From: felix@ocf.berkeley.edu (Felix Ling)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: Re: Rascals SPOILERS
Date: 6 Nov 1992 22:19:30 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: avalanche.berkeley.edu

In article <1992Nov3.115614.478@netcom.com> harp@netcom.com (Gregory O. Harp) writes:
>Spoilers follow...

Ooh, I almost forgot to get rid of the ">".  Whew!


>rob@zorro.cecer.army.mil (Rob Knauerhase) writes:
>>In <Bx4Gqp.9G4@news.cso.uiuc.edu> tara@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Lady Johanna Constantine) writes:

>>>The stuff with Ro and Guinan was cute.  they did a good job on casting.
>
>>The girl playing young-Ro was OK, but young-Guinan was pitiful.  Bad actress,
>>and among the four, least like the elder-character.  Perhaps that's because
>>Guinan is so enigmatic, or because Whoopi is such a bad actress, but
>>nonetheless it was the case.

I thought young-Guinan was done adequately.  The overdubs hurt, but I was
still pretty convinced, unlike Picard (which I'll get to later).  I do not
consider Whoopi to be a bad actress, especially considering her Star Trek
material, but I'd rather not argue about that.  Back to young-Guinan, now.
I suppose it really helped that she was written as doing exactly what I
thought the real Guinan would do, and every line did seem in character.

>At first I thought I was going to be very disappointed in the young
>Ro.  She seemed to have lots of trouble with big words and long
>sentences, though most of her mannerisms were dead on.  By the end of
>the show I felt she was doing much better.  I don't know if they

She did quite well, and it kinda helped that she was really cute (and it
was great that young-Guinan made that observation!).  And her trouble
with the big words only made her cuter, so I can easily overlook that.

>>Young-Picard was by far the most realistic; he got the "Picard maneuver" with
>>the costume right, and emulated many of the other mannerisms pretty well.  He
>>should have been a little more forceful in talking to characters, perhaps.

I, for one, thought that Picard was the least convincing of the 4.  The
mannerisms might have been there, but the way he talked and acted did not
remind me of Picard very much.  He actually seemed *nervous* in the
beginning (and this was when he thought he could still command as always).
I dunno, but I can't really picture Picard as nervous.  And did they really
need to find a guy with that heavy of an accent?  I don't think Stewart
really tries to emulate a French accent.  He does talk very clearly
(Shakesperean diction, I would say), and this was something the kid did
not do.  I wouldn't call it being forceful, exactly, cause he does it
practically all the time.

I also can't picture Picard throwing a tantrum, but we know Picard can act
(assuming that thing from "I, Borg" *was* an act), so I guess I'll buy it.
Ditto with his hug of Riker (and both scenes were admittedly VERY funny).
I don't think his line about being Wesley Crusher's roommate was something
Picard would say.  That just seemed to jump out at me.

>>>The ferengi ont he other hand were downright stupid, and I can't believe they
>>>got control of the Enterprise so quickly.

They also used stock footage of "Yesterday's Enterprise", and it didn't
exactly fit! (they showed the Klingon shots hitting the *hull* when the
shields were still up.  This was right after the commercial break, I think).
And only one shot?  Puh-lease!  They didn't even seem that concerned!  Gee,
we're getting shot at.  Why don't we check out the damage reports, sit around
for a while, then maybe fire a phaser?  Hmm, it didn't hurt them too much.
Oh well, let's just take a few more damage reports, and sit around until
they board us.  Oh look, there are Ferengis materializing on the bridge!
Let's wait for them to fully materialize before we even think about drawing
a phaser, and then miss him horribly!

That was basically my biggest problem of the show (and I didn't exactly buy
the RVN stuff, either).  Don't get me wrong, I did find this episode very
amusing, but I'd prefer a little more plausibility.

On a side note, I'd thought that Michelle Forbes (Ro) had left Star Trek.
Was this before she left, or just a final guest appearance? (or maybe not
so final?  Please?)  Are we to assume that she does eventually return to
adulthood (after she's done with the crayons), or is this supposed to be
the last we see of her?  (sorta like Ryan Dallion's departure from Friday
the 13th.  Funny, I also compared "Man of the People" to that show. [those
rocks do belong in the vault, no?]).  Don't suppose they'll ever follow it
up.  *sigh*  At least next week looks good, but I simply can't buy Worf
as being able to beat anybody, especially Data.

Felix Ling
--
   Pulaski walked to the Turboshaft doors, stepped in, and plummeted down
ninety-nine floors, yelling, "Dammit, Jean-Luc!  I'm a doctor, not a skydiver!"
She landed with a resounding thump and croaked, "I've fallen, and I can't get
up!"
   "She's dead, Jean-Luc," announced Dr. Beverly Crusher.
                                -excerpt from "Still Looking for Things"