Date: April 16, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 13 and 14

Musical Accompaniment: Ambient Worlds presents: Peter Pan

Interstellar News: I was able to see two of my favorite authors in a Zoom Q & A webinar tonight. If you need some hope in your life, pick up a copy of Fantastic Hope.

Favorite Quote from “Devil’s Due”:

Ardra: Please don’t take any offense at these questions, you know how fond I am of you.

Picard: Objection.

Data: Sustained. The advocate will refrain from expressing personal affections for her opponent.

The trial was mighty fun and Ardra did not hide her affection for Picard.

“Devil’s Due” has a wonky transmission from Ventax II as the science station is overrun with a mob of locals and all of the scientists are kidnapped, except for one who is transported onto the Enterprise. The people of Ventax II are worried that Ardra, “the devil”, is going to come and enslave the world because she’s collecting her end of the contract where she offered 1000 years of peace as long as they would serve her at the end of the term. She claims to have many names and have served many such contracts over the years, but Picard isn’t buying her magic tricks so he has Data pour over it to look for a loophole.

Picard is convinced she’s not the real Ardra and is just pulling a con job. Data finds a local law that is similar to that of the Sheliak conflict in “The Ensigns of Command” where a third party arbiter can be used and Ardra and Picard both settle on using Data as he can be impartial. Ardra proves she’s done everything on her end and it’s time for Ventax II to pay up. Picard disputes this saying she hasn’t really done anything, aside from kicking the butts of the locals to make their world a better place for themselves. a Forge, because he’s a badass, figures out she has a cloaked ship and he and Picard steals her “powers”, during which Data’s face is adorable with wonderment. The people are freed and Ardra is imprisoned.

There were some really funny moments… like when Picard was beamed down to the station in his pajamas and when Worf was trying to look horrified that Ardra could turn into a Klingon creature, but otherwise there wasn’t much here. Picard just knew she was a con artist and he proved it in traditional Enterprise fashion, though most of the “magic” happened off screen and they just told us what they did. It was silly, but fun, and an interesting way for a con artist to use their skills as long as they keep up with the technology. A lot of the scams are the same throughout history, but with a technology twist they can be harder to catch. I give a lecture on how technology has made scams not only more accessible to a wider audience, but also sometimes much more difficult to catch as well. This was a fun episode, but just a filler compared to all of the other nifty stories we’ve had in the past. That earns this episode a rating of 5, as “The Devil” is the 15th Major Arcana card in a Tarot deck and “tarot” has 5 letters in it.

Favorite Quote from “Clues”:

Dr. Crusher: Worf, you came in here for something?

Worf: A warrior does not complain about physical discomfort, but the Captain ordered us to report anything out of the ordinary.

The fact that Worf went to sick bay on his own without a direct order from the captain, meant he was worried. You can even see him rubbing his wrist as soon as they get out of their “coma”.

“Clues” has the Enterprise finish one mission a little early so they have a little bit of down time before they have to go on their next one. Picard invites Guinan to the “Dixon Hill” program, Dr. Crusher sets up an experiment, and many of the bridge crew do something that looks like Tai Chi. They find a “Class M” planet where there shouldn’t be one and as they accidentally go through a wormhole in space everyone is passed out but Data, but only for 30 seconds. Turns out Picard has his own real life mystery to solve because things just aren’t adding up. Dr. Crusher’s experiment shows A DAY of growth, Worf’s wrist was broken and reset, the ship’s chronometer was tampered with, and Data is acting super shady.

They launch a second probe and head back whence they came because it’s clear Data messed with the first probe, and Troi is taken over by the inhabitants of the planet, the Paxans. Apparently they want to be left alone and for no one to know they are there and Picard himself ordered Data to lie to him and everyone else. Unfortunately, there were too many clues and curiosity got the best of the humans, so they decide to try one more time and to make sure there are NO CLUES this time. The second try works, Data almost manages a not creepy smile… well it’s more of a smirk, and away we go.

I have very fond memories of playing the board game ‘Clue’ and watching the Tim Curry movie “Clue” and there was no murder mystery here and I was very disappointed based on the title of this episode. It was a fun little mystery, much like the last episode, but it was very strange in some places. When Data is recalling the first time Picard just jumps to the solution of lying to everyone and it seems so unlike him. The second time, I can see the Paxan representative is intrigued by the humans and doesn’t really want to kill them, so they are willing to try again to avoid a galactic incident, lest their hiding place be found by others. Seeing the crew put all of the pieces together was fun but their treatment of Data made it seem like they still weren’t over what happened in “Brothers“. I was also hoping there would be a resolution to the “Dixon Hill” mystery and that Guinan had a bit more or a part to play. Oh well, it wasn’t a terrible episode and that earns it a 6-shooter.

TA Out!

Date: April 15, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 11 and 12

Musical Accompaniment: Coccolino Deep presents Eternal Sunshine

Interstellar News: It was very cold today, but all the blankets in the house are now clean and do not smell like dog or cat.

Favorite Quote from “Data’s Day”:

Data: Have you ever been an actual participant in a human wedding?

Worf: No.

Data: You would not consider it to be an honor?

Worf: An honor, perhaps. But human bonding rituals often involve a great deal of talking… and dancing… and… crying.

Data: Dancing.

You really have to listen to how Michael Dorn sells his lines, it’s fantastic.

“Data’s Day” begins with a log entry from Data to Commander Maddox who wants to know more about a typical day in the life of Data, especially his perceptions of friendship. Several things are happening aboard over the next few days namely O’Brien and Keiko plan to be married (Data standing in as the father of the bride), one of the crew is in labor, and a Vulcan Ambassador is beaming aboard for a secret mission.

Data tries to be helpful as Keiko wants to call off the wedding, but O’Brien does not react as he thought. Keiko also doesn’t react positively and poor Data is not only caught in the middle, but confused by pre-wedding jitters. Data is convinced that he should be able to help, he’s done the research and has even thought about maybe getting married one day himself. He even learns to dance, with the help of Dr. Crusher and the holodeck, and gets assistance from Worf to pick out the perfect wedding gift. The wedding eventually proceeds and Data doesn’t step on anyone’s feet.

The Vulcan Ambassador is all kinds of secretive and will speak only to Picard. They head into the Neutral Zone and meet up with a Romulan ship, apparently the Romulans are open to negotiating peace… nifty. No sooner does the transporter start there’s a malfunction and she dies in transit, a death that no one has ever heard of aboard a starship. The crew investigates and Data figures out the Romulans kidnapped the ambassador so they catch up with the Romluan vessel only to find out the Vulcan ambassador was really a Romulan spy. The Enterprise is allowed to escape and a new life is born to the ship.

I absolutely loved all of the parts of this episode except for those with the Vulcan ambassador in it. I will admit I did not see her being a spy until it was revealed, but everything else was just bland, boring, and stiff. It’s awesome that Data has a cat, that he tries to emulate human speech and just fails miserably, and that he did the damn research to see how to help build a successful marriage. Unfortunately people rarely follow logic when love is involved. I love the holodeck scene with Dr. Crusher, but Data needs to never smile like that again, reminds me of a certain Batman villain.

It’s quite sad that the main plot just doesn’t hold it’s weight (or maybe it’s the side plot) because nothing even happens… the Enterprise is free to leave and tell the rest of the Federation that they’ve been duped. I will note that I find it fascinating that Picard “hates” children but loves babies, or at least mystified by the miracle of life. I am totally the opposite where I start to like children around the age of 2. I’ll offer 6 Jokers for this episode: Romero, Ledger, Hamill, Nicholson, Phoenix, and Leto.

Favorite Quote from “The Wounded”:

Worf: The Cardassians have no honor. I do not trust them.

Troi: They’re our allies now, Mr. Worf. We have to trust them.

Worf: Trust is earned, not given away.

I laughed quite heartily at this line, it’s honestly the thing I would say if I were in a similar situation.

Picard’s Poetry: “If there is to be a lasting peace, Gul Macet, neither you nor I must allow any one man to undermine our efforts.”

“The Wounded” has the Enterprise interacting with some new allies, the Cardassians. They believe the terms of their truce has been broken as the Phoenix led an unprovoked attack and blew up a Cardassian research station, so a few Cardassians beam over as a gesture of good will so they can work together to find out just what is going on. They find the Phoenix as it annihilates a few more Cardassian ships and won’t reply to any hails. O’Brien has a frank conversation with one of the Cardassians and he and Keiko share comfort foods with each other. 

Maxwell, the captain of the Phoenix, is finally reached and he can’t answer any of Picard’s questions. The plan is for them both to return to star base 211… but the Phoenix rabbits in order to find another Cardassian vessel to prove that Maxwell was right and they are arming themselves for war. O’Brien beams over and helps talk Maxwell down, since he used to serve under him, and it’s clear Maxwell never dealt with the loss of his family from an attack by the Cardassians. Picard believes Maxwell was right and urges Gul Macet to keep the peace, or else.

So I’ll start with the obvious… every damn time they mention the word “Cardassian” I totally heard “Kardashian” and I am ashamed, though I have never watched even one second of their programming. I also love that there’s a bit from the last episode where they show O’Brien and Keiko getting to know one another through food and it’s adorable. It’s also nice to know a bit more about O’Brien’s past and I’m sad that it’s note all sunshine and rainbows, but it rarely is. It’s also quite a compelling story we are told: a captain has gone rogue… clearly something is wrong! Said captain believes the brand new allies are gearing up for war again… those bastards! Clearly he’s all torn up about losing his family to them, that must be it. Oh wait, they were gearing up for war and Picard is having none of it! Picard understands not only his duty to Starfleet but his diplomacy shines through as well when he sternly warns Gul Macet that there will be no tomfoolery on his watch. A very interesting episode indeed, and it earns an 8 from me… which you get if you add the numbers 1, 3, and 4 together, which is the number of days the O.J. Simpson trial went on for in 1995.

TA Out!

Date: April 14, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 9 and 10

Musical Accompaniment: A complication of Melodic Techno

Interstellar News: It was another beautiful, but lonely, day.

Favorite Quote from “Final Mission”:

Picard: Oh, I envy you, Wesley Crusher. You’re just at the beginning of the adventure. Go on. Get the water. Stay alive. They’ll find you.

Wesley: I’ll be back soon.

Picard: Of course. You remember I was always proud of you.

Who is cutting onions?!?! Seriously!

“Final Mission” begins with Wesley Crusher finally getting “the call” to go to the Academy, so he’s going to help Picard on a diplomatic mission for one last hurrah. There’s a distress call at a nearby planet so Riker and the crew are going to help while Picard and Wesley head aboard a shuttle with a man named Dirgo who was sent by the miners to help settle the dispute. No sooner does the shuttle craft leave the Enterprise’s bay they run into issues and crash into a nearby moon that’s basically a desert. The plot diverges back and forth to what is happening on the moon and what is happening on the ship.

The Enterprise is trying to deal with the issue of the planet that’s in trouble so they delay a search for the shuttle craft once they receive word it didn’t reach its destination. There’s a leaky ship that someone left in space and wandered over to Gamelan V that’s dumping radiation into the planet and they need help. They try about 10 different things until the last one finally works, in the last 10 seconds before radiation is exposure is fatal of course, and the barge goes riding into the sun.

Picard, Wesley, and Dirgo make their way over to the mountains with very few supplies, but they need to get out of the heat. They find a water source but it’s protected by a force field and some guardian that looks like Barry Allen when he’s in the Speed Force, who is quite dangerous and Picard is hurt. Dirgo tries to outsmart it but he winds up looking like Frodo after Shelob tried to eat him. Picard is fading quickly and tells Wesley to make friends with the groundskeeper at the Academy and then sends Wesley on his way to find help. Wesley, however, fucks with the sentry and is able to get to the water. The Enterprise finds them and everyone is going to live to see the next episode… except for Wesley who’s finally, really, maybe leaving?

There was nothing in this episode that wasn’t expected. If it’s really Wesley’s final day on set, then he’s going to have to spend time in a situation that shows off his skills and leads to a well earned goodbye (and something that allows him to hug his mom without him being embarrassed by it). So a spot randomly opens up, but doesn’t he have to take all the tests and other random shit the Academy’s put him through the last three years first? Putting that aside, you know neither Picard or Wesley are going to die and Dirgo is never going to listen to “a kid” and Picard has to be out of the way somehow to allow Wesley to shine, so again it’s not unexpected that he’s hurt and gives Wesley the “atta boy” speech he’s wanted for so long. I also knew the Enterprise was going to be delayed until the very last second, and come riding to the rescue. Having said all that, even “knowing” what was going to happen, I still enjoyed the episode. It allows Wesley’s character to come back and doesn’t leave any more death to follow Dr. Crusher or Picard. Wesley’s solution to getting the water worked, though no one was there to see it, but it was so rushed at the end I’m left just whelmed at the episode. I’ll take “times I’ve been disappointed by Wesley Crusher episodes” for 5, Alex.

Favorite Quote from “The Loss”:

Troi: I really would rather be alone right now.

Riker: Too bad. (he pulls her towards him, and she cries in his arms)

Troi: Is this how you handle all of your personnel problems?

Riker: Sure. You’d be surprised how far a hug goes with Geordi, or Worf.

I laughed quite heartily at this line, it’s honestly the thing I would say if I were in a similar situation.

“The Loss” begins with Counselor Troi doing some actual counseling with a crew member who lost her husband some time ago, and she’s pretty damn good at her job. Worf and Data see some strange readings and Troi suddenly develops a headache and severe pain, and Dr. Crusher has reports coming in from all over the ship. At an all hands meeting, Troi realizes she’s lost her mojo. She spends the episode going through almost all of the stages of grief, looks like someone on the writing staff paid attention in their counseling theories class. As a matter of principle, there is no right or wrong way to grieve. Some people go through stages linearly, some regress, some are never reached or skipped over entirely. The models used in grief counseling are a mere guide to helping someone understand loss, but there is no “one size fits all”. Cry, box, do whatever you need – but you’ll need outside help.

Troi is first in shock and denial, of course she’ll be fine and her Betazoid brain will totally heal itself. She quickly jumps to anger and has it out with anyone in her path, though she never really enters the bargaining stage. She experiences depression and starts to lose hope, how can she do her job as a mere human. Despite Picard, Riker, Guinan, her patient, and Dr. Crusher all providing evidence to the contrary, Troi is convinced she must resign. It’s when she works with Data and comes up with a solution that she starts to accept that maybe she isn’t worthless, but then her skills some back and the crisis is averted. Oh, there’s also something about 2-dimensional beings dragging the Enterprise to their doom, but I never really feel the danger there and just know they’ll get out in time.

As the ship’s counselor we’ve seen Troi mostly advise Picard because all of the action is on the bridge. It’s nice to see Troi in her element, using her empathy to help those on board. What I don’t like is how she pulls a Q and gives up at the first sign of being a “mere mortal”. This episode suffers from having to wrap up everything in a 45 minute episode, so she races through all of the stages and doesn’t spend any time lingering as we’ve got to move onto the next stage, oh and the ship is probably going to be sucked into a vortex or some such. I did like, however, that Riker and Guinan both show their expertise in counseling in their own way. Guinan makes a very convincing argument that she’d make an excellent ship’s counselor, I mean I would totally hire her to deal with my “First Year Freds”. Troi also doesn’t want to be counseled and Dr. Crusher makes the poignant observation that next to doctors, counselors make the worst patients and I absolutely feel attacked because that’s unfortunately me. As a Trek episode, this was pretty meh and standard, a 5 at best. As a counseling episode, however, this gets high marks for all of the good theory work. In a modified view of the Kubler-Ross model of grief, we’ll label this as stage 7 – acceptance.

On a slightly funny note, the shots of the Enterprise being pulled sideways reminds me of my dog, Professor Zoom, when we put his walking harness on him. He has this funny habit of walking sideways, like the ridiculous pupper that he is, and if I can ever get a video of it I’ll post it here.

TA Out!

Date: April 13, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 7 and 8

Musical Accompaniment: Ambient Worlds presents: Moon of Endor

Interstellar News: Today did not feel like a Monday at all.

Favorite Quote from “Reunion”:

Picard: Lieutenant, please receive our guest.

Worf: Captain, I must request permission to send another officer.

Picard: May I know your reason?

Worf: My dishonor among Klingons may offend Ambassador K’Ehleyr.

Picard: Lieutenant, you are a member of this crew, and you will not go into hiding whenever a Klingon ship uncloaks.

Worf: I withdraw my request, sir.

Worf will not be called a coward, so there!

Worf’s One-Two Punch: “A Klingon would not use poison. His murder would have no honor.”

“Reunion” begins with the Enterprise investigating some radiation anomalies when a Kligon cruiser decloaks and hails them, they have K’Ehleyr on board and she beams over with a tiny Klingon boy named Alexander, who is totally Worf’s baby. K’mpec is dying and wants to meet with Picard to have him be the mediator between the two Klingon warriors vying over his seat, oh and one of them has poisoned him. Worf doesn’t want to hurt the boy with his dishonor, as much as he wants to take the oath with K’Ehleyr.

During the ceremony of “poking the dead guy with the pain sticks”, or Sonchi as the Klingons call it, there’s an explosion. Picard needs more time so he chooses to have Duras and Gowron prove themselves to him using the ancient, and ridiculously long ways. In the meantime they find out it was a Romulan bomb that was implanted in one of the Klingon’s arms, and it was one who was with Duras. At the same time, K’Ehleyr looks into Khitomer and finds out what happens, so Duras kills her. Worf takes his “big fucking blade”, also known as a bat’leth and goes hunting for a particular Klingon named Duras. Worf claims K’Ehleyr as his mate and Alexander as his son, who will grow up with Worf’s adoptive parents.

I have SO MUCH TO SAY about this episode. First, I’m glad finally someone has to deal with the consequences on their actions, but why did it have to be Worf? But seriously, a reprimand on his record? I’m sure Worf is shaking in his boots over that (waves hands vigorously in sarcasm). Second, I love K’Ehleyr… a lot. Not only is she a bad ass Klingon and human, she’s now also a bad ass mom who totally embraced her human half when naming her son. I am soooo not here to discuss if she should have told Worf sooner, but we can now see the hierarchy of what’s more important – marrying your mate after you knocked her up or not claiming the kid so he’s not dishonored by your discommendation for made up reasons. I am so pissed at Duras because all of this is his fault on a million levels, and he’s a traitor just like his father. I am quite glad he is dead and Worf was able to avenge his mate, because normally the “good guys” don’t kill, even if it’s warranted.

The main story line is a murder mystery fused with a mediation that Picard has now become famous for. Picard uses his cunning and intellect to give himself time and still staying true to Klingon culture, and he speaks their language when appropriate to remind them he is in charge. I think I knew Duras was going to be the bad guy, but there was just enough that it could be Gowron and his big bulgy eyes. I am wholly satisfied with this episode, especially since I’ve not met Worf’s parents and “Grandma and Grandpa” will be a loving environment for Alexander. Sometimes being a parent means giving your child the best chance for a bright future. Another perfect 10, so damn good.

Favorite Quote from “Future Imperfect”:

Troi: So, what did you wish for, Will?

Riker: Music lessons.

Honestly, I had to pick something from a whole lot of nothing.

“Future Imperfect” has Riker celebrating his birthday, but of course the ship is being probed as they are near the Romulan border so Worf, La Forge, and Riker beam down. There’s a lot of interference and some gas and when Riker wakes up, he’s now captain of the Enterprise and 16 years have gone by. Dr. Crusher explains what happened when Admiral Picard, Troi, and Ambassador Tomalak arrive to finish negotiations between the Federation and the Romulans. There are other small differences too: La Forge doesn’t have his visor anymore, there’s a Ferengi at ops, Data is the first officer , and Riker apparently has a son named Jean-Luc.

Riker conjures up images of his dead wife and it’s Minuet, and then Riker begins to suspect that he’s in The Matrix, which Tomalak proves to be correct. Riker escapes with Ethan, the real name of the boy claiming to be Jean-Luc, who actually turns out to be the one responsible for creating the Matrix. Turns out his mom put him there to keep him safe but he’s been alone, and his really real name is Barash. Riker takes him up to the Enterprise and we are moving on to the next mission.

The entire episode I’m going “this is bullshit” every few minutes, and saying “this is exactly like Season 5 of Eureka, I know it.”, and I was right… kind of. There was too much exposition, too much “oh that explains it so perfectly”, that it made absolutely no sense and took Riker FOREVER to figure out. What kind of infection goes back to the memory point of its inception? On what planet do we live on that the whole gang would stay on the Enterprise for that long and not one person would move on? Okay so Picard and Troi left, but then they were there.

Also, Tomalak is only allowed to be an ambassador on Babylon 5! On Star Trek, he must be the bad ass Romulan who is out for blood! Here’s the thing though, I would have LOVED if it was the Romulans and Riker figured it out and was rescued or some such, but this sappy story about a lonely kid was just too much. I would have been fine with this as a trick by enemies, but how on Earth would this kid know exactly what to put in Riker’s head that would make it believable? This would have earned a 6, even though I knew what was happening from the get go, but because of the kid I give it a 4 string quartet, played by 4th graders who just received their instruments the day before.

TA Out!

Date: April 12, 2020

Season 4, Episodes 5 and 6

Musical Accompaniment: Ambient Worlds presents: Hufflepuff Common Room music

Interstellar News: Buona Pasqua, if you celebrate. 4 loads of laundry, 2 cleaned out closets, 2 family video chats, and 7 calls later we’re done talking to people and doing chores today.

Favorite Quote from “Remember Me”:

Dr. Crusher: I’d like Lieutenant Worf to program onboard sensors to monitor all personnel. If we can catch the exact moment someone disappears…

Picard: I’m sorry, whom did you say?

Dr. Crusher: Worf. (blank stare)

Chief of Security. (blank stare continues)

The big guy who never smiles? (blank stare continues for longer)

The Klingon!

McFadden’s delivery in this scene is fantastic. I mean it is hard to miss a Klingon on the bridge.

“Remember Me” begins with a log entry from Dr. Crusher who is welcoming her mentor aboard, Dr. Quaice. Quaice just lost his wife and is retiring, and laments to Beverly about how everyone he knows is dead or dying. She goes to check on Wesley in engineering, who is doing something with La Forge, and something strange happens.

Dr. Crusher goes to check on her friend, who isn’t there. In fact, no one remembers him getting on board and there’s no record of him at all ever existing. In MedLab she calls for several of her staff, who apparently do not exist either and the mystery deepens. I start to suspect that something happened to Dr. Crusher when she was down in engineering, since she seems to be the only one to remember the ship as it was, and everyone is acting just a little funny. As the number of people on the ship decreases, Dr. Crusher tries to figure her way out and does so (with a Wizard of Oz reference) just as Wesley and the Traveler also come at it from their end. All is right in the world and no one has actually disappeared.

I love that we finally have a Beverly Crusher centered episode. She knows something is wrong and is right on it, and everyone is backing her the entire way. She doubts herself several times, but then knows there is a problem and shrugs it off. She doesn’t melt into a puddle when her only son disappears because she is a bad ass mom who knows that she’ll fix whatever is happening. She also takes a literal leap of faith into the unknown hoping that her son and the rest of the crew were fixing exactly what she thought they were, and she was right. But there were no consequences for Wesley, as apparently everything is shrugged off because Dr. Crusher wasn’t really dead or in danger anymore. I was stoked about having a Crusher episode, but there were a few things I wish had been different. 7 bubble vortexes for me, please.

Favorite Quote from “Legacy”:

Riker: In all trust, there is the possibility of betrayal. I’m not sure you were prepared for that.

Data: Were you prepared, sir?

Riker: I don’t think anybody ever is.

Data: Then it is better not to trust.

Riker: Without trust, there’s no friendship, no closeness. None of the emotional bonds that make us what we are.

Data: And yet you put yourself at risk.

Riker: Every single time.

Riker with the hard truths. Curse your sudden, but inevitable, betrayal.

Worf’s One-Two Punch: “Pah!”

“Legacy” starts out with poker night that quickly turns into magic trick night where Riker gets schooled by Data. There’s a distress call that the Enterprise doesn’t get to in time. Two of the crew managed to escape in a pod, however they wind up in hostile territory which also happens to be where Tasha Yar was born. There’s “The Coalition” vs. “The Alliance” and Yar’s sister happens to be a part of the Coalition, so she beams up to the Enterprise to help them find the escape pod which is in Alliance territory.

Ishara Yar thought her sister was cowardly, but spends the next few hours learning about Tasha from her crew mates, especially Data. They try to enact one plan, but Ishara is hurt and they don’t make as much progress as they wanted. Ishara comes up with another plan and says she wants to leave the life she’s a part of, so they remove the proximity sensor in her chest. The away team beams down to enact the plan, but Ishara just wants to ruin the Alliance and is caught in the act. Although the crew members are saved, Data is as devastated as an android with no emotions can be. Ishara is beamed back and the ship leaves the area.

I was impressed by Riker’s discussion with Data and thought it very insightful of him. I will admit I got sucked into the fantasy that Ishara wanted to help and audibly gasped a little when she talked to the leader of her faction saying it was all going according to plan. Looking back at the episode, however, I’m also kind of mad at the crew of the Enterprise. They admit to themselves it might be a con job, let their emotions get the best of them, and then are all shocked that it’s a con job. I’m especially critical of Data, who supposedly doesn’t have emotions, but let his emotions for Tasha outweigh his good sense until he was hit over the head with evidence of Ishara’s betrayal. I mean it’s okay that I got sucked in, I don’t belong to Starfleet and haven’t served on the crew. Hell, I’ve only been watching TNG for two months. That earns this episode “Pah”, said 4 times in a row.

TA Out!