I have not been sleeping well and fell asleep last night around 10:00 pm, only to wake up around 10:00 am today. My body needed time to heal and rest, so there was no post for April 10th.
I write this post now for several reasons:
I have committed to write a post for each day.
Some of you reading this may need to know that it’s okay to take a break and let your body reset itself.
To let you know I am okay and will continue to watch Star Trek and report back.
I was going to do a “double post Saturday” like I’ve done in the past, but I’m just not feeling up to it.
No matter where you are, I hope you are well.
For now, here’s a picture from a time and place I wish I was still in.
‘Cause I don’t need boxes wrapped in strings And designer love and empty things Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days… “Better Days” – Goo Goo Dolls
Musical Accompaniment: Top 30 Piano Covers of Popular Songs (says 2020, but these are not from 2020)
Interstellar News: A lot has changed in a month, none of it good.
Favorite Quote:
Picard: You were asking for it, you know.
Robert: Yes, but you needed it. You have been terribly hard on yourself.
Picard: You don’t know, Robert. You don’t know. They took everything I was. They used me to kill and to destroy, and I couldn’t stop them. I should have been able to stop them! I tried. I tried so hard, but I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t good enough. I should have been able to stop them. I should! I should!
Robert: So, my brother is a human being after all. This is going to be with you a long time, Jean-Luc. A long time. You have to learn to live with it. You have a simple choice now. Live with it below the sea with Louis, or above the clouds with the Enterprise.
Picard: You know, I think you were right after all. I think I did come back so that you could help me.
Robert: You know what? I still don’t like you, Jean-Luc.
Oh brotherly love.
The Enterprise is getting repairs and a rare stop at home, Earth. I get the best news ever, THIS IS THE EPISODE WHERE I GET TO MEET WORF’S ADOPTIVE PARENTS! O’Brien and Worf have a cute discussion about family and then Worf’s super adorable Russian parents beam aboard. As they tour the ship they tell embarrassing stories about Worf to his crew mates, tell him how proud they are of him, and his dad tells anyone who will listen about how he has the schematics of the Enterprise at home. They spend some time with La Forge, Guinan, and even run into Picard as he gets back on board.
WHO IS CUTTING ONIONS?!?!
Picard heads to France to visit with his older brother, sister-in-law, and young nephew. Picard’s brother Robert tends to grapes and makes wine, of course, and is not a great lover of technology. He and Picard have a tenuous relationship, but after a brotherly brawl, a heart-to-heart, and a little wine they kiss and make up. I’m highly surprised Marie didn’t kill them both for making such a mess in her house, but maybe the French are more reserved then the Italians.
WHY ARE MY EYES LEAKING?!?!
Dr. Crusher pulls out some stuff from storage from her husband and it turns out Jack recorded something for Wesley. It’s not as adorable as Worf’s parents, nor as cathartic as Picard’s visit, but it’s something for Wesley as he is getting older and figuring out what it means to become an adult and wear the uniform.
THIS was what I wanted the conclusion of “The Best of Both Worlds” to be, but we had to have the middle part to get here. I guess if you look at all three episodes as part of a trilogy, the beginning and end are usually the best but the journey is what got us that far. This was such an amazing episode on different types of families and how every family is different, but in the end still the same. Sometimes it is the family we are born into, and sometimes it’s the family we choose, but no matter how you define family it’s those we love that help us through the hardest times and celebrate with us during the best times.
As someone who hopes to adopt a tiny human some day, I hope that I am as awesome as Worf’s parents. His parents are everything I think a parent should be: proud, embarrassing, worried, and present for the ups and the downs. The banter between Worf’s parents reminds my husband a bit of my dad and stepmom, and I admit I see that a little. There may have not been much in the way of science fiction in this episode, but it was an amazing look into the lives of the crew as they interact with those they don’t get to see often. It was good to see Picard unpack some of his trauma in a space he felt safe to do so, and I hope he gets more opportunity in the future. It was nice to see Wesley have a tender moment with the father he never really knew. It was a little confusing why everything went back to normal after all that happened, but sometimes a little “normal” is what you need to get you back on track.
Another perfect 10 and an update to the Rankings page for a Seasons and Episodes updated list. Oh and happy 100th post to me!
Musical Accompaniment: Top Cello Covers of Popular Songs from 2018
Interstellar News: I’m going to treat this as one big episode, resistance to this change is futile. Nothing new happened in the credits for Season 4.
Favorite Quotes:
Troi: You mean you’re older, more experienced. A little more… seasoned.
Riker: Seasoned. That’s a horrible thing to say to a man.
It’s so much better than her calling you an old man!
Data’s Not Really An Android: “Early bird? I believe Commander Shelby erred. There is no evidence of avifaunal or crawling vermicular lifeforms on Jouret IV.”
Riker: It’s not that simple. This was his crew. He wrote the book on this ship.
Guinan: And the Borg know everything he knows. It’s time to throw that book away. You must let him go, Riker. It’s the only way to beat him. The only way to save him. And that is now you chair, Captain.
Guinan uses words instead of physicality to achieve a “Leroy Jethro Gibbs head slap”.
Worf’s One-Two Punch: “The Borg have neither honor nor courage. That is our greatest advantage.”
Quick Summary: The Enterprise investigates an attack on a colony that is on the very outer edge of Federation space, and it turns out to be the Borg (from “Q-Who?“). Commander Shelby beams aboard as she’s been leading up the task force on the Borg threat and she’s the most Slytherin of them all, gunning for Riker’s First Officer spot, thinking he will take commission of the Melbourne soon. The music gets super dramatic as the Enterprise goes off to intercept the Borg when Picard is singled out by name, and captured, in order to be the Borg’s ambassador to Earth, where the cube is heading. An away team beams over to the Borg cube in order to try to save Picard and knock them out of warp for a while, as the Enterprise cannot keep up. The team disables the ship for a bit, but Picard is found to have been altered and assimilated, and Riker is forced to fire on the cube.
*waves hands in Jedi* This is not the Picard you are looking for…
Picard is now “Locutus of the Borg”, Riker is promoted to Captain, Shelby is made First Officer, and Starfleet is heading to intercept the Borg cube with 40 ships, because Riker did absolutely no damage to the cube. The Enterprise arrives at the battlefield later due to its repairs and it’s devastating, there are no signs of life. Riker hails the Borg cube to meet and “discuss terms of surrender” but Locutus does not believe him, so Riker separates the saucer section and sends Worf and Data in a shuttle craft so they can get onto the Borg ship and rescue Picard, which they are able to do. Dr. Crusher cannot figure out how to separate the man from the machine, but Data thinks he knows a way and hooks up their brains. Just as Data is about to explain who or what the root of all Borg is, Picard wakes up. As Riker is getting ready to slam the Enterprise into the Borg cube in the hopes of destroying it before it hits Earth, Data figures out a way to hack in and put the Borg to sleep via a regeneration cycle. Riker allows the Borg ship to self destruct and Picard is free from the influence of the Borg, for now.
Sleep, sleep my pretties.
My Thoughts and Impressions: Before I share my thoughts, I have to share a quick story. When I first started dating my now husband, he was shocked I had never seen Supernatural… so we started watching it. We would watch an episode or two at his apartment and then I would head to my house. I had no idea how long the season was or where we were in the season (we were watching on DVDs because the music is better, supposedly) so I said “one more episode and I’ve got to go home”. Well it was episode 22, the season 1 finale, and boy howdy is it a cliffhanger. While my jaw was still on the floor, he got up and turned off his Xbox and the TV and started to gather my things. I stared at him in disbelief that he thought I could just go home and not watch the season 2 premiere. It was late and I had to go, but it was the most evil thing he’s ever done to me in his life.
THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE!
I tell you that story to tell you this one… he warned me about this set of episodes once he saw I was getting near the end of this season. Another dear friend also explained I would want to watch them back-to-back and that it was awful having to wait months for the conclusion episode back in the 1990’s. So I knew something was coming, but I didn’t realize it would be the Borg or that there would be the cliffhangiest of cliffhangers. I am so grateful that I had some warning about this and that I could just watch the next episode, because I think I would have exploded if I had to wait for the ending of the episode.
or months, or year. This was totally an accurate depiction of my face, by the way.
Right, my thoughts. Well, here they are. Part 1 was amazing and I was on the edge of my seat the entire episode. Part 2 was okay, but I think because it was so hard to top the perfection of Part 1. You have to come to a resolution and Riker is tricksy and ballsy, you have to give him some credit. I wasn’t fond of how Riker kept giving “side eye” to whoever was in the room after he finished telling Shelby off in Part 1. It read very much like he was telling the other men in the room “can you believe this bitch?”, but I was happy how their relationship changed by necessity and he was able to put his personal feelings aside because she was the right person for the job. As soon as Part 1 ended, the first words out of my mouth were “Boy, is Picard going to have a hell of a case of PTSD” because the counselor in me never sleeps.
Even with a year’s worth of preparation Starfleet is not at all prepared for the Borg and it takes Data and Picard working together to get something that stops them, but only for a moment. And let’s be honest, it’s all Q’s fault – that bastard, for even putting the Federation on the Borg’s radar. Where was he in all this? Now the Borg see themselves as a benevolent species just wanting to improve the quality of life, and it’s very much like Loki in The Avengers when he tells the people gathering around them he wants to free them from the burden of choice.
I am burdened with glorious purpose…
Also, as someone with a background in computer programming I was surprised at how much of what Data said made sense when he was babbling about the Borg and how they are interconnected. Of course there’s a root and parents and children, heck I still teach about this in college. Overall I was fine with how they concluded the episode, but it was a little too neat and clean. We see how Riker is ready for the captain’s chair, how Wesley is still super green but understands what it means to wear the uniform, how La Forge tries to be a miracle worker but really can only do so much, and how Worf tries so damn hard to be the best he can be. Part 1 is a perfect 10 and Part 2 left a little something to be desired, so it’s no higher than a 7.5.
Musical Accompaniment: Top 40 Acoustic Guitar Covers, also from 2019. Apparently I am yearning for it to be last year.
Interstellar News: I am a Billy Joel song tonight. At least I’ve finished five loads of laundry over the past two days and have been on a nightly walk every evening it’s been nice out.
Favorite Quote from “Ménage à Troi”:
Tog: You see, your Betazoid skills would be very useful to me, and I find you very attractive. I am willing to pay handsomely for you.
Lwaxana: I don’t believe this.
Tog: You must be aware that every female has her price.
Lwaxana: Let’s get one thing straight, little man. I am not for sale. And if, by some chance I were to become available, I would rather eat Orion wing-slugs than deal with a toad-faced troll like you! So go away and find someone else to become your property.
Lwaxana is not for sale!
“Ménage à Troi” starts off with a Ferengi who “must have” Lwaxana and a lot of tension between mother and daughter, because that’s what happens when you’re unmarried and your mother has nothing better to do – sigh. Riker and Troi take some shore leave on Betazed and are joined by Mrs. Troi and Mr. Homn, but are interrupted by DaiMon Tog who beams everyone away but Homn, who was away berry picking. Lwaxana decides to negotiate and almost has the access codes when the doctor busts in and wants to study her.
Lwaxana and Deanna were beamed to the DaiMon without their clothes on, but moms are always resourceful and she wraps them in a covering.
The Enterprise gets the notice that their people are missing and are on the case. Just as Wesley heads to the Bradbury to take his oral exams, the last thing he needs to get into the academy, he realizes Riker’s message was in the static. Lwaxana eventually decides to ask DaiMon Tog to let Riker and Troi go and she’ll stay, willingly. Troi realizes her mother intends to have Picard save her by pretending they are lovers and he wants her back. He starts out awkward and then gets better and better pretending that Mrs. Troi is his great love until Tog gives into the bluff and Worf is clearly, and visibly, uncomfortable. Picard promotes Wesley to full Ensign and he gets a shiny new red outfit, although he has to wait another year to apply to the academy.
It’s always good to find out where a meme was born.
There are very few things rewarding about this episode. Lwaxana is an overbearing mother who knows what made her happy so that must make her daughter happy, right? As someone who had the exact same mother, I feel for Troi on this one. However, to Lwaxana’s credit, she does try… a little. She also beautifully plays her rescue and really does embrace her sacrifice so she can save her daughter. Picard’s awkward reciting of Shakepeare is nothing on John Cusack in “Say Anything”, but it’s hysterical and Riker can’t even keep it together in the background. It was a fun episode, but not remarkable, so I’ll assign it Sonnet 4.
Favorite Quote from “Transfigurations”:
Picard: It’s not up to us to judge their laws, Doctor.
Riker: I know how I would feel if the situation were reversed, if they were in our territory holding a Federation citizen.
Troi: The Zalkonians truly don’t understand our indecision about returning John. In their eyes, we shouldn’t even be involved.
Dr. Crusher: But we are involved. I saved his life. For what? So that they could chase him down and take away that life away?
The good doctor asking a really good question.
Worf’s One-Two Punch: “I have much to teach you about women.” … “I’ve been tutoring him. He learns very quickly.”
Professor McGonagall is very disappointed it’s not about that kind of transfiguration.
“Transfigurations” begins with the Enterprise charting a new star system and there’s apparently a fading life sign on one of the planets and is temporarily hooked up to La Forge to help stabilize the alien. Dr. Crusher is amazed by the cellular regeneration happening to the alien but when he wakes up he has no idea who is is or where he came from, so he’s called John Doe.
I CAN’T LOOK LEFT!
Data and La Forge talk shop at Ten-Forward and Worf calls for MORE MEAD!, as he’s there to relax not talk about work. All of a sudden La Forge gets all Rico Suave on a female crew member I could have sworn was “just wasn’t that into him” a few episodes ago. John is quite charming, so much so that Wesley thinks his mother is smitten, and also making remarkable progress physically, but not mentally. Data and La Forge figure out that there are navigational charts in the pod that were found with John and as they figure out where he came from, he starts to get his memory back. He knows he was trying to escape and asks for time to regain his memory and his body is pulsing a weird yellow light. All of a sudden there is the running… not quite as bad as “Let That Be Your Battlefield“, but John has got to get to a shuttle craft and leave the ship.
Strange things are afoot, however, when John can lay hands on O’Brien and heals his dislocated shoulder as well as bring Worf back from the dead after accidentally killing him. John also inadvertently helped La Forge with his confidence. John doesn’t know what is happening but knows he’s dangerous and he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Another vessel approaches and it is the same type of alien as our John Doe, who is apparently a criminal, a dissenter. As Picard tries to work with the Zalkonians, they pull a Darth Vader and start Force-choking everyone on the Enterprise when John remembers who he is, and what he is, and saves the whole ship. Apparently some of John’s people are mutants. John transforms into a yellow shiny man, the Zalkonian vessel flies away, and John beams himself away.
I loved the mystery of this episode and loved that it was an X-Men story, basically. Some people had a genetic mutation and those who didn’t were jealous/pissed/scared and hunted the “weirdos” down. I wasn’t pleased that the ending was so anti-climatic and seemed rushed, but it was a pretty awesome episode otherwise. A man who was hurt is genuinely pleased to have had his life saved and keeps working at it everyday until he is better. He is frustrated that he doesn’t remember but he tries to stay positive and is quite kind. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone and he just wants to be who he was meant to be, even if it’s living in a silly yellow suit and flying about the galaxy as a ball of energy. I’m knocking some points off for the severe lack of Dame Maggie Smith, but I give this one a warp 9.72, out of disrespect for the Zalkonians.
Interstellar News: I’ve been cooking and baking again: roasted red pepper hummus, Mongolian beef via the crock pot, crab Rangoon, and another round of cannoli cream. We’re also down to 20 rolls of paper towels, oh the humanity.
Favorite Quote from “The Most Toys”:
Fajo: I think you should be flattered.
Data: I am not, sir. Most intelligent lifeforms find involuntary confinement offensive and inequitable. Moreover, you have violated Federation law…
Another episode in dealing with captivity of intelligent beings.
“The Most Toys” begins with Data transporting unstable items back and forth to help with a problem on another planet but he is shocked and unable to move as the assistants helping load the shuttle scan what he is made of. As the shuttle departs it explodes and Data appears to be lost forever. As the Enterprise leaves Data is shown to be alive on the other ship because Kivas Fajo kidnapped him, he’s a collector of unique things. Fajo brings a friend along and Data does not speak or move, much to Fajo’s deep disappointment. As he will not willingly destroy Data, he instead attempts to kill his assistant Varria until Data listens and sits on the chair.
*waves hand in Jedi* This is not The Collector that you are looking for. That’s right a Star Wars reference and a MCU reference rolled into one.
Back on the Enterprise, La Forge and Wesley go through Data’s stuff and reminisce about the past but La Forge thinks something is fishy. Worf is promoted to ops in Data’s place and Troi and Worf discuss his propensity for replacing dead crewmembers. La Forge realizes something is wrong when Data didn’t follow protocol. Worf reads something weird down on the planet they were trying to help and they realize that there might be a bigger issue at hand and they catch on that Fajo likely wanted Data and they head back to try and find his ship.
Thank you for this gem, knowyourmeme.com
Varria and Data try to make a break for it but Varria is killed and Data holds Fajo at a lethal phaser point. Just as he discharges the weapon, O’Brien beams him back and Fajo is taken into custody. Data lies to Riker and O’Brien about what happened and he tells Fajo that his collection has been dismantled.
So this episode got really dark really fast. We’ll start with the good as Brent Spiner is fantastic when he is acting like Data in protest, not blinking and falling over without so much as a movement. This is also the second time Picard has let something slip and instantly regretted it, the first being when he uttered “Broccoli” in “Hollow Pursuits“, and this time when he issues a command for “Mr. Data” and it should have been “Mr. Worf”. The “bad”, which is simply the dark parts of this episode, is Fajo’s inability to see how wrong it is for him to imprison Data and also how wrong it is for him to hold his assistants has hostages to get what he wants.
I’m reminded of “Bread and Circuses” and “The Squire of Gothos” where punishment was used to illicit entertainment and a child-like personality took captives through force. A phrase that would be used today would be “white male privilege” as Fajo explains his father was rich and he does what he wants without consequence. I understand why they chose to not have Data actually kill, that would the heel turn of the century, and I cannot have Data be the bad guy. Another episode about captivity and another person who believes Data is a thing, what a sad time the future might be. This episode earns a 9th entry in the Royal Rumble.
Favorite Quote from “Sarek”:
Picard: Peace and long life.
Sarek: Live long and prosper.
Picard with the hard truths. This “stay at home” is starting to feel like imprisonment, sigh.
“Sarek” begins with the news that the Enterprise will be hosting a conference with a new alien species, the Legarens. Sarek will be coming aboard with a new wife, as Spock’s mother is likely dead by now, and this will be his last mission of peace before retirement at the age of 202. As Sarek is ancient, he’s going to need a lot of rest per his chief of staff’s request, but Sarek is all business when he beams on board and wants to go to the conference room. Wesley and La Forge are working on getting the conference room ready but it’s just not correct yet and Sarek is a bit, dare I say, emotional.
Emotional? Did you say emotional?
Sarek cannot meditate, Wesley and La Forge get into a huge argument, and something is afoot on the ship. The concert is lovely, so much so that Sarek cries – he sheds a few tears people! – and they leave before the end. Dr. Crusher also starts acting strangely and slaps Wesley, in fact everyone is acting strangely and a bar brawl breaks out in Ten-Forward. Turns out Vulcans over 200 can sometimes have a syndrome that can be telepathically transferred to others, most noticeably in a scene with Picard and Riker. Sarek doesn’t believe he is sick and tries to use logic on Picard, but Picard out-logics him, fascinating. They come up with the proposition of a mind meld with Picard and Sarek. Sarek is in control of himself again and Picard is an utter mess, but the conference goes well and Sarek can retired in peace.
So. Much. Slapping. Thank you How I Met Your Mother for this gem.
Mark Lenard is amazeballs and hell, so is Sir Patrick Stewart. The emotion of these two actors is so captivating that I’m clinging to every word. To know that Sarek loves so deeply and that Vulcans have these intense emotions they choose not to experience because it almost drove them mad centuries ago is craziness. The fact that Picard is able to lend his calmness to Sarek is another show of Picard’s ability to lead a starship. There are a few things that I didn’t like about the plot and I absolutely hate when people lie to coverup something that relates to the pride of someone else, it always ends poorly. However, the last 20 minutes were so good that this earns an 8 track tape.
To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before 