Voyager spent it's last four years trying to be TNG.
DS9 spent it's first two seasons trying to be TNG half the time and trying to find it's own identity the other half.
TNG: All Good Things
Episode 7-25, #277
SD 47988.1
05/23/94
Written by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore.
So.
Picard is moving through time. He tells Worf and Deanna so right at a moment when the small but vocal Worf/Deanna ship meets it's moment of trumph, even though Worf worries about hurting Will. Cute. Worf and Deanna even went on a date, and they almost kissed. But all good things must come to an end.
Credits.
Well, they didn't waste any time. Picard is okay but he is confused. He and Deanna talk about his feelings instead of breaking out the tricorders. I miss TNG. He was in the past, then the future.
And sudenly it's 25 years after they were on the Enterprise and Picard is tending grapes. I guess you can go home again. Geordi shows up which is when I figure out its 25 years after they were on the Enterprise. Picard has retired from being an Ambassador to somewhere. Geordi and Picard start tying up vines. BTW Geordi has eyes and is married with children to Leah, presumably Leah Brahms. I thought she was married, but I guess all good things must come to an end. And he's heard Picard has what my friend Tim would probably call SpaceAlzheimer's. And Geordi is writing novels. And Picard is seeing some raggedy looking people...
And he's with Tasha on the shuttle to take command of the Enterprise. Very cool. Poor Denise has 80s hair. And Picard can't stop staring at her. I think he remembers now what's been happening in other time periods, which he didn't seem to be aware of in the future. And there's the ship...
And he's back to Deanna, and tells her he jut saw Tasha.
Commercial.
Picard is okay. Again. Beverly and Will and Alyssa are running around checking things. Picard hasn't gotten off the ship in weeks, poor guy. And he might get that SpaceAlzheimer's later on, he has some defect in his brain. Picard and Beverly have a moment with some flute music. And then Starfleet calls. I guess all good things must come to an end.
Now there's this anomaly in the Devron system. Where is the Devron system? The Neutral Zone. And thirty Warbirds are headed for it. Wow, Brannon and Ron. You just jumped right in. So they have to go check out
this anomaly. Really. That's the final episode. Check out an anomaly.
Then he's back in the vineyard... moving through time maybe? He's very confused and Geordi thinks it's the SpaceAlzheimer's. Picard knows he was in sickbay, or maybe a hospital. He insists it was real. He and Geordi decide to go to see Data to check on that. And there are more jeering raggedy people.
Data is at Cambridge, and he's tried to make his hair gray by applying a paintbrush. And he can laugh now. I guess he decided to install that emotion chip after all. I remember he was afraid to because he almost killed Geordi, but I guess all good things must come to an end. And there's a lot of cats. A loooooot of cats. They make an appointment to scan Picard at some lab...
And in the past, Picard takes command of the Enterprise. And Troi looks like an intergalactic cheerleader again. As a side note, his orders to take command are signed by Admiral Norah Satie. That would be continuity. Given a choice between Brannon and Ron, I am going to assume Ron is responsible. Picard is seeing jeering spectators that look very familiar and calls red alert...
Commercial.
There is a meeting. Picard isn't saying anything about what's up so he won't contaminate the timeline, which in my opinion is not his brightest moment in the history of Picard's bright moments. I guess all good things must come to an end. He is actively asking about Q and also refers to Worf as security chief instead of Tasha. Oopsie. Way to gain confidence in your new command. They also have an alert about an anomaly in the Neutral Zone. Worf thinks its a trick and Starfleet wants to cancel the mission to Farpoint but Picard says no.
He and Miles head for Engineering to fix the plasma inducers that don't work. Picard fixes them no problem (so much for protecting the timeline) and we meet Data, who is being veeeeery literal. Good times. I miss that. I guess all good things must come to an end. Picard greets him happily. They go fix things. And then he hears Beverly....
And he's in the present in Sickbay. He recounts his adventures. And Beverly says he has too many new memories... Proof!
Commercial.
Deanna doesn't remember any new events from seven years ago. Therefore, there is a discontinuity between events, and it might have to do with the anomaly. It also means protecting the timeline isn't an issue, but of course nothing will come of that. Will tries to invite Deanna out to dinner after the meeting but she has plans with Worf. Awkward. Picard gives some orders. Will is distracted now but says he's fine. Picard heads for his ready room and Beverly follows and makes some warm milk. She is sad about his defective brain. They have a moment. It is sweet. They kiss. All the Picard/Beverly shippers cheer. She leaves. I guess all good things must come to an end.
And he wakes up in the future, but remembers the present. They have the lab time but Picard wants to go to the Neutral Zone. But there is no Neutral Zone. Not anymore. The Klingons took over everything and they apparently hate the Federation now. Fun. I guess all good things must come to an end. So they need a ship, and they will have to call Will.
Will is no help. I guess all good things must come to an end. Ouch. That's harsh. Picard is furious. Will, BTW, is "Admiral Riker". Data suggests a medical ship, which are an option because they are helping treat an outbreak of Madeupdiseaseitis on Romulus. So they call the USS Pasteur. Picard used to have pull with the captain.
AKA Beverly. I guess Picard used to be married to her, and divorced. I guess all good things must come to an end. The Crusher/Picard ship cries in pain. They decide to call Worf, who may be able to help them cross the border. Picard goes to rest and Geordi and Beverly worry about his condition. None of them believe the time travel thing. Stupid SpaceAlzheimer's.
And Picard knows this of course but when he leaves the turbolift, he walks into the past, about the time they ran into Q the first time. Q isn't where he should be though. It doesn't help his standing with the crew when he starts yelling at Q who isn't there and muttering "This isn't how its supposed to happen," on the Bridge. Not. His. Brightest. Day. I guess some days you just got it, and some days you just don't. So much for protecting the timeline - in the original timeline, Picard didn't act like a crazy person. But I guess all good things must come to an end.
He goes to the ready room and winds up in Qcourt in his present time uniform.
Commercial.
Picard and Q have an argument about the trial from before. Q, contending that it never ended, which I guess if you don't have linear time, it didn't and thank you for DS9 to teach us about that. Q decides to let Picard guess what's going on in 10 yes or no questions.
1. Are you putting mankind on trial again? No.
2. Is there any connection between the trial 7 years ago and what's happening now? Yes.
3. The spatial anomaly in The Neutral Zone - is it related to whats going on? Yes.
4. Is it part of a Romulan plot? 5.A ploy to start a war? No and no. Mind your punctuation, Picard. This is Q.
6. Did you create the anomaly? No.
7. Are you responsible for my shifting through time? Yes.
8. Why? Forfeit all questions.
Sigh. Picard is dumb today. I guess all good things must come to an end.
Apparently the trial never ended and Picard has lost. We are about to be denied existence. "Its time to put an end to your trek through the stars." Cute. And he says Picard will cause the annihilation of mankind. He's done it before, is doing it now and will do it again. I guess all good things must come to an end.
Any sane Trekkie can connect those dots, but Picard obviously had time for a giant bowl of stupidflakes because he's not getting it. He returns to the present and calls for a briefing and red alert. In that order. Because red alert will help in this situation.
Commercial.
They debate if Q is lying or not. Data latches on to Picard's info from Q and points out he can be doing whatever causes them to not exist in three time periods. Picard thinks Q is allowing Picard to fix it - Data likens their relationship to a master and his pet. Flattering.
They reach the Neutral Zone. Picard calls the Romulans...
And Worf has gotten old. He allows Picard to cross the border provided he comes along to help them. He also seems to hate Will Riker. Interesting. And where is Deanna? Bet it has to do with her. I guess all good things must come to an end. Beverly says she will run if there's trouble because they aren't well armed. She offers to let Picard give the order to get underway...
And "Engage to where, sir?" Back to the past, and he just told them to engage out of nowhere, which means they think he's crazy again. Q must be enjoying this. He heads to the Devron system, which he just said he wasn't going to, then runs to his ready room to hide from the close to mutiny crew. Deanna follows and tells him she is worried about the crew. Picard calls Riker and they use footage from "The Arsenal of Freedom" for beardless Riker. After, Deanna tells Picard she and Will used to date. She leaves. Picard can't order tea...
And then Tomalak is on the screen in the present. Picard suggests they each send one ship to investigate the anomaly, a plan not approved by Starfleet. They do.
The thing is pretty scary looking and...
There it is in the past. Bigger. They start scanning...
And in the future it isn't there.
Commercial.
They can't find the anomaly and the Klingons are coming so they try another method of scanning with an inverse tachyon pulse, but they only have 6 hours. Picard protests this decision but Beverly, being the captain and all, drags him into the ready room and reams him out but good for questioning her orders. Fun. She also tells him to allow for the possibility that he might be crazy, but agrees to stay six more hours. Then she says "If it was anyone else, we wouldn't even be here." Sweet? Maybe? Who knows.
She leaves, and Q appears and taunts Picard, then takes him away to...
...Back to the the present. Picard tells Data to use and inverse tachyon pulse to scan the anomaly. That works okay. Until Geordi collapses in pain and Data has to take him to Sickbay. So Geordi is sick. In Sickbay. And by Sick, we mean Growing New Eyes is an illness. But... VISOR! I guess all good things must come to an end. Data has figured out that the anomaly is an eruption of "anti-time" which I bet Ron or Brannon thought of while either smoking weed or working on DS9. Things near the eruption reverse themselves... like, say, eyes that never grew in the first place? Oh well, the point is made. But, you know how when matter and antimatter collide you get a big matter explosion? Well, when time and anti-time collide... you get the idea. Picard starts to ask a question and...
...Picard tells Data of the past what to scan for, impressing the heck out of poor past Data with his genius. Then he goes to his ready room, and ....
The Klingons are attacking the Pasteur. I guess all good things must come to an end.
Commercial.
Boom. Biiiig boom. Baa-da boom. And so on. Warp gone, big trouble, Geordi can't fix anything but he's out of practice so we won't kill him for it. Beverly tries to get the Klingons to stop attacking by telling them they're on a medical mission, then she tries to surrender, which worked for Picard in the first 10 minutes of "Encounter at Farpoint," to be fair, but I guess all good things must come to an end. The Klingons keep firing.
Then the Enterprise decloaks with a third nacelle and kicks some Klingon butt. Obviously the Treaty of Algeron was kaput at some point.
I'd like to stop for a moment and talk about this, because I grew up in the 80s to 90s with Deanna Troi and we do that. I have heard a lot of hate for the third nacelle over the last few years. In fact, it's been almost 20 years now, and I feel like there's some things I need to say, namely why is it that everyone seems to think this is stupid? Really, it's the future! It might not even be real, did you consider that? Last time we saw Q, he took Picard into his own past and none of that had any effect! Who cares if they slapped another nacelle on the Enterprise model, they're about to blow it up for good! Okay, rant over.
Anyway, so the Enterprise beams aboard the Pasteur’s crew and the Pasteur blows up while Will and Worf start yelling about whose fault this is. Picard tries to stop Will from just leaving the system but of course he won't listen, and Beverly hyposprays Picard...
And Picard stumbles in the hallway as he returns to the present. But he goes to Sickbay and Alyssa has lost her baby. The fetal tissue started to de-age because of the anomaly. Poor Alyssa. Picard orders a check on how far this effect is spreading - pretty darn far as it turns out. So there's only the one choice. He needs to collapse the anomaly unless it will make things worse. Who knows? This is pretty serious stuff. Picard is pondering the seriousness of this with all the intelligence of Sam Carter in season 1 of Stargate, which is to say none, because this stupid idiot that Picard has turned into in this episode can't even figure out what Kirk always knew - if you have a situation that sucks, undo it, it'll probably work out better.
And that's when Q shows up. He takes Picard away for some perspective. Three and a half million years of it, in the past in France. Which is dirty. "I really must speak to the maid," mutters Q. He takes Picard out into the volcanoes and the rocks and shows him a pool of gunk, and the anomaly in the sky. This far back, it fills the whole quadrant. Life is about to form for the first time - amino acids are to combine to create the first protein. And then, nothing. I guess all good things must come to an end.
No protein. No reaction. No combination. No life on Earth.
This presents an interesting question, and actually crosses a line Trek rarely crosses about the existence of God. I'd like to stop and explore that a bit.
First of all, I feel obligated to point out that this is Q. Q lies. He lies a lot. Picard believes in science, in fact there is some evidence that his background is in the hard sciences, so having him believe in science makes sense, maybe this is something targeted for Picard, to make him believe what Q is selling. The flip side of that is that the episode never happened if that is the case, meaning that the entire final episode never happened. I don't like that.
Okay, so let's say God doesn't exist, and science is all there is. Star Trek doesn't support that either, not really. Even at this point, despite Kirk's denial of our need for gods, there is some evidence to suggest that divine intervention exists in Trek, or at least vastly different life that has an interest in our well-being. The Traveller? Q, for that matter? Picard's triumph over the Borg collective? Evidence of higher powers, other types of existence we cannot begin to imagine. I would say that Star Trek does not disallow for the existence of God.
And yet, here we are, watching His hand be stilled, the existence of the human race stopped. It's like we got past light and sky and water and then there was nothing else, the anomaly stopped God? Wait a minute. God is God. This episode, on the surface, gives great problems to the Trekkies of faith. You're out there, people!
But there is another way to look at it. Most major religions show that God is benevolent. He does what is best in the long term. So, let's talk about the anomaly. It will stop normal space from forming, it will disrupt life in thousands of unknown ways for everyone for millions of years. It will degrade the quality of life of the human race, and probably many others. I think we can agree that is a bad thing. God, rather than not acting to create the human race, may be choosing not to create the human race in a less-than-optimal environment because... why? Why would He do that? Because He knows there are other realities, where this anomaly does not exist, on which he can focus His energy. It's a classic multiverse paradox, and Picard falls for it, hook, line, and sinker. I guess all good things must come to an end.
"Congratulations," says Q as Picard figures it out. And...
Picard wakes up an old man in the future, after being hyposprayed by Beverly. He leaves his quarters and tries to find his crew.
The crew are in Ten-Forward, discussing old times and why it is that Will and Worf are not speaking, which turns out to be because Deanna died and nothing ever happened between her and Worf, probably because of Will. The small but vocal Worf/Deanna ship is very sad.
Picard gets in a turbolift and can't figure out how to use it. Oh dear.
He eventually, after a wrong deck incident, does make it to Ten Forward and starts babbling about how "the future is in the past" which no one believes is anything even when he says it was the tachyon beams converging that did it. "It's the chicken and the egg, Will, the chicken and the egg!" And then Data gets it. A paradox! Data assumes that everything Picard has been saying is true, and then Geordi clues in too. They are finally all on the same page and back in sync. And they will return to the Devron system.
On the way out, Will recruits Worf to help.
Commercial.
When they arrive in the Devron system, they find a teeny tiny eensy bitty anomaly barely worth mentioning. I guess it gets bigger on both sides? Or something. Data says they should shut down the tachyon pulses, which makes sense, since they want to seal this thing. Picard stands up, and...
Picard orders the tachyon pulse turned off in the present, and...
Picard order the tachyon pulse turned off in the past, but there is no change, he frowns and...
Data has a new plan, which involves flying into the anomaly using a static warp shell, which would have to be done in all three time periods. This is the last bit of technobabble of TNG. I guess all good things must come to an end. Picard reacts...
And Picard in the past announces his plan to fly into the anomaly and create a static warp shell to collapse it. The crew objects to the point of mutiny, and why would they not? This guy seems nuts.
I know all of you have doubts about me... about each other...about the ship. All I can say is that even though we've only been together for a short time... I know that you are the finest crew in the fleet... and I would trust each of you with my life.
And that does it, he wins them over and it's really that simple. They initiate the static warp shell and...
Data in the present has the idea to initiate a static warp shell and Picard is already there with him. Data is surprised. "Mr. Data, you're a clever man. In any time period." Lol. Picard sits down, and...
Picard tells the future crew that the other two ships are coming. Will orders them to go in, and...
In the past, they have some trouble getting in, and...
In the present, They have some power problems and ...
In the future, they enter, the anomaly, and...
In the past, they initiate the static warp shell, and...
In the present, they initiate the static warp shell, and...
In the future, they can see that it is working, and...
In the past, they can see the other two Enterprises, and...
In the present, they can see the other two Enterprises, and...
In the future, they see the other two Enterprises, and...
In the past, the ship is struggling to stay intact but the plan is working. Suddenly...
The past Enterprise explodes. It is working. They're gonna be destroyed, but it is working. And...
The present Enterprise explodes. Q appears on the bridge in the future. The anomaly is almost gone. Q tells Picard,
Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'll miss you. You did have so much potential. But I guess... all good things must come to an end.
And at that moment, for me, it was really ending.
Warp core containment is critical. The ship explodes, and as it does, the anomaly collapses.
The screen is white for a moment.
Picard is back in the courtroom in his present uniform, holding his head in his hands. Q tells him it worked, and that the Continuum changed their minds about humanity because Picard discovered the paradox, he opened his mind for an instant. Never mind he was crazy when he did that.
Picard thanks Q for helping. I guess all good things must come to an end.
"Remember," says Q, "The trial never ends..." His chair recedes from the platform and...
Picard is running around the ship in his pajamas again, interrupting the kiss we now know is doomed on Stardate 47988. Again. And Picard goes back to bed.
Captain's Log, supplemental. Starfleet Command reports no unusual activity along the Neutral Zone and there is no sign of a temporal anomaly. It would appear that I am the only member of the crew to retain any knowledge of the events I experienced.
The last log. I guess all good things must come to an end.
The final scene. I guess all good things must come to an end.
At the poker game, they have the usual banter. Will is winning like always. Beverly tells them she doesn't want to drift apart. Will thinks Picard told them about the future he saw because he didn't want certain things to happen. He looks at Worf as he says that. Worf agrees.
Deanna arrives. And then Picard, for the first time ever. They let him deal.
"I should have done this a long time ago," he says, as he looks around the table.
The camera shows the scene from overhead.
"Five card stud, nothing wild, and the sky's the limit."
So JJ said he is opposed to shooting 2 in 3D, not because 3D is an obnoxious medium that gives me and roughly 1/4 of my fellow humans a headache, but because he wanted to film on celuloid.
Now, I prefer celuloid to digital as well, and I know you all think 3D is better but for plenty of people it's a one way ticket to migraine land. I would like a little consideration here.
So, thanks, JJ. Thanks for realizing that we don't all want 3D, we don't all care how cool it looks if we can't look at it.
TNG: The Mind's Eye
Season 3, Episode 24, #198
Aired 5/27/91, Dated 44885.5
Teleplay by Rene Echevarria, Story by Ken Schafer and Rene Echevarria
Directed by David Livingston
This is Trek's first attempt at a story arc. See, there's this mystery woman in the shadows on the Romulan ship, who captures Geordi and brainwashes him, which is all fine and dandy, but let's go back to the mystery woman in the shadows. See, she's a bad bad person, you can tell, but you don't know who she is until later. That's really a fairly advanced concept for poor Star Trek. Up until that point the closest they'd gotten to a story arc was having the pink claymation alien dudes send a signal that never got answered because the concept was converted into the Borg.
Enterprise: Zero Hour
#076, Season 3, Episode 24, aired 5/26/04, dated 2/14/2154
Written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga
Directed by Allan Kroeker
So this is the one that lost them the gig. Things were looking up. We were finally rid of the Xindi crapola and the stupid Expanse vanished, which solved the "why didn't we ever hear of the Expanse" stuff and also made the whole "T'Pol's addicted to emotions" thing a thing of the past, and also we dealt with the spheres and it is over, and let me tell you at this point I didn't care. I didn't care that there was a giant hole down Florida that no one had ever mentioned before, and that if they'd just blamed it on the Romulans and started a war with them and also picked up some nuclear weapons instead of photonic torpedoes it would have been okay, it would have meshed with "Balance of Terror", but it was over, and sealed and done and done in an okay way, this Coto guy was working out all right, and then it happened. The thing that lost them the gig.
The Nazis were aliens.
In the words of Gunn, "You've lost the mission, Bro."
TNG: Menage A Troi
They let some Ferengi onboard for a closing reception for a trade confrence on Betazed where some alien plays annoying music and Riker beats the Ferengi at chess. The Ferengi rightly calls the music noise when he loses.
Picard talks to some leader named Rikan and they all bond over how annoying the Ferengi are and how nice it is that Lwaxana and Deanna can get together.
Lwaxana and Deanna are fighting. In telepath. Deanna gets Lwaxana to talk out loud and probably wshes her mom would shut up because the talking is now about the fact that Deanna's not married. Will comes along and Deanna runs off with him.
The Ferengi are watching Lwaxana. One of them thinks she's hot and wants to date her and have her read minds for him. She tries to get Picard to rescue her but he runs off to show off the doors on the aft turbolifts to Rikan. The Ferengi tries to buy her but she rebuffs him. Loudly. Deanna has a headache. The other Ferengi, played by Ethan Phillips, gloats. And the DaiMon, Tog, vows, "Lwaxana Troi,you will be mine."
Credits.
So.
Later, Deanna asks Worf if they're at war with the Ferengi. Worf admires Lwaxana for what she did.
Deanna then goes to see Lwaxana. She is pisssssssed that the Ferengi dared touch the Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Riix. Deanna reminds her "the Sacred Chalice of Riix is an old clay pot with mold growing inside it." Lol. They discuss how Deanna is childless and therefore, by lwaxanas definition, unhappy. Lwaxana accuses Deanna of ruining things with Will. Deanna tells her to stop calling her little one and "address me as an adult" before stomping out of the room with all the emotional maturity of a three year old. Parents.
Wes is leaving. He has made some huge scientific breakthrough and Will and Picard tell him he got into Starfleet Academy as soon as he finishes the oral exam. Wes haters, please do not take the dirty joke on that one. Picard also sends Will on vacation on Betazed with Deanna, because putting them in the same solar system with Lwaxana seems like a really great idea right now.
They go on a nice walk to find some exotic plant from when they lived there before when the dating happened that we never hear the whole story of unless you believe Peter David. Lwaxana crashes right when they're about to kiss and the shippers die inside. She passes out food. They wish she'd pass out. She hints about how Will and Deanna should get married. Will tries to calm her down. Daimon Tog then beams down to get Lwaxana. "I don't believe this" says Deanna. He kidnaps them all - except poor Mr. Homn, who has gone to pick some uttaberries. He comes back with a basket of berries and finds an empty picnic blanket.
Commercial.
They wake in a holding cell. No communications, force field, the usual. Then Deanna and Lwaxana are beamed out of heir clothing and into Tog's office naked because "females do not deserve the honor of clothing". Great. They grab a couple of blankets. It occurs to me that Lwaxana was nude at least twice on NextGen, which is an interesting choice for Gene to sign off on. Tog comes in and introduces his business proposition, where Lwaxana does his mind reading for him. Lwaxana decides to play along. Since Togs creepy sidekick hereafter known as "NotNeelix" wants to, like , dissect Deanna, they send Deanna back to Will. Tog grins and pulls a bed out of the wall.
Wes is gonna get into the Academy. But they don't know he'll come back to the Enterprise. He is sad.
Deanna and Will are worried. Will tries to teach his guards chess.
Lwaxana has Tog's attention. He is really gullible. Like really really. She has to kiss him. Just as a side note, Majel is awesome at this, she does the best fake interested ever. It's kind of like when Lilly Kane in Veronica Mars does her impersonation of her parents having sex (which is both hilarious and kind of sick) where her mom is yawning... like that.
Deanna winces.
Commercial.
The ship continues its survey.
Will is still locked up but he convinces the guard to let him out to play chess.
Lwaxana stalls by talking about other romances, then oomoxng the Tog. This is where they made up oomox, BTW.
Will knocked out his opponet. Shocker. They get out to send a message but they need tog's access code so Deanna telepaths Lwaxana. Lwaxana awaits her opportunity.
The Enterprise is on its way back when Betazed calls to tell them about the kidnapping.
Tog is happy. She goes to make him a drink and asks for his acess code and almost gets it but NotNeelix comes in and stops him. He convinces Tog to let him study her instead, because he doesn't believe women should be in positions of power.
Commercial.
The search continues. They find Ferengi flowers in the pond at the park and realize what's up and go after the Ferengi.
Will gets a message out in the static but he doesn't know anyone will get it or understand it. They really should have a protocol for these things.
Lwaxana is in pain. Deanna can feel it.
Wes has to leave nowish but he doesn't want to. They can't find the Ferengi ship. Wes thinks he hears something but can't figure out what. He has to go, though, like really really now, so he gets in the turbolift. He hugs his Mom goodbye and is literally on the transporter when he realizes it was the static. So instead of beaming over an then calling Picard and telling him what's up, Wesley haters everywhere are saddened that he runs back to the Bridge (Wil, I should tell you I actually love Wes. I just know that some don't.)
Commercial.
The transport ship leaves without Wes. He hears the sound of the "music" from the reception, so they follow the music...
Wil and Deanna rescue Lwaxana. Tog comes in, armed. Lwaxana tries to trade herself for Will and Deanna's freedom. The Enterprise arrives and the Ferengi let Will and Deanna go but Lwaxana said she wants to stay, so, well, you see the problem.
On the bridge, Picard does all he can to get Lwaxaa back. Including recite Shakespeare. Lots of stammering. Fun times. Lots of blinking. Lwaxana tells Picard "you can't keep killing all my lovers!" Picard orders weapons and keeps quoting sonnets. They send her back and she sits on Picard's lap happily. For a telepath, she's surprisingly in the dark about his intentions.
And then Picard promotes Wes, and the haters cry because he's got a field commission to Ensign, and I'm pretty sure that's not how field commissions were desinged to be done, but okay, sure whatever. I still like him. They take Lwaxana home and Wes has a real uniform. Lol. "Shut up, Wesley!"
Just ignore it and maybe it'll go away. Close your eyes and count to three. It's not Khan. It will never be Khan. They may find him someday but he will never be the main event. J.J. is not that stupid.
I remind you:
The next question to be asked his what character Ramirez will play in the film if he gets the part. It was reported last week — before it was known del Toro was out — that the villain may be Khan, but Abrams and Paramount denied it. Whether that denial was aimed at the role or just del Toro’s involvement wasn’t quite clear. But it should be noted that Abrams was still in need of an actor of Latin descent, the same ethnicity of Ricardo Montalban, who played Khan in the original series and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."
That's Trekmovie. They oughta know, they do nothing but read articles about Star Trek all day. Maybe trying to get some of the Khan tone... after all, Montalban was what made Khan great, so getting someone reminiscent of Montalban isn't a horrible idea. And besides, who else would they get as a villain these days? F. Murray Abraham? You see the problem. Matt Damon just for kicks for all the people who reported he was gonna be Kirk last time?
I say it again: Lightning doesn't strike twice, J.J. knows that, and there is no way Khan is the villian.
The way Anthony Pascale phrases it sounds like another reboot, making everyone who doesn't read J.J.'s words die in fear. Now don't get me wrong. Fear made Trekmovie. But it also made Star Trek 2009 great. Fear is a great motivator for us and for the filmakers and if acting like he still has the fear when he should makes J.J. a better director and producer and Bob and Alex better writers and Chris and Zach and all the rest better actors even if they aren't scared they need to act like it.
So I can appreciate J.J. saying he's acting like it's the frst time. He should be afrad of the complacency and of the ghost of Roddenberry. Simon Pegg and Karl Urban should be afraid of the ghosts of Doohan and Kelley. Ben Cross should fear the ghost of Mark Lenard and everyone should fear the ghost of Majel and if they don't they should read Q-In-Law and remember that she might really be that scary.
And also, they should be afraid of us. We made them, we can break them, and also, I once surprised the crap out of Leonard Nimoy and I caught Brannon Braga in two lies, and six months after the second he confessed what he did in public and I'd like to think I helped and there are, like, a million other people even scarier than me who will judge this movie, not to mention the ones just as and not quite as scary so we are really really formidable and J.J. should be scared.
Okay, I could be a little overdramatic but this is the end, folks. No more Mr. Nice Berman by which I mean the next big thing he did after TNG, which is all but over now, is Voyager, and we all know what happened there.
The Next Generation: Preemptive Strike
So, Ro's back! And she wants to join the Maquis! Because they're very very very good. Well, the Maquis aren't good, but they are very very Human. Or Vulcan, Bajoran, or some other damn thing.
Anyway.
They're on the way to a briefing about the DMZ, and Ro is back. She's been promoted. And she's been at Advanced Tactical Training, and they threw her a party, which just makes her uncomfortable. Picard calls her to the Bridge...
But he's wating outside to rescue her from the insanity that was the party. They go for a nice walk. She just became the Starfleet equivalent of a SEAL, I guess. She expresses her gratitude to Picard, and she means it too.
Then the Cardassians get attacked. Picard and Ro go to the Bridge and find that the Cardassians are being attacked by Federation ships of unknown design.
Can we say Maquis anyone?
Credits. Can I just say that I love that they brought DS9's problem into NextGen. Did not have to do that. Well done. Well done indeed.
Notice that Brannon kept his hands off this one.
So anyway, they get there and it is, indeed, Federation ships. And it is indeed, the Maquis (which Picard pronounces as "Mah-kee" and not "Maw-key"). They have to fire at the Maquis to save the Cardassians, which they do not like to do even if it was just a warning shot. But they do it. Because they have to.
It's our old buddy Gul Evek! They treat his crew in Sickbay, and Evek is pissed. Picard says they are tyring to control the Maquis, but it's obviously not working - they have photon torpedoes and type 8 phasers. Picard assures Evek they aren't condoning the Maquis, threats are made anyway, and basically they'll have to do something at some point.
So they go meet Admiral Nechayev, who orders Picard to do something. The Cardassians are also supplying their colonists with weapons, in all fairness, BTW. Nechayev knows that the Maquis are moving beyond just defending themselves and going on the attack. So she wants to do an undercover operation and she wants Ro to do it.
Picard talks to Ro. She is surprised, but willing. She says her teacher at tactical training left to join the Maquis. Picard says everyone sympathizes with the Maquis but they can't just let it go. Ro decides to go - to validate Picard's faith in her.
Commercial.
She goes to a bar, on a planet, full of cranky drunks. Worf and Data come in and she grabs some guy to make out with to hide. They say they're looking for a dark-haired Bajoran woman who killed a Cardassian and some guy at the bar covers for her. She goes to the bar and sits. The man who says she left approaches and asks if she actually killed a CArdassian... subtle. She asks why he said she left, and they speak, rather unsubtly about a mutual hatred of the Cardassians. She said she'd like to meet people who don't like Cardassians. He stuns her.
She wakes up in a room. Three Maquis interrogate her. She tells her story about being court martialed and paints herself as a perfect recruit. They eventually identify themselves as Maquis. Two of them leave, leaving an old man to watch her. He takes her on a walking tour of the city they're in. He seems to trust her intrinsically. He tells her when the treaty was signed the people who chose to stay in the DMZ were attacked by Cardassians. They bond over spicy Bajoran food.
His name is Macias, and he is the leader of this cell.
Macias decides to have Ro room with a woman, Kalida, until they find her a place once her story is verified.
Later, there is a meeting. There is a rumor that the Cardassians are going to supply their colonists with biogenic weapons. Ouch.
They need medical supplies if they are going to mount a strike against the Cardassians to stop this from happening. Ro wants to steal them from the Enterprise. She's got a plan to get in to get the supplies. They don't trust her. Macias wants to do it anyway. So he decides to let her try if Kalida goes with her.
Commercial.
They get to the border and Ro hacks the sensor buoys.
Picard is worrying about Ro. There's a request for emergency assistance in the Topin system. The Topin system cannot recieve transmissions and sensors won't work.
Ro and Kalinda are hiding in the Topin System. When the Enterprise gets there they swoop in and take the Maquis ship into the shields and Ro sends a coded message to the Enterprise, then beams the medical supplies out. Picard allows them to do so and takes a shot at them for good measure.
No one in the Maquis can believe it, but she's earned their respect. Macias says, "In your heart, you're one of us."
Commercial.
Ro can now go where she wants on her own ship. She goes to tell Picard about the biogenic weapons. He wants to lead the Maquis all into a trap. She has misgivings but agrees to help. Picard says, "I knew that I could count on you."
Ro tells the Maquis that there could be parts for a biogenic weapon coming through the DMZ, all perfectly legal. Macias will call the other cells in on this it's so big.
That night, Ro and Macias want to celebrate, but instead 3 robed men - Cardassians - attack the colony. And Macias is killed. But he leaves her in charge. And that is when Ro breaks.
Commercial.
She goes to the bar again, to meet Picard. She asks him to cancel the mission. His intelligence says they should go ahead. "Laren," he asks, "what's going on?" And she tells him she wants to back out. And he tells her if she backs out it will destroy her career. He threatens to put her before a board of inquiry for lying and court martial her if she sabotages it. He sends Will back with her to keep an eye on her.
So the mission goes on. But Ro does sabotage it. She pulls a phaser on Will. "I'm sorry," she says, "I can't let this happen." Ro then reveals the Starfleet attack force in the nebula. The mission is aborted and the Maquis haven't crossed the border yet so Starfleet can't do anything, legally. Ro beams back to the Maquis and lets Will go back. She tells him to tell Picard she's sorry. And there's only one thing he can say.
"Take care of yourself."
Riker tells Picard Ro seemed certain she did the right thing. Picard just sits there. He not happy, no.
So.
Type 1. police action. Yes.
Type 2. character with a problem. Yes.
Type 3. recreating earth's past. Yes.
Type 4. alien aliens. No.
Definitely Trek then.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the end. After that, it was all over but the singing.
The whole Pakled thing is the B plot... so why is the episode named after it?
The Picard/Wesley interaction is so awesome in the shuttle scene here. And so is the Picard/Pulaski interaction (I know some of us don't love Pulaski).
And everyone was all freaking about Khan. And we know it's not him, so just chillax, people.
Chillax.
Freaking can begin later. We have a cast. We have a script. Breathe already. You know, J.J. gave us a gift: he gave you a way out. If you're not up to this, use it, but QUIT FREAKING OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE.
Personally, I think it's nice to get away from the Dominion War stuff for a while and wrap up Section 31 in one fell swoop. And have a peek into Sloan's life. And hear that Julian looooooves Ezri, which occurred to me about two freaking seconds after she showed up... I mean, hey, new Dax, maybe she can date Bashir! Duh!
The important thing isn't Odo's cure. The cure is an afterthought. The important thing is the illness and his and Kira's reactions to it and that had to then be dealt with but it lays clear that they set the stage for her implicit acceptance of his impending departure...man, I use a lot of words.
When I have kids, and they go to play with the other kids, no one's gonna understand them, are they?
Enterprise: Two Days and Two Nights
This also has no bearing on anything. Yes its good TV but they don't even bother to throw in any alien aliens for good measure. It's funny. Good job.
Deep Space 9: Family Business
This is how families are. Maybe a little more money than you normally see, but this is how failies are. Personally, I love the Ferengi episodes. Rom Rules!
Enterprise: Bounty
Archer is nothing if not merciful. He cares for people. Even people who cart him off o be executed on Kronos.
He cares too much.
It makes him soft, so soft that where Kirk would have stranded Sklar on a planet full of android copies of his wife, Picard or Sisko would have arrested him, and Janeway would have found someone he wronged and taken him to their homeworld for trial, Archer buys him a ship.
