Season 1 Episode 18
Coming of Age
Stardate: 41461.2

[Plot]
So the crew goes to have Wesley do some testing for getting into Starfleet Academy. Then a few guys show up to visit to critique how Captain Picard is doing, or so.

[Rating]
Wesley and his parts of the Episode --
5 - Excelent episode: Episode excels in most or all ways - major character development, good story and so on

The Inspections/Critique of Captain Picard of the Episode -- Stand Alone --
3 - Average episode: OK to watch, but nothing amazing. This should be the default score.

The Inspections/Critique of Captain Picard of the Episode -- With the follow up episode in consideration --
Barely reaches up to -- 1 - Bad episode: Multiple weaknesses (bad acting, bad story, disasterous effects, poor connection to lore)

{Episode Commentary}
So this Episode gets a few ratings for it because it contains separate parts and one of those parts has a follow up episode with it.

All of the episode that relates to Wesley is very interesting and very good. Seeing Wesley explore parts of himself and his fears makes for some compelling watching. This could have been the episode itself alone. I really really liked it and was annoyed when the episode switched away. This episode is really Wesley at his most non-annoying and most personable and likable. Some staggeringly good acting on Wil Wheaton's part here.

The other part...

Is mediocre. The critique of Captain Picard is not really that interesting and it is just a follow up of the different events that happened before this episode. Some of the previous episodes have their plots mentioned some. The overall feel is just meh, it doesn't really seem like much. Not bad but not great. Overall, just a middle of the road performance.

The other part, thanks to the follow up episode...

The stuff about how there are weird things that worry Admiral Quinn probably would have worked, but knowing what the follow up episode for it is (Conspiracy), I honestly wish this episode's part was just erased. That it got completely axed. The follow up episode for this was so staggeringly bad that I want to burn out my memory.

Had there been a different subject for the Conspiracy, then I think that this episode's parts could have stayed as being what it was. But what was gotten just retroactively ruins the parts here. It is just such a bad idea of a plot and so terribly done, that it just brings down this episode as well.

That Follow UP Episode...

Conspiracy is the follow up to this episode's parts with Remmick and Quinn, and given that episode (Conspiracy) falls next to Code of Honor and the Janeway - Paris as Salamander Episodes and all of the other utterly horrible episodes of Star Trek, I just don't see how They (the cast and crew) could have thought what got made should have ever been aired at all. Conspiracy is almost entirely made of Narm and Stupid, then graduates to Narmy Stupid and Stupid Stupid. Bad all around.

Of course, we will get to that episode, and I will be proceeding to chew that episode out for what a piece of royally impressive garbage that it happens to be.

So? Do fellow playgrounders agree? Disagree? Comments of your own? Get some discussing going on

Trackers)
Hidden Gems: 2
Rank of Miles: Ensign
Prime Directives: 2
Patrick Stewart Speech: 2 (Did I miss an earlier one? I don't think so)
Riker "Patrick Stewart Speech": 1
Riker Romances Something/Someone: 1
Pithy Aesops: 1
Klingon Proverbs/Beliefs/Sentiments: 1) Drink not with thine enemy;
Worfed (Worf loses to establish danger): 2
Holodeck Mishaps/Breakings/Issues: 1
Actually Alien Aliens: 1
Lore's Appearances: 1