From: tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch)
Subject: Re: 3 in 1 Opinionated Comments (1st season episodes)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 16:30:19 GMT

kanamori@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Atsushi Kanamori) writes:

> 
>This post contains reviews for the episodes:

>        ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT
>        THE NAKED NOW
>        CODE OF HONOR

Obviously spring fever is as prevalent at Stanford as it is at points further
south.  :-)

>ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT
>---------------------

>My one line impression of E@F: "technically proficient." 

Mine's always been "nice introduction to the characters, but that's all".

>The SFX were excellent -- several shots really caught my eye: the glowing 
>curtain that blocks the Enterprise, and the Big E doing a U-turn while the 
>saucer detaches. 

Agreed here [glug].  ILM was still firmly involved with the effects early 
in the show, and they acquitted themselves honorably here.

>The character bits are okay for a crew who's just getting to know each
>other. 

Exactly why I think it worked so well *for such an introduction*.  Now, 
something so roughshod wouldn't work; but there, the characters themselves
were roughshod.

>I especially liked the part where Picard tested Riker. 

That's up there.  The Data/McCoy talk was a patented heartstring-tugger, but
it worked any way.  I think the Riker/Data conversation on the holodeck
would have to round out the top three.

>   Riker: Again, I didn't detect much difference -- other than that he's
>     visually unrecognizable without the beard :-)

"The Balsa Wood Commander", to reuse an old phrase.  :-)

>   Worf: Geez, has he been breathing helium or something? I guess Dorn
>     hasn't gotten into the role yet (of course, he has less to do in
>     this outing than any other character.)

Worf changed a *lot* in the first two seasons.

>   Data: A bit more expressive than usual, and I suspect those 
>     "word: synonym1,synonym2,synonym3..." recitals are going to get
>     mighty tiresome in the near future.

Yep.

>   Tasha: Is Crosby just a bad actress or is she's supposed to act
>     spazzed-out? Chill out, lady.

I see what they were trying to do, but it didn't work much.  After her
speech back then, my friends and I all basically agreed, "oy, there must have
been a better way to get across her backstory".

>   Troi: Ehhh... definitely not the SuperTroi we've been seeing lately.

Now you know why she was so unpopular from the start.  

>I haven't even mentioned the plots yet, and that's because they're not much
>to crow about. The "Q" plot is a tired one: 

The plot was somewhat tired, but I always found Q himself to have interesting
possibilities.  Some of them have been realized, most haven't.

>Picard's closing line ("I'm sure that [future missions] will be *much* more
>interesting.") was rather poor judgement on the part of the writers --
>it gives far too much ammunition to the critics.

Another common occurrence:

Troi:  "Pain...intense pain!"
Riker: "Who from?"
Viewers:  "The producers!"

>My overall feeling of E@F is "eye candy." As an introduction to the 
>characters, it works -- 

Exactly.  Apart from that, no big deal.

>THE NAKED NOW
>-------------

>I don't know if TNN was intended as a character development story or as
>a parody of TNT. Either way, it fails utterly.

I don't think it was intended as either the way it turned out.  I think it
was intended as straight farce.  It worked for me, but only in part.

>First, the plot larceny. I assume Mr. Bingham never copied an assignment
>in school because if he'd had, anyone with one eye could have caught him.

Ahem.

Don't lobby accusations without good data.

The original story for TNN, well credited in the front of the show, is for
John D.F. Black--the original author of TNT as well.  Nobody "stole" from him;
he did it himself.  Regardless of your opinions of the show, I think you owe
Bingham a major apology for lobbing around "plagiarism" epithets without having
your facts straight.

>They not only stole the basic premise, but major plot elements too.

Heavens--so did "Young Frankenstein"--even had the same set as the original
film.  The *gall* of Mel Brooks to make such an homage!

>Second, the characterizations. In a word, blechhh. In the original, the
>infection at least showed something INTERESTING about Kirk and Spock. Each
>one had to do with an inner struggle betwen conflicting demands. It was
>a believable struggle and one that *challenged* the characters and gave
>them something to work towards. In TNN, what we get is highly superficial. 

Agreed.  Turn your brain off and you can chuckle at this, but deep it
wasn't.

>Geordi wants normal vision. Aww. Such a problem invites a technological
>solution, not a character-growth solution. 

That seems a little condemnatory, though.  Given that it's likely, from
the evidence we're given then, that he CAN'T have a technological solution,
a certain amount of acceptance is necessary.

>The portrayal of the women is atrocious. It can be summed up in three words:
>sex, sex and sex. Instead of building Troi, Beverly and Tasha, this episode
>trivializes them to the worst of TV stereotypes. 

Of course, Bev still manages to get her job done, and Picard's just as nutty
as she is.  Agreed wholly on Troi, and 90% or so on Tasha, but you're letting
your anti-Bev sentiments get the better of you.

>Finally, we get to Wesley. In words of one syllable...

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Grin.  

>Thank you. NOW I know why everyone hated him so. There is nothing even
>*remotely* believable, interesting or likable about this Mr. Crusher. 
>A 14 year old kid can build a mini-tractor beam and forge the Captain's
>voice in his spare time? He can rewire a starship's tractor beam 
>by working the plans out in his head??? Okay, I know it's possible --
>but it's BORING and trite. 

Agreed, except for the Picard-simulator.  Pay attention; he didn't "forge"
Picard's voice, he simply pieced together words from real announcements.
It really was Picard's voice--Wes just changed the context.

>   Premise:    F  (stealing not just the premise but half the damned script!)

By its own author.  No worse than most sequels.

>CODE OF HONOR
>-------------

>Yeah, and...?

Bingo, and 'nuff said.  :-)

Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy B.A.; one of many Caltech grad students)
BITNET:  tlynch@citjuliet
INTERNET:  tlynch@juliet.caltech.edu
UUCP:  ...!ucbvax!tlynch%juliet.caltech.edu@hamlet.caltech.edu
R.I.P. Isaac Asimov, 1920-1992.  You will be missed.
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