Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch (oh god no)

[Mr Trumpet]

I like most of the new stuff. Not really into animated shows though.

[Lemming]

S03E11 The Hunted

A planet's Federation entry talks are jeopardised when the arrival of an escaped prisoner casts the planet in a new light.

- The planet's leader looks like an exact 50/50 blend between John Cleese and Rene Auberjonois.

-

PICARD: Well. I'm sure they'll make a fine addition to the Federation, Number One.
RIKER: I'm not sure I'd like to live in this place. A little stuffy for my tastes.

You know it's bad when a 24th century Starfleet officer is complaining about stuffiness.

- A prisoner, SLAB BULKHEAD ROGA DANAR, has escaped from a lunar prison colony, killing two people and stealing a shitty craft.

- Wil Wheaton and Jonathan Frakes both heroically remember that it's prononced "sen-SORS" in Star Trek, and make themselves look like fools saying it as such, before Brent Spiner ruins it all in the very next line by just saying "sensors" like a normal person.

- Riker points out that hanging over a planet's magnetic pole can confuse starship sensors. In "Peak Performance", this is mentioned as being the method Riker used to escape Tholians (who the Fed were at war with, apparently???) on a previous ship.

- BLAST HARDCHEESE ROGA DANAR decides to do a suicide run at the Enterprise. Picard is pissed, but he's been outwitted and outfoxed by FIST ROCKBONE ROGA DANAR, who's actually in an escape pod! "This guy knows all the tricks! He's out of his mind!" Riker says, adoration in his eyes. "This guy's incredible!" Geordi says, becoming erect. I'm not making this up, by the way, they do say these exact lines in awed tones.

- SMASH LAMPJAW ROGA DANAR is held in the transporter beam, then released when a security team arrives. They open fire at him, but phasers have little effect on FRIDGE LARGEMEAT ROGA DANAR, who leaps forward and batters the security officers and O'Brien. Worf and riker Riker show up next, with Worf managing to subdue him while Riker dances around at the back and then gets thrown arse over tit across the floor.

- Jonathan Frakes has now given up on saying sen-SORS.

- The reason we detected no life signs is because THICK MCRUNFAST ROGA DANAR HAS NO LIFE SIGNS. Troi gets a psychic headache while walking past his cell, because he's having a PTSD dream. She goes in to see him.

- SLATE SLABROCK ROGA DANAR turns out to be deeply sensitive. He uses violence, but he hates violence. Troi, who was apparently educated on 19th century textbooks and believes in CRIMINAL PERSONALITIES, tells Picard that "I can only tell you that I sense something very unusual about him. Something that is not inherent to a criminal personality". He also has an "inherently non-violent personality". Picard's not having it, criticises Troi for being naive, and smugly says he's going to turn STUMP BEEFKNOB ROGA DANAR over to the authorities as soon as he can, "and I'll be happy to do it!".

- Troi goes to look up RIP STEAKFACE ROGA DANAR's record and discovers that he has no criminal record, and that he was a soldier. She goes back to him.

TROI: I've learned you are a soldier.
ROGA: I was a soldier.
TROI: Why were you put in prison?
ROGA: Obviously, because I am a threat to society.
TROI: There's no police record. What did you do?
ROGA: Everything they asked me to do. That's why I became such a threat.

Please, everyone! I know it's difficult, but try to keep your panties on!

- Troi really likes TOUCH RUSTROD ROGA DANAR and calls a meeting to talk about how he's great. Bev and Troi have checked it out and concluded that he's been genetically modified by his government to be THE ULTIMATE SOLDIER. This means that when he perceives danger, "the programming kicks in and takes over", turning him into a DEATHMACHINE. Troi has also discovered that BUCK PLANKCHEST ROGA DANAR and all others who underwent the same treatment were ordered into prison, because they were considered too dangerous to remain in society, as a "lost temper could result in murder". Please remember this line for later.

- Picard, hilariously, does a complete and total 180 and refers to Lunar V, which he was eagerly flying towards earlier ("I'll be happy to do it!"), as "an orbiting gulag". Welcome to Picard's mind, where when you've just realised an issue isn't as black and white as you thought and your earlier smug no-nuance-allowed opinion made you look like an idiot, you just switch to the opposite, equally smug no-nuance-allowed opinion, and pat yourself on the back. Data wonders if it might be possible to change TRUNK SLAMCHEST ROGA DANAR's programming, and goes to see him.

- Picard calls the Cleese/Auberjonois chimera to complain. Cleese/Auberjonois chimera responds that Lunar V is not a prison, but a colony for the genetically modified people, who are too dangerous to return to regular society. Picard suggests that Bev might be able to find an alternative treatment, and gets instantly shut down.

-

ROGA: My improved reflexes have allowed me to kill eighty four times. And my improved memory lets me remember each of those eighty four faces. Can you understand how that feels?
DATA: I am incapable of any feeling.
ROGA: Well, then I envy you.

My underwear is being dragged off my body by the force of SLATE FISTCRUNCH ROGA DANAR's dreamy combination of raw physical strength and deep emotional intelligence!

- Picard is going to transfer FLINT IRONSTAG ROGA DANAR over to his government. O'Brien prepares to beam him over, but it turns out he can resist the transporter. Yes, BOLT VANDERHUGE ROGA DANAR can resist being transported. He escapes and begins to Rambo his way through the ship.

- PHASER ON OVERLOAD! Sadly, no DOUBLE RED ALERT to go along with it this time around.

- CRUD BONEMEAL ROGA DANAR is absolutely unstoppable! He's running circles around the entire crew! To be fair, it's not really clear if it's a case of him being good, or the crew just being utterly lax and shit at their jobs as they typically are. He beats up everyone in engineering, and Geordi gets his ass kicked (sadly offscreen) so hard that his VISOR flies off.

- "Danar is extremely adept, sir", Data says, his "fully-functional" parts clearly coming online. Turns out PUNCH SIDEIRON ROGA DANAR can out-hack Data. Data sits there uselessly as LUNK DRYWALL ROGA DANAR hacks circles around him! He's just TOO GOOD.

- Geordi really likes DIRK HARDPEC ROGA DANAR. "He came outta nowhere! Took us by surprise! I didn't think anyone could move that fast!"

- Picard finally remembers that, in Star Trek, you can flood decks and rooms with knockout gas. Ever since this was introduced in "Space Seed", I scream "JUST USE THE GAS" at the screen about twelve times an episode, so I'm glad Picard/the writers remember it exists here. Of course, it doesn't matter because it's no match for SLAB SQUATTTHRUST ROGA DANAR, who avoids it with ease.

-

WORF: Danar! You are cunning. You must have Klingon blood. But the battle is over.
ROGA: My battle... is never over.

My underwear just got catapulted out the window at supersonic speed and will probably be found somewhere in Greenland.

- HACK BLOWFIST ROGA DANAR planned Worf's ambush ahead of time, prepared to blow out all power in the area in advance, and kicks Worf in the nuts. It's just getting fucking funny now.

- ROLL FIZZLEBEEF ROGA DANAR has taken an armed shuttle and attacked Lunar V, freeing many other genetically modified soldiers, who are now headed to the capital city of the planet. The Prime Minister asks Picard for help.

-

PICARD: And my understanding is these men are programmed to survive. Is that correct?
TROI: Yes, Captain.
PICARD: And that they will not kill unless their survival is at stake?
DATA: It is against their nature to do so, Captain.

You what? This doesn't reflect what was described by anyone previously - Troi said the "programming kicks in", forcing them to kill, and that "a lost temper could result in murder". BLAST HA- fuck it Danar himself implied the same thing, that he killed 80+ people against his will, and that he regrets every one of them. He implies the same thing earlier by talking about how the fact he killed people during his escape terrifies him. The Prime Minister indicated this as well by justifying the existence of the prison colony by claiming that it was impossible to reintegrate them into society, and that doing so led to violence. Where does this thing about it being "against their nature" to kill come from? The entire previous chase scene is ridiculous because apparently being hunted by the Enterprise's entire security force doesn't cause Danar's survival instincts to kick in. I know Worf and his team are a joke, but you'd think being attacked by a Klingon who's trying to return you to jail would cause "the programming" to "kick in" if anything would.

- The government is being held at gunpoint by the genetic modification people.

NAYROK: This is all you've brought? Where are your security men?
PICARD: We're not here to fight your wars for you.
NAYROK: They have been seen moving toward the center of the city. People are scared. Don't you understand, Captain? They're dangerous.
PICARD: You are dangerous. They're only victims. You made them what they are. You asked them to defend your way of life and then you discarded them.

zZzzzZzzz fuck off Picard. At first it was black and white - Danar's a psycho, and I have to return him to prison at once! Then it's black and white the other way - Danar is a victim, and the government (who I praised earlier today) are viscious oppressors.

- Of course, it actually is that black and white, because a) turns out they're all programmed to be pacifists, actually??? and b) Data restates Picard's earlier question about whether or not a cure/reversal of the conditioning/genetic modification might be possible. The Prime Minister keeps dismissing the idea out of hand, for no clear reason. He also reveals that the genetic modification can be undone, but they don't know if the psychological conditioning can be undone. The obvious question arises, then - why the fuck didn't they undo the genetic modification? Even if they're mustache-twirling chaotic evil bastards who just want to shove the veterans in jail for a laugh, might it not have been helpful to make sure the veterans didn't all have super-strength first?!

- Mercifully, Picard's public autofellatio session is broken up when Slab Hardfist or whatever rappels in (with a musical sting!) and points guns at everyone. He tries to provoke the guards into attacking him so that he can kill them, but nobody moves. "Cowards!" he yells. "Yes," Picard responds, "and you're not programmed to murder cowards". Did the writer change towards the end? This isn't what was described by Troi and Danar himself earlier.

- Picard decides to leave the government at gunpoint, and then jokes with Riker about how they might be massacred tonight. Mr Crusher, set coordinates for starbase Lyra III, where I'll presumably get an absoltue bollocking for fucking this entire mission six ways from Sunday! It feels like an attempt to recreate the kind of thing Kirk would do in episodes like "A Taste of Armageddon", but it doesn't work for me - Picard just comes across as a lunatic, without any of the tough-love "sort yourselves out" stuff that Kirk pulled off. Plus, in "A Taste of Armageddon", Kirk actually had a plan in place to help the planets, whereas Picard's plan is to just leave for a lengthy mutual masturbation session with Riker and then maybe check back later to see if anyone's still alive.

There is an interesting story here in the first third or so. Everything indicates that Danar is a decent person who has, due to an amoral and militaristic government, been cursed with genetic/psych modification that causes him to lose control with homicidal results. This is really complicated - he's a prisoner despite committing no crimes (and himself being the victim of something atrocious), and yet, if "a lost temper can result in murder", and Danar literally can't control himself, what can he do? The government's actions in imprisoning him and other people subjected to the same modification are unacceptable, and yet, if they're going around uncontrollably killing anyone who pisses them off, what's anyone meant to do?

However, the episode seems to decide that this is too interesting a scenario to investigate - so it turns out that Danar could probably easily be cured, but the government just don't feel like doing it because they're bastards. We're then "treated" to a ridiculously long sequence where Danar frolics around the Enterprise outwitting the entire crew, while they all stand there getting wet and dreamily saying "he's unstoppable!" It's absolutely impossible to take anything seriously from this point - Danar was already an unintentional comedy goldmine, but this whole sequence turns the episode into a piece of laugh-out-loud farce.

But wait! Oh shit, we've spent so much time on this overlong action sequence that we forgot to resolve the plot! Well, how about this - despite what we said before, they don't have programming which makes them dangerous. Actually, they're programmed to be pacifists and less dangerous than everyone else. Does that work? There's two minutes left, that works, right? Alright, episode done.

Absolute mess, honestly. Feels very season one in the way it confidently approaches what appears to be a very thorny question with no easy answers, wastes your time for a bit, and then realises it's run out of time and so tries to force the initial question into an easily-digestible black-and-white nursery-rhyme-level fable with an obvious answer for Picard to drone on about, by completely changing the initial problem that was presented. The chase sequence is just as much of an issue, it's so boring and it goes on forever, the episode felt about 90 minutes long. 3/10.



Danar can break out of a fucking transporter beam!

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH my eyes glazed over your recap after your second unfunny meathead name. He's not stupid and buff so why the fuck were you doing it. Why the fuck did you keep doing it.

[Ron Maels Moustache]

It's a running gag from the MST3K episode Space Mutiny, which IMO makes perfect sense in relation to TRUNK SLAMCHEST ROGA DANAR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFHlJ2voJHY

[Wonderful Butternut]

Danar breaking out of the transporter is one of these 'techie' things in Star Trek that annoys me more than it should. It's not like any Star Trek technology is presented as completely consistent over the course of 700+ episodes, but this just impossibly convenient for Danar.

I can accept that he has the strength and testicular fortitude to shove his arm out of the transporter beam, which probably hurts. But if that effects transport, shouldn't some sort of automated failsafe cancel the transport in progress and leave him where is in the Brig? It cannot be first time someone has moved during an in progress transport and a part of their body left the beam, so surely there should be safety features for that, right? Or if there's no safety override, shouldn't it transport whatever amount of him is still in the beam to the Angosian ship, and just leave the arm that was outside the beam in the Brig?

Certainly the last thing that should happen is the transport takes a really a long time, creates an explosion (what exploded?) and then conveniently deposits him to a safe location, fully intact, somewhere else on the ship. Surely if the transport was redirected randomly due his interference with the beam, he has just as much chance of materialising in a wall? Or in space? And there's no fathomable way, even as a genetically engineered superman, that he should be able to consciously guide the transport to a safe location with no equipment.

Do the Angosians even have transporter technology for him to have experience of fucking with it?

[Blumf]

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH my eyes glazed over your recap after your second unfunny meathead name. He's not stupid and buff so why the fuck were you doing it. Why the fuck did you keep doing it.

[Wonderful Butternut]

Oh noes, someone hasn't seen the exact thing referenced by doing the same joke about 20 times in one post.

[Mr Trumpet]

- The planet's leader looks like an exact 50/50 blend between John Cleese and Rene Auberjonois.

And almost 100% like Zefram Cochrane, the shiftless alcoholic version

[Lemming]

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH my eyes glazed over your recap after your second unfunny meathead name. He's not stupid and buff so why the fuck were you doing it. Why the fuck did you keep doing it.

I am sorry that my Star Trek: The Next Generation S03E11 - The Hunted rewatch post on cookdandbombd.co.uk wasn't up to standards, but it had to be done, because:
a) Any excuse for a MST3k joke
and
b) Taking the piss out of BIG MCLARGEHUGE ROGA DANAR was the only way to fight my overpowering attraction to his impossibly arousing blend of gruff, rough-and-ready machismo and nurturing, caring sensitivity. It was posing a physical danger - when he gave Troi his "do I terrify you? well I also terrify... myself" routine, I swooned so hard that I fell backwards off the chair and nearly cracked my head.

Certainly the last thing that should happen is the transport takes a really a long time, creates an explosion (what exploded?) and then conveniently deposits him to a safe location, fully intact, somewhere else on the ship. Surely if the transport was redirected randomly due his interference with the beam, he has just as much chance of materialising in a wall? Or in space? And there's no fathomable way, even as a genetically engineered superman, that he should be able to consciously guide the transport to a safe location with no equipment.

He can redirect the transporter through willpower.

Actually, I don't think he gets redirected by the transporter - he resists the transport (I can't get over this concept, it's too funny) and then he puts his arms out and casts some kind of stun spell which blinds everyone in the room. When they recover, he's run off, apparently managing to steal a phaser from one of the security team.

Which raises even more questions than if he'd just used his knob to redirect the transporter. Either he has some kind of area-of-effect stun ability (which he only uses once ever), or he... manipulated the transporter energy into a stun bomb? But the resulting explosion of transporter energy had no effect on him at all, even though he was at ground zero? It's also not clear how he manages to totally cancel the transport as soon as his stun bomb goes off, given that O'Brien was at the console the whole time and never stopped trying to complete the transport.

There's all kinds of bullshit during the whole chase sequence - it's never explained how he avoids the knockout gas, other than that he's STIFF SHAKESTONE ROGA DANAR, and gas designed to knock out all known species, and historically proven to even knock out Khan's augments, just has no effect on him at all.

Do the Angosians even have transporter technology for him to have experience of fucking with it?

Doesn't look like it, but he can also reprogram the Enterprise faster and better than Data can, and knows its internal layout better than the crew, to the point of knowing that there's a junction he can sabotage to cut power and sensors across the whole ship. He can literally just do anything.

The rules the writers followed for this episode were:
1. No matter what, nothing can hurt Roga Danar
2. Nothing can hinder Roga Danar's progress
3. Roga Danar must be shown to be better than all other characters on-screen, combined
4. Other characters must frequently stop what they're doing and verbally acknowledge how impressive Roga Danar is

[Ron Maels Moustache]

And almost 100% like Zefram Cochrane, the shiftless alcoholic version

Just watched a clip of him and could've sworn it was actually James Cromwell in the episode, it's uncanny.

[daf]

058 | "The Hunted"



Angosia's Crimed Life

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Highlights :
• Transporter-beam Hole-punch
• O'Brien's Shoulder Zap
• Tiny weirdo space-lapels
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Bits :
• Planet Boring Shopping Mall
• Sewn-up-pocket weirdo space-trousers
• Loony Five
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Score :

[Attila]

I've been enjoying all of the recaps so far, and the recap featuring BOB JOHNSON ROGA DANAR had me giggling admittedly.

[Mr Trumpet]

Just watched a clip of him and could've sworn it was actually James Cromwell in the episode, it's uncanny.

IDK if you're joking (too many layers of irony here) but that is James Cromwell

[Blumf]

IDK if you're joking (too many layers of irony here) but that is James Cromwell

Yes, but who's he being played by?

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Oh noes, someone hasn't seen the exact thing referenced by doing the same joke about 20 times in one post.

No, I got it. I saw the same joke twenty years ago when Television Without Pity were reviewing seasons four and five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's unoriginal as well as being unfunny and irritating.

Yes, but who's he being played by?

Farmer Hoggett

[Pranet]

If we are reviewing each other's posts now, I prefer Lemming's recaps of Star Trek to Poirot's reviews of Lemming's recaps of Star Trek. If any of those apostrophes are amiss I apologise.

[Cloud]

Loving this thread and have read all 26 pages from cover to cover.  It's kind of a shame that I've finally caught up.
Going to have to at least rewatch this BIGGETH MEATBALLS episode as I cannot remember it at all.

Totally random TNG thought: "auto-magnify" would be a great feature to announce (to raucous whooping, cheers and applause) at the keynote reveal of ViewscreenOS 2.0.  Imagine not having to say "magnify" every time you turn the bloody thing on.

I'd never really thought of Riker as an incompetent and generally useless buffoon before and now it's been made so obvious I'm not going to be able to unsee it, so cheers for that.

Regards the prime directive, I have a feeling it came about as an attempt to answer the Fermi Paradox (because I guess "we're actually the first ones to manage FTL travel" wouldn't leave much threat from more advanced worlds, so some excuse is needed for "we didn't care about your existence until you got warp drive").  And it was then realised that adhering to the rule (the "don't interact with pre-warp cultures" aspect of it anyway) needs all sorts of mental gymnastics and moral "dilemmas" that can be used to write the stories that, love them or loathe them, plague TNG.

Silently observing events even when things are going terribly wrong I suppose could be treated similar to time travel.  Look but don't touch, no matter how much it pains you to do so.  The old classic "what if you killed Hitler before WW2" dilemma, would you be saving millions of lives and creating a brighter future, or would one thing lead to another and somehow a worse-than-Hitler comes along even more frustrated and unhinged than Hitler and does even worse?  Or we all end up completely pathetic and under-developed due to the lack of such a "challenge"?  If going into the past and saving someone's life means that their partner didn't meet someone else and have kids, is it okay to erase those kids from the present?  Etc...

One thing that just occurred to me is the internet - if there's an interplanetary equivalent to the internet in the world of Star Trek, would giving people access to it, and the ability to learn from and contribute to it, represent the destruction of their culture?

I think it'd be a galactic disaster.  Can you imagine the chaos once you've got the President of the Federation making snippy remarks about Gowron on Space Twitter, you have the Romulans dicking about with the Wikipedia entry for the Neutral Zone and so on.  Vulcans getting more and more entrenched in their anti-emotion filter bubble and turning into mad extremists trying to convert other cultures to emotional suppression via lengthy rants about Emotional Justice Warriors from grifters on Space YouTube.

[Blumf]

Totally random TNG thought: "auto-magnify" would be a great feature to announce (to raucous whooping, cheers and applause) at the keynote reveal of ViewscreenOS 2.0.  Imagine not having to say "magnify" every time you turn the bloody thing on.

Probably the first feature they turn off when they get the ship out of it's shrink-wrap.

"Subspace call from Admiral Cuntychops, Captain"
"On view screen, ensign"
<extreme close-up on the Admiral's nostril on a 5 meter display, hairs bristling>

[Poobum]

The old classic "what if you killed Hitler before WW2" dilemma, would you be saving millions of lives and creating a brighter future, or would one thing lead to another and somehow a worse-than-Hitler comes along even more frustrated and unhinged than Hitler and does even worse?  Or we all end up completely pathetic and under-developed due to the lack of such a "challenge"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJnMaTx4yjI&t=14s

[Lemming]

S03E12 - The High Ground

The Enterprise is drawn into a guerilla war when Bev is kidnapped by a terrorist faction.

- A bomb goes off and Bev runs over to help the wounded. Worf shits himself and wants to flee in DISHONOUR, but Bev orders him to bring medical supplies. This took me by surprise, because it comes up so rarely, but yeah - she holds the rank of Commander, and outranks everyone on the ship bar Riker, who she's even with, and Picard. So she can order anyone to do anything whenever.

- Bev is grabbed by one of the terrorists (a group called the Ansata), who has a personal transporter device called an INVERTER that allows for surprise attacks. She is whisked away to a styrofoam cave. Back on the ship, Data reports the kidnapping to Riker and Picard. "People don't just appear and disappear!" says Riker, who routinely uses a transporter. Worf points out that they've likely taken Bev to force the Federation into joining the conflict.

- Terrorist leader KYRIL FINN tries to win Bev over with his charisma, what there is of it. Meanwhile, Picard and Riker go to visit a police chief who tells them that the terrorists are a right bunch of bastards who have no concerns about murdering innocent people, as if you couldn't tell from the cafe exploding earlier. Picard leaves Riker behind to work with her, leaving her to figure out how to deal with the enormous drag factor brought about by his presence.

- Finn gets pissy with Bev because he thinks the Federation have sided with Rutia by bringing medical supplies.

CRUSHER: We don't. All we did was bring-
FINN: Medical supplies.
CRUSHER: People were hurt.
FINN: I know - I hurt them.

Hilarious stuff, a line worthy of ROCK SHRAPNEL ROGA DANAR himself. Finn suddenly gets nasty and grabs Bev by the arm, proving that he's a bit dodgy, in case that needed establishing any more than it has been. He asks her to inspect his people, who are ill. They're dying because of THE INVERTER, which transports the user through a DIMENSIONAL SHIFT. This lets you whizz around the place, but also slowly kills you.

- Riker chats with the police chief and learns the backstory:

POLICE CHIEF: Seventy years ago we denied them independence. That gave them a noble cause. Now it's just an excuse for more violence.

Subtle.

- Riker also hears that a school bus was once blown up, killing 60 children. He goes on a tour of the town square and sees someone being arrested, and even children being apprehended, because the terrorists use child soldiers. THIS IS NO WAY TO LIVE, he declares. He's got his heart set on fixing all this in 45 minutes, bless.

- Data just doesn't get terrorism.

DATA: Why are their methods so often successful? I have been reviewing the history of armed rebellion and it appears that terrorism is an effective way to promote political change.
PICARD: Yes, it can be, but I have never subscribed to the theory that political power flows from the barrel of a gun.
DATA: Yet there are numerous examples where it was successful. The independence of the Mexican State from Spain, the Irish Unification of 2024, and the Kensey Rebellion.

Three years...

- Finn tells Bev it's too bad that she's got a son on board the Enterprise, because he's about to attack it. Terrorists teleport aboard the Enterprise and just straight-up shoot a guy. Horrible scene, really shocking and abrupt, but that's exactly what it's meant to be, I suppose. Not a fan of action sequences generally, but this one's great - the violence is sudden and scary, the episode's built up enough context that it's exciting, and most important, Geordi does a fucking Max Payne leap out of the way of incoming fire.

- A bomb has been placed on the warp core. Picard is so excited at the chance for SAUCER SEP, but Geordi spoils the fun by heroically putting his commbadge on the bomb and having it teleported into space. But now the terrorists teleport to the bridge and start shooting the shit out of everyone and everything.

- Love when Picard punches Finn in the face the instant he warps in. It's such a great way to negate the teleport advantage - yeah, you can warp in behind me, but you can also get a fist to the face one second later. Best of all, though, is the stunt double, who looks nothing like Patrick Stewart:


- Picard is kidnapped and brought to Bev's styrofoam cave (not a euphemism). Riker is crestfallen. "But why? I just asked them to talk. :("

- It's time for high school debate club with Picard and Finn:

FINN: Captain, the Federation has a lot to admire in it, but there's a hint of moral cowardice in your dealings with non-aligned planets. You're doing business with a government that is crushing us and you say you're not involved. You're very, very much involved. You just don't want to get dirty.
PICARD: You accuse us of cowardice while you plant bombs in shadows?
FINN: I am been fighting the only war that I can against an intractable enemy. Now, I'm fighting a big war against a more powerful adversary. Can't you see how that helps me?
CRUSHER: I'm afraid I can't.
PICARD: He's added another chair to the negotiating table.
FINN: You added the chair, Captain. I am simply forcing you to sit in it. The Federation will quickly tire of our little war. They'll want you back. They will want to get as far away from Rutia as they can. And I will not make it easy. Eventually, the Federation will force the government into make concessions. And then a few more, and then a few more. Until we can finally reach an honourable agreement that saves face for all sides. Except we win.

- Wesley "Mega Bollocks" Crusher has pinpointed the terrorist lair and a way to beam in. Riker, Worf and Police Chief beam down.

- Bev had a moment earlier where she sort of flirted with the idea of siding with Finn, but he threatens to kill Picard, so she decides that he's just a dickhead and tells him so. Riker's dick-kicking away team starts sneaking around knocking out all the terrorists. For some reason, Bev chooses this moment to try and tell Picard that she loves him, but Riker thankfully chooses that exact moment to destroy the generator, plunging the base into chaos.

- The terorrists are all KO'd or arrested, except for Finn, who tries to shoot Picard but is shot to death by Police Chief Who's Name I Still Don't Know. But then, a little kid shows up and points a gun at Riker!!! "No more killing," says Bev in her usual borderline-catatonic monotone, and the kid puts the weapon down, breaking the cycle of violence forever (probably).

Pretty good episode. Finn and the Police Chief (I'm going to Memory Alpha to look up her name - alright, it's Devos) are both given lines that are things that someone in their position might plausibly say, and both are given a genuine chance to convince the audience of their side of the story. The Starfleet characters remain relatively neutral, interested only in preventing violence. It's refreshing to have a TNG episode which is content to come up with an issue, examine it from different angles through different characters, and then end without a conclusive moralising speech where one of the protagonists directly tells you exactly what you're meant to be thinking.

I also think Starfleet is portrayed interestingly here - Riker sympathises a lot with Devos, but remains detached enough to never attempt to justify the authoritarianism that's in place. Bev sympathises to a lesser extent with Finn, but remains detached enough to never attempt to justify his murder of innocent people (which, if it wasn't for Geordi's quick reaction, would have included Wesley and 1000+ other people aboard the Enterprise). The script is quite clever with this - Starfleet are cast as the neutral observers, and yet Devos and Finn are both given the opportunity to argue that it's not good enough to try and claim to be a neutral observer when you've wandered into a situation as fucked up as this one. Devos points out that Federation assistance would allow them to act against the terrorists faster, preventing further violence (and, presumably, reducing the "need" for authoritarian policies which Devos herself detests the existence of), while Finn is given the opportunity to point out that it's a bit rich to claim to be impartial and neutral when you only deal with governments and heads of state, some of whom may be Right Wronguns.

Finn even gets to attack Bev for, in his eyes, hypocritically condemning violence when the utopian Federation only exists as a result of Earth's violent past. I don't agree with him (and the script doesn't try to make you agree with him), but it feels like a very believable thing someone might say, very DS9-y.

The terrorist attack on the Enterprise is horrible in all the right ways, you really feel the sudden shock of it all, the horror of the crew being murdered before they could even realise what was happening. Plus, Picard punching Finn is just an ace moment, it appeals to the kind of "YEAH 'AVE SOME OF THAT MATE" thrill that Star Trek usually avoids, but it's earned in this case, because Finn is such an arsehole.

There's only a couple of criticisms - Bev is pretty limp throughout, and for once it's not the fault of McFadden's performance. She just doesn't do much, and her counter-arguments against Finn are all naff and give him open goals. The other criticism is that the INVERTER plot doesn't go anywhere. The solution is to beam down and KO everyone with special KO syringes, it's got nothing to do with the INVERTERS! You'd think after all the set-up about this ultra-unique teleportation method, the solution to escape would be, I dunno, messing with Finn's INVERTER so it gibs him or something. Obviously not that, but you get what I mean. Messing with the inverters to trap the terrorists in the cave to be arrested, since the inverter was established as being the only way in or out, something like that. 7/10

[Wonderful Butternut]

This episode is of course notorious for Data saying the IRA won (or will win in 2024 from our perspective), which initially saw the episode skipped by the BBC, until they figured out they could just cut that line. Presumably the scene where he gives a rousing rendition of "Come out ye Black and Tans" in Ten Forward was cut for time.

Something I noticed watching this is Devos says something to Riker along the lines of "My methods are much gentler than my predecessor's". I can think of someone else who'd say something like that:



Possibly to the benefit of the story, it's not made entirely clear how just the Ansata cause is, or if it's just at all. We know the Rutians refused them autonomy, but that's it. Did the Rutians do that just because they're imperialist turds, or because they know a dictator will take over the Ansata within a week? Were the Ansatans treated well (before all becoming terrorist suspects obviously) or do the Rutians suppress their culture? Do all Ansatans want independence or just a small element? Are the Ansatans Bajoran freedom fighters fighting off Space Nazis Cardassians, or just a bunch of dicks representing a niche element in their society?

[Blumf]

Blast from the past

Anyway, writer check: Melinda Snodgrass who also did your favourite The Measure Of A Man. Not looking good for her. We'll see how The Ensigns of Command (s03e02) and The High Ground (s03e12) fare.

The Measure Of A Man 4/10
Up the Long Ladder 1/10
The Ensigns of Command 7/10
The High Ground 7/10

Ave = 4.75/10

But it looks like S03 helps a lot. I suppose the writing team was the real issue, rather than Ms. Snodgrass.

[Lemming]

Oh wow, didn't realise this one was Snodgrass. Looking over her credits, it seems like she was consistently interested in writing episodes where two different worldviews/ideologies get to clash with each other, and the audience gets to see both sides - Maddox and Picard, Space-Irish and Clone-Asexuals, Colonists and Data/Federation, and the two factions in this latest one. I think The High Ground is the only one where she really pulled it off in a way where both sides genuinely are given equal weight by the script, and both treated seriously.

Interesting that they all sort of end ambiguously, too - the judge's closing statement in Measure of a Man is that she can't answer the question (though obviously I thought that was undermined by everything leading up to that point), the colonist leader in Ensigns of Command is portrayed sympathetically at the end and his desire to stay on his crap colony is shown respectfully, Space-Irish-Woman from Up The Long Ladder is given the chance to point out that Picard's solution is fucking stupid, and The High Ground Ends with Devos lamenting that nothing's going to change.

[daf]

059 | "The High Ground"



Nice one Kyril, Nice one son, Nice one Kyril, Lets plant another Bomb!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Highlights :
• The Worf on Terror : "it does now!"
• Dr Crush-napped
• Picard Punch-up
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Bits :
• Irish Unification of 2024 - Suck on that, Oliver Cromwell!
• Dickie Davies Gray-Streak Baddies
• Sketchy-Pencil Dick
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Score :

[Blumf]

Oh wow, didn't realise this one was Snodgrass. Looking over her credits, it seems like she was consistently interested in writing episodes where two different worldviews/ideologies get to clash with each other,

I suppose a lot of Trek is that in general, but she does put it front and centre.

Checking her website, she's uploaded a draft of her Ensigns of Command script:
https://melindasnodgrass.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/EnsignsOfCommand.pdf

[MojoJojo]

S03E11 The Hunted
At first it was black and white - Danar's a psycho, and I have to return him to prison at once! Then it's black and white the other way - Danar is a victim, and the government (who I praised earlier today) are viscious oppressors.

It makes perfect sense. Danar's just run rings around the Enterprise, it's not as if he could stop him now. Picard's only option is to get out of there and ban the government from joining the federation so they can't tell anyone about how stupid he looked.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Yes it's childish, crude action, but it changes things around enough to be entertaining. Plus, it's one of the few times the Enterprise crew actually lose, so it's not a foregone conclusion who is going to win despite the writer's hard on for Danar.

[MojoJojo]

S03E12 - The High Ground

The opening scene has a weird bit - Picard voice over explaining lots of terrorist violence, and all recreational shore leave has been banned. Shot of Bev enjoying space coffee at a cafe on the planet.

I found this a bit toothless. It deliberately avoids addressing what the root cause of the conflict is, and I get that it's focusing on the cycle of violence, but having no real goals undercuts all the passionate speeches.

[Lemming]

S03E13 - Deja Q

Q arrives on the Enterprise and claims to have lost his powers.

- A moon is heading towards a planet:

RIKER: Could we blow it into pieces?
DATA: The total mass of the moon would remain the same, commander... and the impact of thousands of fragments would spread destruction over an even wider area.

The writers hate Riker. There's no other explanation.

- Q shows up on the bridge naked. If you've ever wanted to see the side of John De Lancie's ass, THIS is your big chance. He's been punished by the continuum for misusing his powers, and they've been removed, rendering him a regular mortal human.

- Data tells Q that he is incapable of feeling any human emotions. There's been a ton of scenes throughout this season where he says similar - mentioned it before, but this is essentially a retcon of how Data was portrayed in the first two seasons. I like this version more.

- Guinan (wearing an absolutely ace shade of lipstick) comes along to give Q a hard time by stabbing him in the hand with a fork. Just then, Q gets enveloped by an ENERGY BASTARD. This energy bastard is a member of a non-humanoid race called the Calamarain, who are taking the opportunity to fuck Q up now that he's mortal.

- Picard asks Q if any of his other enemies will becoming to start shit with him. They decide he's too much trouble and to ditch him at the nearest starbase, but Data speaks up in his defence.

- Data and Q are becoming Best Pals, so Data tells Q he must learn to work in groups and form relationships with other people to succeed as a human. Q and Geordi briefly get pissy with each other when Q argues he should be in charge of Engineering due to his vastly greater knowledge, but eventually they manage to work together to start un-fucking the moon.

- The Calamarains show up again and ruin the good mood by grabbing Q again, and also frying Data when he tries to help. Interesting that Geordi and Bev both work to repair Data - surely it's an engineering problem, not a medical one?

- Q is moved by Data risking his own life to save him, and feels SHAME. He confesses to Picard that he's a total loser who can't be human because he doesn't have what it takes. In another classic Worf security moment, Q is allowed to walk around unattended, and steals a shuttle.

- He's decided to commit suicide by flying out and letting the Calamarains kill him. The Enterprise crew try to save him with all the usual methods, which don't work. Riker's contribution is to sit on the bridge, looking around like a meerkat, and yell "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

- Another Q shows up on the shuttle and enthuses about how cool and special and unique humans allegedly are. He also points out that Q's suicide attempt was heroic in that it was clearly intended to rescue the Enterprise crew, and thus, his powers are returned to him.

- Q irritates the Enterprise crew for a while and then fucks off. Throughout all this, nobody asks him to help with the moon, which is hours away from crashing into the planet. Nobody even mentions it. Luckily, Q decides to do it of his own accord after leaving.

This episode doesn't really click with me. It's mostly Data and Q discussing how special and unique humans are, which is generally pretty boring as a viewer, but also insane in-universe - humans are explicitly stated to be the only species to embody traits such as "curiosity", "empathy" and "compassion". Come on...

There's also a change in direction for Q, who was sinister and sadistic in Farpoint and Q Who?, but is now recast as a loveable scamp who just likes to fuck with you a bit by spawning loads of illusory women on the bridge. De Lancie's performance is faultless, but this change in direction is a bit sudden, given that he got just under twenty people killed, dismissed their deaths as nothing, and was prepared to let the entire crew be massacred by the Borg last time he showed up.

Here, the crew mostly just sort of acts like Q is a bit of a nuisance. Bev even calls him a "pain in the backside", which seems like an understatement. It's a bumpy transition from Q Who? into this, where we watch Q get a back spasm and find out what going to sleep feels like for the first time. Guinan's the only person who seems to really acknowledge the gravity of Q's past actions, but even she never refers to them directly - he just "taunts" and "torments" people, apparently. Riker uses even softer language by suggesting that Q has merely "insulted" various races. Nobody really treats him as though he got eighteen of their friends killed and made them beg for their lives a year ago.

I don't want to come across as though I was sat there the whole time joylessly scowling at the screen and demanding that Riker really hold Q to account, because obviously I get that the writers wanted to capitalise on De Lancie's obvious comedic talent by taking the character in a new direction that would open the door for more comic relief episodes featuring him in future. Just thought it was worth mentioning that the transition from Q Who? to this is a little bit jarring until you shrug and decide to go along with the writers.

There are one or two good Q episodes in future, but this one didn't really do it for me. Half an hour of "aren't humans super-special" flanked by lightweight comedy stuff. 4/10

[mothman]

It's a tough one. JDL is always good value, but Q's conduct and motives through his appearances are nebulous and contradictory. How many different humans - and people from other species - is he seemingly prepared to fuck with purely for his own entertainment?[nb]Picard, Janeway, Sisko (briefly), Vash (sort of), a bunch of junior officers on the Cerritos...[/nb]

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

They put Q in the brig initially. They let him out because he said he could help with the moon. What are they supposed to do, eject him into space?