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Old 04-24-2019, 05:00 PM
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April 24th, 1989, "The Icarus Factor"

Fiver (by Kira)
Transcript
Memory Alpha

The Episode

RIKER: I don't recall Starbase Montgomery on the mission itinerary
PICARD: I think we could all use a twelve hour layover.

This twelve hour thing seems to only exist to service Worf's plotline. I suppose it wouldn't look good if Worf was grumpy for days at a time without having a larger plot. Then again, Riker's plotline doesn't seem twelve-hour compatible.

PICARD: Well, you have twelve hours to think it over. And if it's not too premature, congratulations, Captain.

They just said that it'll take months at high warp just to get to Vega-Omicron. So Riker has twelve hours to decide the next few years of his life? That doesn't seem fair.

RIKER: When you've settled in, we can complete our briefing.

Why will Kyle need quarters if he's only going to be here twelve hours? Come aboard, give the briefing, hang out for a bit if Will is receptive, go back.

WESLEY: Can you imagine if it was your father?
WORF: I never knew my father.

We'll later learn that Mogh died when Worf was six and they managed to go on a targ hunt. Oops.

O'BRIEN: Female?
RIKER: No.
O'BRIEN: Career? Career?
RIKER: Family.
O'BRIEN: That is trouble. You choose your enemies, you choose your friends, but family? That's in the stars.
RIKER: So I've heard.

O'Brien's line has stuck with me since I was young. It's one of those lines that gains meaning as you age.

KYLE: How about a drink?
PULASKI: How about a kiss?
(A quick peck and a hug)
RIKER: They know each other.
O'BRIEN: No kidding. I know her too, but we don't do that.

O'Brien gets the best lines this episode.

DATA: Excuse me, Lieutenant. You seem to have lost the will to communicate with others. You have friends here. We, we care about you. Why, just recently, Geordi, Wesley and I were saying
WORF: With all due respect, be gone! Sir.
(The blast jolts Data backwards. He returns to Geordi)
DATA: He seems quite sincere in his desire for solitude.

Has "with all due respect" ever been used before saying something the other person wants to hear?

WORF: That is a fish you are holding.

We know Worf went on camping trips with the Roshenkos, why wouldn't he try fishing?

PULASKI: Poor guy. Picked up a flu virus on our last stop at Nasreldine.
KYLE: Sounds nasty. What's the therapy?
PULASKI: Tryptophan-lysine distillates with generous doses of PCS.
KYLE: PCS?
PULASKI: Pulaski's chicken soup.

In doing this I looked up "tryptophan-lysine distillates." I think it was supposed to be an oblique reference to oatmeal or porridge to go with the chicken soup. Talk about obscure.

PULASKI: This is Deanna Troi, ship's Counsellor.
KYLE: Kyle Riker.
PULASKI: I thought you two should meet. Deanna's job is to keep us from deluding ourselves.
KYLE: Let me guess. Betazoid?

Okay, let's go with the idea that Riker's service record wouldn't include a list of his girlfriends (although if you're a fan of Imzadi that book includes a few instances where Riker and Troi's names would be linked in official records), let's move on to how you distinguish a Betazoid from a human. In other words, the special contact lenses for completely black irises. While I doubt I ever noticed this factor as a child, I remember it being mentioned in a book or two, specifically Guises of the Mind. Any Federation negotiator should be able to identify the major species within species, no matter how minor the physical distinction. I expect they could even tell the difference between the spots of a Trill and a Kriosian.

KYLE: But I've come here to help Will prepare for his first task as captain.
TROI: Are you sure he'll accept such a dangerous assignment?
KYLE: He'll accept it just because it is dangerous.
TROI: How can you be so sure?
KYLE: Because I would. And we aren't so different, Will and I.

Why is this assignment so dangerous? Troi thinks it is, Worf thinks it is, ugh.

PICARD: The last time I saw Commander Flaherty, he spoke forty languages. As I recall, among the more exotic were Romulan, Klingon, Giamon, Stroyerian.

Romulan and Klingon should not be considered "exotic" in the twenty-fourth century. We know nothing of Giamon or Stroyerian. I wish that the Sheliak existed at this point, as this would've been a great place for a reference. Maybe they could've mentioned the Binars here?

PULASKI: Twelve years ago, Kyle Riker was a civilian strategist advising Starfleet in its conflict with the Tholians.

The more I hear about the period between Khitomer and Farpoint, the more I want to know about it. It's a shame Paramount will never make a show set in this period. I'll just namedrop the Vulcan's Soul trilogy of novels.

Do you think there was an arms race between the advancement of shield and Tholian Web technology?

LAFORGE: You mean in order for Worf to celebrate the anniversary of his Ascension, he has to be hurt? And we have to witness this?
DATA: We are his family.

Okay, so Troi doesn't want to watch this and Riker has other things to think about, but why wasn't Picard there?

DATA: If I were not a consummate professional, and an android, I would find this entire procedure insulting.

Always liked this quote.

KYLE: You know, it's a shame there's no anbo-jyutsu ring nearby.

It does seem odd that this sport needs a physical ring. I'd think the holodeck could handle something this simple.

PULASKI: Haven't we grown beyond the point where we resolve our problems with physical conflict?

I don't think it's so much the physical conflict as much as it's the desire to engage in an activity with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Plus the conflict will introduce hormones and such that will loosen lips and let us say what we wouldn't otherwise. Clear the air, so to speak.

O'BRIEN: Those are Klingon painstiks. I once saw one of them used against a two-ton Rectyne Monopod. Poor creature jumped five metres at the slightest touch.

I doubt that a two-ton anything can jump five meters under any circumstances, and if a lower gravity is meant it wouldn't have the impact that O'Brien is implying.

WORF: You're not coming in?
TROI: No.

Another failing of the basic transcript. I still remember how Troi took a pause to consider her reply before settling on "no" as the most diplomatic.

The Fiver

Riker: I don't know -- my own command...that's a big decision.
Picard: There aren't any kids on the Aries.
Riker: I'll take it.

Riker doesn't have a problem with kids, Picard does.

Worf: I'm having angst, and Wesley's annoying me. Can I come with you on your new ship?
Riker: It's dangerous.
Worf: Exactly -- there's room for advancement. I could be Captain inside a week.

I feel that a punchline from Riker is needed here. I'm not sure what, but something.

Memory Alpha

* Given TNG-era Gene's feelings about conflict, one wonders how this one got through.
* Second ship offered to Riker. He won't get another chance until "Best of Both Worlds."

Nitpicker's Guide

* Phil wonders why being multilingual is so important, what with the Universal Translator and all. My response is that some languages have more nuances that need second-by-second organic intervention. One wonders if Voyager's gelpacks help make translation better.
* In the second edition of the Guide other readers put forth alternate hypotheses like "as a rare art it's an accomplishment" and "it shows respect for the other side that you're not using a machine."

YouTube

Worf's Ascension Ceremony Recreation
Anbo-jitsu
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