70 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
70 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers for this week's TNG episode,
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"Samaritan Snare". Proceed with caution.
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Okay, fine, be that way.
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Well, after "Q-Who", I suppose anything would be a letdown. This really
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could've been better, though.
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This episode was one of those that was great on characterization, but sadly
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lacking on plot. Even with two plots, it had problems :-). Here's a quick
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synop of the plots:
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Plot One: The Enterprise, with Riker in temporary command (see plot two),
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intercepts a distress call. Answering it, they find a ship of beings known as
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the Packlets. (sp?) These people seem very, very dumb--it's really a wonder
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how they ever achieved space travel at all. They say their ship is "broken",
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but when Geordi beams over to fix it, we eventually find that it's a ruse.
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Seems that the Packlets don't like waiting for technology, so they steal it;
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through a hostage situation, generally. The situation is resolved, but I
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won't say how.
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Plot Two: Picard is forced to go "ashore" at Starbase 515 for cardiac
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replacement, an operation which is usually very straightforward...usually. He
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also ends up sharing the shuttle there with Wesley, who is en route to take some
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exam or other.
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Now, my usual rambling:
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As I've already said, the best thing about this episode was the characteri-
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zation. They gave us a lot of insight into Picard, and just generally do
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everyone else right (even Troi, for a nice change of pace). It seems that
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Picard was somewhat cocky as a youth; that is, until he got into a barroom
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brawl with some Nausicaans and ended up with a spear through his heart. Most
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of the scenes between him and Wesley are excellent, and I recommend them
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(barring, of course, those who vomit whenever Wes is onscreen).
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Unfortunately, it's not so good otherwise. The plot with the Packlets started
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off pretty terrible, but improved. The resolution of that plot is actually
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quite nice. Sadly, though, it didn't entirely make up for having to sit
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through the abysmal talk of the Packlets. It was nice in moderation, but it
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didn't stay in moderation. Bleh.
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The plot with Picard, on the other hand, just wasn't very good. The parts with
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Picard worried about his image on the ship were nice, but that's about all it
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had going for it. The scenes with the surgeon were abominable. Get someone who
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can act next time, okay? Yeesh.
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In sum, it was nice to see, but not something I'll want to go back and see
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often.
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Plot: 5. 3 for Picard, but 7 for Geordi.
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Plot Handling: 7. 7 for each, actually.
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Characterization: 9. Very nice, but not quite up to some.
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Technical: 8. Nice. Not thrilling, but nice.
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TOTAL: 7.25------> 7. I'm rounding down this time, 'cause it's not really up
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at 7.5 level. Oh well.
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Next Week:
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A world full of clones, that seem to want a certain captain and his first
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officer to donate some genes...hmmm.
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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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"Don't tell me. Their rubber band broke, right?"
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---Lt. Geordi LaForge
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