Okay, this one makes me tear up a little. After going through the third season growing pains of reliving Vietnam and all of the sixties causes with improvement over the first two seasons, they finally do an episode dealing with an issue that almost everyone can relate to: deteriorated aging in relatives, mentors, leaders, etc. who are looked up to and revered.
They couldn't work too many people in from the old cast and they didn't have the technology to insert themselves into an old episode at this time (like Trials and Tribble-ations, DS9) but they did have the Vulcan characters who live to be very old. The Enterprises is functioning as it is intended as a diplomatic flagship and they bring Ambassador Sarek on board to negotiate a treaty with a race called the Legarans with whom he has had a close working relationship making him the only option for this negotiation. His character is built up as it should be with Picard carrying on about how he'd always admired him and felt inadequate around him, citing his many accomplishments. And then his hopes to visit with and get to know this great man are put on hold when one of his handlers insists that he be left alone to rest.
Sarek is very independent though and insists first on inspecting the meeting area where the negotiations would be taking place. As an aside, I loved the tanks that they had to set up for the Lagarans
who are never shown. Tanks full of red liquid and a room with dim and
strange lighting. It fires the imagination as to what exactly these
things are. Obviously something so different they couldn't be worked
into the budget, but it's just as well. The main thing that the audience notices is that Sarek seems agitated and overly critical of the arrangements. He then accepts the offer to attend a Mozart concert. That's when the audience sees that something is definitely wrong with Sarek as he sheds a tear during a particularly moving moment in the piece.
Meanwhile tempers are running high on the ship for no apparent reason. These negotiations are critical but it's certainly not the worst situation the crew had faced. Geordi and Wesley start fighting. Beverly slaps Wesley, which I probably enjoyed a little too much since he really didn't do anything to deserve it. In fact, the more annoying aspect was the way Beverly was lamenting about how she'd never laid a hand on Wesley. Ugh. Sorry, it just doesn't sway with me.
But it's an all out brawl in Ten Forward that makes them start to take notice of the fact that all of these general feelings of anger and rage started when Sarek came aboard. Data also notes that Sakketh is asking whether Troi or Picard are qualified diplomats. That's where it starts to get sad. Sometimes Vulcans over 200 years old lose their perfect control on their emotions. So, using this character, Star Trek creates an Alzheimer's situation in reverse. They try to be delicate about the situation and not intrude on Sarek's privacy. The dialogue turns to opining on how we're all subject to the ravages of old age no matter how far we've come technologically.
Of course it's nearly impossible for Picard to pin Sarek down to confront him about the possible situation because he's so guarded by his advisors and wife but he eventually gets through to see him privately.
He lays out their theory that he's suffering from this Bendii syndrome and that Sakketh has been helping him hold his mind together but that the strain of this mission is too great and as a consequence, Sarek is telepathically projecting his primal emotions onto everyone in the ship. After he's forced to face the truth, he's still faced with the fact that the Legarans will accept no other mediator for this treaty than Sarek and that they may have to call the whole thing off. It's this slow build up and discovery of Sarek's condition that affected me so emotionally, not so much the final scenes although they were very powerful as well.
Picard volunteers to mind meld with him and keep the brutal, Vulcan emotions within his own mind while Sarek negotiates with the Legarans. It is, of course something that needs to be monitored by the doctor since Vulcan emotions are nearly unbearably strong. It's a great Picard moment since you don't see Picard lose control much either even though he's only human. A great way for Stewart to stretch his acting legs. All around great scenes.
And if it seems familiar, it's because it was made to mirror Spock's emotional meltdown in The Naked Time. Beverly is there to talk to him and comfort him like Nurse Chapel was for Spock. See, this is the kind of homages that are beautifully thought out and executed, not the direct copying and ripping of TOS scripts that they'd originally partaken in. Picard suffers while Sarek preforms one last negotiation before he retires.
For all the emotion, it is a happy ending. Sakketh can control Sarek's mind for him much easier now that the negotiations are over and they leave with great appreciation and respect. Sarek's wife Perrin doesn't need the reassurance that Picard gives her that Sarek loves her very much, and that's a nice touch too. This was an excellent episode that has my heart. Five stars.
One of my personal favorites. I'd identify it as a Roddenberry Classic because the situation is exactly like something that would've been done in TOS (and I'm not entirely sure it wasn't in some way, shape, or form.) Whether it was or not, the concept is much improved upon and the narrow view of conflict resolution is widened a little which is surprising since Roddenberry hadn't passed on yet. Not sure what he thought of this one.
They're bound to another mission to decontaminate poisoned water, but instead of the entire episode revolving around the drama of getting there on time as was the previous seasons' M.O., it's used as a backdrop for another personal story; in this case for Data. The element they need to fix the water is volatile and can only be transported by shuttle. The trader that they're buying it from sends his people to kidnap Data by shocking him and putting trace elements of what he's composed of on board the shuttle before they blow it up. It looks like a genuine accident.
The trader, Kivas Fajo, seems perplexed and disappointed but assures them that they have enough of the element to fix the water and that the only other source is three weeks away. It's a different perspective. The audience is in on the fact that this guy is a shyster and has Data, while the others fly away sad and not even considering an investigation because it was a very clean and clever trick.
On a sad trivia note, the original actor for Fajo had to be replaced because he'd attempted suicide (and later that year succeeded). Here you see the original make-up for Fajo, but because all of the scenes had to be re-shot, they had to do with a simpler design. It is sad, but it also works out for the best. The Fajo we all see is much more convincing with his benign, more human look.
Fajo has all his bases covered for this project as well. He's made the room "Data-proof"and keeps a proximity force field around himself to keep Data from touching him. Then he explains why he's brought him there and this is the part that reminds me of TOS in a good way. This is exactly the sort of things the villains of that show would do, only they'd do it to the three main characters or even the entire main cast which made it all very simple. This episode is nicely layered. The victim in question can take time to appreciate the impressive collection acquired by Fojo while objecting to his own captivity, just as in a classic episode. But, the Enterprise has no reason to suspect Data is alive and Data comes to realize that as well which complicates his escape options.
His one ally, Varria, is not gained immediately, but his unique perspective allows him to voice uncomfortable truths that make her consider her years of work with Fajo. Just because she's a willing participant in his schemes doesn't mean she's any less a captive of him because of the way he treats her.
Meanwhile on the Enterprise, the crew is going through the motions of mourning and it's has a wonderfully exasperating effect since the audience member knows that Data's alive. They go through his things, ask Worf to replace him, and Geordi is still very troubled about the fact that the only explanation is pilot error, which is impossible. Picard doesn't mind him further researching it, but still nobody is planning to go back to Fajo because they have a mission to accomplish. In previous episodes they would've abandoned the mission to save Data on a mere hunch and then have to hurry back to the water and end up oversimplifying and rushing the story. The slow build here is very nicely done.
Instead of being rushed to the end, you get to be more grieved at how Data is abused. Force to wear the clothing Fajo wants after he throws an acid on his uniform. Forced to sit in a display chair when Fajo threatens Varria with an especially torturous disruptor phaser that is illegal because it kills too slowly and painfully. He still refuses to "preform" for his guest assuming a dead, robot stature, and is damaged for it. After the Enterprise gets to the planet that needs it's water stabilized, the crew finally have a reason to suspect Fajo. Everything is too easy and too perfect. It's like the opposite of all previous "disaster" type of episodes. They had just the right amount of the element they needed from a person who was in the right place at the right time and who wouldn't really profit from the expense of producing it for them. On the assumption that Fajo may have poisoned the water himself to draw the Enterprise to him, they pull up his bio and deduce from his status as a collector of priceless artifacts that Data would be a prime target. So they do head back.
But Data doesn't know that and has no reason to think that they'll ever suspect Fajo of anything. So with Varria's help he attempts to escape. Fajo's threat to kill her makes her come to her senses and realize that she's not of any real value to Fajo... just another tool and means to his ends. They get pretty far, but Fajo catches up to them and kills Varria simply to display his power. This ending is an important step for Star Trek in my opinion.
A display of power was the logic behind Tasha Yar's death in Skin of Evil. It was poorly played out and resolved. This episode not only shows how depraved a person who enjoys that sort of power trip is, it also doesn't try to apologize for it and analyze it like they did in Skin of Evil. In fact, Fajo throws the pacifistic response in the face of Data who finally has to conclude that passive resistance is no longer an option and that sometimes the use of force is necessary. That's what I meant when I said that this episode finally expands the narrow view of conflict resolution. It's more attuned to real life situations and something they'd avoided doing for most of three seasons now. I couldn't help but be impressed.
Of course, they don't "pull the trigger" so to speak. The Enterprise shows up in time to find and beam Data away allowing them to put Fajo away for all of the fraud, theft, and kidnapping he'd perpetrated. It ends with him being disappointed that Data feels no satisfaction in having won, which brings it back to their usual method of trying to analyze the ironies involved in criminal types. I think they could've found a better point to make than this, but hey it's not a bad job for finally stepping out of their peacenik comfort zone for an episode. Bravo.
Four stars. It has my heart, but it's an isolated episode and the time spent "mourning" Data was a tad slow. But no more complaints than that.
Just saw this on Facebook today. Excellent Excellent. I remember hearing him say the prequels were meant to mirror the original trilogy. I didn't need this video to see the mirrored poetry. But I'm glad someone made it.
Hollow City, Ransom Riggs
Digging the books in the Peculiar series. This is the second one (one of my Christmas presents) and it picks up right where the first one left off so that it flows seamlessly from the first book. Since it incorporates time travel and has rules set up for its hidden world theme, my somewhat over-analytical nature usually zeros in on inconsistencies and/or questionable continuity issues in general, but I can't bring myself to be too critical of these books and I think I figured out why. When I was rereading the first one it struck me this time like something a teacher would assign as a creative writing exercise. I used to do stuff like this all the time when I was younger just for fun. I would
take a large collection of song titles from a band and work as many as I could into a story; stuff like that. The first book felt like someone dumped a stack of pictures in front of the author and said, "Okay, now create a story around these." And it's not far from the truth when you read the interview with him at the end of this book. Even though the story had a more a focused and definite route in Hollow City and even though he operated by looking for pictures to match what he was writing, he still had to tweak and rework things when he couldn't find the exact kind of picture he was looking for. So in a way the exercise continues and I find it enchanting enough to just led the nit picky details slide.
Once again, it's not scary (to me) even though I think it's supposed to be. Whatever you expect of it in that regard is entirely dependent on taste and beliefs. The main character is trapped in WWII England with the others and they have to find help for their Headmistress. She's trapped in her peregrine form and has only about three days before she loses her ability to change back. So, it's fast paced like the first one even though it's twice the size and introduces more peculiar people, animals, and situations. It's just a lot of fun and I genuinely did not see the twist at the end coming... I don't know if it's because I'm losing my touch, or if it's just because I was enjoying it so much I wasn't trying too hard to guess what would happen. Probably the latter. I can't wait to read the third one.
Well, that's the world's most unhelpful trailer. But at least it explains the majority of the subplot so I don't have to.
Yes, there's another engineering disaster afoot on the Enterprise, and in all honesty, it's not a really good story and there's a ton of techno-babble in place to try to hide the fact that the problem was easily decipherable. They'd done too many stories like this in the first two seasons. So it's turned into a backdrop to the to the main story which revolves around a neurotic engineer. (Speaking of a layman's interest in psychology... lol.) And who better to play a total brain case than "Howlin' Mad" Murdoch from A-Team? This is another one of those episodes that comes down to the individual audience members' tastes. It does what it sets out to do: it makes you squirm with discomfort and
compassionate relief to see him solve the problem at the end since he'd
been having such a hard time of it throughout the hour. Lt. Barclay is an insecure character with serious social anxiety and possible schizotypal personality disorder. This episode gives a very realistic look at how a lot of people would actually use a holodeck - living out a variety of inappropriate fantasies. It begins in his fantasy world where he acts out his delusions of grandeur and charm. Once the audience is let in on the fact that it's just a Holodeck program, you can see that he's actually kind of a loser. Trek fans were upset with this one at the time because they thought this was how people saw them, but although people didn't let their geek flags fly as openly back then as they do now, that's not what this was about and I always knew it because I, unfortunately, can identify with Barclay. I think a lot of people can too because several people may go through phases like this in their life when dealing with insecurity in general.
He spends so much time on the holodeck that he neglects duties and under performs in his job and came to the Enterprise by way of transfer which Picard suspects may have been like pushing the problem onto someone else. He orders Geordi to take charge of him personally. Geordi tells him to get counseling but even the first session you see is another holodeck fantasy. Of course, they couldn't be as honest about what a person like this would be doing in his fantasies with the different people in his life. That kind of honesty didn't come until Quark's "Holosuites" were made available to both casts. But you get a pretty good idea as it shifts into a more literal fantasy setting where the different officers he interacts with fulfill different needs and desires within him.
Meanwhile strange things are happening on the ship...glasses melting, cargo containers melting... operations shutting down like warp drive and transporters. And nobody can figure out how it's connected somehow, even Wesley.
Geordi makes Barclay part of his senior staff meetings to try and give him confidence since he is actually a brilliant engineer. In this case when Wesley corrects him you can tell it's not a "Wesley the Wonderboy" moment, but rather that this poor guy is so nervous in groups that he can't think straight even with something he's good at. I can't even start to tell you how familiar all this is to me personally, which is one reason why I'm drawn to this episode, I guess. I only thought they went too far when they had Picard mistakenly call him "Broccoli" after having ordered everyone to stop calling him that behind his back. It was decent enough joke for situation, but it reminded me too much of the immaturity of the first season and it's not a slip up that would happen to Picard.
But he continues to be a slacker and they finally get fed up and go looking for him in the Holodeck. Even if you don't like the episode you can't help but feel bad for Barclay as he's finally caught and humiliated to have his fantasy life on display. Debate all you want about what's healthy and moral or not in a person's thought process, but nobody would want this to happen to them no matter what things they fantasize about. And you have to admit Riker and Troi's reactions to seeing their own counterparts are priceless... one of the best scene's in the episode.
They don't forget about Geordi's moment of holodeck fantasy with Dr. Brahms in the dialogue devoted to reasoning with Barclay and there's a lot of back and forth on how to help a person overcome all of these anxieties. I personally think it's only moderately helpful for someone who really has these issues and perhaps the writers thought the same thing since Barclay was originally supposed to be sent to a hospital for treatment at the end.
But, of course, he has to solve the problem since this episode is about him so that's not really a fitting ending. In the end they just have him bravely turning off his fantasy programs with the intent of learning to cope with reality. It's a little more true to life in my opinion. Most people with anxiety disorders have to struggle through on their own since therapy is either unaffordable or simply something they're not comfortable with. It also made Barclay a strong character who became a reoccurring character that I always enjoyed. Like I said when I made that post on what parts of the human personality all the different characters represent, everyone has a little Barclay in them representing insecurities and fears.
Three and a half stars. The engineering stuff was lackluster, but Barclay turned out to be an endearing character that I liked.
