And my step-father, always him.
But it's really only a handful of episodes that I distinctly remember from that time. I can't tell you why I remember some episodes so clearly and others not at all, and others are associated with times years later.
But from that time at home: Encounter at Farpoint, Code of Honor, Justice, Arsenal of Freedom, Skin of Evil, Conspiracy, the Neutral Zone...
So, yeah, this is one of those episodes I remember from that time. I mean, specifically. Now that doesn't mean I have some sort of extra affection for the shows I recall seeing - just that I remember watching them.
And I do remember enjoying these episodes back then. Not in any sort of meaningful way. This episode, I've got a fondness for that belies any sort of rational explanation. But all counts, this isn't very good. And again, not much of anything from season one is good.
I think it's a pretty easy story to tell. Three stories this week all rolled into a single larger plot. That in and of itself is a big deal, as there are episodes in the first season where the storylines aren't connected in any meaningful way.
The three stories can be summed up like this: A) Picard and Dr Crusher bond while she's injured and they're lost. B) Riker, Yar, and Data spend time dodging laser shooting floating thingies on the planet's surface and C) Geordi learns to be a captain while everyone else with any authority has left the ship.
A couple of thing happened in this episode that I thought were… well… interesting. First, the Enterprise shows up after hunting for a missing Federation vessel at a world filled with the remains of a long destroyed advanced civilization.
I think this is something that Star Trek did a lot over the course of its run that I really enjoyed, and that’s the idea that all these space-faring civilizations that pepper the cosmos aren’t a new thing. Instead, the galaxy is teeming with the rubble of fallen empires that spanned the stars long ago. Even this early in the Next Generation’s run, we’ve had the, uh, whoever it was in that episode that introduced us to the Ferengi, and these guys, and of course we’ll be introduced to the Iconians later, the alien trap the almost destroyed the Enterprise in the ‘Booby Trap’ episode, as well as the progenitors that seeded the galaxy with humanoid life, and the builders’ of the Dyson Sphere… I’m sure there are others too that I’m forgetting.
Look, my point with all that is that I don’t really remember that much. I think I’ve decided to start a spreadsheet that logs every time Worf gets his ass kicked, every time an alien is just a guy or girl (no makeup at all), every time an alien has a bumpy head, or funny nose, or if the alien is really weird (like, not humanoid at all), or, in this case, the menace is from an artifact of a long dead civilization.
Seems like it would be fun, after the fact, and be able to say, ‘Oh yeah, Picard tugged on the bottom of his tunic 134 times over the course of the series, but only did it twice in episodes where Romulans were the antagonist.’
Whatever. It seems fun to me. Don’t judge me. I don’t judge you. Sheesh.
Where was I? Oh yeah, so there is this planet, full of abandoned tech and weapons, all in ruins, and a missing starship. Once there, Riker and Yar and Data beam down, and Riker gets zapped by an alien thingy and is frozen in some sort of energy cocoon.
Of course, Picard has to come down to save Riker. So he and Dr Crusher visit. Data figures out how to release Riker but then that alien thingy shows up and starts up with its zapper. The away teams get separated and Picard and Crusher fall down a well.
Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, something actually kinda interesting happens. Geordi is left in charge and is immediately told to surrender his command to the Chief Engineer… LOGAN!
So, McDougal, Argyle, Singh… now Logan is the main man in Engineering. But he wants it all, so demands Geordi let him play as boss. In what is typical in first season writing, Logan dismisses Geordi’s rationale for staying in orbit as stupid, so a bit later when Geordi is forced to leave orbit, Logan dismisses Geordi’s rationale for leaving orbit as stupid.
Also typical of writing in this first season, Geordi is the perfect leader, he encourages the crew under him and is great at being inspirational. Then Troi pulls him aside into Picard’s ready-room and admonishes him – telling him that he needs to be encouraging and inspirational.
Uh, okay, that made no sense at all, but Geordi, being the good sport he is, acts like he’s received the best instructions ever on how to be a good leader, so he goes back out and acts exactly the same as he was already and leads the team to victory against the thing in orbit that is trying to destroy the Enterprise.
And on the planet, Picard and Dr Crusher flirt at the bottom of the well, while Data and Riker and Yar wander around shooting the thingies that keep attacking them. Eventually Picard turns on a TV and it’s a salesman that says they have the best weapons ever.
Picard realizes that it’s an automated sales pitch that will only end once the prospective buyers are destroyed, or they agree to purchase the weapons. So Picard agrees to purchase. Everything shuts down.
And justice prevails.
So, super very much of the nature of being quick... some thoughts:
So, as much as I have an affinity for this episode, it's no one's finest hour. Parts of it make no sense, and there isn't much here to praise. So I feel really odd saying that it kind of worked for me. not a lot, but kinda sorta. If I gave half stars, it'd get two and a half.
But I don't. So I won't.
My rating?
2 out of 5
A couple of thing happened in this episode that I thought were… well… interesting. First, the Enterprise shows up after hunting for a missing Federation vessel at a world filled with the remains of a long destroyed advanced civilization.
I think this is something that Star Trek did a lot over the course of its run that I really enjoyed, and that’s the idea that all these space-faring civilizations that pepper the cosmos aren’t a new thing. Instead, the galaxy is teeming with the rubble of fallen empires that spanned the stars long ago. Even this early in the Next Generation’s run, we’ve had the, uh, whoever it was in that episode that introduced us to the Ferengi, and these guys, and of course we’ll be introduced to the Iconians later, the alien trap the almost destroyed the Enterprise in the ‘Booby Trap’ episode, as well as the progenitors that seeded the galaxy with humanoid life, and the builders’ of the Dyson Sphere… I’m sure there are others too that I’m forgetting.
Look, my point with all that is that I don’t really remember that much. I think I’ve decided to start a spreadsheet that logs every time Worf gets his ass kicked, every time an alien is just a guy or girl (no makeup at all), every time an alien has a bumpy head, or funny nose, or if the alien is really weird (like, not humanoid at all), or, in this case, the menace is from an artifact of a long dead civilization.
Seems like it would be fun, after the fact, and be able to say, ‘Oh yeah, Picard tugged on the bottom of his tunic 134 times over the course of the series, but only did it twice in episodes where Romulans were the antagonist.’
Whatever. It seems fun to me. Don’t judge me. I don’t judge you. Sheesh.
Where was I? Oh yeah, so there is this planet, full of abandoned tech and weapons, all in ruins, and a missing starship. Once there, Riker and Yar and Data beam down, and Riker gets zapped by an alien thingy and is frozen in some sort of energy cocoon.
Of course, Picard has to come down to save Riker. So he and Dr Crusher visit. Data figures out how to release Riker but then that alien thingy shows up and starts up with its zapper. The away teams get separated and Picard and Crusher fall down a well.
Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, something actually kinda interesting happens. Geordi is left in charge and is immediately told to surrender his command to the Chief Engineer… LOGAN!
So, McDougal, Argyle, Singh… now Logan is the main man in Engineering. But he wants it all, so demands Geordi let him play as boss. In what is typical in first season writing, Logan dismisses Geordi’s rationale for staying in orbit as stupid, so a bit later when Geordi is forced to leave orbit, Logan dismisses Geordi’s rationale for leaving orbit as stupid.
Also typical of writing in this first season, Geordi is the perfect leader, he encourages the crew under him and is great at being inspirational. Then Troi pulls him aside into Picard’s ready-room and admonishes him – telling him that he needs to be encouraging and inspirational.
Uh, okay, that made no sense at all, but Geordi, being the good sport he is, acts like he’s received the best instructions ever on how to be a good leader, so he goes back out and acts exactly the same as he was already and leads the team to victory against the thing in orbit that is trying to destroy the Enterprise.
And on the planet, Picard and Dr Crusher flirt at the bottom of the well, while Data and Riker and Yar wander around shooting the thingies that keep attacking them. Eventually Picard turns on a TV and it’s a salesman that says they have the best weapons ever.
Picard realizes that it’s an automated sales pitch that will only end once the prospective buyers are destroyed, or they agree to purchase the weapons. So Picard agrees to purchase. Everything shuts down.
And justice prevails.
So, super very much of the nature of being quick... some thoughts:
- Behind the scenes, I read that they actually had to shut production down on the series because the script was unfilmable. Everyone took a few days whilst the production staff tried to fix the story. Odd, because this is probably one of the better episodes in this season. Don't get carried away with that statement... this ain't great.
- Chief Engineer Logan is comically Machiavellian in his attempt to usurp authority in this episode. And also, who the hell is he?
- Counselor Troi was not watching the same episode I was when she decided she had to talk Geordi through how to be a leader. He was doing great on his own.
- The floating thingy that shot Riker and chased everyone all over the surface of the planet... I was going to say that the CG was pretty not great on it, then I saw that it was a practical effect, done on set with a guy working that prop like it was a puppet. I was suddenly impressed that they could make a practical effect look like cartoony CG. God, my brain is so confused right now.
So, as much as I have an affinity for this episode, it's no one's finest hour. Parts of it make no sense, and there isn't much here to praise. So I feel really odd saying that it kind of worked for me. not a lot, but kinda sorta. If I gave half stars, it'd get two and a half.
But I don't. So I won't.
My rating?
2 out of 5
Maybe the thing with Troi was filmed before they decided to make Geordi competent?
ReplyDeleteHa! Or the episode was running short and they needed another minute or two to fill out the allotted time.
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