One of those pics is not like the others.

I watched this one immediately after Best of Both Worlds, and it made a lot of sense to me to just let the characters chill out for an episode and recuperate after all the trauma of fighting the Borg, especially Picard. Not really a great episode, but in context I enjoyed watching everyone take it easy and hang with their family for a bit.

Families is one of my favourite episodes. Sure, it's a bit schmaltzy, but Stewart really gives the story texture, and it's great to see the trauma of being assimilated explored and somewhat resolved, as they could easily have just glossed over it and skipped forward to the next peril of the week.

I also enjoyed the Worf sub-plot, but the Will Wheaton managed to suck the life out of every scene. Credit to the generally underused Gates Mcfadden for rescuing it slightly.

I came across this YouTube video that celebrates the 50 years of Star Trek in all its incarnations and contains scenes in somewhat chronological order of every Star Trek series and movie from 1966-2016. Although it doesn't quite fit in with the ongoing discussion of TNG episodes, I thought it would be of interest to most, if not all, of the lurkers and participants in this thread. I know I enjoyed it.

Lemme guess - a feisty brunette who is better than the boys at everything?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37043956

ST TNG S4E03: Brothers

Passable episode where Data shows he can lock down the Enterprise single handed, and he gets to meet his creator. Spiner gives a big range of performances in this one, where he plays 3 different characters at once, all interacting with each other. I really liked the plot and ideas and the performances, but the writing and direction didn't really bring out the true drama and tragedy here - which Spiner was more than capable of delivering, if given the right material and director.
The secondary parallel plot about two young brothers mad at each other was saccharine padding.

A bit of a missed opportunity, but still a decent episode. Lore showing up is always fun.

6/10

I agree this episode was very much a missed opportunity. I think Lore as a character was underused, and this and the only other Lore episode aside from season 1, "Descent part 1+2", fell flat.

There was really enough backstory to have 1 "Lore" episode per season, and Spiner obviously revelled in the role. There is certainly no excuse to have a Lwaxana Troi shoe-horned into an episode every season while not making better use of Lore.

--------------------------------------

"ST: Beyond" - really enjoyed it. I liked "Into Darkness", but this felt much more Star Treky, with adequate time devoted to character development in between some very nice set pieces. Like most people, thoroughly enjoyed the nod to the original cast at the end.

Sounds awesome: will stream on Netflix the day after air, more graphic content, 13 episode season to focus on tight story-telling, Lt. Commander as main character rather than a Captain.

You're really grasping at straws to read that article negatively.

Sounds promising.

I guess I'm one of the few who never cared for the Lore persona. In fact, I pretty much despise any "evil twin" trope in movies, tv, or comic books. It's a hackneyed concept that goes back at least 75 years. I do make an exception for goateed Spock, who I wouldn't really characterize as an evil twin, although it still served the writers' purpose of allowing the actors in the episode to perform dual roles.

And to his credit, goatee Spock was from like 1968.

The Jeckyll and Hyde concept is hardly new, but that doesn't mean you can't make good use of it. I think someone else mentioned earlier itt that the mirror universe would have made a decent addition to the original cast films (basically, instead of 5).

That said it can soon become a tired cliche - i'm lukewarm on the DS9 mirror universe - but the general point is that I felt Spiner played both roles very well, and I think having introduced Lore in season 1, to only have 2 further episodes featuring the character in the subsequent 6 seasons left the storyline very under-developed.

Pretty sure Lore would have made a better antagonist in Nemesis too.

Definitely can't argue with that.

Yeah, I agree that this was a badly missed opportunity. Lore is a potentially interesting counterpoint to Data and Spiner has the chops to pull it off, but the writing just fizzles out in the second half.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first episode to establish that Data can be upgraded with an emotion chip, which will come into play in future episodes.

It's one of my favorite episodes despite the writers missing the opportunity to do better. Lore was only in it for 2 acts which is really disappointing, but they were able to help you better understand where his anger/jealousy was coming from. And I like the petty bickering/mocking between Lore and Data, very sibling like.

Learned a few things in the History Channel's Star Trek 50th anniversary special last night, although admittedly I'm not a full on detailed fan.

It did make me wonder where my ST CCG cards are at, and how fun that might be to play today digitally vs. more competition than my brother and a random regional tournament every few months.

I recorded it, will watch it next time I'm home bored.

ST Discovery is coming to Netflix for non-US/Canada customers. I guess good news for our friends across the pond.

Yup that was mentioned a few posts ago. The more viewers the better.

Will it be available on Netflix in USA#1 at the same time?

Thanks for mentioning the special in this thread as I was not aware of it. Just after I read your post, I went directly to the History Channel's website and watched it on line. (Note to others: I believe that you need to be a cable tv subscriber in order to access the full documentary.)

Happy 50th birthday, Star Trek! 50 years young!

ST TNG S4E04: Suddenly Human

I kind of liked the premise of a human raised by a warrior race being part of that race, but being conflicted about his human heritage, but this was done in a rather cutesy way, trying to foist Picard into a surrogate father role, and then resolved in a very, VERY Star-Trek-As-Seen-By-Older-Roddenberry way. Also, this apparently savage, aggressive warrior race seemed to act very human after all (or at least the boy's adopted father did).

3/10

This had a lot of potential as Roddenberry-style show where two cultures try to resolve their differences, but the set-up with Picard taking care of a moody teenager felt too much like a goofy sitcom. I thought the ending was a fun an unexpected twist.

I also enjoy the fact that laughing at Wesley is something that brings together people from all cultural backgrounds.

haha