I bet you think I hated this episode because of the war-to-death overtone... but you're wrong! Yes, I do get sick of the whining about populations being well armed and the unrealistic notion that we could possibly wipe out all life on Earth or that we would just out of sheer vanity and bullying. But this is actually a fun episode and there's a lot to like about it. And the best part of the episode is this guy right here:
The quintessential salesman that literally will not take no for an answer! This guy is so funny and the character is irresistible! The plot is relatively complex for a change. The Enterprise has to investigate a missing ship that was checking out this planet as well when they get a message from the holographic salesman inviting them to come down and see the weapon system that he was selling.
Of course the set design is still terribly fake... the same old barren rocks with some plants added and a fog machine. I don't know why I get so angry about these things, but I just know their budget had to be better than that of TOS and I just consider this lazy because with only a few people running around, it looks like kids playing in the back yard. However it was thoughtful that they had Tasha give a reason, and a good one, for only taking a small away team. The writing was slowly starting to improve.
But, it's just really hard to stay mad at this episode or even to take it too seriously when you have moments like this... Riker seeing an image of the captain of the missing ship who he personally knew. He figures out pretty quick that it's not him and tells him that his own ship is called the Lollipop and that it's a good ship. Hysterical! Omgoodness... I guess I like this episode because it makes me laugh. And I suspect it wasn't trying to take itself too seriously either as far as the preachy attitude goes which was helpful in making it fun. Instead, they ended up creating a cool planetary defensive weapons system. I wish it would've been further developed later on for another purpose because I thought it was well done. It began with something like this image of Captain Rice sizing up the target.
Then it moved on to these firing drones that have a War Of The Worlds feel to them. They're actually kind of scary (more frightening than the Ferengi) and the tension of the away team seems justified for a change. You find yourself tensing up as you watch it. It's genuinely exciting for an episode from the first season.
Riker becomes encased in a force field of some kind which brings the doctor down and the captain too, though I'm not really sure why he needed to be there. Whatever. It was an excuse to leave Geordi in charge and Worf at tactical for the first time. This was a much better episode for Geordi to be in charge. This is the first episode where you see the writers improving on an idea and although it still has that air of first season silliness to it, it's not a bad job. In Angel One leaving Geordi in command was like someone handed a 16-year-old the keys to the car for the first time and, aww, isn't that precious? This time it's a crisis situation and he has to lead and make decisions.
I didn't think it was absolutely necessary to have his authority questioned especially by this guy who was also a bad actor, but they were trying to cram as much into the situation as possible since they had no way of knowing when the next time was that someone besides Picard or Riker would be in charge of the Enterprise. Geordi is never in charge again, but I'd say he won his spurs with this outing.
Another improvement: the separation of the saucer section of the ship. They'd done it once before in the pilot, but it seemed to be jumping the gun... it was anticlimactic for the situation. If the first episode was the standard, they should've been separating every time they saw something new. But, in this episode it was necessary. There was real and tangible danger present. After the weapons on the planet start in on their unstoppable demonstration, the atmospheric weapons begin a demonstration too. Not sure why they didn't stop at the same time as the others, but I think it's just one of those things they overlooked when writing it.
Geordi gets some good advice on leading in a battle situation. I always liked the utilitarian look of the battle bridge and it's a shame they didn't use it more. His method of dealing with the atmospheric drone was excellent and it showed how his character was an effective problem solver and could be so much more useful to the different stories than just to sit at the helm and be a poetic symbol.
The captain and Crusher fall into a pit and you get some background on Beverly and early interaction between her and Picard that isn't ridiculous flirting or sexual tension. Even though they always had a "meant to be" quality to their relationship, it was always a strong, strong friendship first and foremost and it really begins in this episode. It's wonderful.
The controls for the weapons demonstration are in this cave that they've fallen into. Data joins them and they start talking about how to reprogram it. Crusher is not only the voice of reason, but I think she's also the voice of the audience - just turn it off! And the way to make the demonstration stop is to tell the salesman they'll buy it. I love it. It makes me laugh so much. And the sales man gets his sale.
I have to give it only three and a half stars though because it is kind of hard to take seriously and therefore not a good representation of the show on the whole. I think the appeal is more for fans like me than outsiders who are watching for the first time and trying to figure it all out.
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