I've had a bit of a set-back with my "mission", but I want to reassure everyone that I have ever intention of continuing. An accelerated pace at work, lots of other time commitments (such as Gen Con) and an unplanned illness managed to sap both my time and energy.
But that's all behind me now, and I plan on carrying on and having a few binges along the way to make up for lost time. I had a minor binge this weekend, and here are the results.
In this installment:
(viewed August 24th & 25th, 2013)
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S05E12 - "Violations"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S05E13 - "The Masterpiece Society"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S05E14 - "Conundrum"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S05E15 - "Power Play"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S05E16 - "Ethics"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S05E17 - "The Outcast"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S05E18 - "Cause And Effect"
"Violations"
- Oh boy, it's an episode with telepaths! In this case it's the Ullians, who are even creepier than normal telepaths like the Betazoids.
I f**king hate telepaths. - "It would seem there is no predictable pattern to human memory."
- On top of being creepy, the Ullians' clothing is extra ridiculous.
- "Klingons do not allow themselves to be...probed."
- I'm not scoring these episodes on a 100-point scale to indicate my enjoyment of each one, but if I were? Every single use of the word "imzadi" would be an automatic 10-point deduction.
- That said, putting both Counselor Troi and Commander Riker in comas would qualify for a 10-point bonus.
- I, like so many other Trekkies, long ago noticed the pattern of Lt. Worf's suspicions, misgivings and warnings going completely unheeded by Captain Picard and others...only to be proven right later down the road.
In celebration of that somewhat amusing (for everybody but Worf) pattern, I present you this 15-minute YouTube montage (not compiled by me) of our favorite Klingon getting dismissed over and over again.
- Hey, Picard with hair! And a, uh...weird thing on his face?
- "Sickbay to Captain Picard...Counselor Troi has regained consciousness."
DAMN. - Jev: What a d*ck. The best part of this episode is when Worf shoes up and beats him into unconsciousness with one blow.
- Speaking of that fight, as much as I give Troi grief for being gimp in almost every way, she does acquit herself pretty well there. She puts up a pretty good fight, at least long enough for the aforementioned Klingon pimp slap to occur.
"The Masterpiece Society"
- "Stellar Core Fragment" sounds like a prog metal band.
- If Star Trek has taught us anything, it's that genetically-engineered people are all a**holes.
- It's hard to not share Geordi's enjoyment at saving the supermen with technology that only exists because he's "imperfect".
- On the other hand, it's hard to enjoy Troi's nursery rhyme date with Mr. Perfect Genes. Puuuuuke.
- And I'm shocked and offended that Counselor Troi would use poor judgment and act unprofessionally. It's so completely out-of-character for her.
"Conundrum"
- Troi beats Data at chess? Pretty sure she cheated, just to get that Samarian Sunset.
- Yay, it's Ensign Ro!
- The unknown vessel that the Enterprise-D encounters (later identified as Satarran) is a re-use of the model first seen as the Mondor in the second season's "Samaritan Snare".
- "Perhaps we should not jump to conclusions. I am decorated as well."
- We learn in this episode that the Galaxy class starship (or at least the Enterprise-D at the time of this incident) is configured with 10 phaser banks and carries 250 photon torpedoes.
- Captain Worf is the best Worf.
- Bartender Data is the best Data.
- Lysians. What a bunch of bastards.
- Memory-less Counselor Troi is sweet and chaste. Memory-less Ensign Ro is naughty.
- "What if I snore in my sleep?"
As opposed to...snoring when you're awake? O_o - Talking the Klingon into picking a fight? That's a cheap blow.
- The Lysian Central Command is a re-use of the Edo God model from the first season episode "Justice".
- Uncomfortable Riker is the best Riker.
"Power Play"
- This episode is the first on-screen mention of the old (pre-TOS) Daedalus-class starships (although there's at least one instance of a ship mentioned in TOS being retconned as a Daedalus class). In this case, the ship in question is the USS Essex (NCC-173).
(image from Ex Astris Scientia) - This is why we don't let Commander Riker pilot shuttles.
- Chief O'Brien has balls of pure tritanium.
- I believe this is also the first time we see transporter pattern enhancers in use.
- "Southern Polar Region" would be a song on one of Stellar Core Fragment's albums.
- This episode is the source of one of my favorite TNG animated GIFs ever.
- Ah, the old "ditch your comm badge" ploy.
- This may be the best "Data is more bad*ss than Worf" episode in all of TNG.
- It's a ghost!
- This is also another wasted opportunity to kill Keiko and Molly >:(
- Space Ghosts: What a bunch of bastards.
"Ethics"
- This just in, Geordi totally uses his VISOR to cheat at cards.
- This episode is the second and last (to date) mention of a piece of technology called a "dynoscanner" (first mentioned in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan).
- Look at those containers just stacked up on top of themselves like that! It's no wonder Worf gets pasted. As though the insanely dangerous use of plasma to deliver power to computer consoles wasn't enough, we're presented in this episode with even further evidence that the Federation doesn't have any sort of OSHA-type agency :P
- That said, leave it to sucky TNG-era Worf to get injured in the lamest possible way.
(* - Totally different from awesome, DS9-era Worf) - The starship which delivers Dr. Russell to the Enterprise-D is the USS Potemkin, an Excelsior-class starship that we've seen before and will see again. Most notably, Commander Riker was posted to the Potemkin earlier in his Starfleet career.
- This episode is also called "The episode in which Worf tries to get everyone to kill him".
- We can replicate new spines? I'll take three.
- Part-way into the episode, the Enterprise-D must go to the rescue of the USS Denver, a transport ship. Although it's never seen on-screen and its class is never stated, the Star Trek Encyclopedia lists it as being a Yorkshire-class starship.
As with so many other mentioned-but-unseen starships throughout Trek, Ex Astris Scientia and the Advanced Starship Design Bureau have a pretty good speculative design.
(image from the ASDB) - Picard's defense of Worf's decision to end his life is an impressive example of the character's trademark ability to view situations from perspectives other than his own.
- This is the first time we're seeing Alexander again since he came to live with Worf earlier in the season.
- "I will not be seen lurching through corridors like some half-Klingon machine!"
I dunno. Sounds pretty awesome to me--like a Klingon version of "Iron Man". - Don't tangle with Dr. Crusher, lady. She'll drop the hammer.The dialog between Worf and Riker--with Riker stalking around the room with the knife and berating Worf--is one of the rare times in TNG where I really, really like Riker.
- I guess Klingon kids just get to walk around the ship with knives?
- You're going to have Troi raise the kid if you kick it during your operation? Dude, he's already a big enough weenie. He doesn't need to be raised on chocolate sundaes and hugs.
- I mean, I know it's a Klingon spinal column. Everything Klingon is bigger and pointier and whatnot. But that thing is really gnarly-looking.
- I grew to really like Worf in the latter seasons of TNG, and especially after he made the leap to DS9. So I'm glad they didn't kill him. But at the time this episode aired, I was kind of rooting for it.
"The Outcast"
- Wait a second. So, of all of the dozens (hundreds?) of scientifically- and engineering-oriented minds aboard the Enterprise-D--even Commander Data or Lt. Commander La Forge--they assign Commander Riker to go help the J'Naii figure out what's up with the "null space" in their star system?
- We get some specifications on the Type 6 shuttle that is common to later seasons of TNG and some episodes of DS9 and VOY, in this case the Magellan: Two 1250-millicochrane warp nacelles, microfusion thrusters, and two non-standard Type 4 phaser arrays.
(image from Ex Astris Scientia) - How Does Human Make Babby?: Human Gender Relations 101, with Professor William T. Riker.
- By way of Counselor Troi's declaration of the "Federation Day" variant of poker (which Worf dismisses as "a woman's game"*), we get a definitive canon year for the foundation of the United Federation of Planets--2161. I don't remember if this gets stated on-screen sooner than this (it may have), but this is the first time I noticed it.
(* - Worf doesn't come off looking very good in this episode. While you would expect a Klingon to be misogynistic and homophobic, it's still unpleasant to watch. Still, one of the characters had to be the "bad guy", and express those ugly feelings for the purposes of the narrative. I suppose Worf, the hyper-masculine Klingon warrior, was the logical choice.) - Soren's explanation to Riker of what it's like to be born with an inclination toward gender on a planet where gender is viewed as primitive and causes a person to become a target for ridicule and reparative therapy is obviously a thinly-veiled allegory for gay rights in America and other countries. For the time this episode aired (1992), it was about as bold as the Trek writers could probably get away with being and still have the episode go to air.
- This episode is also the premier of Geordi's short-lived beard.
- "I was raised outdoors. I've never been very comfortable in crowded rooms."
So...deep space exploration? O_o - "We have many varieties of plant life. Perhaps you would like to...inspect some of them?"
That's the most subtle pick-up line I've ever heard in my entire life. I'm a little surprised Commander Caveman picked up on it. - I'm not an expert, but it always looks to me like Riker is trying to eat a woman's face off when he's kissing her. I would think that between all of the unnecessary tongue and that beard, he'd be less popular with sophisticated, 24th Century ladies.
- Soren's defense at her tribunal is a further stating of the basic case for LGBT rights.
- Once again, Picard has to remind Riker: Sometimes the Prime Directive is a real b*tch.
- Worf sort of redeems his bad attitude earlier by volunteering to help Riker with his "unsanctioned" rescue of Soren.
- The allegorical nature of this episode is a little obvious and heavy-handed, but my suspicion is that its obviousness was intentional. 1992 wasn't all that long ago, but LGBT rights have come a long way since then (although they still have quite a ways to go). As I mentioned earlier, I think the writers probably had to be a little careful. But they undoubtedly still wanted to make the moral of this particular story very clear.
If you follow me on social media or know me personally, you're aware of my strong feelings on the topic. I won't get up on a soap box here, because this isn't a political blog--it's a Star Trek blog. But the firmness of the argument for compassion and equality made in this episode makes it one of my favorites of this TNG's fifth season--even if it is chock-o-block full o' Riker ;)
"Cause And Effect"
- Are the warp core ejection systems ever online when you need them?
- Grumpy Worf is the best Worf.
- I love Dr. Crusher, but pretty much any time they show her in a non-professional setting (e.g. humming and pruning her houseplants in her pajamas, with a ribbon in her hair) I grow irrationally angry at the character. I don't know what's up with that.
- The look on Captain Picard's face when Dr. Crusher "reports" that she heard voices in her quarters is pretty freaking amazing.
- The ship that emerges from the subspace distortion the Enterprise-D encounters at the edge of the Typhon Expanse is USS Bozeman (NCC-1941), a Soyuz-class starship commanded by Captain Morgan Bateson (Kelsey Grammer).
The Soyuz is obviously a variant of the Miranda class, with additions to the aft section of the hull.
(image from Ex Astris Scentia) - It's okay, Dr. Crusher. You're not having déjà vu, it's just a glitch in the Matrix.
- "Venting drive plasma" has become my euphemism for a variety of symptoms of different illnesses, from a runny nose to...uh, "digestive issues".
- "Temporal causality loop", eh? More like temporal causality oops, am I right? Heh?
- The year the Bozeman was caught up in the temporal causality loop was 2278. This would place its origin right around or shortly after the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
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