Comment Stream

Re: TNG S4: The Drumhead

So many here find Satie's meltdown implausible. I disagree. It's pretty much foreshadowed. She tells Picard she hasn't seen a family member in years and that she has no friends. She lives on starbases and starships. I'm already seeing red flags.

Note the frequent references to her father. She has elevated her late father on a pedestal because that is all she has. That and the Federation. That's not much of a life. Zealots -- especially isolated and lonely ones -- have facades that don't crack easily but when they do, it's quite a scene.

Re: TNG S3: The Ensigns of Command

The story is interesting because Picard and Data are finally in situations where their strongest talents don't work. I need not reiterate the theme -- stubborness -- and everyone gets the parallel in the two tiers.

What completely kills it is the awful acting of the colonists. How bad? It's it like porn except nobody takes their clothes off and nobody has sex. Things go a bit better on the Enterprise on the Picard side but it's a little exasperating listening to Riker talk in expositionary phrases. Worf has to have his grumble, Crusher has to explain Made up Medicine(tm) and Troi has to have her Little Chat With the Captain (tm). What completely uncalled for was sending LaForge off to do busywork on something impossible. Why?

The only thing that salvages this episode is the way Picard and Data resolve their parallel dilemna. Data goes BAD ASS and Picard flings the treaty back in the Shelliak's face. Delicious.