Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Captain's Holiday"
Air date: 4/2/1990
Written by Ira Steven Behr
Directed by Chip Chalmers
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
The crew of the Enterprise badgers an overworked Captain Picard until he grudgingly agrees to take a week of vacation on tropical resort planet Risa. Once there, he finds himself in the middle of a ludicrous sci-fi/archaeological/time-travel plot, a hopelessly clichéd romance with Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), and run-ins with an exceptionally annoying Ferengi named Sovak (Max Grodenchik in full moron mode, clearly in an early audition for Rom). I say Picard's time would've been better spent playing Dixon Hill in the holodeck.
Ira Steven Behr, in his first solo TNG script, plays the Ferengi card. If Ron Moore's future as "the Klingon guy" was sealed after his first script, then perhaps Behr's fate as "the Ferengi guy" is sealed here. Behr's obsession with Ferenginar is well documented, and would continue for the rest of the decade, especially on DS9.
The weak and boring "Captain's Holiday" can't release itself from its sci-fi machinations long enough to be a fun romp. Meanwhile, the sci-fi machinations are too perfunctory (and absurd) to be taken the least bit seriously on their own. The result is a constant compromise where nothing has any conviction, least of all the by-the-numbers romance between Picard and Vash (who is not without her appeal). It's a wasted opportunity. We want to enjoy seeing the lighter side of Picard, but not when he's buried in an idiotic plot with such stolid execution. Everyone's chasing the "Tox Uthat" (which can stop nuclear fusion in a star, no less), including a couple of time-traveling Vogons from the 27th century. For much of the episode, Picard takes the Vogons at their word — probably a bad idea involving any invention that can kill a solar system. If this sounds like a lame Indiana Jones wannabe, that's because it is.
Previous episode: Allegiance
Next episode: Tin Man
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84 comments on this post
Tue, Jan 1, 2013, 3:52pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Mar 15, 2013, 11:16am (UTC -6)
Tue, Apr 16, 2013, 9:24pm (UTC -6)
Obviously the episode could have been far better. But, it could have been far worse. Better to let the perfunctory plot be perfunctory than for an overly ambitious plot to thwart the Picard/Vash relationship.
Thu, Jun 6, 2013, 12:38pm (UTC -6)
On that basis, it is neat that while Vash is cast as the femme fatale, and is a liar and a thief, she is not fully condemned the way Brigid is in The Maltese Falcon -- Picard interrupts her greedy ambitions but doesn't feel the need to send her away to jail; and nor does the story cast her as a murderer (though her professor's death looks awfully suspicious). This makes the episode a little more progressive in its femme fatale treatment, but also a little more toothless -- Vash simply doesn't come across as dangerous enough to get the spark of forbidden chemistry between the two leads that is sort of required for the episode to work. They are not funny enough as a romantic comedy bickering couple, they don't have enough warmth to seem like a potentially functional couple, and that lack of edge makes the thrilling experience of a wrong pairing mostly inert.
At least it should be said that the episode's conception does, at least hopefully, combine enough of Picard's actual interests (archaeology, detectiving, brunettes) to seem like it's an adventure well suited to him. But as with the Picard/Vash pairing, the action scenes are pretty dull and the mystery is not written with enough depth to make the resolution feel earned, especially with the Vorgons. The most fun part of the episode is the opening scenes on the ship with the crew conspiring to send Picard away -- and unfortunately those are over pretty quickly. 1.5 stars sounds right for an episode which is not particularly bad for the most part, but fails to achieve most of its objectives.
Tue, Aug 20, 2013, 12:43am (UTC -6)
I also found the transporter code 14 thing to be an extremely unnecessary technobable way to destroy the Uthat which only goes to create a plot hole as to why Code 14 is never used again to destroy things remotely.
Sun, Oct 20, 2013, 3:53am (UTC -6)
I'm still not convinced Royale wasn't worse, I would have to watch it again to make sure - nah, still so much good stuff to watch!
Wed, Dec 4, 2013, 7:29pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Feb 14, 2014, 9:46pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Feb 15, 2014, 2:33pm (UTC -6)
The rest was just so boring I couldn't watch it.
Sun, Feb 23, 2014, 6:10am (UTC -6)
Sun, Feb 23, 2014, 6:15am (UTC -6)
Fri, Feb 28, 2014, 8:04pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Mar 29, 2014, 2:33pm (UTC -6)
My main gripe with the episode itself is that doesn't play to (what I think) are TNG's best aspects.
First, there's no ensemble. As soon as the plot begins there's only Picard dealing with a bunch of random guest actors. There are many episodes that focus on one character in particular, but they always have the rest of the main cast around.
And then, this is not an exploration of humanity and drama, it's just a random adventure (very random) with a weird feeling of being a rip-off of something else. For Jammer it feels like Indiana Jones, for William B is the Maltese Falcon (which, btw, is one of the original ideas of the script writers for this particular show, according to Memory Alpha!). And I even felt a bit of James Bond stuff going on, what with the "hot chick" of the week that Picard meets and sleeps with. She even plays a bit of both types of Bond Girl, the good girl and the bad.
All in all, the episode didn't work for me. I can have lots of fun with an episode like "The Arsenal of Freedom", but with this one I was bored.
Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 12:45am (UTC -6)
It's also one of the first episodes to shape the Ferengi and bring them closer to what they will become in DS9. I'm not surprised that Behr wrote this. It's also the first episode with Rom's actor!
Overall, I thought that it was a fun episode. Sure, it's cheesy and full of cliches, but it shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Sat, Jun 7, 2014, 6:39pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Jun 20, 2014, 2:04pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Jun 23, 2014, 1:57pm (UTC -6)
The plot had some serious issues, all of which I think could be fixed by removing the Vorgons. Every scene with them made me cringe. And Star Trek in general uses time travel as a crutch way too often. It would have been easy to construct a similar treasure hunt story without involving creepy useless future people.
Finally, my favorite line is when the Risan hostess asks about the horg'an, and asks if he got it for 'someone you love,' and Picard says, 'I wouldn't go that far.' :)
Mon, Sep 1, 2014, 7:42am (UTC -6)
Fri, Oct 17, 2014, 2:35pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 7:04pm (UTC -6)
Sure it's silly, but it's fun, there's some eye candy, and I think there are several other worse TNG episodes.
Mon, May 11, 2015, 1:25pm (UTC -6)
In particular I like the contrast with the skirt chasing "teach you about love" Kirk (and to a lesser extent Riker) that shows the more cerebral Picard who wants a psychological connection with a woman. Another contrast is the (requisite) whirlwind romances in other STNG episodes which aren't at all believeable, but Patrick Stewart pulls this one off handily.
Vash is a great match for the captain, smart and saucy and a bit of a criminal (but not in her own mind)
Jammer's review should get an extra star for the Picard character development.
Sun, Jun 7, 2015, 8:59am (UTC -6)
It's got its good and its bad. Vash is a wonderfully enjoyable character whose free-spiritedness is a nice match for the rather stuffy Picard. But Sovak is bad. It really is unnerving to see guys like Max Grodenchik and Armin Shimerman playing these horrible early Ferengi characters, especially given what they will deliver later on DS9. But at least Behr doesn't offer up his usual misconceptions of what capitalism is this time, so that's a plus!
The idea of dropping a character into an Indiana Jones style adventure has promise (mostly due to the fact that TNG hasn't really had any true light-hearted adventure episodes yet). But having Picard of all characters be the one in the adventure just makes no sense. Now, if this were Kirk, he would fit right into a little Indiana-Jones-esque story. Riker would be the one most naturally suited for this episode (maybe Data, but even that's pushing it). Picard just isn't a relatable enough character for it to work. He's a very admirable character, even a genuinely likeable one. But he's someone you're meant to look up to, not someone you can legitimately picture yourself being. He's too much of an idealized version of a person for that. Other Trek captains like Kirk and Archer are more designed to be seen at the same level as the viewer, in my opinion. Hell, even Sisko and Janeway are in some ways meant that way. I just can't see Picard having the time of his life while getting into fist-fights with Ferengi and running around with maps to buried treasure. This is a guy who brings James Joyce's "Ulysses" on his vacation for crying out loud! I suppose I can appreciate that they tried to show the lighter side of the captain, especially after the previous episode seemed to go out of its way to show what a bore his was. But this is just too jarring. But hey, at least they finally let him get laid, so that's another plus!
Now, let's talk about Risa, shall we? The idea of a completely sexually uninhibited society is a good concept (in a kind of turn your brain off and enjoy the silliness way). However, it completely falls apart once any thought is put into it (as later Risa episodes will amply showcase). "Captain's Holiday," however, uses Risa perfectly. It's there to set up some gags (which are somewhat funny) and that's it. The episode knows enough to not dwell on the absurdity of the concept. As such, this is easily the best Risa episode.
5/10
Sat, Sep 5, 2015, 7:36am (UTC -6)
Sat, Sep 5, 2015, 11:49am (UTC -6)
There's plenty of fun too with the crew setting the increasingly exasperated Picard for a holiday, and again over his confusion regarding the Horga'hn and jamaharon. The scheming and amoral Vash adds some spice, and of course Picard gets his oats, which is noteworthy enough.
On the downside the time-travelling Vorgons don't make a lot of sense and the broader plot is a sub-Indiana Jones romp. But it's palatable enough for me - 2.5 stars.
Sat, Apr 16, 2016, 6:16pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 4:44pm (UTC -6)
Surprised they would have written that in, although I guess when this episode came out, kids accidentally shooting people with unlocked guns wasn't as prominent in the news as it is today!
Wed, Apr 27, 2016, 8:14pm (UTC -6)
sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/t167.php
Of course, does anyone else think it would be pretty irresponsible to bring a child to Risa?
Mon, Jul 4, 2016, 9:26pm (UTC -6)
It help that I knew a gal like Vash when I was a young man back in the late 80s, and life was much more fun knowing her.
Sun, Nov 13, 2016, 4:34pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 4:47am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 12:36pm (UTC -6)
Yeah, I also like this episode and always have. It was light, with a little bit of mystery, a little bit of fun and a little bit of romance. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not great, but I always enjoy it. And, upon re-watches, it doesn't have any "Oh, I hate the scene coming up" moments in it for me.
Sometimes I like light and fluffy. :D
Have a great day all... RT
Mon, Jan 23, 2017, 11:48pm (UTC -6)
First: it's unique. How many plots are "Race the clock! The ship's in jeopardy!" (Or permutations: it's a crew member in jeopardy, or an alien civilization in jeopardy, etc.). How many episodes are Diplomatic Troubles with Argumentative and Sketchy Aliens. How many more are Medical Crisis of the Month. There's nothing wrong with those - in fact I mostly like them, because I mostly like TNG . But thank goodness for the refreshingly one-of-a-kind plots: this one, Face of the Enemy, Chain of Command, etc.
Second: It's a fun character study for Picard. For once he's not captaining or diplomatting. You might argue that he'd never go to Rysa or get in trouble; oh no - he'd go to a conference about the Tox Utat, which would be held someplace very dull, and then he'd go to a library to study old maps looking for clues to its whereabouts. Yeah, I'm really glad they didn't make me watch an hour of *that* Captain's Holiday.
Third: it's fun, it's funny, it's cute. C'mon. There's joking and bickering and hijinks and Picard being kind of snarky.
Fourth: Vash.
Here's a pop quiz: How many episodes up to this point have featured a major female guest star? (That is, one who isn't part of an ensemble group of aliens or scientists or visiting dignitaries. One who stands out as memorable and individual.)
Geek alert! I already checked.
In season one, there's "We'll Always Have Paris." It's about brilliant Professor Mannheim. Brilliant Mannheim has a wifey. She once dated Picard. Wifey; ex-girlfriend. That's what she is. That's why she exists.
Season two: We meet the assistant to Ira Graves. Like Mrs Mannheim she's the devoted sidekick to a brilliant man. She talks about the brilliant man a lot. She's a love interest. She calls for help and looks moonily out of windows. There's also a royal girl (The Dauphin) who exists to be a crush for Wesley. There's an alien girl (Pen Pal) who's about eight. There's Lwaxana Troi, unfortunately. And there's Kehylahr.
Season three: There's.... none. Yes. Until Captain's Holiday, there are no female guest stars who matter.
Here are the major male guest stars:
Season one: Q. Traveler. Q. Lore. The Betazoid love interest in Haven. The old mediator who takes youth serum in "Too short a season." Remmick investigating the crew. Remmick, second time around. Brilliant Professor Mannheim, who's got the aforementioned wifey doting so very very hard at his side.
Season two. The roguish Okona. The deaf mediator. The brilliant and hilarious scientist Ira Graves, who lives on Graves's Moon and chases skirts. There's Riker's dad. And there's Q again.
Season three: Q again. That orphan boy (The Bonding). A Romulan who kidnaps Geordi. A sketchy mediator who has a love affair with Troi. The noble and tragic Romulan defector. The hopped-up super-soldier who longs to go home.
Now set aside all the children, all the passive sidekicks, and all the sappy people who exist only as love interests.
On the male side, what's left is at least eighteen episodes with strong male guests who are independent and interesting and have jobs and do stuff.
And on the female side.... there's Kehylar.
(Since we're talking about guest stars here, I'm leaving out the alien-ensemble shows. Some (Justice, When the Bough Breaks, Angel One, Code of Honor) have males and females mixed. But all the Klingon shows and all the Ferengi shows are male-only. So let's leave those out because eighteen to one is bad enough.)
So: In over two and half seasons, we've seen one female guest character who was independent and, yknow, actually did stuff.
Sometimes I wonder: if you're a guy who watched as a kid, did you imagine yourself in the shoes of Picard or Riker or Wesley, or maybe the damaged super-soldier or the noble Romulan defector or the bright but awkward Barclay?
I did that. I slid myself into roles all the time, but I did it in secret. Secretly, I was the twin sister of Airwolf's morose, cello-playing pilot, and we flew missions together and saved each other from evil nemeses. I was, unbenownst to all, the secret fifth member of the A-Team; I was really good at building stuff during the musical montages. I was also Indiana Jones's best friend and wingman (wingwoman?) - good with ropes and knife-fights and foreign languages and the occasional seduction of dangerous but worthy men in exotic lands. (I certainly wasn't the girl love interest who's only involved because her father was the hero's mentor, and she's the hero's bitter dumped never-gonna-get-over-it ex-gf. What a humiliating and submissive backstory.)
I was a teenager when the TNG pilot aired. I didn't watch much TV and I liked action not scifi - but I made a point of staying home to watch it. Guess why! I'd read an article about the characters and I'd seen a photo of the crew. The chief of security was a sexy but boyish female. That sounded like a job that required muscle and action. Tasha Yar was also a survivor of a vaguely abusive childhood. Tasha Yar was going to be the female character I'd been waiting for all my life. I just knew she'd be some combo of tough, physical, flawed, commanding, vulnerable, kick-ass. She'd be a beloved member of a heroic crew. And I was going to watch every damn minute of her.
Yeah, well. They invented a character I could have loved. Then they made her cry and get kidnapped and have a staged catfight and get ogled by Ferengi. Then they pushed her into the background. Then they killed her off. Thanks for that.
I kept watching, because even though simpering Troi and boring Beverley and saintly Wesley drove me nuts, I liked everybody else: the ones who did stuff, solved problems, were daring, saved the day in the nick of time. The guys. I liked them.
But after a year and a half, I saw myself once: in Keylahr.
And after waiting another year, I saw myself once again: in Vash.
It was probably another year before I saw myself a third time: in Ensign Ro.
So, what do I think of Captain's Holiday? It's great, because it showed me something I desperately wanted to see. Something rarer in film or TV at that time, than the Tox Utat.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 12:13am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 12:17am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 12:30am (UTC -6)
The other guest stars in s3 which are significant also Tasha again and captain Garret in Yesterday's Enterprise, Shelby who is very important in the finale and is meant to be Riker's rival and near-equivalent. They are action heroes, stars in some of the series' most beloved episodes. The other important female guest stars, I will grant, are love interests, and not very well developed ones (the woman in the Ensigns of Command who falls for Data, the hologram of Leah Brahms, Yuta, etc.).
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 3:15am (UTC -6)
You're right that I did miss Lal. I forgot about her. But I also said that i was crossing off all the children.
Children aren't independent actors. Lal wasn't independent. She made no decisions for herself. She existed to follow Data around, adore him, emote, die and tug at our heartstrings. It was Data who made all the decisions - to create her, to let her go.
You're also right that I left off Yar and Garrett. I explained that too. I left off the guests who were part of ensemble casts.
I left off Yar's love interest, and Yuta, and everyone on Yuta's planet, every Klingon, every Ferengi, the Home Soil scientists, etc. I really didn't want the job of combing through ensemble casts and deciding who gets included and who doesn't. Way too boring.
But your comments miss my main point by a mile, in favor of nitpicking. I certainly did not set out to make an exhaustive list of every female and male guest star. I set out to show people - those of you who care to think about it - why Captain's Holiday is so important to me. (Clearly, no one else feels like I do - some love it, some hate it, but everyone who loves it calls it "a light romp." whereas to me it was way way better than that.)
I've liked your comments many times in the past, so I'm going to assume your comments stem from missing my point innocently, and that you're not deliberately picking a nit because you're defensive about TNG's sexism. So, in good faith, here's the short version of my first post.
tl:dr:
Growing up, I was strong and adventurous. While I loved action and adventure on TV and in books and movies, I was constantly enraged by the female characters. At best they were nonexistent. If they existed, they were never equal to the males. They were narrow stereotypes: they mothered or preened or worried; they were noble princesses or got rescued or played the obedient sidekick or the devoted wife. They were never the hero. They bedded the hero and married him, though, if they were lucky.
I thought TNG was going to be different. It wasn't. The vast majority of episodes showed interesting, strong males doing things I loved - fighting, fixing stuff, leading away teams, taking risks, making command decisions, often being vulnerable and flawed as well. When females showed up, they were mostly just there to say "Captain, I sense great pain!" and "My husband is a brilliant man" and, "Um, is that the same thing as a cosmic string?" and "He's my patient and I must stand around in Sickbay waving a wand over him to protect him," and "Sniffle, I'm crying - I'm crying on the bridge!" They completely failed to ever fight, fix stuff, lead awayteams, take risks, or make command decisions.
(They all had children, though. They all found time for that. )
So TNG constantly insulted me and rubbed salt in my feminist wounds.
However:
the Keylahr ep,
the Vash ep,
and the Ensign Ro ep
were three hours that filled me with joy. The featured independent women who were the focal point of their episodes, had strong opinions, did stuff, thought stuff, and were not on the show just to be someone's mother, caretaker, sidekick, follower, or girlfriend.
Three is precious little, but it's better than zero. And when you're accustomed to zero, getting even three transient characters you love - in four years - feels great.
And that's why I love Captain's Holiday.
Make sense, this time?
Please: no nitpicking in response :)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 6:09am (UTC -6)
Shelby was also a pretty big omission given her centrality to what was likely the high point of all Trek.
But you'll get no argument from me in this department - the men definitely have the more action heavy, adventurous roles in Trek. Calling those roles "interesting", mind you, is a subjective judgement, but one I agree with generally.
If I may offer a partial defence on that latter point - Trek for most of its history and certainly in the STNG days, was basically a male interest. Not exclusively, but mostly. What do you suppose the ratio of male to female is on this board?
That being the case, there is a certain logic to emphasizing male characters for a male audience. If we were to take the number of "interesting" characters on STNG (Shelby, Yar, Garrett, Ro, Vash, Guinan) compared to the number of interesting male characters, would 20:1 be fair? Now how many male Trek fans do you suppose there were in 1987 relative to female fans? I'll make a supposition: that the ratio on the show gave female fans far more selection than their representation in the audience would have.
My supposition also assumes that 100% of the female audience identified with the Vash or Shelby archetypes, and not the Crusher or Troy ones. And for that matter, I also am assuming that 100% wanted to see themselves in the role the way you describe.
Anyway I think you're going to get your wish. Disney has clearly awakaned to the potential of a large female scifi audience and has clearly chosen to market its Star Wars property heavily to girls. They seem to be doing so with quite a powerful will. If that succeeds, others will definitely follow.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:09am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:17am (UTC -6)
I didn't think of Guinan because she never had an episode of her own in those first two and half seasons. I liked her and Shelby both.
With Shelby I got the feeling we were supposed to dislike her as either a Ambitious/Castrating Bitch (like Nurse Ratchet or Cersei) or an Obnoxious Female Know-It-All, (like early Hermione Granger and Margaret from Dennis the Menace). Those are both common tropes in which the uppity female is portrayed unsympathetically for her crime of seeking to get ahead of males. Usually she's hated both in-universe and out, and is set up to be defeated, humiliated, or softened into submissive niceness and sidekickery by the end.
But the real reason Shelby didn't satisfy me the way Kehylar, Vash and Ro did is that the latter three carried their episodes: their shows were entirely about their characters, just like the Q shows, Lore shows, Too Short a Season, Outrageous Okona, The Hunted,, etc. Shelby was a great guest but the episode wasn't about her, as I remember.
As for the audience - I don't know that you're right that it was twenty-to-one male. The hardcore crowd, yes: the kind who collect figurines and, heh, post on sites like this. But I can tell you that my mom watched it in reruns for years right along with "law and order" and the British comedies and MASH. All my female college friends watched it enough to know the characters and have animated discussions about the relative merits of Riker vs Picard or Beverley vs Pulaski. We weren't obsessed; we didn't make a point of catching every episode; but we knew it and we liked it.
In fact, the first day I found myself dissecting a human cadaver, I found myself in a heated discussion about the uselessness of Tasha Yar.... with my two female dissection partners whom I'd met just a few days before. Good memories.
Thanks for the discussion. I'm certainly glad times have changed... at least a little, and at least on TV.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:18am (UTC -6)
As much as I like Riker, the thought is appealing.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:22am (UTC -6)
Once again: this is nitpicking. "What about Minuet? What about that female Klingon that Riker serves with,the one who's sexually aggressive? What about those female cadets who fly alongside Wesley in "First Duty"?
If you still don't want to understand my POV, I suspect it's deliberate. If you still don't understand why I loved Captain's Holiday, I'm gonna let it lie. No biggie. I just thought I'd open a few eyes to another perspective... one that's otherwise lacking on this site.
Best wishes.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:27am (UTC -6)
You hate them at first because they bust in a disrupt the nice little thing TNG has going on, but in the end you see them as not be quite so bad and learn to appreciate them.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:28am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:30am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:43am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:44am (UTC -6)
For me, personally, when inspecting how good a role is for an actress, I tend to think of it in terms of how much there is to chew on in the role. Vash was definitely a prime vehicle for an actress, and on these grounds I would put Lal in this group, as that was an excellent role to portray (whether or not she 'counts' as a child). But yeah, there aren't too many roles like this in TNG, where a guest actress gets to play a kick-ass part that's central to the episode.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 9:56am (UTC -6)
In that sense, it's a shame Denise Crosby didn't stay around past the first season. If viewers can look back at the early seasons of TNG and pass over Yar, it looks like an important role the producers intended to include is lacking.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 10:28am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 10:34am (UTC -6)
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 11:02am (UTC -6)
And you did answer the Shelby question, which I missed. You are correct that she isn't the focus of the episode... more like the second half of the B plot (the A plot being the Borg of course and the B plot being Riker's career). I actually didn't see her as an Ambitious/Castrating Bitch... her qualities are quite similar to what we know of young Riker/Picard. People who want to be in the top of Starfleet are ambitious. The fact that sometimes what comes off on men as assertive comes off on women as "bossy" is ridiculous, and I always felt that Riker taking her that way and Picard setting him straight was actually really feminist and really positive.
PICARD: Good. You've covered all the bases. What's your impression of Shelby?
RIKER: She knows her stuff.
PICARD: She has your full confidence?
RIKER: Well, I think she needs supervision. She takes the initiative a little too easily. Sometimes with risks.
PICARD: Sounds a little like a young lieutenant commander I once recruited as a first officer.
...
RIKER: The Captain says Shelby reminds him of the way I used to be. And he's right. She comes in here full of drive and ambition. Impatient, taking risks. I look at her and I wonder whatever happened to those things in me? I liked those things about me. I've lost something.
TROI: You mean you're older, more experienced. A little more seasoned.
RIKER: Seasoned. That's a horrible thing to say to a man.
...
RIKER: And you have a lot to learn, Commander.
SHELBY: Yes, sir.
RIKER: Almost as much as I had to learn when I came aboard as Captain Picard's first officer. A fact he reminded me of when I commented on what a pain in the neck you are.
As somebody that hates the whole "women are bossy/men are leaders" thing... I just always loved the way Riker comes around to her. But back to your point... Shelby was there to a) provide Borg exposition and b) serve Riker's career story. So while I personally found her an awesome kickass female XO... she was not the focus of a story on her own. She's there to teach Riker a lesson. You are right.
Ro, on the other hand, is her own story entirely. And in a lot of ways Vash is too (despite the romantic pairing with the Captain). Although since you mentioned the female pilots from First Duty I will say that Sito Jaxa, who ends up in Lower Decks, is also an awesome female character IMHO. Shame they often needed to make women alien to make them really strong (Kira/Ro/Sito/Dax/K'Ehleyr).
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 11:16am (UTC -6)
Season 2
1. The titular child is a boy
2. Nagilum presents as male to me, though gender is probably irrelevant
3. Moriarty
4. Okona
5. Riva
6. Ira Graves (like you, I'm not going to count his assistant as a shining example of a female guest star)
7. Many guest stars, but Riker's main Klingon adversary and the Benzite are male
8. JAG Louvois - I, like Chrome, would count her. She presents as an equal to Picard. And the "villian" of the piece is a male cybernetics expert.
But that means it took me 8 episodes to find ONE decent female guest star. And in that same time I arguable found 8 or 9 males ones.
Us saying - "Hey, you missed one we liked!" is hardly an attempt to disprove your overall point. And the fact is that you were talking about your experiences and who you related to. You may not have related to Louvois... and that's totally fine. Some people were just chiming in with their own experiences/impressions.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 12:29pm (UTC -6)
Del-Duio, my mother and I argued about Jellico when we saw the episode together in reruns. I liked him from moment one and thought he was a strong, take-charge guy perfectly within his rights, and that Riker/crew needed to quit whining and obey and do their jobs. My mother thought he was a bad leader for throwing the crew into chaos and putting everyone on edge. It's an interesting debate. Shelby was the same kind of character: you could make a case for admiring her or criticizing her.
***
Observation:
Since there are so few feisty female leaders in TV/movies - and those that exist sometimes get shot down for sexist reasons (too ambitious! not pretty enough! sleeps around!) - I'm always inclined to defend the few we have.
When you talk about a male character, it's like describing a jellybean that you ate from a massive barrel of hundreds of thousands of Male Character Jellybeans that come in every color and flavor. If you say "I hate that bitter-lemon kind with the pink dots and the bumpy exterior", it's understood that you're not condemning the whole barrel.
But over in the Jellybean Barrel of Female Characters, there's like, three hundred jellybeans - and two hundred ninety seven of them are Sweet Vanilla Flavor. So if you criticize the rare Hot Cinnamon or Bitter Chocolate or Stinging Citrus, it always sounds like you're saying, 'Ugh, I can't stand a female who isn't Sweet Vanilla.'
As the jellybean barrel of female characters gets more flavors in it - which it is, slowly - this problem shrinks away.
Same, incidentally, for female politicians. The more there are, the more they can be and will be judged/treated/insulted/accepted on the same basis as the rest of the good and bad apples, and the less they'll be propped up or torn down for sex-based reasons.
We can hope.
Tue, Jan 24, 2017, 2:36pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Feb 5, 2017, 9:33pm (UTC -6)
I don’t have the figures, but I’m guessing that ST had a decent size female base, otherwise the Voyager captain probably would not have been female.
Kudos to Jammer and all the contributors here for their insights.
Tue, Feb 7, 2017, 11:08pm (UTC -6)
Now that I'm going through the third season one by one (I had jumped ahead to review CH because I love it so much I just couldn't wait), I do notice that the show has made a good change this year. Compared to seasons one and two, season three has way more females in minor or moderate roles that don't specifically require the character to have a vagina or boobs. For example, we have the sovereign on Yuta's planet and the anti-terrorist honcho on "High Ground."
Seasons one and two suffered from the common illness called Nemo's Disease (I have also heard it called Smurf Syndrome and Tolkienism), in which males make up 99.4 percent of the population. Happily, season three TNG seems to be recovering from it's bout of Nemo's. I credit Pulaski with finding the cure before she left.
Thu, Oct 5, 2017, 7:07pm (UTC -6)
Wed, Nov 1, 2017, 4:19pm (UTC -6)
Oh well, it might have been fun if it was them but unfortunately we get to see Risa-where all those bimbos and lugs from Season 1's 'Justice'-where people 'make love at the drop of a hat'- seem to have wound up having still forgotten to get dressed before leaving their apartments.
Patrick Stewart has a shiny speedo disaster and I hope he got a lot of stick on set for that ,manages to snog some floozies face off and almost seems to have had his head turned before sussing out her femme fatale plan in the last reel.
Riker is at least consistently and relentlessly thinking with his trouser snake throughout his bits and he always has that pervy smile on his face when he does that.
Not a great episode.
Thu, Nov 23, 2017, 4:36pm (UTC -6)
Tue, Dec 5, 2017, 11:29am (UTC -6)
Tue, Feb 13, 2018, 1:08pm (UTC -6)
While not the greatest story to spring from the writing room, it was fun as well as a nice change of pace. I enjoy seeing more of the Federation outside the drab starbases, scientific outposts, and colonies we usually get to visit.
Plus it's nice to see someone other than Will Riker getting a chance for some good loving, lol.
Fri, Jun 15, 2018, 2:27pm (UTC -6)
3 stars
Tue, Jul 3, 2018, 8:58pm (UTC -6)
Risa at first reminded me of the "Justice" episode and I can only shake my head at the existence of such a place. There must be a shady underbelly to it, but that's not the focus of the episode. I wish it would at least be acknowledged by somebody. So Picard has nothing to worry about going there?
And then to make matters worse we get a TNG version of Rom. Just what you need to dampen an episode -- a Ferengi. The character is too stupid to take seriously.
So the Indiana Jones style quest -- just a small part of the episode to get Picard/Vash doing something together. The artifact sounds powerful and valuable enough -- they should have made it something more believable and reasonable (and again, gotten rid of the Vogons). But this is all about Picard finding Vash and being interested in her -- she does provide a good foil for him.
1.5 stars for "Captain's Holiday" -- kind of a mess of an episode, ultimately comes off as silly but well-meaning in a somewhat feel-good kind of way. The typical vacation adventure episode where nothing too threatening or intelligent should happen. Pretty much a guaranteed sub-par episode given the premise.
Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 2:37am (UTC -6)
I hope as you assumedly continued to watch Star Trek you never turned into the people that your comments back then were referring to. haha
You see... it’s kind of a ‘thing’ in ST fandom to become hyper-critical, stodgy, self-aggrandizing and overall just kind of boorish. You can see it on any fansite you go to, there’s just a general vibe amongst many of the commenters that reeks of thinking perhaps their excrement does not have an odor as unsavory as the neophytes they are forced to endure.
Their comments are gassy, overly long, unbelievably critical, and usually full of big words to emphasize the validity of their litany list of complaints. One could easily think they do not watch ST for pleasure, but rather to demonstrate their ability to dissect others’ work.
Is this a great episode? Nah... it’s not. Is it fun and a bit goofy? Yeah. Does it deserve the ridiculous amounts of blathering critique from some commenters above? hahaha... of course it doesn’t.
A lot of ST fans should repeat to themselves it’s just a show, they should really just relax. ;-)
Sun, Jul 22, 2018, 8:49am (UTC -6)
“Their comments are gassy, overly long, unbelievably critical, and usually full of big words to emphasize the validity of their litany list of complaints. One could easily think they do not watch ST for pleasure, but rather to demonstrate their ability to dissect others’ work. ”
At least they’re commenting on the show instead of digging around the comment section of every episode and commenting only on the comments.
Thu, Aug 2, 2018, 4:35am (UTC -6)
Jammer does a pretty good job critiquing the episodes, I seldom feel the need to add much more. And I certainly never feel the need to bloviate at how most episodes don’t live up to my oh-so-exacting standards.
That WAS what Garth Simmons was kind of referring to, or so I inferred.
But I do appreciate your “At least they’re...” comment. You’re right, of course. I’m a complete chowderhead and openly admit it.
Fri, Nov 2, 2018, 11:18pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Dec 9, 2018, 11:01pm (UTC -6)
I don’t think this episode is bad. It’s pretty entertaining—a rather cool pleasure planet, riker trickier g Picard into carrying around the horgon and oicard’s rewction lol, vash is a fun character here, a sci fi mysteey, the vorgons are cool looking aliens, some double crossing, some adventure, some intrigue.
The only weak parts for me was the vash picard “romance” which was thankfully briefly focused on in episode. The other weakness was the payoff with the uthat. I think something a little more creative and imaginative was in order than simply destroying the uthat
Fri, Mar 29, 2019, 11:50am (UTC -6)
extra points for Vash. When I first saw this series 30 years ago, I didn't care for Vash. But now with life experience, I really appreciate the character. She is a fitting romantic interest for Picard with his scientific and historic interests. Compare her to Dr Crusher, how bland the latter.
My wife wants extra points for Picard in his skimpy shorts and ridiculous (my input) relaxation outfits. I suspect said shorts will cause the scores from this mostly male board to be lowered.
This was a jolly Indiana Jones style romp and we both enjoyed it.
Thu, Oct 17, 2019, 12:18am (UTC -6)
An OK ep. Sorta boring.
The lighthearted moments were good. Watching Picard try to relax was funny, there were some humorous lines and nice moments.
Not a fan of Vosh. She's basically a dishonest person, no matter how you look at it, and I can't see the charm. It's the false charm, the fake bravado, of a grifter. I liked Picard much better with that lawyer . . . Phillipa.
The technobabble and time travelers: Not Good.
Onward.
Wed, Jan 22, 2020, 12:38pm (UTC -6)
Oh yes, and the Ferengi never improve a TNG episode.
The time travel aspect raises more issues than it's worth.
That memory disk looks a bit like a mini CD ROM, doesn't it? Quite contemporary when this episode was made.
Finally on a related note, and this isn't a serious criticism really, but - old books in the 23rd Century? I don't take them on holiday in the 21st, myself.
Still - I enjoyed the eye candy.
Tue, Mar 3, 2020, 10:41pm (UTC -6)
Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 7:19am (UTC -6)
Ensign Ro is close in second place.
Sat, Mar 14, 2020, 3:05pm (UTC -6)
Sun, Apr 19, 2020, 2:12pm (UTC -6)
I can enjoy fun, lighthearted, campy episodes, but not when there’s so many mischaracterizations, plot holes, confusion, and irritating characters. Voyager actually gets this right a couple of times in Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy, Live Fast and Prosper, and Bride of Chaotica. DS9 too has In the Cards, Take Me Out to the Holosuite, Bada-Bing Bada-Bang, and Trials and Tribble-ations. These sorts of episodes seem to be best when there’s a simple premise that doesn’t require a ton of technobabble to implement. I think DS9’s Little Green Men is a bit of a fail in that respect because the setup and resolution are completely ridiculous and the characters too cliché. I still enjoy it, but whenever Rom says kemocite it makes the hair on my neck stand up. Same for The Magnificent Ferengi. It’s poking fun of them sure, but the whole corpse reanimation thing just, and even Kevan’s death in the first place, is just a bridge too far.
I think TNG’s Qpid works OK, especially as a follow-up to this one, but it’s kind of a nothingburger overall, aside from a few great lines. Hollow Pursuits is good for the holodeck scenes, but the rest of the episode is actually fairly serious so I wouldn’t call the episode itself light hearted. I think A Fistful of Datas is actually decent if not for the tiresome holodeck malfunction premise. I do like Phantasms and Timescape, though they’re stretching credulity. It seems like the best comedy/light-heartedness comes out of strong characterization first, and TNG has a bit more trouble with that, especially when the actual premise of the episode is “Patrick Stewart wanted to do more action.” That’s what got us the reprehensible dune buggy chase in Nemesis after all.
Sat, Aug 29, 2020, 6:26pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Mar 11, 2021, 1:26pm (UTC -6)
Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 6:21pm (UTC -6)
Look, I'm a horny old bastard. I just get really tired of the hamfisted portrayal of sexuality in the future. It doesn't come off as enlightened it feels forced and the actual interactions about sex themselves are so stilted that I actually think you'll find a more sexually-charged atmosphere at a Quaker meeting.
The writing around erotic situations is the biggest boner killer I could imagine.
All that being said - I liked this episode more than I remembered. Maybe it was Picard's shiny hotpants, I have no idea. Stewart is just able to carry even the worst of episodes.
I felt like Picard trusted the future aliens too easily and too quickly given what we've watched the character do.
Riker's joke to trick Picard into buying the equivalent of posting "I'm hosting for NSA encounters right now!" on Craigslist was solid.
The Ferengi being super into Vash the Stampede because she ripped him off was a nice bit of world-building as far as giving us an insight into the Ferengi mind this early into the species existence in the fictional universe.
Tue, Jun 1, 2021, 4:15pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Aug 9, 2021, 4:58am (UTC -6)
[credits roll]
INDIANA PICARD & the TAX-U-TAT
starring
HARRISON FORD !
PATRICK STEWART !
MELINDA M SNODGRASS !
F. E. RENGI, Jr !
From the hilariously phallic WhoreGone, to the polycarbonate toy supposedly containing the energy of an entire star, and which exploded with all the fuss of an indoor firework - this was not an episode we were supposed to take seriously! Do I give 2 or 2.5 stars for its comedy value? Hmmm, that's the hardest part...
Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 1:59am (UTC -6)
The opening alone is tons of fun, with the crew cheerfully conspiring to unload Picard onto Risa. Sure, Riker being Riker kind of added some creep factor, but Troi's "my mother is coming" gambit was funny and well-delivered. Patrick Stewart's look of suspicious, weary horror as he sits in his chair is priceless. Not enough props are given to Stewart for his comic chops, and he displays them here. The rest of the episode is similarly low-stakes, relaxed, and goofy. It's not their best comedy effort (it's not heir best *anything* effort), but it's still a decently enjoyable 42 minutes.
Just my 2¢.
Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 8:52pm (UTC -6)
Thu, Jun 16, 2022, 9:02pm (UTC -6)
Mon, Nov 28, 2022, 9:50am (UTC -6)
As to Tasha Yar while her character had a good setup what failed the character were two things. One was the writing was awful. Her background story was vague and undeveloped. Ironically it was develop better with the episode visiting her home colony and her sister, who should be counted as an interesting female character who is morally ambiguous also. That episode should have occurred in season or two one as it would have caused an interesting conflict between Tasha and her sister who had very different perspectives on their home culture. It seemed like the writers had no idea how to develop her. The second was Denise Crosby. She was and continued to be a sub par actress. The attempt to bring her back as Sela was no more successful than her tenure as Yar. Contrast Crosby's performance versus the actress who played the Romulan Commander in The Enterprise Incident in TOS for example. And her leaving Trek for greener pastures also didn't go well as she never really received any truly successful roles after that.
Fri, Apr 14, 2023, 10:29pm (UTC -6)
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