Date: May 11, 2020

Season 6, Episodes 6 and 7

Musical Accompaniment: Chants du Sud et du Nord by Arianna Savall & Petter Udland Johansen

Interstellar News: Social distance walking and dinner was a great success.

Favorite Quote from “True Q”:

Q: She was being impetuous. She’ll just have to start behaving like a Q.

Picard: If I’m not mistaken, she just did.

Picard telling Q “what for”.

“True Q” begins with the arrival of honor student Amanda Rogers who is going to intern aboard the Enterprise. After attempting to flirt with Riker a bit, puppies randomly appear and then disappear… whoa! Dr. Crusher gives Amanda a task and has her deliver tricorders to La Forge in the Cargo Bay, just in time for her to save Riker from sure death. Amanda, Data, and La Forge are down in Engineering when the warp core is about to blow, but Amanda quiets it. As Picard and crew sit down to discuss Amanda, Q pops in and explains that Amanda is the child of two Q’s who masqueraded as humans and he’s there “to help”.

Picard and Q agree to give her a choice, but Q is all grabby and gets shot across the room. He’s also in cahoots with a shadowy figure, but he does try to help train Amanda a bit. In the meantime, Picard has Data investigate the death of Amanda’s biological parents and find out they were terminated. Q comes clean that they were told they could keep Amanda as long as they didn’t use their Q powers, but they violated that rule, though he will give Amanda the same choice. Amanda, of course, swears she can resist temptation and then goes and fixes the entire planet… so she agrees to go off with Q.

As some of you may know I have four cats, one dog, a husband, and until recently I also had a roommate who had two dogs. I have therefore been calling my house “the zoo” for the last two years. I write all that because Amanda calls her three dogs “her zoo” and I thought that was adorable and fitting, especially when all of the puppies appeared. She also started out with the best of intentions and may have made better decisions if it wasn’t for the influence of Q. We see it at the end where she really is human in sentiment and heals the planet, she just couldn’t let everyone die… especially Riker. That is, however, the end of my love for this episode.

Here’s the thing. In “Deja Q” it was established that you could take away a Q’s power, so why wasn’t that one of the choices? Why was it you can just not use them or you can come back to the Continuum? Also, Q was a little flirty with Amanda which is just awful since she was begotten by two Q’s in the first place. Amanda also has a strong fascination with Riker, going so far as to whisk him away and force him to love her, but in the end she just can’t live with her choices. While I love Q and his snottiness, Picard and his speeches, and Dr. Crusher and her new hairdo, I don’t love the inconsistencies that make my head hurt. As a normal Trek episode this would normally earn a 5, but in comparison to the other “Q” episodes, I’m only assigning 4 puppies.

Favorite Quotes from “Rascals”:

O’Brien: No. I mean, of course you’re my wife. But you’re also ten years old.

Keiko: Beverly said it’s actually closer to twelve.

O’Brien: That’s not the point.

O’Brien making a VERY valid point.

Guinan: At the moment I can’t do anything about it, so I might as well enjoy it.

Ro: Enjoy what? Where did you get the idea that being short and awkward is some kind of wonderful gift?

As someone who is 5 foot tall, Ro makes a spectacularly valid point.

“Rascals” begins with Picard, Ro, Guinan, and Keiko heading back to the Enterprise via shuttlecraft. There’s a distress call so they have to get back quickly when their craft suddenly gets stuck and O’Brien has to beam them back. He gets them back but in the bodies of their pre-teen selves, but with all the knowledge and understanding… oh my! Young Picard dives right back into work until Dr. Crusher talks him into allowing Riker to be in control until things are settled. Guinan wants to play and enjoy being young, Ro wants to pout, and Keiko is off with O’Brien.

Troi and Picard discuss options if this happens to be permanent, Crusher tries to find a way to revert them back to their appropriately aged bodies, La Forge and O’Brien sift through the shuttlecraft parts, and there’s still the distress signal to take care of. The Enterprise arrives at Ligos VII, are shot at by two Klingon ships, and are boarded by Ferengi. The “children” are put in a room together and Picard enacts a plan, looping in Alexander to help as well. It’s very Home Alone where things have to happen just so in order to be effective, but the kids save the day. The Ferengi are arrested, the science colony is squared away, and O’Brien and Crusher fix the kids, except for Ro who colors with adult Guinan for a bit.

There were some adorable bits to this episode. Young Picard acting like the boss he is, throwing a tantrum, and running his hands through his hair as often as possible when he’s young. It was heartbreaking to see Molly ask for Keiko and not accepting her now 12 year old mom. It was hysterical that Riker was just spouting technobabble at the Ferengi while he was giving access to the kid’s room computer, and seeing Riker and Picard play father and son was so totally worth it. The smile on Alexander’s face when he was able to help was awesome, I was worried about that kid. It was also good to see that Guinan and Ro are still friends. The rest of the episode, however, is just god awful. The Enterprise is taken over by about 10 Ferengi, Worf is a worse shot than even the shortest Stormtrooper, and the voices were so terrible. Maybe it’s the Netflix version, but they all sound like a bad dub and it totally ruined the episode for me. I’ll just take 2 flux capacitors and be on my way… thanks.

TA Out!

Date: May 10, 2020

Season 6, Episodes 4 and 5

Musical Accompaniment: Mysterious Fantasy Music

Interstellar News: Today was not a great day. I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately.

Favorite Quote from “Relics”:

Picard: How are you feeling?

Scotty: I don’t know. How am I feeling?

Dr. Crusher: Other than a couple of bumps and bruises, I’d say you feel fine for a man of a hundred and forty seven.

Scotty: I don’t feel a day over a hundred and twenty.

Scotty with the sass, boy did I miss him.

“Relics” begins with the Enterprise is responding to a distress signal that turns out to be the Jenolan, a ship that went missing 75 years ago. It crash landed on a large mass that is very likely to be a Dyson sphere, so Riker, Worf, and La Forge go to investigate. The transporter on the Jenolan is rigged in such a way that there are two patterns still in the buffer and out pops none other than Captain Montgomery Scott from The Original Series. Scotty explains to La Forge how he got there and regales him with a few tales of the olden days, is cleared by Dr. Crusher, but then annoys La Forge who is wound a bit tight.

Scotty find Ten-Forward, Data, and some green drink (a shout out to “By Any Other Name“) and then makes his way to the holodeck to get “his Enterprise” to reappear. Picard joins him, they have a drink, and Picard asks La Forge to use Scotty to try and get information from the Jenolan. While those two are gathering data, the Enterprise is sucked into the clearly abandoned Dyson sphere and are hours away from getting blown up. Scotty does what he does best and concocts a crazy plan, which works just fine. We end the episode with La Forge regaling some tales of his time as Chief Engineer and the crew gifting Scotty with a shuttlecraft to go out an explore the universe some more.

Scotty is just like me: a geeky extrovert that loves telling stories, loves hanging out in engineering, and hates being alone. I’ll start with the bad, of which there is not much. I wish they had done more with Scotty and Worf, because that would have been SUCH A BIG DEAL. I mean the two scenes together were done well, Scotty was never one to jump to the phaser, but a quick line would have been so beneficial. I also feel like there should have been a scene with Troi, Scotty’s a man out of time and all that.

Now onto the good. I really, really loved this episode. Imagine meeting the person who occupied your position about 50 years ago. It would be super cool at first, but then you have to explain ALL THE THINGS, all the technological advances and such, and of course you still have work to do. La Forge plays it right, even if I didn’t like him for it in that moment. There’s a wonderful throwback to a few TOS episodes, and even a few past TNG episodes, just in case you forgot this was a franchise. The humor is excellent, the science is fascinating, and I could see if I had watched this episode as a kid wanting to be an engineer much earlier than 16. The scene with Picard and Scotty was heartwarming and I could watch this episode a bunch. It gets 9 engineering miracles for the few small things that would have made it awesome, but it does wind up on my list of favorite episodes.

Favorite Quote from “Schisms”:

Data: Did it evoke an emotional response?

La Forge: Well…

Data: Your hesitation suggests you are trying to protect my feelings. However, since I have none, I would prefer you to be honest. An artist’s growth depends upon accurate feedback.

Data making a very good point.

“Schisms” begins with Riker having trouble sleeping and La Forge tinkering in engineering to try and help them speed up the mapping of a new system. Data reads poetry he’s written, one is about his cat Spot, and Riker is falling asleep. Dr. Crusher doesn’t really see much wrong so she prescribes him a warm milk recipe from Aunt Adele. There are all sorts of crazy things happening in Cargo Bay 4 between faulty sensor readings and weird glowy things. Riker is still having trouble sleeping, La Forge’s visor keeps shorting out, and even Data’s chronometer is on the fritz.

Troi gathers Worf, Riker, La Forge, and some random woman who apparently all have the same kinds of feelings. They gather in the holodeck and recreate what looks like an alien abduction table, and sure enough that’s what it is. Turns out two crew members are currently missing and Riker’s arm was apparently amputated and surgically reattached… what is going on?! They attach a homing beacon to Riker and get him super high so he’ll be able to sense what is going on when he’s taken. The aliens abduct him right on schedule, he grabs Ensign Rager and jumps through the rift, right before the Enterprise is able to close it.

So this is your classic alien abduction story, but way creepier. As much as I love Data, I have no idea what the purpose of his poetry reading was other than to show Riker nodding off. I will say the holodeck scene where everyone pitches in to the recreation of the table was well done, but did go on for a little too long. What went from something akin to “Night Terrors” went to weird and creepy super fast. It was an interesting mystery but hardly one I’d ever want to watch again. Also, why doesn’t the Enterprise set up a way for the computer to monitor when people have left the ship all the time? You’re hurtling the space, you don’t think it would be wise to check that no one is missing to head off some of these odd occurrences? 4 night of alien abductions for you, and Riker too.

TA Out!

Date: May 8, 2020

Season 6, Episodes 2 and 3

Musical Accompaniment: Essential Classical Music: 12 Concerti Grossi, Op.6

Interstellar News: Another cold and windy day here, but I made New York style egg creams for dessert.

Favorite Quote from “Realm of Fear”:

O’Brien: I thought you might like to meet Christina. Christina, Lieutenant Barclay.

Barclay: It’s your pet spider.

O’Brien: Lycosa tarantula. Don’t worry, she won’t bite.

Barclay: She’s very… large.

I have a feeling O’Brien completely lied about his irrational fear of spiders.

“Realm of Fear” has the Enterprise locate the Yosemite, a ship that went dark a few days ago. Worf, Riker, Crusher, La Forge, and Barclay join the away team but O’Brien has to send them in one at a time. When it’s Barclay’s turn he has a panic attack, apparently he has a fear of transporters. Troi shares a counseling tecnique with him and he is determined to beam over. O’Brien shares his fear about spiders to try to get Barclay over his fear and you’ve got to admit O’Brien is almost as good as Troi and Guinan sometimes, but in that likable every-man kind of way. Barclay heads over to the Yosemite and it’s cool to see what he sees through the transporter beam. The team finishes up and as Barclay beams back it looks like something was trying to eat him, so he shares this with La Forge.

Dr. Crusher is examining one of the crew who died and all of a sudden his heart starts beating and other systems start working, it’s super weird. Barclay notices something flickering in his arm and he thinks he has “transporter psychosis” because he listens to WebMD, I mean the computer. Barclay gets super nervous so Troi temporarily relieves him of duty, but he sees the same thing in the transporter beam and he asks O’Brien to wake the senior staff. The threat is real but no one knows what the hell is going on. The experiment explodes and Barclay faints, turns out there are microbes inside of Barclay. The plan is to suspend Barclay to try to filter things out but just as they are finishing, Barclay grabs the microbe… who is really one of the people from the Yosemite. Barclay saves the day and O’Brien gives him something else to fear… spiders.

Poor Barclay. If there’s a fear, that man has it, but to his credit he goes to counseling and puts in the work. It’s a perfectly normal irrational fear to have in the 24th century, even if it is the safest way to travel. We all have the things we fear no matter how others try to get us to not be so afraid, so it’s very relatable. He lets his anxiety get the best of him but sometimes he has a theory and it works. It was great to see him face his fear, have something totally go wrong, but then it all worked out in the end. It was a very good vehicle for Barclay and a good episode to let two semi-regulars shine in various ways. Everyone on the crew played their part and no one belittled Barclay for having a crisis, they were very supportive. The theory and counseling was right, the science fiction piece was interesting, and I’m totally glad the microbes didn’t eat Barclay. 6.5 bully sticks for this episode, woof.

Favorite Quote from “Man of the People”:

Troi: The skills are demanding. You’re very disciplined.

Alkar: I believe in a strong connection between body and mind. You obviously share the same convictions.

Troi: Yes, I do. Only sometimes my body has a problem conforming to my mind’s wishes.

Same, Troi. Same.

“Man of the People” has the Enterprise en route to aid a transport ship that’s under attack because of two people on board, so they are beamed over for protection. Ambassador Alkar and his mother are Lumericans who are also empathic, but only within their own species. His mother is quite old and yells at Troi a lot, stereotypical mother of boy things (“no woman is ever good enough for my son”, wags fingers). Alkar’s mother soon dies and he asks Troi to help with a meditation ceremony, but something happens to her during it. Soon after she starts acting strangely and she shows signs of aging as well as bad behavior… think of the “other Kirk” from “The Enemy Within”, the Kirk with only the “bad” feelings.

Troi cancels her appointments, touches herself during Klingon tai chi, jumps an ensign in a turbolift, and scratches Riker across the face after kissing him. Troi is unusually short with a patient during a session and slowly starts to exhibit signs of aging and acting just like Alkar’s mother. As Alkar is transporting to the planet to begin negotiations Troi shows up, knifes Picard, and is taken to sick bay. Alkar confesses to Picard mostly because he’s a supreme douche-nozzle, but also because Picard can’t really do anything about it. Dr. Crusher “kills” Troi so the connection is severed, Alkar tries to use another on his team to transfer his bad energy, but Troi is revived just in time for Alkar’s system to be overloaded and for him to die.

There was only one redeeming thing about this episode: that dress. That is literally the only thing I liked. The costume director for Troi’s outfits apparently heard the rumor that “there’s no underwear in space” during this episode and took it to heart. The pacing of the episode was slow and I spent most it confused. Was it his mother’s essence, did they swap bodies somehow, what the what was going on? It made more sense when Alkar confesses, but still. Picard felt kind of useless but did enact a successful plan in the end. Oh, and did you know Dr. Crusher needed to do an autopsy? I mean she only mentioned it at least five times, so you knew it was going to happen eventually. What a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad episode. It earns itself 1 tiny, small, mostly stale cookie that someone forgot to put the sugar in.

TA Out!

Date: May 7, 2020

Season 5, Episode 26 and Season 6, Episode 1

Musical Accompaniment: Halidon Music presents: 30 Classical Piano pieces

Interstellar News: As I’ve said before, or was it past, this is the standard when dealing with two part episodes that are one part season finale and second part season premiere combinations. Nothing new happened in the credits for Season 6.

Favorite Quotes:

Riker: It’s just that our mental pathways have become accustomed to your sensory input patterns.

Data: I understand. I am also fond of you, Commander. And you as well, Counselor.

Oh I absolutely love this line. Riker communicating to Data in a way he understands best and Data using one of my favorite ways to tell someone I love them. I am quite fond of, for example, the letter “K”.

Picard’s Poetry: “Then I’ll be irrational.”

Riker: I just want you to know that I have the utmost respect for the law.

Riker then proceeds to punch the police officer right in the face and they all scurry off.

Just an epic line, delivered perfectly.

Data’s Not Really An Android: remembering he wasn’t supposed to be able to lift the anvil one handed “I believe I have overexerted myself.”

Quick Summary:

Part 1: The Enterprise is recalled to Earth in order to investigate a potential alien visit dating 500 years ago. Data’s head is found in a cavern as is a cellular fossil from Devidia II, so we’re going on a road trip. A temporal disturbance identical to the one on Earth is found on Devidia II and I’m so glad we just had the episode about phasing, because that’s what is happening here; there’s something but it’s in a different phase. Data beams down and adjusts phase only to be taken through a portal and is back in 1800s San Fransisco. He swindles some men out of their money at the poker table and begins to build a machine that would make even Spock proud and finds out that Guinan is in town. He assumes she’s also from the future but realizes she’s just visiting and is good friends with Mark Twain. Picard (at the insistence of future-Guinan), Riker, Crusher, Troi, and La Forge phase and see just what Data was talking about before he disappeared and the life Troi sensed was the aliens depositing human life almost just like in the Matrix, they see the other aliens use the time snake and follow them into the void.

Part 2: The crew is in time appropriate clothes, complete with La Forge wearing glasses instead of his Visor in order to not hurt the sensibilities of the pre-technology folks, and Crusher reports her findings from the morgue. The aliens are going back during times of plague in order to murder humans for fuel and not arouse suspicion. Twain is all up in Data and past-Guinan’s business, he’s the epitome of curmudgeonly. The crew confronts the aliens at the hospital where the aliens disappear but our crew makes off with the cool snake cane and they meet up with Data who finally built his machine. Picard and Guinan finally meet and it’s adorable, soft music and everything. They make their way to the cave where everything happens at once: the two aliens beam in and try to grab the snake cane, Data attacks and his head is blown off, the male alien escapes, and everyone but Picard, Guinan, and the female alien head through the hole, including Twain and Data’s body.

Back on the Enterprise, Troi takes Twain on a tour of the ship and La Forge puts Data’s head back on. It doesn’t quite works as expected because Picard encodes a message, but Data wakes up in time to stop Riker and Worf from blowing everyone up. Riker sends Twain to go on the rescue mission because only one person can make the return trip. Picard takes care of Guinan, leaves instructions for Twain, and returns to his present time where they get rid of the alien’s ability to time travel. Everything is nicely and neatly wrapped up and all is as it should be.

My Thoughts and Impressions: Oh yay, another time travel episode. I hope you heard the sarcasm and my eyes roll all at the same time. Data and La Forge have an interesting conversation about death and mortality, because all of a sudden we’re getting all deep and such on TNG. Clearly Worf could not travel back in time because, well, he’s a Klingon, but I do like what they did with La Forge to be able to include him. It’s not like Worf could have just worn a head covering or anything (rolls eyes and waves arms in sarcasm). I’m confused why they don’t think it’s a perfect replica of Data from somewhere in the future and I’m completely saddened that they didn’t keep up the “I’m from South America” gag. I also don’t understand why it’s protocol to send both the first and second officer’s on the away teams and why it’s also suddenly protocol that the captain not be on the away team, as it seemed like more of a Riker rule than a Starfleet one way back in “Encounter at Farpoint“.

I will say that I was interested in figuring out how Data’s head got there and seeing how Guinan was involved, but everything was too neat and tidy in the end. I’m also supposed to believe that no one had a problem with the color of Guinan or La Forge’s skin and that absolutely no one saw any sort of technology even though they were all flashing it all over the place? No one was worried about Twain blabbing about what he saw, in fact they took him on a tour of the ship? What became of the story the kid was writing for the paper? There are a lot more questions here and not enough answers.

There were some great moments, but just moments here and there. There’s just a whole lot of randomness like Data being awesome at making money and tipping generously while Picard and crew can’t scrape together one week’s rent and Picard tries to impress the landlady. La Forge “reading” the play upside down was hysterical and Data trying to remember he’s a “Frenchman” and not an android is also awesome. This is not the most suspenseful cliffhanger we’ve had on TNG, but it is one that I at least want to see the conclusion of, and not just because I’m determined to watch all the Trek. It didn’t have enough Worf in it, but he did indeed make an impact when he was on screen. When Riker is all like “we’ve got to save the captain” he makes a point that the proposed course of action isn’t what Picard would want and Riker is forced to see the error of his ways. It’s not the worst time travel episode, but if you’re going to do “The City on the Edge of Forever” you’ve got to do it right. I’ll give these two episodes a combined total of 5 temporal disturbances.

TA Out!