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Re: TNG S6: Chain of Command, Part II

I thought this would be a first-rate episode. I had high hopes for it. Perhaps too high. I think "Chain of Command" was overrated. I had spotted one too many writing flaws for me to truly appreciate it.

Re: ENT S2: The Breach

[""As far as Travis goes, I really don't see why people are taking him as a sidelined token Black character. I think he has as much to do, and as much going on as the other non-main characters (Meaning the Captain, T'Pol, Trip and Phlox) Hoshi, Reed and Travis are just like the non-big three of the original series. I think Next Generation is the only Star Trek show (I'm not including Discovery or Picard since I've not seen them and have no intention to) to have a true ensemble cast where everyone got fairly equal time"]

I cannot think of a single Trek show in which the rest of the cast get as much equal time as the main one or three protagonists. There are two reasons why this episode annoyed me. One, why on earth was Tucker part of the Away team regarding the protagonists. I understand why Reed and Mayweather were on the team. Their skills were needed. Why on earth was the Enterprise's Chief Engineer on this mission? For what reason? And two, watching Archer trying to force Phlox to operate on the Antarian or trying to force the latter to accept Phlox's service reminded me on how much the Starfleet and Federation characters can be so damn controlling. It was irritating to watch.

Re: TNG S5: The First Duty

I don't know why the author of this review claimed that Nick Larcerno and Tom Paris were basically the same character. I believe their similarities were at best, superficial. Both were pilots that committed an error that led to someone's death. Both had initially lied about the accident. And both were portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeill. But there are differences.

It took Wesley Crusher's confession to finally lead Lacerno to take full blame for the accident. Tom Paris had admitted his guilt without anyone forcing his hand. Lacerno seemed to possess a "cult leader" personality. Paris did not. The latter has something of a cynical personality. Lacerno did not.

"First Duty" is a good episode, but there were times when the pacing nearly put me to sleep. Or perhaps I was tired at the time of my last viewing.

Re: DS9 S4: For the Cause

Was it so important for Trek fans to view the Federation as being always in the right that they could not even concede that it had been wrong about the Maquis-Cardassian conflict? Or that with this story line, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" had adopted a conservative viewpoint by maintaining the status quo?

Re: DS9 S6: Valiant

I'm sorry, but I thought "Valiant" was a dumb episode. I think it would have worked if the cadets were junior officers commanding the surviving crew. But a Starfleet commissioned officer giving a cadet a battlefield commission, when the smartest move would have been to order the cadets back to the nearest Starfleet base? And what was up with Nog? He enthusiastically agreed with everything Watters did . . . yet, in the end, judge the latter as a "poor captain"?

This episode was dumb.

Re: DS9 S4: The Visitor

Watched this episode just now.
I'd seen it once before, years ago, but I'd forgot its emotional punch.

Damn it all, if I haven't now found an episode to rival my adoration for "The Inner Light."

Well done, DS9. Well done.

Re: VOY S4: The Raven

@SlackerInc In a later episode it IS confirmed that the Hansen's accidentally followed a Borg vessel into one of their transwarp conduits, and came out deep in the Delta Quadrant. They managed to last about six months in Borg Space studying the Borg until they were discovered due to an accidental transmission. They were the first humans to reach the Delta Quadrant, and the first humans assimilated.

Re: DS9 S4: Homefront

I never liked this two-part episode. I don't mind when the Trek franchise tries to be gritty. Personally, I think it needs to be more gritty than it usually does. The older I get, the more I dislike Roddenberry's idealized portrait of Earth and humanity. Calling Earth "paradise" is just a bit too much.

The problem with this two-parter is that it seemed like a weak-rip off of the Earth Civil War arc from "Babylon 5".

Re: VOY S2: Alliances

I'm late to the party, but I'll add my two cents.

As I see it, the real reason Janeway is so opposed to sharing technology with the Kazon is not so much because she cares about destabilizing their society, it's all about preventing the Kazon from gaining a technological advantage over the rest of the Quadrant.
Way back in "Caretaker," the Kazon made it very clear that they wanted to dominate and oppress the Ocampa, and steal their water and the technology the Caretaker gave them.
If the Kazon got superior tech from Voyager, it wouldn't be very long at all before they started using it to change the balance of power of the Delta Quadrant in their favor by subjugating everyone else.

THAT would be the greatest Prime Directive violation of all.

Re: VOY S3: Future's End, Part II

Yanks said

Makes sense JP. I guess my point was why couldn't they just pluck Voyager back by Earth?


My take is that they considered Voyager's temporal incursion to be bad enough, giving them a boost by sending them back to the Alpha Quadrant was just simply out of the question. I get the idea that the Temporal Prime Directive is all about preserving history as they know it, so putting Voyager back home is a clear violation of that.

As to why the Temporal Prime Directive never came into play to fix all those other incursions into the past made on the other series, perhaps, just maybe, the Temporal Prime Directive only came to be because history was changed somehow. Another paradox, maybe? ;)

Re: VOY S3: Future's End, Part II

Time Travel episodes are not inherently a bad thing: City on the Edge of Forever, Yesterday's Enterprise... And part one of Future's End. All quite good.

I actually get a kick out of Time's Arrow for campy reasons. I can't help it, I just love Guinan in that one.