Official Star Trek Thread

LooseCannon

LooseCannon

Enterprise-class aircraft carrier
Staff member
Here's the thing about all the later seasons of Star Trek. It takes a full 7 seasons for a Star Trek series to become really really good. Like TNG - Perun and I have had this discussion before, but seasons 1 and 2 of TNG are really really bad (with a few gems) as the actors get to know each other, the writers find good niches, and the like. Enterprise has this same arc, but it doesn't finish. Seasons one and two are kinda crappy, but three and especially four are really, really really good. But it took me years to get around to watching those episodes because I was so disillusioned.

We were spoiled by the other series, because everyone forgave Season 1 and 2 of TNG because they were so Star Trek deprived. Then we went from the end of TNG (which was amazing) into the end of DS9 (which was awesome), and into the end of Voyager (which was fairly good). So then we got…shocked by the adjustment period.

I really do believe Enterprise would have had three fucking killer seasons to finish it out. I've read a lot of the plans they had, and they were awesome. For instance, they were going to have a Guinan episode. Also, they were going to do the Romulan War and end with the Battle of Charon. It should have been spectacular.

Unfortunately, they shot themselves in the foot early and were unable to even limp to the finish.
 
LooseCannon said:
Here's the thing about all the later seasons of Star Trek. It takes a full 7 seasons for a Star Trek series to become really really good. Like TNG - Perun and I have had this discussion before,
Click to expand...

And I have to disagree (yet again)- it takes four seasons. I maintain that with a few exceptions, TNG season 7 is the best thing to ever hit the television screen, but seasons 5 and 6 aren't far behind.
Season 3 had great moments, like The Booby Trap, Sins of the Father and The Defector, but I share the majority opinion that the series really picked off with Best of Both Worlds, which is still easily in my list of favourite episodes, especially because it spawned the best science fiction movie ever- First Contact.
It's been a while since I watched season 4, so I'm not sure which episodes it contains. But season 5 was already brilliant. It introduced Ensign Ro, who is one of the most interesting characters in the show, and it also includes two further of my favourite episodes ever, The Inner Light and I, Borg. And season six had some of the most memorable moments in the series, such as Tapestry, Chain of Command and Birthright.

Come to think of it, I might revisit the series sometime soon.
 
I agree the last 3 seasons were where TNG hit its stride, Perun, but there is a significant qualitative difference between Season 2 and Season 3. Season 3 may not be the best, but it does have some fantastic episodes - and more than you mentioned, such as Yesterday's Enterprise, often considered the best TNG episode (though I disagree).

Honestly, we should both sit down and and watch like one episode of Star Trek a day until we've watched it all, and post our thoughts on it.
 
LooseCannon said:
...Yesterday's Enterprise, often considered the best TNG episode (though I disagree).
Click to expand...

I don't. That is the best episode, in my opinion. Just narrowly beats Best Of Both Worlds.

Those two, and (I don't know the episode title) ... "THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!"


Edit: the last 2 or 3 seasons of DS9 beat any TNG, though.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
Those two, and (I don't know the episode title) ... "THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!"
Click to expand...

Chain of Command.
 
I would have a tough time picking my favourite. Tapestry would be up there, for sure.

My favourite episode of all Star Trek is In The Pale Moonlight from DS9.
 
Wow.  You know, I didn't get to watch a lot of DS9.  I was a huge fan of TNG, cause, as LC put it, I was Star Trek deprived.  And I am one of the few people I know that enjoyed Enterprise.  Eh, that is ok with me, I used to watch it with my kids, and it was some good family fun for us. 
 
Ah, another one I really liked from TNG: the two-parter (end of season 6 / beginning of 7, I think) where Lore builds up his little Borg army.

And my favorite TOS: Devil in the Dark. With the silicon monster and the classic "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer."
 
I don't remember the episode name, but I always liked the TNG episode where Picard was on Earth, after the entire Borg incident, and was at the family vineyard.  I really enjoyed watching him rolling around in the mud with his brother.  IIRC, he was contemplating staying the Earth to take some job there, but was convinced (or realized) that the job that best suited him was being a starship captain.

Also, thought it was a pretty cool arc (he and the Borg) that lasted until First Contact.
 
That's the thing with Picard-heavy episodes: They are generally great because Picard is a great character and Patrick Steward is a great actor. Picard is in fact one of the reasons why I like TNG so much.
 
I'd agree.  Someone posted about the Cardassian episode, where he saw the 3 (4) lights.  Was it the final episode, where he played 3 different ages in time.  The one where he was living an entire life in that one moment (and he got that instrument that he would play through out the rest of the episodes). 

Tea. Earl Grey.  Hot.
 
Family is the episode where Picard is home after being assimilated. The Cardassian episode is Chain of Command], specifically Part II. It was the final episode (All Good Things…) where he was at three different ages, and the last one is The Inner Light, which Patrick Stewart considers the best episode he ever did.
 
And I'd agree with his opinion. The Inner Light is an untypical episode, but it's simply great drama.
 
Perun said:
And I'd agree with his opinion. The Inner Light is an untypical episode, but it's simply great drama.
Click to expand...

Yeah, pretty much. It's one of my favourite episodes. Because we just get to see Patrick Stewart being amazing.
 
The Inner Light is something special. I remember being blown away when it first came out. But it barely seems like Trek to me - in a good way. Stewart's work there transcends the Picard character and the Trek universe. Trek becomes little more than the frame on which Stewart hangs that brilliant performance.

And oddly, that's why I don't put with my favorite episodes. I've mentioned episodes with Klingons, Borg, Cardassians and Lore as my favorites. There were so many episodes which had just the Enterprise crew, and some alien you never saw again. I really loved it when the series showed recurring aliens (even those hideous Klingon sisters). Getting to know those other characters made the Enterprise seem like part of a culture, not just a vehicle to show a new freak every week.

So The Inner Light is a Stewart masterpiece, that just happens to be TNG, at least for me.


Rule Of Acquisition #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.
 
One of the things I liked about DS9 was the long, overarching storylines. Like with Kor, the Dahar Master. First seen in TOS, he comes back in DS9 because he, Kang, and Koroth swore to hunt down the Albino with Curzon Dax, and now that they found the Albino, they call upon Jadzia to fulfill the pledge. But even more awesome was later, during the Dominion War, Kor still believes he's a great warrior, hunting down Kirk and the Enterprise, going slightly senile, but when the Klingon wing is outnumbered by Jem'Hadar attack vessels, he takes one Bird of Prey and holds them off longer than anyone thought was possible.

Fucking awesome episode.
 
I think that is an excellent description of the series, SMX.

I always found his (Picard's) episodes the most memorable.  I wasn't much of a Wesly or Dr Crusher fan-- they were fine, but not so much my favorite.  I did like the Worf episode, where he ended up popping in and out of different realities and towards the end thousands of Enterprises showed up.  But, next to Picard, I really enjoyed Ryker's character.  Especially after the first season.  

One other episode that sticks out, I think the title was 'Drumroll' but I'm not sure-- where the older lady was some sort of 'military atty' that was trying to get to the bottom of some mystery on the Enterprise, and was finding people in all sorts of places that were 'evil doers'.   Again, a masterful Picard saved the day.
LooseCannon said:
One of the things I liked about DS9 was the long, overarching storylines. Like with Kor, the Dahar Master. First seen in TOS, he comes back in DS9 because he, Kang, and Koroth swore to hunt down the Albino with Curzon Dax, and now that they found the Albino, they call upon Jadzia to fulfill the pledge. But even more awesome was later, during the Dominion War, Kor still believes he's a great warrior, hunting down Kirk and the Enterprise, going slightly senile, but when the Klingon wing is outnumbered by Jem'Hadar attack vessels, he takes one Bird of Prey and holds them off longer than anyone thought was possible.

Fucking awesome episode.
Click to expand...

Wow, i don't think I've seen that one, I'll check that out.
 
Ooh, I just remembered another great one ... the TNG crew is stuck in a time loop that keeps repeating, and they have to find a way to send a signal into the next loop so they can get out of it. Then Fraser Krane shows up as a starship captain?!?

Ooh, I just remembered another great one ... the TNG crew is stuck in a time loop that keeps repeating, and they have to find a way to send a signal into the next loop so they can get out of it. Then Fraser Krane shows up as a starship captain?!?

Ooh, I just remembered another great one ... the TNG crew is stuck in a time loop that keeps repeating, and they have to find a way to send a signal into the next loop so they can get out of it. Then Fraser Krane shows up as a starship captain?!? [SIGNAL SENT: YOU ALREADY TYPED THIS CRAP, SMX]

Ooh, I just remembered another great one ... the TNG crew is stuck in a time loop that keeps... never mind, I already typed this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top