Oh yeah.... that one.

The next one is terrible too.

STNG had a lot of character centric episodes. This was a Dianne. I can't think of a Dianne that I liked very much.

If you look at the IMDB episode rating list, most of the Deanna-centric episodes are near the bottom.

The only decent one I can remember was when she was mind raped

Included the line "Klingons do not allow themselves to be...probed"

Actually the one where she woke up as a Romulan was ok too

Yeah, the Romulan spy one was great!

I got nothing here. WTF did I just watch?

As always, Troi is just a badly-concieved, badly-underwritten character, and I think pretty much all of the Troi-centric episodes are bad. Think the actor is fine, fwiw, just bad writing.

I always felt Troi only really got comfortable in her role when they got her into a regular uniform.

She's essentially a supporting character for Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) who had a good agent, so they wrote a bunch of goop to try to make her an interesting bimbo.

ST TNG S4E18: Identity Crisis

Has this season devolved into getting inspiration from common phrases, and building entire plots based on that?

A subpar episode, with some nice sections involving detective work, first from Geordie, then from Bev Crusher. However, the new character of the week Susanna is quite the damp rag, seeming to sap the energy out of scenes where she needs to spark against Burton. Burton is giving it his all, but it's not happening, leading to a very hit and miss episode where each scene tended to fall over whenever Susanna was involved.


4/10

Yeah, another really poor episode. Next.

The actress had a Sondra Locke vibe about her - another actress that often drains the energy out of every scene she's in (luckily she's mostly against Clint Eastwood, who always trumps that issue with his titanic charisma)

As everyone has said, the total lack of chemistry between LeVar and the guest actor kills this episode. Not a bad concept from Brannon Braga, but terrible execution.

Was this episode a subtle nod to the AIDS crisis? Can't help but notice references to "T-cells", which I remember was a household term in the 90s. Geordi's old flame contracts a mystery disease that affects her immune system, and then he comes down with it? Maybe I'm reading too much into things.

Episode has two stars written all over it. Pretty sure it was marked, "Do not resuscitate", you know, if we're going all medical, AIDS and such. Someone should be spat on by someone.

ST TNG S4E19: The Nth Degree

I liked this one. It starts with Barclay and Crusher acting out as Cyrano and Roxanne, and we think it's the holodeck, but it's actually a performance. Barclay is trying to get more confidence, and not feeling it, but then alien stuff happens and his brain transforms, and he becomes superintelligent, eventually melding into the ship's computer. It's an interesting variant on the story 'Flowers for Algernon'. Whilst the ending is a bit of a cop-out, I rather liked this - I think it's my favourite Barclay story so far. Even Troi is good in this one, and Picard and most of the main cast mostly takes a back seat - and it works fine.

7/10

Oh that was such a good episode!!! It was like Flowers of Algernon meets HAL9000.

9/10

It would've been 10/10 if Barclay got to keep the ship, and the new flagship was the USS Barclay.

Yeah, I wanted that universe too.

STNG reference on Jeopardy! yesterday. The last two categories in DJ were "Shaka" and "When the Walls Fell."

Sweet! Decent episode too, true to Roddenberry's ideas.

The Barclay character is so much fun to watch in this episode; you can tell the actor had a fun time inhabiting this role. Like db said, this is one where some of the more underwritten characters like Troi and Geordi get a chance to play interesting parts --I got the sense throughout that Geordi was subtly jealous of Barclay's tech wizardry.

Overall, great sci-fi story that's bolstered by a fine performance from Dwight Schultz. I give this a solid A.

I also noticed a few callouts to 2001. There's the bit in the Jeffries tube were Geordi tries to shut down Barcaly, scenes where they make sure the Barclay/computer can't hear their conversations. And the larger theme of a ship computer overriding humans.

At this point I'm more hyped for the Seth McFarlane parody series than an actual new Star Trek series. The latest news is that the main character in the new series is Spock's adopted sister, a human who was raised on Vulkan by Sarek and Amanda Grayson.

ST TNG S4E20: QPID

Q is always fun, and this amalgamates Q shenanigans, the reappearance of Picard love interest Vash from the season before ('Captain's Holiday' S3E19), Robin Hood, and also features Clive Revill as Gus of Gisborne. There are some killer lines here (Worf: 'I AM NOT A MERRY MAN!'), and Worf gives another laugh when he casually asks for Geordie's lute and smashes it against a tree rather than continue listening to it.

Sure, it's all over the place, but it's solid fun. Especially when Q finds a travelling companion in Vash.


7/10


PS. I'm upping the score of the previous episode with Barclay 'The Nth Degree' to 8/10

ST TNG S4E21: The Drumhead

A great episode, with Stewart giving a magnificently restrained performance as the morally-correct person who stands up to a trial concerning one of his crew who it turns out had a Romulan grandparent - a trial that starts to spiral into a witchhunt. A great piece of writing and performing, that is more complex than the usual TV writing - Worf's role is very interesting and non-straightforward, for example.

Jean Simmons rocks up as the head inquisitor Admiral Norah Satie, and gives an okayish performance until a final scene, where she dials it up nicely when she gets enraged at Picard quoting her own father, a well-respected Judge and protector of the Federation's values, who spoke of liberty and freedom. - "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."

It's also more expansive an episode than usual, referring to several events from pervious episodes (Worf's biological father being accused of being a Romulan collaborator; Picard having to give up a Romulan spy who was previously a senior member of the Federation posing as a Vulcan).


Also well directed and handled by Jonathan Frakes.

It's like 'The Crucible' filtered through Star Trek.

Excellent.

10/10

I broadly agree with your ratings, although I'd rate Qpid a notch higher, simply because there are more LOL moments than you get in your average modern Hollywood comedy.

Where I think both episodes really work is by showcasing Patrick Stewart's range as an actor. His comic timing in Qpid is excellent, as are the subtle gestures that convey his initial discomfort at Vash's presence on the Enterprise.

I guess I disagree slightly on your assessment of Simmonds impact. I think the subtly of her interaction with Stewart is excellent. The initial warmth and respect in act one, to the friction that begins to develop in act two leading to the dénouement, are all very well performed and admirably handled by Frakes. An honourable mention should also go to guest star Spencer Garrett, who does a really nice job to hold his own in scenes with Stewart and Simmonds.

The only fault I can pick at is the poor choice of score during Picard's final speech - it really didn't need that overly sentimental score to put the message over - it just needed Stewart's monologue.

Still a 10/10 episode though.

I love the pacing: it starts off as a romantic intrigue and then gets completely hijacked into becoming a goofy Robin Hood fantasy. This episode reminds me of The Royale in that it's not great science fiction but it's loads of silly fun to watch and I can def see myself rewatching it over and over. You can tell Patrick Stewart had a blast doing the Errol Flynn swashbuckling fight scenes and OMG that mustache! A+ episode.


Only thing that bugs me is the premise that Picard is leading an archaeology seminar. I can see the character maybe being an amateur military historian, but the idea that he's a serious archaeological scholar feels like it came out of left field.



Also, agree with elrazor that Stewart's full range is on display here. Stewart puts in a solid, serious performance in the romantic scenes that bookend the silly Robin Hood bit.

ST TNG S4E22: Half A Life

Very fine episode, where we actually have Lwaxana Troi be a serious and meaningful character. Majel Barrett excels at the opportunity, and is a good foil for a really great performance from the guest actor David Ogden Stiers as Timicin, for what is an analysis of the role of the old within society. It deftly avoids the usual Trek hippy-dippy stuff that everything is awesome, and doesn't shy away from the obvious though tragic necessary ending (though the ending feels a little cursory - I'd prefer a little less dialogue in the middle and a slightly less perfunctory finish).

Also we get a brief turn by Michelle Forbes as Timicin's daughter - we'd see her again some years later as the formidable Admiral Helena Cain in the Battlestar Galactica reboot.


9/10