Great Star Trek review website:

[Deja Q]

http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-tng/s1/

I loved this one:
http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-tng/s1/reviews.php#hide

In the first episode of TNG I can finally actually endorse, Q returns while the Enterprise is on a mission of mercy to rescue the survivors of an explosion on a Federation colony. Q interrupts with a new series of games, and snatches most of the bridge crew (less Picard) from the ship and puts them on the surface of a planet where an approaching platoon of deadly nonhuman soldiers close in on their position. Q offers Riker the power of the Q in the hopes that Riker will join the Q Continuum. Riker at first refuses but then uses his new power in a moment of desperation to save his shipmates.

The show's early dialog is lively, thanks to Q's nonstop condescension and his amusing verbal barbs. "Hide and Q" benefits from being a follow-up to "Encounter at Farpoint" because this time Q is a recognizable nemesis who immediately comes across as an intellectual opponent rather than a physical threat. There's a method to his madness, as evidenced in the scene where he confesses to Riker that the reason the Q want Riker to join them is so they can learn about humanity's rare hunger to learn and grow.

The story's second half centers on Riker's new powers and his promise to Picard not to use them (not even to save a young girl who dies in the explosion). Interesting how Riker's new gifts, despite his every effort to remain a humble human, insidiously turn him toward an arrogance he doesn't even recognize. ("Have you noticed how you and I are on a first-name basis?" Picard asks him.) Riker attempts to give all his friends miracle gifts -- granting them a literally magical wish -- and I liked the way this backfired; apparently humanity has advanced far enough to recognize rewards do not come without an ethical cost.

Yes, the story reduces omnipotence to an almost absurd simplicity (would anyone really give up such a gift?). But what works here is the story's trust in its extended (and effective) dialog scenes that debate and wrestle with the matter at hand -- scenes that would be practically unheard of on television today because no one would have the patience for them.

[Danger Mouse]

1. I'm anxious to read his reviews of later episodes, some of which are among my favorites...

hope he gets to them soon!

[Deja Q]

2. Same here!

I was crushed to find out he hasn't yet done TNG seasons 5-7. His insight made me re-think some of my opinions, and he points out some ingenious things. Heck, I might even re-watch "Nemesis" of all things because of his review of it. (eek!)

But, of course, the Borg ship in "Best of Both Worlds II" self-destructs because they realize they were put to sleep and are now a liability for the entire collective. Picard's soul coming to the surface and overcoming the Borg alteration was the one woolly part, and it's done so convincingly that I don't mind it...

[Danger Mouse]

3. Yeah, I agree with your analysis, I think he was nitpicking there.

[pokerfan]

4. The high point

For me, anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcPi-kGZvD4

[Deja Q]

7. ! That's mean!

:wow:

:spray:

[WildEyedLiberal]

9. Haha I just watched that episode last night

That was definitely the highlight :rofl:

[Deja Q]

11. So did I!

LOL, yeah it was soooooooo tragic to see that. (eh, not really...)

For season 1 it's remarkably strong but there's still plenty of crass dialogue ("Ah, you're going after Riker! Riker will beat you just just as I had!" Does it get any cornier? I left that clue in the penalty box *sniffle*...)

The cast seemed to like the script as well, or certainly didn't seem to be too embarrassed to have acted in that one... :D

[WildEyedLiberal]

13. Yeah the bits with Riker dealing with the Q power were great

The rest... eh. Picard pontificating about how great humanity is always gets on my nerves, and since he didn't really do anything else the whole episode except wander around the bridge, his part was sort of a wash. (Although Q mocking him at the beginning was gold: "Seized my vessel!") Oh GOD and WTF was up with Tasha's pseudo-sort of flirtation with Picard?

Too bad Riker couldn't have used the power of the Q to make Wesley's vocal chords disappear.

[WildEyedLiberal]

5. Thanks for the link

I've been watching the TNG reruns that they just started up on Sci Fi, although of course they started from the beginning so they're still stuck on shitty Season 1. I actually have never seen anything past Season 3 so I hope they don't yank these reruns before the show really starts getting good.

[Deja Q]

6. Season 1 has the occasional great idea, but the hokey dialogue ruins even the best stories

:(

Still, "Hide and Q", "11001001", "Datalore", "Home Soil", and "Conspiracy" are all high points. The bad ones... hoo boy, talk about "tokenism".

[WildEyedLiberal]

8. Yeah, I don't think TNG really excised the camp until Season 3

Take "The Big Goodbye," for instance. OK, I know the "roleplaying the 20th century in the holodeck" stuff is pure cheese and fluff, but if it's done well, I'll admit it, I'm a fan. The *concept* was fun. The execution, however... WTF? The episode devolved into a series of lame gags about how little the Enterprise crew knew about 20th century life, gags which didn't ring true anyway since if Picard was a history buff and an avid fan of this time period, wouldn't one assume he'd know what baseball and cars were? They couldn't decide whether to have an honest homage to the genre or a joke about how "futuristic" people have forgotten about things we take for granted, and the end result was painful.

[Deja Q]

10. Quite

"Justice" COULD have been a good "prime directive" topic to slap Kirk's era with... except it puts any intellectual discourse aside (compared to the nearly sublime "Hide and Q") in favor of nekkid people bouncing around. The ending, when the prime directive is finally explored, is shoehorned as quickly as possible. No dialogue. Nothing. I was hoping they could have left Wonderboy behind instead... ugh.

Season 2 I liked. Some cheese was still there, but most of the episodes are quite watchable and there are numerous classics. Heck, I'll even fight for "Unnatural Selection", which does the sci-fi "We're growing old rapidly" gimmick but whose resolution is far more plausible than TOS's "The Deadly Years". It's one of Pulaski's better stories too... Of course, trying to bring back season 1 garbage like "The Outrageous Okona", the only outrage is that people chose to sit through it.

Season 3 had camp ("Manage a Troi" and the occasional goofy line in certain other episodes, but by now it's perfection.)

Season 4 continued on a high note, but by season 4's end they were already thinking of a new direction and fired Ron Jones, by far the best composer on that series. (I dig Dennis McCarthy's style too, but seasons 5-7 the slow frog farting they call "music"... yuck).

Seasons 5 and 6 are one sided, preachy parroted drivel with one or two decent examples ("The Next Phase", "Relics", "Ship in a Bottle", even "Rascals" was fun but after that one season 6 remained as blase as ever. I liked both Q stories though... Loved "Ship in a Battle" even though some continuity was conveniently forgotten (Moriarity, I think, had a crush on Dr Pulaski, yet when revived doesn't bother to ask why she's not around, and the plot - while clever - has one tiny anachronistic flaw, but I'll forgive it as they made the attempt and by and large works. Ad it tries TO be clever so it gets brownie points too.)

Season 7 was a return to more sci-fi adventure and was rather creative. Like season 2 was. Even the "Force of Nature" (55mph in space episode) was good, though "The Pegasus", "Genesis", "Masks", et al, were great. The concepts, the feel of the episodes, most of it was great. Then came "All Good Things..." One major plot flaw (if an anomaly goes backwards in time, when Future-Enterprise creates it and they see nothing, to go away and return isn't going to do anything. Still, it's forgivable given the weight of the whole episode. There could be a way to blame it on Q as well -- after all, it's a paradox and Q might have been doing more than just dropping verbal hints to Picard...)

[WildEyedLiberal]

12. Yeah 2 definitely was a vast improvement over 1

"Measure of a Man" is one of the best episodes of any Trek ever. I just hated Pulaski, so that sort of prejudices me unfairly against the rest of Season 2.

Actually one of my Season 3 favorite episodes is your namesake. I think Q really reaches petulant perfection in that one.

[Danger Mouse]

14. Anyway, here are my favorite Trek episodes...

'Redemption Parts 1 and 2'
'Best of Both Worlds Part 1 and 2'
'Q Who'
'Deja Q'
'The Inner Light'
'Sarek'
'Datalore'
'Brothers'
'The Survivors'
'Night Terrors'
'The Measure of a Man'
'Tapestry'

...among, of course, many others. :D

[OmahaBlueDog]

15. Are you familiar with the Farpoint con in Maryland?

Just wondering. I went to school with the guy who founded it.

[RandomThoughts]

16. I think on the Q paradigm sometimes.

(This post is me discussing this show from my religious perspective)

I see it based on my religious beliefs. This is sort of where I end up on the thought.

Nothing is easy, and to believe it is, inhibits the strength of character of man that can succeed when they face the hard road, the path that requires character, faith, and effort worthy of the victory such efforts bring forth.

I believe, even the miracles of God(although no man can understand the wonders of the Almighty, many still think on them)... even the miracles of God are really not the turning on a dime, they are not quick changes in society, or even in the heart of a single man. But they are built from the long hard work of centuries of faithful, thinking, caring people. People that embraced the idea that even when it is tough, they will choose to side with their better angels and speak on the better ideas of how they choose to live and act. So much of what I believe are miracles of God, are the combination of the hearts of many good people that want to believe in a better world for all, combined with gifts of purpose and direction from that spirit that loves us all.

There is another show that speaks of the Q paradigm, the easy road. It is a twilight zone episode, where a man is given Q like control.
http://www.veoh.com/collection/CBS-The-Twilight-Zone/watch/v6258099ACSHKj5d# full episode.
If you had Q powers and you used them to subjugate the free will of others, then those others, for all purposes, would cease to exist as individuals, and you would be alone.

And a song that follows that theme, in my view, if a person accepted the easy deceitful path.(no offense to California intended)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvPzsE2IKQE

It reminds me not to stop on the path through the night nor the swamp, do not fear the shadows, they have no power you do not give them.

Since I started this thread as an expression of my belief. And as just a sinner, but to still give glory to my heavenly father, here are verses that remind me of these stories in a better light, and that I find comfort in.

The long path, not the easy one.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=23&version=50
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=24&version=50
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=23&chapter=25&version=50

[racaulk]

17. Wow, that is very cool!

Thanks for sharing! :hi: