New kids in the class. Let's watch and discuss, Star Trek: The Next Generation

[Manga Shoggoth]

Disagree here. I’m perfectly fine with a range, especially since russdm is explaining the reason for the score.

Its no different than just saying "3.5" on a 1-5 scale.

Seconding this. OP is doing the heavy lifting in terms of watching, evaluating and writing up an extensive summary of each episode. I'm fine with the occasional borderline rating, especially since, as noted, OP explains his reasons for the dual rating on this one.

Fair enough, but in that case put 3.5, rather than pasting in both scores (or use A to E and say C+ or B-). But once you start going outside the 5-point score you might just as well start using a more expanded range of scores.

Spoiler: Engage rant mode...

Show

This is a bit of a red rag to me - I see lots of different scoring systems such as:

• Score 1 - 3 (Good, OK, Bad) - limited because there is almost no nuance
• Score 1 - 5 (Excelent, Good, OK, Bad, Terrible) - my favourite (and the one that used to be used in work reviews)
• Score 1 - 5 (Excelent, Good, Just above OK, Just below OK, Bad, Terrible) - The one work now uses (apparantly it is not OK to be OK any more). Also the one used by the old O-levels, but they mapped roughly to percentage scores.
• Score 1 - 10 (usually with no explanation apart from 1 = terrible and 10 = perfect) - used by certian review sites, where the range is too wide to have meaning, and people end up being offended if they don't get 9 or 10, meaning that essentially most of the scale is useless anyway)

...And most of the time they are better off using and sticking with a 5-point system. KISS is an acronym for a very good reason.

OP is doing the heavy lifting in terms of watching, evaluating and writing up an extensive summary of each episode.

And mostly doing a pretty good job.

As for remembering episodes, most of these I remember very well, but this one counts as "just barely." That's partly because I try to block out all memory of Lwaxana, who I can't stand.

I didn't care much for the character, but she wasn't all that bad and improved in later appearances. She also made a very good appearance in DS9.

[Gnoman]

Lwaxana is of course the star of the Episode and the actress is hamming it up. She also did the original pilot as Number Two. She also voiced the computer.

Majel Barrett Rodenberry was also regular TOS cast member as Nurse Christine Chapel.

[russdm]

I can add in the .5 parts for the ratings. That won't be a problem. I use the "&" part because of episodes that follow under more than one during the run of the episode.

Some episodes have the same level of quality throughout so they get one rating. Some have a bit of varying along their quality line and so end up with some parts that follow in that and parts that fall below.

I am trying to keep the ratings down to a minimum of one and a maximum of two.

Think of my doing "&" for ratings being that it fell as being a mix of those ratings through the episode.

I will be putting in "& .5" to make it easier

[russdm]

Nice catch on Armin Shimmerman as the voice of the box, though.

This may be listed in the credits at the end of the episode.

In the memory alpha section for the episode, i think that it mentions that he did the box role. In the memory alpha section for the episode of The last outpost, it mentions it i think.

I am using the memory alpha wiki for the show as it has a full write up and I check it for parts that i miss in my summary that ought to be included.

Memory alpha wiki has information for each episode with stuff about production details, cast/crew feelings or thoughts, continuity, then other things

It has that for all of the different shows and their episodes and all the movies.

I am also using the recap list for the tvtropes the next generation post, as well for looking at stuff.

Then I have a tab with Manga's rating idea post open when I watch an episode.

So it is usually: Manga's post tab; new post to the thread tab; Netflix tab (for watching the episode); tvtropes tng recap of episode tab; memory alpha wiki of episode;

That helps me when writing a new post. Watch the episode, write a summary, catch on memory alpha wiki for plot events that need to be included, catch both after deciding and listing my rating, and then commentary along with notes from tvtropes or memory alpha.

In fact I didn't know about the box role for Armin without reading it on memory alpha.

Memory alpha also has the stardates with all of the episodes in the tables of episodes for each season but i have added in the stardate after listening to Picard say it.

We are a couple of episodes away from another hidden gem episode i believe. We have an episode or two then it is the below

After all, soon up is the episode "Datalore" where we will get to meet Lore, Data's brother for the first time.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by russdm
After all, soon up is the episode "Datalore" where we will get to meet Lore, Data's brother for the first time.

Not entirely by coincidence, I've just been watching Star Trek: Nemesis. Safe to say that Data has a complicated family, especially given the events of ST: Picard.

But as Conan's chronicler would say, that is a story for another thread.

[russdm]

Season 1 Episode 11
The Big Goodbye
Stardate: 41997.7

[Plot]

The episode starts with Picard getting ready to speak to some aliens. He has to study the words, because they have to be given in a certain form or way, otherwise the aliens take offense.
Troi suggests he take some time off. He does, by going to visit the holodeck. Picard starts up the adventure about Dixon Hill, a private eye.

The holodeck adventure runs, with Picard enjoying it. The first time that he goes in, he is still wearing his uniform for starfleet. He changes into a more proper period outfit. Then Picard goes ahead and mentions the adventure to a few others. A guy named Whalen joins, along with Data, and then Dr. Crusher.

Picard doesn't anything about what is going in the holodeck program, so he tries to figure it out. He is joined by Data and Whalen and Dr. Crusher.

The aliens send out a probe to scan the ship or something. It breaks the holodeck so that the weapons become lethal, and that there is danger now. The crew try to do what they can to help, which is not much.

Through events, Picard plays through the Dixon Hill program, and ends up having the the two major bad guys leave the holodeck, where they dissolve away. With that done, Picard can have Whalen taken to sickbay as he was shot. The bad guys were looking for something, think that Picard knows about it, and ended up learning nothing.

With the program over, Picard goes to the bridge, where he delivers the greeting to the aliens in all of their required forms. Picard and Data are still wearing the holodeck outfits as the episode ends.

[Rating]
3 - Average episode: OK to watch, but nothing amazing. This should be the default score.

{Episode Commentary}
This is of course, the first episode featuring a holodeck breaking and establishes about the "safety" features. Naturally, those features break in this episode. For a first time of this sort, the idea is interesting and new. Later episodes would have a faulty holodeck, making this trope/thing become a little stale.

This episode is rather nothing special and not that bad, but not that great. There is the crew's fascination with things of the general 20th century, which is bit weird. Then there is not much really to shine here, but nothing that wreaks either.

I mean, the Dixon Hill idea, and Picard liking those kind of detective novels is interesting in terms of personalization, but I don't know how often the Dixon Hill thing comes up again. The aliens all don't show up again, and the fact that for 20 years, they (Starfleet/Federation) have getting the alien greeting wrong, just doesn't feel/seem that great. It seems a little too incredible to have occur, especially since it doesn't seem, thanks to the episode's events, that the phrasing should be so challenging. Bit of a disappointment there.

The better episode over alien communication issues and such, is of course the "Darmok" episode, though it doesn't involve getting a greeting right, but Picard figuring out how to communicate. "Darmok" is one of the better episodes out there, but we are still in season 1

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

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

[Manga Shoggoth]

Yet another one I haven't seen!

Sounds like the premise of the episode is OK, but the framing narrative with the Jaradar feels like a waste of time. Something like that should have been the focus of an episode, rather than a prologue and postscript.

I'm not a big fan of framing stories like this - if the story can't shand up on its own without a frame, it probaly wasn't worth the effort, and if it can there's little point in having the frame.

[Cikomyr2]

I think the Jarada were meant to be what the Borg ended up becoming. They initially thought the Borg to be an insectoid specie but scrapped the concept for budget reasons.

Think about it. A dogmatic alien who speaks with one voice and can act hostile for alien reasons. Yhea, that describe about 40%of all Star Trek encounters, but it also describes the Borg.

[The Glyphstone]

The Tracker count is up to 8, or 9 if you count the Tracker Tracker itself.

[russdm]

I think the Jarada were meant to be what the Borg ended up becoming. They initially thought the Borg to be an insectoid specie but scrapped the concept for budget reasons.

Think about it. A dogmatic alien who speaks with one voice and can act hostile for alien reasons. Yhea, that describe about 40%of all Star Trek encounters, but it also describes the Borg.

Actually you are wrong over this.

The borg were originally conceived to have some tie-in to the aliens that appear in the "Conspiracy" episode, the one before the last season one episode. That dropped out quickly.

The episode "the neutral zone " contained areas that had been affected by the borg. So they technically make their first unofficial appearance in that episode. They later show up in a different form from what they turned into in the second or third season episode that featured Q showing up. Guinan had joined the crew and cast before this point in time.

The borg were originally conceived as being a race hivemind insects and had a few other features. They quickly, because of reasons (no money for it), ended up becoming the cyborg people.

Edit update: thank you so very much for making me look up stuff on the borg. I am sure that I won't have any interesting dreams/nightmares featuring them...

[Gnoman]

Sounds like the premise of the episode is OK, but the framing narrative with the Jaradar feels like a waste of time. Something like that should have been the focus of an episode, rather than a prologue and postscript.

I'm not a big fan of framing stories like this - if the story can't shand up on its own without a frame, it probaly wasn't worth the effort, and if it can there's little point in having the frame.

I disagree here quite a bit. In a low-continuity series such as this, you've only got 45 minutes to focus on anything. Even the Klingons, Vulcans, and Federation Humans are only explored to a fairly shallow depth, and the aliens-of-the week get far less. Having them be a single-trait race beacause that's all that matters and is encountered is far better.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I disagree here quite a bit. In a low-continuity series such as this, you've only got 45 minutes to focus on anything. Even the Klingons, Vulcans, and Federation Humans are only explored to a fairly shallow depth, and the aliens-of-the week get far less. Having them be a single-trait race beacause that's all that matters and is encountered is far better.

Only 45 minutes to focus on anything? Then don't bother wiith the unnecessary framing device!!

As far as I can see there was literally no need to make up a race, give it a reason to be around in the prologue and then sort it's business out in the epilogue. They could have just had Picard getting stressed over paperwork and it would have worked equally well. Instead they wasted something that had the potential for a full episode as a frame for a completely unrelated story!

[russdm]

Season 1 Episode 12
Datalore
Stardate: 41242.4

[Plot]

The one with Data's brother Lore!

We learn about Omicron Theta, the place where Data was found. The colony of Omicron Theta was destroyed. Data was found by a Starfleet ship. Close to where Data was found, is found a lab that Data was built in. The lab has another android like Data, locked away in storage.

The crew decide to pull out this android and end up putting "him" back together. That happens and we are introduced to Lore. Lore makes a few comments about being a more primitive version (Or comments are made about how Lore is more primitive in design than Data)

We watch the crew interact with Lore some, while Wesley holds a few doubts. As things move along, it turns out the Lore, is well, nuts. Like really really nuts.

Lore calls in the Crystal Entity, a giant snowflake thing. Lore, disguises himself as Data, which only Wesley figures out. Lore, as Data, beats up Worf. Lore tries to feed the crew to the Crystal Entity, and fails, getting transported out into space.

The Crystal Entity decides to leave, heading off. The Crew head off as well.

Meanwhile, Lore remains floating in space, with it not clear if he is actually functional or not....

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

This is another Hidden Gem Episode

{Episode Commentary}
So, I didn't cover everything that happened fully, but the above is the general gist. This episode is one of the best because it tells us more about Data, his history, and the history of Androids like him. That is always great to explore, because of how interesting it all happens to be.

Lore is of course the star of the episode. Lore is a more pyschotic and dysfunctional android compared to Data. This is due to mistakes made by Dr. Soong when building Lore, which made Lore all crazy. Naturally, that means Lore has problems, like emotional ones. Which is why Data has no emotions, so to speak. Because of Lore.

The entire progression of events, especially relating to Wesley and the Crystal Entity and about Data's/Lore's use of contractions (i'm lost/etc), makes for a mixed element, but not enough to drop the score any.

The Crystal Entity doesn't show up here enough to say much about it, but it makes another appearance in a later episode. The Crystal Entity pretty much doesn't have any interest in talking with the crew. So, it doesn't ever communicate in a way really that helps to understand it. This makes it one of the most alien of the aliens on the show.

I like episodes that explore or tell us things about the crew, especially the alien members, along with episodes that showcase the fun aliens (Klingons, Romulans, Cardies/Cardassians, Bajorans, Ferengi) who actively impact future events.

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)
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

[Manga Shoggoth]

While I haven't seen this one, I have at least heard of it.

Amusingly, the way Lore is identified (using contractions) where Data doesn't is something I usually recall as being how they realise the transmissions supposedly from Data before he "dies" in "The Most Toys" are fake, while the write-ups for it say that they actually realise because "Data" is not following procedures exactly. I may not have seen the episode, but I know enough about it to get it confused with another.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

Doesn’t Data pick up the ability to use contractions later when he downloads his dead daughter’s brain, or something like that?

[DavidSh]

They are very inconsistent about whether Data can or does use contractions, I understand.

[Beleriphon]

There will be a tracker for Miles O'Brien and his ranks, which are a little silly some

Eventually for DS9 there needs be an O'Brien Must Suffer Tracker.

[Dire_Flumph]

They are very inconsistent about whether Data can or does use contractions, I understand.

Even in this episode, which establishes Data can't use contractions, he tells Picard "Yes Sir, I'm fine" at the end.

The writers and Brent Spiner are only human, and mistakes are all over the place.

[russdm]

Season 1 Episode 13
Angel One
Stardate: 41636.9

[Plot]

The crew have gone to visit a planet or area that had a ship go missing. The ship is called Odin. It had a mixed crew. The planet/area is a female led place. It has been some time since there was contact with the place with the Federation.

Riker leads the away team with Troi going along to speak to the head lady. That doesn't go fairly well. The female leader is complainy, and not happy about the lateness of the visit. Then the female leader says nothing about might have happened to any survivors.

Meanwhile

Picard tells the crew that they need to be getting ready for the departure since they will be going off to investigate or be some involved in Romulans. Apparently Romulan ships have been sighted/seen/buzzing about. [This will not actually mean anything]

Meanwhile

We learn that there are survivors and the leader is named Ramsay. There is some demonstration at some point of the "lego's", a little device and set up for dissolving things that works by putting a hand on a snowglobe/crystal ball.

Meanwhile

Wesley and his friends used some kind of Klingon scent doing a snowball throwing thing, then they or people get sick. This is all cleared up by Dr. Crusher. Also, Picard gets benched for being sick.

Meanwhile

The crew find some survivors. Riker ends up hooking up with the female leader. The survivors aren't starfleet, and so not under that jurisdiction. then the female leader has to sentence them.

The survivors are rounded up, Riker gets involved, some words are exchanged and things happen. The survivors are all fine, the female leader person is fine, and the crew is fine from the sick/virus after Dr. Crusher cures it.

Meanwhile

The Female lead planet apparently employs apartheid or something. That is supposed to be in the background during the parts on the planet.

Meanwhile

The crew ready themselves to go off and visit the Romulans.

[Rating]
2 - Poor episode: Not too bad but has one or two week areas (Poor plot, weak character use, bad effects)

{Episode Commentary}
To be honest, this episode has a few too moving parts. The planet stuff is interesting some, but not that much. The part on the ship with everything getting sick is not that great. Then the planet stuff about it having apartheid or something or whatever the threat the survivors are supposed to be posing is not care, and doesn't work much.

All in all, it just doesn't really stand out as being memorable. Worf even gets sick too. Things develop to where it is Laforge in charge of the ship. That is interesting a little bit.

The three or two depending on how you look at , plotlines don't really mesh that well. I mean, the episode is just average but slightly drags down a little. There is no clear "oomph" of what the different points mean/matter. Why are the survivors a threat? That was not established enough. Why is the illness/sickness spreading through the ship? What point does it serve in the episode?

So, a mediocre episode to start with that gets drug down a little bit due to issues about just not interesting storylines.

Oh, and that whole bit about the Romulans? That never happens actually. It is all just in this episode, nothing occurs about it again. Which makes it weird for being brought up at all.

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

[Manga Shoggoth]

All in all, it just doesn't really stand out as being memorable. Worf even gets sick too. Things develop to where it is Laforge in charge of the ship. That is interesting a little bit.

Actually, there is precident from TOS - Scotty was given the con on at least one occasion that I can remember offhand (S1 E23 "A Taste of Armageddon" - he acquited himself well both in the episdoe and the novelisation).

Oh, and that whole bit about the Romulans? That never happens actually. It is all just in this episode, nothing occurs about it again. Which makes it weird for being brought up at all.

I wonder if that was just a flag to say "oh yes, we have the Romulans as well as the Klingons".

According to TVTropes, "Originally, the Race Against the Clock was supposed to be Ferengi ships threatening an outpost. Due to negative reactions to the Ferengi from fans and production personnel alike, this was changed to a Romulan threat instead." - Nobody liked the Ferengi, it seems.

[Peelee]

I wonder if that was just a flag to say "oh yes, we have the Romulans as well as the Klingons".

According to TVTropes, "Originally, the Race Against the Clock was supposed to be Ferengi ships threatening an outpost. Due to negative reactions to the Ferengi from fans and production personnel alike, this was changed to a Romulan threat instead." - Nobody liked the Ferengi, it seems.

They were way too ridiculous in their debut episode. Came off as more comedic than threatening. Which is great, because them being axed as pure villains gave its both the Borg and Quark in DS9

[Velaryon]

I just started re-watching TNG on Netflix, so I'm going to try and catch up so I can participate in the discussion with a fresher memory. In the meantime, here are a few thoughts I had on the first few episodes and the commentary here.

Spoiler: Encounter at Farpoint

Show

I actually like this episode quite a bit. Sure, they were figuring a lot of things out in terms of plot and characterization, and it obviously wasn't all there yet, but it did pretty well to introduce most of the characters and I thought it did a great job of showing how Picard & co. handle things differently than Kirk would have.

Random stuff I noticed:

• Yar is portrayed as much more emotional and impulsive than I remember
• Data's quirk of being unable to use contractions must not have been invented yet, since he uses one in the trial scene
• the first time we see the transporter used, Riker is actually taller than the beam effect which only reaches to about his shoulders. It's fixed in the following scene when he appears on the Enterprise
• Riker comes off much more of a by-the-book and stickler for the rules here than I remember. I'm guessing it was seen as a way to introduce the notion of the Captain not leading away teams and the character just evolved away from that over time
• Mention is made of Geordi being in constant pain from his VISOR. Does this ever get referenced again?
• Dr. McCoy seems to have gotten WAY more southern in his old age. I don't remember him ever calling Spock "boy," but he does so to Data several times

Also, I think the holodeck "rules" had not been figured out yet. The way it's described in this episode is that many of the items in the holodeck ARE real, including some of the life. It makes sense since replicator technology is a thing, and simply creating water (for example) would probably be a more efficient use of resources than pretending to create water, tracking every single person and object in the simulation that's supposed to be wet (including people's clothes) and constantly simulating that.

Spoiler: The Naked Now

Show

• our first instance of Wunderkind Wesley being obnoxious
• Data uses another contraction
• That poor chief engineer lady carried the idiot ball so hard in this episode she probably got thrown off the crew for sheer incompetence
• I never realized before that Worf was the only main cast member not to be infected, even if Riker basically just completely no sold his infection
• Why does the assistant chief engineer have a random non-Starfleet uniform on? He looks completely out of place
• Having every single woman in the main cast get super horny when affected by the virus says a lot about the attitudes of Roddenberry or the writers, none of it good

I had forgotten that Geordi is not the chief engineer this early in the show's run. It's odd that they clearly placed so little interest in casting that role early on, given how important Scotty was in TOS. Instead they case someone who was clearly an extra with little to no thought given to characterization.

I think making this the very next episode after the pilot was a mistake, as it makes the show look far too reliant on TOS nostalgia. I didn't hate it overall, but it could have been done a lot better and should probably have been at least a couple episodes later than it was.

Spoiler: Code of Honor

Show

Hoo boy, that was... certainly an episode that happened.

• I absolutely see why this episode is regarded as racist, though I thought the whole "counting coup" reference was almost as bad as the fact that they cast this whole race as African
• Picard says some shockingly sexist things while buddying up to Lutan. Like I get he was trying to get Lutan to lower his guard a bit, but holy cow is it weird to see him say such things
• Poor Denise Crosby. Her main complaint was that she felt like she never had anything to do, but here we have a heavily Tasha-focused episode, and it's... this. At least she got to look like a bit of a badass, I guess.
• First hints of Data and Geordi being friends. That scene was pretty decent at least
• Whose brilliant idea was it to call Yar's rival in this episode Yareena? You could name her anything at all and you decide to make it almost the same name? Dumb.

I'm not too bothered about the technical aspects of the conflict setup. What's important here is that the Ligonians had medicine that the Enterprise absolutely had to get because they were unable to make it themselves. If it's not convincing, I blame the technobabble rather than the plot setup. Yes, Picard could simply beam Tasha up, but then they can't get the medicine. I think a bit of exposition about why simply stealing it with the transporter would be unacceptable would've been nice here, but oh well.

With regard to a point that was brought up earlier, Lutan did explicitly state that he'd set things up so that he won either way - if Yareena died then he was supposed to inherit. It's not clear why the law would allow that when their custom was explicitly for women to own the property, but I don't think this even makes the top 10 worst things about this episode list.

[DavidSh]

Spoiler: Encounter at Farpoint

Show

I actually like this episode quite a bit. Sure, they were figuring a lot of things out in terms of plot and characterization, and it obviously wasn't all there yet, but it did pretty well to introduce most of the characters and I thought it did a great job of showing how Picard & co. handle things differently than Kirk would have.

Random stuff I noticed:

• Yar is portrayed as much more emotional and impulsive than I remember
• Data's quirk of being unable to use contractions must not have been invented yet, since he uses one in the trial scene
• the first time we see the transporter used, Riker is actually taller than the beam effect which only reaches to about his shoulders. It's fixed in the following scene when he appears on the Enterprise
• Riker comes off much more of a by-the-book and stickler for the rules here than I remember. I'm guessing it was seen as a way to introduce the notion of the Captain not leading away teams and the character just evolved away from that over time
• Mention is made of Geordi being in constant pain from his VISOR. Does this ever get referenced again?
• Dr. McCoy seems to have gotten WAY more southern in his old age. I don't remember him ever calling Spock "boy," but he does so to Data several times

Also, I think the holodeck "rules" had not been figured out yet. The way it's described in this episode is that many of the items in the holodeck ARE real, including some of the life. It makes sense since replicator technology is a thing, and simply creating water (for example) would probably be a more efficient use of resources than pretending to create water, tracking every single person and object in the simulation that's supposed to be wet (including people's clothes) and constantly simulating that.

To be fair to McCoy, he was about 100 years older than Data, which should give him some license. As long as there isn't a history of humans calling androids "boy" regardless of the relative ages.

[russdm]

Actually, there is precident from TOS - Scotty was given the con on at least one occasion that I can remember offhand (S1 E23 "A Taste of Armageddon" - he acquited himself well both in the episdoe and the novelisation).

I think you misunderstand my comment.

I found it an interesting bit, to have La Forge in command, instead of Picard. We get to see how Geordi deals with problems when he doesn't have anybody else to answer to. It is one of the interesting parts of this rather mediocre episode.

Geordi gets a couple more opportunities to run the ship, before he gets kicked into Engineering on a permenant basis. It's nice to see the transition, to see who else gets to run the ship, when Picard is unavailable.

[russdm]

I wonder if that was just a flag to say "oh yes, we have the Romulans as well as the Klingons".

According to TVTropes, "Originally, the Race Against the Clock was supposed to be Ferengi ships threatening an outpost. Due to negative reactions to the Ferengi from fans and production personnel alike, this was changed to a Romulan threat instead." - Nobody liked the Ferengi, it seems.

They were way too ridiculous in their debut episode. Came off as more companies than threatening. Which is great, because them being axed as pure villains have its both the Borg and Quark in DS9

I think Peelee about summed it up. The Ferengi had an extremely poor Debut Episode, and you couldn't, as soon as you actually saw them acting on the planet, take them any seriously. Even with the misunderstood, bizarro "Yankee Traders" bit.

I mean, the thunder sounds are enough to get the Ferengi screeching in pain, and there is no sign really that it is anything but standard thunder. I think maybe it could be head-canoned that the thunder was much louder than what would be standard thunder.

Which makes it worse, when we discover that the Ferengi homeplanet apparently is prone to having frequent rain storms and thunder. Heck, when Quark and Rom arrive at home in that Episode when they go home, there is a rainstorm going on in the background, with thunder sounds.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I think you misunderstand my comment.

I found it an interesting bit, to have La Forge in command, instead of Picard. We get to see how Geordi deals with problems when he doesn't have anybody else to answer to. It is one of the interesting parts of this rather mediocre episode.

Geordi gets a couple more opportunities to run the ship, before he gets kicked into Engineering on a permenant basis. It's nice to see the transition, to see who else gets to run the ship, when Picard is unavailable.

By the bye, one of the TOS novels (Doctor's Orders, I think) had McCoy dumped in the hot seat. When he protested, Kirk points out (a) you've been through Command Training, and (b) I can give the con to an Ensign if I think it is appropriate.

[Velaryon]

I knew that the Ferengi were originally intended to fill the role that Klingons did for TOS (that of primary recurring antagonists), but after seeing The Last Outpost again, it's hard to imagine how anyone ever thought that was going to work. They are comedic from the very outset.

As a child I thought their energy whip things were cool, but as an adult it reminds me more of a small, curved pool noodle than anything else.

I really thought it was weird and jarring though in the episode how quickly Portal pivoted from "No, ages haven't passed and my empire still lives on" to "Hey, you're okay! Tell me more about Sun Tzu!"

[russdm]

As a child I thought their energy whip things were cool, but as an adult it reminds me more of a small, curved pool noodle than anything else.

I really thought it was weird and jarring though in the episode how quickly Portal pivoted from "No, ages haven't passed and my empire still lives on" to "Hey, you're okay! Tell me more about Sun Tzu!"

Yeah the energy whip things do look like pool noodles. I don't recall right now that it was where they got the props for the whip things from, a collection of pool noodles. Memory alpha wiki page for the episode should be able to tell.

The stuff about Portal and Sun Tzu is because Portal scanned the Enterprise and what is in the computers and everything and downloaded and processed it.

Did you miss how Portal refers to and addresses Riker by calling him Riker. And when Portal does the challenge, Portal directly quotes from Sun Tzu?

[Velaryon]

I did catch that part (it's the only reason to have Riker quote Sun Tzu earlier in the episode, after all). But Portal knew that already before the away team ever came to the planet, and he still turned from judging them to best buds with Riker on a dime.

[russdm]

Yeah I think that it is to show how incompetent and terrible the ferengi are supposed to be