#data is trying his best to act like a human(hes weirding out geordi quite a bit)

[koalbent]

been watching star trek tos

captain kirk has enchanted me. big fan of his boobs.

(bonus traditional art of spock and data. a funny guys)

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG Watchthrough Episodes 17-20.

Home Soil: So from what I’ve read, this would be Gene Roddenberry’s final episode as showrunner before getting replaced by writer Maurice Hurly. I won’t comment on the behind the scenes drama and such that caused it because it was decades ago and not relevant for a First Watchthrough post, but since this is the last I wanted to make note of it. My thoughts? It was okay. This is very much borrowing from the TOS episode Devil in the Dark (the one with the Horta) with the plot being of an alien presence killing humans... but only because the humans were unknowingly causing it harm. It’s done fine enough, not being any better or worst than when TOS did it, but that’s about it. It does executed it a little differently with the events and the alien is FAR less willing to comply than the Horta was at first and ends with the alien backing down, but refusing contact with humans for three centuries, which DOES make it a nice contrast to how Devil in the Dark ended. It’s not great. It’s not horrible. It’s just okay with the biggest criticism being pulling too much from TOS again. Look, I love TOS and so far TNG hasn’t passed it. I outright have a 30 disc Blu-Ray set coming in the next few days of all the TOS material, including TAS and the films. If I want to revisit TOS, I’ll go watch it or read fanfiction or heck, go watch AOS. TNG has remained painfully average or not good at this point because it’s trying to retain what TOS had, despite it being over 20 years later and even the TOS films had changed how it did things compared to the show. Whatever one feels about Roddenberry, his removal I hope helped push TNG away from TOS and let it carve it’s own identity while still honoring what TOS had stood for, and according to history it did. Not sure if we’ll see the quality go up in these final few S1 episodes, but still. Sorry, felt appropriate to finally get this out here. Going back to the episode, it’s perfectly fine and it delivers it’s message well, and hey it’s not always a bad idea to showcase the same themes as the previous incarnation in a spinoff especially fi a relevant one/gets shown to viewers who hadn’t seen that TOS episode. Not the best, not the worst, and that’s not such a bad way to end up. 3/5.

Coming of Age: Alright Wesley, it took a bit but you’re starting to grow on me. So we have Wesley going through a test to get into the Academy while Picard and the crew are dealing with some rough interrogations and Picard being painted as an incompetent captain by the interrogator. They don’t seem that connected, but infact the latter is a test for Picard to determine if e’s ready for a promotion. I like how they bring up Picard’s actions in past continuity that WOULD present him as at least fallible to major error, ignoring certain conditions that caused it to begin with and how he got them out of the situation. Like I said, this was one of Wesley’s better episodes. While doing well with testing, his worry about the psyche test and not knowing his own fear and therefore worried about what the test will unleash upon him is very relatable. Heck his talk with Worf was a really nice scene, especially with Worf outright stating that only fools fear nothing which in turns add more depth and dimensions to the Klingons. The reveal fo his greatest fear, while I wish he had hesitated a little bit more, made perfect sense and he acted as a true Starfleet Officer. Which since this was before Undiscovered Country, is a VERY positive development. Picard guiding a kid who made a stupid decision was also good and shows why he’s a good captain, and his talk to him as well as encouraging a disappointed Wesley at the end was a nice moment to cap the episode off with. As far as Wesley goes, he may still be presented as too competent and intelligent, but he is more likeable and the testing setting allows him to shine like this without, again, affecting the adult characters. Plus text anxiety is super relatable haha. Now of course due to Status Quo is God, Wesley fails, but he takes it well and proved that he will be ready for it in the future. It was a pretty nice episode all in all. Nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it, neither plot overpowered the other, had a good theme of one’s integrity as a person/doing your best, good use of past continuity, and it really shows the best in characters like Picard, Wesley, and the crew’s loyalty to the former. 4/5.

Heart of Glory: Back in TOS, the Klingons were depicted as war-loving jerks. They weren’t without some depth and episodes like Day of the Dove did attempt to give them a bit more positive limelight, but it wasn’t enough to overpower the one-dimensional characterization. The films were a bit better, Undiscovered Country especialy, but that one hadn’t been made yet and they still stuck with the ruthless characterization, just changed up the makeup to make them look more alien like. It was weird sicne whenever I ddi watch TNG back when that’s all I knew of Star Trek, Worf never came across like a ruthless warmonger but like an honorable warrior which made him stand-out amongst the cast for me (that and because I freakin’ love Michael Dorn due to his animation voice over work, anyone else remember I.M. Weasel? XD). So now we get an episode where Worf gets to interact with other Klingons. I lift a brow at Worf not knowing about most Klingon customs when he seemed perfectly knowledgeable about i in past episodes. Maybe that wad due tot he shift after getting rid of Roddenberry/ IDK, but these kinds of retcons happens sometimes. This was an interesting one for sure. The Klingons are much better presented here than the entirety of TOS, showing more of their culture/customs and compared to Worf, who was raised by humans and therefore not fully in touch with his people and their ways. This is probably one of, if not the first time he’s interacted with his full culture and naturally he’d want to interact with them and learn more now that he has the chance. There’s the themes of one growing in another culture, how they adapt while still trying to be part of that culture, and finding one’s own path. There is the question on why Worf wans’t just returned tot he Klingons as a child and IDK if they address it down the line, but that type of life and struggle with identity/culture clash due to upbringing IS real and VERY relatable. I’m really glad to see the Klingons fleshed out past their TOS depiction and it’s overall respected by the cast, showing how far things have come since Kirk’s time. It fleshes out Worf’s character a great deal and makes him more likable/relatable and giving him a very realistic struggle, and in the end he stands by his beliefs and even gets the respect and offer to serve with Klingons in the future by Klingon Captain K’Nera. Very much glad that I watched this one~ 4/5.

The Arsenal of Freedom: Oh boy, war machines that killed everything! That theme never gets old! I’m not joking, with how modern warfare and technology are growing and being sold for profit, it feels like it just keeps getting more and more relevant. There’s a lot of tension in this one with Yar, Data, and Riker dealing with the arsenal that is intelligent and they’re unable to be beamed up, the ship getting attacked with Geordi in command and the Chief Engineer (they seem to go through a LOT of those this season, guess they couldn’t handle the strain of acting as miracle workers like Scotty) being an asshole to him, and Crusher injured with Picard trying to keep her alive and not get killed. Seriously, I loved Geordi here for being an effective acting commanding officer during a VERY intense situation AND telling off the Chief Engineer without even so much as raising is voice while encouraging the other officers. Badass and admirable. The away team scenes were also good with everyone being plain awesome~ Crusher having to explain to Picard how to treat her injuries while she’s in obvious pain was really good character stuff and Thank God that they avoided indulging in the obvious shipping fodder. I know they’ve hinted a little at Picard/Crusher... but I’m not really interested in it int he romantic sense at least currently. It comes off as a Captain and CMO trusting the other (not quite the same as say... Kirk and McCoy, but the trust is very much strong here plus Picard and Crusher should be allowed to form their own dynamic) and that’s the kind of interaction I live for~! It feels like everyone got a moment to shine, even Troi checking on Geordi’s mental well-being and letting him express some of his nervousness was really nice. And of course the arsenal having destroyed their own creators... like I said, a theme that just seems to grow more and more in relevance. Like I said above, some themes are necessary to repeat, and this one very much qualifies. But yeah this was great for it’s tensions, the characters being all great especially Geordi, and it’s themes (even fi IDK how intentional it was) being a huge reminder of the dangers of modernized warfare/using warfare for profit. It doesn’t go well. 4.5/5.

Okay, it’s late in the season, but we are FINALLY getting somewhere! The characters have truly grown on me and their characterizations are getting better (i.e. Picard is still a serious captain, but is very much warming up and not as cold as he was early on), the stories are steadily improving, and even with what I said about the first one, I really enjoyed this batch of episodes! Only five remain in the season, and the plan is to knock ‘em all out tomorrow. Might take a day or two off before tarting Season 2, but golly I’m finally feeling excited~!

[swordsandrayguns]

Riker’s Beard And Family Time: Looking Back At Star Trek: TNG

I write science fiction and fantasy novels… so I am no stranger to things dubbed “nerdy.” The last few months, though, I have been doing something that pushes the boundaries of nerdy even for me. I’m watching all the Star Trek properties in the order of their release. Yup, an epic binge watch covering over five decades of television series, cartoons and motion pictures. Look, I can try to explain and rationalize this a couple ways. Truth is, I travel a great deal and have to fill the time I spent in airports and on planes (preferably with things I can download as oppose to stream). I am also, as an author, studying some of the great examples of “universe building” and epic story arcs. Still nerdy, though; I admit it.

Obviously, I started with the original series and jumped into the animated series. I timed this all so my viewing of Star Trek: The Motion Picture coincided with the the special 40th anniversary showings in theaters. I followed through the next couple of movies into The Next Generation, alternating in movies and even the original series pilot The Cage (which was originally made available to the public as a pay per view offering between the first and second seasons of The Next Generation) as they fell in the original release timeline. I am getting to the end of the fifth season of Next Generation now and very much looking forward to alternating between episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space 9 and even the occasional film in the near future.

Just in case you are wondering, I am pretty dedicated to sticking to the timeline but I am not strictly adhering to it. As I find myself, for example, in a hotel with channels such as BBC America or the Heroes and Icons channel I will only turn on episodes that have already showed up in my series overview… so no DS9, Voyager or Enterprise (yet) but the adventures of Kirk and company are fair game, as are Next Generation episodes up to season five. On the other hand, I am still watching Discovery’s Short Treks as they come out and I am definitely watching Picard as soon as I get a chance (meaning on my big screen at home instead of streaming it on my laptop over shaky hotel wifi). 

Even though I have not finished the complete rewatch, I find that I already have some new thoughts and ideas about I have seen so far starting with Riker’s beard.

Star Trek The Next Generation has generated a basketful of memes from “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” to “I am not a merry man” but undeniably the greatest is “Riker’s beard.” Just as the Internet has given us “jumping the shark,” the phrase to mark when a show is never quite as good again named for a really stupid moment when Fonzie was in Hawaii, it gave us “Riker’s beard” to mark the opposite. To this day, I know people that will immediately turn off an episode of The Next Generation if Jonathan Frakes turns up clean shaven (or if Wesley is in it, but that is a whole different story and, honestly, my harsh view of Wesley softened a bit with this re-watch). My first revelation from my Next Generation binge is that while season two, when the beard shows up, is better than season one, it is not when Next Generation really hits its stride.

First of all, let me defend season one of Star Trek The Next Generation. Twenty one years after the premiere of Star Trek, after three seasons of a pioneering science fiction drama, a year of the animated series and four feature films, Star Trek The Next Generation had to take up the incredibly difficult challenge of continuing one of the world’s beloved stories without a single character from the original series. Even more difficult, the real world had changed. Where the original Star Trek was making a statement by having a Russian, an Asian and an African woman on the bridge The Next Generation would not have made any statements with this type of casting. After all, when Picard met his crew and first face Q at Farpoint the biggest show on television focused on the an upper middle class African American family, something that was absolutely unthinkable when Kirk boldly set forth with his crew. 

The first season of Star Trek The Next Generation not only introduced Q, the Ferengi and Data’s not so lovable android brother Lore it killed a main character. Star Trek The Next Generation took a major step that not only the original series never tackled but most shows avoid. Sure, other shows tease it and even then it was usually on a season ending cliffhanger. Even the original series backed away from the only death of a major character they ever portrayed with an entire movie dedicated to reversing it. Star Trek The Next Generation killed Tasha Yar completely out of the blue with three episodes left in the first season. This incredibly bold move cast a shadow on the entire series, adding a real threat to future episodes. 

Is season one perfect? Oh, no. Not at all. Not even close, but like I already mentioned it had an amazingly difficult challenge facing it. The fans were expecting… well, everything. Next Generation was trying to stay true to the essence of Star Trek while making itself something new. They put families on the Enterprise to emphasize it was a vehicle of exploration, not a military ship. They made sure there was not a Vulcan to be found and put the odd man in a kilt wandering the hallways. They put a Klingon on the bridge! But then they had to deal with it all.

Season two was better. For one thing, the anticipation and the expectations were gone. The show made it through the first season and when it came back with its second season it was coming back as Star Trek The Next Generation not “the new Star Trek.” Ironically, due to a writers’ strike, season two actually started off with a script recycled from the ill-fated Star Trek: Phase II series. In addition to the first officer’s facial hair, the second season brought Whoopi Goldberg on board as the ship’s bartender and saw Diana Muldaur (in her third Star Trek universe role as Dr. Pulaski) taking over the sick bay from Dr. Crusher. Geordi La Forge also migrated from the bridge to take over engineering. It was always a bit odd, somehow, in season one to not have the chief engineer as a major character, if only because the chief engineer would seem to play as an important of a role in the operations of the ship as, say, the ship’s counselor or a teenager doing his after school work study program as an acting ensign.

While season two was an improvement, it had its issues. Dr. Pulaski, playing a role meant, no doubt, to help humanize Data, came across as abrasive and (in my opinion) mean spirited. Gates McFadden had been fired, apparently because the head writer did not like her, but Gene Roddenberry resisted killing her character so Dr. Beverly Crusher merely transferred off the ship. When the head writer left the popular character of Dr. Crusher returned in season three. Whoopi Goldberg, although an interesting character, was the ship’s civilian bartender which is just kind of weird. Did the ship have a food court, too? The season was also shortened, because of the aforementioned writers’ strike, and it actually ended with (of all things) a clip show. A clip show!

As a final defense of season two, it did introduce the Borg, one of greatest science fiction villain races of all times. But was it really that much better than season one? Well, season two saw five episodes get a total of six Emmy nominations and won two (both technical Emmy awards related to the sound department). Season one’s premiere was the first television episode to be nominated for a Hugo Award in 15 years. Another season one episode was the first syndicated television episode to win a Peabody Award and six episodes gathered a total of seven Emmy nominations, winning three (for makeup, costume design and sound editing). If you place your faith in the numbers, it seems season one might have actually been better (at least if you go by its awards).

So by now, if I may be so bold as to make a prediction, you are probably thinking “This guy has put way too much thought into Star Trek The Next Generation” and “Okay, so if season two is not when The Next Generation gets great, when is it?” First, I said as an author I am studying Star Trek so cut me some slack. Second, I am glad you asked.

Star Trek The Next Generation, in my opinion, really hit its stride is the fourth season. Season four swept onto screens with the second part of season finale cliffhanger The Best Of Both Worlds. The Federation was facing the awesome might of the Borg and the crew of the Enterprise was desperately trying to save Picard, who had been taken and turned into Borg mouthpiece Locutus, so the season started with big action and drama. This quickly led to a series of episodes focusing on character relationships, particularly family relationships. 

After he is rescued, Picard is left a broken man and returns to his family’s vineyard in France. Although there had been several stories about Picard’s history, this was the first to address his family and his entry into Star Fleet. Data’s Day not only explored how the android navigated through his duties and relationships, it introduced Chief O’Brien’s new wife Keiko. The O’Briens are the focus in the very next episode, showing not only the natural difficulties they were having adjusting to their new life as a married couple but also O’Brien’s past Star Fleet career and the psychological wounds left by his service in the war with Cardassia. To me, Riker’s beard does not signify when Star Trek The Next Generation really gets good, it is when Keiko O’Brien appears.

Family was a major theme of the fourth season, as Worf discovered he was a father and worked to regain his family’s honor in the eyes of fellow Klingons. Luxanna Troi re-appeared as did the ghost of Tasha Yar when the crew encountered her sister. Data’s brother also made another appearance, as did Data’s creator. Data also grew a great deal, even being shown to try out a romantic relationship with another crew member. The true strength of Star Trek The Next Generation, as of season four, was that it was well established enough as a series to feature stories based on human relationships instead of action or the “alien of the week.”

It should also be noted that season four also brought more episodes which were a part of longer storylines, such as Worf’s dishonor and the political intrigues of the Klingon Empire. There were also many returning minor characters and new characters being set up for multiple appearances. It is only after three seasons Star Trek The Next Generation finally had established enough of its own universe for this to happen. Also, though, by season four plans were in motion for a second live action Star Trek series, one to run concurrently with Next Generation. It could have been that the introduction of multi-episode storylines were a result of the producers consciously attempting to expand the Star Trek universe while starting to differentiate Next Generation from the upcoming Deep Space Nine.

Ironically, season four also marks Star Trek The Next Generation outlasting its predecessor in terms of seasons on the air. While this did not actually influence the formation of my opinion season four is when Next Generation really gets good, it does really make me wonder what Star Trek may have become if it had a season four.

[bluering8]

TNG S01

I’m done with TNG S01! I’ve gotta watch some other stuff before I launch into S02, so have a quick round-up of my Very Important opinions on various characters/episodes:

Data - I love Data!! Holy shit do I love Data!! He is precious to me and perfect in every way and I want to hollow him out and wear his skin like a suit. That... possibly sounds creepier than I meant? Look, he’s my perfect wish-fulfilment character, okay. He’s earnest and awkward and he never quite Gets It, but he wants to Get It so badly, and he tries so hard, and whenever he talks people are constantly cutting him off partway through because they’ve decided he’s saying too much or saying it wrong, and he sort of... exemplifies what has been my perspective of the Autistic Experience. And despite all that, he has a career he enjoys and friends who care about him and I want to be him so much that it kind of hurts.

Also, Data has feelings. I will fight anyone to the death on this issue, I sincerely can’t see how anyone could look at Data and not come to the conclusion that he has feelings. Data has so many feelings! He might not have feelings the way humans have feelings, but he unmistakably has his own opinions and his own way of relating to the world. It’s heartbreaking that he doesn’t recognise the value of his own experiences in favour of desperately trying to live up to some arbitrary “correct” way of existing.

Deanna Troi - I hate Troi. I do not want to hate Troi, because empaths are way cooler than they usually get credit for, but she’s so fucking annoying. All she ever does is say things which were already completely fucking obvious. She’s a walking violation of show-don’t-tell and every time she opens her mouth I groan because I know whatever she’s about to say is going to ruin my enjoyment of a scene. About the nicest thing I can say about her is that she’s still a better character then Wesley, being merely irritating rather than universe-warpingly terrible.

Jean-Luc Picard - Picard’s such a dad, holy shit. I never noticed this when I watched TNG before, but now I’m picking up on it as, like, the major facet of his personality. I mean, he also drinks Earl Grey and LARPs as a detective and discusses philosophy with aliens, but mostly he’s just Space Dad now and forever. Somehow I also forgot the LARPing as a detective part of his character? Picard’s just a huge fucking nerd isn’t he.

Q - I have very mixed feelings about Q. On the one hand I always love arrogant, capricious, petulant trickster gods, especially when they have Q’s flair for the theatrical, but on the other hand I think when it comes to Q I maybe love him more in concept than in execution? I spend a lot of time thinking about trickster-god entities and how a nigh-omnipotent creature unbound by linear time and the laws of physics might relate to the universe, and Q’s a very mundane example of the character type. On the gripping hand, Q’s super fun and whenever he shows up I know I’m in for a good time. I strongly suspect that if I were a Q I would also spend an obnoxious amount of time trolling Picard. He’s just so delightfully trollable!

Tasha Yar - Yar falls into a lot of tropes which I absolutely hate, but despite that I kind of... love her anyway?? I just don’t get enough masculine female characters to not love them even when they have rape-y backstories and secret desires to be more feminine and Issues feat. their emotional vulnerabilities, I guess. She was kind of frustrating at first because she kept randomly attacking people, but in the later episodes she seemed to mellow out a lot and started acting the way I’d expect of a security chief, ie 101% willing to solve problems with violence but no longer functioning on a hairtrigger. I’m sad that she died, I would’ve loved to see what she could have grown into as the show developed.

Also she was bros with Worf! Somehow I completely forgot about that, but I love it. This is an extra layer of tragedy in her death, Yar&Worf is a delightful friendship and if it’d had space to develop I sincerely believe it could have toppled Data&Geordi as my most beloved Trek brotp. This is what fanfiction is for, I suppose.

Wesley Crusher - I know it’s kind of Trek cliché to loathe Wesley but boy do I ever loathe Wesley!! The funny thing is that I actually liked him for the first two or three episodes: he was a bright and enthusiastic kid who was transparently desperate for Picard to be his father figure (and Picard was transparently disinterested in being his father figure, which is hilarious), but then he was allowed on the bridge despite not being part of Starfleet or even an acting-cadet at the time, and then the action paused in the middle of an episode so Picard could get lectured on how Wesley is the bestest most wonderfulest, and then... you get the point.

I’m not here to shit on wish-fulfilment characters (I mean, that’d be hypocritical as fuck considering my feelings about Data), I’m here to shit on wish-fulfilment characters who are so devoted to wish-fulfilment that they stop functioning adequately as a character. The universe warps itself into a pretzel so that Wesley can be the bestest most wonderfulest and it really really pisses me off.

S01E01E02 Encounter at Farpoint - You know, for a nigh-omnipotent weird space being, Q is amazingly fucking dumb. Like, who agrees to judge people based on a test without realising that if you tell people you’re testing them they’ll go out of their way to be on their best behaviour? You’re not gonna be getting any kind of reliable data here, Q.

S01E07 Lonely Among Us - What the fuck was this episode, I mean seriously. Okay, so we open with two groups of diplomats who super super hate each other and the Enterprise has to transport them to a meeting, so you’d assume that the episode would revolve around dealing with the conflict between the two groups right? Except no, that’s like the d-plot, the a-plot is there’s a weird space thing and the b-plot is Data has a crush on Sherlock Holmes. The c-plot is Wesley does his homework. And then the episode ends with the news that one group of diplomats has cooked and eaten a member of the other group and Picard’s like “lmao I don’t give a shit, Riker you deal with this I’m gonna go take a nap.” What the fuck, basically.

In other news, spacefuture meat is all cruelty-free synthesised magic apparently. I wonder if vegetarians still exist? Other than vulcans, I guess. I don’t know enough about the philosophy behind not shoving delicious chunks of animal corpse into your face to work out the answer here.

S01E08 Justice - I talked about this episode already and honestly that’s all you really need to know. People try to talk to Picard about Wesley’s impending death and Picard immediately changes the topic to talking about the weird space thing, rinse and repeat.

Anyway I was recently reading about a guy who was transporting prisoners when some of the prisoners escaped. The punishment for letting prisoners escape was death, so he released the rest of the prisoners then ran off to be an outlaw because it wasn’t like they could kill him any more then they were already going to. Then he became Emperor! Anyway the moral of the story is that Light Yagami is a moron escalating punishments are important and if someone knows you’re gonna kill them for something they did then they have basically no reason not to go and do a bunch of other crimes also.

S01E10 Hide and Q - Hey, quick quiz: you encounter a nigh-omnipotent entity who has previously mocked your species for being savage and violent. Said entity dumps you on a planet with a bunch of weird monsters. Do you: a) attempt to communicate with these monsters in the hopes of reaching a peaceful solution, or b) savagely resort to violence by shooting them with your space guns? If you picked option b, then congratulations! You are the crew of the Enterprise. This technically wasn’t the point of the episode, but come on! Step up your mind-game game, Q.

Also Picard yells at Q for constantly changing his costume and it’s like, Picard, dude, you’re aware the thing you’re yelling at isn’t actually Q? Q isn’t a human with superpowers, he’s an incomprehensible entity who occasionally puppets around a meatsack so you can have something convenient to yell at. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from Greek mythology and also Lovecraft, it’s that you super super do not want to see the incomprehensible entity’s true form.

S01E13 Datalore - I LOVE DATA AND I LOVE HIS HORRIBLE BROTHER!! but also, fuck Wesley. I hate Wesley. He’s immediately suspicious of Lore-as-Data purely on the basis of he sees “Data” doing Lore’s facial tic despite the fact that at the beginning of the episode he walked in on Data attempting to mimic sneezing, and despite the fact that there are several other characters with much better reasons to find Lore-as-Data suspicious.

Actually, you know what my dream rewrite for this episode would be? Someone becoming suspicious of Lore-as-Data, not because they think he’s Lore, but because they think he’s Data. The crew had previously been discussing whether or not they could trust Data now that he’d found links outside of Starfleet, so having that issue play out onscreen would’ve been fantastic. (Especially if it influenced their behaviour towards Data and Lore tried to take advantage of that as a “your friends are dicks, betray them and join me” kind of thing. I’m Here(tm) 24/7 for manipulation and corruption, my dude.)

S01E17 When the Bough Breaks - You know, this entire episode could’ve been solved with cloning. I mean actually it couldn’t, but the problem they thought they were having could’ve been solved with cloning. Ask the Enterprise for some unfucked genetic material and you can make your own kids! As many kids as you want!! More than six kids because seriously I don’t know what you were expecting to achieve with that, that’s not enough people to keep your planet alive.

S01E19 Coming of Age - This episode is an excellent example of What’s Wrong With Wesley. Wesley does an exam, and he loses some points in order to help another person with the exam, and at the end he’s told the other person passed but he didn’t, and the other person’s like “oh but that only happened because Wesley lost points by helping me!!”, because Wesley is so bestest most wonderfulest that the only reason he fails is because he sacrificed himself to help someone else to succeed. There’s a vague attempt at suggesting “oh, but there were other reasons Wesley failed!!” but like, fuck you, you don’t get to show me nothing but Wesley succeeding and then attempt to salvage this mess by telling me there were other factors at play, especially not when there’s so much attention devoted to Wesley helping the other person.

S01E22 Symbiosis - Everyone spends this episode focusing on the wrong thing. See, the Brekkians are selling medicine to the Ornarans, except actually it’s not medicine it’s addictive drugs, and this is bad because... drugs are bad? Don’t do drugs kids!! Why are you all focusing on the part where there are drugs and not the part where the Brekkians are lying shitbags taking relentless advantage of the Ornarans so that they can live like parasite kings in a capitalist hellscape castle?

“Golly gosh I sure can’t understand why anyone would voluntarily become dependent on a drug!!” says FUCKING WESLEY, THE WORST CHARACTER, completely missing the part where the drug actually is medicine and the Ornarans are entirely unaware that they no longer have the plague the drug is medicine for and thus believe that they have literally no other choice than to take the drug if they want to live. There is nothing “voluntary” about this at all, Wesley you absolute fuckwad!! Somebody shove this kid into a locker already.

S01E23 Skin of Evil - There are no pockets in Starfleet uniforms so everyone spends this episode wandering around with stuff awkwardly glued to their sides and it’s terrible and hilarious. I’m pretty sure this is true of other episodes but this is the one where I found it really really noticeable and couldn’t stop laughing.

...this episode was just obnoxiously funny in general actually, Goo Man is trying so hard to be super evil and scary and grimdark but nobody really gives a fuck about it, he’s more just like majorly inconvenient and kind of irritating than he is actually threatening at any point. “You don’t understand! I don’t serve evil, I am evil!!” the Goo Man wails. Picard categorically does not give any kind of a shit in response.

tl;dr: Data is precious and perfect and every time he’s onscreen I start weeping. YOU’RE DOING GREAT, DATA! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!!

[mailorderfictionalcharacter]

Malcolm Reed, Geordi LaForge, Kes, and Janice Rand

Seven years and two plagues later; I respond. My apologies. Life. Y’know.

1. Sexuality Headcanons:

Malcolm - oh how I wish the powers that be didn't cowardly back off on the original plan, wherein Malcolm was openly gay. Oh well, let's Headcanon him in anyways. 

Geordi - bisexual, demisexual(just a vibe, not a very serious headcanon)

Kes - let's say bisexual. For reasons.

Janice - This is probably because I've only seen Janice in a few TOS episodes (I'm only doing a proper start to finish watch of the series now) and thus haven't reached the inevitable het romance, but as far as I'm concerned Janice Rand is a lesbian. If at any point she shows romantic interest in a man it's obviously an elaborate inside joke with Uhura. Janice Rand, very lesbian.

2. OTPS

Malcolm - I don't have one. I don't think Malcolm is the sort of person to want a relationship with a crew member and none of the men on the ship seem like a good romantic match for him. (If Malcolm got a love interest, they should probably be a civilian, more emotionally expressive). If I had to choose an otp Malcolm/Travis might work.

Geordi - I'm not super serious about it but Da Forge is a good ship.

Kes - I don't have any preexisting ideas about Kes' relationships other than "c'mon Neelix be the better person we know you can be," but, to make something up; Kes and B'Elana could be interesting because they're both very passionate and principled people but externally they present themselves very differently: Kes is caring, subtle, and calm whereas B'Elana is expressive, and a bit judgemental. Also Kes's morality is more about caring while B'Elana has a warrior's moral code, resisting injustice.  (There's a running theme in these asks because only interesting character foils can get me interested in romantic plots).

Janice - I enjoy the idea of Uhura/Janice Rand. Both are talented and Janice seems more level on and off duty whereas Uhura is a capable woman but an incorrigible flirt.

3. Brotps:

Malcolm - I would enjoy seeing a Malcolm/Hoshi friendship, mostly because Malcolm is very militaristic whereas Hoshi is more of the Civilian Science Nerd Who Got Swept Up In All this Rubbish. On the whole Enterprise forgot to do what tng/ds9 did well and allow their side characters to actually *gasp* interact, so pretty much any platonic relationship is up for grabs. Malcolm is an interesting character to work in contrasts; his disciplined nature compared to Phlox, or his close to the belt nature compared to Travis' comfort with his roots.

Geordi - Also Data and Geordi; they're so affectionate and supportive. I also really enjoy the dynamic between Picard and Geordi in the tng relaunch novels, considering Geordi is one of the remaining original crew members.

Kes - canonically, Kes and the Doctor all the way. So good. Remember when she extended his flu? Good scene. For an au take, I would enjoy a purely platonic Kes and Neelix friendship. They did have some nice dynamics canonically and I'd like to see a relationship without the squicky romantic possessiveness.

Janice - Rand and Spock. No good justification it's just that Spock goes well with everyone.

4. Notps:

Malcolm - Malcolm/Hoshi, Malcolm/T'pol, Malcolm/Archer. Not really established ships but in my mind each of these pairings are  a Bad Idea.

Geordi - I don't remember any established canon or fan popular relationships that made me cringe, so here's one: Geordi/Q. Awful idea.

Kes - Kes and possessive!Neelix. So many cringe moments

Janice - Rand and every damn person who falls in love with her and then tries to force her into sexual acts against her will why is this a plot multiple times for goodness' sakes. (Also not big at all on the idea of Kirk/Rand).

5. First Headcanon that Pops to Mind:

Malcolm - So based off the pineapple thing, let's say Malcolm has a ridiculous amount of personal experiences he never talks about. Like he had a steady boyfriend back on earth and never brings it up because it's not relevant. If prompted he has all these prank stories but you basically have to drag the information out of him.

Geordi - Geordi is also friends with Felix, who sent the Chief Engineer on Starfleet's flagship a sample program because he knows just how good he is.

Kes - Since Kes starts canonically developing her telekenetic abilities, let's imagine Kes as an absolute telekenetic prankster.

Also, after she leaves Voyager I like to imagine that some of what she got up to would be protecting the vulnerable, considering her past. (I don't think this directly contradicts canon but I actually try to forget that episode).

Janice - Janice Rand is so professional that no one expects her to have wild musical tastes. Like death metal, weird atonal music, lots of instrumentals, music from non-human planets etc*

*My lack of musical knowledge is showing, isn't it.

6. One Way I Relate:

Malcolm - I would also refuse to marry and copulate with my coworkers if we were stranded on a planet in an alternate timeline. My mom is also largely unaware of my food preferences.

Geordi - often interacts with people with an understated sort of humour. I would also subtly lecture ableist aliens and befriend the local android.

Kes - This example is more about admiration than relating, but I really enjoy Kes's compassionate curiosity and the sense of wonder that comes with her character.

Janice - In the episode Charlie X we see her being mature to someone who is A) probably quite traumatized and B) currently sexually harassing her. I relate to that sense of "oh, this situation is kind of worse for me and I'm still going to handle it fairly and levelly because of moral principles and rational empathy." Also even though she's backed into a corner she still tries to pass emotional labour off to Kirk and that's A+. ("Ask the Captain, he'll explain.") I'm sure lots of women (although not all women and not just women) could relate to that.

7. Something that Gives me Second Hand Embarrassment:

Malcolm - I have a distant memory of an episode where Archer, Trip, and Malcolm were all trapped in a pod, thought they were going to die, and Malcolm got about 10% sentimental? That always makes me unjustifiably embarrassed, but I don't even remember if that episode was real, so.

Geordi - nothing? I think Geordi may be the perfect human being?

Kes - the episode where she came back and tried to hurt all her old friends was pretty embarrassing. Also her relationship with Neelix.

Janice - From what I've actually seen of TOS, nothing beyond those damn impractical uniforms. If we have to see people in dresses at least show me Spock in a dress, c'mon.

8. Cinnamon Roll or Problematic Fave?:

Malcolm - I want to call him the problematic fave because he was somewhat militaristic, but nah, cinnamon roll. Let me see only the best in people like some sort of naive federation citizen. (Also Archer made way more questionable decisions and I don't remember enough about Enterprise to say that Reed ever did anything less than an exemplary job).

Geordi - Clear cinnamon roll

Kes - Clear cinnamon roll. No controversy there.

Janice - Definitely a cinnamon roll. Too good for this world.

[calliecat93]

Star Trek: TNG Episodes 9-12

Hide and Q: Okay, this one was mostly pretty good. It has a very interesting concept, what happens when a normal human gets granted God-like power? First we get Q again, who was by far the most entertaining part of this episode. Then we have Riker. So far he’s been the ideal First Officer... admittedly he may be a bit too much like Kirk except not a captain, but still. Kind of reminds me of the TOS episode To Where No Man Has Gone Before except Riker isn’t an ass like Gary and doesn’t have the weird eye effect thing. Things go pretty well with Riker having used his powers to save the crew and promising Picard that he won’t play God... until this promise prevents him from saving a dead child. That would make anyone upset. But it allows Q to pro him into using it for what seems like good things like granting what he thinks the crew wants, with all of them declining. Data and Geordi’s refusals were especially excellent... though Worf and Wesley’s ugh... desires were stupid. The ending was also very abrupt which puts a damper on what was otherwise an interesting, philosophical episode. They don’t even say if Riker lost the power or not and he gets zero resolution. Also Picard came of as ana ss with how he talked to an understandably conflicted Riker regarding the dead child. So far one of the better episodes with Q, the theme of humanity with power that doesn’t go into some kind of power mad direction, and some nice character bits from Data and Geordi. It needed a MUCH better resolution though. 3.5/5

Haven: So... Nurse Chapel was actually an alien and by the 24th Century got over her crush on Spock, married a human, had Deanna, and now is putting her daughter in an arranged marriage. Damn it Chapel, did seeing what happened with Spock in Amok Time teach you nothing?! Sure Pon Farr is off the table, but still! Okay, okay it’s not Chapel, just the same actress playing Troi’s mother cause I guess Roddenberry needed to get his wife in another ST show somehow. Anyways, Lwaxana is... kind of obnoxious. Majel Barrett does it well though. Anyways, the episode... it was okay. It got some laughs out of me like Data asking for the petty bickering to continue after Troi stormed out. That got a BIG laugh out of me, haha! But otherwise it was meh. Most of the petty bickering annoyed me and felt more in place in a sitcom, whatever romantic hinting I’m supposed to get from Troi and Riker falls flat since there’s been nothing since The Naked Now AND the episode began with him checking out other women so... sorry, no real sympathy for Riker. Troi was okay and her storming off when she gets sick of her mom and future mother-in-law was exactly how I felt. The ending felt kind of convenient to get Troi out of the wedding. I guess it’s kind fo sweet how Wyatt is willing to risk the plague to be with his destined lover and help her people... but IDK if it was a Disney movie I’d find it cute for for Star Trek... eeeehhhh. Just a full, unfunny episode. I was hoping to learn more about betazoid culture like how we found out more about Vulcans in Amok Time... but the time was wasted one the annoying sitcom antics or a forced romance. It had it’s funny bits, but otherwise Troi deserved a better focus episode than this. 2/5.

The Big Goodbye: Holodeck episode! Finally! I’ve been waiting for this! I really like how Picard got to be more light-hearted and... well, kind of a dork. Aside from a few bits, he’s overall been a hardass. So seeing a more fun side to him really helps make him more likable and fun. Data may be the only one who was a bigger dork, haha! The noir setting was nice and the concept of the holodeck allows a LOT of fun concepts that I’m excited to see in other episodes. And of course things go horribly wrong cause it’s Star Trek with the holodeck malfunctioning while the others are dealing with aliens. The moment the new guy gets shot and bleeds for real with everyone realizing that it’s not in good fun anymore got me wide-eyed. It’s the most fun episode so far. Not quite as much as TOS’ A Piece of the Action, but still fun. More fun than the last one at least. 3.5/5.

Datalore: So... Data has an evil brother. Welp. So far I’ve really enjoyed Data. I guess he’s supposed to be The Spock of the group, but instead of trying to shove away emotions and his human half, Data is an android who doesn’t have emotions and so far he comes as fascinated about it and what humans do. Similar deal but different enough to let Data be his own character and not just an attempt at copying Spock. Which, from what I can tell, is a big part of why a later S2 character failed but that’s for then, this is now. Learning more about where Data came from and his history/creation were great to learn about. Lore is a great contrast, appearing to be more human-like but also much more intimidating, manipulative, and villainous. His offer to help Data be more human and using that to knock him out and try to take his place to lure the ship to some Crystalline Entity. Major props to Brett Spiner for not only managing to play both Data and Lore and make them distinctive, but when Lore poses as Data he does a great job at acting as Lore acting as Data. That takes some major acting talent. It’s not a perfect episode, Picard comes off like an idiot for trusting Lore so easily and acts like an ass to Wesley when he expresses concern about it which not only makes Picard look incompetent and disregard one of his men’s understandable concerns, but again makes Wesley look better than the trained adults. Also the clue that Lore was Data was using contractions which Data doesn’ do... except I’m very sure that he HAD used contractions in past episodes so that comes across as a MAJOR ass pull that the writers didn’t bother to check continuity for, INCLUDING AT THE END OF THIS VERY EPISODE. Unless it turns out later in the show that Data was Lore all along, that is a HUGE continuity flub going against this very episode’s logic. That stops me from giving it a 5/5, but the episode is by far the best so far with great focus on Data (he didn’t deserve ANY of this), Lore is a really good villain and my mom already informed me that this isn’t the end of him, and it was an enjoyable episode that really held my interest. By far more than any episode so far, though we still have a loooong ways to go. 4/5.

Okay, it’s starting to get better. I can say that the last two episodes helped finally grab some interest from me and even Hide and Q had some interesting ideas. Haven was... blah, but not the worst thing ever. Datalore, despite the glaring flaws, continuity issues, and it again making me care less and less for Wesley, was a really good episode that really gripped me for at least Data, kind of like how The Naked Time did with getting me invested into Spock and to Kirk to a lesser degree. Fourteen more episodes of S1 to go. More to come tomorrow. Think for now I’m gonna do four a day, maybe more if we’re near the end of a season or something. But I’ms tarting to finally get invested, so yay~!