TNG S05E02, S05E03

In this installment:
(viewed Sunday, July 28th)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E02 - "Darmok"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E03 - "Ensign Ro"

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"Darmok"

• This episode is the debut of Captain Picard's new "alternate" captain's uniform, consisting of a grey tunic with an almost suede-looking jacket over the top.
  
  
  
• Hey kids, it's Paul Winfield!
• One of the most well-known TNG episodes, even among non-Trekkies, this episode's "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" catch-phrase is often seen about the Interwebs.  It's also generated one of my favorite faux rock concert t-shirts.
  
  
  
• This episode is also the first time we see the Type 6 shuttlecraft.
  
  
  
• Apparently "Evasive Maneuver Sequence Delta" is "Just sorta turn right-like, real slow."
• "Captain Picard could be dead by then."
  
  "I do not believe so.  I have confidence in his ability as a warrior."
  
  Sometimes I get the impression, that after all they went through together when Picard got tangled up in Klingon politics ("Sins Of The Father", "Reunion", "Redemption"), Lt. Worf kind of has a man-crush on the Captain now.
• At the time of this episode, Lt. Commander Data has encountered 1,754 non-human races during his career as a Starfleet officer.
• "Riker to La Forge!"
  
  "La Forge here."
  
  "How close are we on that transporter?"
  
  "Two hours...maybe three."
  
  "I want the Captain out of there now!"
  
  I don't think Commander Riker knows how to tell time.
• This episode is the first of two appearances on TNG by Ashley Judd, playing Lt. Robin Lefler.
• Lt. Commander Data and Counselor Troi:  An android and a telepath, safely on board the Enterprise, with full access to one of the galaxy's most advanced computers and most comprehensive cultural databases.  These two take forever to figure out the Tamarian's crazy-ass language.
  
  Captain Picard figures it out in one night around a campfire, 13th Warrior-style.
• This is a highly entertaining episode, and finely-written.  But I don't think anyone actually thinks that an entire language based on metaphor is anything other than insanely stupid ;)

---

"Ensign Ro"

• After being introduced to the Cardassians in the fourth season, in this episode we're introduced to the victims of much of the Cardassian's aggression:  The Bajorans.  Much of what happens with Cardassian-Federation-Bajoran relations in this episode and others featuring Ro Laren will help craft the initial setting for Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine.
• Lya Station Alpha is a redress of the Earth Spacedock miniature.
• Ensign Ro Laren is played by Michelle Forbes, whose credits in the sci-fi community are too numerous to mention (again).
• I know that the show can only be as progressive as when it was made, but it's amusing to me that Starfleet forbids the wearing of cultural symbols like the Bajoran earring given that even modern day militaries permit the wearing of cultural and religious garb in most circumstances.
  
  (e.g. In the US Army, exceptions have sometimes been made for soldiers whose religious faith requires the wearing of certain garb or particular grooming habits.  Although there remain uniform and grooming standards that conflict with some cultural symbols, one has to believe that the increasingly-progressive attitude toward these things could only be exponentially more permissive by the 24th Century.)
• Throughout this episode, the adjective "Bajora" is used rather than "Bajoran".
• "My name is Guinan.  I tend bar, and I listen."
• Guinan tells Ro that she got into "very serious" trouble once, and implies that Picard helped her out of it.  This isn't the first or last time that she suggests this, but we never get to hear the full story.  I think this is a job for @TNG_S8 ;P
• The plot that Ensign Ro lays out for Captain Picard, in which she was authorized by Admiral Kennelly to offer Orta and the Bajoran resistance fighters weapons and ships in exchange for leaving Federation colonies alone, is vaguely familiar to any American who lived through the Iran-Contra scandal.
• I believe this episode is the first time that the Cardassian Galor class is identified by name.
• Why is it that Captain Picard is always having to straighten out some idiot admiral or another?  I know that it's accepted by fans he intentionally does whatever he can to keep himself in the captain's chair, but I would think that after a while Starfleet would just be all "Hey, you're the only person we have who isn't weapons-grade stupid.  You either retire or accept promotion and run this joint, okay?"
  

TNG S04E26, S05E01

In this installment:
(viewed July 17-18, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E26 - "Redemption, Part 1"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S05E01 - "Redemption, Part 2"

---

"Redemption, Part 1"

• "I have been told that patience is sometimes a more effective weapon than the sword."
  
  "Patience is a human virtue; one that I'm glad to see you've taken to heart.  But doesn't this situation require a more...Klingon response?"
• Hey kids, it's Gowron!
  
  (image spoilered for profanity)
  
  
  
  
  
• This episode features the introduction of two of my other favorite Klingons--the Duras sisters, Lursa and B'Etor.
• Hey, for a change we're going to start monitoring the Romulans before they get up to something sneaky.  Good call, Picard!
• Data's stronger than you and Guinan's a better shot than you.  Just live with it, Worf.
• "Klingons do not laugh."
  
  "Oh yes they do.  Absolutely they do.  You don't, but I've heard Klingon belly laughs that'll curl your hair."
• Kurn:  "Hey, bro.  I got this.  Squadron commanders and everything.  Hang with me, and we'll clear our names and run this joint."
  
  Worf:  "No thanks."
• Toral:  Plucky!  Stupid, but plucky.
• ROMULANS!  And yep, that's Sela in the shadows again.  I forget if she actually gets revealed in this episode, or in the second half.
• ...in which Lt. Worf gets reprimanded for using his work computer for personal business.
• "Your blood will paint the way to the future!"
  
  <3 Gowron
• The larger "K'Vort"-type Birds-of-Prey used by the Duras forces in their attack on the IKS Bortas appear to have a large disruptor cannon in their forward section instead of the photon torpedo tube seen in most of the smaller "B'rel"-type Birds-of-Prey.
• Worf's Beatles haircut looks even more ridiculous when he's wearing a Klingon uniform than it does when he's wearing a Starfleet uniform.

---

"Redemption, Part 2"

• It's blockade time, motherf**kers!
• ...in which Data fights racism against androids.
• Riker's USS Excalibur is an Ambassador-class starship, while Data's USS Sutherland is of the (updated) Nebula class.
  
  
  
• "Now is not a time for worrying about stabilizers!"
  
  Eh, I'm pretty sure that's going to be important later, actually.
• "Excuse me, sir.  I'd like to request a transfer."
  
  "May I ask why?"
  
  "I don't believe I'd be a good first officer for you."
  
  "Your service record to date indicates that you would perform that function adequately."
  
  "No, no, no.  That's not what I mean.  I don't think I'd be a good first officer for you."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "Frankly, sir, I don't believe in your ability to command this ship.  You're a fellow officer and I respect that, but no one would suggest that a Klingon would be a good ship's counselor or that a Berellian would be a good engineer.  They're just not suited for those positions.  By the same token, I don't think an android is a good choice to be captain."
  
  "I understand your concerns.  Request denied."
• The idea of a blockade in interstellar space is pretty damned silly, but it makes for exciting TV.
• "Issue orders to begin work on a way to penetrate this field."
  
  Uh...go around it?
• So, yeah.  Our now-deceased former tactical and security officer is a Romulan commander now.  What's up with that?
• I love Picard's reaction to the Sela reveal:  "We're just gonna go ahead with the blockade.  Screw 'em."
• "Everything in me that was human died that day with my mother.  All that's left is Romulan.  Never doubt that."
  
  Well, you know.  Not counting this blonde hair.
• "Mr. Hobson!  You will carry out your orders or I will relieve you of duty!"
  
  At least Data can act mad when he needs to >:)
• I love that Lursa and B'Etor totally bail and leave Toral behind.  And then Kurn walks in and he gets a look on his face like he just soiled his armor.
• "Toral, son of Duras...you stand convicted of treason."
  
  "The Duras family will one day rule the Empire!"
  
  "Perhaps.  But not today..."

TNG S04E24, S04E25

In this installment:
(viewed July 16th & 17th)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E24 - "The Mind's Eye"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E25 - "In Theory"

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"The Mind's Eye"

• I'm noticing two themes right off the bat that are pretty pervasive in TNG:
  
  
  1. Lots of bad things happen when bridge officers are traveling to or returning from "conferences" aboard shuttles and other small auxiliary craft.  They should really just stop letting people do that.
  2. Why is it that Geordi can never get the computer to play the right music on the first try?  I mean, you'd think an engineer would know how to talk to a computer right?
• And Geordi sucks at Jeopardy!
• Ambassador Kell has one of the more gnarly and impressive foreheads I've ever seen on a Klingon, even in the later TNG/DS9/VOY years when they got really, really big.
  
  
  
• The Romulan Commander seen in the shadows during Lt. Commander La Forge's "conditioning" is Sela, although her identity is never revealed in this episode.
• "Take this phaser and kill Chief O'Brien."
  
  Hey, hey now.  C'mon.  Don't be like that.
• "Geordi, I get the feeling that something...special happened on this vacation.  And I'm not talking about computers."
  
  He didn't get laid, Counselor.  He got tortured.  But, you know.  Your finely-tuned empathic abilities are working as well as ever.
• Picard speaking Klingon is among my favorite things.
  
  
  
  
• I'm modestly disappointed that O'Brien doesn't react to Geordi spilling his drink on him by punching him in the neck.
• I'm telling you, man.  It's always the Romulans.
• The Galaxy-class Enterprise-D versus one Vor'cha-class cruiser?  Maybe.  Add in two of the larger "K'Vort"-type Birds-of-Prey?  Not so much.
  
  
  
  That's a whole lotta Klingons.
• "We need more than speculation, Mr. Data.  We need to know who, what, when, where and why."
  
  You forgot "how".  Err, I guess you already kind of know the how.
• I knew that VISOR would be trouble!
• "Take Commander La Forge into custody immediate."
  
  "Sir?"
  
  "That is an order."

---

"In Theory"

This is bullsh*t.  No one ever kisses ME in a torpedo bay.

• "All science stations stand by.  We're about to light up the nebula."
  
  "Light up the nebula" sounds like a euphemism Riker would use for...uh, something else.
• Oh, now Data plays the clarinet?  SHOW OFF.
• Miles leaves his socks on the floor?  Aww, poor Keiko.
  
  HE'S A GREAT MAN AND YOU'RE LUCKY TO HAVE HIM.
• "...an aversion to orderliness" is how I'm going to refer to my own slovenly ways from now on :P
• "I wish we were back there now, you and I."
  
  "The unidirectional nature of the time continuum makes that an unlikely possibility."
• I like how Geordi's just like "Yeah, I don't know what I'm talking about.  Ask someone else for advice."  At least he admits that he doesn't know what he's doing when it comes to women.
• "Klingons do not pursue relationships.  They conquer that which they desire."
  
  Thanks, Worf.  You're a lot of help.
• And of course Riker's all like "Go for it!"
• "I would be glad to offer any advice I have on understanding women.  When I have some, I'll let you know."
  
  And Captain Picard has the only rational answer of the bunch.
• "I should not have resumed my painting?"
  
  "No."
  
  "Despite your suggestion that I should continue?"
  
  "Exactly."
  
  It's the 24th Century.  Are we still doing that?
• Suave Data is creepy.
• Verbally abusive Data is even creepier.
• "Kiss me...what were you just thinking?"
  
  "In that particular moment, I was reconfiguring the warp field parameters, analyzing the collected works of Charles Dickens, calculating the maximum pressure I could safely apply to your lips, considering a new food supplement for Spot..."
• Crew members materializing in the floor?  Never a good sign.
  
  
  
• "I believe our believe our best chance of escaping this situation is for me to pilot the shuttle."
  
  In what possible reality is that true?
• "Jenna, are we no longer...a couple?"
  
  "No, we're not."
  
  "Then I will delete the appropriate program."
• And...close on Data, blowing out the candles and sitting in his quarters in the dark, petting his cat.
  
  :sadtrombone:
  
  
  
  
  

TNG S04E23

In this installment:
(viewed July 11th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E23 - "The Host"

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"The Host"

• Making out in a turbolift seems...shockingly unprofessional.
• Ambassador Odan is the first Trill seen in Star Trek, although he (or rather the exterior of the host's body, at least) looks nothing like the Trill we'll come to know and love (or loathe) on DS9.
• "Picard to Ambassador Odan..."
  
  "...get off my Kool-Aid, motherf**ker."
• A holodeck or a barbershop is one thing, but a spa?  On the Federation flagship?
  
  Booooooo...
• "Captain, you know her better than I.  Do you have an idea how...committed she is to remaining in Starfleet?"
  
  Uh, yeah.  Pretty committed, I think.
• "Captain, they are loading their phaser banks."
  
  Loading them?
• The ship that attacks the Type 7 shuttlecraft carrying Commander Riker and Ambassador Odan is yet another redress of the Merchantman-class freighter from Star Trek III.
• It's heavily implied in this episode that transporting a joined Trill could harm or even kill the symbiont.  I don't recall if they ever explain why, but this is clearly not an issue by the time of DS9.
• The relative ease with which the Odan symbiont is inserted into Riker's body is also contrary about how difficult the joining process is portrayed later on, even for other Trill.
• The joining is also depicted as more of a takeover of the host by the symbiont than the merger that's depicted in later series.  This could be written off as a result of the host body being both unprepared and a non-Trill, but more likely it's the result of this being a very early incarnation of the Trill backstory.
• The conversation between Dr. Crusher and Counselor Troi in Ten Forward about the nature love?  That is just like...some weak-ass dialog.  Seriously some of the most mealy-mouthed and awful in Trek history.
• Dude, no means no.  Stop being such a creeper.
• Don't awkward hug the Captain.  WHY IS EVERYONE SO STUPID IN THIS EPISODE?!?
• IT'S A LADY!
• Aside from the valuable (if clumsy) message about loving the person rather than their outward appearance, this episode is Grade A awful.  One of my least favorites in the season.
 

 

TNG S04E21, S04E22

In this installment:
(viewed July 10th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E20 - "The Drumhead"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E21 - "Half A Life"

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"The Drumhead"

• J'Dan is one of the first on-screen examples of a Klingon outside of the warrior caste, in this case an exobiologist.
• Yeah, try to bribe Worf.  Because he's totally corruptible.
• This is one of the few times that the events of the episode "Conspiracy" are referenced again.  In this case, it's mentioned in Captain Picard's log that now-retired Starfleet Rear Admiral Norah Satie (who, incidentally, signed Picard's initial orders to take command of the Enterprise-D--which we'll later find out in "All Good Things...") was instrumental in uncovering said conspiracy.
• A modified hypospray that can encode digital information into proteins that can be carried in the bloodstream of a courier?  Pretty ingenious, if you ask me.
• So Admiral Satie has her pet Betazoid with her at these "informal hearings", but Captain Picard doesn't think to bring his along too?
• This episode isn't the first time Star Trek will address issues of civil liberties, and it won't be the last.  In my opinion, episodes like this are the finest examples of Trek's tendency to reflect our societies and fears back at us in a critical manner.
• "Sir, if a man were not afraid of the truth he would answer."
  
  "Oh, no.  We cannot allow ourselves to think that."
• The Seventh Guarantee of the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets is clearly modeled after portions of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
• Don't try to out-lawyer Picard, lady.  You're gonna have a bad day.
• Captain Picard has only violated the Prime Directive nine times since he's taken command of the Enterprise?  Seems par for the course.
• "Tell me, Captain.  Have you completely recovered from your experience with the Borg?"
  
  OH NO SHE DIDN'T.
• "We think we've come so far.  The torture of heretics, the burning of witches...all ancient history.  But then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
  
  "I think, after yesterday, people will not be so ready to trust her."
  
  "Maybe.  But she, or someone like here, will always be with us; waiting for the right climate in which to flourish.  Spreading fear in the name of righteousness.  Vigilance, Mr. Worf.  That is the price we have to continually pay."

---

"Half A Life"

• "My only wish has been to find a way to revive our sun before I die."
  
  Which is in like, five minutes.  But you guys don't know that yet.
• "...and it is Worf, madam.  Not 'Wolf'."
• 220,000,000° Kelvin is 468×10⁶ °F.  That's...really, really hot.
• "I'll go...check the pattern buffers."
  
  ^^^ This has now become my new fake excuse to get out of an awkward situation.
• "The women of Betazed used to wear these enormous wigs with large holes in the center for tiny, caged creatures."
• For every major power that threatens the Federation (e.g. the Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans, especially the Borg), there are a thousand little pissant planets who will send their tiny little warships up to fire on the Federation flagship because their pride's been hurt. 
• Although she will go on to sci-fi stardom first as Ensign Ro Laren on TNG and later as Admiral Helena Cain on Battlestar Galactica (and even later as the evil maenad Maryann Forrester on True Blood), Michelle Forbes first appeared in this episode as Dara, daughter of the Kaelon scientist Timicin.
• "We are ready, Mr. O'Brien."
  
  Yeah, well.  You never apologized to him for yelling before.

TNG S04E19, S04E20

In this installment:
(viewed July 9th, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E19 - "The Nth Degree"
Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E20 - "Qpid"

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"The Nth Degree"

• Why are all of the creative pursuits of 24th Century humans boring classical tripe*?  Theater, string quartets, paintings...why isn't their a single Led Zeppelin cover band on board a ship with a crew of over a thousand?  :P
  
  (* - I clearly don't think the classics are actually "tripe", but I do find the absence of popular, contemporary art in the lives of future humans interesting.  I know why they did it--to avoid dating the show.  But it still seems awkward at times.  I actually thought the inclusion of a contemporary musical group like the Beastie Boys on the soundtracks for the two new alternate reality movies to be a fun acknowledgement that some of this crazy popular music we listen to today might survive into the 23rd/24th Centuries.)
• Lt. Barclay?  Yeah, Lt. Commander Data thinks YOU SUCK.
• This is why we don't just run around whacking things with positrons, Geordi.
• Just because you're a super-genius now doesn't mean Troi wants to talk a walk with you, dude.  You're still a creeper.
• "Tie both consoles into the Enterprise main computer core utilizing neural scan interface."
  
  "There is no such device on file."
  
  "No problem.  Here's how you build it."
• "Mr. Barclay, are you responsible for this graviton field disturbance?"
  
  "Yes, sir.  I'm altering subspace in a way that's never been conceived of before."
  
  Oh, well.  That should be fine.
• "In fact, I could really use help with that level 3 diagnostic."
  
  "Sure."
  
  "Excuse me, Commander.  But I believe Mr. Barclay and I had a date scheduled."
  
  Uh, Geordi is his boss.  If he says he's gotta work, he's gotta work.

---

"Qpid"

• Captain Picard loves his archeology.  We get it.
• Hey kids, it's Vash!
• I kind of like Dr. Crusher's blue sweater.  Does that make me weird?
  
  
  
  
  Also, I think she's a little jealous.
• Ha!  And of course Commander Riker comes creeping.  Him getting shot down by Vash in this episode is one of the highlights of the season :)
• And I need to hear this Riker impersonation that Picard does.  For reals.
• "Is this wear Jean-Luc sits?"
  
  "That's the big chair."
  
  ...and we don't really let people just curl up in it, lady.
• Hey kids, it's Q!
• "Don't just stand there, say something!"
  
  "GET OUT OF MY CHAIR."
• "I've just been paid a visit by Q."
  
  "Q?  Any idea what he's up to?
  
  "He wants to do something nice for me."
  
  "I'll alert the crew."
• I don't think Worf likes lute music.
  
  
  
• And I don't think Troi is going to win any archery contests.
• I object to the fact that they wouldn't let Troi and Crusher have swords.
• "There's something you should know."
  
  You're not left-handed?
  
  
  
  
• A love story between Picard and Vash?  Boooooring.
  
  Dress it up like Robin Hood?  Whee!
  

TNG S04E18

In this installment:
(viewed July 8-9, 2013)

Star Trek:  The Next Generation, S04E18 - "Identity Crisis"

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"Identity Crisis"

• USS Victory, one of Geordi La Forge's assignments prior to the Enterprise-D, was a Constellation-class starship.
• The disappearance of Federation colonists on Tarchannen III is reminiscent of the disappearance of English colonists at Roanoke.
• Suicide by atmospheric entry?  That's pretty original, actually.
• TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA ENGINEERS.
• We learn in this episode that La Forge is approximately 1.7m tall.  That's about 5'6".
  
  Geordi is tiny, yo.
  
  (A quick Google search shows that LeVar Burton is about 5'7", so I guess that makes sense.  Assuming the Internet is telling the truth, of course.)
• "Is there no hope for Brevelle or Mendez?"
  
  "None."
  
  WELP.