TNG Episode 1.10: Hide and Q

In which Q shows his enthusiasm for cosplay, and Riker kinda shows his enthusiasm for Wesley.

Memory Alpha says: Q returns with a new test for the Enterprise. Can Commander Riker resist the power of the Q Continuum? (Please click the Memory Alpha link for detailed information.)

My Review

This episode marks the second time we see Q, and that establishes a tendency that will grow more pronounced over the course of TNG until it eventually gets really awesome in DS9, towards greater continuity in Star Trek. That's not to say there is no continuity in TOS; you get recurring outside characters like, um, Harry Mudd is the only one who comes immediately to mind (I've also found that a lot of people have trouble remembering that Cyrano Jones, from 'The Trouble With Tribbles,' is not Harry Mudd, because selling tribbles just seems like such a Harry Mudd thing to do).

This is one of the episodes that I really can't remember watching, except a vague memory of Tasha saying she was in a penalty box. Is that this one? Well, I'll find out, won't I?

DS9 Episode 1.9: The Passenger

In which Julian's mind is the scene of the crime.
 

Memory Alpha says: An alien criminal, attempting to prolong his life, hides his consciousness inside the mind of a station crew member. (Please click the Memory Alpha link for detailed information.)

My Review

Glorious: one of the search terms that has led people to this blog in the past month is 'keep away from data bitch ontd_tng.' Dude, it has not been possible to keep me away from Data since approximately 1988. But let's press on with DS9.

This is one of those Star Trek standbys, an episode in which a core crew member gets possessed by an alien intelligence so that they can have conflicts with the rest of the core cast and/or generally act like a dick without it being morally their fault or breaking Gene's rule that We Don't Fight Amongst Ourselves or, in fact, having any impact on how anybody responds to them in subsequent episodes (this is particularly hilarious with Data; the most hostile anyone gets with him is when, after he goes berserk and stabs her in a lift, Counselor Troi presents him with a mocking cake). TOS and TNG would be such different shows if, after events like these, it took time for people to regain their trust in each other, and in some cases they never quite did.

Of course, as DS9 went on, it became apparent that you don't need anybody to be possessed by an alien intelligence for them to have some beefy conflicts and act like a dick (you have people like Dukat around who are more than happy to fill your dick quota), so they became less reliant on the old possession trick, or when they did use it did something interesting like introduce the Pah Wraiths. At least that's how I'm remembering it; I'll have to see whether that's borne out by this rewatch. I do remember that they did at least one other old-school possessionpisode, 'Dramatis Personae,' which I found striking because Avery Brooks played his possessed character with much more personality than he gave Sisko at the time.

For the second episode in succession, we'll get no O'Brien. I guess he's still in Japan, and I hope at least he gets to do some nice things like soak in a hot spring with snow monkeys. But hang on. Bear with us. Bullet point commentary again.

DS9 Episode 1.8: Dax

In which Dax could tell you a lot, but it's not in a gentleman's code; make it one for Fionnula Flanagan and one more for the road.

Memory Alpha says: New evidence reopens a thirty-year-old murder case, and Dax's previous host Curzon is now the prime suspect. (Please click the Memory Alpha link for detailed information.)

My Review

I'm reverting to commentary form, because it's quick and I'm lazy. I'm doing this one at my parents' place, because they have decent broadband and are sympathetic to my internet-deprived plight (connecting the line at my new flat is not going smoothly, I'm waiting on a technician, they might have it working on Monday, it's all a bit unnecessary). I have to admit that, while I'm really enjoying revisiting the early TNG episodes that I haven't watched for ages, because everything is half-remembered and goofy and adorable and weird, since I first watched DS9 right through back in May 2010, getting through Season One again is a bit of a slog, so I want to keep this thing moving and not get bogged down. (The only thing I can remember being outstandingly good in Season One is 'Duet,' but at least 'Move Along Home' is so cracky it really deserves to be an early TNG episode.)

Right; this episode is important because it begins to explore the consequences for Jadzia of living with Dax's past, something to which her storylines (and Ezri's, but Ezri is rather boring) will return a few times, sometimes with awesome two-lady kissing. I do like the fact that, in the Star Trek universe, the legal system has to deal with questions like 'Does Data have human rights?' and 'Is Jadzia liable for things Curzon did (if indeed he did them)?' that are quite outside the kind of courtroom dramas you can do in a less fantastic setting. I persist in believing that something like Law & Order: UFP would be kind of a fun spin-off. The usual assumption is that Captain Picard will be some kind of ambassador when he retires from Starfleet, but why not a crusading silver-fox DA, I ask you? Why not indeed. If you like Law & Order and ridiculous/cool things, go and look at These Are Their Stories; I'll wait for you. There are Kate Beaton drawings.

On 'vacation'

aka my internet is still not working properly in my new flat, bludging off landlord's unreliable WiFi, did you know I watch streaming episodes rather than SUPPORTING THE ORIGINAL ARTISTS by buying all the DVDs? DON'T TELL A SOUL. I was joking anyway.

but

here is a nice vacation photo of Armus:

Courtesy of the very excellent Hatecation (it seems like there should be some simple way to link a Tumblr picture into a Blogger post, but I'm not seeing it).

For God's sake watch out kid. Although you do have a puckish quality I can't help warming to.

Part of me can't wait to get to this episode even though I know how stupid it is. I think I just really like sand, and honestly, I remember Armus scared the poop out of me as a kid (I think I'd had some nightmares about black shiny goo in early childhood; do you ever remember stuff from your childhood nightmares that you just can't understand why it was so scary? Tractor tyres. The number '100' in gold figures at the top of a silver column. Terrifying), so I'm eager to revisit it and totally not be scared. Above/at left is evidence that Jonathan Frakes is a hell of a good sport, and at this stage of his career had some very sharp buttockular definition.

But anyway, if I ever get things working right here, soon we'll be back with 'Dax.'

ETA: As long as I'm posting ridiculous vacationy shit, here, have a this:

(hope that embeds properly). My main thoughts about this: Cruise Director is a perfect job for Deanna. Also, I have headcanoned those uniforms with the shorts as Starfleet Tropical Kit; they make at least as much sense as those desert Jedi robes the Sisko and Ezri wore to go on his baseball vision quest.

Apology/clarification/thingy

In my post on the DS9 episode 'A Man Alone' I included several references to the musical Avenue Q, including quoting the number 'Everyone's A Little Bit Racist.' I did not realise anyone would actually be offended by what I thought was just a silly joke, but I now know from feedback that at least one person was.

Honestly, I'm in two minds about this. I don't want to offend people for no good reason. I don't want to hurt people's feelings or put them off reading what else I have to say. I'm just writing opinions about Star Trek and there is no earthly reason for me to turn that into some kind of bitter wrangle. For that reason, I offered that person an apology, and I did mean it. (Who knows whether it sounded sincere to them, though; any time I get feedback like that I start to gravely doubt my ability to say what I mean without it sounding like something worse.)

On the other hand, I still think 'Everyone's A Little Bit Racist' is a very funny number, Avenue Q is overall a very funny show, and I like to quote bits and pieces of whatever I think is funny in whatever I write. I guess I can't anticipate every reference that might bother somebody with a different perspective from my own, every phrase that just seems silly to me but may seem nasty to someone else. (Many, yes, every, no, and a lot obviously depends on context and mood, not to mention whether I'm fully alert at the time.)

I hope people will understand that while I may sometimes say something tactless, without realising how it may sound to another person, I do not mean any harm, and if given the benefit of the doubt and a concise explanation of why what I said bothered you, I usually catch on and try to put things right. I don't want to be one of those people whose attitude is 'I didn't mean it that way so you are in the wrong for taking it that way,' because I've dealt with some of them myself and know how irritating they are.

Am I attempting to justify/cover myself? Yes, I suppose I am. It's never any fun to hear that you offended someone while joking around; there's always an element of wounded amour-propre from the clash between one's intentions and the way the remark was received, especially when you're usually fairly careful about these things. Even when you habitually try to be considerate and fair, you can still fuck up sometimes in unguarded moments, and all you can do is listen to what the other person says, explain yourself, and try not to repeat that particular mistake.

So I'm sorry about that, I can't promise I won't unwittingly make that kind of mistake again, and I ask you to bear with me, I guess. At least I thought about it?

TNG Episode 1.9: The Battle

In which Wesley is unusually annoying.

Memory Alpha says: A gift to Captain Picard from a Ferengi military leader may have more sinister intentions. 

My Review

This should be my last one before Christmas, because I actually have a life for the next few days - and it will also be the last one until after New Year, because guess who's moving house on the 29th? Yes, I shall be a busy bunny indeed. 

So in this episode we get some more repellent military Ferengi - I do want to continue with my assumption that Marauders are just the dregs of their society, sent out into space to stop them getting in everyone's way - and the origin of the Picard Manoeuvre, the actual spaceship one rather then the one you do with your pullover. I have spelled it Manoeuvre because it's far more French that way and I feel sure Jean-Luc would like that. 

Allons-y!

DS9 Episode 1.7: Q-Less

In which Julian gets right up my nose - and up Q's too.

Memory Alpha says: Archaeologist Vash arrives from the Gamma Quadrant as Q plagues the station and an unknown force threatens to destroy it. (Please click the Memory Alpha link for detailed information.)

My Review

I'm getting blogger's anxiety about whether people are enjoying this, because I haven't had any comments in the last couple of days, and as I type this my Blogger stats suggest people actually haven't been viewing the last couple of entries. I realise that the format or style of my reviews has been changing around; in some cases I just gave commentary while in others I recapped the episode with my commentary seeded in. (I fell into this, I suppose, because it's standard on Television Without Pity, and I usually enjoy that site - Keckler's reviews of Enterprise are well worth reading, because she gives the show credit for what it did well but never lets its many weak points slide, and is funny, and includes interesting cookery anecdotes, and she did some one-offs of TOS, TNG and DS9 episodes as well.) I hope that's not annoying people. On the other hand, I realise that it's the end of the middle of December and a lot of people are travelling to spend the holidays with their families, shopping, cooking and decorating for Christmas, going to parties, and generally less inclined to sit on their bums reading about Star Trek, so I'll try not to fret.

To take my mind off it, today I shall wrap presents (I'm using a 'brown paper packages tied up with strings' theme, and anyone who doesn't like The Sound of Music can sit on it), help decorate the tree at my parents', and watch Star Trek. I see I've surprised you! Okay, let's tackle the only Q episode of DS9, which would otherwise be Q-less, and you see what I did there.