From: kanamori@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Atsushi Kanamori)
Subject: Re: Another 3 in 1 Opinionated Review (OUTPOST...LONELY)
Organization: Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 14:33:38 GMT

In article <1992Apr10.224218.1249@cco.caltech.edu> tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
>kanamori@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Atsushi Kanamori) writes:
>
>>THE LAST OUTPOST
>>----------------
>
>>Quick summary:
>> 
>>   The first 30 minutes, great. 
>>   The last 30 minutes... you have GOT to be kidding.
>
>I'm not even sure I'd put the first thirty under "great".  Far superior to 
>the second half, to be sure, but great?

More "great" as in "we're off to a to solid start with a laudable premise --
great" rather than "Great -- another YESTERDAY'S ENTERPRISE." The
first half is supposed to be the lesser half as a norm; if they'd followed
that pattern, I think the episode as a whole *would* have been "great".


>>To reiterate, the first half of this episode was marvelous. The Enterprise
>>is chasing a Ferengi ship and we know nothing about them except the rumor
>>dropped in EaF about their tastes in associates. The crew work together
>>as a crew to solve the problems that come up and there are lot of
>>fun character bits (Geordi and Riker's exchange in the Engine room, Data's
>>struggle with the Chinese finger puzzle to note two.) 
>
>I don't remember the R/G exchange, but it's been quite a while.  Data's
>finger-puzzles got old *real* fast, though.

I only remember two scenes of it; that worked quite nicely for me. If
it had gone much farther than that, I'd be in your camp but as it was,
it was amusing.


>
>>WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE
>>----------------------------
>
>>Ah, that's more like it. 
>
>Absolutely.  I'll side with Matt Hucke; this was easily the best of the 
>first ten or so shows (once we hit "The Big Goodbye" and "Datalore", it's
>at least got some competition, though I don't know quite how they'd
>stack up against each other).
>
>No wonder that Mike Shappe and I both yelled out "we love you, Diane!"
>at the listing of the writing credits.  ;-)
>
>>This episode was definitely a director's show, and to its credit, 
>>the directing, FX and camerawork are breathtaking. 
>
>To say the least.  This also, of course, marked the start of Picard's 
>problem with turbolifts.  Here, "We'll Always Have Paris", "Night Terrors",
>"Disaster"...one wonders why he hasn't switched to site-to-site beaming
>all the time.  :-)


"Is there some reason you don't want my atoms scattered all over space..."


>>Unfortunately, these assets represent both the episode's biggest strength
>>and biggest weakness. Note I said above that the story was "solid". 
>>However, this was a case where a solid story wasn't very interesting.
>
>Here I disagree, but with a caveat.
>
>I think what this really reminded me of was a somewhat watered-down _The
>Wounded Sky_.  Some of the problems you mention certainly make the show
>significantly weaker than said novel, but it had so many *good* things to
>it (the Wes/Traveler plot being the most prominent so far as "important"
>character development was concerned) that it still blew away the competition.

The Wes/Traveler plot was the problem for me; it didn't work as well as
it could have. As for character development -- WN1HGB changed
the STATUS of Wesley and Picard, but that was due largely to external
factors (i.e. the Traveler gave Picard a hint.) Neither character really
*grew* as a direct result of an experience in this outing.


>>Not so successful were the Targ and pussycat scenes -- much 
>>of this was due to the acting of the regulars (especially Crosby.) 
>
>They were all right, though they don't stand out four years later the way
>Picard and his mother (or the 'lift :-) ) do.

Another can't-resist: hear that Crosby, your acting is being compared
to a turbolift. Better shape up :-)


>>In summary, although I found the episode rather lacking in depth, it was
>>fun and diverting on its first viewing. 
>
>I enjoyed it significantly more than that.  This show is really what kept
>me *happily* watching through to the first rerun break.  (After that, 
>things picked up, but for now you've got a few rough roads ahead.  :-) )

I'm sure it restored a lot of faith in the new series -- it stood apart
from the previous 4 in a lot of ways.



>>LONELY AMONG US
>>---------------
>
>>I don't know WHAT to make of this one. Except that I rather like it.
>
>I rather like bits of it, primarily because it sets up a lot of intriguing
>Picard bits and a lot of great Stewart scenes.

Yeah, there were a lot of bits that jumped out and made me blink. 
D.C. Fontana's writing has done that to me before but the effect was
a lot stronger here than I remembered.


>
>>Then, suddenly it becomes gripping. Okay, Patrick is always interesting 
>>to watch and his portrayal of the energy being is downright *creepy*;
>>the way he moves, the way he walks, the way he *slouches*. 
>
>Exzzzz-actly.  See, there *is* a certain benefit to things that show off an
>actor's talents, even if that's all they do.  You're learnin'!  :-)
>
>>The Lizard Diplomats subplot pressed my "Roddenberry Moralizing" button
>>initially, but fortunately it turned out to be largely comic relief.
>
>Um...yeah, but not particularly amusing comic relief, at least for me.  I'd
>just as soon forget most of this (although the "sorry.  wrong species."
>bit was fun).
>
>>And my, but it was nice to see some INTERESTING alien voice and makeup 
>>design for a change! 
>
>The voices; yeah, I suppose.  The makeup:  ehhh.  I'll side with Colm Meaney
>on this one;  "I mean, I was stuck guarding a bunch of DOG-people!"

It was a helluva lot better than the "human with a skin problem" motif
they use 95% of the time! :-)



>>My one word summation of said atmosphere is "quirky." 
>
>Definitely.  In some ways, this might be the beginning of TNG's "Twilight
>Zone" riff that they've occasionally done right up to now.  I don't think
>they pulled it off nearly as well here as they have in more recent material,
>but it's a start.

That's about right. This episode had me wondering -- both about the
story itself and the direction the series was taking -- sort of a 
bi-level quirkiness :-) Combined with the fact that this was an episode
I found really hard to rate, this outing was really an oddball.

I do wonder why Mark Altman called it "one of the first season's most
inept installments" (not that someone who gives a 3 out of 4 to THE BONDING
and 2.5 to JUSTICE is anyone whose ratings I'll take very seriously :-)



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------------ -------------------------- --------------------------
TNG Lifelines: From "Yesterday's Enterprise" To "Cause & Effect" --
  "Captain, we are getting unusual readings 20,000 km off the
   starboard bow." -- Worf, Worf, Worf and Ensign Ro.

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