Star Trek - All Good Things...

I had already seen this episode a while back. Q ends this series, at least, as mischievously as he entered it. I've been a fan of the time travel since my childhood (see previous post), so of course I enjoyed this episode. Rated 2-.

Star Trek - Q2

Farewell, sweet Q. I have now seen every episode featuring you.
You did not end with the same omnipotent bang with which you entered, but I respect you all the same.
I would have loved this episode if I were 12. Not only is the writing on par with the type of drama I would have found inspiring at that age, Q's mischievous offspring (also the actor's) somehow reminded me of my childhood actor-crush, Meeno Peluce. Rated 5.

Star Trek - The Q and the Grey

The Q seem to have ever greater limitations as time goes on. You'd think that an omnipotent being could impregnate a species at will, and even make gestation instantaneous if so desired. But then there wouldn't be much of an episode, and I suppose it's fair. Rated 4-

Star Trek - Death Wish

I like how "Q" is introduced to the "Voyager" series, especially how - through an encounter with a jaded philosopher Q - it can write off his previous lame behavior (*cough* Vash) in as a reaction to the dullness of continuum culture (which reminds me of a "Life in Hell" cartoon I pasted on my wall for many years that said something like "Wouldn't eternity get boring after a while?"). It gives me hope that future Q episodes will find him once again back to his mischief.
His counter-Q, however, ends disappointingly. If he truly wanted to be mortal just for a new experience, you'd think that he could savor the feeling of mortality for a few days (or decades) before ending it all. Q2's death seemed more of a lame device to neatly round out the episode (especially the taunting of Home) than a meaningful denouement. Rated 4.

Dead Like Me - Ashes to Ashes

It's too bad that this series only lasted two seasons, because I only have one disc left to watch and it's really picking up steam. It balances so many storylines well - among the dead, the undead, and the living - and with honest emotion. And in doing so it doesn't contradict itself all too much. I'll be sad when it has finished. (Especially since I doubt that the last episode will wrap everything neatly. I don't know if they planned to end after only two seasons.) Rated 3+.

Star Trek - Tapestry

After a slate of less-than-stellar viewing experiences (future entries), it was nice to have a double-shot of the good stuff. This well-written episode resonates with me, as I have often thought how my life might have panned out if I had had certain traits in my youth that I have only recently developed. But the I always come to the same conclusion, which is that I wouldn't change the bad choices I've made in my past at the sacrifice of my current self. And why would I want to? That is, after all, what being human is all about. As Q and Jean Luc discover.
It is odd, however, that Jean Luc accepts defeat and "wants out" from Q so quickly in his alternate reality. You'd think that with his pluck and vigor he could find new chances to take and paths to forge. ...but I guess it is hard to establish a new career at his age. (Speaking of which, his kissing his Academy friend was even creepier than young-enough-to-be-my-daughter Vash. But that's just me.) Rated 2+

Star Trek - Q-less

I appreciate when the Trek series' play with each other, and I dislike Vash less with this follow-up episode, but mustn't Q have learned Love to behave in this manner? He seems more like a moody teenager being dumped than an omnipotent being. Well, I suppose that Gods can do whatever they want. Rated 4-.

Star Trek - True Q

At first, I was concerned to see another perhaps flighty ensign(ish) on board in this episode. The Love of Love - as if it's the only weapon against Q - gets a bit cloying, but the episode was fair. That girl must have special powers to have such a complicated wardrobe that sets her off so beautifully. Rated 4.

Star Trek - Qpid

*sigh* This episode required prior knowledge of characters, which I did not have. Fortunately, Mr.Goat is a virtual Trek Oracle. I didn't like the dippy ensign character, who didn't seem to have much purpose. Neither did I understand why Picard would fall for someone as morally corrupt as Vache - excuse me... Vash. But I suppose it's a play on that old "good girls like bad boys" adage. ...and then they run off with your nemesis.
Fair enough. Rated 3-.

Star Trek - Deja Q

Funniest. Star. Trek. Episode. Ever.
Again, it's a science + religion episode that gets me. You get a godlike creature who has to be a mortal human... it's like Jesus, see? Only this God never wanted to be human. And who turns out to be his best friend? An android.
...But it's not as lame as that sounds. When people tell me how easy my baby's life must be, I always comment how I think it's hard work to be a baby. So much to learn, every day... and babies don't know how to slack off (or still know that slacking wouldn't be in their best interest). Q knows everything about the universe but nothing about life, and his dilemmas are like those of a baby who can talk. Brilliant. (Should I revisit "Mork and Mindy"? Wasn't that part of the plot?) Rated 2, with potential.

Star Trek - Q Who?

The Star Trek "Q Collective" contains all episodes featuring this popular character, so I find the narrative continuity particularly fulfilling. (And yes, they address the backlash of his previous appearances.) It's nice not to have to ask Mr.Goat questions about what I have missed between selected episodes. Q is cool in his unpredictability. At times, it seems that he's just playing mischievous mind games, and at other times flashes of evil psychosis spark up in his demeanor. Take the prime humanity of Jean Luc, the unpredictability of Q, and mix in the dreadful (in its effect, not quality) predictability of Borg, and you have a recipe for a good episode. (Borg Babies!) Note: Riker has already taken on the Billy Joel look in season 2. Rated 2.

Star Trek - Hide & Q

Another First season surprise.
I realize that I am used to seeing Riker from later episodes, and I have always called him "That Billy Joel guy", in reference to his unattractive features with a beard. But in the first season, I see that he was supposed to be traditionally good-looking. He looks like a young Orson Welles, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since he eventually became an old Orson Welles... on a similarly superficial vein, I'm sad to see that the actor playing the adorable Q also did not age so cutely. (He looks like a retired boater in this photo, at least.) Well, that's life.
I enjoyed this episode, even though the performances were somewhat stodgy. And I will have to knock it down a notch if they never mention Q being punished by his people.
Rated 3+

Star Trek - Encounter at Farpoint

I had heard that the first season of ST:TNG was mostly unwatchable, so I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the pilot. I thought that it did a quite good job of introducing a large cast of characters (even if it doesn't address some of the character traits given ever again), and Q is always delightful. Zorn also reminded me of Christopher Walken. While a less brilliant incarnation, the allusion is still positive. Rated 2-

Misc Star Trek Enterprise

Judgement - Neither inventive nor original, but not as annoying as that first episode. The writing could have been better to make the lawyer's quick turn-around more believable. Rated 5-.

These are the V0yages - The final episode, and I didn't miss out on anything from not having seen the series. Probably because it is more like a ST:TNG episode. Which makes it better. Even though the actors are obviously ten years older. Rated 4+

First Flight - Flashback of schmalzy testosteresque good ol' boy nostalgia. Still not as annoying as the first episode, and at least the camera didn't focus on T'Pol's breasts the entire time she was on screen. Rated 5.

DS9 - The Way of the Warrior

From what I've seen of the series, I'm not the biggest fan of Deep Space 9. It seems much more soap opera than episodic (or even scientific) compared to the previous Star Trek series. Since I've seen "choice" episodes singularly, I need a lot of filling in to understand what is going on and who is what. It also seems much more TV than the others... ST:TNG, in particular, often impresses me with its cinematic quality despite the small screen format.
I also don't appreciate how the script will often say, "Captain - you'd better come and see what's here on the radar!" vs. "Captain, come to the bridge. Radar has just revealed a swarm of Klingons!"... which would save some time on the ship, but I guess isn't as suspenseful on a Sunday afternoon.
That being said, this episode presented an admirable internal conflict of Worf's Klingon roots. Although I was thinking that the Changeling sweep at the beginning or the security guard's explanation in the bar of how Changelingness worked would prove important to the plot at a later point. Rated 4.

Star Trek TNG - Redemption

Watching this, I kept thinking, 'Star Trek, Star Wars'... how much more I would have enjoyed watching this as a movie than I enjoyed the second set of Star Wars movies. Not that that's necessarily saying a lot. Those movies are mostly crap. But this two-part tv episode (coupled with the Sins of the Father episode and edited down) would have been just fine as a movie. Rated 2.

Star Trek Voyager - The Omega Directive

...apparently more important than the Prime Directive.
Reminded me somewhat of Contact with its theme of science-as-religion. That being said, it's quite a spiritually movingly episode. Rated 2.

Star Trek TNG - Sins of the Father

A very nice episode. I find the Klingon corruption even more disgusting than Worf. I wonder - besides fatness (and lack of honor), what makes a Klingon (un)attractive to another Klingon? Rated 2.

Star Trek Enterprise - Pilot

I'll try not to be too harsh here. I understand that it is common in the Star Trek franchise for a series to take several seasons to find its groove. (Word on the street is that the first season of ST:TNG is mostly unwatchable, and that series turned out just fine.)
From the moment I opened my ears, I just knew that this Enterprise pilot is not going to be good. The theme is *horrifically* bad, and completely new background music would have greatly improved the viewing experience.
The good: I enjoyed a few of the scientific plot points, and the special effects were quite good, especially for television. As a linguistics aficionado, I appreciated the communications plotline, and I'll give benefit of the doubt that they flesh out the translator character (because she certainly seemed expendable here).
The bad: The characters' uber-Ugly American swagger (and the implication that such an attitude is what it means to be human. ) *really* annoyed me. (I will suspend disbelief on the premise that America is still the dominating superpower in 2151.) With so much testosterone on board (and the sexy Vulcan T'Pol reprising 7 of 9's role as eye candy), the show seemed geared toward high school jocks, which is so *not* the audience Star Trek folks should expect. I understand that this series takes place before the Federation, but how on Earth did that ignorant yokel make it on board such an exclusive mission? Do we not evolve between now and 2151? Rated 5.

Star Trek Voyager - Flashback

Does anybody else out there think "Shakur" when they hear someone call for the Vulcan "Tuvac"?
I enjoyed how this episode showed another person's perspective of a previous episode - in this case, Star Trek 6. Reminded me of the cooler elements of "Lost". I was also fascinated by the notion of a memory as a virus. (At first, of course, I suspected that the ship chef had slipped a little LDS into Tuvac's drink.) Rated 2.