* - I know folks wanted me to re-watch these, especially "Deja Q" and "Yesterday's Enterprise". I'm not going to do that now, but I may circle back to them at some point in the future. I might do a "Best of TNG" re-cap or something at the end of the series.
In this installment:
(viewed June 16th, 2013)
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E17 - "Sins Of The Father"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E18 - "Allegiance"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E19 - "Captain's Holiday"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E20 - "Tin Man"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E21 - "Hollow Pursuits"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E22 - "The Most Toys"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E23 - "Sarek"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E24 - "Ménage à Troi"
Star Trek: The Next Generation, S03E25 - "Transfigurations"
"Sins Of The Father"
- As with many (but not all) of my favorite TNG episodes, Ron Moore did some work on the story. He's probably my second-favorite Trek writer/producer/director, behind Nick Meyer.
- Commander Kurn's address to the bridge officers of the Enterprise is the first time that the official name of the military branch of the Klingon government is given on screen--the Klingon Defense Forces.
- We see again the Klingon tendency to remind people that, under some other circumstances, they would have killed them.
- "I AM A KLINGON! IF YOU DOUBT IT, A DEMONSTRATION CAN BE ARRANGED!"
^^^ This is the Worf-iest Worf that Worf ever Worfs. - "Set coordinates for the first city of the Klingon Imperial Empire."
This is a great episode, and generally very well-written. But fess up, who let this piece of dialog through? - This episode is our first look at the Klingon homeworld (later definitively named to be "Qo'noS" or "Kronos"), and specifically the first look at the chambers of the Klingon High Council. Both of these will be featured in many future Star Trek episodes and films.
- Khitomer, the site of the Romulan attack which Worf's father is accused of having abetted, is presumed to be the same planet (or at least the same system) where the peace summit shown in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered country occurs (and where the Khitomer Accords were signed).
- K'mpec is the first named Chancellor of the Klingon High Council that we meet in Star Trek, although Gorkon is chronologically first from an in-universe perspective.
- The USS Intrepid (NCC-38907), the first Federation ship to respond to the Khitomer Massacre, was an Excelsior-class starship.
- Captain Picard's loyalty to Worf (going so far as to serve as his Cha'DIch, when asked) and his growing familiarity with Klingon custom and the politics of the Klingon Empire foreshadows his involvement in the Klingon Civil War.
- "Then you must be ready to fight--something Starfleet does not teach you!"
"You may test that assumption at your convenience." - Klingons love K names, don't they?
- Kahlest says that Mogh was "loyal to the Emperor". This statement is inconsistent with later evidence that the Klingon Empire no longer had a single monarch and was ruled by the High Council. When the clone of Kahless appears in "Rightful Heir", the eventual compromise is for him to serve as a symbolic figurehead, an emperor in name only.
- "You are still fat, K'mpec."
"Allegiance"
- USS Hood (NCC-42296) is one of the most frequently-mentioned starships in TNG. She was Commander Riker's assignment prior to the Enterprise, and frequently rendezvous with her for one purpose or another. In this episode, she is due to assist the Enterprise on a terraforming mission to the planet Browder IV.
- I remember this episode mainly for the disgusting little food discs that the alien kidnappers provide as nourishment for their captives.
- This Kova Tholl guy is certainly a smug little delta bravo, isn't he?
- Esoqq is pretty cool, though.
- The closest Captain Picard and Dr. Crusher ever get to hooking up, and it's Alien Replica Picard™.
- Drinking, singing Picard is the best Picard.
- "The abnormal energy reading in the Captain's quarters was never explained."
OH YEAH THAT. - Oh, sneaky Riker is sneaky.
- "Now get off my ship."
"Captain's Holiday"
- This episode is the first mention or appearance of Risa, "the pleasure planet". And of course Commander Riker is the one who suggests it as a vacation destination for Captain Picard :P
- Riker (to Picard): "Have I mentioned how imaginative the Risian women are, Captain?"
Troi (under her breath): "Too often, Commander." - Vash! I'm not sure how I forgot about her.
- "The Horga'hn is for a friend."
"I see. Someone close to you?"
"That's right."
"Someone you love."
"I wouldn't go that far."
Tricking Picard into carrying around a Horga'hn? Riker, you magnificent bastard! - Sovak, the Ferengi trying to get his hands on both the Tox Uthat and Vash, is played by Max Grodénchik. He's better known to Star Trek fans as another Ferengi: Rom, brother to Quark and father to Nog, on DS9.
- Captain Picard is kind of a blanket hog.
- Transporter Code 14: "Blow it up real good"
- "Number One, about that Horga'hn you requested..."
"Yes?"
"You and I need to have a little chat about that."
"Tin Man"
- And again, it's the USS Hood meetin' up with the Enterprise! I like Captain DeSoto. I wish we got to see more of him. He's one of the few non-Picard Starfleet captains seen on TNG who doesn't come across as a complete tool.
- "I see, he was a colleague of yours?"
"No, he was a patient."
Our "mission specialist" is a former psychiatric patient? That doesn't bode well. - "He's a very unique person."
No, screw you Troi. You're a therapist from an educated society, and you just said that you went to university. NO EXCUSES. - Tam Elbrun: This is why people hate telepaths.
- USS Adelphi, a ship who lost her captain at the Ghorusda Disaster, is listed in the Star Trek Encyclopedia as being an Ambassador-class starship.
- This is the episode where the Romulan D'deridex class warbird is given its name for the first time, described as a "cruiser".
- My name is Sam, and I whole-heartedly endorse the use of the nickname "Billy Boy" when referring to Will Riker.
- The Chandrans sound a lot like Tree Ents.
- The psychological problems encountered by Tan Elbrun as a result of his telepathy are well-explored and wonderfully voice my own horror at the very thought of people with that sort of ability. I'm awfully glad it's science fiction, and not science fact.
- I always thought that Tin Man / Gomtuu looked like a cross between an unshelled almond and a wasp's nest.
- "Russell, watch the lateral grid balance...no, no, no. That's too much! We'll have to do it manually."
Damn it, Russell. Get it together! - Before this re-watch of TNG, I'd never noticed the one minor (externally-visible) physiological difference between Humans and Betazoids: Betazoids have entirely-black irises.
- The visual effect for the wave that Gomtuu uses to destroy the Romulan warbird is very similar-looking to the visual effect of the wave that precedes the disappearance V'Ger in orbit over Earth in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, shortly after Commander Decker and the V'Ger probe in the form of Lt. Ilia merge.
- "You don't trust me?"
"No Tam, I don't believe that I do."
You know, because you're a mentally unstable telepath who just mind-talked an unknown lifeform into destroying a Romulan ship. And your black eyes creep me out. - "Okay, Russell. We're going to try starting retro-sensor element 32, only. You in?"
KEEP IT TOGETHER, RUSSELL. - Gomtuu's interior? Kinda icky.
- How come nobody ever just shoves the Enterprise out of the way? They always have to fling it across space, spinning aft-over-teakettle.
"Hollow Pursuits"
- Woohoo! Our first episode featuring Lt. Reginald Barclay. He's the kind of character that should irritate me, but I've always liked him. I don't know if it's how he's written, Dwight Schultz's portrayal of him or a combination of both. But I always found him to be a sympathetic character who provided a good amount of humor without going so far as to become annoying (to me, at least--I know some Trekkies didn't like him).
- This episode is also the reason why, as I have suggested before, Starfleet should have a regulation against creating holodeck characters that resemble real people without their permission :P
- Dude, Barclay. You just got "damn-it"-ed by Chief O'Brien.
- I'm not saying that Geordi and Riker aren't justified in their concerns about how flaky Barclay is in this episode, but they do kind a come across as a bit...well, mean. I'm glad that Picard tells them to suck it up and make friends with the poor bastard.
- Falsely-friendly La Forge is a little bit unsettling O_o
- Hey Wes, you're acting like a know-it-all and making Barclay look bad. Back off, kid.
- Ha! It's nice when they throw in references to other sci-fi franchises, like the mention of the flux capacitor from Back To The Future in this episode :)
- "I'll look forward to your report, Mr. Broccoli."
- "Maybe I'm not making myself clear, Guinan. Barclay, well...he's always late. The man's always nervous. No one wants to be around this guy."
"If I thought no one wanted to be around me, I'd probably be late and nervous too." - The lead-up to Geordi discovering Barclay's illicit holodeck program makes me cringe. Talk about trainwrecks. It also makes me wonder why holodecks (and holodeck programs) aren't password protected.
- And all of Barclay's social anxiety issues? It makes me wonder if they stop producing benzodiazepines between the 21st and 24th Centuries :P
- "You should know, Barclay's been running some...unique programs."
"I don't care what he's been running. I've just run out of patience."
Uh, this is going to be bad D: - "This is a violation of protocol. Crew members should not be simulated in the holodeck."
"Commander, I don't think there's any regulation against..."
"Well, there ought to be."
Right?!? That's what I've been saying. - The section of dialog after the Enterprise's engines go into overdrive and can't be shut down is some really, really spectacular Treknobabble.
- "Wasn't invidium used in medical containment fields?"
"Not for over a century."
"The Mikulaks might still be using it."
"And one of those cannisters was broken."
Damn it, Micalaks! - WHAT'S PROGRAM NINE?!?
"The Most Toys"
- Lt. Cmdr Data dies? Yeah, they're going to have some questions about that. That's gonna upset a few folks.
- The trader Kivas Farjo is played by Saul Rubinek, who is better known to many geeks as Artie Nielsen on Warhouse 13.
- "For an android with no feelings, he sure managed to invoke them in others."
- "Personally, I'd be delighted to see you go around naked."
Um... - Palor Toff's, uh...jewelry? It creeped me out when I first saw this episode, and it creeps me out now.
- "Mr. Crusher, put is into low orbit. Mr. Data, scan...my apologies, Mr. Worf."
AWKWARD. - The studio model for the Varon-T disruptor is one of the more frequently re-used prop weapons in Trek.
- "The Jovis has a maximum speed of Warp 3..."
So, in all of his effort trying to obtain valuable objects, Farjo didn't think that a faster ship might be a good idea? I mean, the dude obviously has money. - So, Kivas isn't just greedy and eccentric. He's also a total d**k, as it turns out.
- He also really, really wasn't paying attention when Data was trying to explain to him that his android programming included being able to differentiate between murder and killing in self-defense, was he?
- "Your collection has been confiscated. All of your stolen possessions are being returned to their rightful owners. You have lost everything you value."
"No sir, it does not. I do not feel pleasure. I am only an android."
"Sarek"
- Commander Riker mentions that Ambassador Sarek was instrumental in the establishment of the "Klingon alliance"--presumably the proceedings at Khitomer which resulted in the Khitomer Accords.
- Aww, Wesley's got himself date!
- Hey! Stop hitting on Sarek's wife, Jean-Luc. It's not very captain-like behavior.
- The Wesley and Geordi fight in the conference room (as a result of the emotional transference from Sarek) is the second-best thing about this episode.
- During the string recital in Sarek's honor, we see a a Starfleet officer to Data's left wearing a Starfleet uniform. The guy seems to old to be a Starfleet officer, unless he was a starship captain or flag officer--my guess is that they hired a real violinist and the guy happened to be older. I haven't take the time to look back through the credits for the episode to see if I can confirm that suspicion, though.
- If your Vulcan is crying, you're gonna have a bad time.
- Who's this sciences division idiot in Ten Forward? Doesn't everyone know that you don't pick a bar fight with Miles Edward O'Brien. He'll kick yer teeth in.
- The fight between Riker and Picard on the bridge (also a result of Sarek's emotional transference) is the best thing about this episode.
- When it's decided that Ambassador Sarek and Captain Picard will participate in a mind meld in an attempt to help Sarek regain his emotional control ahead of the conference with the Legarans, the writers give us a little refresher course on what the mind meld is like (sort of a "Hey, in case you haven't seen Star Trek III in a while...").
- After the mind-meld, while Sarek and Picard and still telepathically linked, Sarek refers to Riker as "Number One" two different times.
- During ths same period, Picard is in his quarters ravaged by the emotions that Sarek has "offloaded" onto him. During this time, he mentions Spock and Amanda Grayson by name, saying how much he (Sarek) loves/loved them.
"Ménage à Troi"
- An episode with the Troi girls, kickin' Ferengi butt across the galaxy with my favorite first officer? Sign me up! Or better yet, really really don't sign me up. At all.
- It's established here that Betazoids can't read the minds of the Ferengi, presumably because of structural differences in the Ferengi brain.
- The Ferengi doctor, Farek, is played by Ethan Phillips--better know to Trekkies as Neelix on VOY.
- "The Sacred Chalice of Rixx" is an old clay pot with mold growing in it."
- I believe this is the only time we see the surface of Betazed.
- This is also the first mention of the Ferengi sexual practic of Oo-mox.
- USS Bradbury (NX-72307) is a transport ship that was scheduled to transport Starfleet Academy students from Betazed to Earth. While it's never shown on screen, the Bradbury-class is one of several such vessels for which the Advanced Starship Design Bureau has put forth a conjectural design.
(design and rendering by members of the ASDB) - It is from this episode that one of the most famous Trek-related funnily-captioned photos:
(contains profanity)
- This is the episode where acting Ensign Crusher becomes Ensign Crusher and gets himself a grown-up uniform.
"Transfigurations"
"I have a lot to teach you about women."
- Geordi just isn't giving up on Christy Henshaw, is he? Your beach date bombed, dude. Let it go.
- "I'm going to hook up your nervous systems through the tricorder."
Yeah, that seems totally safe and legit. No worries there at all, really. - The bored look on Worf's face while Geordi and Data are discussing how they can access the data on the computer component from the alien escape pod is pretty hilarious--topped off with "LESS TALK. MORE SYNTHEHOL."
- "I've been tutoring him. He learns very quickly."
- Okay, never mind Geordi. Don't let it go. All you needed was a zap to the brain from an alien. Seems like you're all set now.
- Chief O'Brien is eight shades of awesome. But he's approximately 100% less impressive in a wet suit.
- Why's Dr. Crusher gotta go fall for the weird alien with amnesia? WHAT DOES HE HAVE THAT I DON'T HAVE?!?
- Worf breaking his neck? That's gonna feel familiar later on.
- The Zalkonians and their apparent ability to suffocate people at will and over great distance (and the established ability of the "evolved" ones to heal the sick and even resurrect the dead) are a good example of another species that is encountered as part of a weekly episode and then never heard from again--even though one would assume that a species with these sorts of abilities would be of intense interest to the Federation and the other Alpha/Beta Quardant powers. It's not a fault of this episode, which in general is well-written and entertaining. But it's a common occurrence in the "alien of the week" episodes that make up a good portion of the Star Trek canon.
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