View Single Post
  #316  
Old 03-19-2023, 10:29 PM
Nate the Great's Avatar
Nate the Great Nate the Great is offline
You just activated his Trek card
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posts: 4,859
Default

November 2nd, 1992, "Rascals"

Fiver by Admiral Sab

The Episode

GUINAN: You were on the most beautiful planet in the quadrant and you spent your entire shore leave in a cave?
PICARD: It was a very rewarding experience.

It seems odd that Guinan would A. not be aware of this side of Picard's personality and B. be so dismissive of other's hobbies. She's supposed to be the one who's the most accepting of the differences between people!

RO: Is that a Draebidium froctus?
(Keiko has a tray of plants on her lap)
KEIKO: Actually, it's a Draebidium calimus. You can tell by the shape of the leaves. I didn't know you were interested in plant biology.
RO: I took a class at the Academy. I Don't remember very much though.

I wish they'd done more with Ro's interests in non-tough guy hobbies. Kira was extremely "humanized" by constant displays of her faith, she was interested in springball, she even had knowledge of gardening.

O'BRIEN: I've got them. There's a forty percent drop in mass. I may have lost one of them.

If we say each adult is 160 pounds on average and a 12-year old is about 90 pounds, 4(160-90)=280 pounds. As SF Debris says, that's a bit much for one person unless he was making a crack about Keiko's weight.

PICARD JR: Thank you, Mister O'Brien. Another moment and--

Jr.? What are you thinking, Chakoteya? "Young Picard", "Child Picard", even "Alt Picard"!

GUINAN JR: You know, you make a pretty cute kid.
RO JR: Great. Just what I want to be. Cute.
GUINAN JR: Were you this much fun when you were a kid?
RO JR: I was in a refugee camp. Fun wasn't exactly in my vocabulary.

At least you weren't hiding from rape gangs like Yar did.

PICARD JR: All right. Let's talk. Are you here to relieve me of duty?
CRUSHER: I'd rather not have to take that step.
PICARD JR: I am still Jean-Luc Picard. My judgement, my experiences, my mental capacities are all intact.
CRUSHER: That's true, for now. But this could be the first stage of a condition that may begin to affect your mind as well.

So relieve him of duty when he's no longer capable of command. Which isn't now. This is one plot point that I never liked. Troi herself said that their minds haven't been altered. By all means, have Riker take charge of contacting the locals on Ligos Seven to avoid questions, but Picard is still fit for duty!

GUINAN JR: You're not supposed to do anything. That's what relieved of duty means.
RO JR: Well, I should be doing something instead of just standing around waiting for them to find a cure.

Like what, Ro? You can't do ANYTHING to speed up the search for a cure! To be honest, this would've been a great time for Young Keiko to ask for help with the arboretum!

It's not that I disapprove of Guinan teaching her how to play, but there had to have been a better way to go about this. Maybe with Ro teaching Guinan a lesson in return.

(She snuggles up to him and he gets up and walks away)
KEIKO JR: What's wrong?
O'BRIEN: It's. I don't know, but this feels wrong somehow.

This is a great example of why it was a good idea to have a married couple on board. Plus it really makes you feel for Miles' pain. It was a really good idea to make him a leading character on DS9.

KEIKO JR: So what is the point? Is our marriage over?
O'BRIEN: I didn't say that. But until they find a way to reverse this, this effect, it's going to be hard for me to ignore the fact that you're a little girl.
KEIKO JR: What if they can't find a way? What if I'm like this the rest of my life? What does that mean for us, for our family?

More time needed to be devoted to this. Unlike the senior staff and Picard, Molly isn't capable of handling this kind of thing. In her eyes her mother is gone. Of course we'll be returning to this when "Time's Orphan" comes around.

O'BRIEN: Keiko. It's going to be all right. I promise. We'll work this out.
KEIKO JR: How?
O'BRIEN: I don't know.

It occurs to me that they could move to a holodeck and Keiko could remote-control an adult version of herself for Molly's benefit. It still wouldn't help with their marriage, but it'd be a start.

PICARD JR:I suppose I'll just have to wait until I grow up again before I get another command. Which might be in ten, maybe fifteen years. The question is what to do until then?
TROI: You're still a Starfleet captain. I'm sure there are other assignments you could be given in the interim.
PICARD JR:: I've spent thirty years of my life aboard starships I'm not about to sit behind a desk now.

I'm offended at the notion that a Starfleet officer can't be happy with a planetbound assignment by default. Sulu put his career on hold for YEARS when Demora was young, teaching at the Academy in between the movies. His life was changed overnight (including delaying assuming command of the Excelsior), but he dealt with it.

Furthermore, a holographic avatar would work especially well if Picard taught at the Academy.

TROI: You could return to the Academy. Take another degree. Brush up on your Latin.
PICARD JR: And be Wesley Crusher's room mate? I will admit that returning to the Academy does have a certain appeal, but I've spent my life looking forward. Going to the Academy again feels like looking backward.

Doing the Command coursework again would be looking backward, but what's to stop you from being on the Science track this time? It stands to reason that Federation scientists would be more acceptable of his current status. Now he could dig around in caves to his heart's content!

In fact, it almost seems sacrilegious, but this is a premise that really could be a two-parter if more thought was put into it. Have Part One end with Crusher declaring that they can't be cured. Have Part Two resume a few months later. The four have started to come to terms with their new status, except something has come up that demands that they return to adulthood. Perhaps aggression from the Romulans.

PICARD JR: It would give me a chance to take up Doctor Langford's offer and accompany her to the ruins on Suvin Four. But to leave the Enterprise.

Why does Picard seem to think that he can't come back if he ever leaves the Enterprise?

LAFORGE: That's not tritanium anymore. Somehow the molecular structure of this alloy's been changed, broken down into its constituent elements.

And what would these constituent elements be? Don't tell me that tritanium is just a fancy iron/titanium alloy.

GUINAN JR: You were a jumper all right. The quiet ones, they always look so innocent. You think you can turn your back on them. Next thing you know, bam! They're bouncing on the bed.

Have I mentioned yet how good the actors they chose for the young versions are? Except for David Tristan Birkin clearly being too old for this, of course.

BERIK: They have locked out the command functions.
MORTA: You said they would not have time.

Even without considering Data, I think there was adequate time. Then again, TNG Ferengi are idiots.

LURIN: I am DaiMon Lurin and I declare this ship to be a loss and open to claim according to the Ferengi Salvage Code. You will cooperate with our salvage operations or we will begin executing your crew.

Yeah, this doesn't make sense. Salvage code seems like something that would be very specific within Federation space, and we would've been told if we're not inside the Federation.

RO JR: No fatalities or injuries among the children. The Ferengi have taken control of main Engineering and decks twenty three through thirty seven.

Main Engineering is on Deck 36 (yes, I have that memorized), so this seems redundant.

LURIN: The addition of your crew will greatly speed up the process. As for your ship, I'm sure that it will fetch a handsome price on the Romulan market. But before that can happen, we need to regain access to your central computer.

It occurs to me that Ferengi/Romulan relations wouldn't be very good. The reasons why are a screed by themselves that I won't bother with.

LURIN: Now, how many people on your ship?
RIKER: One thousand fourteen.

So, the standard 1,012, plus Ro and Molly?
__________________
mudshark: Nate's just being...Nate.
Zeke: It comes nateurally to him.

mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really -- it's just a bad idea.

Sa'ar Chasm on the 5M.net forum: Sit back, relax, and revel in the insanity.

Adam Savage: I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Crow T. Robot: Oh, stop pretending there's a plot. Don't cheapen yourself further.
Reply With Quote