#ensign beverley
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The fact that Lloyd Owen has only 3 audiobook credits to his name while he's walking around in possession of a voice like that is absolutely criminal.
This old one is worth a listen even if a restoration comedy of manners isn't normally your thing. I mean, it's got 18th-century wordplay, declarations of love and duelling - why wouldn’t you?
#lloyd owen#his voice is stupidly good#captain jack absolute#ensign beverley#I can't find a clip#you'll have to take my word for it#also bonus Lucy Davis#which is always a good thing#it's available on audible too
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It definitely feels like they rushed to get Wesley’s story finished and just shoved it in with this unrelated episode. This coulda been done so much better, and it sucks that they ended up going this route (whether by choice or due to lack of time).
First, get rid of the colony plotline. It has nothing to do with anything and should be its own separate episode. And I think this should have been a two-parter to give us the appropriate build-up. Have part 1 take place at the Academy. Show Wesley being depressed and frustrated. He has no friends at the Academy due to the piloting incident. He’s feeling overwhelmed by the workload. Have him contact his mom, and talk about how he’s looking forward to seeing the Enterprise again. He’s hoping that being on the ship will pull him out of this funk, give him the motivation to push through to graduation. Just all around, make it an episode explaining that he feels unhappy at the Academy, like everything he used to enjoy has lost its appeal. Maybe have him working on a personal project and then just...giving up on it. But when he boards the Enterprise, he finds himself dodging questions about academy life, trying hard not to lie, but not admitting how awful it’s been recently. The episode ends with him meeting Ensign Ricky at Ten Forward. Ricky talks about being a new transfer to the Enterprise, hearing all kinds of stories about Wes, and wanting to get to know him.
The second episode starts with Wes getting more and more frustrated with life on the ship. Everything reminds him of what’s expected of him, and how he feel incapable of meeting those expectations. He starts to snap at people and avoid contact. Eventually he just spends his time locked in his room. Through all this, Ricky’s trying to keep his spirits up, encouraging him to find his passion in life again, but without referencing Starfleet or the Academy.
At the request of Beverley, Geordi asks Wesley to come down to engineering to look at the new set up he’s developed, since Wesley used to love spending time down there discussing things with him. The scene plays out like in the original, with Wesley being rude and dismissive, except Geordi loses his cool and it devolves into a shouting match. Wesley retreats to his room, where Ricky shows up to try and talk to him, and Wesley ends up letting everything out, about hos he hates academy life, how he feels trapped and like a failure. After Wes calms down, Ricky suggests a Klingon ritual of centering he’s heard about from Worf. They go to the holodeck, and set it up, and Wes ends up having the vision of his father. After that, he realizes he’s changed, and doesn’t want to be in Starfleet. He goes to meet with Picard and Beverley, to explain and resign, when an EPS conduit blows in front of him and Ricky. Wes stops time the same way he did in the episode. Ricky reveals himself to be the Traveler, and they sidestep the explosion (no one else is nearby so no one gets hurt). Then we get a real and meaningful conversation with Picard and Beverley, and at the end of the episode, Wes says farewell to all his friends on the ship, not just those two (he also apologized to Geordi and they hug it out).
That would have been a satisfying end to his character arc. not this tacked-on unrelated side-plot with an uncomfortable appropriation of Native American culture sprinkled in.
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#best tng character competition#dr beverly crusher#beverly crusher#dr crusher#crusher#Sonya Gomez#ensign Sonya Gomez#best star trek character competition
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Oh my god. I just laughed so hard. Beverley and Troi just asked Ensign Ro if she mind if they joined her and she said yes. Their faces.
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ahh hello again! I absolutely loved the Q as a father headcanons, and I was wondering if I could request an imagine/oneshot based on them, specifically about Q going and complaining to Picard and him being horrified that he got reader, an ensign training in the medical center with Beverly, pregnant. And then perhaps reader and Q being called in for a meeting with all the higher-ranking officers (Picard, Riker, Deanna, Data, etc) and being really freaked out or something! you can feel free to take it in any direction you'd like, I just really liked the concept! thank you so so much!! <3
Hope you like it!
You and Q announcing to the Enterprise crew that you’re pregnant would include:
•your first point of call was Beverley, you needed this to be officially confirmed…and as she ran the tests she was able to confirm that you were ten weeks pregnant and that the foetus was looking very healthy. Q smiled as he saw his child on the scan, but the smile swiftly vanished as he realised that this must’ve happened when he was a human, his child would be human and not Q- the dangers and risks are untold.
•and that’s how and why he found himself pacing in Captain Picard’s Ready Room, the good Captain did NOT like the fact that he’d been summoned into his Ready Room, but seeing an agitated Q he felt concerned.
•and that concern only grew as Q sunk into a chair. To be fair to the God like entity he didn’t beat about the bush, he very swiftly announced that he’d gotten you pregnant while he was a human…
•you could’ve knocked Picard down with a feather! No amount of Tea, Early Grey, Hot was going to fix this…he was shocked! He was horrified!
•while Picard silently considered the issues with all of this Q was rambling about the hideous nature of pregnancy and birth and babies. He was panicked! He wouldn’t abandon you or the child, but the Continuum can never find out! They’d kill the child!
•as Q started to spiral Picard was left with no option but to smack his acquaintance round the face. It worked to get Q’s attention back, even though he cried out ‘ouch Jean-Luc that hurt! Do it again!’
•Captain Picard called an emergency meeting- you, Q, he, Dr Crusher, Deanna, Data, Will and Worf would all be in attendance. This was not standard procedure for a pregnancy, but then this was no normal baby!
•you could see the shock on everyone’s face as Captain Picard explained that you were currently pregnant with Q’s child. Will looked like he might faint! And Worf looked furious! You’d been fraternising with the enemy!
•but then Beverley jumped in to your defence, the baby was 100% human, her scans had confirmed that! So technically, biologically this baby presented no more physical risk than any other!
•to which Data and Worf retorted about the risk of other Q attempting to ‘eliminate’ the Enterprise to make sure that the baby isn’t born…Q reluctantly had to agree. It was an entirely possible thing.
•yet finally eventually you were given your say, you were going to have this baby. You were going to love and cherish this child with all your heart, whether they approved or not. And you weren’t going to sacrifice your career either!
•as you spoke up about the way you’d love and take complete responsibility for the child, Q was reminded why he adores you over every other mortal in existence! You were fiery and passionate, refusing to take no for an answer when you knew something should happen or be.
•Q still wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of a screaming infant that soiled itself and required complete care and attention. But with you there to keep him on track, he thought it would be manageable.
•Q took your hand and smiled at you softly, silently agreeing that he would be with you every step of the way. That’s your make it work. Yet on the other side of the table Picard’s eye twitched. This seemingly perfect moment was in fact just the beginning of lifelong headache he was now forced to endure!
#star trek#star trek imagine#star trek x reader#star trek the next generation#star trek tng headcanons#star trek tng imagine#star trek tng x reader#captain picard headcanons#captain picard imagine#q imagine#q x reader#q headcanons#Q
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Hey, I would love to request for Star Trek of that's alright? :) How about an imagine where you are a gifted new ensign who is profecient in almost all aspects of the work on Enterprise, so you can't decide which field to go into engineering, security, science or command also you are frustrated by people being so slow. So Beverly and Troi to the rescue! They try to cheer the reader up and offer guidance?
{ Oh, this ask is very interesting!
All these Star Trek asks make me feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve 👧 }
🌠 DEANNA TROI 🌠
You are the one who asks for her support and advice since you feel very lost and confused about your career and she’s here to help you, it’s her job, after all.
Deanna has read your curriculum, she is very impressed of your great abilities, and that you are very skilled. You are like a genius since you can manage every kind of job. It’s impressing but she can understand it can be very stressing as well.
Deanna thinks you should take your time and don’t be hasty because it’s a very important decision and, after having taken it, you won’t be able to change it. You have to think about it with calm, she can listen to you and help you but she can’t decide for you.
It seems you are running out of time as if you had afraid of losing your chance, you see the other people as slow and maybe you also think that they are not as good as you but this is your biggest mistake. She perceives this behaviour as an insecurity and, only because you can manage all these disciplines, it does not mean you are better than the others and you need to gain experience.
This can be a starting point: trying and finding your perfect job. For example, one day you can work with Geordi as a engineer, the other day with Worf as a member of the security and then with Beverly as a nurse. You will have a clearer idea about the job of your dream and your decision will be more rational. You will find a job more interesting than another and you will see how that job truly is, if it suits your needs and if that job can make you happy somehow.
For Deanna, the personal satisfaction is very important and you should follow your desire, maybe it’s not a rational choice but it’s more realistic and fairer.
So many people are forced to do a job they don’t like only because it’s more suitable or easier but you are lucky, you have so many skills and so you can do the job you like. Don’t waste this chance.
Of course, you can’t do everything, not even Data who’s an android does all those jobs even if his knowledge is superior but you are still a human and so one job is enough.
After your training –you have tried all those jobs-, you and Deanna will have a new conversation. She wants you to tell her your experiences, how you found those jobs. She wants to know the positive and negative sides of every job. In addition, the feelings you have felt and the ideas you have about them.
She wants to know your opinion about the colleagues you have met because it’s very important. Human relationships are essential in the Enterprise and you need to trust people and they have to trust in you. Maybe it’s the hardest part of the job but you have to examine this aspect, too.
Deanna will keep talking to you until you are ready and your doubts will be cleared.
Suddenly you realize that you would like to work with her because she is so smart and kind and she truly makes you feel comfortable and relaxed. You may ask her if she’s looking for an assistant.
🌠 BEVERLY CRUSHER 🌠
The Doctor is very impressed of your skills and she’s sure you will have a great time on the Enterprise.
In spite of everything, it seems you are not very sure and you have no idea about your future because you find every job very interesting but uncertain at the same time. Maybe none of them is good for you. You have not found yet the job of your dreams and you are more confused than the first day you have been teleported in the Enterprise.
Beverly noticed your discomfort, she’s a doctor and so she understands people. Well, she’s not like Deanna but Beverly is very smart and sensitive and maybe she can help you to clear your mind.
When Beverly accepted this job, she was not sure; she did not know if this was the right decision to take even if her reasons were different from yours. Beverley had to face the demons of her past, even talking with the Captain was so hard for her, and the bruises in her heart still burnt. With time, she healed and she won her hidden demons but she had spent days in total confusion and discomfort. She can understand it can be hard for you but it’s not impossible.
In the Enterprise, she has lived so many adventures, known a lot of different people and aliens, she is happy here. This is her new family, here she has also found a new love –even if she has not found the right time and the courage to declare her feelings to Picard yet-, but she keeps every moment she spent in this big family as a treasure.
Beverly wants you to do the same, whatever your job is, there will be more than that because the adventures you will live will make you a better person and maybe even the job you don’t like now will be able to surprise you. Never say never!
Beverly tells you that sometimes you have to follow your instinct because nobody knows you better than your heart and it will never let you down. It can be an irrational choice but it does not mean it’s wrong. Beverly often took the risks and the choices she made were not the easiest but they have proved to be the rightest decisions and she does not regret anything of her life.
Sometimes life is like a poker game, if you don’t take the risk then you will never win and you will never live.
After the discussion you have with Beverly, you are not afraid and your future does not seem so obscure and tangled anymore. Yes, you are going to live so many adventures you cannot even imagine, you will reach stars and galaxies no other man has ever dreamt and this is the greatest gift you could desire. You were just creating problems from nowhere and life never stops to surprise us.
#ask#anonymous#star trek#star trek the next generation#star trek tng#star trek the next generation headcanons#star trek the next generation imagines#star trek the next generation scenarios#star trek tng imagines#star trek tng headcanons#star trek tng scenarios#star trek tng x reader#deanna troi#star trek deanna troi#deanna x reader#beverly crusher#star trek the next generation beverly#star trek star trek tng beverly crusher#x reader
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Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 (1 of 6)
Capitalising on my last day of a break from my novel-writing efforts, I’m getting a start on episode reviews for the third season for Star Trek: The Next Generation now, so as to tide you all over until next weekend.
Episode 1: Evolution
Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):
The Enterprise approaches the Kavis Alpha binary star system to perform an astrophysics experiment led by Dr Paul Stubbs, analysing the decay of neutronium as a result of a stellar explosion that occurs every 196 years and is due to occur in the next few hours. Stubbs plans to launch a probe, dubbed the Egg, to gather the data, a result of a lifetime's development. Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer Dr Crusher has returned to her duties on the Enterprise after a tour of duty at Starfleet Medical.
As the expected time of the stellar explosion nears, the ship beings to malfunction, and the issue is traced to the computer core. Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher, who had been working on a project involving microscopic nanites, realizes that he may have inadvertently let two nanites from his experiments loose. The nanites were programmed to find ways to work together and may have evolved as a result. A scan of the computer core reveals that the nanites have replicated themselves and have taken up residence in the computer core. With the computer controls unreliable, the crew and Dr Stubbs attempt to see if they can remove the nanites from the core. However, Dr Stubbs shoots the core with a burst of gamma radiation, destroying a large number of the nanites. They retaliate by flooding the bridge with nitrogen dioxide, which the crew overrides.
Dr Stubbs is confined to quarters, but the nanites attempt further revenge by shocking him with electricity. Captain Picard prepares to flood the computer core with gamma radiation to remove the nanites completely, but the android Second Officer Lt. Commander Data establishes communication with the nanites and allows them to use his body to speak with Picard. Picard realizes that the nanites are self-aware and conscious and took Dr Stubbs' actions as hostile, but they want peace. Picard negotiates a deal to send the nanites to Kavis Alpha IV, designating it as their homeworld with Dr Stubbs’ assistance. The nanites agree and repair the damage to the computer core before they leave it. Dr Stubbs launches his probe on time and collects numerous volumes of data.
Review:
There are a few notable changes in the show’s line-up; Worf has gone up from a lower grade of lieutenant to a higher one while Geordi is now a Lieutenant Commander, putting him up to the same rank as Data. Gates McFadden is now back as Dr Beverley Crusher, and as a result the supposedly McCoy-esque Dr Poklaski character is gone, along with head writer Maurice Hurley, who is believed to have been behind Gates’ departure back at the end of season 1. Finally, the uniforms have undergone a change in design and material that was apparently requested by Patrick Stewart.
This episode is better than either of the previous two season openers TNG has offered up, though it’s not as good as it could be. Apparently when Michael Pillar took over as head writer early in this season, he insisted every episode focus primarily on one character and be about something. By that criteria, we get a focus of sorts in Wesley, and we get to see that not only is he struggling to measure up to all the demands placed on him as student and acting officer, but we also see something of what over-dedication could do to Wesley through the analogue of guest character Dr Stubbs. However, the nano-technology thread detracts from effective exploration of either issue.
To make this episode truly brilliant, I think they should have either built up to Wesley letting the nanites out in error more and focused on his struggling to juggle his responsibilities and his mother’s concerns about that, or they should have focused on creating more parallels between Wesley and Stubbs to be explored. In essence, this episode is evidence that Pillar’s approach was very much in its infancy at that point and was not well developed yet. However, it does improve down the line, and the closing scene in Ten-Forward between Beverley and Guinan is superb. Overall, I’d give this episode 8 out of 10.
Episode 2: The Ensigns of Commands
Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):
The Enterprise receives an automated message from the enigmatic Sheliak: Remove the humans on planet Tau Cygni V in four days. The Sheliak are a non-humanoid species with little regard for human life and would exterminate any humans found in their path. Their message is only due to their obligation under a treaty with the Federation to notify their intention to colonize before taking further action.
There is no record of a Federation colony ship being sent there as it contains levels of hyperonic radiation lethal to humans, which doesn't explain why the Sheliak indicate otherwise. The Enterprise arrives in the system to find what looks to be a small colony on the surface. The android Second Officer, Lt. Commander Data takes a shuttlecraft to the planet to coordinate the evacuation as he is the only crewmember unaffected by the radiation. Once he arrives, he finds that the sensor readings were incorrect. He is informed by locals Haritath and Kentor that it is a colony of 15,253 people, the descendants of the wayward colony ship Artemis launched 92 years prior. The colonists' ancestors found a means to survive within the radiation but initially suffered heavy loss of life before an effective defence was found.
Although it would normally be a simple matter of beaming the colonists off the planet, hyperonic radiation renders the transporters useless. Because of this, a complete evacuation of the planet would take an estimated three weeks as no dedicated transport ships are available until then, and the Sheliak are not willing to give the Federation any extra time beyond the three days required by the treaty.
After explaining the situation and being rebuffed by the colony's leader, Gosheven, Data is befriended by a sympathetic colonist named Ard'rian. She expresses interest in Data as an android and invites Data to her home, where they discuss ways to persuade the colonists to evacuate. To his puzzlement Ard'rian kisses Data. Data explains to the colonists that they should evacuate their world before its imminent destruction, pointing out by reverse psychology that the only result of their heroic hopeless last stand will be their total annihilation. Gosheven, however, refuses to leave and insists they will protect themselves by fighting, which many of the colonists agree with.
With time running out, Captain Picard and the Enterprise crew begin poring through the 500,000-word treaty in the hopes of finding something they can use to their advantage.
At a meeting at Ard'rian’s home, Data talks to several of the colonists who are thinking of leaving the doomed colony; Gosheven comes in and electrocutes Data. Data recovers and reasons that if persuasion cannot work, then intimidation through a show of force should be his next option. Modifying his phaser to work in the hyperonic atmosphere, he raids the colonists' aqueduct to prove they are helpless to defend their livelihood. When Data easily stuns the colonists guarding the aqueduct, he points out that if they can't defend against a single person with a phaser, then they aren't capable of fighting the hundreds of Sheliak, who would likely destroy them via orbital bombardment. Data then sends a phaser charge up the aqueduct system to vaporise the water that is vital to the colony's survival, convincing the colonists to evacuate the world. Gosheven reluctantly relents.
Back on the Enterprise, Picard exploits a loophole in the treaty. He invokes a section calling for third-party arbitration to resolve the dispute and names as arbitrators the Grizzelas, a species that is in its hibernation cycle for another six months. Picard offers the Sheliak a choice: wait six months for the Grizzelas to come out of hibernation, or give the Federation three weeks to evacuate the colony. Ultimately, the Sheliak give the Federation the three weeks.
Just as Data is about to leave the colony in his shuttle, Ard'rian comes to say goodbye. She asks Data if he has any feeling over what has just happened, and Data explains that he cannot experience feelings. To her surprise, He then kisses Ard'rian. She remarks that he "realized" she needed a kiss; Data leaves Ard'rian and returns to the Enterprise.
Aboard the Enterprise, Picard comments on Data's performance at a classical concert before his mission with the human colonists. Picard tells Data he performed with feeling, and Data reminds Picard that he has no feeling. Picard says that this is hard to believe, noting his fusion of two very different music styles in his performance suggests real creativity. At that, and in obvious reflection of his recent solution of the colony problem, Data concedes that he has become more creative when necessary.
Review:
It’s taken me reading through Memory Alpha’s notes on this episode to get any idea of what this episode’s title means. Apparently, it’s taken from a poem by John Quincey Adams and talks about ensigns as in flags or symbols rather than the officer rank used in TNG. However, this episode is focusing more on Data struggling with how to take command when his lack of emotion hinders him. That has nothing to do with flags or symbols, so for me the episode feels completely mis-labelled. I think the writers should have worked longer and harder to find a more literal title and not picked a random line from a bloody poem (I, for one, find poetry to be largely intolerable; just a bunch of bad song lyrics no one could be arsed to put to music in the vast majority of cases where I’m concerned).
That aside, this is a decent episode that does well to show Data having to cope in a situation a bit outside his comfort zone, while Picard and company do well to support the main story in their contributions to the episode. It’s also a good episode about not only the merits of playing on people’s emotions and actions often having more impact than words, not to mention the importance of putting lives above places and possessions in crisis situations. I also don’t much mind that Goshoven’s prejudice against Data isn’t better explored, since that would have just repeated ‘Measure of a Man’ from last season, and that wouldn’t add anything to the show as a whole, nor to this episode in particular. Overall, I give it 9 out of 10.
Episode 3: The Survivors
Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):
The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Federation colony on Delta Rana IV and discovers the planet to be devastated and devoid of life, save for a patch of land containing a house and vegetation. Transporting to the surface, the away team meets the human occupants of the house, Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge, who claim to have witnessed the attack that destroyed the colony, but are unaware that they are the only survivors. The team, finding nothing of interest save for a small music box, insists that the Uxbridges return to the Enterprise for safety, but they refuse. Aboard the Enterprise, Counsellor Troi begins to hear the music from the music box in her mind constantly, each repetition slightly louder than the last, which eventually reduces her to screaming hysterics. Dr Crusher is forced to place her in an induced coma.
An unknown spacecraft appears and attacks the Enterprise, then flees. The Enterprise gives chase but is unable to overtake the spaceship; eventually Captain Picard orders the Enterprise to return to the planet. Picard transports to the surface personally; Kevin suggests they were spared because they are pacifists. Upon the away team's return, the spaceship appears in orbit again, this time delivering a far more powerful attack. Picard orders the Enterprise to leave the system first, but then begins to suspect that the crew is being toyed with.
Returning to the planet again, Picard transports to the surface to plead with the Uxbridges to leave with him. After being refused again, Picard tells them the Enterprise will remain to protect them as long as they live, and returns to the ship. The alien spaceship appears again and destroys the Uxbridges' home. Picard orders an attack on the craft, and unlike the previous encounters, easily destroys it. Playing on a suspicion, Picard has the Enterprise move to a higher orbit; after a short time, the Uxbridges' home reappears.
Picard orders the Uxbridges beamed up to the Enterprise and confronts Kevin with his suspicions: Kevin and Rishon's house was destroyed in the attack and Rishon was killed, but Kevin, who is not human, has recreated them both, and created the alien warship to dissuade the Enterprise from investigating. Kevin admits the truth, and the illusory Rishon disappears. He removes the torturous music that he had placed in Troi's mind to prevent her from telepathically identifying him.
Kevin reveals that he is a Douwd, an immortal energy being with vast powers, who fell in love with Rishon and settled with her on Rana IV. When the planet was attacked by an aggressive, destructive species called the Husnock, he refused to join the fight in accordance with his species' pacifism. Rishon, however, died defending the colony. Stricken with grief, Kevin lashed out with his vast powers and wiped out the entire Husnock species; over 50 billion. Horrified by his crime, he chose self-exile to the planet, creating the replicas of Rishon and their house to spend the rest of eternity. Picard states that they are not qualified to be his judges, having no laws to fit the magnitude of his crime. The Enterprise leaves Kevin and his illusion in peace, and Picard confirms he will issue a warning not to visit the planet. Picard later opines in his log that a being as powerful and conscientious as Kevin is best left alone.
Review:
This is an interesting mystery episode that seems to focus primarily on Picard, since he works out the mystery fairly quickly but then keeps the solution, or at least his part of it, unrevealed until much later. However, once again the idiocy of Roddenberry rears its head, as according to an episode commentary I watched on a later episode in this round, 24th century humans supposedly weren’t meant to get angry at anything in Roddenberry’s mind. This is a stupid idea that is totally unbelievable, and as a result no one objects to Picard’s apparent sacrifice of the Uxbridges. No one but Picard has apparently deduced they’re dealing with illusions of a kind, so surely someone should have questioned the captain’s actions.
This is a clear-cut example of why Roddenberry becoming less involved during this season and eventually leaving Trek was a fundamental necessity for the franchise’s long-term survival. To believe that humans, that any species, could ever lose such an integral and necessary emotion as anger, or that losing our anger is somehow a desirable evolutionary path, is simply idiotic. The fact that suppressing human emotion was the subject of a dystopian film like Equilibrium is also proof of this, as the dystopian emotion-suppressing regime is total collapse by that film’s end and rightly so.
However, there’s not much issue exploration in this episode. The mystery, when revealed, turns out to be Trek doing its own version of what Chris Claremont did in X-Men comics with the Dark Phoenix saga, but since the cosmically powered being going too far in moments of overwhelming need or emotion is just a guest character, it lacks the same sort of resonance. The bottom line is this episode shows that despite the quality of the season’s first two episodes, TNG had yet to fully abandon its errors of the first two seasons. I also absolutely loathed Troi’s hysteria performance and had to fast-forward it. On balance, I’d give this episode 5 out of 10.
Episode 4: Who Watches The Watchers
Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):
The Enterprise travels to the planet Mintaka III to resupply and repair a Federation outpost being used to monitor the Mintakan people, a proto-Vulcan race near a Bronze Age level of cultural development.
As the Enterprise nears the outpost, an accident causes the holographic rockface to disappear, exposing the outpost to Liko, a Mintakan. Liko attempts to approach and is hit with an electrical shock, which causes him to fall off the cliff and sustain critical injuries. When Chief Medical Officer Dr Crusher rushes to provide aid, she realizes the injuries are too severe to treat there and has him transported to the Enterprise for treatment despite the action violating the Prime Directive. Liko becomes conscious and witnesses everything occurring in Sick Bay, and focuses on Captain Picard giving instructions. Dr Crusher is able to heal Liko and attempts to wipe his memory of the incident before returning him to the planet. Commander Riker suggests that he and Counsellor Troi disguise themselves as Mintakans in order to search for Palmer, a missing member of the anthropological team, and to monitor Liko, to make sure the memory wipe worked. They discover to their horror that the mind wipe did not take, as Liko recalls an image of "the Picard", and has convinced other Mintakans that the Picard must be their god.
Troi and Riker subtly try to dispel the myth of the Picard, which gains traction until a hunting party arrives with a delirious Palmer in tow. While Troi provides a diversion, telling the clan that another "like Palmer" is heading for the caves, Riker ties up an elderly man who was left behind to keep an eye on Palmer, and Riker and Palmer run away, and narrowly escape back to the Enterprise. Unfortunately, Troi is captured and held captive for her hand in the escape, leaving Picard to take steps to rectify the situation without further violation of the Prime Directive.
Picard transports Nuria, the leader of the village where Troi is being held, to the Enterprise and attempts to show her that he and the rest of the crew are mortal, including having her witness the death of a member of the anthropological team in Sickbay. Picard returns with Nuria to the surface in the middle of a thunderstorm, which Liko has taken as a sign of the Picard's anger. Nuria attempts to rationalize with Liko, but Liko demands his own proof of Picard's mortality and aims an arrow at Picard. Picard insists that if that is the only proof that Liko will accept, then Liko should shoot. Liko does, but his daughter pushes him so that he only wounds Picard. Nuria shows Liko Picard's blood from the wound, and Liko and the others come to accept that Picard is not a god. Picard and Troi return to the Enterprise, and after he is treated, Picard returns to the surface one last time, and explains to the Mintakans that they will be removing the outpost and allowing them to develop on their own. Before Picard leaves, Nuria gives him a Mintakan tapestry as a gift.
Review:
This is our second Picard-centric episode on the run, and it’s much better in terms of both performance and issue exploration, not to mention emotional expression. Moreover, it’s another chance to explore and debate that classic Trek chestnut known as the Prime Directive, which this time is broken by accident when it would obviously have been better to avoid that situation, and thereafter the issue becomes how best to resolve it. As someone who thinks all religions are best treated as theories until proven or disproven by science (which in real life science cannot yet achieve), I enjoyed this because it honestly tries to look at the issue from both sides, albeit not for long.
The episode explores the idea of an advanced race appearing god-like to a less advanced civilisation, which in more recent times has been utilised to work Thor and the Asgardian race into Marvel’s film in a sci-fi way rather than as beings of mystic fantasy, and also points out the inherent flaw in all religions. Basically, once our guest aliens start believing in Picard as a god, they’re almost constantly trying to work out what do, and as Troi points out, “that’s the problem with believing in a supernatural being; trying to work out what he wants.” This is where all religions fall down, because by and large that supernatural being never appears, never communicates directly, so you have no reliable, impartial means by which to determine if what ‘God’, ‘Allah’, ‘Zeus’, ‘Odin’ or whoever wants you to do has or hasn’t been done.
The guest character of Dr Barron even suggests that to minimise the damage caused by the Prime Directive being violated, Picard actually step into that supernatural being role and impose commandments so that the potential religion goes in a positive direction, but Picard shoots the idea down. He sees the abandoning of religion as an achievement, and to a degree I see his point of view. A lot of our history’s worst moments have been born out of misinterpreting or misusing religion as an excuse for wars, bigotry, inquisitions, etc. and that’s even when there are commandments built into a religion. The reality is that while religion can have its positive elements, it is ultimately through secular morality that isn’t based on abstract that a society is more likely to progress and thrive.
For me, this is a great episode and another example of Trek at its finest. I give it top marks because it really doesn’t put a foot wrong; 10 out of 10.
Episode 5: The Bonding
Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):
While investigating a planet once occupied by Koinonians, Lt. Worf and members of the Enterprise away team trigger an ancient mine. They are transported to Sickbay, but Lieutenant Marla Aster is dead. As Captain Picard delivers the news of Marla's death to her son Jeremy, Wesley Crusher talks with Commander Riker about how Picard had delivered the news of his father's death to his mother and himself. Worf expresses his desire to make R'uustai, a Klingon bonding ritual with Jeremy, as they are both orphans and he believes he can help the boy recover emotionally, but Counsellor Troi warns that Jeremy may react badly if Worf makes such an offer too soon.
The crew investigates the planet, discovering mines that were recently unearthed and exposed. They observe a beam of charged particles emanating from the surface headed towards the Enterprise, while Troi senses a new presence from the planet. In Jeremy's quarters, a physical manifestation of Marla appears, explaining that the crew mistakenly considered her dead and that she wants Jeremy to live on the planet. Worf and security officers follow the two, preventing "Marla" from using the transporter to return to the planet, and Troi and Picard also intervene. Troi and Jeremy return to the Aster family quarters, which has the appearance of the Asters' home on Earth. Chief Engineer La Forge tunes the shields to stop the particle beam, causing "Marla" to disappear and the room returns to normal.
A filament rises from the planet, striking the Enterprise and disrupting the shields; "Marla" appears and takes Jeremy, intent on going to the transporter room. Picard contains "Marla" with force fields and talks to her. "Marla" explains that she is one of two races that once lived on the planet; her species, made from energy, watched the other physical species wipe themselves out from wars and her people want to prevent more suffering caused by the remnants of the war, thus providing Jeremy with the illusion of his mother still being alive. Picard and Troi point out that dealing with death is part of the human condition. Wesley explains to Jeremy how he dealt with his father's death, explaining he was initially angry with Picard for living while his father died. Jeremy expresses his own anger at Worf, but Troi points out they are both orphans, while Worf notes that he was aided by humans after he lost his parents. Jeremy decides to go with Worf. Realizing that Jeremy will be all right, the illusion of Marla disappears and the alien presence is no more.
Sometime later, Worf and Jeremy undertake the R'uustai ritual.
Review:
This is the episode I was talking about earlier where I checked out the commentary and discovered yet more example of how idiotic some of Roddenberry’s idealism got. The episode is very much centred around the necessity of grieving for those we lose to death and how we go through that, and Roddenberry apparently didn’t want the affected child in this episode getting angry, part of which was down to this idea that 24th century humans just don’t get angry. The other part was that he thought the humans of this time period would be taught to accept death from an early age, and as such there would be no inter-personal conflict as a result of someone losing anyone close to them.
Frankly, that’s about the most inhuman concept I could imagine, because having experienced the loss of all my grandparents to various causes, most of which allowed for some preparation time, I can attest to this being the worst idea imaginable. Nothing is ever going to prepare you to lose someone close to you, and no amount of time or human advancement will ever make accepting death any easier. Luckily, the re-writes on the show’s original script nicely bypass Roddenberry’s filters and keep the natural emotions of grieving in there; they just lay beneath the surface of most of the affected characters because everyone’s basically repressing them, and there’s a kind of gentle catharsis for everyone in the final act.
It’s also an episode where I feel the intended and actual focus of the story are different. This was apparently meant to be a Worf story, but so much focus is put on the guest characters, not to mention Troi, Picard and Wesley, that it doesn’t really seem like Worf ends up really being the true focal point at all. However, it’s interesting to see how all these characters make worthwhile contributions to the subject at hand. Wesley and Worf have both been through the same kind of thing Jeremy has experienced, Troi is brilliant acting as counsellor and helping everyone out (this is how she should be in more of her own episodes), and then you’ve got Picard not only struggling with this terrible duty, but also with the question of ‘why do we let families on this ship?’
The last point is one that I think many people will find puzzling about TNG’s Enterprise; it’s a Federation ship, the Starfleet flagship at that, and we’ve seen by now how much danger it can encounter. As such, Picard has the right idea in noting how dubious a decision it is to have families, to have children and non-Starfleet adults, aboard a ship of exploration when it’s constantly risking the unknown and the potential perils that lurk therein. It’s notable that later shows, and even all TNG films after Generations, removed the family ship concept. We also get Data making some quite relevant queries and observations in a scene with Riker, so almost all the crew get their moment to comment, with only Geordi missing out from the main cast in terms of the focal issue.
However, overall, it’s a brilliant episode, and a great testament to the wisdom of Michael Piller. Another thing he did as head writer was to open the door to spec scripts, which were scripts submitted by the general public. This enabled Trek fans and unestablished writers to make contributions and, in some cases, to get on the Trek shows. Melissa Snodgrass’ script for ‘Measure of a Man’ was an early example of a spec script being used, and this one came courtesy of Ronald D. Moore, who ended up becoming a staff writer on the Trek shows for a decade after a few spec script successes. If you can get this quality of Trek by taking on unsolicited fan scripts rather than using established TV writers who have little understanding of the franchise, then I think a lot of other franchises need to tap their fan-base in the same way. All in all, I give this episode 10 out of 10.
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S3 E2 The Ensigns of Command
First Ten-Forward concert everyone!
The original post doesn't seem to exist but:
I might have mentioned this before, but I've seen a video of a convention in which a fan asked Brent about playing the violin. Brent adamantly correct the fan stating that he does not in fact play the violin. I can tell you that anyone who has ever taken violin lessons knows Brent doesn't not actually play the violin.
I like Beverley's uniform... It wouldn't be remarkable if women weren't so often dressed differently in this show.
Look at that orange gradient sky
A lot for the star trek local civilizations look similar. (The style even carries through to Insurrection). It's a lot plaster, stone tile, and strategically placed ferns and potted trees.
Riker's hair looks a little longer in this season.
As elementary as this lesson from Troi on the basics of language and communication is, I enjoy the inclusion of this kind of content. It's conceptually interesting rather than just a throw away terms used as technobabble or proof of intellectualism.
It's amazing how Brent sits up like that.
Troi and Riker look so proud, sitting in the background, as Picard negotiates like a boss.
Abeyance is a good word. I went and looked up the definition and etymology to get a grasp on it. My understanding is it's primarily a legal term.
Data's interaction with this woman reminds me of his relationship with Tasha. She was important to him but he maintains he doesn't "feel" anything. Granted the importance of his interaction with Tasha was for the enacting of the experience, not emotional connection.
Data talking about learning to be creative reminds me of Geordi trying to teach him to paint. Like the violin, once you can use your medium, is creativity any different from just making intentional choices?
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I thought this might amuse you: I saw that prompt about Beverly and her sister Rom and, not being in the ROL fandom, my first thought was "That's a hell of a Star Trek AU!"
Itdoes amuse me greatly, because I know just enough about Star Trek that my brainimmediately goes “how DOES our Star Trek AU on the USS London work?” And whatI’ve come up with so far is that Peter is the captain (if anyone wants to fightme on this they can fight me) but he started out on thescience track and is still the most interested in the ‘seeking out’ bits of themission, Nightingale is the XO and does a lot of the piloting (like I said:FIGHT ME), Beverley is the Science Officer, Guleed is Communications, Lesley isSecurity, Molly is Engineering (nobody knows exactly what species she is andnobody is brave enough to ask) and Jaget works with her, Walid is Medical (andDr Vaughan is his second), Abigail is the obligatory are-you-really-old-enough-for-thisensign, and Seawoll, Stephanopoulos, and Tyburn are all frequently exasperatedadmirals and/or planetary leaders. Some portion of the crew are non-human but IDKwhich species except that Peter is half-Vulcan, Nightingale, Lesley, andBeverley are human, and Walid and Molly aren’t.
As in canon, and consistent at least with the modern movies, things blow up around Peter a lot even though it is totally not his fault. The generalconclusion of the crew is that either a) Peter is going to end up runningStarfleet OR b) they will all fall into a black hole and die because he reallywanted to get scientific data from it.
Someonestill has a bet on him ascending to a higher plane of existence.
#rivers of london#star trek#I really did not expect to have this many thoughts on a ST AU#also it occurs that Peter and Kirk are quite similar#in the way their characters are sometimes misinterpreted#and wow THAT's a sentence I never expected to type#crossovers#plot bunnies#Anonymous
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Introducing, Mrs. Malaprop.
The character Mrs. Malaprop is a humorous aunt who gets mixed up in the schemes and dreams of young lovers in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 comedy-of-manners The Rivals.
One of the funniest aspects of Mrs. Malaprop's character is that she often uses an incorrect word to express herself. The popularity of the play and of the character led to the creation of the literary term malapropism, meaning the practice (whether by intent or by accident) of using an incorrect word that sounds similar to the appropriate word. Mrs. Malaprop's name comes from the French term malapropos, meaning “inappropriate.”
Tracing developments in costume design...
The Rivals (1775)
A prose comedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It is set in the fashionable city of Bath, and the plot concerns parents and guardians at cross purposes with their children. The central situation is that the young and sentimental Lydia Languish, a great novel reader, prefers the idea of marrying a young, penniless officer to the possibility of a rich young heir as a husband. Captain Absolute is such an heir and genuinely in love with her, but to win her affections he disguises himself as the penniless Ensign Beverley. His father, Sir Anthony Absolute, a rich baronet, is determined to make an unromantic marriage of convenience between his son and Lydia, but the Captain dare not disclose his disguise and so seems to be disobeying his father's wishes. Mrs Malaprop, Lydia's guardian, is equally anxious for the worldly match and disapproves of Beverley, but at the same time she is making love by letter to the aggressive Irishman, Sir Lucius O'Trigger, who supposes that the letters come from Lydia, and is one of her suitors. An additional complication is that the so-called Beverley and Sir Lucius have as another rival an absurd young country squire, Bob Acres. A sub-plot is another love affair between Julia Melville and the morbidly jealous Faulkland.
Louisa Lane Drew as Mrs. Malaprop (1875).
Mary Louise Wilson as Mrs. Malaprop, Huntington Theatre Company (2005).
Julie Legrand as Mrs. Malaprop (2016).
A history of dress...
The Rivals is set in 18th-century Bath. The dress for ladies in the 18th century was elaborate; skirts were full and bodices were low. The whalebone bodices kept the ladies waists tiny while the hooped petticoats, which originated in England, gave their skirts shape and grew wider until the mid-century. While in France the size of the hoops increased down the leg, in England they were of uniform width all the way down. Most skirts reached to the ground, but a skirt at ankle level wasn't unheard of.
Often the petticoats were elaborate and the gown could have a split in the skirt to allow the petticoat to show. By the 1750’s ladies often wore an informal style of petticoat at home. These had smaller hoops on either side of the hip, which by the next century morphed into the bustle.
The lacing of the bodice could be either at the back and masked by the dress, or at the front to form part of the design. They were quite elaborate in themselves with embroidery or brocading and were not for hiding away. Sometimes the ladies wore a stomacher, which was a decorative piece of stiff material pinned in place at the point where the bodice and skirt met.
The sack dress which originated in France became widely popular in England from the 1720s until the 1780s. It was an ample dress which began in pleats at the shoulders, gathered at the waist and then fell into plentiful skirts. The back of the dress had a number of pleats in the middle of the back and then flowed loosely with the rest of the skirt. The sleeves on these dresses were tight fitting and came to below the shoulder. The cuff was small until the 1740s and but then made way for larger ruffles of the same material as the gown itself.
1. Costume design for Mrs. Malaprop by Jeanetta Cochrane. Production date unknown. Image courtesy of CSM Museum & Study Collection.
2. Carol Schultz as Mrs. Malaprop in The Pearl Theatre Company’s production of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals (2014)
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