HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: forbes@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (Scott Forbes)
Subject: Scott's "batting ninth" review:  Realm of Fear
Summary: It's Woody Allen in space!
Organization: Usenet Sports Programming Network
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 02:14:30 GMT

Spoilers ahead for "Realm of Fear"...

On our scale of -1 to 3, Realm of Fear gets a:

1.5	Worth watching, some good parts
(6.5 on a 1 to 10 scale; letter grade B-/C+)


...which means I watched it twice, but wasn't really paying attention
either time.  Let me put it this way:  I was playing chess while watching
the episode, and the game was only interrupted two or three times.  This
probably says more about my chess-playing than it does about the episode,
but it does mean that only a few scenes really caught my attention.

Bet you all tried tapping yourself behind the ear though, didn't you?

BEST PART OF EPISODE:  Nice treatment of a fairly standard formula plot
("overcoming your worst fear").  O'Brien was fun, too.

WORST PART OF EPISODE:  Somebody get the net!  Is Barclay the only
unstable person in the entire 24th century, and do the writers plan
to have this poor fellow develop every neurosis known to science?
This episode would have worked better for me if, say, Ensign Gomez
had been the transporter-phobe, or some other minor character who
needs fleshing out.  (Perhaps Alexander could get lost in the beam?)

BEST QUOTE: "Computer, more birds."  -- Barclay.

								   =====
								 =---=====
--								=-----=====
Scott Forbes		AT&T Network Wireless Systems		==---======
Naperville, IL		forbes@icbm.att.com			 =========
								   =====
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
From: jgasaway@ncsa.uiuc.edu (James Gasaway)
Subject: Re: I HATE BARCLAY (Ream of Fear SPOILER)
Followup-To: rec.arts.startrek.current
Organization: NCSA
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 23:46:38 GMT

In article <1992Sep28.165015.18249@tin.monsanto.com>, lesnyd@monsanto.com
(Larry E. Snyder) wrote:
> 
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> I got totally bored and exasparated watching Reg Barclay whine and whimper
> and act like a neurotic boob for a whole hour. I think that pretty much
> sums up Realm Of Fear.
> 
> He sees something in the transporter beam but doesn't want to talk about it
> because he thinks he's just going nuts. What a useless crew member! You
> can't trust him, he can't trust himself, and no competent organization would
> keep somebody like that very long. (deleted stuff)

I didn't see it that way.  Barclay tried very hard to face up to his
phobia,
something I can respect.  He didn't give in to his "transporter psychosis"
worries, but instead solved his mysterious "hallucinations" scientifically
--
exactly like any useful Star Fleet member would do.  Anyone with a real
phobia
can tell you that's an extremely difficult fight, and one which I felt was
portrayed
very well by the writers and the actor.

It's also interesting to note that Barclay is one of the few characters to
noticibly
grow.  I don't think Barclay could've confronted his fears during his
earlier 
episodes (in fact he hid from them in _Hollow Pursuits_).  I like how his
confidence
and his relationships have grown in a slow and difficult manner.  He hasn't
been a 
quick-fix and forget-'em character which is all too common in most
episodes.

> As for the story, four big worms in the transporter beam turn out to be the
> missing crew members of the science vessel, stuck in transport. Why do they
> look like worms?

Someone explained that visual distortions occur because of energy fluxes or
something like that. 

> This was a 3 on a scale of 10. I guess shows like this really benefit from
> The Cost Of Living. It keeps them off the bottom.

I liked the episode!  I would argue that shows like _The Cost Of Living_
cause this
episode to be rated "above average" when it should only be "average".

James 
jgasaway@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Univ of Illinois U-C
From: ekho@cybernet.cse.fau.edu (amanda rothman)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: The Enemy Within
Date: 30 Sep 92 03:30:42 GMT
Organization: Cybernet BBS, Boca Raton, Florida

atb@gserv1.dl.ac.uk (A.M.T. Bell) writes:

[plot synopsis deleted]
> 
> A fairly good episode, one things always puzzled me. If the transporter was b
> why didn't they send down a shuttlecraft to pick up Sulu and co?
> It would have been interesting to send spock through the transporter and got
> out human and vulcan copies. Imagine sending Worf through it and getting
> out a *bad* Klingon! He'd be one to avoid :-)
> 

  Sorry, I forgot the reason for not using the shuttlecraft.  About your 
musings about Spock, there is a story in _Star Trek: The New Voyages_ 
titled "Ni Var".  Unfortunately, I don't remember the author's name, but 
the story was about a similar situation to the one you mentioned.  
Perhaps you should look up the book.  (Actually, there are two of these 
books, put together by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath.  One of them 
has a story entitled "Visit to a Wierd Planet Revisited"... You can take 
a guess what it's about! ;))

  Stay Safe!

         Yours in Time and Space,

             Ekho (Killer Queen, Dynamite with a Laser Beam)
From: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Suffering Review Burn-out?
Date: 27 Sep 92 20:32:16 GMT
Reply-To: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Dept., Madison, WI

In <52400009@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com> jgm@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (John McBride--in my own private Idaho) writes:
>Is it just me or did were there an explosion of reviews and reviewers
>toward the end of last season?  It seemed like a large percentage of
>the basenotes and replies were talking about the reviews.

It's not your imagination; it seems like there are even more this year.

>							   How about
>a Review Basenote, and all the reviews and replies go under that Basenote?  That
>way a rasc reader could just bypass one note instead of 6-10 if he/she
>does not want to read reviews.

Alternately, a reader could:

1) Get a newsreader like nn which allows you to skip large numbers of articles
   at little cost in time or energy or thought, and
2) Put "review" in hir killfile, which should cut out a good proportion of
   said reviews.

But I keep forgetting; god forbid that people who DON'T want to read a class
of articles should do something by themselves without complaining that it's
really the reviewers who should be doing something for them...

(As you can see, this is a sore spot with me.  I still regard the r.a.s
split to be an unmitigated disaster.)

-- 
Michael Rawdon				 rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Department, Madison, WI

The Trekkie who doesn't own a VCR.
From: 00rdharringt@bsu-ucs.uucp (Rob Harrington)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: star trek TNG censorship: I.R.A. victory
Date: 6 Oct 92 22:13:25 GMT

In article <DEMILLO.92Oct6162905@egeus.juliet.ll.mit.edu>, demillo@juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Robert DeMillo ) writes:
> In article <pmcgttgn.718377094@unix1.tcd.ie> pmcgttgn@unix1.tcd.ie (Paul Mc Gettigan ) writes:
> 
> 
>> Do any of you trekkies out there know the title of the episode in ST/new generation in which
>> a reference is made to a 'fictional' victory of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) over the
>> British forces sometime in the 21st century.

yeah it was an episode dealing with terrorism.  Bev gets kidnapped to help
care for injured terrorists and one thing leads to another.  In it Data
refers to how force has been shown to be effective to bring about political
change, as seen in the Irish Unification of 2017 (Note this is from memory,
some of it may be wrong, like the date) 

>> Due to the all powerful and all censoring anti-republican governments of 
	both Britain
>> and the Irish Free State (26 counties) this particular episode was banned 
	from                           

Irish Free State?  Sheesh they haven't used that name since the '30's...
it's the Republic of Ireland.  (and coincidentally the claim control of
all 32 counties in their constitution) 

>> the airwaves.                                                         
> 
> Hmmm...that *is* interesting.

Not unusual... In Britain they aren't even allowed to have Sinn Fein members
(political wing of the IRA) speak... they have to dub in someone else's 
voice on the news...

-- 
/---------------------------------------v-------------------------------------\
|  Rob Harrington                       |              Ball State University  |
|  Department of History                |               Muncie, Indiana, USA  |
|  Vax--00RDHARRINGT@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu  |       Unix--herring@bsu-cs.bsu.edu  |
>---------------------------------------^-------------------------------------<
|               Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah -- Shane MacGowan                |
|                       Aoibheann beatha an scol/aire!                        |
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------/
From: schroede@bnlux1.bnl.gov (gary l. schroeder)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: The Enemy Within
Date: 2 Oct 92 18:53:12 GMT
Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973

In article <9209301421.AA05041@enet-gw.pa.dec.com> d_ellis@ricks.enet.dec.com (David Ellis  30-Sep-1992 0948) writes:
>atb@gserv1.dl.ac.uk (A.M.T. Bell) asks:

>> "in the episode The Enemy Within, what do we see Sulu's phaser do that we 
>> never see a phaser do at any other time?"

>atb@uk.ac.dl.gserv (tony bell) answers:

>> Sulu used a phaser to heat up a rock to act as a source of heat.

>True, but this is not unique.  Phasers were used to heat rocks in two other
>episodes:  "A Private Little War" (when Kirk was bitten by the Mugato) and
>"Spock's Brain" (camping out on Sigma Draconis).  The mistake is not in the 
>answer, but in the question itself.  Those local station people (what 
>station??) behind the "Trek Trivia Question" don't know their stuff!

Not true, David.  What you quote above is only a guess, not the correct
answer.  So far, I've found the local station's triv questions to be
very accurate.  In fact, it's _my_ mistake for not properly quoting the
question.  It actually went more along the lines of "when Sulu is
heating rocks, what does that phaser do that it never is seen doing at
any other time?"

>David  J  Ellis


-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary L. Schroeder  		|  
schroede@bnlux1.bnl.gov         |             Boo. 
Brookhaven National Laboratory  |
From: tjw@vms.cis.pitt.edu (TJ Wood)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Group Dynamics Review:  Time's Arrow, Part II (*SPOILERS*)
Date: 29 Sep 92 22:34:45 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Sep29.211037.7114@unlv.edu>, flagg@blind-lemon.cs.unlv.edu (Scott Cunningham) writes:

> So this time shift tracker, left in 19th century Earth, ends up where?   
> With the head & watch?  In a horseless carriage?  sorry I'm just feeding  
> the well worn thread of TA2.  Actually I don't remember lines to the  
> effect but would assume that Guinan or Twain took care of it.  (but what  
> did they do with it??)

Sheesh!  How do you think Guinan escaped the Borg?

She used "Data's Dohickey".  Works every time!

Terry
-- 
        INTERNET: tjw+@pitt.edu         BITNET: TJW@PITTVMS
"Laugh while you can, Monkey Boy!"                        - Lord "John" Warfin
"There can be only one!"                                  - The Highlander
"There should have been only one. I want my money back!"  - Terry
From: IA80024@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (Nicholas C. Hester)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Borg as Humans (Huma
Date: 2 Oct 92 18:26:40 GMT
Followup-To: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Organization: University of Maine System


>Original to: Dfrancis@Tronsbox.Xei.Co
>
>DF>If you'll recall, Dr. Crusher noted that Picard's DNA was being
>DF>altered by the Borg implants.
>
>DF>My guess is that when you get plugged in, they genetically alter
>DF>you to their norm.

Sorry, I missed this previous article and I'm taking it from someone
elses.  Since the Borg are constantly searching for ways to improve
themselves wouldn't the "norm" for the Borg race change as they come
across lifeforms that have what they need genetically?  They would
then take what they need from the absorbed peoples and incorporate
the genes into the DNA.  The whole of the Borg, new races and all,
then would be altered to fit  the new DNA patterns, probably to just
a certain extent, say to include new features in the older models,
the original Humanoid form.  Unless they decide a new one suited their
needs better.

Followups to r.a.s.misc
___

  Nicholas  Hester                  "I'm a virgin...I'm just not good at it."
ia80024@Maine.bitnet                                 -Ramada, "Hot Shots!"
ia80024@Maine.maine.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
From: rhballan@eos.ncsu.edu (ROBERT HAMI BALLANTINE)
Subject: Re: Lynch's Spoiler Review:  "Time's Arrow, Part II"
Originator: rhballan@c00577-1403br.eos.ncsu.edu
Keywords: TNG, Data, head, time-loops
Reply-To: rhballan@eos.ncsu.edu (ROBERT HAMI BALLANTINE)
Organization: North Carolina State University, Project Eos
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 17:27:27 GMT


Tim Lynch writes:

[lots of stuff deleted]

>One of the things that disappointed me is that very little about the actual 
>reason for all this got *answered*.  The basic storyline about these aliens 
>works out to be:  Picard and company find signs of aliens in the 1890s, 
>assume they're hostile, attack them when they find them in the past, and 
>eventually destroy their base in the 24th century.  We're never given any 
>evidence that they *must* be hostile, or that they have a choice in the 
>matter (remember the Crystalline Entity?  "It is not evil, it is 
>*feeding*."), and I find that disturbing.  Even more annoying is that we 
>found out precisely zero about why they picked Earth at that time, or at all. 
>Riker and Bev gave a theory which might work, but we have no sign that it's 
>the case.  Finally along these lines, the particular aliens involved more or 
>less ended up drifting off screen rather than being resolved somehow.  Yes, 
>the female presumably died and faded offscreen, but the male jumped back 
>through the portal.  Where is he?  Did he remain on Devidia Two with the 
>others?  We don't know.  Too many unanswered questions that *should* have \
>been answered.

Picard and company don't assume that the aliens are hostle.  They
find out that they are killing humans before they attack them.
And they didn't want the aliens to change history in some way.
Thats good enough reason for me.
As far as the alien that got away is concerned, he was phased
with the other aliens on Devidia Two, so you couldn't see him. Duh...
I think the writers probably expected us to figure this out on our own.

>Here's another, for instance:  Why, *why*, did the away team not try to 
>simply find Data via communicator?  We're given the clear impression from the 
>hospital scene that they work; why not try it?  If in fact Data *had* lost 
>the communicator in last show's poker game, then we'd be the wiser for it, 
>and the show would look very bright for having thought of *and blocked* that 
>easy way out.  Instead, it looks like they forgot.  Sigh.

Data sold his communicator for $3.00 to the poker player in order
to have money to play, remember?  It is odd that the crew didn't try
to contact him via communicator anyways. Unless they did try while they
were getting their clothing.(How they did that, I don't know)

[rest deleted]


Rob
From: rsmith@pearl.tufts.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Federation Starships
Date: 1 Oct 92 20:44:42 GMT
Organization: Tufts University - Medford, MA

In article <80879@ut-emx.uucp>, aodn307@bongo.cc.utexas.edu (Joshua Henry Geurink) writes:
> 
> 	I fully realize that someone out there once decided that the easiest
> method to drama is powerful opposition, and that's used fequently in TNG.
> However, would it really kill the Enterprise to decisively win >>one<< battle?
> The borg crushed them -- OK, I can see that.  But why does every new race 
> the E encounters have superior weaponry, better maneuvering capabilities, and
> a faster warp engine?

That's hardly accurate.  What about the Pakleds (sp?), the ones who kidnapped
Geordie (remember, "make it go")?  Or the two races in "The Outrageous
Okona"?  Or the ones who wiped out everybody's memory in (I believe)
"Conundrum"?  These hardly qualify as examples of races with vastly superior
technology, although in the last case they did have a single technology or
ability which gave them an advantage.  Overall, Star Trek presents a better
view of the range of technological development than you find in a lot of
other science fiction.

					--Rod Smith
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
From: shadow@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (the shadow knows)
Subject: Re: "Jack" from TAI
Keywords: gay,gay,gay,gay,gay
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 08:40:27 GMT

	Well, it shows that not only gay men, but also women 
watch the show...err..straight women.. i suppose troi and
ex tasha may have appealed to more than MEN...anyway,
i'm gay, and i like the techie toys..i also like to imagine that
not only do the species live together well in freedom from
poverty but that orientations are accepted as natural..i'm not
hoping for some direct 'gay is good and accepted' type show,
but just a glimpse of how easy it might be in the future for the
other 10% or so to live..who knows..maybe with a free society
even more might have alternate lifestyles..certainly not the
norm, but only odd enough for a crewmember to remark as if
saying..oh? he's left handed? 

-Mark
From: CXMP@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA (CXMP)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Realm of Fear: space worms ???
Date: 6 Oct 92 23:58:25 GMT
Organization: McGill University

In article <70151@hydra.gatech.EDU> cegtitd@prism.gatech.EDU (Tim Dodd) writes:
>Yeah:  Barclay still looked like Barclay, but these people all looked
>like mutated intestinal parasites!

We only saw from Barclay's point of view.

  Also, how come they told Barclay
>that he couldn't stay dematerialized for more than 30-40 seconds or
>they would lose his signal, but they were able to recover the Yosemite's
>crew members after at least 3-4 DAYS!

Wait 'till they bring Scotty back.  3-4 days is nothing.

  For that matter, if you're
>disassembled at the molecular level, how is it possible to "experience"
>anything during transport (much less grab things!)?

I complained about that too but I was ignored.  The thread has moved to
rec.arts.startrek.tech

  And, before I'm
>finished, who was operating the transporter when the 4 Yosemite crew
>members beamed out?

Easy: the dead one.  Hey, he wasn't always dead you know! :)

Martin
From: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Lynch's Spoiler Review:  "Realm of Fear"
Keywords: TNG, Barclay, transporters
Date: 4 Oct 92 18:22:59 GMT
Reply-To: brown@vidiot.UUCP (Vidiot)
Organization: Vidiot's Hangout

In article <1aldh0INN8lp@gap.caltech.edu> tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
<WARNING:  The following post contains particularly frightening spoilers for 
<this week's TNG offering, "Realm of Fear".  Those afraid of spoilers should 
<either get over their fears or skip over this post.

<--There were several occasions that invited the MST3K treatment.  The most 
<flagrant of those had to be when Beverly's patient...er...corpse suddenly 
<started having a heartbeat.  She quickly acted and his heart *stopped* 
<beating.  "Well, that takes care of that.  Damn corpses, trying to come back 
<to life and make more work for us..." :-)  (Another had to be Geordi's crack 
<about Reg looking pale, however.  Er...Geordi, pardon me for asking, but 
<isn't it a *wee* bit difficult for you to tell?)

By being a little pale, wouldn't it show up as a temperature variation?
Therefore Geordi could see it.

<--All 3 of the final Yosemite crewmembers are brought back at once.  Excuse 
<me, but I *do* seem to recall the point being made that there was only 
<bandwidth enough to beam one person around at a time here.  What gives?

The bandwidth was to transport to the other ship.  They didn't transport
anywhere.  It was a local disassembly.

Tim, I'm surprised that you missed that point.
-- 
      harvard\                          spool.cs.wisc.edu!astroatc!vidiot!brown
Vidiot  ucbvax!uwvax..........!astroatc!vidiot!brown
      rutgers/            INTERNET:vidiot!brown%astroatc.UUCP@spool.cs.wisc.edu
                                   brown@wi.extrel.com
From: dgeller@praetor.rutgers.edu (dgeller)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Time's Arrow II question
Date: 7 Oct 92 00:45:13 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

I think the reason they could not use the communicator pins is because
they are all "networked" through the Enterprise computers.  Since the
Big E was 500 years in the future, the pins did not work as
communicators :)
Date: Sunday, 27 Sep 1992 18:50:07 EST
From: <RVESTERM@vma.cc.nd.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: TNG Grade Report: "Time's Arrow II"

i think that the best part of time's arrow was the nice little touch at the
end - samuel clemens leaving his watch in the cave.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
From: CXMP000 <CXMP@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA>
Subject: Re: Reason why TNG is downhilling
Organization: McGill University
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 01:48:27 GMT

In article <67073@cup.portal.com> Peter_A_David@cup.portal.com writes:
>I don't know if "personal conflict" would be such a bad thing for STTNG.
>I've always thought that one of the show's problems is that everyone gets
>along with each other so well.  As opposed to, say, McCoy vs. Spock.
>Sure it became cliched after a while...but at least it was SOMEthing.
>Upping the level of conflict between the characters might go a long way
>towards giving them some depth.
>
That's why I'm going to miss Ro (besides the obvious reason :) ).  There
was a lot of tension between Riker and Ro and the events in "Conundrum"
only served to make things even more tense.
>
>PAD

BTW, X-Factors a lot of fun.  Gosh darn it, maybe I should give those
novels a try.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                ! Address as above or use
Martin Phipps                   ! LOULA@hep.physics.mcgill.ca or simply
                                ! MUHEP::LOULA if you're on a VAX
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Terminal freeze, duplicate posts, lost posts and email-come-posts,
these are a few of my least favorite things.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
From: amcmicha@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Andrew McMichael)
Subject: Cross-sightings
Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 11:23:11 GMT

Just to add to the growing list of obscure cross-sightings
of TRek stars and guest stars:
 
I saw Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd)  last night in an old western
called "Alvarez Kelly" which starred William Holden and Richard
Widmark.  Carmel played a Scottish Ship's Captain.  Great accent. :)
The movie is circa 1958 or so and he was a pretty 'stout' guy
back then, too.
From: IA80024@MAINE.MAINE.EDU (Nicholas C. Hester)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: You didn't get my message, did you?
Date: 2 Oct 92 18:53:19 GMT
Organization: University of Maine System

In article <uplink.717906241@cwis>, uplink@cwis.unomaha.edu (John M. Scheibeler)
says:
>
>        ENOUGH WITH THE @#$%@#$ SPOILERS!  ENOUGH!  ENOUGH!  ENOUGH!

Why?  This IS ras.current, they belong here.  And TAII (and by default
TAI) is a current topic.

Nick
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current,rec.arts.sf.science