Encounter At Farpoint

DVD, TNG S1 (Encounter At Farpoint)

On the DVD sleeve it marks this pilot, feature length episode as two separate ones, but in fact it's included as one, as it should be. I had seen this before, but not for some years, so my impressions feel fresh. I completely forgot about Admiral McCoy's cameo appearance, which was a definite high. I think, when you know that Q doesn't really mean particular harm, then all those scenes where he threatens them lose a lot of their danger. There are still some good effects though, such as the deep freezing of crewmembers, to retain some element of the unexpected.

John DeLancie performs expertly, and it's easy to forget how undeveloped the character was, yet the Q charm, anarchy and personality manages to be clear even at such an early stage. The main joy of the episode is seeing the familiar characters meet for the first time (including a much enjoyed appearance from O'Brien to make Niners happy). Admittedly some are a little unfinished at this stage, but most are the people we grew to know so well.

Data seems to show more emotion than an android should (a bit like Nimoy's first pilot as Spock); Deanna Troi has a stranger accent (designed to make her seem more alien and exotic, but later dropped) than other seasons, and seems the weakest, most wishy-washy character. Riker is clearly the Kirk-type and Picard's detached treatment of him, to begin with, makes for much interest. Indeed the character interaction clearly draws a line under the star roles of the original and shows an ensemble with equal exposure. Picard is very well developed, and his brief moments of discomfort around Wesley or Beverly bring some fun to proceedings, without undermining his clear authority that is the power of thought and mental strength rather than physical presence.

Beverly, too, comes across well, and there are so many interesting lines dropped hinting at the histories of these individuals, from Riker and Troi's prior meeting, to Beverly's husband's death, to Tasha's hard upbringing. It all contributes to making a viewer connect and want to know more about them. Tasha is another instantly believable character, coming across well, as does Worf, originally only meant to be a background character! His agressive attitude clearly marks him out as a Klingon warrior, a huge thing at the time since Klingons were the ultimate baddies. It's just one of those things to help people realise this is not your Father's Star Trek (to quote the rubbish Star Trek XI tagline!), but something set even further into the future.

The production veers from impressive spectacle that would no doubt have absolutely wowed audiences of the time, to rough edges. Spectacles include scenes set in the courtroom with Q's judge looming over all, and the attack on the Bandi settlement, or the ship itself... the production design is phenomenal, easy to forget that this episode re-energised the familiar Trek design to a new level. The rougher side to things is just that effects have dated a little (but not significantly, they still service the story well), lines not perfectly rendered, or music that is reused a bit too much. Generally the sound and music experience is high, with a lot of bass and violins, and a capturing of the essence of exploration and excitement.

Perhaps they throw too much in. The saucer separation, mentions of the Ferengi, the many characters, the Holodeck, so many conventions, new and old. Even so there are occasionally slow parts, so it couldn't quite be called a classic. It is a good episode, with an uplifting ending, but it's not a patch on later Trek pilots, which tended towards more action, emotion and dramatics. Without this pilot, however, those later series' would never have been.

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