Friday, January 3, 2020

Star Trek: Too Short a Season

Episode: "Too Short a Season"
Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 1, Episode 16
Original Air Date: February 8, 1988

Image result for too short a season
via Wikipedia

Our heroes are transporting Admiral Mark Jameson (Clayton Rohner) to a hostage negotiation with an old adversary.  To complicate matters, the elderly admiral has taken an anti-aging drug with dramatic but ultimately destructive effects.  Meanwhle, the hostage situation is a ruse - a trap intended to ensnare, humiliate and kill Jameson.

"Too Short a Season" is definitely a clunker.  Critics have objected to Rohner's over-acting, the bad makeup and the lessened involvement of the TNG principals in favor of the Jameson story - all fair points.  As for me, I found the writing weak and forced.  Trek has confronted aging issues before in TOS's "The Deadly Years" and TAS's "The Counter-Clock Incident."  Frankly, neither of those was especially strong either.


Acting Notes
Image result for clayton rohner
via Memory Alpha

Clayton Rohner was born August 5, 1957 in Palo Alto, California.  He graduated from Whitman College which is located in Walla Walla, Washington.  Quick side note: when I told my daughter there was such a place with that name, she thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Rohner's most famous role was Rick Morehouse in 1985's gender bending Just One of the Guys.  He has many guest appearances in high profile shows to his credit.  His one starring role as a regular was on the mid-'90s legal drama Murder One as Detective Vince Biggio.

18 comments:

  1. i think people are divided to Star Wars Fans and Star Trek Fans:)

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    1. Indeed. And I am actually mostly a Star Wars fan. But there is room in my heart for both!

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    2. haha so you share your star love :D

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    3. Absolutely!

      Star love... I like that.

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  2. I don't remember that episode, though I've probably seen it. Maybe there's a good reason I forgot it, lol

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  3. The performance and makeup done on the aged admiral was awful, and that's what ruined the episode. This was a true example of the first season just not understanding how bad it was.

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    1. Definitely. There are more aging and death episodes coming up, particularly in Season 2. One wonders if Roddenberry was looking to work out some issues as the end was nearing.

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  4. I never saw the newer episodes, but my parents loved the older ones with William Shatner. I think next time the New Generation comes on Sy Fy, I'll have to watch it.

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    1. I'll be discussing this more as we go along but I definitely prefer TNG - there's simply more there there. That said, there's a lot to love in the originals. Obviously. 13 films and spinoff series #8 about to launch. There's something there!

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  5. I have missed so many of these episodes that when ever I read your posts I think where was I ? none of these sound familiar !
    parsnip

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    1. I have, over the years, seen every TNG episode but several only once. I definitely remember some better than others. I would imagine several of the weaker ones didn't survive in the re-run rotations.

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  6. attractive summary, make me to revisit the episode...

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  7. See, whenever I entertain the idea that maybe I should revisit TNG, you remind me of one of these episodes.
    But my kids have never seen any Trek.
    Not that we have any time to add anything new. We barely watch the things we're watching.

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    1. Surely, someone must have compiled a must-watch list of best episodes. Sort of aiming to do that myself, I suppose.

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