beloved character gets brought back to be given a proper sendoff in a way that makes it genuinely bewildering that they bungled wesley’s so badly a few episodes ago? the action scenes were unrivaled until the dominion war really got into gear. and the character writing is just next level.

the scene where ro makes her final decision to join the maquis and turns on commander riker is just so fucking perfect. her going out of her way to make sure he’s safe, and him sounding genuinely tender when she asks him to tell captain picard she’s sorry is one of those resoundingly awesome moments that easily could’ve been either rushed past or overblown in a worse show (or a worse episode of this show). instead, we get this stirringly perfect moment that never fails to make me tear up.

i’ve said before, and i’ll probably say again, that i’m kind of sad we didn’t get ro as a main character on deep space nine since that was apparently originally the plan for her character, but we got one of the absolute best episodes of any star trek series out of the wreckage of that plan, so it’s kind of hard to complain.

s-rank

#star trek #star trek: the next generation #star trek tng #tng #tv review #tv #reviews

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sir-elyan · 1 year

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if anyone wants to see my real time reviews of every show or movie i watch here's my letterboxd & here's my serializd. (: have fun rn i'm watching tng, rewatching merlin, and my goal this year is to watch a movie at least once a week and go see one in theatres once a month if possible. finally, i post about them all on here anyways so its like tumblr 2.0 over there ((: could b cool

#🪴#oh and usually i write my reviews while im stoned so thats always fun #rambles #tng #star trek #bbc merlin #bc whyyy not

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thegreaterlink · 2 years

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Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S3E24 "The Best of Both Worlds - Part 1"

Ah, we've finally reached the end of season 3. Only took me...

Christ, that hiatus did not help. Anyway, we're here now!

And yes, I'm splitting this across two reviews, cuz this is always listed as two separate episodes, plus the second part is the first episode of season 4. Even if there are versions of this which just stitch the two parts into a single feature-length episode.

THE PREMISE

The Enterprise receives a distress call from a Federation colony and arrives to discover that it has been completely removed from the landscape. They suspect that the Borg may be responsible. Despite knowing about their approach for over a year now, Starfleet is still unprepared for a potential invasion. Admiral Hanson (George Murdock) arrives with Borg expert Lieutenant Commander Shelby (Elizabeth Dennehy, though how she can be an expert on the Borg when only one crew has encountered them and lived to tell the tale) to lead the investigation.

Meanwhile, Riker has once again been offered command of the USS Melbourne, and Admiral Hanson suggests that this time he take it. Knowing this, Shelby attempts to persuade Riker to accept the command so that she can replace him as the Enterprise's first officer.

MY REVIEW

In hindsight, it's a bit weird that an episode based around the Borg is technically a Riker episode. Fortunately the conflict between Riker and Shelby is entertaining, with Shelby reminding him of the kind of career-driven mindset he'd once had.

The tension between them only increases when she takes Data down for an investigation without notifying him and confirming that the Borg were responsible.

“Data was available. I took him, we came.”

Riker discusses this with both Picard - who advises that he reconsider his decision - and Troi. Riker notes that he's sacrificed a lot to get to this position - possibly even implying that he ended his romance with Troi, though it wasn't getting much focus anyway - and yet he continues to hesitate. Troi tries to reassure him that this just means he's more mature and comfortable with himself, but he's not entirely convinced.

Meanwhile, having received report of another starship encountering a familiar cube-shaped vessel before going missing, the crew is working around the clock trying to prepare for their encounter with the Borg, pushing themselves to their limit even though they have no idea if they'll even stand a chance. There's a sense of grim reality to the situation as Geordi informs Picard that it's really the best they can do.

Soon they reach their destination. Even with almost a whole season having gone by since their last encounter (hell, for all we know this could be the same cube), they still feel unprepared.

"Mr Worf, dispatch a subspace message to Admiral Hanson. We have engaged the Borg."

Strangely enough, the Borg seem exclusively interested in Picard this time around, possibly even implying that they'll leave the Enterprise be if he surrenders himself. Though this is the Borg we're talking about, so that's very unlikely.

Picard obviously refuses, and we get our first proper skirmish against the Borg... which ends with the Enterprise failing to do any damage and Geordi being forced to evacuate the Engineering section.

I know this GIF is tiny, but I put a lot of fucking effort into finding it, so it's going in, damn it.

The Borg traps them in a tractor beam, but the Enterprise is of course able to break free and flee into a nearby nebula, where they can hide from the Reliant- I mean the Borg without being followed.

Have I mentioned that this episode does a great job at constantly escalating the stakes?

Speaking of which, Riker, Shelby and the engineering team realise that a concentrated phaser beam temporarily disrupted the Borg's systems. Geordi and Wesley propose that they fire the beam from the main deflector dish (which is currently the closest we've gotten to them bouncing a graviton particle beam off it), but Riker and Shelby clash over whether to separate the ship's saucer section, with Shelby so infuriated over Riker's stubbornness that she takes the plan to Picard, who tells them that her plan should be kept as a failsafe.

To be honest, I almost get the sense that Riker is disagreeing with Shelby purely out of spite, which I believe was the intention.

The two of them step into a turbolift, where tensions between them finally boil over.

Riker: You disagree with me, fine. You need to take it to the captain, fine; through me. You do an end run around me again, I'll snap you back so hard you'll think you're a first-year cadet again.

Shelby: May I speak frankly, Commander?

Riker: By all means.

Shelby: You're in my way.

Riker: Really? How terrible for you.

It's just occurred to me that is probably the most personality that we've ever seen Riker have. It's great.

One great scene is followed by another, with Picard visiting Ten Forward to talk with Guinan, being less than confident about their chances. Once again we get to see behind that stoic façade, the side he can't afford to show to the crew.

"I wonder if the Emperor Honorious, watching the Visigoths coming over the seventh hill, could truly realize that the Roman Empire was about to fall. This is just another page in history, isn't it? Will this be the end of our civilization? Turn the page."

Still, she assures him that no matter what happens, humanity will survive as her people did.

Suddenly there's an explosion, and Worf calls Picard to the bridge.

Turns out that the Borg have found a way to fire upon them, and the Enterprise books it from the nebula. Once again, the Borg hits them with a tractor beam, this time beaming drones on board. Though Worf disables the first one, he and Riker are incapacitated by a second drone beams aboard and kidnaps Picard.

That's right. The Best of Both Worlds ain't fucking around.

The Enterprise gives chase, unable to beam Picard back due to interference. It gets even worse when Worf reports that the Borg's current course has them en route to Sector 001 - AKA EARTH.

Over on the Borg cube, the collective informs Picard that he's been chosen to be a liaison between them and humanity and expedite humanity's assimilation.

I believe this is the first time the concept of assimilation is ever discussed. And speaking of firsts...

"I have nothing to say to you! And I will resist you with every ounce of my strength!"

"Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile."

The crew prepares to board the cube, with Riker remaining on the bridge while Shelby leads the away team - consisting of Worf, Data and Dr Crusher - armed with newly retuned phasers.

In the meantime, Riker informs Hanson of the current situation. The admiral tells them that he's gathering his fleet at Wolf 359 to make a stand against the Borg. And any fan of Deep Space Nine will know exactly how well that goes.

The away team heads over, with the Borg ignoring what they don't perceive to be a threat. They find Picard's uniform and combadge (which his signal had been coming from) but no sign of the captain himself. They destroy several distribution nodes and make the cube drop out of warp while Riker prepares to use the beam.

The away team disables several Borg before they adapt to the phaser frequencies, and finally find the captain.

Well, shit.

The away team is unable to recover him, and they're forced to beam back so that they can use the weapon, since it'll be useless if the Borg regains their warp drive. Shelby suggests that they try to sabotage the cube again or consult with Admiral Hanson, but Riker refuses both options - they're simply out of time.

Suddenly the Borg hails the ship.

youtube

Look, as great as this cliffhanger is, I can’t help but feel like this could’ve been even more impactful if this was the first time we'd seen Picard in his assimilated form. Still, it's one hell of a way to end a season.

Fans back then had to wait four months for a resolution to this, while y'all had to wait four months for me to finish reviewing this goddamn season. It's sort of like poetry, it rhymes.

8/10 - A classic which deserves its reputation as one of the series' most popular episodes. But this is only half of the story.

This is by far the most effort I've ever put into a single joke. I spent ages searching for the exact font (it’s called Ad Lib, BTW) just for a silly little review. And it was worth it.

But yeah, first imma do the season overview. That's going up tomorrow.

Previous Episode | TNG Masterpost | Season 3 Overview | Next Episode

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episodicnostalgia · 4 months

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Star Trek: The Next Generation, 120 (Apr. 11, 1988) - “The Arsenal of Freedom”

Teleplay by: Richard Manning & Hans Beimler Story by: Maurice Hurley & Robert Lewin Directed by: Les Landau

The Breakdown

The USS Drake has gone missing after being sent to investigate a planet (Minos) whose entire population has ALSO gone missing; so naturally the Enterprise has been sent to figure out why there are so many missing people connected to one planet. On a probably-unrelated-note, it turns out the Minosians were arms dealers who sold super advanced weaponry, but I’m sure that won’t be relevant to the following 45 minutes. Anyways, the Enterprise arrives at Minos to find zero signs of life, except for a hailing frequency originating on the planet’s surface. Obviously Picard accepts the call, but it just turns out to be one of those un-skippable YouTube advertisements for a highly advanced weapons system, and Picard is like “That was weird. We should send some people to the surface to check that out.”

For what must be a first for this ENTIRE crew, Tasha makes a rational security decision in convincing Riker to keep the away team as small as possible, in the interest of general ship safety (since there is absolutely no sign of the missing Drake, which I honestly think is a MUCH bigger red flag than Picard is making it out to be). Riker agrees (taking only himself, Tasha, and Data), but gets himself caught in a statis field almost immediately, so Picard throws caution to the wind and beams himself AND Dr. Crusher down to help out… somehow. Although, credit where credit is due, Picard does have the foresight to leave Geordi in charge of the Enterprise with orders to abandon him and the away team if it means protecting the ship.

Naturally all this leads to a double-jeopardy situation. Down below, the away team keeps getting attacked by little killer drones that regenerate-and-adapt every time one gets shot down; meanwhile separate drone starts attacking the Enterprise, slowly picking away at the shields (oh, and it can cloak, making it tough to kill). Geordi finally figures out a way to outsmart his mechanical nemesis by using the displacement of Minos’ upper atmosphere to reveal the drone’s location. At the same time Picard conveniently falls into a pit that happens to contain a control panel that activates the holographic salesman (from the aforementioned automated message) who prompts him to finalize the purchase of their killer drones, in order to “end the demonstration”; thus completing what has apparently been a VERY high-stakes sales pitch.

At this point it’s been concluded that the Minosians accidentally created a killing machine that was so effective it accidentally murdered their entire species, in addition to anyone who came poking around. Since the Enterprise is now safe, and the mystery of the Drake’s disappearance is solved (in that the crew are confirmed to have met a nightmarish end), we can chalk this up to another happy ending!

The Verdict

There’s something to be said for a straightforward adventure story, and ‘arsenal of freedom’ successfully delivers on that front. I can’t say there’s enough going on here for me to classify this episode as one of “the greats,” but it makes good use what it does have.

The highlight of this episode has to be Geordi’s command of the Enterprise. It’s nice to see some genuine progression for a character that I’ve often felt gets overlooked, made all the better by the fact that I found his solution to the drone battle refreshingly plausible! Usually when Star Trek is dealing with cloaked adversaries, it gets resolved with some kind of tachyon-scanner-upgrade-techno babble. That’s all well-and-good AS LONG the writers also take care not to abuse such genre-conventions (which is another matter entirely), but I still tend to prefer solutions that adhere to the laws of physics. As for Geordi’s time in command, I also appreciate how this episode builds on his previous experiences, in throwing him a greater challenge to overcome.

The away team’s adventure definitely makes up the weaker half of the episode, but even that is at least cheesily entertaining, avoiding any glaringly cringy moments. My main criticism would be over how convenient Picard’s discovery of the control panel was, allowing him to call off the drones; but this is far from the most egregious deus ex machina on a Star Trek show, and it certainly won’t be the last.

But yeah, fun stuff.

3 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

I’ve gotta say, the skies of Minos are a beautiful shade of bluescreen- I mean blue.

TNG always suffered from a “women character problem”, in that the writers seldom knew what to do with them, so I was pleasantly surprised with this episode. It’s not so much that writers did anything groundbreaking with the ladies here, but this has been their best overall use of them up to this point, by my reckoning. Tasha is shown to be competent and reliable, Crusher is able to keep her wits about her after she’s injured (even getting some added backstory), and even Deanna’s council to Goerdi isn’t half bad (which is really saying something for these early episodes). The show still has a tremendous amount of work left to do in this regard, but it’s at least a tiny step in the right direction.

BATTLE BRIDGE: This is only the second time we’ve been shown the Enterprise’s saucer section separating from the rest of the ship. It’s a pretty cool feature that will be seldom used, but it’s an effective way to sell the raised stakes of a given situation, and thoughtfully applied here.

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danktrektho · 2 years

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I just finished reading pocket books star trek TNG #1 The Ghost Ship and let me tell you it was amazing! It had so many daforge and troiker moments, character growth, philosophical quandaries, action, cool science fiction stuff, and the characterization was really on point. I expected it to just be a popcorn book but it was stellar. Warning though it does talk about the ethics surrounding euthenasia, I know that can be a tricky topic for some people.

In the book I especially love the portrayal of data as having emotions that he is too (autistic) aloof to recognize. He works just as I always imagined he does. The characters feel real, and their struggle to grow closer together is remeniscant of ds9's first episode, which makes sense because it's set right after encounter at far point.

I fully recommend this book 😃

#star trek #star trek tng #tng #data soong #geordi la forge #deanna troi #william riker #jean luc picard #daforge #troiker #riker x troi #book review #bookblr #trek books #ghost ship

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meme-space-nine · 11 months

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TNG: All Good Things...

I have just one single thing to say. This. Was. Awesome. In the original sense of the word, awesome meant extraordinary, or inspiring awe, before it was watered down to become a synonym for moderately interesting. This is the way I use it now. There is a reason this episode is used in actual film classes as an instruction in how to write series finales.

This episode takes advantage of an ability unique to science fiction: the ability to screw around with time in order to give a conclusive finale without resorting to unnecessary shifts in the status quo a la Enterprise's These Are The Voyages #TripsNotDead. The character of Q is at his pinnacle when he has some perspective to impart on the viewer and Picard as in Encounter at Farpoint, Q-Who and Tapestry, as opposed to just screwing around with the crew for no reason as in Hide and Q and Qpid. The way the past and future segments of the episode explore how relationships develop is beautiful, and serves as a fitting resolution to the arcs of every character as they ensure that they stay together as friends and avoid the dark future of regrets and wigs. Yar is back too, that's always nice.

#star trek tng #all good things #star trek picard #star trek data #star trek worf #star trek riker #star trek deanna troi #star trek beverly crusher #i fucking love this episode though please watch it #star trek review

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booksandwords · 11 months

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The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

Read time: 🎧 1:02 hours 🎧 Rating: 5/5

The quote: My wife, my colleagues, my students, my books, my observatory, my. . . my world. . . where are they? Did they ever exist? Am I Richard Pierson? What day is it? Do days exist without calendars? Does time pass when there are no human hands left to wind the clocks? — Professor Pierson

I grew up listening to Jeff Wayne's musical version of the War of the Worlds, which I recommend btw. So I was well aware of the story. Even though I've never seen a film. But this is how I think War of the World should be enjoyed. I know Wells wrote the short story in 1987 but to me, it is Orson Welles' 1938 production is what made it infamous. This particular version is War of the Wards as read by the cast of Star Trek. It was performed and recorded for Halloween by the L.A. Theatre Works in 2009. how I wish I'd been there when they recorded it.

Some random comments and a couple of quotes.

Gates McFadden is fantastic as the reporter Carla Phillips she has the voice for it. Her tone is perfection.

Leonard Nimoy is the astronomer Professor Pierson. His initial sense of scepticism comes through brilliantly, it must for a pure scientist. The transition he goes through is so effective as times get dark, as the new reality sets in.

Armin Shimerman as an announcer is a joy, his voice is iconic. But he will always Quark to me.

Brent Spiner does crazy well as the Stranger.

While I point out these specific actors, they are great and well suited to their roles. Everyone presents the right amount of urgency or sadness or near desperation.

Later when their bodies were examined in the laboratories, it was found that they were killed by the putrefactive and disease bacteria against which their systems were unprepared. . . slain, after all man’s defenses had failed, by the humblest thing that God in His wisdom put upon this earth. — Professor Pierson

Dim and wonderful is the vision I have conjured up in my mind of life spreading slowly from this little seed bed of the solar system throughout the inanimate vastness of sidereal space. But that is a remote dream. — Professor Pierson

It was all John de Lancie's idea. Because of course, it was.

The interview afterwards is well worth listening to. The one I heard came with Gates McFadden whom I didn't know prefers to stage act rather than film act. It's that feedback the interplay between performer and audience. There is a discussion of how she about changing how role from the male original to the female.

On the LATW listing for the title there is an interview with Leonard Nimoy. Here you can also get the audiobook for free on Spotify.

Wellesnet has a copy of the original 1938 script. Because it's essentially what they are recording rather than H.G. Wells original work. Freedom Forum has a version of the orginal 1988 broadcast on their YouTube channel.

The cast

John de Lancie as Show Host

Meagen Fay as Bag Lady/Others

Jerry Hardin as Wilmuth/Others

Gates McFadden as Phillips/Others

Leonard Nimoy as Pierson/Others

Dwight Schultz as Announcer/Others

Armin Shimerman as Announcer/Others

Brent Spiner as Stranger/Others

Tom Virtue as Captain/Others

Wil Wheaton as Commander/Others

#war of the worlds #star trek tng #la theatre works #book review #audiobook #read 2022 #h.g. wells #howard koch #star trek the next generation #spotify #booklr

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peppermintschnapps · 2 years

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mike's little speech at the end of the picard re:view where he talks about stand by me & "seeing the body" of star trek has really got me kinda fucked up. i know exactly how he feels tbh but it's so soul-achingly sad hearing that come from mike

#can't really properly verbalise why it's such a sad thing for me #like mike's love & passion for star trek has always been so... comforting?#redlettermedia as we know it started because of his tng film reviews #redlettermedia #trek #:(

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