The 1000th Blog Post

The 1000th Blog Post

Things have changed in the last five years, though not in the way I expected: Back then I was beginning to believe I'd be getting rid of my DVDs, moving on to Blu-Ray, but that never happened, and in fact, complete series have become available as all-in-one box-sets. Rather than get rid of my slices of shelf, I need more shelves for the increasingly hefty slices (maybe I should rename the blog 'A Chunk of Shelf'!), all as they've become cheaper and with more choice of TV series' abounding. Where will we be in another five years? Will I still be writing away, distilling my thoughts into these reviews in 2019? Will there be a new 'Star Trek' TV series (and, more to the point, one I actually like and appreciate, with so many hours of greatness to follow?), and will DVDs finally become obsolete? Unknown.

Having written countless reviews (not all that countless: around one thousand, give or take a few of the early posts, which contained multiple mini-reviews!), over a five-year-plus period, what began as one of many tasks to keep me busy and my mind active during my unemployment, became a way to record my thoughts on those things that I enjoyed watching most (or could be bothered to delve into).

I've written my thoughts on many of the 'Star Trek' TV series' (much of 'TOS,' all of 'TNG,' almost all of 'DS9,' much of 'Voyager' and most of 'Enterprise'), and continue to churn them out as I watch, with the aim to one day have a review for every episode I've seen (though whether that will include the re-releases, I'm not so sure!), so they seemed a natural subject for my landmark one-thousandth post. I thought hard and long and came up with my definitive lists of my favourite episodes from each series - maybe not so definitive as thoughts have changed over the years, but close enough for now. Also thrown in are my top films and episodes of 'BUGS,' though for most of these lists and episodes, particularly the films, it may be more apt to call them the most influential as I may not have the same level of enjoyment from them now as I once did, though they stick in my mind as what impressed me most, originally.


My Top 20 Films:
The top five was fairly easy, the ten not too difficult, but the last ten were almost thrown on as it's hard to know with such close quality between them, and there are plenty of others bubbling under that might be just as worthwhile. 'Return of The Jedi' always was my favourite from way back seeing it as a child on TV at Christmas, but it doesn't necessarily fill me with joy to watch it now, more of a memory of enjoyment and awe. 'M:I2' is the same, the first action film I saw at the cinema, it still has the edge on anything else. My two preferred of 'The Lord of The Rings,' my favourite book, are about as good as we were going to get, and majestically showed what could be done, despite the complexity and detail of a great book, and there had to be a Trek film in the top five, with Kirk's final mission the choice cut of Trek magic. The other films on the list have made an impact, too.

1. Return of The Jedi
2. Mission: Impossible II
3. The Fellowship of The Ring
4. The Return of The King
5. Star Trek: Generations

6. The River Wild
7. The Empire Strikes Back
8. Star Trek: First Contact
9. Toy Story 2
10. The Matrix

11. Star Wars Episode I
12. Air Force One
13. Spider-Man
14. Mission: Impossible
15. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
16. The Bourne Ultimatum
17. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
18. El Dorado
19. Zulu
20. Mrs. Doubtfire


My Top 20 DS9 Episodes
The hardest category to call, in some ways, as there are so many great episodes, but easier in others as I've seen them so often I know better than most things where they rank in my head. 'Distant Voices' may not be regarded as a Top 5 classic to most people, but it made an impact on me when I first saw it, appealing on both character and creep factors, and consequently was the first video I bought of the series, which turned into the complete collection over several years. 'The Magnificent Ferengi' as No. 1? Well, it's hilarious, one of the few Trek episodes to make me laugh out loud, yet also uses so many great pieces of 'DS9' lore in such a good way. And I could similarly go on about each and every entrant on the list, with a large enough number of episodes I could probably make a top fifty for this series. The best characters, acting, stories, ideas, complexity, action - it had it all and remains my favourite TV series ever, never to be superceded.

1. The Magnificent Ferengi
2. Call To Arms
3. Dr. Bashir, I Presume?
4. The Sacrifice of Angels
5. Distant Voices
6. The Ascent
7. Emissary
8. Far Beyond the Stars
9. What You Leave Behind
10. Visitor, The
11. You Are Cordially Invited...
12. In the Cards
13. Inquisition
14. Way of the Warrior
15. Trials and Tribble-ations
16. In the Pale Moonlight
17. The Begotten
18. Empok Nor
19. Blaze of Glory
20. Rocks and Shoals


My Top 20 Voyager Episodes
A tricky category as I haven't seen the episodes as regularly or as recently as other series' so some of these rankings may be out of date. It was more a case of flinging on those that I'd rated strongly in the past, even if I would probably have to rearrange things a bit as time goes on. 'Caretaker,' for me, has always been the high point as I saw it at just the right age. 'Basics' is a funny one as I used to prefer part one, and now part two seems better, but whether it's the Borg, time travel, or character studies, this series has much to prove its detractors wrong, and, like 'DS9' has so many other great episodes it's almost unfair not to have a top fifty.

1. Caretaker
2. Basics, part II
3. Lifeline
4. The Killing Game, part I
5. Basics, part I
6. Dark Frontier
7. Deadlock
8. Macrocosm
9. Relativity
10. Someone To Watch Over Me
11. Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy
12. Scorpion, part I
13. Shattered
14. Meld
15. Persistence of Vision
16. Raven, The
17. Repression
18. Timeless
19. Tsunkatse
20. Message in a Bottle


My Top 20 Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes:
Tough, as many of these top episodes are very close to each other in my estimation. In truth I've almost randomly thrown them on the board, and those after the top ten could be in any order. The series didn't often reach the heights of 'DS9' or even make as much impact on me as 'Voyager' since I saw most of them after those series', but many episodes still warrant their place in Trek history, and those at the very top remain among the best Trek ever. The Borg rate highly, as do episodes which feature characters from other series', but just as important are those pure 'TNG' character episodes, whether it be about Data (Spiner's amazing ability to play three characters!), Picard (melding with Sarek, or reviewing his life), or Riker's insanity - even Wesley's most important moments rank up there!

1. The Best of Both Worlds, part I
2. All Good Things...
3. Tapestry
4. Sarek
5. Q Who?
6. Conspiracy
7. Birthright, part I
8. Family
9. Brothers
10. The Inner Light
11. Lower Decks
12. Frame of Mind
13. Relics
14. The First Duty
15. The Measure of a Man
16. Disaster
17. The Survivors
18. Coming of Age
19. Cause and Effect
20. The Big Goodbye


My Top 10 Star Trek Episodes:
Not as well-versed in this series as the more modern ones, it nevertheless was my first exposure to Trek and I've watched them all in the last few years, but it's difficult to compare them with the superior visuals, acting and ideas of later series' - heresy, perhaps, but although I'm fond of this, there are fewer episodes I consider highly (being fewer episodes in total). Some might be surprised by the number one spot, but for some reason this stayed with me, though the second is easier to understand. Some of the top picks are familiar to most, others might be surprising, but they've all made an impact on me in my relatively recent viewing, rather than being nostalgic memories.

1. What Are Little Girls Made Of?
2. The City on the Edge of Forever
3. Menagerie, part I, The
4. Operation-Annihilate!
5. Trouble With Tribbles, The
6. Is There in Truth No Beauty?
7. Plato's Stepchildren
8. The Conscience of the King
9. Space Seed
10. Amok Time


My Top 20 Enterprise Episodes:
Enterprise is my least favourite Trek series, which made it easy to work out which were the best, being so few I really love, plus I haven't seen Season 4 since original transmission (the DVD is sitting on the shelf awaiting 'the right time'), so I suspect there would be more from that season I've not been able to take into account. For me, that season is best, followed by Season 1, then 3 (which has its moments), and 2, which has so many dull episodes. Like 'Voyager,' this series' pilot was so good that it remained the high point, and never again reached that soaring quality, though it came close with the Borg episode, the first Landing Party episode, the first of the Orions/Brent Spiner three-part story, and the introduction of the Andorians. But there are others that deserve recognition, too, such as the beginnings of the alliances that would become the Federation, the final episode (often vilified, yet beautifully ending eighteen years of Trek on TV), as well as other, smaller stories that concentrated on clever ideas or character development. Unfortunately there were too few of these to make this list difficult, one reason why the series finished before her time. (I'd still be up for a Season 5, though!).

1. Broken Bow
2. Regeneration
3. Strange New World
4. Borderland
5. The Andorian Incident
6. Babel One
7. These Are The Voyages...
8. Future Tense
9. Horizon
10. Acquisition
11. Xindi, The
12. Marauders
13. Canamar
14. Anomaly
15. Catwalk, The
16. Impulse
17. Unexpected
18. Fight or Flight
19. Similitude
20. Shockwave, part I


My Top 10 BUGS Episodes:
My favourite British TV series, and for years my favourite TV series full stop, until the richness and volume of 'DS9' took over, which is why I'm including a list here. Only forty episodes were ever made (which seems a lot now, when modern British TV tends to be ten or less), but I still wish there were more. Exciting, action-packed, full of great ideas about technology and gadgets, with brilliant characters and a fun atmosphere, this has more depth to it the more you watch it.

1. The Bureau of Weapons
2. Out of The Hive
3. Renegades
4. Fugitive
5. Schrodinger's Bomb

6. Assassins Inc.
7. A Cage For Satan
8. What Goes Up...
9. Identity Crisis
10. Pulse


My Star Trek Films Rankings:
These were relatively easy to put in order as, having watched them all in recent years, I'd compared them and ranked them at the same time. The 'TNG' films have generally been better for me, perhaps because they were contemporary, as I was too young to know about the 'TOS' films on original release. 'Insurrection' became my favourite when I first saw it, but over the years 'Generations' suited my taste and the reminder of the start of the golden years much better, while the third 'TNG' film went down a little in my estimation. The same for 'Star Trek V' - I didn't used to think that much of it, though it may have been the first I saw, but now I see it as the truest to the series. With the realisation that 'Star Trek II' was raved about, and my own over-familiarity with it, I found myself liking it incrementally less than V, VI, and III (which has impressed me more in recent years). The same with IV, which feels less Trek-like, though still features a warm glow of enjoyment, as opposed to the cold, dispassionate, but fascinating beginning of the film series. 'Nemesis' was always my least favourite 'TNG' film, but at least it continues the proper timeline, unlike number XI - it's more satisfying for the action, but far less on the characters, and so little continuation of the true timeline. 'Into Darkness' is more Trek, but more isn't enough - it was a mistake, despite the positive steps it took.

1. Star Trek: Generations
2. Star Trek: First Contact
3. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
4. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
5. Star Trek: Insurrection
6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
8. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
10. Star Trek Nemesis
11. Star Trek XI
12. Star Trek Into Darkness

All Good Things…

DVD, TNG S7 (All Good Things…)

It's difficult to know what to say when you've watched such a moment in TV history repeated for your viewing pleasure. This was one of the few episodes of the series I saw in the 90s and I believe it may have been the first-run terrestrial UK transmission on BBC2, so although I didn't have the nostalgia at the time, I have it now in spades, and it has only deepened over the years as I became acquainted with the series I knew least - because I was a 'DS Niner' and a viewer of 'Voyager' so for me they will always be the definitive embodiment of what I want from 'Star Trek'. I knew 'The Original Series' well, that being my first exposure in the early 90s, but 'TNG' was always the one I knew about but didn't really watch. Until the 'Noughties' when it was repeated ad infinitum (pretty much, though such a broad description should perhaps be honed to a precise sentiment after watching such a time-specific episode! - I'm beginning to sound like Professor Data), and then I began to buy the DVDs in the mid-to-late noughties, and finding myself now in the position of having watched the series from beginning to end for the first time on DVD, and for the first time seeing every episode in its right and proper place. So reaching the end has the same bittersweetness as coming to the end of those other Trek series' I watched on DVD.

Endings are always sad, even when they end happily with old (or potential) grudges avoided, barriers crossed and a fresh sense of optimism seen through a prism of the Roddenberry musings on hope for the future. Maybe that hope grows dimmer in reality, but Trek shines out even brighter because of that. This is one such happy ending though still rimmed with a sadness because no longer would we see these people week after week, episode after episode. 'TNG' is the Trek that had the most endings: here we see the closing of a seven year series, but it's not a conclusion, the story could have gone on as long as they lived. In a way it did: it progressed to the film series and with 'Generations' there was the likeness of a second ending, but yet again it was like a new beginning, a new style and design and feel as it took to the big screen again. With 'Insurrection' there was a feeling of closure and that film ended with the cast all standing together and beaming up for what might have been a final time. I won't go off on a rant about how they should have continued making films every two years and how they lost momentum and understanding, and instead point out that their last film came a good four years later and that proved to be the last ending of all.

'All Good Things…' is most likely the ending people remember. The series had been a TV legend, eclipsing its predecessor in popularity and it goes out on a high. It doesn't reach the level of the 'DS9' finale, but its aims and goals and future were different to its successor. Because this series had been mainly episodic, and though greater continuity and arcs had become part of its mix it was all about the next adventure from week to week. There wasn't really any deep stuff to tie up or stories to be resolved, unless you count where the characters were in their lives. One of the few aspects of the finale, apart from it proving not to have happened, is that Worf and Deanna are much closer than ever before (much like the odd opening for 'What You Leave Behind,' the 'DS9' finale, with Bashir and Ezri), which leaves us wondering exactly what happened between here and 'Generations' that pushed the reset button, as there's no indication of the pairing in that film. Indeed, as Admiral Riker noted, he thought more and more of her as the years passed. Worf then moved to DS9 so there was never any follow-up to such a late development, another parallel with the end of a Trek series, as seen with Seven and Chakotay on 'Voyager'.

It's hardly something that detracts from the episode, but it's worth pointing out the state of play. But this episode is really about the characters. It may seem to be a Brannon Braga special, full of time travel and strange people shouting, but it's a lens through which we can examine the series and where the characters went. You can take Q's closing statement about the trial never ending and this all being a test to see if humanity (read: Picard) was worthy of their place in the universe and whether they could work out a paradox and open their minds to the possibility of space (something that has decreased over the years I must admit, with regards to the writing of the last series'), as it is almost a paradox in itself - Q seems to be saying that their exploration is their fault because they cause the anti-time anomaly, yet they enter it and die and it's the understanding of it being a paradox that means they were worthy. So 'explore yourself, not physical space' is the message, is it? As I say, you can read it as you like, it's sufficiently vague.

If you leave the ambiguous message aside you can see that this is indeed a celebration and a retrospective on the series and more specifically the people that inhabited its world for so many years. If you can remember all the references this episode has to offer you are probably an android yourself, but there are so many delightful callbacks and mentions thrown in, not to mention the magnificence of returning to the very first episode, even seeing things we hadn't seen from that episode! Certain details weren't precisely accurate: Worf's head isn't as bulging and lacking in topography, though he does wear the old sash; Denise Crosby can't hide a slightly older look to her face, though it's only obvious in the close-ups; and Riker… As soon as I saw the return to the early days I wondered who was to be shown as their younger selves. When you see Picard enter the cargo bay with all those crew members standing to attention my guess is they aren't sucking in their stomachs just for the sake of smartness! Troi, Data, Tasha, even O'Brien carry if off and make us believe we're back before no one had gone before.

I knew Riker wasn't going to be shown because for all Jonathan Frakes' greatness as an actor, he had become great in other ways too (as future Geordi says, time's been good to him in lots of places, and I read it as an admission of filling out the uniform), so it was an absolutely fantastic moment when young Riker appears on Picard's screen for a brief conversation, and his absence from the ship was true to the story. I don't know what episode the clip was taken from, maybe even the pilot, but high praise goes to whoever pulled that out of the hat! We weren't treated to a red-haired Dr. Crusher, also true to the pilot (or even the ghost of Pulaski haunting the decks of time), but those uniforms, Data's more childlike manner and the feeling of a new crew about to set out together brings the nostalgia rushing back, more so when you've seen all the episodes. We get a glimpse of how they grew as people. Not much you might suggest - but for her disappearing 'exotic' accent, Troi is the same person (less emotional - this wasn't a parody of the early episodes, so the portrayals are softened with seven years of hindsight); Data's more android but also more human at the same time. Picard is incredibly relaxed compared with his initial stiffness; Riker's become a wise leader, Worf a steadfast warrior walking the line between cultures; Geordi is, again, much the same, though he's also relaxed into himself. Crusher has gained new skills and insight into command.

With that we also see into the future, or the possible future that was averted. Data moved to Cambridge to be a Professor (the only time we saw any part of England in the 24th Century?), Beverly became a Picard, but separated, so the perfect marriage was not to be for them, though her older performance was the best of the episode in my opinion, the makeup, voice and mannerisms so realistic. She's gained her own command so we get to see a ship of the future, all shiny newness and different sounds and comfier chairs, though they must have changed the warp scale by then as they go to warp 13, and unless they've found a way to be in all places at once, they aren't going that 'fast' if such a word could cover infinite velocity! But there are significant advances: the new 'D' has a cloak and can beam an entire crew off in one go. At the same time the Pasteur looks like the design for the very old Daedalus-class vessels, said to be in operation in the 22nd Century, so there's even an out-of-universe nod back to the origins of it all, fittingly part of the future timeline for a story about time operating backwards. This is a future where the Klingons are once again warmongers, the Romulans subjugated by them, and weirdly this isn't too farfetched for the real timeline, even up to the latest film which told us Romulus had been wiped out. It doesn't take much imagination to guess the Klingons would have seized the opportunity for victory over their lifelong enemies.

I love the way Trek can slot together, even the smallest details unlooked for apparently form a bridge, like magnets drawn inexorably towards each other. It's why changing to a new timeline as the focus was met with such widespread resistance in reaction to the 2009 film and why we'd all like to see a continuation of the true line, unbroken by the foibles of Hollywood money-making. But that's another rant, and I stray from the point: there are things in this episode which would spread outward to be picked up by others, later. The biggest being the vision of the future first portrayed here. We'd seen so many alternates and parallel versions, but the style of this future was used several times on subsequent Treks, both 'DS9' and 'Voyager' with the uniforms and combadges helping to make for a cohesive sense that this was the true destiny of Starfleet's path, even if it wasn't for the events that might have shaped the character's lives.

The one thing that stood out most to me in this whole episode was the real passage of time. I could not have predicted, and certainly didn't recall that the time stream Picard visits in the future was twenty-five years after the series. I never planned to be watching it on the 25th Anniversary year, or even so close to the original September air date of the pilot. I know, technically the future portions are 25 years + 7 from its beginning, but just the number twenty-five coming up like that led me to reflect on what has happened to the actors as they are now practically the age they acted. Gates McFadden looks better in real life than her character did, but that may be down to the stern Captain's style she had about her. Most of the actors still look good for their age, though Levar Burton still hasn't got eye implants (whoops, confusing actors and characters again - but it was an amazing link to 'First Contact' that Geordi looked to have some kind of high-tech eyes instead of his VISOR), and most importantly they still seem like that family they pretended to be on screen.

The ending of the episode is one of the highlights of the series, though it is but a game of cards. It symbolises the equality and care they had for each other and that seemingly was there in real life. You also sense moments of love welling up as they realise this is their last episode. They were probably tired after a long season, and went straight into making the first film, but nothing could disguise that there was a finality about the performances, a warmth between characters that was almost tangible. That end scene has it. The moment Beverly walks into Picard's Ready Room and replicates some hot milk, chatting to him as she leans on his desk, had it all over and made me wish they'd had more of that in the films. I think there was a similar scene in 'Nemesis' but I can't remember if it was in the film or a deleted scene - most likely, as any family moments were cut as short as possible to the detriment of the whole. That's not the case with this episode. This was made with love and a sure hand. The story's a bit messy in its way, but time travel always has that to it. It isn't quite the perfect send-off for the ship and crew, taking on some adversary in a life and death struggle (the template for each of the film adventures), instead it's one of the mysteries that they occasionally explored, but what else could it have been? A story where they sat round reminiscing about past adventures? Ugh! Imagine 'Shades of Grey' times two! We were indeed spared an ill fate!

A series cannot be easily quantified and explored in one review, and the episode that marks its passing cannot easily be put in context. It's enough to say that this episode was very good and works very well as the first last time. Perhaps 'A Generation's First Conclusion Began…' until the future. Its legacy was stupendous, the golden era of Trek, surfing the wave of this moment, but while watching this you're not thinking about what was to come for the characters. It's neatly summed up when they talk about the possible futures that await and say how it will now be different, as much the writers gearing up for their new film and the possibilities that came with it. No, you're thinking about what had been and what good feelings you've had with these people over so many episodes.

I must mention a few things that stuck out to me in the episode before I close out the light and shut down the Holodeck of entertainment that was 'TNG.' It's not exactly the series' greatest hits, but the references are there to serve the story and remind where it came from. There's very little wrong with the production as a blowout feature-length finale - it even has ships exploding and a three-nacelled Enterprise-D flying through the fire, which for the series that celebrated the slow, the cerebral and the thoughtful was an achievement. It wasn't like they didn't have the time, of course, with the episode being double the usual length. I'd actually admit that some moments drag a little when you know the solution, but we're soon taken to another outpouring of joy as Picard meets Tasha or sees the 'D' for the 'first' time (though they take mere seconds to watch in awe, compared to the more stately 'Motion Picture' flyby of the original Enterprise), or Picard irascibly (and bearded, like a mad McCoy - am I sensing some love for 'The Motion Picture' here or is it my imagination?) talking up Worf's great qualities to force him to allow them through to the Neutral Zone. Picard of the future was more like Picard of the first season: superbly irascible, tenacious and impatient, and what's more, his present self got to wander the ship in Gandalf's gown, so he did it all! There are so many moments, big and little that bring it all home to you about what the history of all this means.

Saying that, it might have been better not to have shown the credits for Q, Tasha Yar and O'Brien in the opening as they would have been incredible surprises seeing it for the first time with no prior knowledge. These days that's hard - impossible if people actively want to know, and keeping surprises on TV and in film is a thankless task, but at the same time I can see why, at the time, they wanted people to have their credit and prepare us for their appearance, with really only Guinan's presence missed (made up for in the first film). Tasha has a lot more to do than I remembered, as does O'Brien, fresh from Season 2 of 'DS9,' but still the moon-faced, simple, dependable man that went from a bit-part in the pilot to a full-fledged character on his own series. I recognised small links that probably had nothing to do with referring back to this episode, but they were there anyway: in 'DS9' Sisko walks into the same trap Worf does about saying the right thing to his girlfriend. When he and Deanna exit the Holodeck, he says it was stimulating, as if the beautiful beachfront walk was a bracing hike for a warrior, Deanna questioning his choice of words. So he adds that it was 'very' stimulating. A bit like Sisko when he says it's 'a big step' and his friends joke that at least he didn't say it was a 'very' big step. There's also Q talking about giving Picard the answer to his temporal crisis, A to B to C, just as later, Captain Braxton of the future says something very similar regarding time to Janeway on 'Voyager'.

Another thing Q says is that he judges Picard and his crew to have squandered the last seven years. If you were being harsh you could say that about 'Voyager,' and if you were being a lot less harsh you could say it about 'Enterprise,' but 'TNG'? No, it grew, and though greater things grew out of it, it was the testbed for the 24th Century, the golden flower which sparkled. Some petals dropped off here and there, but it was a new and unique organism that progressed and learned and made the mistakes so that 'DS9' didn't have to, and could take what they came up with and run with it. But this is 'TNG's time in the spotlight, and the more I see it, the more it grows on me. It has aged now, just as its stars have, and has even got as far as being re-released with updated effects as the Blu-Rays begin to come out. It is as 'TOS' was to this series when it began and so it can be taken with that perspective. What better praise can be given than to say that it ended well?

****

Preemptive Strike

DVD, TNG S7 (Preemptive Strike)

The finale of 'Enterprise' often gets flak for choosing to focus on something other than itself, and though this episode isn't the finale, it's the last regular one of 'TNG.' I have to wonder if the cast felt badly at being sidelined for a story focused almost exclusively on a minor recurring character? I can see why they would do this, continuing the Maquis setup that had begun earlier in the season and with 'DS9,' but it would have had more impact had the border wars become much bigger an element of the succeeding series'. In a way it was a sacrifice for 'TNG' to be using up their penultimate episode for the good of 'Voyager,' and I wonder what aspect of the series might have been considered for this slot if they had chosen to think more about the ending of their own show. It may be that the actors were tired after a long season, and the writers were scrabbling around for ideas in the home straight and perhaps nobody minded, but in my mind this seems as controversial an episode as any other.

I think knowing the content of the episode makes it a marginally better viewing experience than when I first saw it, and it does have sensitive character moments for Ro, it just totally becomes her story when I want to see the Enterprise crew interacting. There is the feature-length finale to come, and that's probably good enough, and it's not like we don't see life aboard the D at all, just not enough of it. 'DS9' chose to run with the Maquis storyline much more than 'Voyager,' only to be expected since the latter series was far out of that region of space, but even on 'DS9' the Maquis took a backseat to the spreading fear of the Dominion in the season to follow 'TNG,' so we never got any payoff to Ro's betrayal. She came like a whirlwind, a character not quite like any before her, cropped up occasionally, and then returned to make an exit in the same manner as she'd entered. She had changed, Picard had changed her, and made her realise she could do something with her life, trust people and believe in something, so for her the Maquis came long at just the right time. You could see she still had issues with the Cardassians over such things as the cruel death of her Father, and it's a missing piece not to see her come to terms with herself as Kira did. She leaves as a still broken person, but broken in a different way to how she'd been. Picard inspired her, but not in the way he'd hoped.

To begin with, she returns to the ship from Starfleet, radiant with gratefulness at all Picard has done for her, so it shows how big a deal it was for her and how much the Maquis' fight meant to her, when she turns to their cause, and the trust of an old man showed her something more homely and personable than the proud discipline she'd learned to accept in Starfleet. Macias was the best character in it, making the other Maquis members look very bland and without personality - even their clothing was almost nondescript and dull, which all may have contributed to the Maquis never totally catching on as a force. I'm not sure if the writers ever knew if we were supposed to be rooting for the rebels or siding with Starfleet, and no doubt hoped 'Voyager' would address the issues in depth. Instead it was left to 'DS9' to cover them, and that was more of a personal conflict between Sisko and an equally treacherous crewmember. I thought I recognised Kalita, so it was a nice surprise to find she was the same character and actor in 'Defiant', the next Maquis episode on 'DS9'.

When I first saw Macias I thought he had a Chakotay tattoo on his forehead in the dim light, until he explained it was a scar, so no connection to the Commander after all (though according to 'The TNG Companion' he's the respected Commander who left Starfleet for the Maquis, which is a great link). It was good to hear the Maquis name on 'TNG,' and a mention of 'DS9' helping to tie the series' together. Even Admiral Nechayev has what must be her only completely civil appearance ever, though I hope Beverly gave Jean-Luc permission to borrow the sacred tea set! Gul Evek completes the set of expected Maquis connections, but the problem with the episode, beyond that it leaves people on a down, is that Picard and Riker are betrayed and there's no room for the optimistic viewpoint the series had been founded upon. Patrick Stewart directs his last 'Star Trek' and it isn't bad, though neither does it show great flair. He was hampered by the sets, with the Maquis village being so enclosed and an obvious reuse of the Indian village from a few episodes back. The same with the internal of the Maquis raider, which was the same blocky configuration as Rasmussen's timeship from 'A Matter of Time'.

As usual I have trouble with Picard and Riker going undercover (though fun to see the Commander as a Bajoran), especially among humans in an area where the Enterprise is known, because who wouldn't recognise the famous Captain and First Officer of the flagship? I was also a little muddled about the Maquis claim that Cardassians were supplying biogenic weapons to their colonists, because Picard says that all ships that go into the area are searched. But on the Cardassian side they must be searched by Cardassian ships, who would let these weapons through, so how was it possible to stop them coming in from the Cardassian side?

Though something of a disappointment that Ro Laren should own the episode, and the sets didn't quite measure up, and the Maquis plotting was a bit vague, Michelle Forbes gave a good performance, having taken the brash, sarcastic Ensign quite a way, showing that Picard's faith in her (and others, such as Guinan who really needed to be here!), was not misplaced, except in terms of her doing what was in her heart, not her career path. We needed to know what became of her, and in that line lies only frustration. She was perfect for a guest shot on 'DS9,' but it had to be left for a non-canon novel to show her meeting Kira. Maybe it was in the spirit of the series that they chose to have no build-up to the end of it, as much of 'TNG' was all about the single stories, and in the character's eyes their stories weren't really coming to an end any more than their lives were, and the next episode would be the first time a Trek series had ever been given the luxury of concluding itself so it was unknown territory and who could know what to expect?

**

Emergence

DVD, TNG S7 (Emergence)

The difficult third to last episode. Trek series' seem to have a thing about winding down. The finales are always superb (even for 'Enterprise' in my opinion), the final seasons (generally) less so, but, 'DS9' notwithstanding, they tend to feature some of the weakest episodes near the end. 'Bloodlines' wasn't terrible, but didn't go as far as it could or should have, and this story has the same ring to it. The ring that says they were hurriedly coming up with a few last ideas to fill up those episode slots instead of giving each character what they deserved: deep character moments and a drawing to a close of the series. But this wasn't 'DS9,' so it didn't have multiple arcs to wrap up, and they did need to fill the slots, and this episode sure has ideas that stand up at concept stage very well. Why does it not quite succeed then?

For one, it's one of those episodes that comes out rather dry thanks to a reliance on things being too techie. That isn't always a problem, and sometimes helps to enhance the futuristic nature of the drama. Here, it makes the story drag as the characters take so long to work out what's happening. Second, even though this is a Brannon Braga tale, he doesn't give us a Brannon Braga special. There's a bit of strangeness in the Holodeck, a little danger, but because anyone's free to walk on and off the train, the tension levels are easily dissipated. If there had been more oddness like that 1920s/30s lady clinking a glass into a knight's shiny armour, or the train's engineer squawking up a defence for the good guys, then getting shot for the sake of a brick, this might have qualified in the Braga canon. But it soon settles down, except for fun little oddities such as Data holding a motor car in place as he works in front of it, and having to talk loudly into his combadge over the squeal of the tyres and the roar of the engine.

Deanna actually has a wall fall on her, but is fine except for a tidy graze to the cheek. What if this emerging intelligence had posed a real threat to the crew? What if it was a choice between survival of the ship's created mind, and the people aboard her? It's far too easy a situation. It's a mystery without the quandary. Data even asks the Captain at the end why he didn't think it was a risk, and he replies that the intelligence was the sum of the people's interactions, and that the sum of their experiences had been good so that means the new life form was likely to be so too. I couldn't help thinking back to all the bad experiences the ship went through over the years! Thinking about it from that angle it makes me wish they had done it as an incredible recreation of the last seven years. It would have been difficult to pull off, but in an episode where they manage to have the Orient Express almost kill Data and Picard by steaming into their Shakespeare program, it doesn't sound such a challenge!

If the ship had been made up of different experiences down the years they could have recreated scenes from various episodes that the crew have to live through or explain on the Holodeck. It could have been a classic! But once again we come back to the fact that this was one of the lame duck episodes: the series is coming to an end, everyone cares about the finale so the money and creativity is going to suffer a bit in the preceding episodes. Visiting the gangster-era street made me think of old 'TOS' episodes and long for the 'TNG' crew to beam down to an alien planet to explore. It might be my faulty memory, but it seems like they hardly visited any planets in Season 7, and certainly not in an Away Team formation. Maybe it was considered old hat, but it makes me feel this is one of the most claustrophobic seasons of them all. Not that the Enterprise is cramped, and I'm sure people wanted to see the old sets a last few times before the series came to an end. And it is good that everyone gets included in the mystery to solve.

There are ideas aplenty that give much cause for thought after the episode. Multiple holo-programs meshing together to create an unpredictable (though predictably safeties-off!), situation is something I'd have loved to seen explored in more detail, though again, it would probably be a budget-buster zipping between fantasy locations and holo-characters. The inconvenience of starships blooming into new lifeforms at any moment is another undervalued concept that gets short shrift in the story but is so fascinating to ponder upon. What if all Starfleet's ships exhibited such behaviour? They'd have to reconsider what constitutes a life form, and whether they had the right to use such complicated machines. It's something that did eventually get an in-depth exploration thanks to 'Voyager' and the holographic Doctor.

It was unfortunate to find out starships had the capability to become intelligent at any moment, but not as unfortunate as learning that something can form around the ship in space at any time and utterly destroy them. And their sensors aren't even able to detect this phenomenon! They'd have to call it something like Instant Starship Death Syndrome. Why have we never heard of this possibility before? I'd guess because they  might not have so many willing recruits at the Academy if the enrolment included a bit about the possibility that your ship could explode at any moment, 'and we can't detect it, either.' At least the newfound growing sentience of the Enterprise saved them with a second or two to spare. Shame it hadn't reviewed the events of 'Force of Nature' and realised it wasn't ethical to travel at warp 9. There's a whole other moral quagmire: if starships took over, who's going to tell them they can't go at whatever speed they want to?

Something small that bugged me a little, but may have been fine, was the size of the arch in the Holodeck. We see them walk on, then they come into the train carriage, but the arch looked wider than the train. Unless they entered side on from the arch into the previous carriage. Thomas Kopache gets what must be his smallest role, as someone that went on to play Kira's Dad and was in every modern Trek series going - he appears as the engineer that gets shot by the gangster. The episode has a number of little delights (Data in a beard again and with raggedy hair!), but it can't disguise the fact that the majority of the happenings are as meaningless as Worf's coal-shovelling, and when the series was coming to its natural end it would have been nice if they'd used every available minute to create moments for the characters that would make them shine. This episode was not one of those.

**

Bloodlines

DVD, TNG S7 (Bloodlines)

A direct sequel from a Season 1 episode! My, they must have been feeling nostalgic at this stage of their final season. I'm not sure a sequel to 'The Battle' was top of every viewer's list of things to see before the end, I should think 'Conspiracy' and its nasty alien infiltrators would have been given a greater welcome, but this episode does fit into the theme of the season. Almost, as it turns out Jason Vigo isn't real family after all, but it gives Picard the experience of having a grown-up son and all the ramifications that came with it. Not a bad way to begin, announcing from an old-school villain that he's going to kill the son of a main character we assume has no children. It sparks all kinds of comparisons between the final and the first seasons, and how far everything had come since then. Look at the Ferengi for instance. Back then they were dancing, gesticulating orange monkeys dressed in fur, but now they barely emote at all, only the vengeful Bok losing his cool. I don't think I've ever seen a less demonstrative Ferengi than Bok's second in command. He barely even blinks as the famous Captain of the Federation flagship beams onto their bridge.

If only 'Star Trek XI' (yep, still banging on about that film. Just wait until 'XII' comes out!), had used this established piece of Treknological lore instead of a fantasy magic wand of future Scotty's calculation, in beaming Young Kirk and Scotty from a planet to a starship far, far away. It would at least have had the advantage of being tried! I found Bok's use of this subspace transporter almost as unbelievable as the films bending of the laws of physics, but it's couched in recognisable terminology so after initial reservations, you don't question it, beyond a Ferengi having such advanced technology that actually worked. The Federation are said to have abandoned it (no doubt Section 31 took it down to their private labs under Starfleet HQ to continue the experimentation), which doesn't sound like a very Federation thing to do, even if it was found to be wasteful and unreliable.

Back to Season 1 and 7 comparisons, and the biggest change (beyond the Ferengi), is in Picard. He's done the opposite of the large-lobed race, and gone from a starchy, unapproachable old man who hates children, to one who has allowed himself to open up, have a sense of humour, and even talk to young people. Why, we even learn in 'Generations' that he'd like his own set of the little darlings! He's also become much more like Kirk over the years (he even does some rock climbing here!), from accepting Riker's recommendations that he stay safely aboard ship, to the First Officer not even bothering to waste breath on suggesting Picard would be wise not to beam alone onto an enemy vessel using technology liable to fail at any moment. No, he just stands there looking slightly miffed, as if he's imagining the conversation he'll be having with Admiral Nechayev if his Captain doesn't return safely…

I noticed, and I don't know if this was because a virus was going round, but some of the cast looked decidedly peaky, pale and pasty in some of this episode. It's Riker, Picard and Beverly that seemed especially pale (clearly not Geordi or Worf - Mr. Data did, but that's his natural colour!). Deanna didn't, but then she was almost fighting embarrassment when Jason is so rude to her after she's offered her professional help to him. I thought she did very well not to lose her dignity, but it didn't help Jason in the viewer's eyes. To be fair to him, he was played well, believably dealing with this instant change in circumstances, forced to dredge up the past, and eventually finding some common ground with a Father figure so that the ending really means something when Picard gives him the rare prayer stick from his archeological collection. The beautifully orchestrated score lifted the episode beyond mere soap storyline, and it was really the lack of the imminent danger to truly frighten that let the side down. The ending was even nabbed from its prequel, with the Ferengi crew disgusted with their boss' lack of profit motive.

Though the Ferengi are boring and slow, and very, very grey, by now at least some of the goodness of 'DS9' had rubbed off on this series, so that we hear about Rules of Acquisition and other little references that make them more rounded. Shame they couldn't have got the Grand Nagus to show up on the viewscreen instead of an unknown Ferengi official, but they'd just had Quark in the previous episode so I'm sure they didn't want to push it. It was a good decision to tie in directly to an old story, but I wish it had used the history of the series a bit more, or learnt from the series' success to craft a more biting tale, because if you're going to, essentially, remake an episode, you need the new one to improve on the first, and for me, 'The Battle' is superior. And out of Season 1, it was actually one of the better stories of that crop.

I can't say this is a highlight of the season, but even within a less compellingly put together episode there are scenes to love. Picard's chats about parenthood with Beverly stood out, as did his talks with Jason, reminding us why 'Enterprise' never worked as well as the other series' - it needed scenes where characters were allowed to explore verbally and in thought, not relying on phaser blasts and photons to keep us interested. But at least the latter series had the advantage of quality CGI for its space objects of the week - as soon as I saw the probe I was expecting someone to say 'we've seen that before on stardate diddlysplot!' I'm sure it was a reused model from other stories ('The Nth Degree'?), but it can be argued it was similar technology. If you're generous.

I have to call out the most unsubtle security guards ever to grace Starfleet: they follow Jason around as if they're attached by a string. In Ten Forward the least they could have done would be to stand by the door, but no, they choose to stand looking important, right in the middle of the room! Silly people. My final thought, of one of the final episodes of the final season, is of the final film the cast made. 'Star Trek Nemesis' was the closest experience Picard came to having a son after meeting Jason, in his dealings with Shinzon, and I like to think that his cautiousness in that later encounter was in large part due to what happened in this episode.

**

Firstborn

DVD, TNG S7 (Firstborn)

A last return to the deep well of stories that the Klingons gave us, stretching back to 'Heart of Glory' in Season 1. Since that time a lot has happened in Worf's life, and this episode reflects the strands his life has travelled - K'Ehleyr, Alexander's Mother, and the ways she raised him to be opposed to the race's traditions are no more clearly cited as the reason Alexander turned out the way he did, than they are here. His upbringing on a human starship, and the parenting of a man who didn't have a handle on Fatherhood, and never quite grasped his role in his son's life, also contributed to Alexander being a child, and one that has little reverence for the main heritage of his blood. This story spells out a lot of things like that as never before, and while the young boy isn't really changed by events, Worf is. He comes to realise that even the Fatherly pushing towards Klingon culture isn't necessarily the best thing for his son - that he should accept the man he becomes, even if that man strays from the warrior spirit that so inhabits Worf.

Worf's enlightenment is not brought about easily, and only a time-bending visit from his aged son can give him hope that Alexander will live a full life that contributes to society. When he gets his head around this, everything falls into place, and though the B-story of the Enterprise chasing down Lursa and B'Etor is nothing more than a wild Targ chase, like 'Birthright, Part II' the meat of the story is Klingon. We have time for legends and stories, and to see Klingon street theatre in all its ritual regalia and performance energy. Seeing Klingons reenact legends of the past with miming swordplay is too good, and to top it off, Worf's given a chance to show his fighting skills, something usually left to 'DS9,' though here we get a treat when he takes on three assassins.

There could have been time for more heart to heart discussions, as K'Mtar has with Alexander, trying to change the boy's mind about the glories of the Empire, if Riker's detective work hadn't been given so much airtime. Even so, it gave us a chance to see Armin Shimerman crossover in a short, but fun scene that references Riker's famed visit (later spoken of again in 'DS9' episode 'Defiant'), and shows how much fun Quark would be as a regular on any series! His appearance here marked the start of his determination to expand the role as far as it would go, in franchise terms, rivalled only by Robert Picardo's Doctor of 'Voyager.' Picardo's role was kept in for his 'TNG' film, whereas Quark's cameo for 'Insurrection' sadly disappeared, never to be seen (only a photo left to prove its existence!). Like Picardo on 'DS9' he successfully crossed over to the other series on at the same time (the 'Voyager' pilot), so he did win in terms of different productions though no one could beat Jonathan Frakes' gold run ('TNG,' 'DS9,' 'Voyager' and 'Enterprise,' plus the films), but you never know, there's still time for anyone to pop up in the Abramsverse…

I like the fact they got in a little reminder about Lursa and B'Etor before 'Generations,' and that their appearance on 'DS9' is part of the plot - if only Garak had been on 'TNG' that would have made this a remarkable episode, but the Cardassian resident of DS9 hadn't yet become the favourite recurring character he would be seen as after 'TNG.' An interesting piece of news about Lursa's pregnancy, as it's possible she was pregnant during 'Generations,' or even that she'd given birth, and a potential future villain of the 25th Century might have been seeded there. I keep thinking forward to possible continuations and futures for the characters because that's the theme of the episode. It falls into the continual dredging up of family, both matters and members, that peppers this final season, and like Wesley's conclusion it sets Alexander off on a path that leaves us with the gift of imagination.

It helped that James Sloyan played the future Alexander, one of Trek's go-to actors of excellence spanning a variety of roles and series'. He doesn't have the same depth of character as Dr. Mora on 'DS9,' or Jetrel of 'Voyager,' but then this is Alexander, a boy become man, with forty years of life lived, his destiny mapped out. Only his shame at seeing his Father die and being powerless to stop it made him turn his back on the life he'd built up, rather like Jake Sisko would do in 'The Visitor.' We aren't told what happened to him after he left the Enterprise. Maybe he killed himself in some ritual, or returned 'back to the future.' Maybe he even stayed and lived out his life as K'Mtar? At least with Worf's move to 'DS9' we were able to see what Alexander was like five or so years later. His warrior skills were still rusty, but with the Dominion War he was at least trying to live up to his heritage. I can imagine him becoming the man of peace as he got older, just as the young Alexander couldn't commit to the path and kill the holographic Klingon. Then, he couldn't explain why, but his childish inability to express his inner beliefs couldn't hide his nature.

K'Mtar talks of Worf growing old, and that fascinates me, as does the life he tried to live, bringing the warring houses together. With recent comments by Michael Dorn about his wish to star in a Worf series or film, it makes me want to see what challenges awaited that of the ageing warrior. I don't know why Riker was chosen to be the main investigator into the Duras sisters, as Picard is clearly present, although he does talk about visiting somewhere for its archeology so it may be he'd left the ship for most of the episode. He does get one pleasant scene with Worf where he allows the Enterprise to be diverted so Worf can take Alexander to see the festival on a Klingon outpost - he's always had Klingon sympathies (strange for someone so cultured and into books, archeology and Shakespeare, to be so attached to a violent, loud race - I'll bet he read the Bard in the 'original' Klingon, though!), and now he shows care for his crew. The scene in the Observation Lounge reminded me so much of the scenes in 'First Contact' and 'Nemesis' though in the former, he and Worf were having a shouting match. I think the latter was a deleted scene, but I like seeing them together.

There were many references to Klingon history, both general and familial, from Mogh's and Duras' sides, to talk of 'DS9' again (as the series prepared to be the only Trek on TV for a few short months until 'Voyager' premiered), and there were also alien connections too. The associate of the Duras sisters was a Dopterian, a race often seen on the Promenade of DS9, and they also meet another Yridian. I appreciate them using established races instead of creating new ones with a slightly different forehead for every character, as it helped to make the universe a constant. You can always say that seeing a new alien all the time makes sense thanks to the size of the galaxy, but sometimes it's good to consolidate what you've built. That's something they had done pretty well with this final season, with many episodes like this one, revisiting issues and connections of the main characters. The only thing missing is Troi assisting Worf, but her role was played by K'Mtar, so she wasn't needed.

There are usually inconsistencies, and this is no different - if Alexander can go back in time, why doesn't he return to the moment before Worf's killed, and save him, but it may have been beyond the mysterious man's skill to send him to exact points in history, or it may be about a greater dissatisfaction with the whole of Alexander's life that he wants to prevent. The other thing that stands out is the Klingons' singing: why doesn't the Universal Translator turn it into English? Crusher shows a lack of understanding and has to ask Worf. Maybe the UT has a 'Culture' button you can press so it doesn't translate when it thinks it's good for the listener to hear the true language? One thing that worked wonderfully, and another link back to the previous episode, was the way the Holodeck froze a character in mid-action, and K'Mtar walks around it (a la Han and Jabba in 'Star Wars Special Edition'). Effects had moved to a new level.

***

Journey's End

 DVD, TNG S7 (Journey's End)

A test for Picard in a difficult position, but as usual he puts all his mental powers and diplomacy to work to create an equitable solution. It helped that the Cardassian he was opposing was one of the more thoughtful and aware examples of the race, with more to him than blind obedience to the state or lust for blood and dominance. Gul Evek had his best moments here, from the scattering of appearances he made in 'TNG,' 'DS9' and 'Voyager,' becoming quite a sympathetic character when he reveals he's actually against war if he can help it, thanks to losing two of his three sons. If Picard had had to negotiate with someone like Dukat, for example, or many other hardline soldiers of the empire, things may not have gone so smoothly. But who could resist the way he puts things: "The future is in your hands." He couldn't appeal more to a controlling race than to force them to take the choice that he cannot. It wasn't as bad for Picard as in previous situations, because this time he had Admiral Nechayev actually on his side. The chain of command is explored relatively deeply in that we hear references to who wants what, and that Nechayev is just as much against forced relocation as Picard, but is under orders herself and has pushed her superiors as far as she can.

Seeing her frosty exterior crack even just a little to acknowledge the extra mile Picard had gone to make her welcome aboard the Enterprise was a surprisingly touching moment, and her demeanour from then on remains cordial, whereas in the past she probably wouldn't even have let on about her views being in line with Picard's. Now it just remained for her to be nice to Sisko and the whole Federation would seem like one big, happy family! But it was experiences like these that grated on Picard - not Nechayev and her icy authority, but the faceless bureaucracy of Starfleet and the Federation, who give in to the demands of other races in the act of appeasement. That's not entirely accurate, they weren't appeasing the Cardassians, but it showed that they were willing to make compromises that would affect their own people for the 'greater good.' Something that paved the way for Section 31, and for taking action in such stories as 'Star Trek: Insurrection,' the most clear follow-on to this tale. After so much had happened Picard eventually sees the imperfections of the Federation and takes a stand against it (which is one of the reasons why I think that's a great film!).

I think the closest I ever got to expecting a group hug on Trek was in this episode: at the end when Wesley Crusher is being seen off by his Mother and Fa… I mean Captain, and friend, they're all standing so close and seeming so sad to see him go that I wouldn't have been surprised. Wesley's story was mirroring that of the series, as it wound down it found time to show another member of the family, (as Picard put it), going off on a new path. It wasn't quite the same for the rest of the cast as they'd be straight into films, but this is the 'Star Trek Nemesis' moment for Wesley - his true end. The only regret is that, like one of his previous appearances as a guest, in 'The First Duty,' he isn't afforded a scene in which he apologises and makes up with the friends he's let down: in this case Geordi, Data and Worf. I can imagine him going round saying his goodbyes to each of them, but I'd have loved to see that.

The big thing with this episode is that it carefully began the sowing of the seeds of the series to come: 'Star Trek: Voyager,' the Maquis, and specifically, the character of Chakotay. It would have been absolutely brilliant if they had had Robert Beltran in for a cameo, so we got to know something of him before we meet him in the 'Voyager' pilot, or even if one of the Indians was a relation with the same tattoo which we would later have realised was a direct connection. But in the end, these wasn't Chakotay's people, I believe, and the same result might have occurred as happened with Robert Duncan McNeill's character of Nick Locarno: a similar type, renamed to avoid having to pay the writer of the episode residual payments. It was important enough that the issue of the colonists of the demilitarised zone were introduced as an issue, and at least Evek is there to be the thread that bound the three series' and their Maquis storyline together.

As well as Picard being personally affected, thanks to some previously unknown history of an ancestor being involved in previous Indian troubles in Earth's history, and on top of the groundwork for the Maquis, there is the culmination of Wesley's promise from The Traveller way back in Season 1. It's poetic that he should show up within the first few episodes of the series, then again roughly in the middle, and finally at the end, to let Wes know he was ready. Okay, so there's no explanation of how or why this is the moment Wesley has supposedly grown beyond mere mortals, but that's part of the mystery so I can't look too hard at it, and it can be sort of laid at the door of his being dissatisfied with Starfleet Academy. It could be accused of sending the wrong message - that if you get bored with studying, something's sure to show up and whisk you off on unimaginable adventures, a rather lazy point of view. But Wes has never been lazy, just a savant who needed more stimulation. It's a good twist that the Indian guy turns out to be The Traveller, and they got the same actor to play him and once again invite Wesley on his journey. It would have been a fun moment if they'd both appeared at the wedding in 'Nemesis' (maybe phasing in on a table in the middle of the cake!), as Wes' final onscreen glimpse is fleeting and has no substance except to prove the guy was still alive.

The vision quest stuff turned out to be something cooked up by The Traveller, which suited better than a real, drug-induced vision with Wes smoking a long pipe of something-or-other (that would become too 'Lord of The Rings'!). I did appreciate the effort they went to in bringing back his Father, one final time, again, played by the same actor, in another heart-tugging moment of several from the episode (Nechayev thanks Picard; Beverly tells Wes what she thinks of him; Evek chooses to stand down his troops; Wes leaves the ship). I noticed what appeared a little inconsistency regarding dating the Indians' leaving of Earth. I believe Picard says they left over two hundred years ago, then the old Indian says it was 'almost' two hundred years ago, and Wes says they left before the Federation existed (he may even have said Starfleet as well, but I may be mistaken on that point). The Federation was founded in 2161 so it would definitely have had to have been over two hundred years. Not that such a long time would be very precise, and it's easy to talk in generalisations of the nearest decade or fifty years. Though the old guy said his Dad had been against leaving Earth, so he must be pretty ancient, and his Dad must have been very young. Mind you, humans live longer in the future.

Wesley's trials were nothing compared to one great danger: he stayed up all night sitting cross-legged and didn't get cramps or a blood clot! The freezing time moment, which looks fairly basic by today's standards, is still an impressive and well-integrated moment, so it must have been an incredible effect at the time - almost a 'Matrix' slowing time effect, and Wes and The Traveller really looked like they were standing there. There's even something of a return to form for Wesley, perhaps a tip of the hat to all those awful, old clothes he had to wear as a civilian (or acting Ensign), when he gets out of his neat, tidy Starfleet uniform and opts for some bad wardrobe! I wouldn't say this was one of the best showcases for his character, but it was very satisfying that they dealt with him. They could easily have left him at the Academy and we'd never have known what happened afterwards - it might have been fun to have him around for the 'TNG' film series as a freshly minted Ensign, but some of the main cast members didn't always fare well in those so it was probably for the best that he didn't join the crew.

The deeply worrying nature of the main idea, that of forced relocation is dealt with carefully, with only the ominous future episodes of 'DS9' and 'Voyager' to sound the warning bell that the Cardassians, no matter how many honourable Guls they have (and that generally seems to be a low, low number), the bullies and bigots and hard, uncompromising soldiers are the ones who carry the most weight, and that of the Cardassian Union. But at least Picard could wash his hands of the affair and move on, his conscience clear. If only Sisko had it that easy… I thought it was going to be a case of 'Dorvan V is not Kentanna,' but the solution was to leave the Federation, not the planet. If you can't take the planet out of the Indian, take the Indian out of the Federation.

***

Genesis

DVD, TNG S7 (Genesis)

Why Brannon Braga doesn't get stick for this, yet is lambasted for 'Threshold' on 'Voyager,' I don't know. Maybe this was easier for people to accept, and was maybe more fun, but it does the same thing (just as 'Enterprise' would go on to do with 'Extinction'), of changing some of the characters into inhuman creatures. Not sure what the reasoning behind Spot turning into a lizard, and I have to say, Data is very uncaring for his pet, or more specifically, her kittens - it can't be safe to leave them in a room with a lizard, even if it is their Mother. It might have eaten them, and no amount of gaseous theatrics from Mr. Data's magic computer fix would have de-eaten them! How did he get the main computer online to spread the gas, or is the venting system separate? Perhaps he had help from Mr. Spid-arclay.

Barclay's horror-style shock moment onscreen is what everyone remembers about the episode, so if you've seen it a few times it might not have the impact it used to. Not so for Worf's venom to the face of Beverly, as I'd completely forgotten that. It's a really nasty moment, and Gates sells it for all she's worth. With all the stress of directing her first episode I'll bet it felt good to let loose some screams, and writhe around on the floor for a bit. It may even have been footage of her in a directorial meltdown, captured on camera and used for its theatricality… She makes a good Director, in that she doesn't draw attention to herself, though I prefer it when someone like Jonathan Frakes puts all his creativity into an episode. None of the other cast members succeeded as well as he, but I thought Gates was fine.

I would have liked to see more intermediate stages for the altered crew-members, but I can see how that would have lost the big reveal as Data and Picard go round the haunted house, meeting and dealing with (or running away, scared from), each new genetic aberration. I found the second half of the story with Picard and Data trying to work out what happened less engaging than the build up to it. The episode begins with a comedy teaser - Riker with cactus thorns in his back, Barclay worrying Dr. Crusher with his hypochondria, and Data bringing Spot in to check her progress: so this is a ship which stretches to a counselor, but there's not one vet?

After hearing there are twelve other felines aboard (presumably not counting humanoid feline races such as M'Ress of 'The Animated Series,' or that cat-dancer that jumps on Kirk's back in 'Star Trek V'), I'm surprised it's up to the doctors to deal with pets. I couldn't understand why there would be so many cats aboard, then I remembered it's an old naval tradition to keep down the vermin. I wonder who'd win in a fight between a Cardassian vole and a Terran cat? I'd wager the vole… Another thing Spot's inclusion makes me wonder is, if she could go off and meet a mate, as cats do on our world, are they free to wander the ship and do what cats do? Has Picard ever sat down on his command chair, to find a cat squawking at him, like when Kirk almost sat on a Tribble in 'The Trouble With Tribbles'? If you take the cat freedom to its logical conclusion that means there are spots around where they marked their scent, and may have chosen residency with another person, escaping their 'owner' as cats sometimes do. And what happens in an emergency situation? Do the cats have their own eject pods that they're trained to go to? Is that where Spot's litter tray is kept? Enough cat mind-mapping, I think.

I enjoyed the set up of the episode thanks to the chance to see the crew interacting differently, with Riker unsure of his decisions, and everyone beginning to act strangely (look out for a view of Worf's feet when he's rushing around in his quarters - they don't appear to have the usual Klingon foot ridges. This can be explained away easily because he's already metamorphosing then). Once Picard and Data set about explaining things, its more about the surprise value of seeing people in odd getup, with a lot of technobabble explanation, and a hurriedly sewn up conclusion. It's like the episode thinks it has outstayed its welcome and is obliged to get on with sorting it out, making it rushed and too easy for the situation to be brought under control. They'd had their fun, and now they had to wrap up the ideas, and it's harder to get an inventive narrative when you're relying on technology to sort things out. Once again, Data proves every starship should have an android aboard, immune to biological effects, and able to keep a cool head. I'd have liked to see what other races aboard turned into, but I have to give them credit for being so inclusive with Barclay and Nurse Ogawa. Barclay rattling off thoughts ten to the dozen reminded me of his super-brain persona of 'The Nth Degree.'

I like this episode, but it can't live up to similar tale 'Macrocosm,' one of 'Voyager's finest. In that, Janeway and Neelix at least had a good reason to be off the ship. In this, they resort to an almost ridiculous plot point of an errant torpedo having to be retrieved from an asteroid belt. It gets the Captain off the ship, but it's like some crazy parody or alternate universe version of 'TNG.' The again, it's a very 'TNG' thing to take responsibility for every little thing, but would it really take days to track down? It couldn't have gone far. No, the joy of this episode lies in its mix of fun factor and fear factor (Worf's nasty bite on Deanna's cheek was bad enough, though there's a scene which continues the Worf/Troi association earlier, when they meet for dinner, so Braga was obviously pro their pairing), with more excellence in the makeup department and a good dose of atmosphere, the lighting brought right down (not to 'Impulse' from 'Enterprise' levels, not that low!). I would have liked to see more of the warp core and what web Spid-arclay had left around it, but on the whole it's best enjoyed as a schlocky creep out.

***

Eye of the Beholder

DVD, TNG S7 (Eye of the Beholder)

Deanna Troi, PI. Or was she? Though it wasn't as confusing, and certainly more substantial than 'Masks,' I was still left confused as to how much of the episode was real, and at what point Troi went off into dreamland. If it was early in the story, when she first went to the tube room, then that would take any of Worf's romantic notions out of real life, even though he's been leading to an approach of Troi on the series. Somehow that seemed incredibly controversial and wrong, seeing two main characters just do such things, even with the scene where Worf almost asks Riker's permission in Ten Forward. That scene was a little off, too, as how can Riker be taking a junior officer out for a drink? Maybe it's only Captains that suffer an inability to fraternise with the lower ranks, as Picard did in 'Lessons,' I don't know.

The thing is, if that part of the story really did happen, and to be fair, being a Brannon Braga special, there's so much paranoia going around that even genuine scenes feel as if anything could happen, (I thought Worf and Riker were going to attack each other!), if that scene happened, and it's difficult to say it didn't, because Troi wasn't present then, at what point did she succumb to her nightmare? Or was that just the last few minutes when she was in her quarters alone (always a bad sign in a Braga episode, especially for Troi - the only thing missing was her looking in a mirror). Yet any scenes featuring Lieutenant Pierce (a suitably inexpressive, vaguely threatening turn from Mark Rolston), had to be in her mind due to the fact of his being dead for eight years. So even as far back as Troi looking through the records and seeing he had joined the Enterprise must have been part of the vision. So Worf never really did go all gooey on her, after all. Right?

If an episode makes you wonder, even after you've seen it before, then it's either ridiculously convoluted, makes little to no sense ('Masks'), or keeps you guessing and wondering, and this one falls into the latter category. It begins with a shocking moment of suicide, and ends with a shocking realisation of grisly murders embedded in the wall - how Braga-esque can you get! I had thought Kwan played a greater part in the story, in flashbacks and log entries, but he's actually only a small on screen presence. I don't know why, but his Napean species made me want to learn more about him and his race, but although the makeup was used again in background shots of other Trek series', we never learnt more about them. The suicide is chilling, not just for the dramatic leap into the 'fire' of the plasma, but that it could be a Starfleet officer who does it. But why was it that particular moment when Kwan felt the empathic suicidal urge if he'd been working on the nacelle tube for a while? With that, and humans having affairs and committing murder, I have to wonder what Uncle Gene would have made of it all!

Not that that matters, and I wouldn't criticise the episode for breaking any rules. On the contrary, it breaks into new territory, both character-wise and location. This could be the one and only time we ever got to visit Utopia Planitia (unless that scene with Dr. Brahms on the Holodeck back in 'Booby Trap' was the same place). Granted, it was in a hallucination or empathic echo, whatever you want to call it, and took place inside the Enterprise with no windows, but the ship was there! Such historical moments in a ship's life, always so rare, make me cherish their brief inclusion, such as the visits to station DS9's past under the Cardassians. We want to see the genesis of these created vessels that we know so well.

I thought Kwan seemed too young to be one of the many people to have worked at Utopia on the Enterprise, but he was a Lieutenant, so it could be his species had a youthful appearance for longer than humans. I loved seeing inside one of the nacelles, and not until 'Enterprise' would we have such a close encounter with that most essential part of a starship (in such stories as 'The Catwalk'). No doubt budgetary concerns were what kept these well-known, but little-seen parts of a ship out of the limelight, but you have to applaud them whenever they took the initiative and grabbed the plasma conduit by the handles to bring us more visual extensions. Another little something that was left to the imagination for the most part was the warp speed enforcement laid down earlier in the season, in 'Force of Nature.' It gets another mention here, but once again Picard is allowed to circumvent the restriction, which makes me wonder if any race or organisation ever really kept to the speed limit, seemingly an impossible thing to enforce.

The Suicide of Lieutenant Daniel Kwan (that sounds like a good title!), may be difficult to question, in terms of the aftermath, because it isn't entirely clear when Troi was acting in reality, so oddities can be explained as being from her vision, but the clues were laid down quite early of the danger she was walking into: we learn that Kwan was partially empathic, so that's an obvious pointer to Deanna; and we get an early suspect in the form of his superior, Lieutenant (there's a lot of Lieutenants in this episode!), Nara, who looks ugly and we hear unpleasant things about. Were those conversations real?

Calloway's line "It's not like Dan to take his own life," got past the script doctors - she sounds pretty stupid saying that, almost equating Kwan's behaviour with something mundane, like 'it's not like Dan to turn up late for work.' I also felt the scene between Data and Geordi on the subject of suicide (did that part really happen? Oh, I'm so confused!), came off a little facile. They talk about how if only Kwan had been able to see his problems as challenges to be overcome, he might have done better than to kill himself, but it smacks of a glibness and superior attitude - 'pull yourself together,' kind of thing. I don't suppose that's what the writer's were looking for, or that the character's really believed that expression, but then, in the future, such things are supposed to be extremely unlikely, so it could be they were struggling even to get a handle on the concept. I did enjoy Data's overly conscious body language, however, I just wish I knew where the episode ended, and Troi's mind began!

***

Masks

DVD, TNG S7 (Masks)

Seeing Data perform his superhuman abilities is a joy, and here we see him mould clay into perfect shapes at incredible speeds. But more impressively we see Brent Spiner perform his abilities, when he's tasked with recreating several personalities from a long-vanished culture. This race's technological interference was both more and less invasive than the one in 'The Inner Light,' and suggests Picard's experiences there were what kept his mind open in this situation - though there's less personal damage, apart from Data experiencing thousands of minds, the ship changes physically around them! This was a concept to be proud of, and one that could have been difficult to pull off. While I felt the production design could have gone further (for instance, the scene in Engineering when it starts to change), as I was watching I thought they should have made cosmetic changes to the actual sets, and then they did, altering a whole deck! It starts slowly with small artefacts appearing around the ship, including in Troi's quarters. When Beverly suggests it was left by a secret admirer, Troi shows no concern that a mystery person may have sneaked into her quarters, which she presumably keeps locked!

The alteration to the ship continues apace, with large Aztec-like stone blocks, jungle creepers and obelisks, until we see a deck completely change before our eyes into an alien temple. They said that deck was clear of people, but I hope they also evacuated the one above, because the temple had quite a ceiling to it. Mind you, Picard and the others weren't affected when it changed so it's likely no one else would have been. If we'd had people trapped inside stone sculptures or in the floor (like 'In Theory'), there would have been a greater fear factor, but as it was it stayed in the realm of the intellectual, with Picard slowly working it out. Spiner's performances as the four or five characters he plays (the grinning Ihat, a Masaka-worshipper, weak old man, frightened child and Masaka), gave him his passport to show off his range, and created a sinister discomfort to his interactions at first, though that isn't played up so he fades away to a shadow sitting in his quarters when he could have been used much more. You only have to look at the superior 'Voyager' episode 'Infinite Regress' to see how much better it could have been if Data had remained the sole focus.

The solution was too easy, and a repeat of Picard's tactic with the Borg in 'The Best of Both Worlds' - send them to sleep. The episode came to nothing, and to Data it was all a dream, so there was no learning experience, we don't find out why this alien library is floating though space, or what any of it really means. For that matter, it was a bit harsh to blast this 67 million year old comet which had travelled across the galaxy. They couldn't have known for sure it had anything to do with the odd happenings. Although it did go pretty far with the design, and the work that must have gone in behind the scenes looks to have been immense, I still would have liked to see more: they tease us with Riker saying the Observation Lounge has turned into a swamp, but I wanted to see it. It is a flawed episode, but even though the story never goes anywhere it looked beautiful, with a series of golden glows taking the place of the usual harsh lighting, and even the sound playing upon the strangeness of the content with panpipes emphasising an ancient and exotic culture. The CG and effects were strong, though the comet didn't look as good as the one in the 'DS9' opening credits, and considering this was created over a year after, they could have done better.

There are questions left unanswered, such as how Data's head closed up without any tampering from Geordi after he'd been giving Data a diagnostic, or how Picard knew Masaka was female when there didn't appear to be any clues. Data could easily have snapped his cranial panel back on when we left that scene, but no explanation for Picard, except his knowledge of ancient cultures. What would have made it more intriguing would have been to make it an actual technological library from an ancient Earth tribe, but that would open up a whole torpedo tube of snakes! If you watch this as an oddity with some excellent production design, and skillful acting from Spiner (I wonder if his voice was digitally altered in some way - most of the time it sounded like he was changing it himself, but as Masaka it sounded manipulated), then you won't be disappointed, and its clear, clean, colourful visuals look fantastic, but don't expect anything more than that.

**

Thine Own Self

DVD, TNG S7 (Thine Own Self)

Data loses his memory on an alien world. Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. I'm not going to praise this episode beyond measure or even suggest it's one of the absolute best of the season, but I do like it for being an unconnected tale about Data getting on as a new person with new people, while retaining much of his advanced knowledge, a bit like his time in the past of 'Time's Arrow.' See, it's not even something that had never been done before, but what is done, is done beautifully and simply. I like how trusting and open Garvin and his daughter are, and the way they accept this weird stranger into their home, so different from them. Not the most responsible action to leave one's daughter with a complete stranger, but something about Data's way tends to put those who have trust, at ease with him. Maybe his pacifistic nature (don't say that to the blacksmith after he was slapped into a wall with the flick of Data's wrist), his measured, level tone, and polite bearing. Whatever made them accept him, he has it in spades.

It was just another village set, just another wardrobe of medieval peasant clothes, but I liked all the decoration around this story and had no trouble accepting the reality of Data's situation even though it must have been all filmed on indoor sets. It was bright and good to look at, much like the one in 'Insurrection,' and even though these were aliens with only a couple of lines of face paint to differentiate them from humans, their alienness wasn't the issue, it was all about answering the question of what Data would do if he wandered into a new life, the most advanced machine in an age of misunderstanding. Talur is very forthright and convinced in her view of 'science,' but even though she and her people consider themselves quite advanced, they have superstitions, but they're reflected in different ways. They pooh-pooh demons, yet wholeheartedly put down Data as being a mythical 'iceman' from the mountains - they haven't reached the level of understanding which tells them the more they learn, the more they know they don't know. Starfleet is shown a lot more advanced, not just in technology, but with the whole idea of learning more and exploring the unknown because they know there's so much they don't know!

The little girl wasn't the best child actor on the series, but she did a reasonable job of striking up a friendship with 'Jayden' as Data is named. If I was criticising the episode, and I don't want to harshly, because it's a pleasant tale that doesn't set out to be anything more than an exploration of Data separate from the characters and environment we're used to seeing him in. But if I were, I'd say they could have built up the friendship more, to make the moment when she wants him to show his damaged face, more meaningful and showing her in a braver light (because Data looks at his most sinister in that scene, standing in a dark corner talking out of a hood!). It's the usual kind of result with these stories of a stranger in the midst of villagers - one of them takes a dislike to him (look at the Season 3 episode 'The Ensigns of Command'), and stirs up trouble, thus providing the catalyst for danger and tension. It was never a wise move of the blacksmith and his pal to take on a guy strong enough to lift an anvil without even straining. The attack gave us the biggest uncovering of Data's real, robotic face on the series. Not in the league of 'First Contact,' but very well done all the same, especially considering this was before CGI replacement. Yes, if you look carefully at it you can see it's a prosthetic attachment that's thicker than Spiner's face, but it's done in such an artistic, realistic way that it doesn't take anything away from the mastery of that craft. Whoever did that deserved recognition.

The secondary plot of the episode is totally unconnected, but again, I don't find fault with the episode, because I like watching it, both sides. You just accept it as two stories and enjoy it. And, just like Data's story, it is a situation for Deanna that we don't see very often, so there is a thematic link of that kind. She's had the experience of feeling she's not stretched enough, and, after seeing Beverly taking on bridge duty (a rare moment to see them having a scene practically alone on the bridge), wants to take the bridge officer's test. I really liked how she tied it back to the events of 'Disaster,' in which she was forced to take command, and struggled through the experience. It made the earlier episode a fascinating study in role reversal, but this ambition could have had more impact if she'd come to the decision shortly after that story instead of suddenly springing it on Riker two years later. The episode has an odd feeling running though it, not just because Data isn't Data, or seeing Crusher in the Captain's chair, or even Riker practicing the trombone in his quarters which turns into a bizarre musical conversation with Troi. It's all that, and no Patrick Stewart, not until the last scene in sickbay, at any rate. Where was Stewart? He's not normally so absent unless he's directing!

The actual test Deanna had to go through was rather stressful, but it had its wallop of an impact when we learn the answer is to send someone to their death. It's a shocking moment, and a heartfelt one, too, because, even though we know it's just a holographic Geordi, she's still sending him to die! They don't mention the Kobayashi Maru test by name, the famous no-win scenario, that all starship Captain's have to go through, but they do talk about the possibility of there being no answer, a test to see how the candidate responds to being in that position. I liked that it was a kind of stage on from that test, as if we know about that, but this is something different. Just as hard, but in another way. That the soft Troi could do that shows what steely roots she has in her. There could have been a conflict of interest having Troi ask Riker so informally about taking it, and then him informing her he'd have to judge her, but these people are above favoritism, and they both know it. It also shows how great a First Officer he is, that he can 'play' her like that, retain his distance and frankness as her superior, but also talk to her on her level. He even calls her Imzadi (beloved), but I think it's meant much more in jest or friendship than the serious connotation it used to have. He shows that there was no conflict of interest in the end.

I thought this ended with a scene in which Data says goodbye to the village, or the healthy people he's cured, and returns to the mountains, but it ended fittingly for a pre-warp civilisation, never knowing who the stranger really was, and burying him in the square. One day perhaps, they'll excavate in future generations to see if the legend of the iceman was true, and the myth will persist even though no body can be found. There's a poetic ending for you. I'm putting the villager's trust in the drinking water down to the shamefacedness they experienced after their tempers died down and they realised they'd killed this man, because it's a lot of trusting to do after they were so against him, to then drink water from a well he'd poured a mystery cure into. Maybe they were lazy, and couldn't be bothered to make the two day journey to the nearest river?

***

Lower Decks

DVD, TNG S7 (Lower Decks)

When I first saw this I thought it was all a test, and in a way I was right. The episode itself was a test of the series' sophistication, how far it had come, if it had come far enough for the world it had created aboard the Enterprise to be real enough to carry the story instead of relying on the main characters. It's not like they abandoned the regulars in exchange for a cast of unknowns, but they struck a finely judged balance between the characters we're used to seeing and a mix of new ones and familiar faces. To begin with, I thought the episode would have been punchier had more, or all of the main roles of the story been filled with people like Ogawa whom we knew as a recurring background face. Two of those, Miles and Keiko O'Brien, would have been potentials, but they'd already moved to DS9. That was before the ending, which is surprising and unexpected, and showed that as well as reaching the point of maturity in its world, 'TNG' had also learned to take the uncomfortable way out sometimes. I don't know whether the 'DS9' series had rubbed off on its sister show, already so different and trying much that was new, but whoever gets the credit, this was 'TNG' at full power.

For a story that is mostly people talking in the bar, people talking round the poker table, and people talking… at every point on the ship, this succeeded in allowing us to see 'behind the scenes' of day to day life aboard, not just any starship, but The Starship, the flagship of the Federation. Many issues that may not even have been considered were you to take the episodes generally, are given an airing. The best explanation I can make is that it was a continuation of the Academy that we'd seen in 'The First Duty,' assisted by having Ensign Sito along, but without being a direct sequel, another chapter in her and other such cadet's lives. What makes it more special than simply being a look into the inner workings of the command structure, is her story playing out, that meant so much and comes down so heavy on the conclusion. Yet even then it's so well handled, the scene with Worf joining her friends at the table, that it plays on more than one level.

We're kept almost as much in the dark as the lower officers are, not allowed to know the plan, or even see who the mysterious visitor is that was beamed aboard the Enterprise, we're shown the door just as he's materialising. This makes the tough moments Ensign Sito goes through so much harder to take - chewed out by Picard; taught a physical lesson by Worf. But her troubles aren't played out in isolation, and her fellow officers, her friends, really make a believable group, each having their own hangups, whether it's Lavelle and his belief Commander Riker hates him, Ogawa's difficult period with her fiance, or Taurik's failure to see eye to eye with Geordi. Alexander Enberg preempts his most famous character of Vorik the Vulcan of 'Voyager,' by playing Taurik, and getting the mannerisms and perspective of the race down pat. Even down to subtle detail as when he straightens up as Worf sits down at his table, or his inability to understand that La Forge doesn't need his every suggestion to be acted on immediately!

Seeing the story from minor participant's viewpoints was a brilliant device because it gives us a new view of the main characters and how they come across to those that serve under them. I loved Ben and his ability to be completely casual with 'Will' and the other senior officers because he's a civilian bartender, even joining them for a game of poker! That was another brilliant scene, although the more I thought about it, the more strange it seemed that the chosen pastime on the Enterprise is a game of money and gambling for acquisition, but money doesn't exist in the 24th Century. So were they playing for points or replicator privileges? Whatever, it was smartly intercut for a great scene between the seniors and juniors playing separate games. It also becomes part of the build up to the finale of the series, and the most important moment of Picard realising they are his family, because we're seeing most of the senior staff playing, and we generally don't see them together like that unless it's at a briefing with the Captain.

If the ending shocks, I was further impressed that they even managed to snick in the discussion of racism with the Cardassian and Sito able to openly discuss the issue because they both have the same goals. At first I didn't buy that Joret Dal could be a member of the military, yet wanted peace, but with the varied number of his race we've seen on 'DS9' it shouldn't be a surprise. And he was right, peace was what his world needed. I wonder if the line about ambitious Guls taking over the military was a direct point out to Gul Dukat? He hadn't risen to quite the prominence he would enjoy in the mid to later seasons of 'DS9,' but he was probably the best example of the plague of Cardassia. And that was another level of enjoyment added to the episode: the linking to the 'DS9' world. Not overtly, it's only Bajor that's mentioned, but talk of Federation spies, or sympathisers, with secret missions, was all still pointing to the tensions that continued between the race and Starfleet, without standing on the toes of the writer's of that series or constraining them in any way.

A funny moment for me was in realising after I watched the episode (checking out Memory Alpha), that Riker was talking about one 'aye' was enough to Lavelle, not one 'eye' as I thought he'd meant - the guy swings round on his chair, that's where the misconception came from, not that I was expecting Lavelle to wink at his Commander! I appreciated the gik'tal coming to mean 'To The Death' in Klingon as it became an episode title for 'DS9' that featured Worf heavily. One thing we didn't see was Nurse Ogawa's promotion Beverly had promised her. It would have taken away from the Lavelle promotion, and that was really about the absent Sito for whom it might have been, so they made another good call there. What works so well is in the warmth given to Sito (even down to Picard risking the treaty by launching a probe to find out what happened to her), by people that had a right to resent her, and another example of the better future Roddenberry envisaged, where people are given another chance to make up for past indiscretion. And how often do we hear the Captain addressing all Starfleet officers aboard his ship! I respect this episode for trying a different format and for taking the risk in not having the main cast front and centre. However much 'TNG' learned from 'DS9,' this episode may have helped that other series to come to the point where recurring characters could have as much prominence as any in the main titles, and a great precedent it set, leading to some of the best Trek ever.

****

Sub Rosa

DVD, TNG S7 (Sub Rosa)

Sub is the operative word, but in some respects this doesn't quite plumb the depths as much as might be remembered. Or perhaps I'm being too kind, and the embarrassing accents and cringeworthy moments were brought up a little by other parts of the episode. It wasn't Jonathan Frakes' finest moment as Director, but by the same token, he wasn't responsible for the writing, which has to carry the can when it comes to the ignominious story of Dr. Crusher (or 'Bev' as Deanna has never, ever called her before, that I can remember), falling for an apparent ghost from 1600s Scotland who happens to have an English accent (actually much better than Ned's Scottish one, or the governor's partial one, which strayed all over the place, sounding more Irish than anything else sometimes). Duncan Regehr made a great Bajoran farmer on 'DS9,' and he had the stature and bearing for an old-fashioned ghost-man, but he's never for an instant a sympathetic character, and was always going to be bad for Bev, so there's no room for mystery, except in how long it will take her to realise his true nature or intentions.

Although Frakes couldn't make a poor story good, he did bring his magic to bear in turning it into a beauty, cinematographically speaking - the opening is pristine, from the dress uniforms to the old-fashioned Scottish churchyard and the house; the roiling green effects of the planet; even that shot of the camera moving in front of the transparent screen in Engineering as Data and Geordi talk behind it and the warp core's illumination glides smoothly across the surface. There are even a couple of eerie moments, with Picard suddenly struck down after his warning to Beverly, or when Ronin inhabits her dead Grandmother's body and she sits up, eyes aflame with green, or Ronin's full-body launch at Beverly, phasered away in midair by her (after doing a Palpatine and force-lightning La Forge). The rain and the foreboding of the house created the mood, but it was the artificiality of certain points, such as Ned Quint, that stuck out and lost it an authenticity it might have worked better to achieve. For example, the time Ned enters her house and argues with Beverly over the lamp - a stranger barging in and brusquely threatening her in vague ways should have been the setup for the feel of horror the episode was attempting, but Ned's lack of menace makes Beverly look as if she's overreacting to the intrusion.

If that were the extent of the problems, it could still be a good episode, as authenticity and a strong atmosphere aren't the be-all and end-all. Regrettably, things get worse thanks to the girly chats Crusher has with Troi, going all gooey over this mystery man she's 'met.' I suppose we can be grateful they weren't wearing gymnastic outfits and touching their toes at the time, but even so… I wouldn't have thought Ten Forward the best place for private conversations, (where some of them take place), especially with Guinan a member of a listening race, but she wasn't in the episode so Crusher wasn't going to have a problem with that. They could have gone down a more justifiable path for her with Picard, but the episode returns to the earlier seasons of us never knowing whether it was her attachment to duty or attachment to Picard that began her breaking off from Ronin's influence. It was disturbing to see her acting like an addict when she's away from Ronin, and clearly she wasn't behaving normally to hand in her notice and head off - don't they have to give some notice? Why didn't her friends stop her? I'm sure they would have if they'd known, but by then it might have been too late.

To see such an old terraformed colony added some history to the science, this having been achieved a hundred years before - why, Kirk could have visited the planet himself! I didn't buy the story of the colonists who founded the place taking stones from actual Scotland and rebuilding there as I don't think the Scottish people would have been happy for their ancient buildings to be taken away - they also wouldn't have been happy to be called Scotch, as the governor does, but as Picard notes, he's evidently not Scottish himself! Michael Keenan would go on to better roles in 'DS9' and 'Voyager.' An appropriate use of the Transporter was to beam Felisa Howard's coffin out of the ground, but less wise was it to rematerialise it directly on top - the soil would have caved in, surely? Hearing more about Beverly's past was one idea that worked and added the episode to the tally of Season 7's family theme, but poor Beverly deserved much better than this. Not quite a shameful effort that everyone involved with should bow their heads over, but neither is it a ringing endorsement in the argument that Season 8 should have gone ahead.

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