June 18th, 1990, "The Best of Both Worlds Part I"
Fiver (by Zeke)
The Episode
RIKER: It's our poker night, Admiral. There's always an open seat for you.
I get the narrative device of using the poker night to proceed the Riker/Shelby relationship, but this does seem like an odd time. This is not a time for business as usual, this is a time to prepare for the end of the world!
HANSON: You may want to tell him that. We're still waiting on his decision. This is the third time we've pulled out the captain's chair for Riker. He just won't sit down. Let me tell you something, Jean-Luc. There are a lot of young hotshots like Shelby on their way up. Riker could suddenly look like he's standing still next to them. He's hurting his career by staying put. If I were you, I'd kick him in the rear end for his own good.
Again, I get the narrative device, but again, this isn't the time! Order Riker to take a battlefield commission if nothing else!
SHELBY: I don't know exactly what I'm looking for, but we've tested the sections of the Enterprise's hull that were damaged by the Borg. There were some unusual magnetic resonance traces.
RIKER: A Borg footprint?
SHELBY: That's my theory.
This magnetic resonance trace thing is reused in
Star Trek: Borg, taking place at this same time. Which seems weird, is now the time to be experimenting with a theory? It isn't mentioned in later Borg appearances, presumably the Borg learned about it from Picard and adapted.
RIKER: I've already assigned them to the away team. And I'll be with you as well, Commander.
SHELBY: Of course. I appreciate any assistance you can offer.
A serious misstep on Shelby's part. She may have honorary senior officer status for this mission, but she doesn't have the right to assign away teams.
DATA: Early bird? I believe Commander Shelby erred. There is no evidence of avifaunal or crawling vermicular lifeforms on Jouret Four.
LAFORGE: That's not what she meant, Data, but you're right. She erred.
There are days that I hate Data's lack of a built-in vernacular dictionary, and this is one of them. Geordi's remark is great, though.
RIKER: So without any regard to the risk of coming down alone
SHELBY: Really, Commander, if we ran into the Borg here, two extra bodies wouldn't've made a hell of a difference, now would they?
Admiral Hanson was certainly ACTING like you made a difference!
RIKER: Well, I think she needs supervision. She takes the initiative a little too easily. Sometimes with risks.
PICARD: Sounds a little like a young lieutenant commander I once recruited as a first officer.
RIKER: Perhaps.
Again, I get the parallel intended, but the Riker of Season One was never this reckless and, let's face it, rude.
Changing the topic, I could've sworn that Riker was already a commander and could've been captain of the Drake if he wanted before joining the Enterprise.
PICARD: She's a fine ship, Will.
RIKER: Yes, but she's not the Enterprise.
I get it that a lot of people consider the Enterprise the end goal, I really do. But Starfleet careers don't work that way. Something that confuses me is that the Melbourne is Excelsior-class, out of date. Of course it's hard to have two Galaxy-classes on screen at once, but what about the Nebula class?
RIKER: The Captain says Shelby reminds him of the way I used to be. And he's right. She comes in here full of drive and ambition. Impatient, taking risks. I look at her and I wonder whatever happened to those things in me? I liked those things about me. I've lost something.
When was he impatient or taking risks in Season One?
SHELBY: Projections suggest that a Borg ship like this one could continue to function effectively even if seventy eight percent of it was inoperable.
I'd love to hear her definition of "effectively". I wonder if the idea of each cube being made of smaller cubes had occurred to the creators yet.
SHELBY: I think we should look at modifying the plasma phaser design.
Plasma phasers? I presume this means making the beams a bit more solid for more punch. That sounds like it would require replacing the phaser emitters, not possible in the time allowed.
PICARD: Mister Data, how long would it take to get there at warp nine?
DATA: One hour, seventeen minutes, sir.
PICARD: Make it so.
HANSON [on monitor]: We're coming with every available starship to assist, Captain, but the closest help is six days away.
PICARD: We'll try and keep them occupied until you arrive.
The ships are that far apart? I'd think the fleet would've been gathering at this point just in case by now.
LAFORGE: At the same time, we'll be retuning phasers to higher EM base emitting frequencies to try to disrupt their subspace field.
Retuning phasers to a higher EM band also occurs in
Star Trek: Borg. At least this time it's Q doing it, and he has future knowledge.
WESLEY: The main deflector dish.
LAFORGE: It's the only component of the Enterprise designed to channel that much power at controlled frequencies.
You have to wonder why this is. Don't tell me that Leah Brahms could see the future...
SHELBY: There is one other recommendation I'd like to make, Commander. Separate the saucer section. Assign a skeleton crew to create a diversion
RIKER: We may need the power from the saucer impulse engines.
SHELBY: But it would give them more than one target to worry about.
This idea never made sense. The saucer isn't nearly as maneuverable as the stardrive section. Plus I jolly well expect a cybernetic race directly connected to their ship to lock the sensors on two targets at once. The U.S.S. Prometheus is a different matter entirely, it's specifically designed to coordinate in Multivector Assault Mode.
SHELBY: May I speak frankly, sir?
RIKER: By all means.
SHELBY: You're in my way.
RIKER: Really? How terrible for you.
SHELBY: All you know how to do is play it safe. I suppose that's why someone like you sits in the shadow of a great man for as long as you have, passing up one command after another. Proceed to deck eight.
RIKER: When it comes to this ship and this crew, you're damned right I play it safe.
SHELBY: If you can't make the big decisions, Commander, I suggest you make room for someone who can.
Ugh. I get the characterization, I get Riker's character arc, I really do, but again, NOW IS NOT THE TIME!
PICARD: Something of a tradition, Guinan. The Captain touring the ship before a battle.
GUINAN: Before a hopeless battle, if I remember the tradition correctly.
PICARD: Not necessarily. Nelson toured the HMS Victory before Trafalgar.
GUINAN: Yes, but Nelson never returned from Trafalgar, did he?
PICARD: No, but the battle was won.
A nice bit of foreshadowing, although I do wonder about how Guinan knows about Trafalgar (1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, FYI). Was she on Earth for the entire 19th century?