#whole klingon treaty so. i feel insane

[vulcanhello]

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG S5 Watchthrough Episodes 2-5

Darmok: AKA, The Arena 2.0. Albeit the only similarity is that the captain and an alien get transported onto a barren planet with the Enterprise struggling to save him. While Kirk and the Gorn got forced by a God entity to fight, Picard and the other being, Dathon, look like they’re going to… but in actuality, they have a much more diplomatic interaction. There’s also a unique issue: the language barrier. The Tamarians essentially speak in metaphors that no one can understand, which with Picard missing… well it’s causing issues for The Enterprise who are about ready to go into battle. If we're gonna repeat episode ideas, I think that this is a good way to do it. Use a similar set-up, but do something different. In this case, Picard makes an effort to figure the Tamarian language out, at least enough to allow some form of communication. Like when Picard talks to Dathon after he’s been injured to learn more about him? That was a nice scene. Showing one trying to understand the other despite the obvious communication issues, and it is this effort and understanding that ultimately allows Picard to save the day before bloodshed can occur between the two sides. It was hard to keep up with at points because I could not at all understand what The Tamarians were saying and I’m far too slow to pick it up like Picard did. There’s a small, petty part of me bummed about having no people in cheap lizard costumes, but it was still a good episode. Certainly a much calmer one than Redemption which offers a nice cool-down from the premiere. It’s not as exciting as The Arena, but still a nice change of pace… but seriously, bring back the Gorn one day ST, and you better use the cheap costumes if you do! 3.5/5.

Ensign Ro: Alright, I’ve heard some about this one and I know that The Bajorans are gonna be a bigger deal in DS9. So Ensign Ro has been assigned to the Enterprise… but no one’s really happy about it as she had both been court-martialed and only recently released from prison. But they need her as the Bajorans are rebelling against The Cardassian Empire, yep those guys from The Wounded are back again. The treaty allows the Federation o act on behalf of the Bajorans, but that does nothing to ease the tensions between Ro and the Enterprise staff. So… one, Riker is an asshole in this episode. I mean making Ro take off her earring due to Starfleet uniform code… despite Worf being able to wear his sash (IDK the official name of it) that is clearly signifying his Klingon heritage and Troi having three regular outfits that she switches between, none of which are the standard uniform. Is it a seniority thing? Yeah IDK what that scene was about except as a tension builder, but way to be a hypocritical asshole Riker. But to be fair, Ro isn’t exactly the nicest person either. She’s very cynical, anti-social, aloof, and brutally honest, a huge contrast to the usually hopeful, optimistic cast. But as the episode goes on and when Guinan starts talking to her, it becomes clear why she is the way that she is. We learn about the horrors that the Bajorans have endured due to the Cardassians, Ro being used by an asshole admiral to give weapons to terrorists, and how it all caused Ro to feel ashamed of her own heritage and her struggle to settle it even after realizing that she shouldn’t feel that way. Needless to say, Ro has some pretty good reasons to be as she is, and she ultimately was trying to help her people and broke the admiral's orders when she found out that things weren’t on the level. Ro’s a really interesting character and I’m glad that Picard came around to her and allowed her to stay on the Enterprise, even allowing her to wear her Bajoran earring again. Hopefully, everyone else comes around as well. But yeah,t his was good! A good female character, the introduction of the conflict between the Bajorans and Cardassians, and an overall good plot. Again, I hate how much of an ass Riker and some of the others were to Ro with none of them ever asking her side of how she got court-martialed, but still, it was good~! 4/5.

Silicon Avatar: You all remember The Crystalline Entity? The one from Datalore? The being that killed a whole bunch of people because of Lore and would have killed everyone on the Enterprise had Lore not been beamed into space? Yep, they never actually defeated the thing so… it’s back. After it ravages a colony (thankfully all but two citizens survive), the Enterprise calls in Dr. Marr, who has studied the Entity, to help… but she has her own personal intentions for studying it. She is mean to Data, but it’s less because he’s an android and more because of his connection to Lore though she does loosen up fairly quickly. This is very much a revenge tale. Marr lost her son to the Crystalline Entity, and she has been trying to find him. way to kill it once and for all. We’ve seen this kind of story before, but hey that doesn’t mean it can’t be good, and bringing the Crystalline Entity isn’t a bad idea either. The sadness of Marr is done we'll and when Data read back a journal entry of her son’s in his voice... God that was just sad. Then... let’s talk about the moral debate. Marr wants to kill the Entity due to the devastation it keeps causing and to avenge her son… but Picard wants to try and communicate with it. Now I do understand what they’re trying to do and to an extent, I agree with it. The Entity may very well just be some kind of mindless animal just doing what it has to do to survive. Or it may indeed have its own thoughts and consciousness. Maybe it doens’t even realize the horrors it causes or the difference between right and wrong. If they could communicate, maybe they could understand it more and find a way to resolve the matter and stop the devastation peacefully. I certainly see what Picard is getting at… it’s just that along with no one considering that plan back in Datalore, the Entity IS still causing countless deaths and if Picard is wrong, they may very well die. But Marr takes matters into her hands, thus meaning that we’ll never know and that may be the true tragedy of the episode. Was Marr right to do what she did? It’s certainly hard to blame her, but she also cost what could have been valuable progress and knowledge. Either way, she was a heartbroken mother who wanted to avenge her son, and it only lead to a sad life that her son would have never wanted her to have. She accomplished her goal… but what now? The moral debate could have been handled better, but still a fine episode. 3/5.

Disaster: They were on-point with that title, though ‘Utter Insanity’ would have also been acceptable. So let’s just run down the list. The Enterprise has a power failure and it results in multiple insane scenarios. Picard is both injured and stuck with children on the Turbolift, Worf is stuck in Ten-Forward with a pregnant Keiko giivng birth, Crusher and Goerdi are stuck in cargo, Riker and Data try to get to Engineeirng, an Troi is stuck in Command as the only senior officer still alive on the Bridge. Yeah, it’s a wild episode. I really like the idea though. It’s essentially a Bottle Episode, but still uses various sets and uses the power outage plot to create a lot of chaotic scenarios. Most of them are really good. I liked Picard with the kids, which is as awkward as you’d expect it to be (albiet he’s over his asshole phase so it’s not as bad but still awkward) and, dare I say it, really cute! Worf having to play midwife was hilarious. I feel bad for poor Keiko, but still hilarious. The Data/Riker and Crusher/Geordi plots were also pretty nice. The only plot that I felt wasn’t that great was the Troi plot. Honestly… she shouldn’t have been given command, senority or not. She’s a counselor/psychologist, not a commanding officer. I’d have just had Ro and O’Brein stuck together and forced to take command of the Bridge. Not only were their interactions actually pretty interesitng to watch, but they clealry knew what they were doing faaaaar better than Troi did. I get they were trying to show her out of her element and apparently they do take this and use it as character development later from what I read, and her choosing not to seperate the ship incase others are alive even though it could lead to more death is very much IC for her. But it makes Troi, Ro, and O’Brien all look like idiots for putting Troi in a position thats she is unqualified for with her not at all arguign against this and the other two not pointing it out either even when she outright says that she doesn’t know certian protocals. Heck if they wanted to keep Troi on the Brdge, have Ro and O’Brein bickering Spock/McCoy style (which the they did a FAR better job emulaitng that here than when they tried with Pulaski and Data) and Troi playing peacemaker and putitng her counsling skills to good use. That’s right folks… Troi could have been Captain Kirk for a day XD That aside, I really enjoyed this! I liked seeing everyone out of their element, they made effective use of a power outage plot, and while no means perfect it was still fun~! Oh and O’Brein and Keiko have a baby girl now, yay~!!! 4/5.

Alright, we’re off to a decent start. So next round we have Wesley returning… but far more importantly, SPOCK IS COMING BACK FOR A TWO-PARTER! I’M SO EXCITED~!!! But for now, five episode down, 21 to go.