From: tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch)
Subject: Re: Lynch's Spoiler Review: "The First Duty"
Keywords: TNG, Wesley, Academy
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 01:32:55 GMT

wombat@eng.umd.edu (Jose Gonzalez) writes:
>In article <1992Apr7.001430.13295@cco.caltech.edu> tlynch@cco.caltech.edu (Timothy W. Lynch) writes:

"The First Duty" spoilers:



>>My, that was surprisingly good!

>Not surprisingly, I was hoping it would be this good!  (-:

I was hoping for it as well, but the preview had me expecting less.

[Bev]

>(Along 
>>similar lines, her reaction to hearing of Wes's accident seemed very right as
>>well; knowing it rationally, but falling apart deep down anyway.)

>I don't know about that scene.  I could see what she was *trying* to do, but
>I think she did too much of it.  I was getting apathy from her when that was
>clearly not intended.  

I didn't get apathy; I got shock.  She walled herself away, 'cos she had
no idea what to do otherwise.
 
>>(Incidentally, Wes's choice could have been made much easier, and *wasn't*.  
>>Picard could well have pointed out that even if Picard *did* speak and was 
>>contradicted, Wes would be working under a cloud of suspicion for years if 
>>not decades after graduating, and he damn sure wouldn't be able to serve 
>>within a kiloparsec of the Enterprise.  

>I doubt this, Picard would have forgiven him, regardless of what he said.  

Had he continued to stonewall and *let* an innocent boy be blamed?  No way.
I rather suspect Picard would have gone to Brand just after the hearing.
Even if he'd let Wes actually get away with it, he'd NEVER have spoken to 
him again.

>He
>would have been dissapointed in him to be sure, but he knows what kind of
>character he has, and one mistake (even a big moral one such as he would have
>been making) is not enough to make Picard abandon Wesley.

Except this isn't one mistake; this is three.  Mistake one was being suckered
into the damned stunt in the first place, and mistake two was trying to cover
it up.  Continuing to stonewall when the game's up is a very heavy third
strike.
 
>>Most of the guest cast were good.  My main objection here is to Richard Fancy
>>as Satelk--he made a truly miserable, and *dull*, Vulcan.  I think this was 
>>an acting (or maybe directing?) problem more than one of the writing; his 
>>actual questions seemed to be fairly short and to the point.  His demeanor 
>>and tone of voice, however, screamed anything BUT Vulcan to me.  Not a good 
>>choice.   

>I thought he did a decent job for the tact that he chose.  I don't assume that
>all Vulcans are going to be unemotional.  

Nor do I.  I do assume, however, they they will all *try* to be logical and
unemotional; and this one was nowhere near either.

>>And finally, we have Wes.  Written to perfection, for possibly the first 
>>time.  And performed to perfection, for possibly the first time.  I don't 
>>know precisely what I can say here.

>I don't know, I thought his character was handled perfectly in "The Dauphin"
>and "Final Mission."  

Nah, not quite.  Close in some cases (particularly FM), but all of them had
little things here and there.  This was a nice *realistic* treatment; the
others were more "perfect given Wes's somewhat unreal character".

>And Wheaton has always done a nice job with the material
>he's been given.  

Always?  Hmm.  Can we settle on "often"?  :-)

>>--I'm trying to figure out exactly what school "the game against Minsk" 
>>referred to.  Is there another campus for the Academy, or is this a 
>>completely different *type* of school?  Any ideas?

>Well, the military acedemies now play against normal colleges nowadays, I 
>don't see why this would change.

But what kind of "normal colleges" are we talking about in that century?
That's what I'm curious about.

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