My One Summer Mission

Episode Notes: ( Riker? More like RiKirk. By which I mean Riker fits Kirk's reputation as an intergalactic hussy better than the Captain does. )

Overall Reaction: I always enjoy seeing Riker go into diplomat mode, and this was no exception. It was interesting to see how the Federation approaches an intentional first contact, and even more interesting that the aliens decided they weren't ready to be part of an intergalactic community yet.

It's been a few months since I watched the episode (oops), so I don't have much else to say, but I thought this was a solid venture.

Star Rating: ***

Quote of the Episode: "My world's history has recorded that conquerors often arrived with the words, 'We are your friends'." (Good point, Sampa)

This review is forcing me to institute a new special section, entitled simply:

The Hotass: ( Caps of people looking attractive in stupid swimwear beneath the cut. You may not like 50% of it if you're not a Vash fan. )


Okay, not that I've gotten that taken care of:

Episode Notes: ( Riker's working overtime to earn his lech tag in this ep, and he's barely even in it. )

Overall Reaction: Ahhhhhh, what fun. This entire episode was just such a romp.

ENTERPRISE CREW: Dude, Picard, take a chill pill.
RIKER: You need to get laid. I know the perfect spot!
PICARD: Um.
RIKER: It's great! It's not a brothel at all! P.S. Can you buy me a souvenir?

PICARD: I WILL NOT HAVE FUN. I WILL NOT GET LAID. I WILL READ THIS BOOK AND GLOWER AT ALL THE SCANTILY CLAD WOMEN.
SCANTILY CLAD WOMAN: Heyyyyyy, stud.
PICARD: No means no.
SCANTILY CLAD WOMAN: Well, you should have thought of that before you bought a sexuality totem.
PICARD: RIIIIIIIIKER!
SCANTILY CLAD WOMAN: Oh, sorry, I didn't realize it was for a special friend.
PICARD: Well, he's not so special now.

VASH: Hey, sailor.
PICARD: I don't want to have sex with you.
VASH: Well, maybe I don't want to have sex with you.
PICARD: *raises eyebrow*
VASH: Okay, yeah, that's not very likely. Anyway, I am just going to hang around here being outrageous and affronting your sense of dignity and generally being a flirtatious troublemaker until you find me hot despite yourself.
PICARD: That will absolutely work.
Q: I KNEW IT. Oh, Jean-Luc!

[PLOT]

PICARD: I am totally on to you, Vash. But I pretty much find you hot anyway.
VASH: You have got a type and it is hilariously wonderful. Just wait until I team up with Q in DS9. Then your head will really explode.

RIKER: So, did you get laid?

And that was pretty much the whole episode. And I fucking loved it. Also, this is the most I have ever liked Vash, which is what I get for watching her episodes entirely out of order. Now I'm looking forward to rewatching the Robin Hood Q episode even more.

Star Rating: *** 1/2

Quote of the Episode:
(Vash kisses Picard.)
"I think you've mistaken me for someone else."
"You know, I think you might be right. Welcome to Risa!"
"A simple handshake would have sufficed." (Picard and Vash)

Episode Notes: ( Yes, Riker, you are that obvious. )

Overall Reaction: This was a fine episode, but I felt that we had a much stronger message about unforgiven grudges just two episodes ago, when Worf let a Romulan die rather than donate blood to the enemy. That was so much more compelling, because it presented a difficult ethical choice and it involved a character that we care about.

I actually really liked Brull -- I thought the actor playing him was quite charismatic -- and would have liked a bigger focus on him. His scene with Wesley, where Wesley was a tremendously snotty teenager and Brull was unfazed, was delightful! I especially loved his comment on his sons: "One's just about your age. He's not any good at math." I feel like the character disappeared in the second half of the episode, and I would have liked to see more of the conflict between his willingness to make amends for the hope of a better future and either the reluctance of his leader or the grudge-holding of Yuta.


*sigh* I'm ready for another Data episode, now.

Star Rating: ** 1/2

Quote of the Episode:
"Your ambushes would be more successful if you bathed more often!" (Worf, who really knows how to hit you where it hurts)

Episode Notes: ( Kneel before the Picard! )

Overall Reaction: Hey, Roddenberry, your atheist is showing.

I approve, I just think it was funny how horrified Picard was that he was making this sensible species regress and be religious again.

As far as "mistaken for a god" episodes go, a trope that I admit I can be a bit impatient with, this was really well-done. I liked the slightly Vulcan twist on the Crucible story, the balance of fear and reason that the AOTW struck.

Star Rating: ***

Quote of the Episode:
"Get up. You must not kneel to me."
"You do not wish it?"
"I do not deserve it." (Picard, rejecting his godhood)

A chronological retrospective of some favorite moments from season one of TNG.

So, you know, there are no icons from "Code of Honor."

Preview:


( 64 icons under here! )

These are, as ever, up for grabs -- I just like a comment if you're taking any.

Episode Notes: ( Never assume anything where Lwaxana Troi is concerned! )

Overall Reaction: This episode was a transparent excuse to let Lwaxana hit inappropriately on Picard and to showcase Patrick Stewart's marvelous faces and I, for one, welcome it. It even threw in some Dixon Hill for no good reason whatsoever.

Yes, it was light on plot, but it more than made up for it in delightfulness.

Star Rating: *** 1/2

Quote of the Episode:
"As ship's doctor I consider it an excellent exercise for his reflexes and agility." (Pulaski, on *running* from Lwaxana)

Episode Notes: ( Guess who's back? )

Overall Reaction: Well...

1) I started and stopped this a lot because I kept being too tired to watch anything, and I think I kind of missed out on a lot by doing that.
2) That wasn't the most badass Romulan episode conceivable.
3) Everything about their plan seemed horribly ill-conceived and it's no wonder it nearly ended in tears.
4) Picard enjoyed that waaaay too much ♥.

Star Rating: ** 1/2

Quote of the Episode:
"If it should become necessary to fight, could you arrange to find me some rocks to throw at them?" (Riker, entertainingly pissy)

Episode Notes: ( Wesley Crusher is a racist. )

Overall Reaction: You can tell that this was a good episode because Data was barely in it and Q was nowhere to be seen, and yet I was still riveted. The episode, aside from being about Klingons (yay!) and being pretty damn exciting, actually highlighted the things I like best about Riker -- because, for all my gentle mockery, I do usually like Riker. He is, as I have said before, probably the best diplomat aside from Deanna aboard the Enterprise, and certainly the most active explorer. Picard's face lights up when he finds a new form of life (see: the sentient diamond earrings in "Home Soil"), but he is somewhat ill at ease when it comes to actually interacting with, well, people of any species; Riker leaps right in with a refreshing gusto. He slips into a scanty, shimmery outfit with a cheeky grin in "Angel One", he dives into an attempt at dating a genderless person in "The Outcast" (okay, maybe I'm just proving he's a big slut), and, here, he doesn't taste Klingon food like a 10-year-old being told to try the beets -- he scoops up handfuls of raw worms like they're bar snacks. O'Brien says he would be nervous to serve aboard a Klingon vessel; Riker leaps at the opportunity. His enthusiasm and unflappability (unless someone is flirting with Deanna, of course) are admirable.

This episode also made me appreciative of how closely in check Worf must keep himself living amongst and serving under humans -- no wonder he has no sense of humor.

Finally, I am amazed that Riker resisted Klingon female sex, but he did find a boyfriend, so it's all good.

(Oh, and you know that Captain's going to be relieved of duty in twenty seconds now that Riker's done him the discourtesy of sparing his life.)

Star Rating: *** 1/2

Quote of the Episode:
"If Klingon food is too strong for you, perhaps we could get one of the females to ... breastfeed you." (Riker's Klingon boyfriend, prompting the question -- why doesn't this WHOLE SHOW take place on a Klingon vessel?)

Episode Notes: ( We now have the technological capacity to cure your disease. )

Overall Reaction: I found this episode disappointing following "Conspiracy", but on it's own it is a relatively solid episode. The "visitors from the past" B-plot, ripped straight outta TOS, was in the black in my personal ledger of entertainment: most of the fun was in the Southern comedian with crippling substance abuse problems and, in my mind, a thing for Data, but even the annoying banker brought a few good laughs, and the depressed housewife provided a great showcase for Picard's blinding terror of human emotion (god, I love Picard).

More importantly, I like the Romulans (though am baffled by their Extreme Makeover here), and even if I didn't -- well, they'd be an improvement over the Ferengi. We got to see Picard in his diplomatic element, and the general competence of Enterprise crewmembers is big part of why I watch Star Trek to begin with. I'm excited to see how the intrigues begun here will play out over the course of season two (I'm up to episode eight, and the answer so far is "not at all," but I've got fourteen episodes left). My one gripe: has there ever been something less threatening than the Romulans saying ominously that they're "back"?

Star Rating: ***

Quote of the Episode:
"We're going to have to treat them as... living human beings." (Picard, with effort, on the people from the past -- God, I love him)

Episode Notes: ( 01000011 01001100 01001001 01000011 01001011 )

Overall Reaction: Joking about Riker's enjoyment of physical pleasure and it's ill effects in the last episode aside (really, he didn't do anything I wouldn't have done), um, there is no excuse for this. Riker, baby, KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS. PLEASE. Your yen for a swinging 1950s chick and your total hard-on for a holograph distracted you and allowed the ship to be stolen out from under your nose. The Aliens of the Week (Binar? I don't even bother trying to remember aliens' names unless they have a crewmember on the Bridge, are at war with the Federation, or are the Horta) counted on Riker's manwhore tendencies.

If I reluctantly pry myself away from my criticisms of Riker's hormones (I do not hold the Captain accountable, he is genteel), I must say that this was actually a very strong episode, with an above average alien race. It's much more fun to criticize Riker, though.

Star Rating: ***

Quote of the Episode: "I should not have been painting." (Data, on priorities)