He may be a third wheel, but he's a third wheel with STYLE.
Now that’s more like it.
After last week, I took a few days off from watching episodes to recover. “Angel One” felt like the series’ low point, and after discussing it with several people, I’m not alone in that opinion. Thankfully, the next episode is much closer to the creative storytelling and philosophy that will eventually bring this series to the heights that it’s remembered for. “11001001” is a bit wobbly in parts, but it’s a lot of fun, and that’s one hell of a relief.
The Enterprise is pulling into Starbase 74 for repairs to the computer program and the holodeck (not the worst idea, considering that the holodeck has, by this point, spread a dangerous plague and also tried to murder several officers). The repairs are being handled by a group of aliens known as Bynars, who rely so heavily on their relationship with computers that they’ve developed a rapid-fire language that uses binary code. There’s a terrific scene with Riker checking in with various members of the crew while people rush to appointments and scramble around the ship, and it might be the first time so far in the series that the ship has felt like such a lived-in community. Eventually, he finds his way to the holodeck, where a pair of Bynars have just completed repairs, and invite him to check out the upgrades they’ve made.
The scenes in the holodeck could charitably be called cheesy. I found them hysterically suggestive. Riker whips up a jazz club in New Orleans, and after cycling through several girls that don’t float his boat, he settles on a "sultry" (note that this is not my word; it's verbatim what Riker asks for) brunette who calls herself Minuet. The dialogue between Riker and Minuet…
Okay, confession time. I was a giant nerd when I was a kid (something that will undoubtedly shock any readers of this Star Trek: The Next Generation recap blog), and was terrified of girls. When I was 12, my family moved to Logan, Utah, and shortly after arriving there, I was struck down with a painfully potent crush on a girl two years older than me. While I could never actually do more than stammer around her, I constantly whipped up fantasies of suavely going up, and in a deep baritone, crooning about her beauty in such a way that would make her swoon and match me beat for beat in charming repartee. Which brings me back to this episode, because whoever penned the dialogue between Riker and Minuet understands exactly what I’m talking about in that story. In fact, I’m pretty sure they stole some of my lines. “What’s a girl like you doing in a computer generated gin joint like this?” Yeah.
Cheesy or not, it quickly becomes clear that Minuet will say anything to keep Riker hanging on her every word. But when Picard enters the holodeck (without knocking, which seems like an extremely risky proposition when Riker’s running a program), Minuet greets him in French, and starts flirting with them both in a way that usually isn’t seen outside of Penthouse Letters. When Picard tries to gently excuse himself, Minuet becomes even more insistent that he stays. Picard and Riker become suspicious, leave the holodeck, and find the ship abandoned and light years from the starbase.
See, while Minuet was trying to talk Riker and Picard into a holo-threesome (don’t argue with me, it’s clearly what was going down), all hell was breaking loose on the Enterprise. The containment fields started to drop, leaving the ship minutes away from exploding inside the starbase Jiffy-Lube bay. With no option, Data orders an evacuation. The scene is pretty fantastic, showing groups of people quickly but methodically beaming off the ship and rushing out the airlocks to the starbase. Data and Geordi beam to the starbase, and the autosequence he initiated sends the ship hurtling at warp to a safe distance from the starbase. It’s only when it’s too late that Data realizes that they’re missing the captain and first officer.
When Picard and Riker emerge from the holodeck, the computer lets them know that the containment fields are fine, and the ship is cruising towards an unknown destination. The two immediately go to the armory, strap on phasers, and head to the engine room to trigger the self-destruct countdown. (Picard really jumped to this decision quickly. At first, it felt a bit rushed, but the more I think about it, the more it’s a clear defining choice for the character. Someone stole his ship, he’s going to go find out what’s what, but before he risks getting killed, he’s going to make damn sure that if he doesn’t regain control, the ship’s not falling into the wrong hands. No hesitation.) They beam to the bridge, ready to kick some ass, but they find the Bynars collapsed on the deck, with one barely able to beg for help before collapsing.
The rest of the episode is fairly perfunctory. The Bynar’s homeworld got hit by an EMP from a nearby supernova (I hate when that happens), and since they’re dependent on technology, it threatens their entire race. The Enterprise is the only ship that has a computer powerful enough to basically reboot their system, so they stole it. Picard agrees to help them, the crew are happily reunited, and Riker is really bummed that Minuet is gone. My biggest issue with this episode is how fast everything is resolved, primarily because it makes it clear how bad the Bynars are at decision making. Knowing what we know of the Federation, it makes no sense that they wouldn’t just ask for help, help that would obviously be happily provided.
With that said, and even with the horrible dialogue between Minuet and Riker, (“My name is Minuet, and I love all jazz, except Dixieland.” “Why not Dixieland?” “You can’t dance to it.”) this episode’s a lot of fun. We get the first genuinely compelling alien race in the Bynars, an example of Riker and Picard working well together to solve a mystery, and some really solid work showing the way this crew acts like a community. It’s got some warts, but this might be my favorite of the season so far.
After last week, I took a few days off from watching episodes to recover. “Angel One” felt like the series’ low point, and after discussing it with several people, I’m not alone in that opinion. Thankfully, the next episode is much closer to the creative storytelling and philosophy that will eventually bring this series to the heights that it’s remembered for. “11001001” is a bit wobbly in parts, but it’s a lot of fun, and that’s one hell of a relief.
The Enterprise is pulling into Starbase 74 for repairs to the computer program and the holodeck (not the worst idea, considering that the holodeck has, by this point, spread a dangerous plague and also tried to murder several officers). The repairs are being handled by a group of aliens known as Bynars, who rely so heavily on their relationship with computers that they’ve developed a rapid-fire language that uses binary code. There’s a terrific scene with Riker checking in with various members of the crew while people rush to appointments and scramble around the ship, and it might be the first time so far in the series that the ship has felt like such a lived-in community. Eventually, he finds his way to the holodeck, where a pair of Bynars have just completed repairs, and invite him to check out the upgrades they’ve made.
The scenes in the holodeck could charitably be called cheesy. I found them hysterically suggestive. Riker whips up a jazz club in New Orleans, and after cycling through several girls that don’t float his boat, he settles on a "sultry" (note that this is not my word; it's verbatim what Riker asks for) brunette who calls herself Minuet. The dialogue between Riker and Minuet…
Okay, confession time. I was a giant nerd when I was a kid (something that will undoubtedly shock any readers of this Star Trek: The Next Generation recap blog), and was terrified of girls. When I was 12, my family moved to Logan, Utah, and shortly after arriving there, I was struck down with a painfully potent crush on a girl two years older than me. While I could never actually do more than stammer around her, I constantly whipped up fantasies of suavely going up, and in a deep baritone, crooning about her beauty in such a way that would make her swoon and match me beat for beat in charming repartee. Which brings me back to this episode, because whoever penned the dialogue between Riker and Minuet understands exactly what I’m talking about in that story. In fact, I’m pretty sure they stole some of my lines. “What’s a girl like you doing in a computer generated gin joint like this?” Yeah.
Cheesy or not, it quickly becomes clear that Minuet will say anything to keep Riker hanging on her every word. But when Picard enters the holodeck (without knocking, which seems like an extremely risky proposition when Riker’s running a program), Minuet greets him in French, and starts flirting with them both in a way that usually isn’t seen outside of Penthouse Letters. When Picard tries to gently excuse himself, Minuet becomes even more insistent that he stays. Picard and Riker become suspicious, leave the holodeck, and find the ship abandoned and light years from the starbase.
See, while Minuet was trying to talk Riker and Picard into a holo-threesome (don’t argue with me, it’s clearly what was going down), all hell was breaking loose on the Enterprise. The containment fields started to drop, leaving the ship minutes away from exploding inside the starbase Jiffy-Lube bay. With no option, Data orders an evacuation. The scene is pretty fantastic, showing groups of people quickly but methodically beaming off the ship and rushing out the airlocks to the starbase. Data and Geordi beam to the starbase, and the autosequence he initiated sends the ship hurtling at warp to a safe distance from the starbase. It’s only when it’s too late that Data realizes that they’re missing the captain and first officer.
When Picard and Riker emerge from the holodeck, the computer lets them know that the containment fields are fine, and the ship is cruising towards an unknown destination. The two immediately go to the armory, strap on phasers, and head to the engine room to trigger the self-destruct countdown. (Picard really jumped to this decision quickly. At first, it felt a bit rushed, but the more I think about it, the more it’s a clear defining choice for the character. Someone stole his ship, he’s going to go find out what’s what, but before he risks getting killed, he’s going to make damn sure that if he doesn’t regain control, the ship’s not falling into the wrong hands. No hesitation.) They beam to the bridge, ready to kick some ass, but they find the Bynars collapsed on the deck, with one barely able to beg for help before collapsing.
The rest of the episode is fairly perfunctory. The Bynar’s homeworld got hit by an EMP from a nearby supernova (I hate when that happens), and since they’re dependent on technology, it threatens their entire race. The Enterprise is the only ship that has a computer powerful enough to basically reboot their system, so they stole it. Picard agrees to help them, the crew are happily reunited, and Riker is really bummed that Minuet is gone. My biggest issue with this episode is how fast everything is resolved, primarily because it makes it clear how bad the Bynars are at decision making. Knowing what we know of the Federation, it makes no sense that they wouldn’t just ask for help, help that would obviously be happily provided.
With that said, and even with the horrible dialogue between Minuet and Riker, (“My name is Minuet, and I love all jazz, except Dixieland.” “Why not Dixieland?” “You can’t dance to it.”) this episode’s a lot of fun. We get the first genuinely compelling alien race in the Bynars, an example of Riker and Picard working well together to solve a mystery, and some really solid work showing the way this crew acts like a community. It’s got some warts, but this might be my favorite of the season so far.
The future clearly lacks Dove moisturizer.
“Too Short A Season” isn’t anywhere near as good as the episodes coming before or after it. However, it’s failures are more easily identified and isolated. The story’s good, if a bit simple, the main cast does a serviceable job, and if the ending is a bit tidy, it’s makes sense. Unfortunately, the horrible performance and makeup job (more on that part in a bit) for the main guest star really derails this episode.
Admiral Mark Jameson is old. Really old. He looks like the Cryptkeeper in a Starfleet uniform, if the Cryptkeeper wasn’t a puppet and was instead a dude wearing the worst old-man effect makeup I’ve ever seen. He’s confined to a wheelchair that is bigger than a Prius, his wife travels everywhere with him, and I’m guessing his world involves a lot of ointments and pill caddies. But unfortunately, some terrorists have taken hostages on Mordan IV, the governor of that world knows Jameson from way back, and he demands that the admiral hop on the Enterprise and come out to mediate the dispute.
I want to pause again to talk about this makeup job. I cannot imagine how difficult a challenge (omit "that") it must be to use makeup, prosthetics, special effects, or computers to make someone look much older than they are in a natural way. But if your entire episode revolves around an individual who is getting younger (we’ll get to that), you have to nail that effect. Otherwise, the first time you see this smashed silly putty face, you immediately know he’s going to get younger. The only way that makeup is acceptable is if it’s going to be gone by the end of the episode. It’s distracting, unprofessional, and really hurts any attempt to take this episode seriously. Making matters worse is Clayton Rohner, who plays Jameson with a forced, over-enunciated bravado that seems closer to a high-school attempt to tackle Shakespeare. It’s consistently terrible throughout, and between the bad effects and the bad acting, the episode never stands a chance.
And that’s too bad, because the story is probably one of the better ideas this season. As it’s revealed that Jameson has taken an overdose of a mysterious de-aging drug, more information comes out about Karnas, the governor of Mordan IV. Karnas is actually the one who’s taken the Federation diplomats hostage, all in a plot to get revenge on Jameson. Fifty years ago, Jameson was sent in to negotiate the release of some other hostages, all held by Karnas. Karnas demanded weapons to aid in his fight against a rival nation, and killed several hostages before Jameson agreed. But Jameson, in a plan that James T. Kirk would have approved of, didn’t just give Karnas weapons. He gave his enemies weapons as well in an attempt to level the playing field, and it led to a 40 year war, and millions dead.
This is probably one of the best examples yet of the importance of the Prime Directive. Jameson broke the Prime Directive and interfered with the internal politics of a world to save a dozen lives. He covered himself in glory, but spent the last fifty years wracked with guilt over the horrible consequences. This is compelling stuff, and in the hands of a better actor, Jameson could have been a truly tragic character. But it never lands, and the entire episode feels flat and hollow without that critical performance.
There are a few highlights, such as an extremely compelling performance from Marsha Hunt, who plays Anne Jameson, the admiral’s wife. Her anguish and betrayal as she learns about her husband’s decision to take the de-aging drugs are palpable, and she plays really well off Crusher and Troi. Picard’s growing sense of unease and eventual anger as the truth comes out is predictably good. Everyone brings a strong performance, except for the one person who absolutely has to.
Even with my disappointment about this episode, I’m optimistic. This isn’t an offensive episode, or a stupid plot, or a story that was generally broken from the beginning. The failure in this episode is easily identifiable. If they’d gotten a different actor, and invested a bit more in the special effects, this could have been a really strong episode. As it is, it’s a stumble between two surprisingly solid episodes.
Admiral Mark Jameson is old. Really old. He looks like the Cryptkeeper in a Starfleet uniform, if the Cryptkeeper wasn’t a puppet and was instead a dude wearing the worst old-man effect makeup I’ve ever seen. He’s confined to a wheelchair that is bigger than a Prius, his wife travels everywhere with him, and I’m guessing his world involves a lot of ointments and pill caddies. But unfortunately, some terrorists have taken hostages on Mordan IV, the governor of that world knows Jameson from way back, and he demands that the admiral hop on the Enterprise and come out to mediate the dispute.
I want to pause again to talk about this makeup job. I cannot imagine how difficult a challenge (omit "that") it must be to use makeup, prosthetics, special effects, or computers to make someone look much older than they are in a natural way. But if your entire episode revolves around an individual who is getting younger (we’ll get to that), you have to nail that effect. Otherwise, the first time you see this smashed silly putty face, you immediately know he’s going to get younger. The only way that makeup is acceptable is if it’s going to be gone by the end of the episode. It’s distracting, unprofessional, and really hurts any attempt to take this episode seriously. Making matters worse is Clayton Rohner, who plays Jameson with a forced, over-enunciated bravado that seems closer to a high-school attempt to tackle Shakespeare. It’s consistently terrible throughout, and between the bad effects and the bad acting, the episode never stands a chance.
And that’s too bad, because the story is probably one of the better ideas this season. As it’s revealed that Jameson has taken an overdose of a mysterious de-aging drug, more information comes out about Karnas, the governor of Mordan IV. Karnas is actually the one who’s taken the Federation diplomats hostage, all in a plot to get revenge on Jameson. Fifty years ago, Jameson was sent in to negotiate the release of some other hostages, all held by Karnas. Karnas demanded weapons to aid in his fight against a rival nation, and killed several hostages before Jameson agreed. But Jameson, in a plan that James T. Kirk would have approved of, didn’t just give Karnas weapons. He gave his enemies weapons as well in an attempt to level the playing field, and it led to a 40 year war, and millions dead.
This is probably one of the best examples yet of the importance of the Prime Directive. Jameson broke the Prime Directive and interfered with the internal politics of a world to save a dozen lives. He covered himself in glory, but spent the last fifty years wracked with guilt over the horrible consequences. This is compelling stuff, and in the hands of a better actor, Jameson could have been a truly tragic character. But it never lands, and the entire episode feels flat and hollow without that critical performance.
There are a few highlights, such as an extremely compelling performance from Marsha Hunt, who plays Anne Jameson, the admiral’s wife. Her anguish and betrayal as she learns about her husband’s decision to take the de-aging drugs are palpable, and she plays really well off Crusher and Troi. Picard’s growing sense of unease and eventual anger as the truth comes out is predictably good. Everyone brings a strong performance, except for the one person who absolutely has to.
Even with my disappointment about this episode, I’m optimistic. This isn’t an offensive episode, or a stupid plot, or a story that was generally broken from the beginning. The failure in this episode is easily identifiable. If they’d gotten a different actor, and invested a bit more in the special effects, this could have been a really strong episode. As it is, it’s a stumble between two surprisingly solid episodes.
Doesn't matter how old you are, Picard will big-dog you with the best of them.
The fact that I’m calling “When The Bough Breaks” a surprisingly solid episode baffles me. This is a Wesley-centric episode, an episode that surrounds him with other children from the Enterprise. That strikes me as a recipe for disaster, and yet, it manages to reinforce my opinion that Wil Wheaton may not be deserving of the hostility he engenders among TNG fans. When he’s given good writing to work with, he’s not bad.
There’s something oddly compelling about the idea of the Aldeans. In the beginning of the episode, Riker and Picard are excited at the discovery of strange particles leading them to an empty spot in space. This sector is said to be home to a mythical race called the Aldeans, a peaceful and technologically advanced world that decided to hide their entire world in order to give themselves a safe refuge to explore science, art, and whatever else they wanted. It’s a mix of Brigadoon and the lost continent of Atlantis, and when an entire planet decloaks before the disbelieving eyes of the crew, it’s a really cool moment.
The Aldeans aren’t shy, either. They beam to the bridge, hand Riker a bizarre floral arrangement in a papier-mache horn of plenty, and invite Picard to send an away team down to the planet. Picard is a bit offput by their sudden appearance, but he agrees, and the Aldeans transport Riker, Troi, and Crusher down to the surface. The Enterprise transporters can’t penetrate the shield that cloaks and defends the world, so the Aldeans take care of the travel arrangements. Everything is all charming and happy until the Aldean’s leader (played by X-Files Deep Throat Jerry Hardin! Awesome!) explains what they want from the Enterprise. The Aldeans can’t have children, so if you don’t mind, they’re just going to help themselves to Wesley and six other children, but don’t worry, we’re going to give you our version of Wikipedia in exchange, and if you don’t like it, well, you can fuck right off.
It’s a rushed exchange, and rightfully so. In a few lines of dialogue, the Aldeans change from charming to coldly determined. They beam the adults back to the ship, abduct the children, and basically explain to the enraged Picard that he can’t do anything about it. They offer compensation (information on the galaxy that the Federation doesn’t know about), but this isn’t a negotiation. At one point, Picard tries to reason with the Aldean leader, who calmly explains, “For us, the matter is concluded. We have what we want.” It’s never made clear if they don’t understand how humans would react to the abduction of our children (unlikely), or if they just don’t give a shit (which is much more interesting anyway). When Picard refuses to accept the situation, the Aldeans demonstrate just why they are not to be fucked with, and casually hurl the Enterprise so far from the planet that it takes three days at maximum warp to get back. If Picard doesn’t agree to the exchange by the time the Enterprise makes it back to Aldea, the ship will be hurled so far away they’ll never make it back.
Picard is furious, the parents are devastated, and the entire cast turns in a solid performance. There’s some cheesy scenes with the parents as they lament the last words they said to their kids and wonder if they’ll ever see them again, but for the most part, it works. It’s kind of fun to see the Enterprise so completely helpless against an opponent, even more so when that opponent isn’t so much hostile as they are condescending. But the meat of this episode isn’t what happens on the ship, it’s down on the planet with Wesley and the other kids.
The Aldeans are really excited for the kids to be there. They split them up, and encourage each of the children to begin exploring their true passions, from music to sculpture. The children have everything they need, and are treated like royalty. It’s to the episode’s credit, then, that it doesn’t fall into the predictable trap of, “I like it here better, I want to stay, my parents made me eat brussels sprouts and can fuck right off.” The kids might think the Aldeans have some cool toys, but they’ve just been torn away from their families and their homes, and at no point is that forgotten. Anchoring them all is Wesley, who masters his “eat shit and die” expression in this episode. He realizes very quickly that while the Aldeans know how to deal with the Enterprise, they have no experience with children, and he quickly rallies the kids into a hunger strike and the silent treatment. It could have been cheesy, but it becomes clear how helpless and confused the Aldeans are in the face of the coldly silent temper tantrums that any parent knows so well.
This episode is strong enough that the ending feels like a missed opportunity. It’s remarkably neat. Crusher figures out the cloaking shield has made the Aldeans impotent, Data and Riker find a way through the shield and shut down the Aldean defenses, Picard offers to fix the Aldeans after they give the kids back, and everyone lives happily ever after. When I think about my favorite episodes from any Star Trek franchise, it’s the ones that don’t offer perfect solutions. If this episode had been filmed in later seasons, once the writing staff had more confidence and the cast was clicking much better, it’s easy to see a much more complex, compelling ending. But “When The Bough Breaks” is a solid episode, and continues a curve that is happily taking us far away from the early embarrassments of this season.
I don't normally review three episodes at a pop, but I watched “When The Bough Breaks” with my daughters, and had a lot of fun discussing it with her. With the episode so fresh in my mind, I wanted to go ahead and get my thoughts on the episode down.
Next week, we’ll be back to the usual two at a time with “Home Soil” and “Coming of Age”.
- Dietrich Stogner
There’s something oddly compelling about the idea of the Aldeans. In the beginning of the episode, Riker and Picard are excited at the discovery of strange particles leading them to an empty spot in space. This sector is said to be home to a mythical race called the Aldeans, a peaceful and technologically advanced world that decided to hide their entire world in order to give themselves a safe refuge to explore science, art, and whatever else they wanted. It’s a mix of Brigadoon and the lost continent of Atlantis, and when an entire planet decloaks before the disbelieving eyes of the crew, it’s a really cool moment.
The Aldeans aren’t shy, either. They beam to the bridge, hand Riker a bizarre floral arrangement in a papier-mache horn of plenty, and invite Picard to send an away team down to the planet. Picard is a bit offput by their sudden appearance, but he agrees, and the Aldeans transport Riker, Troi, and Crusher down to the surface. The Enterprise transporters can’t penetrate the shield that cloaks and defends the world, so the Aldeans take care of the travel arrangements. Everything is all charming and happy until the Aldean’s leader (played by X-Files Deep Throat Jerry Hardin! Awesome!) explains what they want from the Enterprise. The Aldeans can’t have children, so if you don’t mind, they’re just going to help themselves to Wesley and six other children, but don’t worry, we’re going to give you our version of Wikipedia in exchange, and if you don’t like it, well, you can fuck right off.
It’s a rushed exchange, and rightfully so. In a few lines of dialogue, the Aldeans change from charming to coldly determined. They beam the adults back to the ship, abduct the children, and basically explain to the enraged Picard that he can’t do anything about it. They offer compensation (information on the galaxy that the Federation doesn’t know about), but this isn’t a negotiation. At one point, Picard tries to reason with the Aldean leader, who calmly explains, “For us, the matter is concluded. We have what we want.” It’s never made clear if they don’t understand how humans would react to the abduction of our children (unlikely), or if they just don’t give a shit (which is much more interesting anyway). When Picard refuses to accept the situation, the Aldeans demonstrate just why they are not to be fucked with, and casually hurl the Enterprise so far from the planet that it takes three days at maximum warp to get back. If Picard doesn’t agree to the exchange by the time the Enterprise makes it back to Aldea, the ship will be hurled so far away they’ll never make it back.
Picard is furious, the parents are devastated, and the entire cast turns in a solid performance. There’s some cheesy scenes with the parents as they lament the last words they said to their kids and wonder if they’ll ever see them again, but for the most part, it works. It’s kind of fun to see the Enterprise so completely helpless against an opponent, even more so when that opponent isn’t so much hostile as they are condescending. But the meat of this episode isn’t what happens on the ship, it’s down on the planet with Wesley and the other kids.
The Aldeans are really excited for the kids to be there. They split them up, and encourage each of the children to begin exploring their true passions, from music to sculpture. The children have everything they need, and are treated like royalty. It’s to the episode’s credit, then, that it doesn’t fall into the predictable trap of, “I like it here better, I want to stay, my parents made me eat brussels sprouts and can fuck right off.” The kids might think the Aldeans have some cool toys, but they’ve just been torn away from their families and their homes, and at no point is that forgotten. Anchoring them all is Wesley, who masters his “eat shit and die” expression in this episode. He realizes very quickly that while the Aldeans know how to deal with the Enterprise, they have no experience with children, and he quickly rallies the kids into a hunger strike and the silent treatment. It could have been cheesy, but it becomes clear how helpless and confused the Aldeans are in the face of the coldly silent temper tantrums that any parent knows so well.
This episode is strong enough that the ending feels like a missed opportunity. It’s remarkably neat. Crusher figures out the cloaking shield has made the Aldeans impotent, Data and Riker find a way through the shield and shut down the Aldean defenses, Picard offers to fix the Aldeans after they give the kids back, and everyone lives happily ever after. When I think about my favorite episodes from any Star Trek franchise, it’s the ones that don’t offer perfect solutions. If this episode had been filmed in later seasons, once the writing staff had more confidence and the cast was clicking much better, it’s easy to see a much more complex, compelling ending. But “When The Bough Breaks” is a solid episode, and continues a curve that is happily taking us far away from the early embarrassments of this season.
- A discussion with my friend Juliette Vincent led me to question why the holodeck doesn’t have an alt-tab function to quickly hide your jazz club sex romp when your captain barges in. Also, the holodeck door needs a knob to hang a tie off of.
- The Aldeans look 100% human. Either they need to quit using budget limitation as an excuse and make aliens look more distinctive, or they need some throwaway story explaining why everyone and their dog in this galaxy looks the same way.
- Some really clever dialogue between Picard and Riker in “When The Bough Breaks” in regards to the Aldean’s offer of compensation. Picard knows that if the Aldeans figure out that he has no interest in negotiating, they’ll cloak the planet or destroy the Enterprise. So he discusses how to keep them believing what they want to believe. It’s a great scene.
I don't normally review three episodes at a pop, but I watched “When The Bough Breaks” with my daughters, and had a lot of fun discussing it with her. With the episode so fresh in my mind, I wanted to go ahead and get my thoughts on the episode down.
Next week, we’ll be back to the usual two at a time with “Home Soil” and “Coming of Age”.
- Dietrich Stogner
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