From: ACDSPW@SUVM.SYR.EDU (Sally Webster)
Subject: Re: REALM OF FEAR -- OPINIONATED COMMENTS
Organization: Syracuse University
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 92 15:31:45 EDT

In article <1992Oct1.110508.12676@CSD-NewsHost.Stanford.EDU>
kanamori@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Atsushi Kanamori) writes:
 
>
>
>Realm of Spoilers ahead
>
>
>
>Like 11001001, but more so, "Realm of Fear" points out a need for an
>"S" ("S" for "schizophrenic") rating. Some parts of this were wonderful,
>other parts were just plain awful. Fortunately, most of the former
>can be separated from the latter. The good stuff first.
>
>First, this is the most chilling look we get to date about what can
>go wrong with the transportation process. We've seen it before in
>ST:TMP (sterilized and unconvincingly done) and in "The Enemy Within"
>(where it was a plot device). But we haven't seen it as the focus of
>a story before and several common fears are woven into this 24th century
>"airphobia" story. There's the familiar phenomenon, for example, that the
>more we know about a scientific process, the more paranoid we can become
>(who hasn't read an encyclopedic medical/health book detailing all the
>things that can go wrong and wonder how he/she made it to her current age?)
>The idea of a transporter-induced "cancer" that creeps up and consumes
>you long after the event is a nerve-wracking one indeed, and the
>transmutation of human crewmembers into flying larvae (as scientifically
>inept as it is) has got to touch a few visceral nerves somewhere.
>
>This is also the first story in a while that had "creepy things going on
>in familiar surroundings." ("The Next Phase" was somewhat similar, but
>it's whimsical tone just didn't have the same atmosphere.) Cliff Bole
>is not my director of choice, and this episode doesn't do much to change
>my mind. Even so, some scenes were pretty shocking: the Kentucky-fried
>crewmember "coming to life" in the sickbay, for one. The
>"transportee's-eye" view of the beaming process was also nicely done:
>it's what you'd logically expect, yet jarring enough to make you sit
>up and notice. As usual, TNG is often strongest on the horror-mystery
>aspects, and this episode is no exception.
>
>Unfortunately, things like plot and characterization *aren't* TNG's
>strong points and most of the "human issue" transportaphobia thread failed
>for me. Several factors contributed to this.
>
>First and foremost, Dwight Schultz was absolutely AWFUL as Barclay. I don't
>understand what happened. When we first saw him in "Hollow Pursuits", he
>was one of the all-too-rare TNG guest characters who could be identified
>with because he was just "a regular guy" -- the unpretentious, vulnerable,
>neighbor-across-the-street kind of character. True, he was eccentric, but
>the beauty of it was that he was "nutty in a normal way." That's hard to
>bend your brain around but that's *exactly* what made him so good :-)
>I still believe that.
>
>In contrast, for most of "Realm", Barclay was Mr. Murdock; overdone and
>overacted. Scenes like Barclay curling up on Troi's couch and puckering
>his lips while Majel Barrett (Schultz's acting inspiration for this episode?)
>reads out the symptoms of transporter psychosis were *so* bad, I was trying
>to push him out the door. It's been a while since I rewatched "Pursuits" so
>maybe my tastes have shifted a bit, but I found Schultz's performance *much*
>too burlesque. In both this episode and "TAII", I felt less like I was
>watching characters (even bland characters) and felt more like I was
>watching a bunch of spoiled actors hamming up on the screen. This bodes
>ill for a show who I've generally regarded highly in the acting department.
>
>On the characterization note, the script strains a tad too obviously to
>marry the Barclay character (whose trademark neurosis was fear of people)
>with transporterphobia. Part this stems from the overacting mentioned above:
>come *on*, guys! Any crewmember who whines and acts *this* childish for
>two seasons straight should have been booted out of Starfleet a long time
>ago. If Geordi had any sense, he would taken Ensign Furniture as systems
>engineer instead of dragging Barclay along. But of course, this episode
>has to center on Barclay so he has to be part of the action somehow.
>The handling of this was awkward.
>
>Scriptwise, the characterization of Barclay does a nice recovery
>about halfway through when he proactively puts himself through the
>transporter effect again to recreate the worms, and makes useful
>suggestions during the investigation. *This*, at least, represents
>a logical step up from "Hollow Pursuits" and it's done subtlely enough
>so that it didn't feel defensive. That, I approved of wholly.
>
>Characterization "throwaway scenes" ranged all over the scale (I did
>say "schizophrenic.") The O'Brien "spider story" pushed my paranoia button
>because it looked like yet another "let me tell you a story" schtick and
>an long-winded one at that. But it did a nice recovery at the end when
>O'Brien introduced Barclay to his pet spider. Fun wrapup there.
>
>Unfortunately, the bad scenes stand out more than the good: the opening
>post-credit scene looked like yet another Awful Troi Psychobabble scene,
>and that's exactly what it was. My other main objection was the "Transportation
>is the safest way to travel" bit -- I can appreciate the connection between
>transportaphobia and modern day flight phobia but I don't appreciate having
>it written over the screen in big tall letters.
>
>Plotwise, the mystery-ship subplot wasn't bad as far as tacked on
>science menace subplots go. It had some atmosphere, as I mentioned above,
>but suffered from a rushed ending as often. Barclay's deductive flash
>seems just too easy to me, and Worf and Beverly were awfully quick to jump
>on his orders ("grab 'em and hold on.") The ending was also predictable
>as hell -- anyone who couldn't figure out that the worms were really
>the missing crew after the first act just wasn't trying.
>
>I think I've said all that's needed. This one jumped all over the quality
>scale from scene to scene. Graphically, I think the following rating
>describes "Realm of Fear" pretty well:
>
>
>                .
>
>                .
>                -
>
>I'll stick to something more traditional though.
>
>
>GRADE SHEET FOR "REALM OF FEAR"
>-------------------------------
>  Premise:    B+ (creepy trappings and a decent "human issue" story).
>  Execution:  C  (some good directing moments, both excellent and awful
>                  character scenes.)
>  Characters: C+ (started out exactly where "Hollow Pursuits" began, but
>                  a nice turnaround halfway through.)
>  Acting:     D- (this isn't "The A-Team", Schultz.)
>
>  Overall:    C  (very, *very* uneven. Sigh.)
>
>
>
>Next Week:
>
>
>
>What looks like a pretty bad episode and another downstep from Troi
>being a useful character back to being stage dressing.
>
>
>                       .
> :....: : .  ::.: .  ..: :    ..     : :    .:   :.:
>:::::::.:::::::::::.:::::: :?.:::::..::::.:.:: :.:::: :
>-------------------------- -------------------.------ ------------------------
>Kanamori's Episode Ratings: (last episode rated: "Time's Arrow Part II")
>  "I keep telling you, there *is* no plot." -- Guinan.
 
Maybe the writer of this message has never had a panic attack.  I
thought the actor playing Barclay was very convincing and did not
overact at all.  He did just what people do who are struggling with
fear.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current