From: v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current
Subject: What Was BRILLIANT in "Rascals."
Date: 9 Nov 92 19:04:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


     Not to say "Rascals" is another "Darmok," or "Best of Both
     Worlds I," but this was a damn fine episode in a lot of
     unusual ways.

     First: the B Sci-Fi Cliche of the 50s gets good mileage in
     both the satire and the heartfelt columns.  On the one hand,
     the four who have been altered know it's ridiculous; Picard
     even says, "No one can take me seriously like this.  I can't
     even take me seriously like this."  But on the other hand...
     they ARE 12 years old.  Keiko has a daughter to take care of.
     Ro has people to yell at.  Guinan has drinks to serve.  And
     perhaps least important of all, Picard has a ship to command.

     The script doesn't do more than lipservice to Picard's delima
     as a 12 year old.  We see him agonizing over what to do should
     the condition be permanent - go back to the Academy, pursue
     archaeology - but by the start of the Ferengi attack, he's
     dutifully pursuing some kind of study appropriate to a 12 
     year old with a 50 year old intellect.  

     Keiko's problems - including the "I want my REAL Mommy" scene
     with the suddenly-2 or -3 year old Molly - also feel like
     lipservice.  "Look what happens to the lonely Captain when
     he becomes 12 again."  "Look what happens to the married
     mother when he becomes 12 again."

     Ro is far more insteresting, and it's mostly her that makes the
     episode worthwhile for me.  Others have pointed out in the past
     couple of days what good actors - in general - the kids were.
     They believed they were watching Picard, Ro, Guinan.  (Young
     Keiko was _okay_.  Keiko herself doesn't have much in the 
     way of personality - though I like what's there - so it's hard
     to make the leap of faith).  

     I really believed I was watching Ro, and her situation held far
     more interest for me.  So she spent her childhood in refugee
     camps - this doesn't mean we should feel sorry for her, though
     some part of Ro may want us to - but it doesn't make the prospect
     of going back to that age particularly appealing for her.  

     At least, on the surface.  Guinan's egging her on is well-done.
     Who said TNG can't do children?  Okay, I probably did, but this
     is, like "The First Duty" - finally - an exception to the rule.

     Bringing us to Alexander...  His most painless appearance yet.
     I wasn't thinking of Alexander during the episode until I saw
     him - and then I hoped he wouldn't speak.  AND HE DIDN'T!  
     Hallelujah!  Perhaps this is just a humane way of getting us
     primed for "Fistful of Datas" - but perhaps it's an indicator
     that Michael Piller finally left his legacy on TNG and was
     allowed to fix Alexander.  

     The action sequences were okay, particularly the final sequences,
     but the boarding of the Enterprise lacked drama of any kind,
     even the _suggestion_ of scope. We only ever see five or
     six Ferengi... and we're to believe on no evidence, not even
     a montage - which would have fixed everything to my satisfaction -
     that all the adults on the ship have been beamed down?

     With everything else happening during this episode, I was
     just out of disbelief to suspend - so I just said, "Fuck
     it, this is happening.  Live with it."  But I wasn't happy
     with it...  :-)

     In the final analysis, "Rascals" feels like a spoof-with-a-serious-
     heart of some horrible TOS episodes like "Gallileo 7," "Wink of
     an Eye," "By Any Other Name," and "Day of the Dove."  But the
     characters are strong enough to carry "Rascals" above this mess
     of cross-symbolism and make it a worthwhile revisit of Cheese
     Sci-Fi.  Let's just not have them over again soon, okay?


                 "It's about time somebody took  rape
                  And molestation  away from the talk
                  Show Circuit and put it back in our
                  Nightmares, where it  b e l o n g s."
                      -Buffalo News Critic Jeff Simon  
                       ______________in his review of
                       TWIN PEAKS - FIRE WALK WITH ME.
                                         Scott Gorcey.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.current