From: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu (Michael Rawdon)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: TNG Grade Report: "Rescals"
Date: 8 Nov 92 20:25:21 GMT
Reply-To: rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Dept., Madison, WI

Spoilers for the TNG episode "Rascals"...

I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a serious show or not.  Certainly
the writers don't seem to have put a lot of work into it.

Starting at the bottom, the entire tension of the episode was fundamentally
undermined by the wretchedness of the battle scene.  Are we expected to
believe:

1) That the Klingons have "surplus" starships that renegade Ferengi can just
   go to buy (at their local K-Marts as blue light specials, maybe)?
2) That such ships would be able to overwhelm the Federation flagship in a
   matter of minutes?
3) That Riker is such an awful captain and the officers and crew so
   incompetent that in a pitched battle they are unable to get off more than
   one phaser shot at their assailants?  (I mean, I know TNG's philosophy
   is "all talk, no action", but this is ridiculous!)
4) That the interior defenses of the Enterprise are so inferior that they
   can't ward off the Ferengi invaders, or at least put up a good fight?
5) That the Ferengi would for some reason keep the children on the ship,
   rather than sending them down to the planet?  They could be as easily
   executed there, after all!

This scene was outright painful, and it made so much of the episode seem so
pointless.  Admittedly, the ploys of Picard and company to retake the ship
was rather enjoyable (though I question the wisdom of using Alexander to help
them!), but it lost its teeth for much the same reason that "Brothers" was
a weaker episode due to the awfully constructed hijacking sequence.

Supposedly, though, the main focus of the episode was the transformation of
Picard, Ro, Keiko and Guinan into children.  This would have had a lot more
power if it hadn't been preceded long before by Classic Star Trek's "The
Deadly Years" and TNG's own "Unnatural Selection", both of which were much
better episodes.  And I think that the reason that both were better episodes
is that there is something fundamentally scarier about aging than about
getting younger.  While there was a certin amount of tension regarding the
characters' sudden youthfulness (mainly generated by Keiko's dilemma, and
Picard's concern about his career), there was a strong positive side to it
as well.  Guinan seemed to genuinely enjoy the experience, and after
talking to Troi, Picard seemed to have found a positive side to it as well.
So, while it was an interesting diversion, it wasn't as powerful as I think
it was intended to be.

The greatest joy of that side of the episode was the young actress playing
Guinan, who was really quite good.  Actually, most of the young actors were
competent at portraying their characters

One peculiarity in the story was the speed with which O'Brien's and Keiko's
child has grown.  She (I think it's a she) was born almost exactly a year
ago ("Disaster" was the fifth episode of season five, and this is the
seventh episode of season six), but she clearly looked much older here.
This would tend to lend credence to the theory that one stardate = one earth
day (more or less), and thus that one season of TNG is roughly three years
long.  Of course, this leads us to wonder why Wesley Crusher isn't in his
thirties by now, why Alexander isn't 15, and why none of the Enterprise's
officers have been promoted.  (It also tends to contradict the "We knew they
were coming for a year" statement in "The Best Of Both Worlds" Part I.)

Oh, and it seems that Starfleet has now discovered a cheap, easy way to
return people to their youth.  Wouldn't this be highly marketable?  Now
humanity could theoretically live for centuries or longer.  (Even Doctor
McCoy, despite his hatred of transporters, might find it a useful
innovation.  To say nothing of Mr. Scott!)  I bet that this is never
mentioned again, though.

"Rascals" was a lightweight episode with some entertaining parts, but on the
whole it was shoddily constructed and executed, even by TNG standards.
You'd think we were still back in the writers' strike-decimated second
season!

Grade: C-

SEASON SIX AT A GLANCE:
Time's Arrow II: B-
Realm Of Fear: C
Man Of The People: C
Relics: B+
Schisms: B-
True Q: D-
Rascals: D+
---
Total Points: 14 2/3
Season Average: 2.095 (C)
(Fall of 0.127 from last episode)

-- 
Michael Rawdon				 rawdon@colby.cs.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin Computer Sciences Department, Madison, WI

Not a model man, not a savior or a saint.
Imperfect in a word, make no mistake.
But I give you everything I have.  Take me as I am...
					- King Crimson, "Model Man"
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current