Straight into the action on this one as the Enterprise is off to answer a distress call for medial aid, after having temporarily ditched Troi on some planet somewhere. Some mining operation blew up, injuring people - possible as many as 500. And the plot doesn't waste any time throwing complications in their way - 2 hours out from the mining colony, the ship detects a forcefield in their way. And it's the same field Q used to to block them back in the pilot. What a shock, what with Q's name being in the title of the episode and all.
Q appears as an energy globe thingy on the bridge to taunt the crew and Worf, for the first of many occasions, leaps over the tactical console to threaten an alien invader with a phaser. Q will have none of their urgent rescue mission, saying he has important issues to discuss such as the realisation of humanity's greatest dream. And the he finally takes human form, dressed as an admiral. After the credits, Picard sums up what's going on in a Captain's Log for the sake of anyone just tuning in. And yet he continues his conversation with Q as if there had been no interruption, calling him out on dressing as an admiral. So when exactly did he record the log we just heard in voiceover?
Q babbles on a bit, but seems taken with Riker. But Riker tries to give him a piece of his mind about the interference with the rescue attempt. Q brushes it off with "You species is always suffering and dying." That got a chuckle out of me - he honestly seems to not give a crap about the troubles of lesser races. Oh look! Worf's going to menace Q again, but Picard stops him. Damn - thought we would get the first Worf Effect there. Q insults Worf for a laugh before the conversation turns serious again. Picard tries to get Q to agree to a cautious conversation after the rescue, but Q wonders why Picard won't trust him. Picard rants at him and Q just mocks his outrage. Got to love the cockyness of an all powerful godlike alien who knows these primitive space faring monkeys can't hurt him. Q tries to remind them that how they handled the events he put them through at Farpoint have impressed the Q and they should count themselves lucky.
Q gets bored of talking to Picard and talks to Riker who claims not to have time for games. Q latches onto the word game and teleports the whole bridge crew away for a "deadly game". Data fills us in that they could be anywhere real or even unreal, and Riker seems eager to take part in whatever challenge lies ahead. Meanwhile Picard seems cut off and alone on the bridge. Even the lift doors won't open. What's the matter Picard? Not willing to exert yourself and open them manually? Or is it that they won't have built those access panels into the bridge set for another couple of seasons? On the planet Q appears to the crew in what I think is a Napoleonic era costume.Q says that the games a species plays and how they play them is very revealing, and Data encourages Riker to take part to gain information. Riker sits with Q as they drink some lemonade, and Q reluctantly provides drinks for the other too. Worf, eager to piss off a freaking god, pours his drink away. Attaboy Worf. One day you'll start thinking with your brain rather than your muscles, when the writers finally get around to trying to write an episode centred on you.
Riker comments on Q's fascination with human past - which, given the era the décor is from, is reminiscent of Trelane from the original Star Trek. That must be a deliberate reference, and the link between Q and Trelane is something that Peter David picked up and ran with in a novel once which was a hell of a good read. But Q wants to talk about the future. Q talks about how special humans are, and dear god, it's another Humans Are Special moment. I know it's practically the defining theme of Trek, but give it a rest already. Q starts to talk about the game, and Riker wonders where they are. Data fills in that all the props and décor around them are Napoleonic. Woo! My tenuous grasp on history actually got it right this time. Q makes fun of the humas, explaining that there's no point in a test of strength or intelligence as we have none to speak of. But he wants to give them something with high stakes, as the greatest possible future is the prize. So something disastrous is required if they lose to balance it out. The game is called "Can any of you stay alive?" Worf wants to know if the game is fair, and Q tells him "fairness is such a human concept" and tells him to think outside the box. John de Lancie comes through again when he delivers the next line wonderfully - "This game shall in fact be... COMPLETELY UNFAIR!". When Yar objects he teleports her to the penalty box where she's safe until someone else is sent there and then she'll cease to exist. DUN DUN DUN!
Meanwhile on the ship... Picard sits around alone and bored. He tries to make a log, but the computer won't respond. But hey! Tasha's there now, but she's in the penalty box. At least she can chat to Picard while she's there. She knows what will happen in case of another penalty, and she's not taking it well. Picard tries to comfort her, and I can see why he makes such a good leader. It'll be a while longer on the show until the characters are really established, but every so often a glimpse of who they'll grow to become shows through. Q arrives to mock Picard for his compassion, but gives in and releases Yar from the penalty box. Picard and Q banter back and forth a bit, before Q lets slip that the point of all this is to test Riker. Picard seems delighted that Riker will trounce Q, and they up the stakes. Riker beats Q and Q leaves humanity alone forever. Q beats Riker, and Picard loses his command. Q seems sure he'll win.
Back planetside, the crew are watching Worf in the distance. Apparently the VISOR gives Geordi telescopic vision. Wherever Worf is going, he's encountered some beast-men in French soldiers uniforms patrolling their camp. God, this game is taking forever to get moving. Q and Picard still debate Q's methods for testing humanity and Picard wants to know why not just talk instead of playing games. Q thinks Shakespeare has explained it all already - "All the galaxy's a stage..." Picard immediately corrects his misquote.
Q retorts with some Macbeth:
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
"What he might say with irony, I say with conviction: What a piece of work is man. How noble in reason how infinite in faculty. In form, in moving, how express and admirable. In action, how like an angel. In apprehension, how like a god."
Picard sees that as the future of humanity, and thinks Q is worried he might be right. Q disappears, seemingly unable to continue the debate.
Down on the planet, the enemy soldiers approach. Wow - we're halfway through the episode and Q hasn't even sprung his real plan yet. The crew seem puzzled that their opposition are armed with muskets while they still have phasers. Paranoid, he test fires his phaser, and Worf springs out of nowhere screaming "Drop your weapons!" Poor guy seems disappointed that it his own side that fired. Even Geordi seems amazed Worf came out of nowhere. But they're out of time - the soldiers have arrived. Data turns around for a second, and when he turns back it's Q in Data's uniform and Data's make up, who seems to have done this solely to surprise the humans and deny them Data's help. The soldiers open fire and it turns out their muskets are energy weapons. Awesomely stupid. I love it - phaser muskets. Seems like the beast soldiers die easy enough though, but there's loads of them. Q says Riker's only chance to save the others is to send them back to the ship, if he uses the power of the Q which he has given Riker. Then he pisses off and returns Data. Riker looks thoughtful and then teleports the others back to the ship. The forcefield around the ship fades, and the ship's systems come back online, though the rest of the ship is unaware there was a problem. In fact, the ship appears as if it has been travelling toward the colony this whole time, or time was frozen or something.
The crew Riker beamed back return and manage to evade the question of what was going on - probably just to avoid boring the viewer with a recounting of what they just saw, though it makes no sense not to fill in the captain on what transpired. Picard wonders what Q wants with Riker, expositioning out loud for everyone. Down on the planet Riker seems amused with what happened and calls Q a joke. Q tries to encourage Riker to use the power, but Riker wants to know what Q wants from them. Q dodges the question, and tries explaining that he returned to the Q Continuum after Farpoint and they discussed their realisation that humanity will only get better and stronger until one day they may surpass even the Q. As a result, they decided to study humanity and invite Riker into the Continuum so that they may learn from humanity. Riker says he wants none of it as he doesn't even like Q. More Humanity is Special bullshit. Q says Riker'll miss him and disappears. In return more of the ship's crew appear on the planet - including the captain and Wesley. Geordie seems pissed to be back there, and then more soldiers appear. This time, the crew have no phaser, and the soldiers are attacking.
Worf goes batshit berserker insane and gets his ass kicked and is stabbed through the gut with a bayonet, and killed. Off to a good start in this fight then. Wesley runs to his aid, gets attacked from behind and gives us the single greatest moment of Season 1, if not the entire run of this show.
 |
| Die, Wesley! Die! |
This pisses Riker off enough to throw up a Q style forcefield in front of the soldiers, shocking the rest of the crew, before he takes them all back to the ship with the dead amongst them resurrected. Picard realises Riker has been made a Q and doesn't look happy about it. No one on the crew seems to know what to do, so Picard plays it straight with Riker, admitting he has no clue how to handle this. He says what Riker has been offered is close to immortality. Close to? I think you'll find it probably is immortality, Picard. Anyway, he seems concerned that if Riker doesn't want this, the power may still be too much a temptation, so he shouldn't use it at all. Riker seems to think he's up to the task of not using this power. Picard says that's enough for him but I'm betting Riker slips inside of 3 or 4 minutes, tops.
And they've arrived at the disaster struck mining colony. Rescue teams beam down, conveniently with Riker among them so he can see first hand how people are suffering. They find a handful of survivors who say all the others are gone. I hope they mean the other in this shaft or in this building, as it looks pretty bad if only 9 or 10 out of 500 survived. Geordie finds someone buried under rubble and Data starts to toss huge boulders like they were as light as tennis balls to find a crushed and dead little girl under there. Johnathan Frakes starts to impress me a bit, as he looks torn up inside knowing that he could bring her back but he shouldn't. Everyone else - especially Dr. Crusher - hams up the regret over not getting here sooner. Sure - the cute little dead girl gets you all upset. What about the other 485 dead people, Dr. Crusher? Data doesn't seem to know when to leave it alone and asks Riker about resurrecting the girl. Riker refuses, saying he promised not to use the power. When he gets back to the ship, he takes it out on Picard who tries to reassure him it was the right thing to do. Riker arrogantly "requests" a meeting with the Captain and the bridge staff. Looks like the corruption of power has started. Picard starts replying, but Riker strides off while he's on mid-sentence.
The meeting rolls around, and in the intervening ad break, Riker's gotten more arrogant, and is addressing the Captain by first name already. He tries to exclude Wesley, but Wesley points out he's on the bridge staff and stays. Hey - Dr. Crusher's here. Since when is she a bridge officer? Anyway, Riker tries to convince them all he's still the Riker they've always known. Just, you know, with godlike powers. Excellent speech Riker - you might have maybe convinced the village idiot. Can't you use your new powers to make yourself a better public speaker? Picard points out that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that Riker's behaviour has already changed. Riker tries arguing that the power can be used responsibly. No-one's buying it. Q appears right in the middle of things when the divide between Riker and the others has become a problem in the discussion, perhaps sensing that now is the time to strike to steal Riker away.
Q acts fairly entertainingly, playing the part of a monk, but Picard - understandably - doesn't want to play Q's games today. He tries pointing out Riker how ridiculous Q is, but Q counters by pointing out the scale of what they're offering Riker. Jesus, guys - when Trek gets into a talky scene, it gets a bit boring. I don't think they've got the pacing right here, and I'm just wishing this scene would move on to Riker making the inevitable choice already. Q tells Riker to use the power to give a gift to each of his friends, and Riker actually asks for Picard's approval. Maybe he's not all gone yet. Picard allows it, already suspecting how this will play out.
So Riker starts to offer gifts, at which point Dr. Crusher tries to leave and take Wesley with her. So Riker insists on giving Wesley a gift before he goes, and turns him into an adult - 10 years older - over his mother's protest. Way to go, Riker. What a dick move - "I just stole 10 years of your life Wesly, hope you like it." Asshole. Geordi seems impressed at how Wes will look in his mid twenties. You're in there, Wes.
Data's next, but he doesn't want what Riker is obviously going to offer him - becoming human. He seems to think that it wouldn't seem real to himself, and refuses. Riker seems a nit put out but picks on Geordi next and restores his sight. Geordi seems overwhelmed to be able to see everything normally for the first time. commenting that Tasha is as beautiful as he imagined. But ultimately he asks for the VISOR back, saying that the price is too high for him and he doesn't want to have to thank Q. So Riker restores him.
Riker seems to get desperate now - he thinks Worf needs ties to his own race, so he gives him a Klingon wife. Nice one Riker - conjure a Klingon woman out of nowhere and basically stuff her into an arrangemd marriage. He may as well have asked Worf if he wanted a sex slave. Worf seems excited, but when the wife attacks Tasha, Worf beats her up and refuses the gift, saying that the Klingon world is alien to him and he has no place for Klingon sex in his life now. Wesley butts in to say it's too soon for being an adult and asks to be restored, so he can grow up on his own. Q, getting desperate himself, pleads with Wesley to listen to Riker. But Riker realises Picard knew how it'd go, and confesses to feeling stupid.
Q tries to deny any wager, but Picard is counting on the other Q remembering that Q promised to stop bothering humanity. An ominous sound builds up as Q pleads with thin air for permission to try one more thing. Apparently, the Q aren't in a listening mood and zap Q out of there in a fairly painful manner. With him gone, the gifts fade too and Wesley is restored and the Klingon bimbo vanishes. Everyone is restored to the places they were in when they returned from the rescue mission. Data seems stunned that the Q can manipulate space and time with a thought but can't handle manipulating humans. And with that, the ship heads off on their next mission.
Not a bad episode. Weak in places, and with shaky acting but the actors haven't been playing the characters long. They're moving along towards what they'll become over the next 6 and a half years, but it can be painful to watch them now. It's also clear the this a pre-metaplot series. There's no arc story and knowing what happens with the Q later, it's clear that they didn't have this in mind back in this episode. The closest Trek will come to a metaplot any time soon is foreshadowing the Borg and the conspiracy worm things. But a solid enough story, though unoriginal. Well told, and watching John de Lancie chew the scenery for a while was fun. Even if some of that scenery was the god awful sound stage they used for the weird alien planet with the horizons that are only a few meters away.
Next up: Haven. The introduction of Lwaxana Troi and how she escapes her arranged marriage.
And they've arrived at the disaster struck mining colony. Rescue teams beam down, conveniently with Riker among them so he can see first hand how people are suffering. They find a handful of survivors who say all the others are gone. I hope they mean the other in this shaft or in this building, as it looks pretty bad if only 9 or 10 out of 500 survived. Geordie finds someone buried under rubble and Data starts to toss huge boulders like they were as light as tennis balls to find a crushed and dead little girl under there. Johnathan Frakes starts to impress me a bit, as he looks torn up inside knowing that he could bring her back but he shouldn't. Everyone else - especially Dr. Crusher - hams up the regret over not getting here sooner. Sure - the cute little dead girl gets you all upset. What about the other 485 dead people, Dr. Crusher? Data doesn't seem to know when to leave it alone and asks Riker about resurrecting the girl. Riker refuses, saying he promised not to use the power. When he gets back to the ship, he takes it out on Picard who tries to reassure him it was the right thing to do. Riker arrogantly "requests" a meeting with the Captain and the bridge staff. Looks like the corruption of power has started. Picard starts replying, but Riker strides off while he's on mid-sentence.
The meeting rolls around, and in the intervening ad break, Riker's gotten more arrogant, and is addressing the Captain by first name already. He tries to exclude Wesley, but Wesley points out he's on the bridge staff and stays. Hey - Dr. Crusher's here. Since when is she a bridge officer? Anyway, Riker tries to convince them all he's still the Riker they've always known. Just, you know, with godlike powers. Excellent speech Riker - you might have maybe convinced the village idiot. Can't you use your new powers to make yourself a better public speaker? Picard points out that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that Riker's behaviour has already changed. Riker tries arguing that the power can be used responsibly. No-one's buying it. Q appears right in the middle of things when the divide between Riker and the others has become a problem in the discussion, perhaps sensing that now is the time to strike to steal Riker away.
Q acts fairly entertainingly, playing the part of a monk, but Picard - understandably - doesn't want to play Q's games today. He tries pointing out Riker how ridiculous Q is, but Q counters by pointing out the scale of what they're offering Riker. Jesus, guys - when Trek gets into a talky scene, it gets a bit boring. I don't think they've got the pacing right here, and I'm just wishing this scene would move on to Riker making the inevitable choice already. Q tells Riker to use the power to give a gift to each of his friends, and Riker actually asks for Picard's approval. Maybe he's not all gone yet. Picard allows it, already suspecting how this will play out.
So Riker starts to offer gifts, at which point Dr. Crusher tries to leave and take Wesley with her. So Riker insists on giving Wesley a gift before he goes, and turns him into an adult - 10 years older - over his mother's protest. Way to go, Riker. What a dick move - "I just stole 10 years of your life Wesly, hope you like it." Asshole. Geordi seems impressed at how Wes will look in his mid twenties. You're in there, Wes.
Data's next, but he doesn't want what Riker is obviously going to offer him - becoming human. He seems to think that it wouldn't seem real to himself, and refuses. Riker seems a nit put out but picks on Geordi next and restores his sight. Geordi seems overwhelmed to be able to see everything normally for the first time. commenting that Tasha is as beautiful as he imagined. But ultimately he asks for the VISOR back, saying that the price is too high for him and he doesn't want to have to thank Q. So Riker restores him.
Riker seems to get desperate now - he thinks Worf needs ties to his own race, so he gives him a Klingon wife. Nice one Riker - conjure a Klingon woman out of nowhere and basically stuff her into an arrangemd marriage. He may as well have asked Worf if he wanted a sex slave. Worf seems excited, but when the wife attacks Tasha, Worf beats her up and refuses the gift, saying that the Klingon world is alien to him and he has no place for Klingon sex in his life now. Wesley butts in to say it's too soon for being an adult and asks to be restored, so he can grow up on his own. Q, getting desperate himself, pleads with Wesley to listen to Riker. But Riker realises Picard knew how it'd go, and confesses to feeling stupid.
Q tries to deny any wager, but Picard is counting on the other Q remembering that Q promised to stop bothering humanity. An ominous sound builds up as Q pleads with thin air for permission to try one more thing. Apparently, the Q aren't in a listening mood and zap Q out of there in a fairly painful manner. With him gone, the gifts fade too and Wesley is restored and the Klingon bimbo vanishes. Everyone is restored to the places they were in when they returned from the rescue mission. Data seems stunned that the Q can manipulate space and time with a thought but can't handle manipulating humans. And with that, the ship heads off on their next mission.
Not a bad episode. Weak in places, and with shaky acting but the actors haven't been playing the characters long. They're moving along towards what they'll become over the next 6 and a half years, but it can be painful to watch them now. It's also clear the this a pre-metaplot series. There's no arc story and knowing what happens with the Q later, it's clear that they didn't have this in mind back in this episode. The closest Trek will come to a metaplot any time soon is foreshadowing the Borg and the conspiracy worm things. But a solid enough story, though unoriginal. Well told, and watching John de Lancie chew the scenery for a while was fun. Even if some of that scenery was the god awful sound stage they used for the weird alien planet with the horizons that are only a few meters away.
Next up: Haven. The introduction of Lwaxana Troi and how she escapes her arranged marriage.
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