From: rlg@desktalk.com (Richard L. Gralnik)
Subject: Re: Lynch's Spoiler Review: "The First Duty"
Reply-To: rlg@desktalk.com
Organization: Desktalk Systems Inc.
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 23:01:47 GMT

Spoilers ahead for 'The First Duty'.   Watch your sensors for a proximity alert.




Ok, Tim has lain the groundwork with his fine Synoppe-sis (sic).  Now we all
get to agree or disagree.  Of course disagreeing is more fun :-)  It's too
easy to 'me too' the stuff you agree with.



In article 13295@cco.caltech.edu, tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:

>
>We all knew that Locarno would push as many hot buttons as he could and 
>attempt to dissuade Wes from talking, and that he was mostly to blame.
>BUT:  I certainly was surprised to find out at the end that his "the team is 
>more important than the individual" speech was sincere enough that he was 
>willing to sacrifice himself for the team.  That was a big surprise.
>

I'd have to say it was a big surprise because up until then I didn't like Locarno
and certainly couldn't see anybody following him to the ends of the earth or
anywhere else for that matter.  They guy struck me as stuck up, selfish,
conceited and arrogant (I think that about sums it up.)  I kept waiting for
Wes to tell him to take a hike or worse.  If that's the kind of person he (and
the rest of the academy) worships I have to wonder how good a judge of character
he is.

>Most of the guest cast were good.  My main objection here is to Richard Fancy 
>as Satelk--he made a truly miserable, and *dull*, Vulcan.  I think this was 
>an acting (or maybe directing?) problem more than one of the writing; his 
>actual questions seemed to be fairly short and to the point.  His demeanor 
>and tone of voice, however, screamed anything BUT Vulcan to me.  Not a good 
>choice.  

I have to agree with Tim here.  I thought the Vulcan guy went to the Tomaluk
school of acting.  I kept waiting for him to coolly hiss "Two men on the ship?
Obviously I must have been misinformed."

>>The two cadets of Nova Squadron besides Wes and Locarno (Hajar and Sito) were 
>fine--nothing seemed particularly wonderful, but they didn't need to do much. 
>
I thought they were kind of useless,  especially Sito.  These are supposed to 
be the crackerjack pilots of the academy.  I'd expect a bit more self-confidence
even in the face of major disciplinary action.  Instead I kept waiting for
Sito to start crying.  Hardly a match for that Bejoran firebrand, Ensign Ro.


>Then, there's Nick Locarno.  I thought he went slightly overboard in his final 
>scene with Wes, but only slightly.  Apart from that, he definitely managed to 
>give off the air of, as Boothby put it, "coach, surrogate father, and best 
>friend all in one" to the rest of Nova Squadron.  He really felt like a born 
>leader--and as I'm sure others noticed, he seemed rather a Kirk-figure in 
>many ways (right down to the way he walked at times).  His arguments started 
>to ring false for me in his final scene with Wes, which wasn't so good--but 
>the revelation at the end that he truly meant every one of them, to the point 
>of taking the fall himself, lends a bit of poignancy to the whole thing.  
>Very, very nice.

I thought the guy sucked eggs (oops, does Atsushi have that phrase copyrighted?).
The little ceramic ducks holding paper on our refrigerator have more magnetism.
I think the casting director blew it.  Or the actor blew it.  Or the director
blew it.  The credibility of the whole scenario hinged on this guy being the
charismatic leader who could make friends and influence people like Dale 
Carnegie.  Instead, IMHO, he came across as a self-centered wimp.  I didn't
buy him for a minute.  

(ending phaser blast)


>
>And finally, we have Wes.  Written to perfection, for possibly the first 
>time.  And performed to perfection, for possibly the first time.  I don't 
>know precisely what I can say here.  The story was written around three 
>people:  Wes, and his two surrogate fathers (Locarno and Picard).  He had to 
>choose and he did; and he chose well.
>
I agree with you here, Tim.  This was a different Wesley.  Not the innocent,
smarty-pants wunderkind anymore.  (Actually, having seen Wil Wheaton at a 
convention recently, this Wes is much more like Wil himself seems to be.)

>>The best example of this, and in fact the best character interplay I've seen 
>in months, had to be the Picard/Wes scene in his ready room.  I could not 
>stop watching--literally. 
>
I agree strongly with you on this one.  This is the best I've seen Picard in
ages, and to me is one of the best scenes ST:TNG has done in a long time.

I liked this episode a lot.  This and 'Cause and Effect' are for me two of
TNG's best ever (hopefully we haven't all unconsciously lowered our standards
because of some of the drek trek offered this season.)


Richard