Amph To Boldly Trek Where Many Geeks Have Gone Before- VOY: Drive, Repression & Imperfection

On another note- I'm reading here that the events of Part I were actually written because Stewart was in contract negoiations and may not have returned for the 4th season- thus setting up Riker to replace him and introducing Shelby as an XO.

So, had this possible future played out- do you think TNG could have survived with Riker as captain?

 

402: Family:
-Premise: Captain Picard takes leave on Earth and visits his family while recovering from his assimilation into the Borg. Worf's human parents visit the Enterprise and help him deal with his discommendation.

-T2Q Comments: Neat to actually see the ship is in station being repaired from the Borg attack- usually when they say the ship is being refitted or repaired, all of that happens between episodes via Magic Reset v2.4. "Interesting" also to see Picard dealing with the aftermath of his assimilation- though we know he'll never fully be free of the nightmares, as per First Contact.

Continuation of Worf's honor situation here. Worf's got jewish parents it seems- at least, his father plays a rabbi on B5...

"arr-o-gant son of-"

Nice to have an episode where the characters get to be human. I think this episode starts to see a turning point in Picard's view on family and children- from being so against it at show's start, to where he ends up so regretful in Generations- never realized that his assimilation was partially the catalyst for that change, very interesting.

"This is going to be with you a long time, Jean-Luc- a long time."

Very, very good character episode. Being the epilogue to BOBW as well as mildly setting up Picard's continued Borg issues down the road and Worf's honor issue, so I'm going to say Definutely Essential.

Fun tidbit: this is the only episode of TNG in which Data does not appear at all



403: Brothers:
-Premise: Data jeopardizes an emergency mission to save an ill child on Enterprise when he gets a signal from his creator.

-T2Q Comments: This week on "Being Sent to Riker's Principal's Office"...Saucer separation attempt #6, though it is aborted- neat tactic if it had worked, though.

Data plotline interesting- little sick boy and his brother issues? Not so much.

A little odd that Data would need to ask computer for the shortest route to the transporter room- you'd think something like that he'd have memorized. Spiner as Soong- though the old age makeup makes him look more like an alien than an old human. Return of Lore- it's the Spiner Triple Feature.

Data and Lore's homing device might explain the ability to find B4 in Nemesis- though they say otherwise in the movie.

Introduction of the emotion chip. Overall a setup for future Lore appearances and Generations, with a completely unneeded subplot with that kid (wish they'd just have cut that all out). Definitely Essential



404: Suddenly Human:
-Premise: The Enterprise crew discovers a young Human boy being raised by the aliens who killed his parents.

T2Q Comments: What kind of military training involves whine-humming like a baby? A fearsome one, of course!

Damnit, stop that noise! It was stupid and annoying the first time and it's REALLY stupid and annoying the second time!

Seems a stretch to involve Picard in this ordeal- whose to say the boy wouldn't respond to another ranking male officer? Funny that these aliens look closer to klingons than the klingons on TOS, even if it's more of a bulging head tumor than head ridge...

This TRON racketball game is kinda fun looking, actually...

Pretty decent episode- low key but in a good way- it would be nice if this had any kind of future ramifications, like with the Admiral grandmother- couldn't set up visiting rights? Well acted, but, since I'm not inclined to rewatch this one, I'm going to say "Average".


Up next: 405: Remember Me, 406: Legacy and 407: Reunion.

 

404: Suddenly Human:
-Premise: The Enterprise crew discovers a young Human boy being raised by the aliens who killed his parents.

-T2Q Comments: What kind of military training involves whine-humming like a baby? A fearsome one, of course! Damnit, stop that noise! It was stupid and annoying the first time and it's REALLY stupid and annoying the second time!

Seems a stretch to involve Picard in this ordeal- whose to say the boy wouldn't respond to another ranking male officer? Funny that thes aliens look closer to klingons than the klingons on TOS, even if it's more of a bulging head tumor than head ridge...

This TRON racketball game is kinda fun looking, actually...

Pretty decent episode- low key but in a good way, it would be nice if this had any kind of future ramifications, like with the Admiral grandmother- couldn't set up visiting rights? Well acted, but, since I'm not inclined to rewatch this one, I'm going to say "Average".



405: Remember Me:
-Premise: Following an anomaly in a warp bubble experiment in engineering, Dr. Crusher finds that crewmembers of the Enterprise are beginning to disappear, and she is the only one who seems to notice.

-T2Q Comments: Another starbase spacedock; woo! Just as a small detail, Wesley's frantic rushing to finish his stuff kinda adds something, as does Geordi's impatience.

I think I've a guess as to why things are as they are..cool "ZUEL!" moment. Ah, I might be wrong- looks like this'll tie into the Traveler plotline.

I like so far how at first you think the obvious problem early on is that Crusher has vanished, but then fool you into thinking otherwise and that perhaps only the Engineering trio were affected...only for what you originally thought to be the case to actually be what happened.

"aha, gotcha on that" . The Traveler always weirds me out because he's so John Malkovich yet not. "That information is not available" "I'm not talking to you" no, she;s talking to the viewers, really.

I love how Crusher is so calm as she asks if she should be thanking the Traveler- while her son is doubled over atop the console as if he just drank 3 cases of beer- I'm half expecting a "Yeah, I'm fine mom, thanks for asking and screw you too".

They don't really resolve the Traveler/Wesley thing here at all (sadly, they won't until Season 7). Who'd win in a fight? Q or the Traveler?

Due to the continuation (though no resolution) of the Traveler plotline, I;m going to say this one is Definitely Essential, also a surprisngly good Beverly episode.

Trivia: this story was originally going to be part of "Family" because the powers that be didn't want an episode without a science fiction plotline- thankfully due to a lack of time they had to make it a separate episode and Family could be the great episode it became- not every episode needs to have a sci-fi element. Also, shortly after performing the stunt where she is thrown from Data's chair, Gates McFadden learned she was pregnant.

Final way to sum up the episode? "I reject your reality, and substitute my own."


406: Legacy:
-Premise: The survivors from a doomed freighter crash-land on Turkana IV, Tasha Yar's homeworld, and are taken hostage by a dissident faction. When the Enterprise moves to intervene, they are joined by Tasha's sister Ishara.

T2Q Comments: Poker game #4- "it will cost you 20 to make that determination, sir".

Birthplace of Tasha Yar, interesting- I will make the prediction that the phrase "rape gangs" will emerge at least once in this episode. Turkana...as in the Battle of Turkana in X-Wing?.

"Rape gangs!" bingo! give Mr. Worf a cigar!

Tasha's sister, also kinda has that Sarah Connor thing going for her. Rikers dwelling on losing Tasha during an away mission under his command and not wanting to lose her sister the same way a nice touch. Hello catsuit.

Alas, the semi-obvious betrayal..overall a good episode, and a nice continuation of the lingering Tasha subplot which, while perhaps not as direct, is still Definitely Essential. Season 4 is rocki

 

I forgot to post the update to the Alternate Universe Log:

-TOS: The Alternative Factor (Anti-Matter Universe)
-TOS: Mirror, Mirror (Mirror Universe)
-TOS: The Tholian Web (Mirror Universe & "Solo-Kirk" Universe)
-TNG: We'll Always Have Paris (Simultaneous Continuum universes, "Manheim Dimension")
-TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise (Federation-Klingon War universe)
-TNG: Remember Me (Beverly Crusher-created Warp Bubble Reality)

 

407: Reunion:
-Premise: Captain Picard is selected to arbitrate the selection of a new Chancellor for the Klingon Empire and, in doing so, find out who dishonorably murdered the old Chancellor. Also involved is Ambassador K'Ehleyr, who has a surprise for Worf: their son.

-T2Q Comments: First new Klingon ship class for the series. Worf's girl is back, too. Looks like Worfs made himself a baby daddy- introduction of Alexander here. "If I had asked, you would have said no"- return of Chancellor K'mpec from Sins of the Father, as well as Duras (who tried to pin the blame on Worf's father).

Gotta admit seeing a Klingon cruiser flanked by two Birds of Prey facing a single Federation ship will never come across as a good thing (but when all four are facing a Romulan ship.. ).

"There is no delay, it is the time I have chosen.". Great googaly Gowron mooglay! Gowren's got some bulging baby blues there. Romulan connection. Do not remember Worf's girl dying, but I do recall her not being around much, guess this is why, ha. The fight makes the bat'leth look more useful than it initially does.

Definitely Essential- continues the Worf dishonor plotline, as well as his son's introduction.


408: Future Imperfect:
-Premise: After an away mission to Alpha Onias III interrupts Commander Riker's birthday party, the First Officer suddenly awakens in sick-bay sixteen years in the future where he is the captain of the Enterprise and about to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romulan Star Empire.

-T2Q Comments: "Mr Data- we must hurry or will miss Commander Riker's party."- just the way he says it, I want to see that used as the dramatic teaser for an episode!

Possible/alteranate future here it seems. Doing the math, Riker's been in command for 9 years from 16 in the future, which means he gets 7 years in the future- obviously, an alternate future (I guess there's also the small matter of the D being destroyed in Generations too, and the uniforms, but I won't let the obvious get in the way of a good timeline problem! but I guess my math is off here, as memory alpha states that the setting of this fake future would be 4 years after Nemesis, though both align slightly as the fake future says an event 4 years ago led to Romulan talks with Riker- different events but same timeframe).

Geordi with cloned implant eyes- wasn't he supposed to have been incompatible with something like that? Picard in charge of a Romulan warbird? Another "we need this one person to finish this treaty" plotpoint- is that ever really the case?

"hi dad" well, on the brightside, Will, you got to skip over the hard part, after a fashion. a

Just thinking- 16 years, from an episode aired in 1990- this is what the characters supposedly would have been 2-3 years ago in real life.

Romulan G'Kar returns! Crusher sure makes an easily recoverable injury sound much worse. Jean-Luc Riker is way too upbeat in a gee-whiz way, he's more like Wesley's spawn.

Going by the home videos, apparently even in the 24th century, Clowns are terrifying.

A shame Romulan G'Kar isn't real. The kid turning into a silly insect/roswell grey is a bit of a snicker-inducing WTH? ending moment.

Though one of the Titan books would follow up aspects of this fake future, as well as Tomalak, who'll appear in the final episode of the series. This one's only semi-important, since it's not the real Tomalak. The ending lets it down, really. I'm going to say "Potentially Essential, But Not Necessarily Good"


409: Final Mission:
-Premise: On his way to Starfleet Academy, Wesley Crusher must care for an injured Captain Picard after their shuttle crashes on a desert moon.

T2Q Comments: So, are we really getting rid of Wesley this time, or is it another fake-out? Yikes that's a fugly-bad alien design- someone get her a damn tissue!

Neat little up-shot of the D arriving. Jean-Luc of Arabia? When you knock someone out of the way from falling debris- usually not a good idea to stand there and look up, waiting for it to fall on you.

Wesley

 

410: The Loss:
-Premise: Deanna loses her empathic powers; the Enterprise is slowly pulled off course by an unknown force existing in two-dimensional form.

-T2Q Comments: When they initially try to break free, they're using impulse engines only- so why is the warp core going nuts when they cut to Geordi?

I'm finding the Deanna plotline a tad dry, but the 2D creatures are an interesting concept to approach- curious to see where they can go with it here. And Deanna's plotline becomes more Lifetime movie of the week as we progress.

"Cosmic string"? trying to one-up a black hole, I suppose. I like how Picard is seemingly both relieved at no having to destroy the 2D creatures but dismayed at the failure as well. Nice to see the deflector dish used in a direct and somewhat intended manner.

I wonder if there are crew quarters in the D's neck behind those windows- it must REALLY suck to have a place right above the torpedo launcher, like living next to the train tracks.

Not rally bad, just very soapy set against an ok threat. Not inclinded to rewatch this one, though. Average.

They apparently considered making Troi's loss of her powers permanent...I wish they had, it would have been a better development for the character.


411: Data's Day:
-Premise: Data records a day in his life for Commander Bruce Maddox, including observations on Chief O'Brien's wedding, and the mystery of a Vulcan ambassador.

-T2Q Comments: Data's log entries here are being sent to Maddox from Measure of a Man. "Begin day watch", man it's gotta suck being at the helm when those lights come up after adjusting to the lower lighting. Miles' girl Keiko introduced here.

Ambassador-class sighting- wee! "Just don't try it on the Captain." "...no.". Introduction of Spot the cat here.

"I don't want to be known as the dancing doctor again." The Vulcan/Data interaction is interesting. Data's creepy dancing smile is hilarious...I just get the feeling Brent enjoyed that bit of weirdness.

Onteresting development on the Romulan front here, and Picard loses for once- I like how his "engage" hand motion is almost a thrown away gesture. Neat shot of the D turning out of there as viewed through the wings of the warbird.

"I am not nervous- I am confused." So a number of minor notable introductions here- though none absolutely necessary for the rest of the show. I'm going to put this one as "Good Episode, But not Necessarily Essential", though it borders on "Potentially Essential".

Some trivia: at one point they considered having Miles marry the female officer intended to replace Wesley, but they decided against that because it would make Miles the supporting character to another star and they didn;t want to waste him like that. As a result, they never got around to replacing Wesley and Miles was developed more as a result. Thank you! Picard's opening remarks at the wedding are also an homage to those spoken by Kirk in Balance of Terror.


412: The Wounded:
-Premise: When Chief O'Brien's former commander, Captain Benjamin Maxwell, apparently goes rogue, the Enterprise is ordered to apprehend him before his actions result in another war between the Federation and the Cardassian Union.

T2Q Comments: First mention/appearance of Cardassia/Cardassians. Nearly a year since hostilities ended between them and the Federation, so that was going on in the background for the first 3 seasons? Good thing they finished that up before the Borg attacked.

More of O'Brien and Keiko- "Sweethart, I'm not a fish". Can't say i remember that helmet, ha- though I can kinda see that they're going for a "different species would protect different parts of their head" approach.

"The Federation is not prepared for a new sustained conflict"- a reference to Starfleet in the wake of the Borg I think. The little remote-battle viewing, though low budget, is fairly effective.

Gul Macet has a certain dignified presence to himself- the same actor would go on to play Dukat in DS9. First time we've seen a Nebula-class- sort of the Miranda to the

 

It could be argued that several races have functioned as attempts to replace the Klingons for TNG, so far as their role existed in TOS and the movies. First they tried the Ferengi, but that fell flat on their collective asses. Then they turned back to the Romulans and focused on them greatly- especially in Seasons 3 & 4 (so far) after a last minute reintroduction in Season 1. But I think the isolation of the Romulans and their nature couldn't serve as an active warrior enemy race.

The Romulans were more of a cold war military threat akin to the Russians. You couldn't have much in the way of all-out conflict without it logically leading to widespread war.

The Cardassians, however, permits a closer enemy with no neutral zone separating them from the Federation, and could be the more honorable warrior type foe that the Romulans couldn't be.

 

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413: Devil's Due:
-Premise: The USS Enterprise-D responds to a distress signal from a science station at Ventax II, where the planet is in chaos over the return of a being that claims to be the planet's "devil".

-T2Q Comments: Nice coincidence to have this opening scene from A Christmas Carol while viewing this a couple hours before Crhistmas Eve. "method acting- i'm vaguely familiar with it".

hmm- title refers literally to a devil. I like how she replaces the ops officer and the nav officer, ever so slightly visible to the side of the screen, does not react. The scene in Picard's quarters I can't help but think of "Are you the keymaster?".

hmm, a trial episode, this doth not bode well, but here's hoping it breaks free of Star Trek's curse for seriously sucking when it comes to trial plots...

Ok, so far two major problems- Picard's initial objection isn't backed up by the fact that the information presumably used to identify her as who she says she is was available for study and thus could have found itself available to a 3rd party willing to take claim to that identity; and, second- when asked if he can explain her powers, Picard says no, despite he himself and others earlier in the episode observing that the tremors can be induced by a tractor beam or other device, the transportation ability can be, well, a transporter of some kind, and that the change in appearance can be some form of holographic projection. So, um, objection, Your Honor.

Ah, I see they finally decide to do what he should have done earlier in the trial- Data's amusement is, well, amusing.

This is a pretty good standalone episode, though the trial suffers from the apparent need to artificially extend the runtime of the trial plotline by overlooking the obvious points- even if they would not have won Picard the trial at that very moment, it would have bought him the time needed for Geordi to do his thing out of competence, instead of making it seem like Picard was on the edge of defeat out of stupidity.

Good Episode, But No Necessarily Essential.

Trivia: Though not surprising given the presence of a powerful alien playing with the Enterprise crew semi-Trek cliche, this was originally a script for Star Trek: Phase II, with Kirk as the Arbiter for the people and the Enterprise computer playing the judge, updated for TNG during the WGA strike.


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414: Clues:
-Premise: The USS Enterprise-D wakes up after apparently passing through a wormhole. It appears Data knows what happened in the period they were apparently unconscious, but is unwilling to inform the crew what happened. Has the integrity of their Second Officer been compromised?

-T2Q Comments: Opening shot is quite lovely- reminds me more of the movie-calibre shots with nebulas and such in the background instead of a semi-static starfield. A return to Dixon Hill, Now With More Guinan - but it turns out this Dixon mystery is not to be the episode story.

Being so close to "The Loss", you'd think they'd be more concerned about Deanna. Also, same probe stock shot from season 1, you'd think they'd update that or something by now.

So now i wonder if they'll dovetail into a flashback or story entailing why Data would lie or cover up the period of length they were unconcious.

LaForge's datapad thing is shown to obviously not have a functional display- minor nitpicking, ahoy!

If it were unrealted to whatever is going on this episode, I'd say this buisness with Deanna's dizziness would have been a good setup for the dizziness that preceeds her loss of power in The Loss. Deanna as Goa'uld! haha.

Hurrah, i was right- flashback time!

I think this is the first instance of something trying to match a ship's shield frequency so that it can be penetrated- as will happen in Generations.

The Troi/Worf "fight" is not well executed. Picard rushes into this conclusion and course of action ve

 

Holiday-sized Update!


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416: Galaxy's Child:
-Premise: La Forge finds out that a scientist is hardly what he imagined her to be. Meanwhile, they must work together to save the child of a space-borne alien the Enterprise has accidentally killed.

-T2Q Comments: Looks like a continuation/flipside of Geordi's holo-love with the designer of the D, though this time it's Brahms in the flesh.

I wonder if this thing is a puppet or early CGI- so far both the Geordi and baby alien plotlines have been good, though the eventual holodeck complication is a bit much at times. They've gotta be puppets- look rubbery enough.

Really solid episode, and a follow-up to Booby Trap and later referenced to Scotty by Geordi. I'd say Definitely Essential.

Turns out Junior is a mix of a fiberglass model and CGI.


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417: Night Terrors:
-Premise: The Enterprise crew is affected when they are adrift in a remote area of space, and find themselves unable to dream.

-T2Q Comments: Mr Nightwatch Neroon. I like the potential idea of a haunted/cursed ship adrift-wihs they could have gone fully in that direction somehow. Looks like we might see the Deflector Dish Weapon used again here- perhaps this time it won't be useless.

Picard's musings on losing the faculties of one's mind echoes sentiments expressed during his mindmeld sharing with Sarek. creepy moment with Crusher and her corpses- though it looks like, as a nitpicking observation, the intended effect by zooming in on her wasn't fully achieved as we can still see the edge of a corpse's sheet standing up off to the left of the screen prior to the "all clear" cut to the wider shot.

Deflector Dish Weapon: 0 for 2. ::

Worf scene creepy and a bit disturbing. The jackass in ten forward I could do without- Guinan with a Gun is cool, though. Buzzard collectors used for the first time here.

Good standalone- not great, but good. A bit slow paced, and the flying Troi scenes are a tad off but, Good Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential.


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418: Identity Crisis:
-Premise: La Forge and a former shipmate are the only officers left from an away mission five years ago ? the others have disappeared.

T2Q Comments: Interesting setup- nice touch with Geordi's uniform. Man, they can't even take a swig from their toast when commed?

The gold eyes of the partially-converted chick are a neat looking visual. Data stealthy like ninja.

I wonder why they wouldn't have done a holodeck simulation earlier- would have thought that might have been more effective after a first or second playback viewing.

The de-converted chick seems to have acquired a great deal of info about the parasite species for someone unconcious most of the time. The UV effect is an odd mix of cheap and really neat, depending on the shot- the effect loses a little when ambiant light highlights the non-glowy black parts.

I liked Geordi's investigation, but it doesn't pay off much, unfortunately. I liked this episode, but it's not a great one like some of the others. Good Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential.



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419: The Nth Degree:
-Premise: After an encounter with a mysterious alien probe, Lieutenant Barclay begins to exhibit signs of profound intelligence.

T2Q Comments: Barclay returns, yay! Shots of the ship in reverse then pivoting about kinda neat just for being out of the ordinary. It's a little amusing to have Barclay make the other characters look like how Barclay usually does to the other characters.

"You just spent the entire night arguing unification theories with Albert Einstein!".

The high-above-behind long shot of the D following the "Yeah, I

 

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423: The Host:
-Premise: A Trill ambassador is on-board to mediate a dispute, and falls in love with Dr. Crusher. When the Trill's host is killed, the symbiont has to be temporarily joined to Commander Riker to continue the negotiations--and the affair.

-T2Q Comments: We've been getting a variety of opening log narrations lately- Troi in the last one, Beverely in this one, etc. So...to entice viewers into watch an episode, they choose to end their teaser with a pulsingly pregnant alien Fabio Crusher's banging? What goes on in these writers staff meetings?

First mention of the Trill. The choice of Riker as a host seems random and rushed- funny that the Trill here is implanted through a slit in the stomach much like a Jaffa and a Goa'uld. Seems like an excuse just to get Bev and Will to hook up but not really. Guessing they had to shy from the lesbo kiss back then.

Noteworthy for introducing the Trill (DS9 is about set up by this point- Cardassians? Check. Ferengi and Klingons? check. Trill? Check. Wormholes? Check. Miles & Keiko? Alexander? Check. Just missing Bajorans and Maqui) though they are reimagined differently from their portrayal here for their use in DS9.

It's a well acted episode, but not connected. Good Episode, But not Necessarily Essential.


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424: The Mind's Eye:
-Premise: En route to Risa, Geordi La Forge is taken prisoner by a Romulan ship (led by an unidentified female) and mentally conditioned to assassinate a Klingon ambassador in order to implicate the Federation as enemies of the Empire and unbalance relations between the two governments.

-T2Q Comments: The visual of the quietly decloaking warbird in the background is great- as is Geordi's amusing "woah!" as he spots it- not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but I always loved how the warbird looks like it's a face mask or something, like it looking at you. Kinda like a green Wraith drone's facemask.

The guy playing this Romulan is familiar, wonder where I've seen him before? (Looking it up, this is the actor who plays Sillik on Enterprise- but where I know him from most would be his role as Del Varner in B5: The Gathering) Though I wish it had been Romulan G'Kar, would have been a better payoff. Also, Sela in the shadows.

No phaser burn evident on O'brien's simulated corpse. The Manchurian Engineer. Funny that, despite having only 4 suspects, they don't bother dusting/scanning for fingerprints on the chips and such. The involvement of the Klingon ambassador an unexpected twist.

Great ending- they better continue this LaForge plot with his memory, though and not just forget about it. Definitely Essential. Turns out this actually is based on The Manchurian Candidate. Also, the Ambassador is played by the director of Charlie X. First appearance of both Romulan and Klingon transporter effects.


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425: In Theory:
-Premise: In his latest attempt to understand humanity, Data starts dating a fellow officer, Jenna D'Sora. In the meantime, a nebula the Enterprise is passing through is causing strange things to happen on the ship.

T2Q Comments: Another crush on Data? "I would be very displeased." :ause:: "I understand".

Is that supposed to be the nebula outisde the window? Or did they just forget to bluescreen in the stars? ok, it looks like it's just the Nebula, but there's definitely an "Insurrection" impression given.

"When I have some, I'll let you know". Love the nebula shots of the D in the dark. I don't think I can take any more Data goofiness. Oof- phasing through a floor is not a good way to go. The moment of how Pica

 

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426: Redemption I:
-Premise: Picard balances his Federation and Klingon duties as new Klingon Chancellor Gowron faces a civil war, and Worf fights to regain his father's honor.

-T2Q Comments: Continuation/conclusion of Sins of the Father plotline. Gowron and his baby blues are back, and the Duras sisters first mentioned. Another clue to Guinan's age (if we had not seen the Generations prologue), in that she's old enough to have been doing that target practice long before Worf was born.

Qapla!

Return of Worf's brother. Duras sisters and their Klingon Kleavage appear for the first time. Romulan intrigue back, with Sela in the Shadows #2.

"...with the skill of a Romulan"

"Your blood will paint the way top the future"

Those bigger crusiers pack a punch- one shieldless ship down in one shot.

Man, I swear Gowron's left eye is teering on the edge of just falling right out of it's socket.

Worf's departure a strong scene- though, ignoring what I know to be the outcome, it is held back by the sense of the likely reset button perched on the horizon. Definitely Essential- also the 100th episode of the series.

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""We should not discount Jean-Luc Picard yet. He is Human, and Humans have a way of showing up when you least expect them.""

(it's no "Mr. Worf- fire.", but neat enough, so long as you know who Tasha is)


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501: Redemption II:
-Premise: The Enterprise works to expose Romulan meddling in the Klingon Civil War, as Gowron and Worf take on the House of Duras.

-T2Q Comments: That was a sweet little manuever with the sun. New title logo debuts with Supeman-esque streaking into the horizon- I like it.

I like how Data, intentionally or not, fishes for a command. "I understand your concern. Request denied."

I do question the logic of having the Romulans allied with the Duras sisters still wearing their Romulan military uniforms- you'd think something more discreet would be in order.

20 starships not enough to wage war, but 39 is thought enough for a Borg incursion...so a sufficient war amount would be, what? 30?

Good bit of continuity with O'Brien filling the tactical position in Worf's absence as he did about Rutledge.

Ties back into Yesterday's Enterprise and the fate of alt-Tasha and Enterprise-C. Interesting that they speculate Sela could be a clone of Tasha with some Romulan DNA infused- which is pretty similar to Shinzon's origins in Nemesis.

Btw, did want to mention that the blockade net for catching cloaked ships is a pretty good idea.

"Mr. Data? Nicely done." And this two-parter? Very nicely done. More balanced across the two parts than BOBW, even though it's not quite BOBW overall. Brings the Klingon, Federation and Romulan plotlines to a vergence, Definitely Essential. Qapla!




Up next: 502: Darmok, 503: Ensign Ro, 504: Silicon Avatar, 505: Disaster and 506: The Game

 

Another thing I wonder- what if Picard was right when he says he doesn't believe Sela's story? Could Tasha be alive somewhere? That'd be interesting (though it would take away from the whole "someone stayed dead" element her character's death brought).

 

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502: Darmok:
-Premise: Picard is captured, then trapped on a planet with an alien captain who speaks a metaphorical language incompatible with the universal translator. They must learn to communicate with each other before the beast of the planet overwhelms them.

-T2Q Comments: Starfleet jacket design Picard is wearing feels like an immediate predeccesor to the later movie uniforms. Alien Captain played by Papa Franklin on B5.

They should have avoided using understandable phrases in an attempt to make the language incomprehensible- it just doesn't make much sense that no common ground exists if there has been some common verbal ground established already. Ashley Judd's first appearance.

Picard Versus the Predator Triceratops! Communication via metaphor...doesn't seem plausible as a natural means of communication- how would you develop complex and precise technology using mythological references- moreover, how could those original references be made in the first place so that they could be referenced?

I wonder where the ability to tell a random story that just happens to be exactly analogous to your current situation ranks in the heirarchy of superpowers... above or below Porfessor X

Very smart of them- their predator suit probably would look pretty bad like the Gorn, so best just not to let us see it. Woah, those feel like a packed punch for phasers- they should use that against the Borg.

And they just leave afterwards? After finally findinga common ground?

Despite the logic flaws (which could, admittedly, be merely limits of my own linguistical perceptions (I failed spanish twice ), Good Episode But Not Necessarily Essential.



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503: Ensign Ro:
-Premise: The Enterprise takes on Ensign Ro Laren to help track down Bajoran terrorists who attacked a Federation colony.

-T2Q Comments: Spacedock stock footage again- but I love you so I don't mind. Return to Cardassian plotline & first mention of Bajorans. Ro can't keep her Bajoran earrings as part of uniform code, but Worf can wear Klingon bandolier? Bajorans were highly advanced as a race before mankind was upright...which throws out the "seeded by another race" excuse for near-human species evolution, so they evolved exactly like humans except for the nose scriggle with no common ancestry? Sometimes you just gotta go with it i guess.

The magic "no zippers" of the 24th century come into play with Ro's jacket here. Admiral in starfleet working against Federation principles...echoes of both Star Trek 6 and Star Trek 9.

Solid conclusion- very good episode, and, I think, Definitely Essential, with it advancing the DS9/Caradssian/Bajorian plotlines, and Ro appears in about 7 more episodes and almost became a main character in DS9 (but was later replaced by Kira Nerys after Forbes turned the role down).


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504: Silicon Avatar:
-Premise: The Enterprise gives chase to the Crystalline Entity after it destroys a Federation colony. A xenologist, who has a motivation all of her own with respect to the Crystalline Entity, is assigned to the Enterprise to assist in the investigations.

T2Q Comments: Revenge of the giant evil snow flake! Didn't think we'd see it again beyond Soong's joke about it. And we're back in the cave that Wes, Picard and jurassic Park Trailer Voice Guy found water in. I like that Data has to deal with at least some aftermath of Lore's actions by association. It's also nice to have some kind of relevence to the seemingly randomly inserted "Data has all the colonists memories" plotpoint introduced long ago and pretty much ignored since; "there has been no pre-determined limit placed on my existence"...until they write a movie

Even though I don't have memories of Datalore or most of this episode, I'm pretty sure I saw the ending to