Bonus post - seven-year-old Nathan's favorite characters

I didn't have time to write a post while I was home with my family this weekend - but did find these. Enjoy!

The Big Goodbye (TNG)

            This is a landmark episode for the Star Trek franchise. Though the holodeck was introduced in “Encounter at Farpoint”, so far we’ve only seen it used to create landscapes and sparring partners with intelligence roughly on par with current AIs. The magical, reality-warping, plot-hole ridden holodecks that will come to haunt future Treks begin with this episode. Because the holodeck is so new, the characters do spend a little more time than usual exploring its implications, but the episode is clearly scared of this philosophical territory. It will be explored in more detail in “Elementary, Dear Data” and “Ship in a Bottle” but that’s years down the road, and in the mean time the holodeck will become an excuses for gimmicky pseudo-time-travel episodes and period dress.

E... A... 5... 7....G?

            “The Big Goodbye” doesn’t really understand its own conceit. In order to create added tension while the crew is trapped in the holodeck, the writers came up with a diplomatic emergency – an insectoid race who will probably declare war on the Federation if Picard doesn’t master a greeting in their incredibly difficult language. About the only good thing that can be said for this plotline is that it makes Troi slightly less useless than usual. It’s too silly a concept to be the concept that’s supposed to be balancing out the silliness of the holodeck plotline, which is itself not deep enough to be compelling. And the episode didn’t even have the budget to put the aliens on the viewscreen, so we’re teased with this cool hive-mind, insectoid race, which we never see or hear from again.

            The Harada, that’s the aliens, are of course a MacGuffin. The Holodeck is the focus of the episode, but unfortunately it feels like a lot of padding and not much plot. Geordi and Wesley kind of generically try to fix the Holodeck while Picard, Data, Dr. Crusher and a redshirt try to stay alive by fast-talking gangsters out of killing them. Humor comes from the fish-out-of-water situation both for Picard, who has read the novels that the Holoprogram is based on, but doesn’t know much about the time period, and Data, who has all the knowledge but just doesn’t fit in. Beverly is extremely underused, and doesn’t really do anything except get held hostage. The “don’t throw me in the briar patch” gambit that ultimately lets the crew escape is funny, if a bit predictable.

            All in all, the episode is thin, but watchable. One thing that might have helped is if the Dixon Hill story itself had had a more interesting plot – an actual story we, the audience could get involved with. As it all the trappings of the Film Noir/ Gangster novel were there, but there was no sense of how Picard was “supposed” to play out the story. That definitely contributed to the sense that there was a lot of filler dialogue and not a clear plot arc.

Melting, Melting - Oh what a world, oh what a world!

What really bothers me about the episode, though, is what it sets up and doesn’t ever follow through on. It goes out of its way to ask the philosophical questions about the Holodeck but not answer them. Just before Picard turns off the program, one of Dixon Hill’s allies asks “what happens when you go away? Do my wife and family still exist?” It adds massive creepiness to the whole proceeding. Future holodeck episodes steer away from the characters being self-aware I think for precisely this reason – the writer’s decided the conceit worked best for light, escapist episodes rather than contemplations about the nature of artificial intelligence and our responsibility to it. 

Fortunately, Voyager will pick up that mantle some day. Speaking of which, in a weird bit of synergy, next week is Voyager’s first holodeck malfunction episode. It will be interesting to see the contrast.

Random Observations:

Data can sometimes experience an enthusiasm for learning new things which borders on emotion.

The concept of turning the Holodeck safeties off is ridiculous. Why would you not hard-wire those things?

It still bothers me the extent to which Holodecks are new and exciting on TNG but completely commonplace by Voyager.

I do like the scene where Wesley pulls out the wrong wire and suddenly everyone is in an arctic storm for a few seconds. I wish more holodeck episodes had those kinds of moments.

The Battle (TNG)

Picard encounters ghosts from his past. Literally.

            

We aren’t to “good” yet.

 
             I don’t know what the first “good” episode of TNG is. I have a feeling the first excellent episode is “The Measure of a Man”, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised before then. “The Battle” is not cringe-inducing. Like so much first season TNG, it reeks of unused potential. I will say, however, that “The Battle” is an episode that experiments with a lot of elements that are necessary for TNG to become the good show we know it will eventually become.

            We open with a captain’s log, and the promise of a new encounter with the Ferengi. At this point, they’re still supposed to be Picard’s main adversary, and I guess “The Last Outpost” wasn’t bad enough to discourage the writers from this plan, so I guess it’s as good a time as any to bring them back for another go. Given that the Klingons served as a sort of an allegory for Cold War Russia in TOS, I have to actually admire Roddenberry for trying to make the flagship villains of the new series a caricature of American-style capitalism. Combine this with their extreme misogyny, and we can’t shake the idea that the conflict of the Federation vs. the Ferengi is a conflict between humanity’s better nature and society as it is now.

There was no money in the budget for a background for him.

            That conflict isn’t at the center of this episode, though, because Daimon Bok doesn’t have any problem with the Federation. His beef is with Picard himself, and his motivations have nothing to do with Ferengi worldview or philosophy. Picard killed his son – and he wants revenge.

            This is the first potentially awesome thing this episode does – it delves into Picard’s past, giving us a glimpse of how he got to be the man he is today. Many of the best episodes of TNG and Star Trek in general rely on developing a character’s backstory, and this is TNG’s first foray into that. The story is that he lost his first command, the Stargazer, in battle with an unidentified ship. Though his ship was lost, he managed to destroy the alien vessel before abandoning ship. Unfortunately, the vessel was Ferengi, and its Captain Daimon Bok’s son.

            But Bok does not swear revenge on Picard right away. Instead, he offers the “Hero of Maxia” a gift – much to the chagrin of his own first officer, who wonders why they are not trying to make a profit off the exchange. The gift is Stargazer herself, recovered after the battle by Ferengi patrols.

            After that the plot sort of stumbles around for a while. Data discovers sensor logs suggesting that rather than acting in self-defense, Picard fired on the Ferengi ship unprovoked. Riker debates the merits of turning his Captain in, but before he really has to wrestle with that decision Data and Geordi discover that the logs are a forgery. It feels like filler, but it’s not bad filler, and Riker does get a cute scene with the Ferengi first officer where they try to piece together what’s going on.

            The most glaring plot hole in this episode is how trusting the crew is of the Ferengi’s good intentions. Everything we know about these people says that wooden horse is probably full of soldiers, but they happily drag it through the gates anyway. In fact, even though Picard is acting increasingly weird, it’s not until boy genius Wesley Crusher notices some odd sensor readings that they start to suspect something is wrong.

This goofy-looking thing.

            By then Picard has already been driven thoroughly batty by Daimon Bok’s “thought-maker”, and he beams himself aboard the old ship, believing he is back at the Battle of Maxia and the alien ship is the Enterprise. Riker and Data have to devise a way to defeat their old Captain without killing him, which is just an excuse to give us a space battle, because we haven’t had nearly enough of those in the first eight episodes.

            I think the inconsistencies in the character’s behavior combined with the terrible pacing of the second act keep this from being a solid script, but the attempt to glimpse into our main character’s past is appreciated, and trying to give him a connection to the show’s new villains is a good idea. Unfortunately it doesn’t work. Bok isn’t charismatic enough to make a compelling recurring villain, and the Ferengi are too goofy to be particularly intimidating. But the seeds of greatness continue to be planted, and I’m excited for where I know we’ll get eventually.

Random Observations:

Apparently by the 24^th century the common cold and headaches are a think of the past. I’m pretty sure later in the series people complain of headaches and it’s not nearly as big a deal.

This episode blatantly contradicts the rest of the series in that Troi can read Daimon Bok’s mind. The rest of the time, Ferengi are immune to telepathy.

Kazago says that he’s “all ears”. Suppose it was only a matter of time.

Patrick Stewart’s acting goes a long way towards selling the weaker aspects of the script. I’m amazed he didn’t get fed up and quit halfway through season one.

Picard has a much larger fish tank in his quarters. It occurs to me that taking care of tropical fish is a lot of work and we never see or hear about him attending to them. I wonder if they’re holographic?

The scenes with the ghost officers are really cheesy, but I kind of like them.

This is the third time Picard has been possessed or otherwise mentally compromised. Beverly needs to learn to trust her judgement about her old friend/ Captain a little better. She could save the ship a lot of trouble.

I really wish those weird sensor readings had been detected by Geordi or Data or Worf or anyone but Wesley. He keeps saving the ship, and its not so much that, but he’s just getting so damn smug about it.

Lonely Among Us (TNG)

There goes our entire make-up budget for the season.

            If I could use one word to describe “Lonely Among Us”, it would be "playful". It’s not the episode doesn’t have high stakes or drama. But between Tasha and Riker’s absurd subplot and Data’s Sherlock Holmes obsession, it’s hard to take the serious threat to the ship that the saboteur imposes particularly seriously. I don’t think that makes the episode an all out failure. The show is trying to figure out exactly what its tone should be, and I think this episode just falls a little too far on the cheesy/silly side of the scale.

            Basically, there are two plots. They barely intersect. In the first, the Enterprise is transporting two delegations to a treaty negotiation – the furry, carnivorous Anticans and the Reptilian Selay. The trouble is, they absolutely loathe each other. They’re also rather obnoxious in their own right. The humor here comes from the obnoxious demands the delegates make, and the fact that no-nonsense Tasha has to deal with them. Also, the not-so-subtle implication that the Anticans would like to eat the Selay.

And next season...

            In many episodes, one sentient race eating another would be disturbing, or at the very least played up as some sort of nature vs. nurture debacle, but here its played almost entirely for laughs – as in, these are the wacky day-to-day problems you face when transporting interstellar diplomats. It works because the actors playing the aliens play them in such an animalistic way, and their make-up is uncharacteristically non-humanoid, so we don’t see them quite as much as human. It’s more like one of those Farside comics about the wolf trying to eat the sheep.

            Taking up more of the hour is another plotline. The Enterprise scans a mysterious nebula, and accidentally takes an alien life form onboard. The life form can possess both people and subsystems, and jumps from one to another, leaving gaps in people’s memories and interfering with ship’s systems. When navigation goes down (and generic chief engineer number 3 is mysteriously killed) Data, Geordi, Beverly and Tasha embark on a ship-wide investigation to find the saboteur. Data acquires a pipe and a deerstalker. But then the alien realizes it’s much easier to just possess Picard and order the ship back to the nebula.

Note to self: install circuit breakers on bridge consoles.

            Dr. Crusher and Riker try to relieve the captain of duty, but he throws it back in their faces with a “no, you’re possessed by an alien!” When they get to the nebula, the alien explains that he has in fact merged with Picard, and they are going into space together to be beings of pure energy. The crew can’t stop him, so off to the transporter room he goes.

            Shortly thereafter, Troi senses Picard out in the nebula, alone. He starts possessing ship’s systems too, and with his help their able to use the transporter to get him his body back. He remembers nothing of being possessed.

            Then Tasha rushes into the transporter room and reports that the Anticans have, in fact, eaten one of the Selay. LOLz.

Random Observations:

            There won’t be as many of these, since my notes all got deleted when my computer crashed.

            Riker has a model of the Galileo from TOS in his office.

            Doctor Crusher has a silly hat.

           

I'd like to say it gets better for you, chief...

            Worf is annoyed that he has to learn how to recalibrate the sensor arrays. Later we will see Worf take some pride in his knowledge of engineering and ship operations, even if security is his specialty.

            Gates McFadden is probably the most believable actress in terms of portraying being possessed by the alien. She really gets the whole “not quite familiar with this body” thing down. But then, she is a dancer, and they tend to be more aware of their physicality.

Minor Character Watch: Miles O’Brien appears again, as one of the security officers Tasha has assigned to see to the needs of the Selay delegates. As always, his job is thankless.

Code of Honor (TNG)

As much as I’ve been dreading what I remembered as an objectively terrible episode, I was sort of looking forward to reviewing one of the few Tasha-centric stories the show has to offer. Unfortunately, this isn’t really a Tasha story. Inasmuch as its about anything, it’s about the Prime Directive, and when it comes into conflict with Picard’s mandate to protect his crew. It’s also about pride, and when it’s necessary to swallow it for the greater good. Ultimately, it’s about a power struggle between Picard and the alien Lutan, in which the Strong Female Character Tasha is pretty much treated as a commodity.

Let’s back up a little. Our story opens as Picard and co. have been given an important mission by Starfleet command – negotiate for a rare and valuable vaccine that can’t be synthesized and is needed to treat a plague on a nearby world. The plague provides the stakes for the episode, though not terribly well because we never see it and have to rely on Dr. Crusher constantly popping up to remind us that it’s terrible. But unfortunately, the planet is controlled by a power-hungry guy named Lutan, and his demands in exchange for the vaccine are kind of… unorthodox. He kidnaps Tasha Yar and wants to make her his wife.

Of course, this is not immediately obvious. Data’s research into the planet’s history shows that they have a tradition of stealing things basically just to show that they can, and to humble an enemy by forcing them to beg for the object back, in this case Tasha. Picard is initially extremely reticent to play this game, but ultimately the importance of the vaccine convinces him to swallow his pride and ask for Tasha back. Lutan says he’ll return her at a banquet being held in Picard’s honor. At the banquet, though he reveals his true plan.

There’s just one problem (well, one more problem) Lutan already has a wife (whose name is Yarina. Yar vs. Yarina? Seriously? But I digress.) Anyway, by their alien laws, she has the right to challenge Tasha to a fight to the death. Which she does.

YARR!

            I’m actually super confused about what happens next, because as far as I can tell Lutan never actually promises the vaccine to the crew whether Tasha wins or loses, and while Tasha does think Lutan is kinda cute, she doesn’t actually want to leave Starfleet to marry him and live in his weird, misogynistic, oppressive society. But Picard has a secret plan, and Tasha commits to the fight and kills her rival, at which point everyone is beamed to the Enterprise to be revived by Dr. Crusher. But because she technically died, her marriage contract with Lutan is void, and because of weird alien politics that aren’t explained very well, this makes Lutan no longer the planet’s leader. Yarina chooses a new husband who is more than happy to send the Enterprise on its way, vaccine in tow, and everyone lives happily ever after.

            Despite the jarringly racist costuming and casting choices – the hyper-masculine machismo driven race is all black in in stereotypical African Tribal getup - this episode was actually not nearly as bad as I’d feared. It’s reasonably entertaining. The main problems I think come from the fact that the interesting conflict, Picard’s mandate to protect his crew vs. the Prime Directive, is examined only briefly, as the Captain comes up with a loophole pretty quickly. Meanwhile, the specifics of the alien political system aren’t set-up well enough ahead of time to make the ending feel like anything other than an ass-pull. I also would have liked to see a little more of Tasha besides “she’s a badass”, as I think the writers are struggling a little with who exactly she is beyond that.

She is kind of a badass though.

Random Observations:

The conversation Troi and Tasha have about Lutan being what every woman secretly wants was just ugh in so many ways I don't even want to get into.

 

The subplot with Wesley and Picard was just the tiniest bit distracting, but I can’t help but feel those are minutes that could have been used to help build up the tension in the main plot and also make it make a little more sense.

The first season sees contact with a lot of misogynistic cultures, of which this is the first. I’m not sure why this is a recurring theme. It might have something to do with the eighties.

Deanna Troi is actually kind of useful here, offering Diplomatic advice and an analysis of the alien culture.

The Holodeck! Now we see it can make characters, but not any smarter, really, than what current AIs are capable of. They can learn from their opponents. It’s an inkling, though, of the Pandora’s box this seemingly innocuous technology is going to turn out to be.

There are some very nice character moments in this episode. Riker is good with kids and happily humors Wesley, in sharp contrast with Picard. Troi kind of insists on talking to Tasha woman to woman, which makes Tasha uncomfortable in kind of a fun way.

Bros.

Most importantly, this is the first we see of the Data/ Geordi bromance, possibly the third greatest bromance in Star Trek lore (it must, of course, follow Kirk/Spock and O’Brien/Bashir.) It is on point, as Geordi tries to teach Data how jokes work.

Speaking of Data, at some point he makes a disparaging remark about the French, and Picard takes offense. Because Picard is French. Hee hee.

Wesley’s shirt is in this episode is exceptionally ugly. 24^th century teenage fashion continues to be terrible.