Okay, finally, this is the first episode since the pilot in
which a little bit of effort was being made to stand apart from TOS. The concept of thoughts manifesting
themselves in reality isn't a new one to science fiction and I think this
script borrows from a pocket TOS novel, but I have no complaints on that score,
since I don't consider novels to be on the level with the rest of the
franchise. At least they were trying.
I don't even have too many complaints for this one. Not impressed by equating things to magic
because they hadn't perfected their gifts for writing techno-babble yet. It was a little over dramatic. Mustache twirling is the phrase I used before
in reference to the villains since the beginning of cinema and the over-the-top
acting to dramatize a scene.
Of course it's not actually that bad, but there's still a
terrible quaintness to the way the cast is directed in these early
episodes. The music score was as much of
the theatrics as the facial expressions it was intensifying. All just a touch overdone. The pseudo-cryptic dialogue, and Picard's
loving speech to send thoughts and prayers to the Traveler at the end. And the old com system whistle even seemed to
stick out like a big zit on the nose.
I'm kind of glad they dropped it, nostalgic as it was. And of course they had to get a jab in at
human arrogance... I just don't understand liberal thought processes. The same people that shame us for thinking
that we're the only intelligent life in the universe - how can we think we're
that significant? - also think that we are all powerful enough to destroy our
planet simply by existing. But these are
minor annoyances.
I loved the Kosinski character! And the guy that played him was a most
convincing pompous ass. I don't even
consider that character overdone, but done just right. It was refreshing to see after a short run of
strike-out episodes. Finally, the rest
of the cast had a good reason to be acting offended and exasperated. It was good all around.
The Traveler was perfect too. His gentle demeanor; his line delivery; even
his movements. Yes, it was a little
obvious what was going on with these two even before it's revealed. But the Traveler was a great character that
should have been brought back more than twice.
He could've been more believably important in the course of things. It ended up being an almost empty set up and
each time he came back it was more like an afterthought and his episodes ended
up being lackluster.
The phasing was an excellent touch.
The effects were beautiful and the hallucinations were
exactly what were to be expected, although I read that they were originally
supposed to be very bizarre. This was
definitely a change for the better.
Some of it was
cringe-worthy... like a dressed up pig in the part of a Klingon pet. Admittedly it was better than that dog alien
from TOS (they just couldn't stop trying to remake TOS),
but it was still a
little silly even by 1987 standards. On
the other hand, you had Tasha's hallucination of the planet she grew up
on. That was actually very well done and
it's a shame Crosby quit before they could really develop that part of her character.
Speaking of character development, this was the breakout
episode for the character of Wesley Crusher.
And it was very well done. It got
Wesley on the bridge and in more episodes.
It should've worked and it gave so much potential to the character, but
the writers were unpracticed at the Star Trek craft at this point. They connection between Wesley and the
Traveler was the idea that was too complex for them to handle and the character
suffered for it. Wil Wheaton suffered
for it. And the show, to a small degree,
suffered for it. I want to elaborate
more on Wesley on another day. I am a "Wesley
hater" but not in the same way others are.
And I feel the need to clarify the "hate" of the character.
I kind of wished they'd brought Kosinski back in later
episodes to follow up on him, but we can't have it all. I give this episode 4 stars. It was actually a pretty good one for the
first season.
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