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lightningarmour · 5 months

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Star Trek the next-er generation part 2: the hologram

She enters the office of the ship's counsellor, and is caught off guard to see... another Romulan?! That can't be, surely she'd have known if there was another Romulan in Starfleet? Who are you, she asks, unable to mask her surprise. Oh, forgive me, says the counsellor, it's just that you're the first Romulan patient I've had, and it's a bit of a blind spot in my files. I find that typically, many people feel more comfortable speaking with members of their own species, so I thought this might help put you at ease, obviously I can see I was mistaken. The Counsellor then changes appearance to that of a human.

TNG made quite a few bold changes to the Star Trek formula when it began. Worf, a Klingon, the aliens who were the kind of arch nemeses of Starfleet in the original series, is a member of the crew! Data, a robot! Troi, the ship's therapist, and some kind of psychic alien!

Of the three, Data is most definitely the character who gets the lion's share of good material. Worf episodes are mostly dedicated to klingon politics, Troi episodes are mostly about her being bad at her job and also being the most useless psychic person in the galaxy. Or they're about her fucking mom.

Data is a much richer character with way more good episodes and character growth than either Worf or Troi are allowed to get(at least until Worf joins the cast of DS9) The crux of Data's character is the exploration of "can a machine be a person." Not the most original stuff, but done well, anyway. His attempts to become more human, his assertion of personhood, despite those who would claim he cannot be anything more than a machine an thus not truly alive.

Star Trek Voyager has it's own, largely reheated version of this same character archetype in the EMH. They really want him to embody the exact same set of ethical dilemmas and whatever as Data. Is he really a person? Does he have the right to exist, and what does existence even mean for an artificial lifeform and blah blah blah.

The difference is that Holograms, for the most part, in the TNG era of star trek are mostly depicted as simple computer constructs. Characters in stories, or simulations at best of real people. Yes, of course you have Moriarty who gained self awareness because Geordie foolishly told the computer to program a character that was smart enough to become self aware. Oopsie. And then there's Vic Fontaine, another hologram character that knows he's a hologram, but he's still a character, a host of sorts for a virtual recreational program. He starts to develop a sense of personhood after his holodeck program is left on for too long.

I personally don't really like this persistent elevation of holograms into sentient beings because it's a whole can of worms that really doesn't make any fucking sense if you dig through it for more than 10 seconds. So in voyager they get way too obsessed with this idea of holograms as people. The EMH starts lamenting the state of "hologram rights" and shit when, by all evidence there's an entirety of like 3 holograms that have ever been close to expressing self aware consciousness. But then you get the whole thing with Haven, the quaint little village full of Irish stereotypes who all start becoming aware that they are holograms in a fake construct after being left on too long.

It's like suggesting that if you fire up your PS5 and leave Grand theft auto 5 running for a week straight, all the NPC's in the game will suddenly become aware that they are programs in a video game and demanding that you treat them as citizens of the united states.

The thing is like, all of the dumb shit they do to suggest that holodeck characters are real people is never extended to say, the ship's computer. Like, it's what's creating all the hologram people, and it can perform complex functions and it even has a voice you can talk to! But nobody ever tries to argue that the ship is a person who deserves to be treated as an equal, probably because you can't fuck the ship. Holograms have faces and look like people so to the dipshit writers of Voyager, that means that they are people.

This is something I'd like to get away from. Especially with all the hysteria these days surrounding Artificial Intelligence. People have this completely overblown idea of what AI is and what it's capable of, probably thanks in large part to movies, so I think it would honestly be more interesting to have a computer character who actually behaves more like a computer program would. They perform a specific set of functions as dictated by Their programming. Let's not try just making Data over and over again.

I also don't inherently dislike the idea of the EMH. But once you consider, okay a hologram in the infirmary that can lend a hand in emergency situations, well, why not have one of those in Engineering so that when a power conduit explodes in an engineer's face, you can pop a hologram over there to fix the problem with zero danger. In fact why not just replace the entire crew with holograms? Like I said it's a can of worms.

I also like the idea of Troi. Sadly, they never knew what the hell to do with her so she got a bad deal as a character. In space, a lot of really weird, really traumatizing bullshit happens all the damn time. So it would make total sense to have like, a therapist on the ship to make sure people aren't permanently fucked up from all the insane situations they go through in Starfleet. Troi, however, was never depicted as being particularly effective or useful in the role of ship psychiatrist. I can think of at least two instances where she full on just gives her patients terrible advice, and most of her episodes revolve around her having personal issues that she has to like, turn to Guinan for guidance on. Honestly, Guinan helps more people with their problems throughout that show than Troi ever does. Also, Troi has too many personal relationships with a lot of the main cast to the point where I don't think she'd be a very objective party if they had to speak with her professionally. Also is she the only therapist meant to treat a crew of like 300 people? Does she have her own shrink she sees?

So my thought was, what if you mash these two ideas together? Ship's counsellor who is a hologram. It has access to service records and psyche profile of every crew member, it's programmed with like, all the knowledge of the leading research and whatever in the field of psychology and whatnot that the federation has access to. And it's office is a mini-holodeck so it can adjust not only the decor or the scenerey but it's own appearance so it can present the most comforting setting for people to speak about their problems.

From a sort of meta, production standpoint I also think it could just be a really fun character that you could approach two ways. 1. get different actors to play the Counsellor depending on what appearance they are taking. 2. Have one actor play the Counsellor and dress them up in different makeup and costumes for each appearance change they do. That could be a really cool role for a talented actor. I think of all the different hats Brent Spiner got to wear as Data in TNG and I feel like it would be cool to have another person like that in Star Trek again.

Computer, end program, she says. The Counsellor gives a short smile, apologetic. I'm afraid only the Captain has the authority to shut down my program, in the case of emergency. I wouldn't make a very good doctor if you could just turn me off when you don't feel like talking. Of course we can end our session at any time if you don't feel comfortable, though I'm afraid I do need to clear you for duty before you can officially join the crew, so maybe you wouldn't mind talking with me for a bit? She eyes the hologram skeptically. How do I know this is confidential? For all I know, everything in this room is being recorded and sent back to Starfleet intelligence. Do you worry that Starfleet can't be trusted? Perhaps we can try and ease your sense of mistrust if we talk for a bit. Why don't you tell me a little bit about the field of psychology in Romulan society, I'm afraid it's a bit of a blind spot in my database

Of course, the Counsellor wouldn't only be interacting with our Romulan character. Part of the fun would be giving them a kind of unique persona for each different member of the crew you see interacting with them. It could be a kind of interesting framing device for episodes where you have various crew members recounting events of missions and shit, and to get nice little expository scenes about their lives and shit.

There's one character in particular that both the Romulan officer and the Counsellor would have an interesting relationships with. For the Counsellor, he's a difficult patient to work with because oh boy does he have a lot of baggage to sort through and he doesn't particularly like discussing some of the more... complicated parts of his life.

For the Romulan Officer though, he's possibly the only member of the crew who doesn't look at her funny or whisper about her behind her back. He gives her the full respect he'd afford to anyone else onboard the ship. He'd say that when he was a kid, he grew up onboard the ship with the distinction of having the first Klingon member of Starfleet, and he had such a great time learning from Worf about Klingon culture, and isn't that what Starfleet is all about? Travelling to new worlds and meeting new people and sharing our knowledge with each other in the name of progress and camaraderie?

Yes, that's right folks, it's none other than Commander Wesley Crusher!

To be continued???

#star trek #worf #deanna troi #troi #Data #lt commander data #rambling #self indulgent bullshit #EMH #voyager #starfleet

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calliecat93 · 3 years

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ST: The Next Generation Watchthrough Episodes 13-15

Time Squared: Ho boy time shenanigans, yay… so we got two Captain Picards, one from six hours in the future, and our heroes trying tomfigure out WTF is happening. So… needless to say my head hurts. A lot. Admittedly Patrick Stewart does well playing two different versions of himself and being unsettled that there are two versions of himself, so kudos there. Heck this whole episode is essentially one big look at Picard’s peyche. He’s unnerved by another him who abandoned the Enterprise showing up, and who can blame him? I didn’t at all understand the explination over what was going on, but it sure as Hell lead to one heck of an ending. So an interesting episode that did some good for Picard. No real strong opinions aside from having no idea what just happened, but no real complaints either. 3/5.

The Icarus Factor: Oh boy, Daddy Issues. One of my least favorite tropes of all time! Well it wasn’t so bad with Spock’s daddy issues with Sarek, so how do Riker’s issues go (is it just gonna be a thing where the First Officers have parent issues?)? It’s the standard ‘dad wasn’t around much do the kid has issues and both suck at trying to deal with it and it all started because the mom died and dads automatically SUCK if the mom isn’t around.” Aka the junk tbat PISSES ME OFF to no end. But ignoring my feelings, I can’t blame Riker, he feels legit hurt and resentment and telling him to just get over it like Pulaski did isn’t right. Personally I’d say go through therapy, but NO ONE thinks of suggesting taking to Troi or if she’s too close to Riker, another therapist. Anyways, Kyle does seem to genuinely want to repair the damage and I can respect parents who realize their mistakes and want to make it right even if they don’t know how. But at the same time kf Riker wants nothing to do with him, he doesn’t have to and Kyle should have learned to either back down or seek guidance if he really wanted to make amends. Otherwise while I don’t have too many issues with how it was done here aside from the ‘men are macho and should solve their problems via macho means’ because just sitting down and talking or seeing a therapist apparently isn’t an option. It’s the same pattern I’ve seen everywhere else with nothing new to offer and it annoyed me the same way as thise times, and in the end I don’t like either of them for being prideful idiots. IDK if Kyle ever reappears like Sarek did in the films (which imo TOS handled Spock and Sarek MUCH better) but if they do, I hope it’s better than this. As far as Worf’s plot goes, no strong feelings but Worf’s feelings about a major Klingon event coming up but not being around other Klingons are understandable and his friends and the wrap-up for it was nice. So overall I’m not crazy about the episode because it has one of my most hated plots and went exactly as I expected it to go and has an ending message I don’t particularly agree with even if it was a joke (no ST, not all women like macho men or find it what makes a man exciting nor are all men like that or should be), but it’s not the worst I’ve seen and it ends decently enough. 2/5.

Pen Pals: The Prime Directive exists to prevent Starfleet from interfering in the development of any pre-existing society. TOS played it pretty loose with Kirk breaking as many times as he abided by it. There are legitimate issues woth interfering in other society’s manners and potentially forcing one society’s values onto another, so Picard being more of a stickler person ith it and obeying it makes sense. But there are also cases where it may be best, especially if that society is in danger or extinction kr harming others. It’s very much a case where one needs to have good judgement and where it’s easy to make eother the right or the wrong choice. When should the Prime Directive be broken? Or should it be broken at all regardless of any downsides, as maybe that’s better than the potential downsides that breaking it can cause?In this episode, we explore that problem. So here, Data picks up a distress call from a girl whose planet is about to explode, but helping her would violate the Prime Directive. He decides to help after communicating with her for a while, and thus the debate begins. Ultimateley in this particular situation I side with Data. I get why the Prime Directive is in place and I agree that it’s necessary. But in this case it’s an innocent child whose about to potentially be killed along with her planet and understandsbmy scared. Interfering in saving a child’s life if their efforts to save the planet fails is just the right thing to do. I do like that an episode had this debate because both sides have a point, and in the end even Picard, whose otherwise an asshole in this episode, decided that he couldn’t just do nothing. Also Data and Sarjanka’s interactions are utterly adorable and God I love Data~

As far as Wesley’s plot goes… why the HELL is the TEENAGER with ZERO training being allowed to lead a science team?! Okay tbf they address it in the episode, this IS pretty much supposed to be training for him so fair enough. But… I’m sorry but I just think that Wesley has not earned that right at least until he actually gets into the Academy and gets proper training there instead of being thrust into a professional position like this so quickly. Otherwise it fees like Wesley gets preferential treatment all because he’s smarter than most those age despite having not really done anything to earn it. But his worries about being a leader are understandable and Wil Wheadon protrays it well especially when he talks to Riker about it. This is really the issue with Wesley. The character himself is fine and likeable (a few instances aside but I can say that for everyone), but it’s how the show uses and elevates him more than he should that makes watching him so frustrating. But it hasn’t been as bad as S1, so we’ll see how things go down the line. So overall solid episode. I ahve some annoyances, but it was still a nice watch. 3.5/5.

#st watchthrough

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phantom-le6 · 3 years

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Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (1 of 6)

Ok, I’ve been procrastinating on this for a while, so without further ado, let’s renew our look into episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation by warping into the start of the show’s fourth season, beginning with the conclusion to the ground-breaking two-part story “The Best of Both Worlds”.

Episode 1: The Best of Both Worlds (Part 2)

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The discharge fired from the Enterprise’s deflector dish has no effect on the Borg cube; Locutus reveals that the Borg had prepared for the attack using Captain Picard's knowledge. The Borg cube continues at warp speed towards Earth, with the crippled Enterprise unable to follow. Upon reporting their failure to Admiral Hanson, Commander Riker is promoted to Captain and makes Commander Shelby his first officer. The crew learns that a fleet of starships is massing at Wolf 359 to stop the Borg. Guinan suggests to Riker that he "let go of Picard", since Picard's knowledge is being used to thwart Starfleet tactics, in order to defeat the Borg and possibly save Picard's life.

The Enterprise arrives at Wolf 359 to find that Hanson has been killed and the fleet destroyed, including the starship Riker had been offered command of in Part 1. The Enterprise then follows the cube's warp trail to an intercept point and offers to negotiate with Locutus. The request is denied, but the communication reveals Locutus's location within the cube. The Enterprise then separates into saucer and stardrive sections. Although Shelby suggested attacking with the stardrive section, Riker does the reverse and orders the saucer section to fire an antimatter spread near the cube, disrupting its sensors and allowing a shuttlecraft piloted by Lt. Commander Data and Lt. Worf to pass the Borg shields and beam aboard the Borg cube. They kidnap Locutus, although the Borg ignore this and continue to Earth.

Data and Dr Crusher create a neural link with Locutus to gain access to the Borg's collective consciousness. Data attempts to use the link to disable the Borg's weapons and defensive systems, but cannot, as they are protected by security protocols. Picard breaks free from Borg control and mutters, "sleep". Dr Crusher comments that Picard must be exhausted from this ordeal, however Data deduces that Picard is suggesting accessing the Borg regeneration subroutines, which are less protected than key systems like weapons or power. Data issues a command to the Borg to enter sleep mode, causing their weapons and shields to deactivate. A feedback loop builds in the Borg cube, which destroys the vessel. Dr Crusher and Data remove the Borg implants and augmentations from Picard.

The Enterprise is awaiting repairs at an orbital shipyard, and Riker, although offered command of his own ship, insists on remaining as first officer. Shelby is reassigned to a task force dedicated to rebuilding the fleet. Picard physically recovers, but is still psychologically disturbed by his ordeal.

Review:

While Part 1 was great for the first season-bridging two-part cliff-hanger of TNG and of wider Trek lore ever to be done, the second part comes to drop the ball a little on delivering follow-through to part 1’s set-up. Granted, we still get some decent character performances and a good plot with what little decent action the episode could afford, but it’s ultimately failing to deliver on the level of action that is at times promised. Anyone coming into this from watching some later Trek productions like DS9’s story lines with fighting first the Klingons and then the Cardassian-Dominion alliance will see just how much this episode falls short on the action front; indeed, it’s not until DS9’s pilot episode that we get to see the infamous Battle of Wolf 359 in any real detail, as opposed to a DS9 episode like ‘Sacrifice of Angels’ which is almost wall-to-wall starship action at times.

The solution also seems to come too quickly and is almost too convenient. Part of this is because the first part was written without a solution ‘waiting in the wings’. If Memory Alpha is to be believe, Michael Piller waited until he knew he would be staying on as TNG’s story editor before trying to write his way out the seemingly impossible-to-escape cliff-hanger he’d created in part 1. Now while I can understand that desire not to tie yourself into a solution to something that might not be your problem, I think in any kind of continual story-telling, early parts should always be written to leave a few options open. Even if you’re not writing the solution because you’re doing a form of writing like TV or film where you’re not guaranteed to write the next instalment, I think it’s just good manners to fellow writers and to your audience not to write a hard-to-solve cliff-hanger.

As it is, I can’t help feeling TNG might have benefited from extending part 2 a bit more and potentially turning this into a trilogy, much as DS9 did with its season 2 opening episodes. Still, I suppose it ends well enough, and I’m glad this episode and later ones gave us a sense that Picard remains affected by his assimilation experience. Not only is this ground-work that later ex-Borg characters like Voyager’s Seven of Nine would rely on simply to exist, but it’s another move by the show away from being just an unending array of one-off adventures with little to no consequences for anyone involved. That kind of overly simplistic and unrealistic story-telling just isn’t Trek-worthy, and I’m glad it was starting to die out here. Overall score for this episode, 8 out of 10.

Episode 2: Family

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is docked at Earth Station McKinley, undergoing repairs and refitting following its battle with the Borg. The episode follows the interactions of three members of the crew with their family members. Lt. Worf's adoptive human parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko visit the Enterprise, having learned about his discommendation some time ago, but also having been unable to support him as they would wish due to being lightyears apart. Worf, though embarrassed and uncomfortable with their doting behaviour at first, but in the end appreciates their concern. Dr Beverly Crusher retrieves a chest, kept in storage on Earth, containing her late husband Jack's mementos, including a holographic recording he made for Wesley when their child was only 10 weeks old. Beverly, though worried that the two of them have only recently truly come to terms with Jack's death, eventually gives the recording to Wesley. Wesley runs the recording and is given some degree of closure by the message.

Captain Picard, recovering from his Borg assimilation, visits his family's vineyard in La Barre, France, which is run by his elder brother Robert along with his wife Marie and son René. Jean-Luc considers a position on Earth with an underwater research project called Atlantis. Robert has always been jealous of his brother's success and is concerned that Jean-Luc's presence will drive René to also join Starfleet. The two have a bitter argument and end up wrestling each other in a mud puddle, eventually culminating in an emotional reunion, with Jean-Luc breaking down and crying, admitting his sense of powerlessness and guilt at the things he was forced to do while under the influence of the Borg. Robert states that Jean-Luc will have to learn to live with what he did, regardless of where he goes. Jean-Luc decides to go back to the Enterprise. The two spend the night getting drunk as they resolve their differences. After Jean-Luc leaves, Robert decides to let René follow his dream to join Starfleet as René sits under a tree and looks up at space.

Review:

This episode really helps the previous one in terms of moving TNG away from being a series without consequence. While Wesley’s storyline is little more than filler covering a bit more screen-time that the other plots could have made better use of, Worf’s part in the episode is our first real sense of follow-on from ‘Sins of the Father’. At last, Worf’s discommendation gets its first notable repeat mention, and at the same time we get to see our first glimpse into the human family that raised Worf. Their part in this episode brings up some great little messages about good parenting, and as Guinnan points out, there are a lot of parents out there who could stand to learn something from the Rozhenkos.

However, the real sign that TNG is starting to take the idea of multi-episode story-telling seriously in this episode is Picard’s story. ‘Best of Both Worlds’ essentially hinted that Picard remained shaken by his experiences with the Borg, but that was as far as it went. ‘Family’ brings Picard down to Earth, literally, by having him go home and be cajoled into dealing with those experiences by the only people who could do that; his family. Ultimately, that’s the role that Picard’s family, or more accurately his brother, has to play in this episode; to be the spur that forces Picard to drop his outer reserve and let himself feel what he needs to in order to better deal with the mental trauma.

In many ways, it’s not unlike the kind of mental cajoling and breaking through a therapist might use in helping a patient deal with mental trauma, and I think the only reason Troi doesn’t provide this is because she’s part of Picard’s crew, and there’s only so far Picard would ever go to open up around those under his command. Ultimately, it has to be Robert that pushes his younger brother into opening up, and who points out that no matter what Picard does, the experience isn’t going to go away whether you avoid anything related to the source of that trauma or not. It’s a great message that I imagine many people suffering with psychological traumas could identify with and take as advice themselves, which adds in what defines Trek at its best; issue exploration through metaphor. Discounting the wasted time on the Wesley plot, I’d give this episode 9 out of 10.

Episode 3: Brothers

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

A misguided prank between two young brothers exposes the younger of them to a toxic parasite that cannot be treated aboard the Enterprise, but Dr Crusher is able to stabilize his condition in a controlled environment in Sickbay while the ship sets out for a starbase that can cure the boy. As Lt. Commander Data escorts the older brother to visit his sibling, he suddenly stops and returns to the bridge where, unseen by the crew, he sets a new course for the ship and triggers a life support alarm, causing the evacuation of the bridge to be ordered. Captain Picard orders navigational control transferred the controls to Engineering while the rest of the bridge crew evacuates, but Data remains on the bridge, mimics Picard's voice and locks down control of the ship with a complex access code, preventing any interference with his actions. The crew discover Data's lock-down and manually disable the transporter's site-to-site function to prevent Data from easily moving about the ship. Once the Enterprise is in orbit about the planet Terlina III, Data creates a programmed sequence of force fields to allow him to move from the bridge to the nearest transporter room without being stopped by security, and then beams down to the planet, leaving the Enterprise still under his lock-down. Picard orders his crew to attempt to override Data's lock-down of the ship, while Dr Crusher attempts to keep the infected boy stabilized.

Data finds himself in the home of his creator, Dr Noonien Soong. Soong states that he called Data to him using a form of automatic recall and makes a manual adjustment on Data to return him to normal. As they talk, they are joined by Lore, inadvertently also drawn by the same recall that Data received, since Soong assumed that Lore was still disassembled. Lore expresses resentment towards his creator and starts to leave, but stops when Soong tells both of his creations that he is dying and wishes to give Data an "emotion chip" he has created. Soong decides to rest before implanting the chip, leaving Data and Lore to talk. When he returns, he proceeds to implant the chip but discovers too late that Lore had managed to deactivate Data and switch clothing with him, so that he now possesses the emotion chip. Soong tries to warn Lore the chip is not meant for him, but Lore instead injures Soong and transports off the planet.

The crew of the Enterprise find a way to beam down an away team to the planet, where they discover the dying Soong and the deactivated Data. After Data is reactivated, he cannot recall any of what he did on the Enterprise to arrive at this planet, until Soong reveals to him where he can find that information stored in his memory files. Data apologizes to Soong that he will not be able to grieve for his loss, but Soong tells him he will grieve in his own way. After Soong states that he wishes to die on the planet, the Enterprise leaves and returns to its course to the medical facility, where the sick boy is successfully treated. Data observes the brothers at play after forgiving each other for the accident, contemplating his own relationship with Lore.

Review:

This episode is the second in a trilogy that covers the concept of family, although this time we’re exploring it through Data being reunited with his creator, as well as fellow android Lore; in essence, the reunification of a somewhat dysfunctional father-and-sons dynamic that bears echoes of the Thor-Loki-Odin relationship of Marvel lore. Not only is this a great little character piece for Data, but Brent Spiner actually plays all three members of this family. It’s a remarkable enough technical feat to see one actor play two roles, such as when Lisa Kudrow would play Phoebe Buffay’s twin sister Ursula in episodes of Friends or the earlier TNG episode ‘Datalore’ where Spiner played Data and Lore. Playing three characters in one episode, however, is all the more remarkable.

The main plot is very good, albeit lacking any real issue exploration because it is ultimately just a character piece. We also get to see some of Data’s more advanced abilities unleashed, such as his voice emulation and higher-level computer programming abilities. For anything close to issue exploration, it’s the guest siblings, or rather the younger one, that makes the closest thing to a salient point about anything of note. When Dr Crusher is trying to convince the kid to forgive his older brother for the prank gone wrong, the lad claims he’s never played practical jokes on anyone, even for April Fools, because he feels “it’s not funny for the person being pranked.”

As someone with autism who can’t generally separate practical jokes from bullying and sees the two of fundamentally synonymous except where the victim has behaved so poorly that a practical joke is equitable punishment, I totally agree with this kid’s assessment of practical joking. Such pranks, outside of punishing truly horrendous people and the slapstick antics of something like Looney Toons, are little more than the cruellest, stupidest and generally most immature of all humour forms imaginable. It’s not funny because it is essentially humour in weaponised form, laughter directed against a victim in mockery and shame, and in any truly enlightened society it simply has no place, save for an occasional punishment of necessity. Likewise, anything that encourages practical jokes as a generally accepted form of humour like April Fools should be banned.

Hell, April Fools only started because some idiots several centuries back refused to shift from an old model of calendars to a new one. How the hell does that justify all the stupidity of April Fools all this time later? The answer is simple; it never has, and the only true fools are the ones who still celebrate the custom instead of opting out. Frankly, the fact that pranks and April Fools haven’t been edited out of society by the time TNG is set is a flaw in the supposedly utopian world of Trek. If humans are still using humour as a weapon like this by the 24th century, if we haven’t grown up properly by then, how the hell have we managed to establish the kind of world that Trek claims to be. To say I am disappointed by this facet of this episode, and Trek as a whole, is to woefully understate things. Because of this, what might have been a top-scoring episode despite an otherwise total lack of issue-depth becomes worth 8 out of 10.

Episode 4: Suddenly Human

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise responds to a distress call from a Talarian vessel. They rescue five teenaged crewmembers - four Talarian, and one human, Jono.

Jono keeps to himself, but shows strict obedience to Captain Picard, which together with some unexplained past injuries leads Dr Crusher to suggest Jono may have been physically abused. It is determined that Jono is Jeremiah Rossa, a long-lost Federation citizen. His grandmother is a Starfleet admiral, and he was orphaned ten years ago when his parents were killed in a skirmish with the Talarians.

When the Captain introduces the topic of Jono's human family, Jono becomes angry. After persistent effort by Picard, Jono's memories of the attack begin to return and a friendship develops between Jono and Wesley Crusher.

A Talarian ship arrives. Its Captain, Endar, asks for a status on his son, who happens to be Jono. Ten years ago, Endar claimed Jono after Jono's parents were killed. This is part of the Talarian custom of adopting the children of slain enemies to replace their own children who have died in battle. Endar explains Jono's injuries as the products of a boy trying to impress his father by participating in high-risk activities; Picard seems satisfied and observes that Endar seems to care for Jono. Picard allows Endar to see Jono, but when Jono says he wants to stay with Endar, Picard suspects the boy is afraid to say he wants to stay in the Federation. Endar insists that Jono will come back with him, even if the result is war between the Talarians and the Federation.

Returning to his vessel, Endar calls for reinforcements, as Picard decides to try to convince Jono to stay. After Jono receives a message from his grandmother, Picard takes the boy to play a form of racquetball, where Jono breaks down and cries due to the sounds of the game triggering long-buried memories of his human parents being killed. The crew believes they are making progress with the boy, but that night, Jono stabs the Captain. The dagger is deflected by Picard's sternum, and the wound is minor. The problem of where Jono should live is now compounded as Jono has committed a crime.

When Picard learns that Jono feels he cannot betray Endar by befriending Picard, the Captain realizes he has been trying to impose his wishes on the boy. Just as Endar's patience is about to run out, Picard contacts the Talarians and lets them know he will let Jono go back. Jono bids Picard farewell with a Talarian ritual that is normally reserved for family members.

Review:

This is the third episode on the trot that covers the theme of family, and again we get a different perspective. The apparent intention behind it was to explore something the show normally looks at using Worf, namely if you raise a child of one culture in another culture, can they ever be of their birth culture or do they inevitably revert to the culture they were raised in. However, exploration of this is partly muddled by the fact that the episode raises issues of child abuse regarding the Talarian-raised human teenager that the episode focuses on. Some less observant and more reactionary viewers seem to think the conclusion of the episode effectively condones child abuse, since those the Enterprise crew suspect of abusing the child get custody in the end. However, the episode clearly shows Jono’s injuries result from the physically harsh games of the world where he grows up, and as such are simply accidental injuries rather than intentional ones.

I think if there is a message regarding child abuse and custody cases in this episode despite the intentions of the writers, it’s not to let your suspicions and the personal emotions that stem from those suspicions cloud your judgement. While better safe than sorry is undoubtedly a wise policy for anyone to adhere to, I think that some people can be inclined to wrap their children up in cotton wool for fear that if their child gets injured even by accident, the state will use it as an excuse to label them as abusers to satisfy themselves. Such fears are perfectly understandable, as this episode clearly shows how easy it can be even for the supposedly enlightened and more rational humanity of the 24th century to leap to the worst possible conclusions and act from those rather considering all the facts. As soon as they see Jono is human, and once Dr Crusher finds broken bones and assumes abuse, the crew is hell-bent on winning Jono back to humanity, even when the broken bones are explained away as accidental, all because the Enterprise crew values its own assumptions over actual fact.

I also think the episode is a victim of when it was made; the later TV franchise of CSI shows the medical examiners of their various shows identifying whether certain injuries could be accidentally or deliberately inflicted, and the earliest of those shows began about a decade after this episode. This makes me wonder if forensic medicine had yet to develop this science far enough in 1990 that a show like TNG could capitalise on it in the same way. After all, if early 21st century MEs can determine the difference between an accidental bone fracture and one caused by an act of abuse, you’d think a 24th century doctor like Beverley Crusher could make similar determinations. As it is, this lack of diagnostic accuracy on Crusher’s part only adds to the error committed by Picard, and it’s only at the end when Jono is driven to violence that anyone realises ‘ok, we’ve messed up and mis-read the entire situation.’

What makes the whole thing really stupid, however, is that Jono’s situation is something of a mirror to Worf’s, and yet Worf is among those seeking to insist upon Jono throwing off his adoptive culture for his birth one. That seems very hypocritical coming from a Klingon who has gone into Star Fleet; if Worf were to live by the gospel of this episode, he’d have gone back to the Klingon empire as soon as he was old enough. Has he done that? No, he’s the tactical officer and chief of security for the Federation flagship, for crying out loud. For someone from a race valuing honour so heavily, it’s just stupid and inconsistent to have Worf follow everyone else’s assumption and not argue in Jono’s corner. I won’t even start on the stupid howling ritual that had me muting the episode every time it came on. Bottom line, this episode only gets 5 out of 10 from me.

Episode 5: Remember Me

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The USS Enterprise docks at Starbase 133, where Dr Beverly Crusher greets her elderly friend and mentor, Dr Dalen Quaice. After taking him to his quarters, discussing the loss of old friends, Dr Crusher visits her son Ensign Wesley Crusher in Engineering. Wesley attempts to create a static warp bubble, but the experiment appears to fail. As the Enterprise leaves Starbase, Dr Crusher finds that Dr Quaice is missing, with no record of him coming aboard the ship. As she performs a medical test on transporter chief O'Brien, she realizes that her medical staff is missing; further investigation and discussion with the crew show that she has always worked alone in sick bay.

Dr Crusher continues to try to track down the disappearing people and finds more and more crew members that she remembers being completely unknown to the crew or the computer. At one point, a vortex appears near Dr Crusher and attempts to pull her in, but she is able to hold on to a fixture until it dissipates; the ship shows no record of the vortex's appearance when she investigates. Eventually, no one but Captain Picard and herself remain on the ship, but Picard believes that the situation is normal. Dr Crusher orders the computer to give Picard's vital signs over the ship's speakers so she knows he is still there, but shortly thereafter, even he disappears. Then, the vortex reappears, and once again tries to claim Beverly. She is blown across the bridge, but she manages to hang onto the chair for the Ops position until the vortex disappears.

At this point, it is revealed that the actual Enterprise, where Wesley had successfully created the warp bubble and accidentally trapped his mother within it, is trying to rescue Dr Crusher. With the warp bubble collapsing rapidly, Wesley's fears lead the Traveller to appear and help Wesley attempt to stabilize the bubble. The Traveller recommends the Enterprise return to the Starbase, where the warp bubble was formed and may be more stable.

Within the warp bubble, Dr Crusher attempts to direct the Enterprise to the home planet of the Traveller, but soon finds the ship is unable to set that destination, as it no longer exists. More of the universe she knows disappears, soon leaving only the Enterprise. She recognizes the shape as being that of Wesley's warp bubbles, and determines that she is trapped, the earlier vortex being the Enterprise crew's first attempt to save her. As the warp bubble shrinks, erasing parts of the Enterprise, she races for Engineering, the centre of the warp bubble, and finds a vortex waiting there. She jumps in at the last moment, finding herself back in Engineering along with Picard, Wesley, Geordi La Forge, and the Traveller. She embraces her son and obtains confirmation from Picard that the Enterprise's population is 1,014, including her guest Dr Quaice), which is the correct number.

Review:

Here we have another example of a cost-saving bottle episode made to save money where earlier episodes perhaps involved an over-spend. It’s not up there with the like of ‘The Offspring’ for quality; it’s taking an item that was apparently intended for the earlier episode ‘Family’ and got for time, turning it into a stand-alone episode and then bringing back the Traveller, a guest character not seen since his only prior appearance in TNG’s first season. As a result, we get a re-hash of the ‘thoughts making reality’ premise from the Traveller’s one previous episode, albeit focused entirely around Beverley Crusher. Gates McFadden does a wonderful job taking centre stage for this episode, but there’s only so much she can do to raise its quality; there’s simply not enough substance for her performance, and the performances of the other actors, to bring to life. No character exploration, a recycled issue from a past episode. The only reason I give it 6 out of 10 and not less is that we’re at least getting a break from the kind of stupid we got on the previous episode.

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dreamthinkimagine · 7 years

Text

A Small Act Can Make A Big Difference

Jim Can Speak French

“Jim, I’m tellin’ you - you’re wrong.” McCoy smiled.

“And I’m telling you, Doctor, that I’m right,” Jim smirked.

“Captain, if I may, I wish to discern the reasoning for your argument. How can one object be superior to another? It is purely subjective.”

“You see, Spock,” Jim started. “Dr. Seuss’ McElligot's Pool taught me that there are endless possibilities in this world. So, Bones, it’s the best.”

“The Lorax is about how greed ultimately destroys. Now, that one is the best.”

“Who is ‘Dr. Seuss’?”

“We’ll talk about that later, Spock.” Jim said and turned back to McCoy. “That book shows kids real imagination.”

“My book shows kids that even just one little act, can make a big difference. Negative or positive. It inspired me to become someone who will make a positive difference - so I became a doctor. ”

“And where was that ‘one little act’ when I fought that Klingon last month?” Kirk joked. “Didn’t make such a big difference then. Big acts made the big differences.”

“I can show you how one little act can make a big difference,” McCoy said as he wore a wicked grin upon his lips. Jim’s eyes widened, but he couldn’t get rid of the smile on his face. In fact, it would have been easier to fight a Klingon again than to stop smiling.

“Bones?” Jim backed up as McCoy stepped forward; he knew what was coming. McCoy had been tickling him since his last physical when he had discovered his Captain and friend was ticklish. However, he did not yet know that Jim liked it - contact felt nice.

Spock, knowing that his question on the identity and occupation of one ‘Dr. Seuss’ would not be answered, left to go do his own research on the mysterious human. As soon as he was gone, Bones began the attack and dug his fingers into Jim’s belly.

“Ahahahahaha!” McCoy moved up to his ribs, which pulled a squeal from the Captain, and then up again to his armpits. “Booohohohohones!”

“Is The Lorax better?” McCoy could feel a smile grow upon his own lips, what with Jim being happy and all. He was making a positive difference.

“Nohoho!” Suddenly, McCoy darted down to Jim’s hips and squeezed repeatedly. “Hahaha - GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

“Is The Lorax better?”

“NOHOHOHO!!”

“Suit yourself.” He kept at Jim’s hips for a few minutes, constantly changing his pressure and speed. He followed Jim with ease, even when he fell to the ground. Bones decided to up his game since Jim was being stubborn. He took one hand away from Jim’s hip, and scribbled it over his belly and ribs.

That’s when it happened. Jim was so hysterical, that he couldn’t think straight and he couldn’t differentiate the difference between one language and another.

“D'ACCORD!! La vôtre est meilleure!” Bones stopped in his tracks and his jaw hit the floor.

“You speak French?” Jim blushed. Bones helped him to his feet. “When did you learn that?”

“In my twenties.” Jim said. The blush on his face faded into a deeper red. “I liked the work of a twentieth century actor and he could speak French.”

“Who was it?” Jim’s face became even more red and McCoy smirked. “C’mon, Jim. Tell me.”

“...William Shatner...” Bones had heard of him.

“Speak more French.”

“No.” Bones smirked.

“Don’t make me force it out of you,” he said as he raised his hands again. Suddenly, a plan began to form in Jim’s mind. If Jim refused to speak French, then the Doctor would - yes! It was so simple! All he needed to do was -

Jim didn’t get to finish his thought because said Doctor began to tickle him into oblivion until he begged for mercy in the language.

***

“Why didn’t you tell me you were bilingual before?” McCoy asked as they walked past Spock’s Quarters, unable to hear him commenting on the illogic of Fox in Socks.

“It never came up.”

“How do you say, ‘Doctor McCoy is the best and I’m sorry for not telling him that I speak French’?” Jim smiled.

“Not telling.”

“I don’t think you want to do that,” McCoy said, but he was only teasing. He tackled Jim to the ground and went for his armpits.

“Hahahaha!” Jim squrimed as he felt the stress drain out of him through his howling laughter. Bones rolled him over onto his stomach and glided his fingers up and down the backs of Jim’s ribs. Jim wriggled and laughed and loved every moment of his current predicament.

His laughs transformed into high giggles as McCoy gently scratched at the Captain’s shoulder blades. I can see why Spock flips when he’s tickled there, Kirk thought to himself. However, he found himself, when McCoy moved to his left side and the back of his neck, yelling out from reflex, “ Lehehe dohocteuhuhur McCoyhehe ehest le meihihihilleur et je suhuis désoléhehehe de nehi pahahas lui dihire quehe je pahaharle françahahais! Hahaha!” Bones put his hands back to his sides.

“Thank you.”

***

This became a game for Jim. Bones wanted him to say something in French (“Tell me, how do you say, ‘I should listen to Dr. McCoy more’?”), Jim would refuse and the Doctor would tickle it out of him (“Je devrais écouter davantage le docteur McCoy! Ahahahahaha!”).

They passed Spock’s Quarters again, completely oblivious that Spock was crying as he read, “And what happened then...? / Well...in Who-ville they say / That the Grinch’s small heart / Grew three sizes that day!”

“Hey Jim, how do you say, ‘I’m a Doctor, not your therapist’. Don’t ask.” This time, knowing Jim would say “No”, the doctor just immediately began gently scraping against his ribs and Jim squealed. While he didn’t like that Jim wouldn’t just tell him, it was fun to tickle his friend.

“Noho!”

“I thought you’d say that!” He began to gently slide his fingers up and down the sides of Jim’s neck.

“HIhihihihi!” Then he bagan drilling and massaging with one hand and vibrating and scribbling with the other into Jim’s sides. He quickly began switching spots and eventually, Jim couldn’t help that he answered Bones’ question. “Je suis médecin, pas votre thérapeute!” Bones got up as Jim was left there to catch his breath.

“Hey,” McCoy said once he saw the look on Jim’s face. “What’s the matter?” It was then he realized that this was the quickest he’d ever gotten an answer out of Jim. “Jim, do you like being tickled?” Jim’s face turned red again. McCoy didn’t even know it was medically possible to be that red. “Jim?”

Jim slowly nodded, but didn’t look up at him.

“Jim, why didn’t you tell me?” That got Jim to look up. “I don’t care if you like it. I’m not gonna judge you. I’ll tickle you if you want. People need physical contact and affection. And I guess you haven’t gotten that too much, being Captain and all.” Jim shook his head. Does Bones really mean this? “Next time, don’t make me force some French out of you, just tell me that you want to be tickled. OK? I’m a doctor, not a mind-reader.”

He began to lightly skitter his fingers up and down Jim’s sides. “Is this, OK?” From Jim’s face turning back to its normal color, as normal as it could be when Jim was being tickled, he knew that was a “yes”; so, he dug in. “You see how a small act can make a big difference? You ask me, and I’ll tickle you.” His giggles became booming laughter, which prompted Spock to see what was making the sound.

The doors to his Quarters opened, and he saw Jim and McCoy, who stopped tickling Jim. “I happen to find Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! to be the finest book by Dr. Seuss, or, Theodore Geisel; although he was not alone in writing it and someone else illustrated it. It demonstrates how individuality should indeed be celebrated, rather than shamed. It is a tale I can relate to.”

“Are you saying that that is better that The Lorax?” McCoy asked, continuing their play argument.

“And McElligot's Pool?”

“Indeed.” McCoy and Jim shared a mischievous glance. OK, maybe McCoy was lying a little when he said he wasn’t a mind-reader.

“Jim, Doctor, what are you - Hahahahaha!”

#ticklish!jim #google translate #google #ticklish!spock

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