From: tallman%ailanth.uucp@wang.com (Robert Oliver)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: SPOILEReview: "Time's Arrow II"
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 92 20:34:49 EDT
Reply-To: tallman%ailanth.uucp@wang.com (Robert Oliver)
Organization: Ailanthus Project

jsnell@ocf.berkeley.edu (Jason Snell) writes:

> SPOILERama, from a more northern locale...
> 
> 
> 
> SPOILERS for "Time's Arrow II." Fear me.
> 
> 
> 
> Okay.
> 
> What we have in this episode is simple: lots of jumping through hoops
> to get us back to the same place we started at the beginning of "TA I."
> Let me voice the opinion that this episode should've been kept at one
> part, not expanded. As others have pointed out, most of the plot elements
> in Part I were ignored or waved away in part II. As a result, we've just
> got some running around by the crew, data appears, we never get a sense
> of the aliens: they're bad and must be destroyed, then they are
> destroyed. What happened to wanting to learn about them? Even if they
> were killing people, didn't anyone give thought to finding out if there
> were more of them elsewhere in time? Duh.
> 
> I enjoyed the effects, particularly Data getting ripped apart in the
> distortion... the shots of Data's head were fun. And I enjoyed the final
> two minutes, for stylistic reasons: the final Picard log entry was really
> well-done, down to the Picard/Guinan scene (without dialogue) where we 
> finally see that BOTH of them understand the roots of their relationship
> for the first time.. and then we see Clemens, the watch, and Data's head.
> 
> However, too much jumping through hoops. If you're going to do a two-part
> show, write them both at once, please? Sure, there's a chance you'll still
> come out with a dud like "Unification," but writing one and then making up
> the other half three months later is going to make it far more likely that
> you'll produce a low-power show like "TA II" or "Redemption II" than a
> decent follow-up like "BOBW II" (which, while not as solid as BOBW I, I
> still consider a good episode...)
> 
> That's all the bitterness that time allows for me. Next episode looks
> interesting, however... Dwight Schultz is always fun. Despite my feelings
> about TA II, I'd like to think this season holds great promise. TA II's
> failing was that it had to jump through the hoops placed for it in TA I.
> We'll see what they do when they've got no hoops in front of them. An
> episode focusing on the transporter? Sounds good to me. Been a while. (If
> ever, really... "Enemy Within" don't count.)
> 
> Grade for TA II: B-. Ah, well.
> 
> Season to date:  :) :) :)
> Time's Arrow II: B-
> 
> That was easy. Bear with me; in June it'll be 26 lines long...
> 
> -jason
> 
> -- 
>   Jason Snell / jsnell@ocf.berkeley.edu / Cal Graduate School of Journalism
>  InterText: A Net Fiction Magazine - ASCII or PostScript - Mail me for info!
>             "I thought for a second that my monkey had rabies --
>    It turned out he had just gotten into the Cool Whip." -- Dave Letterman

About learning more about the aliens, how and when in the episode was 
their time to do that? Should Picard have took them aside and have them 
fill out a questionaire about their intentions toward the population of 
Earth? If someone were to come into your house and started killing 
members of your family would you stop and question them? No, you would do 
your best to stop them immediately, and probably wouldn't stop at killing 
them if it was required.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current