From: jec@cbnews.cb.att.com (john.collier)
Subject: Something I *LIKED* in TA II (Possible Spoiler)
Organization: AT&T
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 13:16:22 GMT
Keywords: It wasn't *THAT* bad!


I don't normally post much to this newsgroup, especially episode reviews
or discussions about episodes, but I've read lots of postings about how 
allegedly dismal Times Arrow II was (it must have been hard to get through
the summer without *anything* to whine about except a couple of gratuitous
novels :-).  I thought the episode wasn't all that bad, though it won't 
rank up there in my list of top ten episodes.

There were a couple of minor things in this episode that I really liked.
Since these might constitute spoilers (if there is anybody left who hasn't
seen this show yet), I'll place them behind the obligatory control-L's.






Here are few blank lines just to make sure...







For five long seasons, whenever the Enterprise has encountered something
or someone hostile, Worf has been recommending that they use their weapons
in several seemingly appropriate situations.  And every time he has made 
this recommendation, it has been ignored/shot down/belittled/etc.  This
has become such an inherent pattern that we've pretty much been able to 
predict when it will occur and had lots of fun figuring out how they 
would avoid using their weaponry.  When they did use their weaponry, it 
never worked anyway; the "aliens" (or whatever) were always too powerful 
and were undamaged (maybe this is why the Federation is so good at
diplomacy :-).

Finally, the day has come when Worf made the recommendation to use
"lethal force" and it was accepted!!!!  And, even more important, it
actually worked!!!  And, even more startling, a hostile threat was 
eliminated without any of the usual excessive moralizing (maybe it's
okay to do this as long as you "feel guilty" about it).

I wasn't too concerned about the "genocidal" aspects of the Enterprise's
actions.  In fact, I was pleased to see them avoid the usual "these things
have a right to live too!" argument.  The best argument in favor of 
tolerating the existence of this show's "alien of the week" was that they
were supposedly preying only on the very ill and dying.  As soon as the 
alien "doctor" pointed the "magic, soul-sucking doctor bag" at Dr. Crusher, 
it was obvious that these aliens would not hesitate to "prey" on healthy
humans as well.  Given that, plus the fact that these aliens were time
travellers, I thought the appropriate action was taken.

I would not want to see ST:TNG degenerate into constant "phasor battles"
a la "BattleStar Galactica", nor to I want to see them continue to 
introduce new "aliens of the week", but I wouldn't mind seeing more of
a non-utopian view of the future.  This show had a bit more of an "edge"
than they usually show; there really wasn't any way to find a compromise
or talk their way out of this one.  I hope this trend continues through
the coming season.
-- 
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 Working around here is like going into a swamp | John Collier, AT&T Bell Labs
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