Project TNG Episodes 1-4

[orangerful]

My friend Andy cannot resist an amazing blu-ray deal so when Amazon.uk had Star Trek: The Next Generation on sale for some obscenely low price earlier this month, he ordered it. I had been wanting to rewatch TNG for awhile, so we are taking this opportunity to team up and watch the show, blogging our thoughts and reactions 30 years later.

A little background for me: TNG was a HUGE part of my childhood. I have lots of happy memories of Saturday nights, getting Pizza Hut on the way home from church (my parents were big fans of the 5 o’clock mass) and sitting at the table in front of the tv in the basement, happily watching and eating together. We never really had a show like that again, that kept us all entertained, that brought us together, and I remember the emotions of watching the series finale and knowing that this was more than an end to a TV show…

So it has been interesting watching these episodes, produced in 1987, watching on an HDTV screen in 2016 (well, bouncing between my TV and my iPad, and realizing how much my life has started to mirror the Star Trek technology, especially when I start watching by asking Cortana to launch the Netflix app on my Xbox). I’m not sure I will be able to blog in-depth reactions to every episode – there are seven seasons worth! But I want to at least give a mention to them and see what memories, if any, surface while watching.



S1:E1/2 “Encounter at Farpoint”
I remember this episode pretty well but I think that is because it was rerun the most and I’ve tried to start the series over before and become distracted. Plus, Q. Q is one of my favorite characters in the series and a lot of the episodes I remember have Q in them (and Barkley…but we’ll get to him later!).

I think this is a pretty solid pilot. They manage to introduce everyone without making it feel like a line-up. And there are a lot of characters on this show – we have a whole crew of people! And the plot of the first half of the premiere, with Q putting them on trial for the crimes of humanity, gives the audience a chance to catch up on the history between 1987 – The Original Series (TOS) – to TNG.

The second half we meet Riker and Wesley, who I think are written to be the audiences eyes. Riker is new to the Enterprise, Wesley was there for the kids. I love the hint we get of Riker and Troi’s previous relationship, calling him “Imzadi”. If I had to trace back in fandom and find my first “ship”, I’d say it was Riker/Troi and Picard/Crusher. Not the most imaginative, but they were the first show relationships I was invested in and wanted to happen.

The end of the episode sets up the series – that Q will always be watching and judging and they have plenty of time to prove if humans are worthy.

S1:E3 “The Naked Now”
The next two episodes felt like homages to the original series, which makes sense. Unbeknownst to me at the time, TNG met with some push back from TOS fans, plus I’m sure the network wasn’t sold on the idea of a science fiction show. Sci Fi shows are expensive and never seem to get as big of a following. This episode was supposed to be similar to “The Naked Time” from TOS, which I’m sure writers hoped would appease the TOS fans, but had the opposite effect of making it look like TNG was just going to copy+paste episodes.

S1:E4 “Code of Honor”
And if “Naked Now” hadn’t been trouble enough, this episode is very problematic, even more so 30 years later. Again, it feels like a throw back to TOS, with the ridiculous “fight to the death” challenge. It is hard to watch this episode now, with a planet population by black people who talk with slight accents and who act uncivilized, making comments about Tasha being head of security and a woman and all other kinds of things that make your eyes roll back into your head.

For some reason E3 and E4 focus a LOT on Tasha Yar. I suppose have a woman as Head of Security was a big deal for this reboot and they were really proud of it, but in “Naked Now” she ends up getting brainwashed by the virus and running around in a skimpy outfit, trying to seduce Data and in “Code of Honor” she is made to fight to the death with another woman.

S1:E5 “The Last Outpost”
This episode was a little more straight forward, with the introduction of the Ferengi. I was excited to see proto-Quark because isn’t he one of the best things on DS9? I have a few thoughts on the Ferengi but I want to see a few more episodes with them before I come to any conclusions.



One thing that Andy and I have already talked about – it seems the best TV shows have some of the worst first seasons. Watching TNG, I was reminded of the first season of one of my favorites shows of all time Parks and Recreation. P&R has a terrible first season (in fact, I didn’t watch it when it originally aired because I was so turned off by the first few episodes). They are trying way too hard to be The Office and 1) we already had that show airing on the same channel and 2) we were ready for something new.

Right now, TNG feels like it is trying really hard to be TOS. But that’s not what the people of 1987 wanted – they already had TOS. They knew those episodes by heart. They didn’t want lessons from the 60s, they needed stories about the 80s, stories about our future. So I expected these first few episodes to be bumpy and awful. Thank goodness CBS kept it going. Nowadays shows barely get a chance (**coughFIREFLYcough**) before they are cancelled. I can’t wait to get to the classic episodes, but I want to watch the whole series, see how the characters grow and change and evolve over the seven seasons. And I can really only appreciate that if I watch them all again.

Make it so.

Comments

[blakmagjick]

I love this!! I've been meaning to watch all of TNG again soon!! :D

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

This is so awesome!! I adore TNG!!

*HUGS*

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

This is wonderful :D

[night-owl-9.livejournal.com]

Nice summation! :)

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

I JUST finished a re-watch. I can't believe it's been out 30 years. It aged fairly well.

[katmarajade.livejournal.com]

My husband and I watched all of TNG a couple years ago (followed by DS9 and now we're on season 2 of Voyager). I hated the TNG pilot. Oh my gosh! Just couldn't stand it. It remains one of my absolute least favorite episodes of the series. But I really enjoyed TNG and their focus on the crew. While it remained episodic quite like TOS, it really gave us a lot more character development and interaction. I love that!

ETA: I hated Q after that first episode but grew to love him later in the show and other series. :) Just watched a Voyager episode with him which was great!

First season of Buffy was a little rough too. Had some of the weakest episodes, I think. But I'm always surprised that I like those eps more than I remember.

Perhaps I'll have to give P&R a shot! I watched two episodes, hated it, and never went back, but I'm always on the look out for a good sitcom with solid, interesting, complex women characters. I hear such good things but just couldn't get through it. Maybe I'll have to start with season 2. (My Virgo sensibilities are actually twitching ferociously just thinking about doing that! Haha! I have to watch every episode in order. Upon rewatching, I am open to skipping around though.)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I didn't mind the pilot so much this time around though I think I tried to do a rewatch before and I didn't make it through the pilot LOL. Maybe it was just the idea of a project and analyzing the show that made it more enjoyable.

YES WATCH PARKS AND REC! I tried to skip the first season but Tim was all "we have to watch it all" and I'm glad I suffered through the first season but understand that it will get SO MUCH BETTER in season 2. They were not real characters in season 1, just caricatures - by Season 2 we have actual humans, people you could meet for real and it becomes one of the best shows. Seriously, it is now in my top ten list. If I ever feel sad, I can watch P&R and be happy.

[teagues-veil.livejournal.com]

1) I've watched every Star Trek incarnation to varying degrees, but Q is totally my fav in Voyager. The interactions between him and Janeway just KILL ME. I didn't like Q on TNG as much, because it just seemed like Picard was always so much smarter than him. LOLOLOL.

2) I love the hint we get of Riker and Troi’s previous relationship, calling him “Imzadi." AGREED.

3) S1:E4 - agreed! This one was such a rough watch for me although I also don't like Tasha.

4) Nowadays shows barely get a chance (**coughFIREFLYcough**) before they are cancelled. Brb, crying forever.

[yourlibrarian]

sitting at the table in front of the tv in the basement, happily watching and eating together. We never really had a show like that again, that kept us all entertained, that brought us together

I have similar memories, though it was about TOS reruns. They aired after the evening news, which is when we always had dinner. So we tended to remain at the table and watched it together. I don't remember any other series when that was true, and my parents remained interested in the series and went to the movies when they came out.

My father had died by the time TNG came out and I actually gave up on it during S1 because I was very disappointed in it. But I picked it back up later on. My mother watched some of it with me though I don't recall it being as consistent.

[silverusagi]

You're making me want to do a rewatch! Admittedly, I've seen it since it's original run, five or more years ago when I watched the whole series. But I don't know any episodes well enough to have any idea what you're talking about as you go episode by episode, lol. I remember very few episode specifics (except for Q episodes, Q is awesome.)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

join ussssssss! LOL I'm not that far in, you could binge watch pretty quick and catch up to me. :)

[silverusagi]

..........you have talked me into it.

Woot! As long as you don't watch too many episodes a week, I should be fine. :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I'm only watching 2-4 episodes a week. Mostly it is the days I ride my bike which tend to be the days I work nights. :) I just watched 'Hide and Q' which I think is episode 9 so I'm not that far in. :)

[dancingdragon3.livejournal.com]

This is exciting. I look forward to reading your opinions on old TNG. I've been rewatching old DS9 lately, but started dipping into TNG, too.

That's great that this was the show you and your family watched together. What a nice image :-)

I was just talking to a friend the other day about old shows with bad first seasons that wouldn't be kept around today. But these Treks, with so many episodes and seasons, they are really different and amazing. And rewatching season one of TNG and DS9, I worry neither one would make it today.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

So true, I doubt either of them would have taken off, especially with the fanboy/girls gunning for the demise of the show right off the bad. Today, there would have been an internet campaign to tear down the show before it even started, dooming it before the first commercial break. Geeks do not take kindly to change, but now I think it is just as loved as TOS.

[musiquedevie.livejournal.com]

I've never fully watched TNG myself but I've been interested in doing so. I'm almost done re-watching Voyager (just a couple episodes left) and it's been a blast. I've enjoyed seeing the show grow and the characters developing.

I agree about first seasons for shows. They're trying to get their footing, feel around for the theme of the show and so forth. P&R's first season was okay but yeah, it was definitely trying too hard to duplicate the Office. I always tell people, "Start with the 2nd season first!!" ;D

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

YES! P&R was such a mess that first season, and listening to Amy Poehler's book makes me think that they sorta knew it wasn't working. The writer's strike kinda saved it, gave them more time to figure things out.

I should watch DS9 and Voyager in their entirety at some point. I was too young when DS9 was on and didn't like the soap opera aspects of it, which I might actually like now LOL. And Voyager has such a rough start.

[silverusagi]

So, I have caught up!

I remember the first season being bad, though I think I might remember it being worse than it was? Not to take way from the badness, because it is there, but not as horrible as I'd remembered, lol. (Though it is more problematic than I'd remembered.)

Q remains awesome. He has such a large presence in the series, despite only being in one or two episodes a season.

The second half we meet Riker and Wesley, who I think are written to be the audiences eyes. Riker is new to the Enterprise, Wesley was there for the kids.

I'll admit, I'm not a fan of Wesley, lol. TOS didn't have a kid, and it had plenty of kid fans, so I'm not sure why TNG needed a kid. And not just a kid! A kid who gets to do things that others don't, like come on the bridge and help control operations.

Also, this was the first time I'd noticed a random dude in the background wearing one of the miniskirt uniforms.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Wesley is really uneven right now when it comes to the writing. He goes from knowing all the things to just being a whiny kid.

Yeah, the miniskirt guys are around for the first few episodes but I haven't seen them since!

[snogged.livejournal.com]

I've finally started TNG.

I agree with you on a lot of these points.