S06E06, S06E07, S06E08, S06E09

In this installment:
(viewed October 6th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E06 - "True Q"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E07 - "Rascals"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E08 - "A Fistful Of Datas"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S06E09 - "The Quality Of Life"

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"True Q"


With that hat on, he's 9'6" tall.

• The Argolis Cluster is a region of space that's visited by the Enterprise-D on at least two different occasions (TNG:  "I, Borg" & "True Q"), and was also a strategic point of interest during the Dominion War (DS9: "Behind The Lines" & "The Reckoning").
• Hey kids, it's Oliva d'Abo.
• "Miss Rogers, you've won yourself a rare opportunity.  Avail yourself of it."
  
  Translation:  "Don't f**k this up."
• Hey Riker, wanna stop eye-banging the intern?  I know the age of consent is probably 18 in the Federation, but still dude...ick.
• In my notes for this episode*, I had the two-word phrase "dog poop".  I'm not sure what that was all about.  Probably something about the puppies that Amanda summons.
  
  * - Sometimes I watch these episodes/movies right on the second display of my main workstation, so I have Blogger open and I'm writing as I watch it.  But sometimes I watch them on some other device (e.g. television or tablet) and keep short-hand commentary on the note-taking application of my smartphone, which I later translate into these blog posts.
• How many marine biologists could Starfleet possibly need?  I would think they'd farm that nonsense out to civilian scientists.  'Cause you know...very few whales and whatnot in deep space.
• "Data, bring down the isolation door.  We're gonna have to eject the warp core."
  
  Yeah, 'cause the ejection system is really, really dependable.
• "What is it about this squirming little infants that you find so appealing?
  
  "That's probably beyond your comprehension, Q."
  
  "I desperately hope so."
• "To put it simply, we're omnipotent."
• Although it's safe to assume that they've existed for some time, this is the first mention of Earth's weather modification network.
• "Well, if it isn't Number Two.
• I adore Dr. Crusher, but she does kind of make sense as an Irish Setter.
• I know it's because he can process the information so much more quickly, but does it seem like they make Data do the library research a lot?  It's sort of like "Hey, we know you're faster and stronger and more intelligent than anyone else on board.  Mind looking up the instructions for programming this universal remote?"
• Why does Amanda Rogers have to do ridiculous hand gestures when she uses her Q powers?  Q doesn't have any ridiculous hand gestures, and he's pretty flamboyant.  I don't care for it.
• Because he does it in Ten Forward in this episode, I bring you the YouTube compilation (not compiled by me) of Riker sitting down by swinging his leg over the top of chairs.
  
  
  
  
• Commander Riker looks awesome in that hat.  Just awesome.
• Apparently the preferred execution method of the Q Continuum is death by tornado?
• Tagra IV seems to have a planetary case of asthma.
• "I recall how you used your 'superior morality' when we first encountered you.  You put us on trial for crimes of humanity."
  
  "The jury's still out on that, Picard."
  
  I have to believe that in the writing of this scene, they got the idea for what would eventually become the series finale, "All Good Things..."

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"Rascals"

• You mean Captain Picard is an amateur archeologist?  This is entirely brand new information.  I'm stunned.
• Shuttlecraft Fermi is yet another of the Type 6 shuttlecraft that's so prominent in the later seasons of TNG.  I was always a fan of this design; I think it looked less hot-roddish than designs introduced in VOY and the TNG-era movies (e.g. the Type 9 and Type 11).
• I'm pretty sure there's an unwritten rule that all mysterious energy fields, subspace distortions or other spacial anomalies must be blue.
• Hey Riker, you don't have to yell.  I'm pretty sure Chief O'Brien knows that the situation is dire.  His wife is on that shuttle.  Although the rest of us can't stand her, I think he loves her or whatever.
• "There's a 40% drop in mass.  I may have lost one of them."
  
  Or...
• Well, at least Guinan's hat still fits pretty well.
• I love how annoyed Riker is that Tiny Picard is giving him orders.
• "Were you this much fun when you were a kid?"
  
  "I was in a refugee camp.  'Fun' wasn't exactly in my vocabulary."
• And I love that nobody gave anybody on the bridge a heads up.  So when Tiny Picard walks on and starts giving orders, everyone's like "Whodaf**k is dis guy?"
• "Captain, may I see you privately for a few moments?"
  
  "Of course."
  
  "...but I'm going to act irritated about it."
• O'Brien trying to just "hang out" with Tiny Keiko is pretty amusing.  O'Brien is my favorite when he has his warface on, but he's my second-favorite when something is making him really, really uncomfortable.
• Tiny Picard running his fingers through his hair?  Also pretty hilarious.
• The actor who plays Tiny Picard, David Birkin, also played Picard's nephew René in the fourth-season episode "Family".
• "It's been a long time since I took genetics, Doctor."
  
  "...and I didn't understand it then."
• Is there anything you can't do (or undo) with a pattern buffer?
• This episode is the origin of the name "B'rel class" to describe one possible sub-type of the famous Klingon Bird-of-Prey.  Conventional fan wisdom says that the "B'rel" is the smaller, scout-type version and the "K'Vort" is the larger version that fills more of a cruiser role.
  
  In reality, there's no on-screen evidence to suggest that designations like "B'rel", "K'Vort" or "D-12" really indicate different types or variants of the Bird-of-Prey.
  
  In fact, in this episode, the "B'rel" class Birds-of-Prey are clearly not the small, scout-type ships we saw in the TOS-era movies and again in DS9.  These are larger, cruiser-type ships (and the footage is actually from the third-season episode "Yesterday's Enterprise", which was also re-used in fourth/fifth season two-parter "Redemption").
• I know they were caught by surprise, but even two Birds-of-Prey should be no match for a Galaxy-class starship, much less its vastly larger crew.  I know it's just the plot device they needed to use for this episode, so I'm cool with it.  And it's not like it's the first (or last) time that the mighty Enterprise-D is "tricked" by adversaries both poorly-equipped and significantly fewer in number.
  
  But it's still kind of silly.
• I wonder if Armin Shimerman and Max Grodénchik were mad that they cast a Ferengi episode without them.
• Hey, wait just a second.  This episode is basically just the movie Toy Soldiers on a starship.  Toy Soldiers was released in 1991 (a year before "Rascals" aired) and includes amongst its ensemble cast one Mr. Wil Wheaton, formerly a regular cast member of TNG.
  
  My theory?  Wil "liberated" a copy of the Toy Soldiers script from the TriStar set and smuggled it over to his pals at Paramount and was all "Hey guys, this would make a killer Trek episode.  You could come up with some kind of spacial anomaly that turns Picard into a teenager", and simultaneously he scored one for the Trek crew and got back at Patrick Stewart for all of the "Shut up, Wesley!" comments.
  
  That's definitely my theory.
• Tiny Guinan kind of creeps me out a little bit.  I think they told the actress "We know you're like 12, but can you act like you're a thousand years old and filled with all of the wisdom of the Universe?  Thanks."  And then it just got weird.
• Don't let Tiny Keiko handle the phasers.  That's just asking for trouble.
• This is both the most useful and the least irritating that Alexander has ever been, and ever will be until he's all growed up and shows up on DS9.
• When Tiny Picard has to act like a spoiled brat, and pretend that Commander Riker is his father?  Best part of the entire episode.
  
  
  
• "Thanks, Number One...he's my number one dad!"
• "How did it go?  Did Commander Riker get the message?"
  
  "He understood."
  
  Are we sure about that?  I mean, it's Riker and all.
• You know, I like to bag on Riker a lot.  But Jonathan Frakes is a cool dude (very fan-friendly).  And he's clearly a better actor than most of us give him credit for, given how great a job he does at pretending to be a terrible actor during this ruse they play against the Ferengi.
• "I believe you're in my chair."
• ♫ I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Bajoran refugee kid ♪
  
  (sung to the Toys "R" Us theme song)

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"A Fistful Of Datas"

• "Hey, you know what we haven't done in a while guys?  A bullsh*t episode where the holodeck goes wonky."
  
  "Yeah, we haven't done a bullsh*t episode were everyone has to wear cowboy clothes in a while either."
  
  "Two birds, one stone?"
  
  "Let's do it."
• Hey kids, it's Picard's Ressikan flute!
• "Captain, we'd like your permission to take the Engineering computer offline for a couple of hours.  We're working on a new interface that would allow Data to access an emergency back-up in the event of a ship-wide systems failure."
  
  "Absolutely.  That doesn't at all seem like it could result in complete disaster or be the set-up for the entire episode.  Proceed, gentlemen."
• Grouchy Picard is grouchy.  LET THE MAN PLAY HIS FLUTE.
• She wants the Captain to play the butler.  TO PLAY THE BUTLER.
• I'm kind of thinking that if you're the captain of one of the largest, most powerful and most populous starships in the service of one of the largest, most powerful and most populous political entities in the entire galaxy, you don't get a lot of recreation time.
• Alexander's "game" is a prop made up of, among other things, the front bezels from 5.25" floppy disk drives.
  
  
  
  
  
  If you find that kind of prop stuff as fascinating as I do, Ex Astris Scientia has a whole section on it.  I heartily recommend it.  It's a fun read, if you're a turbo-nerd like me.
• Ooh, they're in Deadwood!
  
  
  
• "Geordi, I have noticed that you have not shaved.  Are you attempting to grow another beard?"
  
  "As a matter of fact I am, Data.  What do you think?"
  
  "As is the case with many natural growth process, it is difficult to envision the end product based on an intermediate stage."
  
  And you probably forgot to get permission from Riker, too.
• "I must admit, Data:  I never get used to seeing you like this."
  
  "I do not understand.  You are constantly working on similar electronic systems, yet their appearances do not disturb you."
  
  "Yeah, but you're not just another electronic system."
  
  "Thank you, Geordi.  Nor are you just another biological organism."
• "You wrote this holodeck program yourself?"
  
  "Well, Mr. Barclay helped a little."
  
  Way to blame poor Reggie for the hooker, kid.
• Klingons make terrible Old West sheriffs.
• The only thing more ridiculous than Old West Worf is Old West Troi.
• "There appears to be an energy fluctuation in my neural net."
  
  That can't be good.
• COUNSELOR DURANGO.
• "Computer, access 'Picard Mozart Trio, Program 1'."
  
  Oh, give it up dude.
• How does Riker not recognize Data's "Ode To Spot"?  That episode wasn't that far back.
  
  Oh, now he recognizes it.
• Geordi's reference to an "information retrieval net" is the first explicit mention of a (presumably wireless) network that allows the PADD devices to interface with the ship's computer.  We always assume there's been such a system, but this is the first time it's named.
  
  Watching this episode where Dr. Crusher's PADD retrieves information over a wireless network on my own iPad connected to the Internet via a wireless network is pretty awesome.  Welcome to the 24th Century!
• Data's cat is an a**hole.  Because it's a cat, and all cats are a**holes.
• Even on the holodeck, Data makes Worf look like a huge nancy.
• "Hey Brent, how would you feel about playing pretty much everybody in this episode?"
  
  "You betcha."
• When in doubt, build a personal shield out of your comm badge and some old telegraph equipment.  And then shake your head and wonder why Starfleet has let potentially thousands of their personnel be killed when building a personal shield is apparently so ridiculously easy that a meat-headed Klingon security chief can build one out of his comm badge AND SOME OLD TELEGRAPH EQUIPMENT.
• This picture doesn't have a caption or serve any purpose.  It just needs to be here.
  
  
  

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"The Quality Of Life"

• "Commander, is your intention to...continue to grow your beard?"
  
  Because I'm pretty sure you still haven't asked Riker's permission.
• "Frankly Geordi, I like the beard."
  
  There you go.  Now you've got permission.
• "MY BEARD IS NOT AN AFFECTATION."
• Geordi is kind of being a jerk to Dr. Farrallon.
• "Exocomp?"  Sounds like something you'd carry around on your keychain, a la a Tamagotchi.
• Why's the black guy have to carry the Exocomp?
• The model for Dr. Farrallon's "particle fountain" is believed to have been based on an early study model for the now-familiar Earth Spacedock (first seen in The Search For Spock).  The same model, without its lower portion, was used as the depot at Qualor II in the two-part TNG episode "Unification" (prior to this episode).
  
  
  
• "Doctor, what is the definition of life?"
• You see what happens when you give your androids a conscience?  They go and screw up all of your plans.
• "I don't exactly know what the Exocomps are.  But you can be assured that until I do, I won't be treating them as simple tools."
  
  {insert your own "simple tool" joke here}
•