#I’m almost done with season 1 yay yay yippee!!

[cactus-cactus-cactus]

Category 9 started a new show moment

[calliecat93]

ST: The Next Generation Season Two Episodes 19-22.

Manhunt: Lwaxana is back… yay. Yeah I made it no secret that I thought that she was uttery obnoxious in her first episode even if Majel Barret played her very well, and when I read the description for this I became even less enthused about her return. I’ll give her points in that she does seem to be a better mother towards Troi this time around. But… yeah this episode did nothing to make me like her better, if anything her advances on Picard who clearly didn’t feel the same way only made me dislike her more. Admittedly Picard calling in Data to ramble about different cultures was funny, but still I am NOT liking Troi’s mother at all, coming off as more obnoxious and forceful than sympathetic. Looking for a new husband is perfectly fine, but it’s not funny at least to me and no the explanation about a Betazoid woman’s s*x drive increasing at middle age doesn’t make it any better especially when she tries to make Riker marry her. I guess it was funnier than the last one since only the ‘can you continue the petty bickering’ line got me to laugh, but somehow this one annoys me more. I like the dress uniform being an actual dress though and the men wearing it with no complaints. In your face gender norms! Otherwise outside a few amusing bits like the holodeck scenes and me feeling bad for Picard and Troi, I very much disliked this episode and it may be my least favorite thus far this season. 1/5

The Emissary: More romance, yippee… this time it’s Worf and a half Klingon, half human emissary. I really liked K’Ehleyr. The actress was freakin’ excellent and her character, a woman struggling with two sides and seems utterly afraid of her Klingon half as well as a general distrust f Klingons makes her very interesting. It feels kinda bigoted but still adds character. Or I just really like tough women and that’s why I liked her, but still. Also she was totally flirting with Troi. You cannot convince me that she wasn’t. As far as her and Worf being old flames go… didn’t really feel it? Maybe I’m just not into the whole old flames dynamic or the flirting with Troi got to me, but eh. Not sure how I feel about Worf’s part of it. It kinda feels like he wanted to force a marriage thag K’Ehleyr made clear that she wasn’t ready for, but I guess his insecurites about being a human-raised Klingon out of touch with his culture remains if I’m reading things right. And the climax shows how his experience in Starfleet has done good for him and his Klingon knowledge ultimately saved the day. All in all, it was an okay episode. No strong feelings or opinions. I liked it better than the last one, that’s all I’m certain about. 3/5.

Peak Performance: So for this episode we have Riker, Word, Geordi, and Wesley undergoing a simulation/training exercise against the rest of the Enterprise with Riker leading the former. Also on board is an asshole who is supposidly a master strategist and even beats Data in a strategy game. It’s an okay episode. No real strong opinions. I liked seeing Riker’s group being competent and being able to match the Enterprise. The asshole guy insulting Riker’s competency annoyed me because the odd mo ment aside, Riker is a very capable First Officer and leader and if anything his charming, jovial personality makes him someone to inspire others. Data is also down after losing and becomes worried about failing, especially as he’s the acting First Officer with Riker on the other team. It felt like Pulaski kind of relapsed I feel, but she DOES apologize to Data so that’s still better than earlier. Oh and the Ferengi came back, been a while. I think this also shows how being knowledgeable about strategy and using it in a game is NOT the same as actually using those skills in a battlefield or having the experience. Hence why Riker is awesome and the asshole is not. Again, a fine episode. No strong feelings. No strong positive or negative thiughts. It was just fine, and sometimes that’s all I ever ask for. 3/5.

Shades of Gray: Season finale, hooray! I made it~! So how do we end the season? Riker hurting himself on a planet that they know nothing about and is now dying! Of course, wouldn’t be Star Trek if the First Officer didn’t hurt/almost kill himself! So how does this potential for an emotional episode about the loyal, devoted First Officer clinging to life and Troi and his friends/fellow officers facing losing him while trying to find a way to save him? We have… Diker reliving his memories over the past two seasons. That’s right folks, it’s a clip show! Umm… yeah I’m… disappointed? I don’t necessarily hate clipshows bit this could have been a really good episode for Riker and allow some emotions, even show how far things had come since the start. Which tbf a clip show can still allow, but as it’s Riker just dreaming through old memories and not the crew reminiscing or talking to him whole he’s sleeping about those memories, the effect a clip show could have… well, fails. It impacts Troi I guess since she’s sensing his emotions, but that’s ot. Also since I know she just gets dropped without even mentioning her, this is Pulaski’s final episode… and she just does her usual doctor thing. Bjt considering the reception towards her that I’ll go into in another post, maybe this is the best sendoff for her. Overall it’s not a bad episode and not even a bad finale necessarily, but it doesn’t really do much. Though I guess it reminds me of why I like Riker at least and remember a few moments, so there’s that XD 2/5

And thus, Season Two is oficially done! It took FAAAR too long to finally get to it and… well I’ll delve into my feelings in the overall thoughts post that I’ll hopefully have ready for tomorrow. For now, let’s just say you never knew what you were getting. It’s been a ride though, that’s for sure. I’ll begin Season 3 on Tuesday and we’ll see what awaits us thrn. Until then, it may have taken a while to get back underway, but the S2 journey is complete. But there’s still much more to go.