Star Trek TNG Encounter at Farpoint: sundry points made and remade.

I was going to do a kind of good idea/bad idea list of moments from the first episode that never happened again, but there aren't that many and that sort of thing happens again throughout the first season.  However, I will mention the good idea of the forward facing shot of the enterprise.

The falling forward movement in the very opening is a great look for the Enterprise.  With the right effects around it, it would've been a great shot to reuse in a battle sequence.  Enterprise to the rescue!

Also, I'll mention the idea that Riker could hear Troi telepathically because they'd had an intimate relationship.  It's something that never happened again in the series regarding any relationship had between human and empathic races.  It's probably a good thing that they scrapped this idea.  It would've complicated things.

I also forgot to point out yesterday that one of the things that they introduced into this incarnation of Star Trek was the notion that the First Officer leads most of the away teams.  I liked this immediately.  It makes sense to protect the captain.  Also, they could make the captain more of an adult without losing the playfulness that often comes with away team antics.  And even the dangers.  The captain commanding the endangered team from the ship is a powerful look at the captain's character.
                           









And really, I don't mean to harp on the whole man-skirt rant from yesterday, but I remembered another point that I forgot to make.  After they decided that men would wear skirts

in answer to the misconception that the short skirts from TOS were a form of objectification of women, TNG proceeded to be even more sexist than the American society they were condemning.

Notice how Tasha Yar got to wear pants.  It's because she had the athletic, tomboy build and doing what, in the 60's, would've been considered the man's job - head of security.  Meanwhile Troi gets the "cheerleader outfit" (Sirtis' own words) because she's got the pretty hairdo and headband and the exotic alien powers and the gentle personality; more lady like.  Perhaps they noticed this too and that's why they gave her some long pants to wear immediately afterwards... Still, I snicker at the attempt to keep women in a perpetual state of victimhood and seeing it backfire.  I'll stop talking about man-skirts now.  Promise.  There's so much more of this nonsense in the first season, there'll be other opportunities.

Besides, I don't want anyone to think that I hated this episode.  It's one of the best ones in this particular season because of a unique villain like Q, the wonderful but not overused special effects, and the strong script.  I wouldn't be yammering on about TNG if I didn't love it all, good and bad.  Hashtag Love!