115 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
115 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
WARNING: The following post contains spoiler information on this week's
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TNG episode, "Peak Performance". Anyone not wishing spoilage should get
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away now.
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Honest. I've really seen it.
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Phew...that's better.
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Well, remember last season, when "Conspiracy", the next-to-last show of the
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season, was TNG's best effort?
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Hold on to those memories, because history has not chosen to repeat itself.
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Don't get me wrong--the episode was good. It just wasn't the wonder it
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could have been.
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With that in mind, here's a quick summary of both plots: (one main, one sub)
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Main Plot:
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The Enterprise is sent to participate in a wargame against an 80-year-old
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Federation ship, the Hathaway. Some of the Enterprise's crew will be used
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on the Hathaway, this being in part a test of how well one reacts when one
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in unmanned AND outgunned. The justification of this is the "Borg threat",
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as Picard refers to it, which makes sense, since the Federation will most
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certainly be outmanned and outgunned when the Borg arrive.
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Riker is sent to captain the Hathaway, and he takes with him just about
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all of the senior bridge officers, except for Data, who is serving as Picard's
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temporary first. Riker uses just about every trick in the book, and encourages
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his crew to do the same. They do, particularly Worf and Wesley, who must have
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been taking guile lessons along with his usual coursework.
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Among these little 'tricks' is Worf playing with the Enterprise's sensors, to
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make the crew believe an enemy ship is coming out of nowhere at them. This
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tactic works quite well, and Picard naturally orders the code changed.
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However, a Ferengi ship then appears--a REAL Ferengi ship. Naturally, no one
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on the Enterprise believes it until it's too late. And, of course, neither
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the Enterprise nor the Hathaway have real weapons, this being a wargame.
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I'll leave the synopsis there, but the resolution is...interesting, to say
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the least.
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SUBPLOT:
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Stationed on the Enterprise as an observer is a member of a race known
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throughout the Federation as master strategists. (Alas, I can no longer
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remember the name of the observer OR his race. Sigh.) Unfortunately, he's
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also a nasty sort. He also, as fate would have it, is a 'sixth-level adept'
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at a game called stratagema. Riker challenges him to a game, simply
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because it's an honor to play him, and is handily beaten. Then Pulaski,
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wanting to take the visitor down a peg, challenges him to play Data. Data,
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to everyone's surprise, loses. This is a tremendous blow to Data's self-
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confidence, and he spends much of the episode in his quarters trying to
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figure out what's wrong.
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Okay. Now, it's random babble time:
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I've started to think that having a single plot is ALWAYS preferable to
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a double plot. While there have been some multi-plot episodes that were
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incredibly well done ("The Emissary" comes to mind), I find that most of
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the best shows were single-plot. "Conspiracy", "Loud As a Whisper",
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"The Measure of a Man" (for the most part single-plot), "Q Who"; all
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had just one plot. Maybe it's me. Maybe not.
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Much of this episode was wonderful. The effects, for example. The one
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glimpse we get of the illusory Romulan ship is superb to say the least;
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it swoops in as prettily as anything I've ever seen. The Ferengi ship was
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also well done, as were the games of stratagema (though I found myself
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thinking of the 'Domination' game in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN throughout those
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scenes).
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Characterization was also quite good, for the most part. Riker was as good
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as I've ever seen him, Worf was excellent, Wesley actually did a good job
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(most of the time), and Picard was quite good. My main objection was Data:
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specifically, the subplot involving his loss of confidence. While his
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reactions do make some sense, this is hardly the first time he's had a
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setback like this. It would have been interesting, for example, if he'd
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recalled the guilt he felt when he fell for the Binars' trick in '11001001'.
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Apart from that, though, he did fine.
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My main objection was to the plot. There were just too many questions
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lingering in my mind. Why was the Hathaway out there in the first place?
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Why did Starfleet specifically want the Enterprise there? And, for God's
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sake, HOW did Worf manage to break through the Ferengi's systems to project
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his second illusion? A few holes too many for my liking.
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Now for a summing-up:
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Plot: 7.3. A 7.5 for the main, and a 7 for the subplot.
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Plot Handling: 8. A little better, but still room for improvement.
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Characterization: 9.5. A tenth off for Data, and the rest for the
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observer. He was just too unlikeable.
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Technical: 10. Nice effects, wonderful music. (I've put the Worf-glitch
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as a debit against the plot, if anyone's curious.)
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TOTAL: 8.7---> 8.5. Again, a nice episode, but not wonderful.
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Next Week:
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The season finale, and Star Trek's first album episode. I hope they choose
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good clips, because the frame story looks horrible.
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Tim Lynch (Cornell's first Astronomy Major)
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BITNET: H52Y@CRNLVAX5
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INTERNET: H52Y@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU
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UUCP: ...!rochester!cornell!vax5.cit.cornell.edu!h52y
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"I busted him up."
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--Data
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PS: To all those who have been avidly reading my posts as they arrive, and
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not waiting until you get to actually see the episodes, I must regretfully
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announce that next week's review will not appear at its usual time on Monday.
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I will be out of town from tomorrow to late Wednesday the 19th, and will
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not be able to post until then (mainly because I won't be able to see the
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episode 'til I get back). My apologies to you all.
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