30th Anniversary TNG Episode Discussion Marathon

[Nate the Great]

November 21st, 1988, "The Child"


No fiver
Transcript

Memory Alpha


Background Information



* The Phase II stuff is at the end, we'll do the TNG episode first.

* I understand why Geordi was promoted, but it still doesn't make sense within the chain of command. Having him change departments for a season before the promotion would've opened up many storytelling possibilities, but of course this is TNG Season Two. A shame...
* Pulaski was introduced in the worst way possible. A senior officer not reporting to the captain before assuming her duties is worthy of disciplinary action unless there's a BIG medical disaster. And Troi doesn't count, a lesser doctor (Selar?) could've handled that for a day just as well.
* Pulaski's interactions with Data could've waited until a later time, this episode was overloaded as it was.



The Episode

* Georgi has to replicate something five hundred times. Industrial replicators haven't been invented yet, but in this case I think an alternative could've been found; like automated fabrication units or using the replicators on the Repulse as well.

* As SF Debris says, it's laughable how little the pregnancy or birth affects Troi. I'll forgive nonsense like this in Avengers #200 with Carol Marcus, as comic books have a younger audience. But this isn't a comic book. Here you could at least drop some technobabble about how somehow the baby is flooding her body with endorphins or how in this case the connection between mother and child is much more efficient to put less strain on her body.
* It's nice that Data wants to serve as birthing coach, but Pulaski's statement that usually the father is present seems overly obtuse. She knows that there's no father, she knows that now is not the time to make people any more uncomfortable, she chooses a miraculous birth as the time to make fun of Data (very unprofessional), etc...
* Introducing Guinan and Pulaski in the same episode was a bad idea, especially when you had the Wesley and Troi plots to worry about already. To be frank this episode should've been put off a week or two (if it had to happen at all, of course), and move up The Outrageous Okona (plenty of room to spare in that plot!) to introduce the new status quo.
* They can't even blow the specimens into space, because they'll still be a danger. So no secondary backup exists? Fit the cargo bay with special radiation emitters to flood the thing with death rays if needed!


Memory Alpha

* First episode where Wesley wears a communicator. Really?
* First time the three light bars were used to activate the transporter. These are of course a homage to the three slider switches used by Scotty and Kyle in TOS.



Nitpicker's Guide

* Phil also finds the idea that the specimen modules can't be jettisoned ridiculous. Dump it into a star!
* Where did Ian's Y chromosome come from?

* Ian can sense people's emotions even though Betazoids don't develop their empathic abilities until puberty (except for Tam Elbrun, of course). He could've dropped a line of exposition saying that he turned on this ability early to learn more.


Star Trek Phase II Version

(Information from my copy of Star Trek Phase II The Lost Series)


* The entity explores Uhura and Chekov before Ilia. One presumes that Uhura wasn't chosen because Ilia's mental powers would be more useful.
* Ilia points out that she hasn't broken her vow of celibacy. A valid point, but that should be a bit farther down the list of questions if you ask me. Unless you're going to tell me that Deltans can sense their children from the point of conception.
* Ilia's child Irska is a girl, getting around the missing Y chromosome bit.
* Somehow Irska is human, despite Ilia being Deltan. One wonders what the point of this is.
* The external threat is an alien ship, not samples. More dramatic, but less personal, it's a tossup which is better.
* Irska plays a more direct role in helping the ship than Ian.

[Nate the Great]

November 28th, 1988, "Where Silence Has Lease"


No fiver
Transcript
Memory Alpha


The Episode

I could nitpick the technology for hours, but I don't have the time. The problem is that with a little thought I could solve most of them, so why couldn't the writing staff?


* Troi and Picard are worried about Riker joining Worf on the holodeck. Does Worf disable the safeties?

* I don't like it when they depict Worf as blind with bloodlust. This level of barely contained rage could put a mission or crewmember at risk.
* I call a probe vanishing without a trace worthy of Yellow Alert, why are they ribbing Worf so much?* Now is not the time for Pulaski to rib Data. Furthermore it's established elsewhere that she's not a bridge officer (for some reason), so why is she here if there's no medical emergency?
* I get not wanting to instigate hostilities, but if the Romulan fires first without hailing first I say that hostilities have been instigated. Knock it off with the warnings, Picard, it makes you look weak!
* The sheer number of powers exhibited by Nagilum worries me. He's on the level of the Talosians if you ask me. Manipulating senses and ship sensors at this level is scary.

* Nagilum can contact ships outside his boundaries, but didn't until the end. I don't think he can claim moral superiority, or even equality.


Memory Alpha

* Between this episode and "Contagion" various things about the Yamato were changed. There are explanations for these, but I vote for the MST3K quote: "They just didn't care!"


Nitpickers Guide

* Much confusion about Pulaski's bridge officer status. In "Thine Own Self" it's established that you can't become a full commander without getting bridge officer status. So how is Pulaski a full commander? Troi seemed to imply that a Lt. Commander can be chief medical officer.

* Phil repeats my two data point comment.
* Phil also brings up the confusion about O'Brien's rank.



YouTube

* Animal Worf almost kills Riker
* Worf and Riker and two Yamato bridges
* Picard talks to Data about death

[Nate the Great]

December 5th, 1988, "Elementary, Dear Data"


Fiver (by Derek)

Transcript
Memory Alpha


The Episode

I need a shorter way to say "horrible misuse of established Treknology, good character work, would work better in isolation." I do enjoy the performances, especially Daniel Davis as Moriarty. Back in the day I enjoyed his performance as Niles the butler on The Nanny as well.


* I get that Geordi would want to make a model Victory, I do. It's great that people still want to make things and not just replicate them. But it shouldn't be in Engineering, that was stupid.

* Geordi wants to participate in the Holmes program, but doesn't know the basic workings of the Victorian age. Ugh. Was that "haven't they invented the electric light yet" bit supposed to be a joke? Because it isn't, it just makes him look like an idiot.
* At least they're trying to humanize Pulaski and make her interactions with Data more reasonable. Took them long enough.
* You'd think by now a Doyle/Holmes randomizer would've been built into the program anyway. Ugh.
* The way they describe the holodeck isn't quite right. I could write whole essays on how the thing should work, but you guys wouldn't be interested. Let's just say that they imply that the walls are nothing more than huge TV sets, and it's not that simple.
* It's been discussed by other people (including SF Debris) that some of the simpler props must be replicated, as it would be more energy efficient. Specifically he mentions when someone consumes food on the holodeck. Supposedly this would explain how Moriarty can create a drawing of the Enterprise that can exist off the holodeck. I had a whole tech lecture typed out, but the short version is that holographic puppets and replicated props each have their downsides, and the simplest scenario is to assume that everything is holographic and tasteless unless the user specifically requests a replicated prop be substituted.

* Once again everyone acts like the holodeck can't be unplugged manually. No 24th-century fusebox? Nothing that can be severed with a plasma torch?



The Fiver

La Forge: Yeah. Check out my model ship. Isn't it great?
Data: No. And you've never expressed an interest in building model ships before.
La Forge: Don't worry. I never will again either.


Good point. It's a shame we couldn't have tied Worf into this subplot before. After all, he's the one with model experience.



La Forge: (writing and narrating) "It was a dark and stormy night..." Dang it. This is Reading Rainbow.
Inspector Lestrade: Holmes, there's been an awful crime committed. Mr. Boddy has been murdered!
Data: Ha! Ms. Scarlet with the candlestick in the Study! Go me!
La Forge: Data, how could you possibly know that?
Data: Take a look. It's in a book. It's Sherlock Holmes.
La Forge: That's it. I'm leaving.



I'll just toss you this fan cover of the Reading Rainbow theme...


Data: Ha! Mrs. Peacock with the wrench in the Kitchen! Go me!


Given the surroundings, wouldn't the candlestick in the Study make more sense?


Computer: What do you want?
Moriarty: I'd like a burger and fries... supersized.
Computer: Sigh. I thought I made you sentient.



Another time capsule joke. I would've based the punchline on something like "I thought I gave you better taste than that", but I'm not sure which is better.


Nitpicker's Guide

* Phil brings up the image vs. replicated thing again.
* He wonders why Data and Geordi left Moriarty's lair (which has an arch) to go down the street to call for the arch. Phil seems to think that the arch's location relative to a holographic environment is fixed each time a program is loaded. This is ludicrous.

* There's discussion about whether Moriarty meets the definition of a sentient being established in "The Measure of a Man." I'd argue that he does, but that's a discussion for another time.

[Nate the Great]

December 12th, 1988, "The Outrageous Okona"

A lot of people bash this episode, but I consider it a guilty pleasure. My only real problem is that Data's subplot doesn't really resolve. Surely there is some stepping-stone lesson to humor that he could've discovered without upsetting the status quo too much.

No Fiver (is this one reserved?)
Transcript
Memory Alpha

The Episode

* It seems odd that they specify that a humanoid race colonized this system, then have these guys indistinguishable from humans. This place couldn't be a human colony like in "Up The Long Ladder"?
* Why does Okona's ship have to be sublight only? I hate the concept of impulse-only ships in general, but this is just silly. Even when you limit space to just the solar system, it's big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely--SLAP!
* As has been covered elsewhere, Deanna may define Okona as a "rogue", but that's a horrible way to establish a character trait, especially when the character isn't written to fit it.
* Okona asks if Data has ever been drunk. Data correctly notes that he can't become intoxicated, but I'd still like a reference to the events of "The Naked Now", no matter how obliquely.
* Loading twice the cargo capacity in canaries...I get that it's a scientifically inaccurate joke, but I'm going to link to a Mythbusters clip anyway.
* Guinan's android/humanoid joke is absolutely awful. As others have said, any joke that you have to explain isn't funny.
* Fish aren't amphibians. They couldn't use alligator/reptilian?
* A monk, a clone, and a Ferengi? It's almost like I made a thread about that joke ten years ago or something...
* The laser thing is often brought up in the Star Trek/Star Wars debate. I choose not to delve too deep into this issue, as it's clear that real world lasers=/=Star Wars lasers=/=Star Trek lasers. As for who would win in a fight between the Death Star and a Borg cube, the Borg cube would. It can regenerate and is full of individually expendable drones.
* Why did they kill time with tracking down Okona? It always infuriates me when people can't be tracked with internal sensors. As it seems clear that Okona isn't human, setting the sensors to look for a Madenan life signs should be a simple task. For that matter, wouldn't there be some form of limited-function commbadge for guests (and Wesley) to use?
* I find it disturbing that the Enterprise crew considers the idea that fathers have an obligation to children that they help conceive archaic. Eesh.
* It would've been fun if Data's hobby of telling lame jokes had continued.

Memory Alpha

* They say that Data saying that he hasn't be drunk from alcohol is a reference to "The Naked Now." I still say they could've made a more overt reference.

Nitpickers Guide

* Phil wonders if Okona could see Troi on the viewscreen, because if he could, wouldn't he flirt with her?
* He also wonders what makes Guinan an expert on humor. What makes her not an expert, I wonder. It's not like she's ever solemn when she doesn't have to be!

TNG Companion

Jerry Lewis was approached to play the part of The Comic, but had scheduling problems. The 3D chess set has a few pieces that are references to Lost in Space.

[Nate the Great]

I have to catch up on the TNG Companion notes:


“Where Silence Has Lease”

According to Hurley, this superalien’s name [Nagilum] is the reverse spelling (minus one l) of Mulligan. The name was chosen because actor Richard Mulligan, the star of Soap and Empty Nest, was originally sought to play the role.

My parents remember Richard Mulligan more for Empty Nest, but sadly I know him best as Barnaby from the remake of Babes in Toyland.

“Elementary, Dear Data”

The ending originally filmed was dropped from the version aired: the paper with Moriarty’s sketch of the Enterprise is significant not because of what he’s drawn but for the fact that it exists off the holodeck. Picard is then aware that the character can somehow be saved, as opposed to the gone-awry holodeck images of “The Big Goodbye”, and so his explanations to Moriarty were seen as a lie by Gene Roddenberry, who didn’t want Picard to stoop to deception.

I have no problem with the Enterprise drawing: we’ve seen before how simple, static objects like snowballs and possibly food are replicated but the more complex stuff is merely illusion.

[NAHTMMM]

La Forge: Can you say Reading Rainbow?
Data: Reading Rainbow.
La Forge: I think I like seventh season Data better.

I love this running gag.

Pulaski: In that case, Data sucks. He's a toaster. Data, you couldn't solve an original Sherlock Holmes mystery if your life depended on it.
Data: I accept your challenge. I will solve an original Sherlock Holmes mystery and your life will depend on it.
Pulaski: Good!

Another favorite you didn't mention.

[Nate the Great]

January 9th, 1989, "Loud as a Whisper"


Preface: I get the intended message, but this is yet another episode where we are supposed to accept completely implausible plot holes (specifically about telepathy, deafness, etc.) to facilitate character work. Ugh.



Fiver (by Marc)
Transcript

Memory Alpha


The Episode

* Creators, please stop showing Picard in his ready room doing non-work related stuff. He has quarters for that!

* Troi, stop vocalizing private emotional states when they aren't relevant! At best you should ask for clarification and shut up when Worf says that he's not expecting battle.

* "Talk to Riva and not his chorus" should be in the mission briefing. It made Picard look like an idiot and everyone look like they never do any homework for their missions beyond the one-sentence summary.
* Another instance of laser activity as marking a more primitive weapons technology than phasers. Given that we know what lasers can do, I wish they'd ignored the TOS instances of the term as being '60s-era stupidity and invented another term for a more primitive energy weapon technology.
* You'd think there would be technology to nullify energy weapons within a given area. By all means make it extremely bulky so you can't use it without preparation time, and make it so you can only block certain frequencies (I don't think these guys can "modulate the frequencies to a higher EM band", do you?), but it should be possible!
* Worf raises a good point, but you wonder why the Klingons haven't invented a gestural language by now, even if it only includes the concepts needed in battle.
* As SF Debris said, this episode is the exact wrong one to mention the possibility of Geordi getting real eyes. Not only does it conflict with the message, it makes you wonder why they can make substitute eyes but not substitute ears for Riva.


The Fiver

Chorus: Riva is deaf. We three interpret his thoughts and serve as his voice.
Intellect: I speak in matters of logic and reason.
Passion: I represent emotion and spontaneity.
Harmony: And I strive to maintain balance between the others.
Picard: I'm surprised you don't also have a Scottish engineer on your team.
Harmony: We do, but he is on holiday this week.



Nice invocation of the Trinity, but if you're going to invoke Scotty a more specific joke would've been appropriate. He went on vacation to Argelius, he has a hangover from a scotch binge, he's stuck in a Jefferies tube, etc.


Data: I have been studying various sign languages in the hope of communicating with Riva, but I am not sure which one will work best.
Picard: Choose one and give us a demonstration. What would be the sign for "happy"?
Data: " "
Picard: I'd skip to the next choice if I were you.



I wonder how you're supposed to say that out loud. Given that, here's a random list of ASCII emoticons...



Memory Alpha

* So Riva's actor, Howie Seago, wanted an episode to dispell myths about deaf people. I wonder what he could mean, beyond "deaf people have brains just like hearing people". Besides, if hearing people aren't supposed to grab deaf people's heads and shout at them, why did this appear in the episode?


Nitpickers Guide

* If the locals have mere lasers, how did it destroy Riva's chorus layer by layer? I'd think lasers would just punch holes in a person to kill them.
* Phil has a problem with how the chorus's robes were billowing as they beamed in, saying that the transporter would have to manipulate them atom by atom as they were materializing. I think Phil was being overly critical on this one. This isn't the first or last time that people will move during the period when they are within the annular confinement beam. This is just one example of a forgivable cheat that has to exist for the show to exist, just like the humanlike aliens, perfect Universal translation along with holographic projections over everyone's lips to make it look like they're making English words with their mouths, etc.