TNG - "Q Who"

Q returns, whisking away the Enterprise to a sector of space where they encounter the Borg, a nigh-omnipotent cybernetic race. After the Enterprise is helpless to defend themselves against the Borg, Q returns the Enterprise home with the knowledge that the Borg are now aware of the Federation, and will be coming for them in the future.

This is one hell of an episode.

First of all (and somewhat unrelated to the main plot), we get a ton of information about certain incredibly powerful beings. Q states that although he still retains all of his powers, he has been "kicked out" of the Q continuum. That's certainly a fascinating idea. What's even better, Guinan and Q have a magic-hands face-off!

It doesn't really lead anywhere, but it's funny. Q refers to Guinan as "an imp," someone who's dangerous to the Enterprise. Does this mean that Guinan has abilities on the level of Q? She certainly has a certain knowledge of the Q, as well as other alien races in this unknown sector of space. Speaking of which, this sector, though not terribly far away from the Federation, is basically the edge of what we'll come to know in Star Trek Voyager as the Delta Quadrant. Q states that it contains "wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine, and terrors to freeze your soul." No more little insignificant planets where the greatest threat is that they might blow themselves up if they got their hands on a phaser because they're too stupid; now we're dealing with races so far beyond the Federation's level that they can't even run.

After this, it feels as though the entire show has been changed. There's no more lounging about in the flying leather sofa that is the Enterprise-D, casually dealing out space justice. Now there's a looming threat that defies the humanistic "we are above all" ideals of the Federation as well as the notion of general safety. Much as in "Skin of Evil," The Enterprise can do nothing more than simply run (and in this case, needing Q's help to do so), taking a heavy loss. Unlike "Skin of Evil"'s Armus, however, the Ent-D crew can't simply run away and forget this encounter; this time the threat will follow them. No one "important" died here; we're just given a simple mention of the fact that eighteen crewmembers were killed when the Borg sliced up the Enterprise's saucer section. But somehow this feels far more chilling than anything we've seen before. And from a purely statistical standpoint, 18 crewmembers is an absolutely huge loss, considering that the Enterprise-D has rarely lost anyone in its journey thus far, and never more than one or two people at a time.

The Borg are the exact inverse of the Federation. If the Federation's greatest strength is its ability to solve problems through peaceful negotiation, then the Borg are invincible against them. Though we really only get a preview of them here, the Borg have the potential to become the biggest and best villains in Trek history.

This episode might be the best in the series thus far. It's just a taste of what's to come, but it's a powerful one.

TNG - "Skin of Evil"

This is an average episode with a few highlights and a few lowlights. However, it's one of the most remarkable episodes in Trek history for one simple reason: it was the first time a main character was permanently killed.

Tasha goes out with a meaningless death. She has a brief character moment in the beginning of the episode, dies, then is mostly unmentioned for the rest of the story until the end. It's as though this story was written in its entirety, and Tasha's death was merely inserted into it afterward. However, there are a few moments that really do a lot to make it work.

There's a brief moment in the cold open where Tasha and Worf have a short conversation. We see there that Worf respects Tasha, both as a warrior and as a friend, which Tasha reciprocates. Later, when Worf is given Tasha's place as Security Chief, he is visibly unsure of himself, but firm in his resolve to do his best. It's one of the best scenes for Worf we've had yet, and it definitely shows a growing depth and maturity for the character and the series as a whole.

The funeral scene is easily one of the most touching moments in TNG history. It gives meaning to Tasha's character where it had previously been sorely lacking. The reactions of the crew to her death seem genuine—and, according to reports from the cast, were in fact genuine reactions to Denise Crosby's leaving the show. In particular, Data and Picard's reactions are the most powerful. Patrick Stewart does an amazing job portraying the sadness Picard is undoubtedly feeling without shedding a tear. Data, in his childlike way, summarizes the very concept of death and loss of loved ones in a perfect way, proving that, in certain ways, he's just as human as anyone else.

The villain of the story, Armus, is a bit cheesy. He's too much like an old-style movie monster, and his voice has an almost technological echo to it that's somewhat distracting. It doesn't help that the environment he's in is the classic "rocky, barren planet" set, which is rarely convincing. One notable thing about Armus, however, is that he's a rare Trek villain that is not defeated. After Tasha's death, the Enterprise crew grabs Troi and leaves, because that's all they can really do. (Personally, I'd have shot a photon torpedo into Armus from space, but that's just me) Perhaps if Armus had died, Tasha would have sprung back to life? That's usually how those types of things work in Trek. And it's perhaps for that reason that this story is so surprising. Although we get a sci-fi solution to the problem of rescuing the crashed shuttle crew, Tasha dies, Armus isn't defeated, and the Enterprise crew ultimately suffers a significant loss.

Speaking of the crashed shuttle crew, one particularly nice touch is the way that Troi refers to Riker as "imzadi" when he's in mortal danger. It's a good bit that shows continuity not often seen in the show thus far.

In the end, this episode is great in concept, but not so great in execution. The character bits with Tasha are great, but nearly everything dealing with Armus is a bit sloppily done. It's a shame that Tasha couldn't have gone out with a better episode than this, but it's a decent story, and a far sight better than anything Tasha's gotten thus far.

TNG - "When the Bough Breaks"

The Enterprise discovers Aldea, the space equivalent of Atlantis, where people have become infertile and resorted to cloning. Now, however, the DNA source for the cloning is breaking down. The Aldeans kidnap the Enterprise's children and plan to use them to create new DNA for the cloning machines to use, thus preserving the Aldean race. The children, however, led by Wesley, passively resist the Aldeans' attempts to make them cooperate, while the Enterprise finds a way to break in and save them. In the end, Beverly manages to make the Aldeans fertile again, and the Enterprise leaves with its kids.

Well, this was kind of a middling episode if there ever was one. Part of the problem is that there's no real "threat" here. The kids aren't in any real danger, exactly, they're just forced to stay in a new (nice) home, but separated from their parents. The Aldeans aren't malevolent, just misguided. This would be fine if we got anything in the way of depth here, but we don't. The Aldeans are mostly two-dimensional characters at best, acting more like plot devices than real people.

Wesley actually shines a little here, showing maturity as he leads the kids in passive resistance. It's definitely behavior befitting of a Starfleet officer.

There just isn't anything here that's memorable. It's an interesting story concept, but there just isn't enough suspense or anything else to keep it interesting.

TNG - "Too Short A Season"

When the Enterprise is sent on a mission to negotiate for the release of hostages on the planet Mordan, they are also host to an elderly Admiral, Mark Jamison, who negotiated the release of hostages on Mordan 45 years ago. Jamison then secretly begins taking an experimental anti-aging medication, quickly and painfully reverting to a young man. It is eventually revealed that Jamison's success came at a terrible cost which plunged the planet into civil war for decades. The current hostage crisis is in reality an attempt to get Jamison back to the planet, where he can pay for his crimes. Eventually, Jamison dies due to the medication, and the hostages' captor releases the hostages, satisfied.

This episode could have been a very good one, if not for (ironically) the character of Mark Jamison. He was terribly-acted and covered in terrible aging makeup for the majority of the episode. Additionally, his entire "quest for youth" storyline seemed to be unnecessary. Either the hostage crisis or the youth potion storyline would have been fine episodes on their own, but together they seem to come into conflict.

This just isn't a very entertaining episode. It centers on a character we don't care about, then forces us to watch as this character does more and more stupid things, all the while badly acted and covered in muddy-looking makeup.

TNG - "11001001"

Four computer-like aliens the hijack the Enterprise in order to use its computer to save their world. Meanwhile, Riker falls for a hologram woman.

First of all, this episode easily has the most beautiful intro of any Trek episode thus far. We're lucky if we ever get anything beyond seeing the Enterprise-D with stock footage at all the normal angles, but here we see a ton of brand-new stuff, including the Enterprise (at a gorgeously unconventional angle) entering and docking with a starbase (which also looks amazing). The music here is also very good; definitely above what we normally hear in TNG at this point.

The crew seems to have grown a bit here. They're marginally less stiff and ridiculous than before; Worf is even developing a sense of humor.

In a surprising turn, this episode gives us perhaps the best dramatic moment in the series yet when the Enterprise is seemingly in danger of being destroyed. Finally, we see characters reacting naturally to an urgent situation. Data is still rather emotionless, but not at all calm. He acts quickly and urgently, portraying all the command authority that the Second Officer of the Enterprise should have. He also deals with his own version of guilt, questioning himself over whether or not he should have been on the bridge to deal with the situation. After all, he notes, he does not need sleep or rest, and can spend an endless amount of time on active duty. This kind of examination of personal responsibility is great to see, especially from Data.

In another shining moment of characters not being stupid, Picard and Riker act perfectly intelligently and boldly when they realize what's happened. They even take into account some of the important elements of the Trek universe that are often ignored, such as the fact that transporters take several seconds to rematerialize individuals.

In one of the weirdest (and yet also most sensical) subplots yet, Riker explores the possibilities of a relationship with a holographic character, the mysterious Minuet. Interestingly, it's not approached from a "this is a bad thing" standpoint, but rather a "it's sad that she doesn't stick around, because this relationship had room for exploration" view. Apparently the 24th century is VERY open when it comes to who and what you have relations relationships with.


The ultimate threat in this episode is less significant than threats in prior episodes, but the fact that this one has such realistic dramatic emphasis anyway only serves to show just how well-done this story truly is. Everything here, from the Bynars to the crew's recreational activities could have come off as silly, but they're handled rather expertly. For the first time, the crew really seem like real people going about their lives, not actors trying to deal with ridiculous dialogue and situations.

TNG - "Angel One"

When the Enterprise searches for the survivors of a lost Federation ship, they find them on Angel One, a planet where women rule over men in a purely matriarchal society. The ship's survivors, all men, did not accept being subjugated by the planet's rulers and are now fugitives. While Riker, Troi, and Yar attempt to stop the men from being executed, the Enterprise is plagued by a mysterious and deadly virus that stops anyone from beaming back aboard the ship. In the end, the men are spared, but exiled to a remote area of the planet, while Crusher manages to create an innoculant to the virus.

I'm not entirely sure if this episode is sexist or not. It's definitely attempting to be a commentary on sexism, yet because it constantly shows women in a negative light, one could almost assume that it is sexist in itself. Personally, I think it really comes down to this: sexists are stupid, no matter who they are. Saying that women can't be sexist is also sexist. What if the roles were reversed, and Angel One was a traditional patriarchal sexist society? Would this episode not be viewed as a brilliant commentary on sexism, then?

Okay, I never want to type "sexist" that many times in a paragraph again.

Riker wears the male equivalent of loose, skanky clothing. Troi and Yar laugh at him. This is simultaneously one of the most awkward and yet genuine moments we've had thus far. It's awkward 'cause, well, Riker's chest is all over the TV screen and his legs are showing. It's genuine because of the ladies' amused reactions.

The B plot of the episode is the usual "deadly virus infects entire crew; CMO manages to find a cure at the last possible moment" storyline. It has nothing special going for it. It's seriously just there to fill up time. There is one interesting moment, however, when Picard and Beverly talk about whether or not to sedate Wesley so that he's not awake when he dies. It's a bit disturbing, actually, and I want to call BS on Beverly even suggesting the idea. No mother would ever put her child to sleep like that, even if it was "out of mercy."

This is ultimately a really bland episode filled with awkwardness and near-meaningless social commentary. Worth watching if you're a Trek completionist, but not really worth anything otherwise.

TNG - "Datalore"

The Enterprise travels to Data's home planet, where all life, human or otherwise, has been mysteriously wiped out. There they discover a "brother" of Data's, an identical android named Lore. Lore, unlike Data, is highly emotional and arrogant. He attempts to switch places with Data, and it is revealed that Lore betrayed the colonists of his world by leading a massive life-eating "Crystalline Entity" to the planet and letting it destroy all life. After the Enterprise crew figures out what's going on, Data beams Lore into space.

That summary was the longest I've had to write for a TNG episode thus far, save for the 2-hour premiere. That should either tell you how important this episode is or how simplistic most of the show is at this point. Unfortunately, it's a little of both, mostly the latter.

Lore is a great villain, if slightly stereotypical. What makes him really work is the awesome job Brent Spiner does playing Data's polar opposite. Spiner taps into a kind of narcissistic madness with a dose of Machiavellian style. If not for this, Lore would have been a wasted, stupid character.

Wesley once again is "the only smart person on the ship" as well as "the kid that no one listens to." It's getting more than annoying. At this point, it just makes everyone on the Enterprise (as well as everyone in the TNG writers' room) look really stupid.

The crystalline entity looks cool, even if it is obvious CG. Crystals, being generally low-polygon structures, have the advantage of looking fine with old-style CG.

If there's one problem with this episode, it's that, for all its notability, it's just... "there." The introduction of Lore—the closest thing Data has to family thus far—doesn't seem to have changed Data all that much; he pretty much goes back to his station at the end, seemingly having gained or lost nothing. This really feels like a one-off episode that's decent, but not necessarily great.

DS9 - "A Man Alone"

This is an Odo episode, and one that really doesn't do much with him. If anything, it establishes that he holds his own personal convictions above the law itself. A memorable moment in this episode has Odo and Sisko arguing about whether or not to follow Federation law, when Odo makes an extremely insightful comment: "Laws change, depending on who's making them. Cardassians one day, Federation the next. But justice is justice." If this episode succeeds in any one aspect, it's this one. We see that Odo is not merely a strict security chief, but a belief-driven man.

Other minor relationships are established here. Jake and Nog meet and become friends very quickly, much to Sisko's chagrin. To date, Jake has been nothing more than an annoyance in the show, and he doesn't get any better here. Nog is somewhat more entertaining.

Bashir's pursuit of Jadzia gets borderline-creepy in this episode. She seems ready to put the hammer down and tell him to stop, but he comes off as pathetically persistent. It's actually somewhat uncomfortable to watch.

There's one aspect of this episode that's particularly bothersome. Doctor Bashir accidentally grows a clone of someone, then that clone is apparently offscreen allowed to go his own way and live his own life. How is that possible? Does the clone retain all of his template's knowledge? If so, that would be rather troubling, since the template was a murderer. If the clone does not, in fact, contain all the memories and personality of the template, then is he simply a blank slate with no ability to function as an adult in Bajoran society? There doesn't seem to be a good answer to this one, and yet we're supposed to just gloss over this major point with happy faces. It's not enough to majorly bring the episode down, but it's concerning how little attention this detail was given.

"A Man Alone" is nice, but ultimately not too amazing. It's just another DS9 episode that has the characters doing very little that's actually exciting.

TNG - "The Big Goodbye"

Picard, Data, Beverly, and a redshirt go to the holodeck in order to act out a 1940s detective story. Once there, a glitch turns off the safety protocols, making the story life-threateningly real. When a villain in the program holds the crew hostage, Picard tricks him into stepping outside the holodeck and de-materializing.

With this episode, the holodeck can now do virtually anything it wants; it's basically a window into imagination. It's also nice to see some of Picard's fun side as he dives headfirst into the role of Dixon Hill, P.I.

At the end, we actually almost come to care for the holodeck characters. They're only made of photons and bits of data, yet, when programmed properly, appear to be self-aware. What are they, exactly? Are they people? Do they truly exist? We're only left with that brief question, then returned to the ship. These kinds of "big questions" are exactly the kind that Star Trek was created to answer, and it's great to see TNG delve into them a bit.

DS9 - "Past Prologue"

This episode is near-completely centered on Kira's loyalties.  Since she's the second-in-command of DS9, it makes sense to have such an early episode of the series deal with this subject. After all, the TNG era is about harmony, not strife.  From a storytelling standpoint, I'm not sure if I like that or not.

The story itself is well-told, though it could have been done a bit more dramatically.  In TNG, even the most unexciting of scenes could be made into extremely intense moments with the acting of Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, or Brent Spiner.  Here, however, we don't get anything anywhere near as deep.  It's all mostly surface-level, which makes it only "serviceable," not "great."

Bashir's youthful paranoia and naivete are very funny to watch; he's definitely one of the more likable characters on DS9 thus far.

Kira has a much shorter haircut.  It suits her better, I think.

Lursa and B'Etor (who would later become the infamous destroyers of the Enterprise-D) are very very low on my list of favorite characters, but it's still nice to see continuity between the Trek series.

As stated before, the main plot of this episode, that of Kira's divided loyalties, is well-done, but is not anything remarkable in terms of actual storytelling.

DS9 - "Emissary"

Is there a better way to start a series than with the epic battle of Wolf 359?  No.  Did it work?  Mostly.

The battle itself had great special effects work, with the notable exception of the way the ships maneuvered.  While I can buy the Voyager swiftly diving and banking into turns, the bulky Nebula- and Miranda-class ships should barely be able to move at all, let alone turn on a dime.  One very important thing for Trek battles is that the ships have to move realistically for their design; generally, the larger and/or wider a ship is, the less maneuverable.

There's a notable use of shaky-cam here as the Saratoga is rocked by weapons fire.  It's certainly not up to the shaky-cam standards of today (yes, there are standards), but it still works well at establishing the desperation and intensity of the scene.  However, Avery Brooks and his portrayal of Benjamin Sisko don't work so well.

Throughout the entire episode, Sisko comes across as insincere, inconsistent, and slightly creepy.

 

He looks like he's going to molest a small child.

At the "big emotional moment" of the prologue, when Sisko is forced to leave behind his dead wife's body, Avery Brooks overacts to the point of overshadowing Shatner himself.  It's uncomfortably cheesy.  Also, his portrayal is inconsistent, going back and forth from overly pleasant to suddenly dark.  While this is consistent with someone who's dealing with deep emotional issues, it doesn't quite seem real.  One minute Sisko acts as if Deep Space 9 is the greatest thing since inertial dampeners, and the next he's telling Picard how much he hates the job and wants to retire.

 

Even Picard is disgusted at Sisko's acting

Picard may be the best part of the entire episode.  Patrick Stewart does an amazing job here, showing Picard's more grim side.  He doesn't remind Sisko about the fact that Locutus and Picard are technically not the same person; he simply continues on with his job.

 Old (left) and New (right)

The new uniforms are nice; I wonder why they decided to change them for DS9 but not TNG?  They're much more uniform-like and less casual.  There's a great bit of consistency in this department, as the new characters arriving to the station wear the TNG-style jumpsuits, yet are wearing the new costumes after they (apparently) have time to change.

Jadzia Dax is extremely hot.

Julian Bashir is a very fun character, and immediately likable.

Kira Nerys is surprisingly also likable in her own odd way.  She seems to be one of the only original characters here that seems completely real and genuine.

Odo is an odd one.
His speech about his origins seems slightly forced. I would have liked an introduction to his character motivations in a manner that made a little more sense.  The CG effects for his liquid morphing are stellar for the time period, however.

O'Brien's goodbye scene with Picard was a very nice bit.  It's not often that we get to see Picard actually show his emotional attachments for his crewmembers, so this was a rare treat.  The music during the scene was excellent as well, blending the TNG theme straight into the DS9 theme as O'Brien beams from the Enterprise to DS9. Now that I think about it, however, wasn't the Enterprise docked?  Why did O'brien need to beam to a place he could have walked to?  Must be for the whole "the transporter chief is being transported away" irony factor.

Holycrapitsawormhole!!!

The alternate reality-inside-a-wormhole scenes have to be some of the weirdest in Trek history.  Sisko meets new noncorporeal alien life forms, and what does he do? Argue about geometry.

It doesn't even make sense; how could a species not understand the concepts of four-dimensional space, yet use those same concepts to communicate with Sisko?

At the very least, one interesting quote came out of the end of that absurd discussion: "It is the unknown that defines our existence."  This is the basic tenet of Trek: that humanity is defined by our desire to grow and learn beyond ourselves.  Still, this message could have been communicated better.

"Emissary" is a very good introduction to DS9; it just doesn't have a lot there to entertain us as an actual story.