Comment Stream

Re: TNG S1: The Big Goodbye

This episode held up less well from my memories of it as a kid. A big plot oversight that I haven't seen mentioned (apologies if I missed it): since the transmission of the greeting was audio-only (fortunately, since the prickly Jarada would surely have been offended by Picard being out of uniform), why not record it (or have the computer record it in Picard's voice, or have Data mimick Picard's voice) and transmit that?

Other things:

Why wasn't the possibility of beaming Picard and co. out mentioned?

Seems like it should be a breach of regulations for the captain not to bring his communicator even on the off chance that internal comms fail.

The holo-lipstick stays on Picard's face but the gangsters (eventually, slowly) dissolve. (The lipstick can be explained by the use of replicators, but the gangsters not immediately disappearing when they cross the threshold seems impossible to explain.)

Why doesn't the holoprogram automatically pause when the user leaves? Felix enters Dix's office and keeps talking after Picard leaves the first time until he manually turns it off.

Are door malfunctions common enough on the Enterprise that Crusher walks right through them without contacting engineering? If my elevator doors did that, I'd turn around and call the super. And why did the doors open for her and not for anyone later? Did the Jarada's scan cause a deteriorating malfunction, and if so, why didn't it mess with the program itself?

Seems like Whalen should have died in the time it took to leave the holodeck (Crusher was losing his pulse!). Also seems like Crusher should have been able to do more for him; maybe she needs more training in field medicine.

The applause at the end was incredibly cringey.

All the other ridiculous stuff has been mentioned: the overdone enthusiasm over upgraded holodeck technology, the immediate warp out after the greeting, Wesley!!, the stupidity of the possibility of living people disappearing if the holodeck is turned off, the lack of a failsafe/emergency shut down, etc.

A few positives: Crusher/Picard sexual tension picking up from The Naked Now (and her rolling her eyes when Whalen wanted to come along), and the Data from south America gag (but did no one in the 40s know about albinism?) and the whole newspaper scene. And the weird concern for holocharacters' feelings at the end might be explained as a consequence of the upgrade's verisimilitude, which might have interesting implications for how the crew interacts with and is affected by their holodeck experiences.

Not great. First episode my non-ST-watching spouse has disliked (of Farpoint, Naked Now, WNOHGB, the Battle, Hide and Q, and Haven).

Re: TNG S1: Haven

I'm surprised by how moderate the comments are for this (IMO) pretty nonsensical episode.

1) Why did the Federation let the Tarellians be murdered and driven to extinction rather than helping them cure the disease? Isn't that exactly the Federation's sort of do-gooding? Absent the unbearable wedding plot, the Tarellian plot would have been a standard later season outing: ship carrying dangerous disease innocently threatens peaceful planet, and as both sides' desperation increases, Crusher technobabbles a cure in the nick of time.

2) How exactly was Wyatt supposed to cure a disease untreated by 24th century medicine with just a few tiny pill-boxes? Why not bring them to a Federation medical facility with isolation chambers and research equipment?

3) The whole relationship between the Trois and the Millers could have been an opportunity for a real emotional backstory - maybe Troi's father's death caused their friendship to break down? How does Troi feel about her whole potential marriage being rooted in promises made when her father was still alive? (Not that we got any insight into the purpose of the Betazoid genetic bonding thing, why humans would agree to it - and what was genetic about it, anyway?)

4) Why now and why here? At the beginning of Hide and Q, Troi was shuttled off to visit Betazed. Why not then?

About the only interesting thing about this episode, although I doubt the writers had it in mind, was the bell-ringing during the meal. Betazoid social gatherings would probably be totally silent since conversations would be telepathic, so ringing a bell may have filled the silence.