From: hucke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Matt Hucke)
Subject: Re: Another 3 in 1 Opinionated Review (OUTPOST...LONELY)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1992 00:29:20 GMT

In article <1992Apr10.224218.1249@cco.caltech.edu> tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:
 THE LAST OUTPOST 

>I still remember that the most interesting thing I got out of that was
>wondering "hey, I wonder if those things the Ferengi are using are anything
>like Asimov's neuronic whips..."

It's good to see something else besides a ray-gun.

>>WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE
>
>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).

I'd put it as second best of the season, behind CONSPIRACY.  11001001 and
THE BIG GOODBYE come close, though.  DATALORE is a standard evil-twin
plot; very forgettable.

>No wonder that Mike Shappe and I both yelled out "we love you, Diane!"
>at the listing of the writing credits.  ;-)

I noticed her name on my first viewing as well, and thought this was a great
thing for the overall series quality...  I expected her to be a regular.
Of course, R'Nold put a stop to that. :(

>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.
>I'd have preferred a version more like TWS, but I'm rather biased; TWS is
>probably my favorite TOS novel in existence.

While TWS is certainly in my 'top ten', I wouldn't go that far.  A bit too
metaphysical... that's just personal taste, though.

>>There wasn't much characterization called for here, and that's just as
>>well because the characterization was rather blah. I found Kosinsky's
>>arrogance overblown and boring in the extreme. 
>
>How many engineers do you know?  ;-)  (Okay, cheap shot; most of the engineers
>I know aren't like that either.  But a few sure have been...)

I'm in engineering, and I can be arrogant and boring sometimes... :)

>things picked up, but for now you've got a few rough roads ahead.  :-) )

You mean JUSTICE, of course. :)

>>LONELY AMONG US
>>---------------
>
>>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!"
>
A bit of variety is good, rather than the standard knobby-forehead and
sometimes weird-fingered aliens.

(I really don't have much to say about this episode... it's been four years
since I saw it...  I should get a videotape player...)

-- 
   And thither came Conan, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, to tread the jeweled 
   thrones of the Earth beneath his sandaled feet.  --THE NEMEDIAN CHRONICLES 
hucke@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu                                Gene Roddenberry 1921-1991