From: YANJUNA@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu
Subject: Thoughts on Quality of Life -- I liked it. SPOILERS***
Organization: Yale University
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 20:36:41 EST

   SPOILERS for Quality of Life:  30 lines down
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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   Am I getting senile, or brain dead?  I just saw what I consider to be
the best episode of the season; and if not on the absolute front ranks of the
best TNG episodes, at least well in the running for the next tier (a very good
use of an hour, episode that I would recommend to someone else); and when I
read the comments on the net; NO ONE LIKES IT!
    Well, I am going to list things I liked:
1) Data: Yes, he was insubordinate, BUT...
As Picard has pointed out, this was the most human decision that he's ever made
He has shown he can learn and adapt;  He learned from "Redemption II" that
sometimes one has to break orders (especially in Starfleet) if his conscience
cannot accept it.  Riker, of course, has the option of courtmartialling Data
for it; but Picard also had the same option in "Redemption II"
    There was the reference to "A Measure of the Man", as well as allusions
to "The Offspring"; dealing with Data's views on life.  He has learned what
being a machine intelligence means.
    As for the similarities between this episode and "Evolution", they DID
use a similar "concept", but IMHO, this was an episode dealing with Data's
development; NOT the exocomp.  Some of the "copycatting" of ideas IMO are
just the Feds and E-crew trying to be consistent with policies set up earlier
on how to deal with new machine intelligences.
    Data is learning and moving forward!  You're getting character
development!  Wasn't lack of character development cited many times as one
of the flaws of the show?
 
2) You wanted character conflicts.  Well, you got them, didn't you?  (Riker
vs. Data)  Didn't you like it?
 
3)  They are finally beginning to develop Crusher's character.  Not only is
she getting a sense of humor, but also learning to fight as well !!
Learning self-defense would make sense for two reasons:  If she is a part
of Away Team personnel (ex: Best of Both Worlds when she was on the Borg ship)
it would make sense for her to learn how to fight [with any and all weapons,
one cannot necessarily forsee the circumstances of an Away mission;  McCoy,
while not a great fighter, could certainly get in a rumble and hold his own.]
but also it may help her in her duties, as she would be more aware of what
kinds of wounds can be affected with various weapons.
 
4) Some complaints about the personality of the female scientist in charge is
somewhat justified.  She did come on shrill toward the end of the show, but
as to her sudden change of heart at the end of the show...  It's somewhat
against the grain of the character previously set up, yes.  But what do we
want?  Do we want her to continue claiming that the machines were merely
tools?  Do we want her to be carried away screaming about how Picard and
the Gang are bleeding hearts delaying her precious project?  Wouldn't that
create a problem about stereotypical single-minded obsessed scientists?
(Well, she WAS somewhat like that ... but at least when she was confronted
with contrary evidence, she carried it with good grace. Isn't that what
scientists SHOULD be?)
 
5) As for the problem with "erasing [forgive me if I'm not getting the
exact wording right; I've seen it only once so far.] the command paths"
to get the exocomps to do what the female scientist wanted them to do;
Well, my impression of her solution was sort of akin to what happens to
my PC every now and then:  My mouse gets stuck for some mysterious reason
when I use it for a few hours.  My usual solution is to turn the machine
off and reboot the damn thing.  IMHO, this is sort of akin to burning out
the command path.  Due to some unknown reason, the machine gets stuck.  The
easiest solution is to just clear the slate and begin over again; of course
if the computer (or exocomp) is sentient, this would probably mean killing
the conscienceness.  Now, unless I hear from a CS major or hardware people
otherwise, I'll stick with this explanation.  (Also, any ideas on how I can
get my mouse unstuck will be appreciated.)
 
6): What DOES bother me are some sloppy explanations; e.g. presumably the
command given to the exocomps in the transporter room is "Go and blow yourself
up in the particle stream."  How did they know the real purpose was to
dampen down the particle stream?  If the command given was "Dampen the particle
stream" then why didn't they just let the exocomps carry out the command
whichever way they wanted to in the first place?  Wasn't the machine designed
to carry out limited mechanically "creative" tasks in the first place?
     Also, the danger to Picard and LeForge wasn't built up as suspensefully
as I would have liked, but on the other hand, we KNOW that Picard and LaForge
are not going to die, don't we?  It would have been written up on the net
already.
 
   While I do share some misgivings about the fall in quality of TNG in
the 5th and 6th seasons, this episode was NOT one of them.
 
   Well, that's my two credits worth.  I'm buying some fire extinguishers
for the comments which are bound to follow.
************************************************************************
   "INSANITY IS A VIRTUALLY IMPREGNABLE GAMBIT...
BUT YOU HAVE TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK EARLY IN THE GAME..."
 
    JUNSOK YANG (YANJUNA@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU)
 
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