Comment Stream

Re: DS9 S4: Rejoined

I have to say that I'm not having the positive feelings a lot of people here are having for this episode. For me, it smacks too much of the predictable, mid-'90s "Lesbian Kiss Episode" not to be a cynical ratings grab. Let's leave aside the fact that this rule against revisiting past relationships makes no sense at all, even if the punishment was not grossly disproportionate. So nobody has any problem with homosexual relationships in the 24th century. Fair enough. So why do we never see any, then? Did the "gay gene" die out, or something?

It's another example of how Star Trek is never quite as "progressive" as it wants to think. It's just like the race issue. So there is no racism in the 24th century? Well, I would hope not. So why is it that (correct me if I'm wrong) we only see the one, single, sole relationship between people of different skin colours, namely that between O'Brien and Keiko? That the only time we see a white actor and a black actor kiss, while playing members of the same species, is when they are under alien mind control? That a character is more likely by far to end up with an alien than with someone of the same species but a different skin colour?

Nice try, but this one's a miss for me.

Re: TNG S1: Encounter at Farpoint

Very much a game of two halves, this. Q was a wonderful character, right from the off. The actual Farpoint storyline, though... There's just nothing there. No matter how many times I watch the episode, it just doesn't stick in my brain.

As I recall, when this was first on, I got bored and switched off the TV less than half way through. I'd been really excited about it, as well.

1 star for the Farpoint storyline, maybe 3 for Q. So 2 stars would probably be about right.

Re: TNG S7: Emergence

Unlike many people, I didn't mind Sub Rosa that much, and I thought that Masks was at least trying something interesting. This one, though, had nothing new or interesting to say. Holodeck episodes are generally hideous - how many times must the holodeck go wrong before they install an emergency cut-off switch? - and this must be the about the worst. The holodeck sequences here are just a miscellaneous heap of unrelated stuff, with no obvious point. I mean, why the heck would the ship generate all this stuff as some kind of metaphor? It adds nothing to what is, at best, a pretty run of the mill sci-fi plot. This episode is right down there with the worst of season 1. Zero stars. I hate saying that. The writers gave us so much over the course of the series, but this just seems like self-indulgence on their part.

Re: TNG S7: Homeward

This could have been much better but, even if Picard had decided in the end that he had to let the Boraalans die, there ought to have been some kind of wrestling with conscience before reaching that decision. The worst bit for me was them all standing on the bridge to "honour those lives which we cannot save". Given that Picard has shown no previous sign of any concern about those lives, this scene just makes him look like a pious hypocrite who is more concerned with dogma than he is with those lives he is claiming to honour. It's as if a whole seven years of character development has never happened.

Re: TNG S7: Sub Rosa

To anyone concerned that this episode presents an offensive stereotype of Scotland, don't worry on our account. We're used to this kind of thing and, in any case, this is all too silly to take seriously.

Re: TNG S7: The Pegasus

I've always thought I would have liked to see a bit more of the back story to this episode. The Federation must surely have been in a very weak position to agree to such an unbalanced treaty: the Romulans having cloaks, without the Federation having the same, puts the Federation at a HUGE disadvantage. So what happened? We never really hear about it.

I've also always thought that it was a bit unrealistic how shocked Picard was at the disclosure. I mean, he might not have approved, but it seems pretty naïve not to assume that the Federation would be secretly continuing cloaking research, at least to some extent.

Re: TNG S6: Rightful Heir

What I don't get is this. If this Kahless is a clone, how does he remember appearing to Worf in a vision when Worf was a child?

Re: TOS S2: Friday's Child

I had the same reaction as Strider. The redshirt's reaction was completely indefensible, but Kirk acts as if it was totally reasonable.

Re: TNG S2: The Royale

I understand what most people are saying about this episode, but I have to say I don't mind this one. I wouldn't want this kind of thing all the time, but it tries to do something a bit different, and it's one of the few I remember clearly from watching the first time around.

Re: TNG S5: The First Duty

"easily the best Wesley Crusher episode ever made".

It has to be said, there isn't a whole lot of competition on that one. It was refreshing in this episode to see Wesley undergoing, at long last, some actual character development and moving beyond being the infallible, perfect creator's pet.

As for the Tom Paris/Nick Locarno issue, I always think of them as being the same character and ignore the difference of name. After all, they are essentially the same character, with the same actor. The excuse that Locarno was irredeemable is just BS.