#maurice picard

[pixiereblogs]

Pixie Recaps Picard | The Next Generation

[enigma-the-mysterious]

Late to this, but let's not forget this icon

#HappyBirthday @jamescallis #jamescallis #actor #MauricePicard #StarTrekPicard #gaiusbaltar #BattlestarGalactica #12monkeys #bridgetjonesdiary #beginnersluck #austenland #believe #housebythelake #eureka #merlin #themusketeers #gallipoli #castlevania #bloodandtreasure #MacGyver

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 125 (May 16, 1988) - “The Neutral Zone”

Teleplay by: Maurice Hurley Story by: Deborah McIntyre & Mona Clee Directed by: James L. Conway

The Breakdown

This is one of those “multiple story lines going on at the same time” episodes, so first let’s deal with…

Plotline  #1 – After the Enterprise scanners pick up an old earth space capsule that piques Data’s interest, he and Worf decide to hop over and take a look. There they find three preserved bodies in cryonic chambers, which are beamed over to sick bay.  Turns out these three bodies have been sitting out in space since the late 20th century, y’know, from 25 years ago when people began the common practice of preserving their deceased loved ones (it was like Tamagotchi’s, everyone was doing it) in the hope of reviving them when medical science had advanced far enough.  That’s right, I said deceased.  These three people were frozen at the exact moment of their death (that’s gotta be tricky to pull off), and now revived 300 years by Dr. Beverly Crusher herself; their company is comprised of a Rich Guy who played the stock market, A mother of two, and a drug addicted musician. 

The episode follows the newly resurrected boomers, as they grapple with the fact that they’ve jumped 300+ years into the future, and that their loved ones are all dead, etc. The Rich dude (Ralph ) has a particularly hard time coping with the fact that his fortune is both nonexistent and (even if it weren’t) meaningless, since the pursuit of wealth and power no longer holds any sway in the post-scarcity 24th century. The mother (Clare) understandably spends most of the runtime being depressed, until Troi points out that she has a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson, who will undoubtedly welcome his displaced ancient ancestor with open arms. Lastly, the musician (Sonny) pretty much stays a lecherous, sexist, alcoholic, but he’s mostly having a good time enjoying the replicators and hanging out with his new guitar. At various points they inconvenience Picard (who’s dealing with more important things in the other plotline), but mostly they kind of sit around as the Enterprise crew smugly judge them for being ignorant and confused, until they’re transferred to another ship that will take them back to earth and become someone else’s problem.

Plotline #2 -  Starfleet outposts along the Neutral Zone (the established border between the Federation and the Romulan Empire) are being destroyed, and Picard has been ordered to check out if the Romulans are to blame.  Most of the Episode deals with Picard getting the bridge crew to study the Romulans so they can form a strategy, but that’s easier said than done, since it’s been decades since anyone has heard from them.

Anyways, when they finally arrive along the edge of ‘the zone’, Worf makes a shocking revelation that their outposts aren’t destroyed, but rather completely missing, since there would be some sign of debris otherwise.  Shortly thereafter a Romulan ship decloaks, and their captain explains to Picard that their outposts are also missing, and figured it was the Federation’s doing, but now realize it must have been someone-or-something else. Thankfully cooler heads prevail, and both sides agree to collaborate on solving this mystery later on, and then leave, but not before making a thinly-veiled threat that they’ll be back to cause more trouble down the road.

So, on that disconcerting note, the Enterprise optimistically heads back to its regular business because this is the finale, and we need to wrap things up until next season!

The Verdict

The thing is, both plot outlines have plenty of potential, in their own right.  A story about displaced-wealthy-20th-century-folk struggling to fit into a society that has no place for their ideologies, is a perfect theme for Star Trek. And I’ll admit, there’s every chance that the execution of such a story would come off as pretentious and out-of-touch as anything else the show put out during this season, but even a failed attempt would be interesting to watch… provided of course that it was the primary focus of the episode.  My biggest issue wasn’t how hilariously proud of itself the Hurley's script is for criticizing capitalism (while we’re at it, did you know slavery and genocide are also bad? Follow me, for more deep insights!), but rather that the story doesn’t really go anywhere, or do anything with the subject matter.

Ralph (the survivor with the most screen time) is arrogant and demeaning to the crew because he’s used to getting his own way, and we are made to understand that his love of money is directly tied to his character flaws, which is fine, but then what? At one point there’s a scene where he disregards Picard’s orders (to calm the fuck down and stay out of the way), and chooses to intrude on bridge just in time to see the Romulans being space-jerks, but there are no real consequences or thematic correlation, rendering the moment pointless. In the end Ralph seemingly resigns himself to accepting his new lot in life, but has nothing in the way of a meaningful epiphany to help him reach that point. Clare and Sonny both have similarly meandering “journeys” as well. Clare ultimately takes comfort in knowing she has living a descendant (who doesn’t know her, or share any cultural values), while Sonny just happily concludes that since everyone he knows is dead, he doesn’t need to worry about facing any accountability for his past (and seemingly hurtful) life choices.  Remember kids, the secret to finding inner peace is in outliving everyone you've ever wronged!

Meanwhile, the “Romulans-are-back” story line is conceptually more exciting, but it takes almost the entire episode for anything to happen. The most intriguing development is the revelation that some other unknown entity may pose a threat big enough to challenge both the Federation and Romulan empire simultaneously, but then it’s quickly tossed away in favour of a generalized tease about the Romulans stepping up as the show’s primary antagonist. It’s not so much that it’s bad, but like the “boomers-in-space” story, it doesn’t really go anywhere, leaving us with what is essentially a promise that more interesting episodes will continue the story “some other time.”

Now before anyone gets up in arms, yes I am aware that this episode was originally intended as the first in a multi-episode arc, before the writers strike forced them to rework their plan [more on this below].  Be that as it may, even if part 2 had both A) existed, and B) rocked hard, this is still a weakly structured episode.  That’s not to say I hated ‘the neutral zone’ altogether, but I certainly can’t say I thought it was good. 

Nice try guys, maybe next time.

1.5 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Apathetic utopia: One thing that doesn’t sit right with me is the sheer disregard that Picard and many of his crew show for the space-boomer’s safety and well being. For starters, Riker was barely willing to let Data check out the capsule to begin with (even after Data points out that it could have historical value, if nothing else), but even after Data and Worf discover the bodies, Riker seems put out by Data’s insistence that they be preserved.  Then, to make matters worse, when Picard hears that the SB’s have been revived he’s downright irritable with Data, arguing that he should have left the survivors behind because “they WERE dead at the time.”  But like… here’s the thing, Dr. Crusher examined their bodies and discovered that all of them could be revived with relative ease, which suggests they were only clinically dead, and it’s commonly accepted that the window of revival in the Trek universe is significantly larger than our present day reality.  So yeah, they were technically dead, I suppose, but not irretrievably, which I would argue comes with a clear moral responsibility. The context for Picard’s ambivalence toward the situation is that he’s stressed about the upcoming Romulan mission, but that’s still an oddly callous stance for a man who professes the sanctity of life.

Silly things I find interesting: Introducing, the Borg! …kinda.  I can’t remember if the missing outposts are ever mentioned again in the show, but the intended continuation of this story was originally meant to serve as an introduction to the Borg, who would have been revealed as the true culprits. Obviously that didn’t pan out, but it’s interesting to think what might have been.

In fairness to the writers, a big part of why the script was so lacklustre is, once again, due to the strike. Basically, once a writers strike is underway, productions aren’t allowed to make any changes to a script until the union signs an agreement. Knowing the strike was imminent, it seems Maurice Hurley had no choice but to whip up a completed script based on the first draft, in only a couple days time.  Needless to say, the results speak for themselves.  Ultimately, I think it would have made more sense for the studio to keep the script for the following season; ‘Conspiracy’ was already a much more exciting episode, and would have served as a stronger season finale.

Did you know that... in Canada (where I'm from) our "Universal health coverage" still doesn't cover cryogenic suspension. So reach out to your MP and let them know we demand better comprehensive coverage before the next federal election! [All kidding aside, we should be doing that anyway. Seriously, how is dental not inherently included in that?]

[dukeofriven]

Shittiest Father: Star Trek Edition

[abwwia]

‘Women Artists – Seventy Plus’ panel, Brooklyn Museum, 1975, l to r: June Blum (moderator), Alice Neel, Isabel Bishop, Sari Dienes, Lil Picard, Lilly Brody, Lois Mailou Jones – photo Maurice C. Blum x

[wildishmazz]

"But you can't say he was abusing her if he didn't think it was abuse! You're destroying a good man with no evidence[apart from all the acts of abuse clearly shown in the story]! He probably had some sort of trauma in his past!"

person: reminder that this character having a tragic backstory doesn't cancel out the abuse they inflict on another character. That abuse still happened even once we know that character's tragic backstory.

person with the reading comprehension of a wet napkin: okay but have you considered that because they have a tragic backstory the abuse they did to someone wasn't actually abuse?

[stellarred]

ONE MORE TIME, PLEASE

In STP S2's Monsters episode, I thought it was Bashir that Picard was in the therapy session with.

Surprise! It wasn't Alexander Siddig (?), but actor James Callas of Battlestar Galactica fame.

Anyways, I looked him up, and in his filmography on different websites and in Memory Alpha Star Trek, his credit is not Julian Bashir, but Maurice Picard/ "illusory" psychiatrist!

This then raises the question again, Was it actually Q disguised and playing the psychiatrist? 😳

If Q was involved, either actively or passively, it's either one of two choices:

A. It WAS Q because he was trying to help Picard figure out that his father wasn't a monster, thus guiding Picard to * suddenly* realize that Q wasn't one either and that Picard should "know" Q (love him). And that by the psychiatrist literally handing him the Sun model and drawing, it reminded Picard of something he loves, which is Q.

Picard said that the therapy session was antagonistic. Sounds like a certain desperate and in love omnipotent entity scrambling to help his beloved capitaine confront and overcome long-standing CPTSD, so that he could open his heart to love before said entity died. Q was literally running out of time before his death. He would've HAD more time if the writers hadn't been farting around so much with all of the other characters' dramas. But, I digress.

The psychiatrist practically needles Picard throughout the therapy session about him being closed off from his heart and slams his decision to engage in a suicide mission just so that he didn't have to face his feelings. Sounds like Q is trying to save Picard AGAIN! This "psychiatrist" was really pushing pushing Picard during the therapy session.

It makes me think of what JDL had said about Q in Season 2:

"The intentions (towards Picard) are the same. I'm still Picard's main squeeze. And I'm pushing."

Or...

B. Picard's own mind came up with this psychiatrist because he desperately wants to heal, not hide away his feelings.

Therefore, if Picard's own mind is being so emotional about hiding AND inserting Q's Sun representation twice, which then makes Picard wake up and tell Talinn all that Qcard stuff about the lesson being about *knowing* him, then Picard is internally struggling to overcome his resistance towards his feelings--of love--for Q. 😭😭😭

When I first watched this episode, I couldn't figure out why Bashir was the mysterious psychiatrist because he kept vascillating between mocking and deriding Picard's call to duty, and then showing deep concern that had an almost personal pain to it for Picard's closed off heart.

Siddig and Callis do look practically alike.

But for this Qcard lover, knowing that it's definitely not Bashir changes that whole episode for me.

[defconprime]

Maurice Picard

[tngbabe]

Ok, SOME people don't understand why I can't stand dr pukelaski , THAT woman and I've been torturing myself rewatching the season WITHOUT Dr Beverly Crusher uh sorry, season 2, and I just saw the " Samaritin Snare" episode where Picard goes for a heart replacement again of which things go wrong ( let's face it it wouldn't be star trek if it didn't) in surgery so they quick need a special specialist so when many moons ago I watched this episode for the 1st time I'm like "oh it's going to be Beverly I yell at the TV and then THEN it's that, THAT woman! HER! My Beverly is nowhere in sight! Thus, I hate that wo..woman even MORE!!

THEN!! They brought her back! Told that fuck Maurice hurley to FUCK OFF the fans want Gates McFadden! Dr Beverly Crusher !! Sigh, ok. So that's why, well, one reason I hate her.

[theultimatefan]

‘Lord of the Rings,’ 'Terminator,' 'Charmed’ Q&As Among Top Programming at FAN EXPO New Orleans

From celebrity Q&As to industry, cosplay, gaming, anime and entertaining, informative sessions from all areas of pop culture, FAN EXPO New Orleans presents its collection of nearly 150 programming panels and meetups during the event, Friday through Sunday, January 5-7 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. There’s truly something for every fan and every taste every hour of the show into the evening throughout all three days of the convention, right until Sunday’s 5 p.m. finish.

FAN EXPO New Orleans celebrity guests such as Lord of the Rings standouts Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, The Terminator franchise cast members Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Robert Patrick and Edward Furlong, “Charmed” duo of Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan, "Daredevil" tandem of Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio, “Star Trek” standouts Sonequa Martin-Green (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Michelle Hurd (“Star Trek: Picard”) and Jonathan Frakes (“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” among others), Jon Bernthal (“The Punisher,” “The Walking Dead”), Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, “Avengers: Infinity War”), Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”), Danny Trejo (Machete, The Book of Boba Fett), Randy Quaid (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Kingpin) and, Katee Sackhoff (Star Wars’ “The Mandalorian”) will conduct individual and group interactive sessions with fans, headlining the slate.

There are dozens of informative, entertaining panels by superstar creators as well as cosplay, gaming, trivia, film, horror and other pop culture themed sessions.

Fans can review the entire event schedule at fanexpohq.com/fanexponeworleans/schedule/. Most panels are free with event admission. Just a few of the highlights include:

Friday:

5 p.m., Too Many to Count! All the Voices of Tara Strong, Theater #2

5:45 p.m., Charmed Ones: Spotlight on Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan, Main Theater

6 p.m., Playing with Power! Chainsaw Man’s Sarah Wiedenheft Q+A, Anime Theater

6 p.m., The Backstory of Beetlejuice, Fandom Panels Room 271

6:15 p.m., Spider-Man Psychology: Untangling Webs with Alex Langley, Gordon Schmidt and Travis Langley, Theater #3

6:45 p.m., Turtle Power! Meet the Voices of “TMNT,” Barry Gordon (“Donatello”), Cam Clarke (“Leonardo”), Townsend Coleman (“Michelangelo”) and Rob Paulsen (“Raphael”), Main Theater

7 p.m., The State of Fandom with The Weekend Geeks, Creator Stage

Saturday:

11 a.m., The Overlook Film Festival, Theater #3

11 a.m., Let’s Get Some Shoes: Cosplay Footwear!, Cosplay Panels Room 274

11 a.m., Taking over the World with Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, Theater #2

11:30 a.m., 100 Years of Magic: Century of the Walt Disney Company, Fandom Panels Room 271

11:45 a.m., Women of Sci-Fi with Sonequa Martin-Green, Felicia Day and Michelle Hurd, Main Theater

12 p.m., Vamanos: Meet Kathleen Herles, Theater #2

12:30 p.m., The Man without Fear: The Legacy of Marvel’s Daredevil, Fandom Panels Room 271

12:45 p.m., Being Badass with Katee Sackhoff, Main Theater

1 p.m., From Kirk to Kraglin: Spotlight on Sean Gunn, Theater #2

1:15 p.m., Fandom Traveler Trivia, Worshops Room 270

1:45 p.m., Born Again: Meet Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio, Main Theater

2 p.m., Sketch Duel: Tom Grummett vs. John Delaney, Creator Stage

2 p.m., Take a Vacation with Randy Quaid, Theater #2

2:45 p.m., What’s the Buzz with Juliette Lewis, Main Theater

3 p.m., Whatchu Love? FAN EXPO New Orleans Cosplayers, Creator Stage

4:15 p.m., Crafting Captivating Comic Book Covers with Clay Mann, Cary Nord, Stephen Platt, and Sway Swaby, Theater #3

5 p.m., All Hail Lana Parrilla, Theater #2

5:30 p.m., Horror Films of 2023, Fandom Panels Room 271

5:45 p.m., The FAN EXPO New Orleans Cosplay Craftsmanship Cup, Main Theater

6 p.m., My Name is Earl: Meet Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee, Theater #2

6 p.m., Why is Anime so Good? It’s the Characters, Dude, Anime Theater

6:15 p.m., Crescent City Paranormal: The Psychology of Ghosts, Theater #3

7:30 p.m., The Four Hobbits: An Unexpected Reunion, Main Theater (general admission free, upgraded experiences available)

8:30 p.m., Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadowcast (18+) with Sweet Sensation Shadowcast & Productions, Theater #3

Sunday:

10:45 a.m., Astonishing Adventures with Sean Astin, Main Theater

11 a.m., FAN EXPO New Orleans Kids’ Cosplay Contest, Cosplay Red Carpet

11 a.m., Let’s Fight over the Best Pokémon with YouTube Content Creator Abdallah, Creator Stage

11:45 a.m., The Man, the Myth, the Legend: Spotlight on Danny Trejo, Main Theater

12 p.m., On Screen to IRL: Translating Characters to Cosplay, Cosplay Panels Room 274

12 p.m., Voices of Gaming with Maggie Robertson, Steve Downes and Xander Mobus, Theater #2

12:15 p.m., Nerdy Women Taking over the World, Workshops Room 270

12:45 p.m., All About Ahsoka with Eman Esfandi and Diana Lee Inosanto, Main Theater

1 p.m., Geeking out with Felician Day, Theater #2

1 p.m., You’re Yor! Spy x Family Q&A with Natalie Van Sistine, Anime Theater

1:45 p.m., One Batch, Two Batch with Jon Bernthal, Main Theater

2 p.m., Devil Hunters! Chainsaw Main Cast Q&A with Ryan Colt Levy, Reagan Murdock, and Sarah Wiedenheft

2:45 p.m., Boldly Go with Johnathan Frakes and Michelle Hurd, Main Theater

3 p.m., Robots in Disguise with Peter Cullen and Frank Welker

3 p.m., Cosplay Your Way!, Cosplay Panels Room 274

3:15 p.m., Horror Entertainment: We Know what Scares You – and Why!, Theater #3

3:45 p.m., A Groovy Panel with Bruce Campbell, Main Theater

FAN EXPO New Orleans features the biggest and best in pop culture: movies, TV, music, artists, writers, exhibitors, cosplay, with three full days of themed programming to satisfy every fandom. New Orleans is the first event on the 2024 FAN EXPO HQ calendar; the full schedule is available at fanexpohq.com/home/events/.

[trillscienceofficer]

Honestly the fact that B'Elanna's and Seven's dads weren't on the worst dads poll but Kirk was is so weird to me, like I'm not the world's biggest Kirk defender but didn't he not even know his kid existed for most of his life? How was he supposed to be a good dad under those circumstances? Meanwhile you've got the bozos you mentioned being just. Actively terrible in ways they easily could have simply not done. It's odd

yeah, including Kirk doesn't make any sense to me either (unless OP was considering the fact that David's death made Kirk racist in Star Trek VI? But that's not being a shitty dad either).

imho John Torres for sure needs to be in that list, and since Prodigy has been out for so long now the Diviner deserves the label of 'bad Trek dad' too. I suppose I could give or take Magnus Hansen since he and Erin share the blame of bad parenting fairly equally I think (and it IS bad parenting if you insist that your six year old daughter follow you in a dangerous 'research' mission that ends up with the whole family assimilated into the Borg collective!)

On the flip side I can understand that general posts like that are bound to make me roll my eyes no matter what. Trek has so many bad fathers it's kind of ridiculous, and who gets included and excluded always ends up being a reflection of who is writing. I for one completely forgot that the Picard show focused so much on Jean-Luc's family (I literally had to read Maurice Picard's Memory Alpha page). And since I have pretty niche interests compared to the larger fandom it's obvious I'm going to disagree with most takes, so that poll is fine in the bigger scheme of things lol

[pixiereblogs]

Pixie Recaps Picard | Võx

[pixiedane]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard, Laris/Zhaban (Star Trek), Raffi Musiker/Seven of Nine Characters: Jean-Luc Picard, Jack Crusher, Zhaban (Star Trek), Laris (Star Trek), Beverly Crusher, Raffi Musiker, Seven of Nine, Elnor (Star Trek), Yvette Picard, Maurice Picard Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Drama, Romulan Wisdom, Families of Choice, Tal Shiar (Star Trek), Romulan Culture (Star Trek), Laris's Secret Heritage, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Abandonment, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Complicated Relationships, Other Additional Tags to Be Added Summary:

"When he was old enough, I told him who you were and where to find you. I encouraged him to meet with you."

What if Jack decided to seek out his father in France?

[a retelling of S2 with elements of S3]

Chapter 4 is up now! The promised dinner party, and a panic attack, not in that order.

Roots

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 114 (Jan. 30, 1988) - “11001001”

Written by: Maurice Hurley & Robert Lewin Directed by: Paul Lynch

The Breakdown

The Enterprise is overdue for a software upgrade, and the crew need some downtime, so Picard decides to dock at station 74 and kill two birds with one stone.  While everyone preps for shore leave, Picard and Riker stay behind in case they need to assist the Bynars, who will perform the upgrade.  We Learn that the Bynar people have effectively hooked their brains up to the cloud, and as a result they think and speak in binary, and always travel/work in pairs.  They seem harmless enough, but when Picard explains they need to leave sooner than planned (due to a time sensitive mission), the Bynars starting acting REAL SUS and then bring on a second Bynar-pair to help speed things up.

Not one to be easily distracted, Riker begins to suspect that something is awry, and keeps close watch on the Bynar’s progress.  So they proceed to easily distract Riker by upgrading the holodeck so he can go play in his own little custom sandbox.  That’s right folks! we finally get a chance to see Riker’s deepest desire, which is apparently to play Jazz Trombone in a 20th century New Jersey bar for the benefit of a personalized, sentient, totally life-like, sex doll.  And let me tell you folks, she is AROUSED by Riker, because apparently the algorithm designed her to be, based on our horny first officer’s browser history.  Also, the whole situation it is NOT-AT-ALL troubling, nor should it raise any serious ethical questions.  Thankfully Picard interrupts with an impromptu visit, just as things are getting steamy, and finds himself equally intrigued by Riker’s new companion.  Minuet (her name) then regales both men over drinks, with her lifelike beauty and charm.

Meanwhile, the Bynars have been busy stealing the Enterprise.  Unable to reach Picard or Riker (due to trickery), Data orders an evacuation because of an impending antimatter breach.  The whole thing is revealed to be a ruse orchestrated by little math nerds, and simply wanted everyone off before they hightailed it back to their home planet. They also programmed Minuet to distract Riker and Picard so they wouldn’t leave the ship.  Once Picard figures out what’s going on, he and Riker jump to into action, and beam themselves onto the bridge for the fight of their lives (they even prepare to blow up the Enterprise if need be), only they discover the Bynars are all dying.

It turns out they just wanted the Enterprise to store a back-up of their iCloud account, because a solar flare was about to EMP-the-shit out of their plantary hard drive, without which the Bynar’s brains will overload and shut down.  After realizing the Bynars had always intended for him (and Riker because it’s a two person job) to  upload the Enterprise’s backup into the Bynar systems, he proceeds to do so, and the day is saved just in the nick-of-time.  So why didn’t the Bynars simply ask for help?  Because they believe in “Better to beg forgiveness, than ask permission.” Seriously that’s the reason. They afraid the Federation would say no, so they leapt straight into grand-theft-starship.

Epilogue: Riker goes back to the holodeck to be with Minuet, only to discover that the software upgrades are gone, leaving her a mindless shell of what she had been.  Riker returns to the bridge to a saddened man, and Picard is like “dude it never would have worked,” but since she meant so much to poor William I’m sure she’ll be referenced again frequently over the show’s remaining six-and-a-half seasons.

The Verdict.

This episode is very much split down the middle for me.

The main story is quite engaging, at least right up until the climax where things get silly. The crew having to make emergency command decisions, in the absence of the captain and first officer is pretty exciting.  There’s also plenty of tension built up around the fate of Picard and Riker.  The result is an episode that makes great use of it’s ensemble cast, including those with less screen time.  For starters the performances all feel more casual, and the dialogue less forced (something which I attribute largely to the actors in this instance). The ship feels like a place with real community, and each character gets to show a side of themselves and their interests beyond their professional ambitions. If the reason for the Bynar’s deception wasn’t so ridiculous, I’d be tempted to give this episode a 4 star rating.  Except…

…for the parts with Riker on the holodeck.  We spend a WHILE just watching Riker swipe left on a bunch of holo-models as, as the computer works to construct his perfect fantasy girl. Once he finally gets her (aka Minuet), he constantly pontificates at her about how real and perfect she seems, all while very obviously undressing her with his eyes. It honestly just seems a little... icky. Predatory, even. After Picard joins, the tone becomes less sexually charged, but then the two men spend their time discussing Minuet right in front of her as if she’s not there, or nothing more than an intellectual curiosity.

Perhaps I’m thinking too much about it.  Many of my favourite episodes involve and feature holodeck characters, and similar objections could (and have) been raised there too, but there’s just something about the way Riker and Picard openly objectify an intelligence that, for all they know, is both sentient, and also at their mercy.  I will concede that I don’t think that subplot was intended to come off as creepy, nor does it outright ruin the episode for me.  You win some, you lose some, and sometimes you break even. At the very least it’s mostly fun, just not beyond criticism.

2.5 Stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

Picard has come a long way in these past 14 episodes. At first he always seemed kinda grumpy, but lately he’s been more relaxed.  In this episode he has nothing but praise for his entire crew, and especially Riker.  As I indicated above, their dynamic feels a lot more natural in this episode, and it’s nice to see Picard develop into a friend and mentor to Riker.

I realize the shots of station 74 are recycled from Star Trek III, but it’s a great visual, and even the Enterprise looks especially breathtaking here.  Visually a very impressive episode all around.

I find Wesley so unintentionally funny.  Riker tells him to keep an eye on the Bynars, and he takes those instructions literally.  Every time we return to the bridge to check in on Wes, he’s standing in the same spot just glaring at the Bynars suspiciously, as if he’s not being super obvious, and it just cracked me up.

Inconsistent technology: This episode makes a point of showing us that Minuet is simply an elaborate puppet without the Bynar’s upgrades. I’m not bothered by later episodes/spin-off-series depicting holograms who are undeniably sentient, as that can be explained as a natural progression of the technology. However, in “the big goodbye” Picard has a conversation with a holo character who expresses genuine concern that he and his loved ones may cease to exist when the program shuts off. All of that sounds something that's selfaware and sentient to me. So then why is Minuet so much less interactive sans-Bynars? The only way I can reconcile this is to suggest that Minuet's file got corrupted after the Bynars left, and any attempt to rewrite the program would result in a new “person”. There, did I do it? Did I save the continuity?

[thegreaterlink]

Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S3E1 "Evolution"

^ I admit this image doesn't have much to do with the episode's plot, but it looks really damn cool, so it's staying.

Look, I know I did this one already, but I accidentally deleted it a while ago, then Tumblr pulled some fuckery where it was in some weird limbo of existing and not existing, so I decided to repost it just to be safe.

THE PREMISE

The Enterprise approaches the Kavis Alpha binary star system to perform astrophysics research under the guidance of Dr Paul Stubbs, analysing the decay of neutronium as a result of a stellar explosion which occurs once every 196 years and is due to occur again in a few hours. Stubbs plans to launch a probe, dubbed "the Egg," to gather the data.

As the explosion nears, the ship starts to malfunction, and the issue is traced back to the computer core. Wesley Crusher realises that he may have accidentally released two nanites from his school experiments loose on the ship.

WHAT'S TO SEE IN SEASON 3?

The changes are nowhere near as numerous as season 2, but they're still enough to show that the series is continuing to evolve.

Doctor Beverly Crusher, once again played by Gates McFadden, has returned as the ship's Chief Medical Officer after a year at Starfleet Medical. Not so coincidentally, this is immediately after the departure of Maurice Hurley, who had fired her in the first place.

Also, since we now once again have two Crushers on the ship, I'm probably going to be calling her Beverly in episodes where she and Wesley both appear.

I want to make it absolutely clear that I have no animosity towards Diana Muldaur, who unfortunately left the series on less-than-amicable terms (though I can't say for certain if she was fired) and did not seem to enjoy her time playing Dr Pulaski. I think she's a talented actress with a character who has really grown on me despite a somewhat shaky debut. I'm glad she has fans who appreciate her character all these years later, and I wish her all the best.

The crew's uniforms have been redesigned from one-piece spandex to two-piece wool after complaints of fatigue and back pain from the main cast. The uniforms are now slightly baggier, but at least Data and Wesley don't have to slump all the way down in their chairs anymore.

The opening credits have been given a complete visual overhaul and now look much better in my opinion. I was going to include a clip, but the last time I did that Tumblr threw a hissy fit and kinda deleted the whole review, so we’re not doing that.

In fact, the entire series seems to have taken a step-up in lighting and cinematography.

Let's take a look at the actual episode now, shall we?

MY REVIEW

It was only a matter of time before this science fiction series explored the concept of nanotechnology. The nanites were programmed to find ways to work together and evolve, and a scan reveals that they have infiltrated the computer core and found a way to replicate themselves.

In other words... Wesley Crusher is to blame for most of the problems in this episode. His haters must have had a field day with this one. Also, by "problems" I mean complications in the plot, not the episode's actual flaws. This episode is much better than "Shades of Gray," even though that's a very low bar to clear.

But while the idea of nanotechnology is certainly interesting, it feels somewhat underdeveloped here. The ship-wide system malfunctions are essentially a re-tread of the virus from "Contagion," only with an origin that makes more sense. It's like they were just looking for another way to have the ship stop working.

Speaking of which, Picard tells Stubbs that the experiment will only go ahead as long as it is safe to do so, and that the safety of the Enterprise and its crew come first.

Now, Dr Paul Stubbs (played by Ken Jenkins, who played another doctor, Bob Kelso, on Scrubs) is a pretty standard visionary scientist type to start off with, but he's likable enough I suppose. But when Picard gives him this update... let's just say he doesn't take it well. He wants the nanites destroyed, but Picard is against destroying what may be sentient life.

But the scene that pushes him over the edge is when Stubbs goes down to the computer core, where they're attempting to slow down the nanites' productivity with low-energy gamma bursts. Knowing that a high-energy burst will kill the nanites, he fires directly upon the core, killing a bunch of the nanites and prompting them to release nitrogen oxide gas to protect themselves. It's here that Stubbs crosses the line from determined scientist to self-righteous prick, smugly telling Picard that now his only option is to destroy the nanites to save the crew. Picard tells him as formally as possible where to shove it and that he'll have his head if any of the crew are harmed.

I suppose I should also mention that Picard and Stubbs' differing views on the nanites' sentience is similar to the central argument of "The Measure of a Man," but it's less of a central theme here and more so a way to ramp up the conflict between them. Picard has Stubbs confined to his quarters, and Troi visits him to offer her help, but it just devolves into a discussion about how much of a self-centred twat he is. Fortunately he gets his comeuppance when the nanites screw with the electronics in his quarters and electrocute him.

Just as it looks like they'll have to resort to exterminating the nanites, Data succeeds in establishing contact with them. He allows them to inhabit his body for proper communication. While he acknowledges the risk of it, it would also be a sign of trust. Picard agrees. The nanites start to speak through Data. Long story short: they were looking for materials to continue the replication process and meant no harm, and interpreted Stubbs' actions as an attack, which only happened because the crew mistook their actions for attack, so the whole thing was just a big misunderstanding.

Stubbs apologises, they repair the damage to the core, Picard agrees to relocate the nanites to a safer space, and the experiment goes ahead as planned.

But even though this review is already long as hell, I'm still not done. I wouldn’t blame you if you just want to skip to the end at this point.

Basically, the episode loosely revolves around Wesley Crusher (when I'm done reviewing this series, I'm going to tally up the amount of episodes focused on each character, because I feel like Wesley is cropping up way more than he has any right to) and his mother's return to the ship.

Beverly is concerned about how Wesley has been progressing in her absence and whether a Federation Starship is a good environment for a teenage boy, while Wesley somewhat resents his mother for being absent - it's not her fault, dude. She was fired. Anyway, it's also shown that Wesley is working himself to the bone, subtly foreshadowed at the beginning of the episode, which implies that Wesley had fallen asleep at his desk and overslept.

Of course they manage to work out their problems with some help from Guinan, and the episode ends with Beverly happily watching her son from afar as he socialises with some other teenagers, with a girl seemingly taking a special interest in him. Let's hope that goes better than his last romance...

7/10 - A decent enough start to the new season.

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