#Hide and Q

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Star Trek The Next Generation "Hide and Q"

[atomiccollectionanchorme]

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1 Episode 10 "Hide and Q"

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

Worf is just tall enough to dramatically leap over this banister like a gazelle.

[trekkingthroughtrek]

TNG Watchthrough: S1 E9 – Hide and Q

This one was fun. I didn't expect to see Q back so soon. I suppose they did leave it fairly open at the end of Farpoint with Q threatening to return, but i expected it to be a later seasons thing. Many more thoughts below the cut!

Having them run into Q's very distinctive force field before Q himself shows up is a nice touch.

Q in an Admiral uniform. It's funny because Q... kinda looks like a dork here. Like part of it is that the costume is maybe not great but i don't think i appreciated as a child the "just some guy" vibes that John De Lancie gives off. Yes he's dangerous and all powerful but there's an element of trying too hard that works well here against Picard's whole thing.

"Where are we?" You're on A Star Trek Planet™️!

I like the contrast of Will drinking the lemonade vs. Worf refusing. At first i was like "don't do it!" at Riker, but like, if Q wanted to kill you he wouldn't have to poison the lemonade. But I still like Worf pouring it out. I kinda wish they hadn't made it a Klingon Thing though. Like, just let Worf be petty on his own, it doesn't have to be a Cultural Difference.

"And where does she go?" "Into nothingness." This is sufficiently creepy, I wish they had done more with it. Might have been nice to have a moment where the planetside characters have to make a choice based on knowing that if they choose wrong they risk destroying Tasha.

" Damn it. I can't even make a log entry." Poor Picard! A fate worse than death!

Most of the TNG i saw when it aired is from later seasons, so as a result i don't have much of a preexisting connection with Tasha Yar. This is a nice scene with her and Picard, but like... I don't want to get attached.

"Shall we wager on that, Captain? Your starship command against?" "Against your keeping out of humanity's path for ever. Done?" This is so rash of Picard. Like, he doesn't even know what Riker's up against, Q controls time and space, and like, while he does have one data point from farpoint that Q will keep the bargain i personally would not be as confident that that's a given. But this is why we love Picard.

I enjoy the Shakespearean sparring.

Data as Q is very creepy. Neat to see how much they're doing with the makeup and contacts and whatever.

"You're beginning to sound like your Captain." "Now that's a compliment, Q." Aww.

“You have my word” Yessss. Love this. Love that he feels sufficiently bound by it to not save the girl. Good stuff.

"The Q has muddled your mind." I want to know to what extent this is literal. I was excited to get a Riker focused episode and then disappointed that Will just served as an object lesson rather than resisting Q himself through his own strength of character. I assume Picard just means here that access to the power is corrupting Will's perspective, but i'm going to headcannon that Q actually messed with his mind too, and that's why he kinda sucked here.

"Wesley I may know best of all. Our friendship, our long talks." You've been having long talks with Wesley? Huh. Better not catch you calling him "the boy" going forward.

That's not what adult Wil Wheaton looks like!

Love the look of fear Data has when Will offers to turn him human. It really drives home how creepy this whole thing is.

"You're as beautiful as I imagined, and more." Is this based on anything? Am i supposed to think Geordi and Tasha have a thing going on? I realize we're early in the season, but between this and the will and wesley's "long talks" i'm feeling a little jerked around by the show trying to lean on relationships that there's been no evidence of on screen.

"Make me the way I was. Please!" Oof. The pleading.

He made Worf a girlfriend. Who is this chick? Did she get teleported from somewhere or did he make her up out of whole cloth?

"I feel like such an idiot." "Quite right. So you should." Ouch.

"Perhaps someday we will discover that space and time are simpler than the human equation." Again, i wish we could have some more emotional character resolution at the end of the episode in place of Picard proclaiming the moral of the story. But that's just me being greedy, lots of good stuff in this one.

[anewstartrekfan]

I was seeing validity the Riker and Kirk comparisons but post Hide and Q…

Nope.

No way.

No freaking way Kirk would just stand there with god like power as dozens of people are suffering, where there’s a dead child in Scotty’s arms, and not use said powers just to keep a promise to Spock or some admiral. And then throw a hissy fit about needing to keep that promise at the cost of said kid’s life.

He’d say to hell with this and go for it.

Kirk values the lives of others over his own happiness. He would 100% sacrifice his own humanity if it was the only and best way he saw to protect/save people’s lives.

Then it would turn into Kirk getting more in tune with these powers, like fixing every mechanical difficulty on the ship, or being able to handle all the controls with his mind. Maybe even disabling an enemy Klingon or Romulan ship before it can attack.

And everyone else would intervene to try and stop him from losing his humanity. Maybe even a mind meld with Spock that snaps him out of it. Then Q could show up to take him to get converted, and Kirk only backs out in part because the job is more observational. He wouldn’t be able to use the powers like he had been, and because his friends convince him even as mere humans they can still make more of a difference.

And maybe as a bonus the Q let the little girl live but undo all the other stuff.

Anyway big picture is Riker is not Kirk.

[the1701trekkie]

Qzadi, or "What if Deanna was around for the events of '"'Hide and Q?'"

Spoiler alert - it ends up with both of them becoming Q! This was my very first fic, and I'm trying to drum up more excitement to get myself to write it again. I had this massive plan when I started of doing a whole Qzadi AU from Hide and Q through to Picard, but then life had the audacity of happening.

Please feel free to have a look if you're a TNG fan, an Imzadi shipper (I know that canon ships get less love, but this one results in my very first wild-ass crack ship that I really wanna make happen further)

Read at the link in the title, or you can read it here!

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n created by gene roddenberry Lieutenant Natasha Yar [hide and q, s1ep10]

'It sounds strange, but I'm in a penalty box. Q's penalty box. It sounds strange, but it definitely isn't.

I know that one more penalty by anyone, and I'm gone.' - yar [to picard]

[lordlexion]

Continuation part 3

Continuation of shots of Q in marshal's outfit

Definitely here I have the impression that the chemistry between Q and Picard is more perceptible...

Plus the way he played with the marshal's cane, or just the baton (although I'm not entirely sure, that's what it's exactly called), mesmerising.

[quasi-normalcy]

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: The Next Generation, 109 (Nov. 21, 1987) - “Hide and Q”

Written by: C.J. Holland & Gene Roddenberry Directed by: Cliff Bole

The Breakdown

Q makes his first return appearance, but this time he decides he’s going to pick on Riker, since Picard is a boring rule follower. Initially Q brings Riker (along with a few select bridge crew) to another plane-of-existence to play some kind of war simulation. After making the participants suffer grisly and painful deaths, Q decides to undo it all, and instead levels Riker up with the power of unbridled omnipotence.  Initially Riker does try to resist the temptation to do literally anything he wants, but his resolve is tested when a young child dies on a rescue mission, which leads Riker to thinking “hey technically I could actually do a lot of good with these new powers.” And in fairness, he’s kind of got a point.

So what does Riker do with his new godhood?  Of course first-things-first, he proceeds to bring the little girl back to life before reuniting her with her fami- Just kidding, lol. No, instead he offers his friends a round of good old fashioned wish fulfilment.  Riker proceeds to offer Geordie his sight back, Worf a violently horny Klingon woman, and Wesley a ripped-and-slightly-older body.  To his astonishment the entire crew turn down their gifts almost without hesitation, possibly because of their strong moral centre, but also possibly because Q is clearly playing at some kind of contrived moral lesson about humanity, and playing into his hands is generally unwise.  Realizing the error of his ways, Riker surrenders his new powers, and literally no one mentions the little dead girl ever again.  Meanwhile Q is dragged away screaming by the Q-continuum, because apparently he didn’t get the proper permits to visit the humans. I’m sure that’s the last we’ll see if that guy!

The Verdict

The concept is sound enough, as far as morality plays go, but the execution culminates in a missed opportunity to delve into some more interesting questions. Do I think Riker should possess the power of a god? No. But surely the life of an innocent child should yield greater consideration than Wesley’s desire to be a grown up. All things considered, ‘Hide and Q’ is just kind of weak, if amusing in it’s own right.

John de Lancie is starting to lean more into the trickster god vibes this time around, which I do enjoy, although still a little over-the-top, but then so is everyone else.

2 stars (out of 5)

Additional Observations

Lt. Yar has a thing for a sensitive Picard, and maybe also Worf? During Q’s games she’s sidelined and made to wait on the ship (with her life potentilally on the line).  Picard offers his moral support and she’s basically like “Wow you really are the whole package.  If ONLY you weren’t also my captain”.  And maybe it’s just me, but later when Worf is offered his potential Klingon mate, Tasha seems a bit jealous. I guess she can’t deny a strong forehead.

Wesley gets impaled, but words can’t do it justice.

Worf’s acrobatic leap over the bridge railings has got to be one of the most unintentionally hilarious pieces of acrobatics in television history. I love it with all my heart.

The bridge crew are all a little TOO impressed with adult Wesley.

[spockvarietyhour]

Star Trek The Next Generation "Hide and Q"

[atomiccollectionanchorme]

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1 Episode 10 "Hide and Q"

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Between this and Wesley getting graphically run through with a bayonet, I'm amazed this was in prime time in 1987.

STAR TREK: TNG "Hide and Q"

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Episode 60: The New Antagonists Strike Back

TNG: "The Battle" and "Hide and Q"

TNG is wasting no time trying its new villains on for size again this week. First up, they take another crack at making the Ferengi seem like a threat when a DaiMon with a score to settle seeks out Picard in "The Battle." After that, Q drops by to harass the Enterprise crew again by granting Riker cosmic power in "Hide and Q".

Also this week: Argyle's letter scheme, Picard's not there yet, and just how far down do they paint Data?

Note: MINOR Discovery spoilers this week. As long as you've seen up through episode 4 you're good, though.

Timestamps: synopses: 0:50; The Battle: 6:48; Hide and Q: 35:38

[anewstartrekfan]

The Squire of Gothos part 2: Q’s Boogaloo:

[per1w1nkl3]

why does riker kind look like he would fuck Q?? he's just waiting for the moment their mission really requires his help