Star Trek: TNG Reviews - From Start to Finish!

Angel One

Awful. This is another episode I've never seen before, but I had a bad feeling about this just from the pre-credits teaser.

The 'culture ruled by women' is hardly an original idea and the episode was full of the stereotypical behavior and cliched characters you'd expect from such a concept.

There were three totally unconnected plots in this episode and none of them were handled well. The most intriguing one, about a potential confrontation with the Romulans, got the least amount of screentime.

A showdown with Romulans? That should have been the freakin' A plot! Instead, it was just used by the writers as a crutch to introduce some tension into an otherwise dull story.

There were some other stupidities in the episode but I won't go into it... frankly this episode doesn't deserve lengthy analysis. Epic Fail.

Rating: *

IAWTC times 9000. The woman for the most part is a caricature.

She does have a few moments. "Dark Page," for example, where she remembers the baby she lost (and with DS9's attention to detail, I was surprised they didn't bring this up when they stupidly thought it was a good idea to have her knocked up ). She wasn't too terrible in "half a Life," either, but like Voyager, the good is so outweighed by the bad that it's not even funny.

Isn't that the one where Riker looked as gay as a $3 bill in the open shirt and ear thingy?

At least Data had a funny moment with perfume in that episode.

Actually, only the Season One finale "The Neutral Zone" was the only first season episode effected by the writers strike.

"Arsenal of Freedom" is one of the great underrated ST:TNG episodes.

Except for TOS, all first seasons of the other Treks were awkward. TOS season 1 was it's best season, IMO, then started going downhill midway through season 2. In the other Treks, they took 3-4 years to start hitting their stride. TNG certainly proved this.

Well, except Voyager which was always bad...

I agree. An interesting premise--a planet dominated by women--that had possibilities, but the writers don't really take it anywhere. The Romulan threat merely adds a ticking clock, and a convenient disease-of-the-week seems like so much filler.

However, Beata and Ariel are both hot, so there is some enjoyment to be had.

*

Of course, the only thing Enteprise managed after 4 seasons was to get cancelled.

The thing is, The Next Generation, DS9, and Voyager were all loaded with incredibly stupid and unworkable ideas when they were created that they took a couple of seasons to discard.

For example, TNG had the "families aboard the ship" and "Ferengis as the new enemies" crap that was supposed to supply a lot of stories but both were effectively discarded as story ideas for the most part.

Voyage had to forget the Kazon as their main adversaries. They basically replace them with the Borg (in the process neutering the Borg) by the later seasons.

11001001

Wierd. Another episode I've never seen. At least, not entirely. Amazing how many early episodes I missed out on.

Anyway, this was a good 'un. It actually felt like a later season episode. There was a good balance between characterization and plot. Nothing epic happens here but it is a pleasant episode with an interesting premise.

The Bynars are probably one of the more interesting Trek races, I wonder why we never saw more of them? It was kind of funny how they essentially used the Enterprise as an external hard drive.

And we got some nice bits from our other characters. Wesley actually acted like a normal bridge officer in this episode, and Data was competent and decisive when left in command.

I liked the tongue-in-cheek comment about a blind man teaching an android how to paint. And the joke about Worf's sense of humor.

And it was nice to see Picard and Riker work as a team. They are such different personalities, so it was kind of fun to meet a woman who could charm both of them at once. Minuet was also an interesting character and probably the sort of fantasy most of us would create if we had access to such technology.

This was also a much better use of the holodeck, IMO. They made a reference to the holodeck problems from 'The Big Goodbye' which showed some nice continuity.

I don't particularly like jazz but the lounge that Riker created in the holodeck was pretty cool. I believe this is the first episode to show his interest in the genre, so another point for continuity.

This episode had some humor, suspense, interesting ideas, good characterization, and no obvious logic gaffes. Really nothing bad to say about this one.

Rating: ****




Too Short A Season

Man, this has been an uneven season. And here is another episode I don't remember.

The main cast did absolutely nothing in this episode besides stand around. The focus was almost entirely on two guest characters, an Admiral Mark Jameson and his old rival, Karnas. Unfortunately neither were very compelling characters.

I'm not sure if this was a tale of revenge, a fountain-of-youth story, or an episode about noninterference in other cultures. Other than the poor acting from the guest characters, there was nothing really bad about the episode.

But it is an easy episode to forget.

Rating: *

"Too Short A Season" is also known as "Too Bad An Episode".

Perhaps when it is remastered.

"11001001" is probably my favorite episode of TNG's first season.

"Conspiracy", "Arsenal of Freedom", and "Heart of Glory" are mine.

"Arsenal of Freedom" ranks up there because it is superior in something that most ST:TNG episodes lack.

Pacing.

A vast number of Next Generation episodes either are

1) wrapped up just before the last commercial with a burst of technobabble.

or

2) loaded with filler material because the A story comes up short.

"Arsenal of Freedom" actually is very well paced. Not only that, but it has decent part for EVERY main character PLUS no less than four guest stars.

You don't see that very often.

I forgot about "Conspiracy". It's probably tied or a close second to "11001001" for me.

Season One's **** Episodes:
1. Conspiracy
2. The Neutral Zone
3. 11001001
4. Datalore

Season One's *** Episodes:
5. We'll Always Have Paris
6. Arsenal of Freedom
7. The Battle

The rest of the Season is pretty weak. In fact there isn't a single ***** episode in the whole season.

Is it a four star or five star scale? (I've been presuming four.)

I have never understood the love for Conspiracy.

Some little critters out of a SciFi movie of the week take over the crew, we see some bad special effects while a Vulcan melts down in the conference room of a Holiday Inn, followed by absolutely no references or repercussions.

TNG episode the host chickened ou twhen they could have given symbiont to Deanna or Beverly's hot asian nurse.

I'd have to nominate "The Battle", "The Big Goodbye", "Datalore" and "Heart of Glory" as my favorite TNG-1 eps.

I like it because I know they were intended to be what the Borg ended up being. The no follow up was because of pussy fans who were too grossed out by the exploding head and body.

It's like a "TNG that could've been".

Instead, they wimped out and went with "safe" instead.

TNG was the first Trek in nearly two decades. The first two seasons were utter shit, and fans lapped it up anyway because it was new. The honeymoon between fandom and Trek was long over well before Enterprise was conceived. Even most Enterprise fans know it wouldn't have gotten a four season run if it were anything other than Star Trek.

Trek in the past could afford to be lazy with storytelling and take two or three years go get good. Not so much anymore.

I don't get this at all. I thought "Conspiracy" was a bad ep, since everything was contained within a single episode. It would have made more sense to me if Picard had only gotten the merest hint that something might be amiss, forget the whole aspect of figuring it all out and shutting it down within a single episode crap. As for "11001001," I saw the ep when it originally aired, and I thought it was crap then, I can't imagine what I'd think of it now. The whole fucking concept of the Binars, etc., just seemed gay beyond belief to me.

Mind you, I'm not trying to be a dick here, or say anything about someone who likes the episode. It just didn't resonate at all with me when I saw it (and I haven't seen it since it originally aired, so who knows what I'd think of it now) and I can't grasp how someone could find anything redeeming about it. Maybe there's some kind of subtext to it that I missed when I saw it. I don't know. If someone cares to enlighten me, I'll be more than happy to re-view the ep with an open mind.

Now I'm all excited to see the rest of the episodes this season. Interesting discussions here!

Looking forward to reviewing Conspiracy, Arsenal, Neutral Zone, etc. It has been SO long since I've seen some of these...

When The Bough Breaks

Umm, no. What a despicable, stupid culture. How can these Aldeans be so 'civilized' yet not understand how their own computers work or why they are becoming sterile?

This is another of those TNG episodes that hits you over the head with its 'message' about the evils of the 21st century.

I guess Wesley came off as fairly competent in this episode. He is starting to get less silly and he is definitely improving over the course of the season.

But I think it is kind of appalling that Radue, the Aldean leader, could get off scott free after kidnapping the children of the Enterprise and threatening to banish the rest of the crew into far space.

I guess they are Starfleet so they are still obligated to help these people but it seems like a stupid policy to coddle such a hostile and ignorant culture. And it is frustrating to watch.

Oh, and I really wasn't taken in by the cuteness factor of the little red head girl. I was just annoyed by it. Episodes like this make me wonder why there are still kids aboard ship.

Rating: *



I'm having trouble deciding if this season is better or worse than what I was expecting. So far this has been a season of utter shit, saved by some rare gems. But we'll get into that more when I finish this season off.

11001001: aliens who communicate like computers steal the Enterprise while keeping Riker and Picard busy on the holodeck with a sexy, self-aware holo-woman. Riker even gets to play a little jazz trombone. Not bad at all. ***

Too Short A Season: episode centers around an infirm, elderly admiral who takes a youth serum in order to negotiate with an old adversary; suffers from centering on a non-regular; interesting to see Michael Pataki (the "should be hauled away AS garbage" Klingon from the TOS episode 'Trouble with Tribbles) again. Overdone makeup and overacting make elderly Admiral Jameson something of a caricature. *1/2

When The Bough Breaks: it's always a stretch in sci-fi when some tremendously advanced alien culture is unable to grasp the basics (like, the aliens in ID4 not having the equivalent of Norton Anti-Virus or firewalls). In this case, aliens are infertile--because of ignorance of their own technology--so they decide to steal the children of the Enterprise (reason #508 why the little bastards should be left on Earth). Jerry Hardin (who would show up again as Mark Twain a few seasons later) is a welcome face, as is 80s-babe Brenda Strong. Presence of Wesley Crusher, as always, diminishes the episode. **

It would've been better if Riker would've played bass in Metallica.

Or ya know, banged some chicks.

Hey, now... I play the trombone. Therefore it is inherently manly due my pure magnetism.

DS9 didn't take 4 seasons to get going. And Voyager never did.

Ah, the cloaking device causes sterility episode.

Yeah, that's a pretty weak set up, and the story plays out as a action/sci-fi lite type of deal that never gets the balance quite right but I enjoyed watching it more than a few times.

Jerry Hardin was solid as always, he did a fine job as Samuel Clemens in later episodes as well. He also played Dr. Neria in one of the better episodes of Star Trek: Voyager, Emanations.