Squid Perks: Raktajino

Raktajino is Klingon coffee, particularly popular on Star Trek's Deep Space Nine, both the station and the series.  The canon doesn't provide much guidance as to flavor beyond that it's Klingon-strong but, of course, there are numerous recipes online.  I adapted the one at AF's Amazing Food Blog, which incorporates cinnamon, cardamom and allspice.  For the "extra strong coffee," I used espresso and I mixed in the ground spices pre-brewing.  I did not use AF's recommended sugar as we don't really put sugar in coffee at home.

The result was quite pleasant.  The spices add dimension.  It doesn't have the wow flavor kick I was hoping for and I'm not sure what would bring that.  The optional black pepper in the recipe would certainly supply heat but honestly, I'm not a black pepper fan.  Some recipes add alcohol - AF suggests rum, cognac or coffee liqueur.  I doubt that would add much flavor.  I'd just want to go back to bed.

The most important question is whether we prefer raktajino to Captain Picard's beloved Earl Gray tea.  We're planning a Star Trek-themed brunch for Father's Day.  The Purple Penguin and I both prefer the rak.  My wife doesn't care.  So raktajino, it is.  Maybe we'll have a clever idea for making it stronger by Sunday...

Squid Flicks: Star Trek VIII: First Contact

Title: Star Trek: First Contact

Director: Jonathan Frakes

Original Release Date: November 22, 1996

My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Memory Alpha

The Borg are back to take another run at conquering the Federation.  This time, they resort to time travel, going three hundred years into the past to interfere with Zefram Cochrane's momentous launching of Earth's first warp-capable engine.  Obviously, Captain Picard and his Enterprise crew can't let that happen so they make the time trek, too.  Our friends must approach 21st century Earthlings with caution, though, as they have not yet had contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence.

Once again, Star Trek films follow their strange, well-established pattern.  The even-numbered films are typically much better than the odd-numbered ones.  Is there another film franchise like this?  Most wouldn't survive a first awful movie.  Trek makes mistakes in one, then fixes them for the next.  The saving grace: thanks to the rabid fan base, even the terrible movies make money.  Final Frontier is widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made, yet it exceeded budget at the box office by nearly 100%.  

Whatever the explanation for this unique phenomenon, First Contact is a huge improvement over Generations.  For starters, sticking with the NextGen-era characters works a lot better than trying to mix and match with the originals.  More importantly, the narrative hits more cleanly on the emotional targets.  I doubt any Trek movie moment will ever be more moving than the death of Spock in Khan but Cochrane's first handshake with the Vulcan captain runs a respectable distant second.  

I hadn't seen First Contact since watching it in the theater nearly 30 years ago.  I didn't know Trek nearly as well at the time.  My high school friends and I would frequently watch NextGen together followed by The X-Files.  But honestly, I didn't usually pay such close attention to either show.  They were on in the background while I was doing other things - chatting, playing board games, etc.  I knew the characters but would have missed the subtleties.  I certainly didn't know the spinoffs so I wouldn't have understood why Worf was on the Defiant rather than the Enterprise nor would I have appreciated the cameos for either Ethan Phillips (Voyager's Neelix as a nightclub maitre d') or Robert Picardo (as the Enterprise's Emergency Medical Hologram).

This, along with some of the reviews I've seen for the new LEGO Enterprise, makes me wonder how much of the public knows Star Trek from the movies rather than the TV shows and how much of the material goes over their heads as a result.

Adding First Contact to my rankings...

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2. Star Trek VIII: First Contact
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
6. Star Trek VII: Generations
7. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
8. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

I will admit upfront that I am biased towards NextGen stories.  The characters are stronger and, as a result, the stories are stronger.  However, I still feel Khan, because of the death of Spock, holds a special place in the broader legacy.

Squid Flicks: Star Trek VII: Generations

Title: Star Trek Generations

Director: David Carson

Original Release: November 18, 1994

My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Kirk or Picard?  For the die-hards, it's the starting point question, the answer placing you in one camp or the other.  Which Enterprise captain is your guy?

What if you didn't have to choose?

For one and only one story in the canon, we get both of them.  

via Memory Alpha

Star Trek Generations begins in Kirk's era.  Kirk, Scotty and Chekov are the guests of honor for the christening of the Enterprise-B.  After the ship is launched out of dry dock, ceremony is usurped by duty when a distress call comes through.  Our man Jim takes over command when the "real" captain loses his nerve.  But then Kirk runs off to deflector control to make adjustments where he gets killed.  Or so it would appear...

Fast forward 78 years.  Picard & Company respond to their own emergency.  The Amargosa Observatory is under attack and the Enterprise-D runs to the rescue.  There, our friends encounter Soran, an El-Aurian scientist who seems harmless enough at first.  But he's in cahoots with the Duras sisters and that's not even the worst of it.  He's trying to direct the path of a mysterious, space-rending energy ribbon so he can get back to the utopian plane the ribbon contains, the very same ribbon that caused all the trouble in Kirk's story.

Generations was the first Star Trek movie I saw in the theater.  I went with my brother-in-law in Minnesota during Thanksgiving break my senior year of college.  I have to admit that before my recent re-watch, I remembered virtually nothing of the story outlined above.  I remembered Kirk's "death."  That's really it.  Nor did I remember Data's adventures with his recently installed emotion chip.  All I remembered clearly is the next bit.

Picard enters the Nexus, the world of the ribbon.  There, he meets Kirk, who apparently didn't die at all.  He just got trapped in the Nexus.  Picard tries to convince the older captain to come back with him to defeat Soran but it's no easy sell.  In the Nexus, all your dreams come true.  Picard experiences having a family: wife, children, the whole deal.  Kirk gets to hang out chopping wood and burning breakfast at his home on earth with the woman he didn't but maybe should have married.  And then suddenly he's at his uncle's horse ranch in Idaho.  The world seemingly becomes whatever you want it to, like a beautiful dream.  But none of it's real.

That bit I remember and it comes in much later in the story than I realized.  I'd forgotten the most important bit, too...

SPOILER!!!

Kirk dies.  For real this time.  Picard succeeds in bringing Kirk back with him and, indeed, they defeat Soran together.  But victory comes at a cost.  Soran kills Kirk.

It's been nearly 30 years.  I've forgotten many of the details from my life 30 years ago.  But in my experience, emotional impressions tend to last and I think it says something that the event which was clearly meant to leave such an impression didn't.  

Some critics complained - and not for the last time - that the film feels too much like a long television episode.  That, in itself, doesn't bother me so much.  Obviously, I like Star Trek episodes.  And I think the Kirk-Picard partnership, gimmicky though it feels in the end, does bring that certain something special that a movie should have.  The real problem for me is that apart from the gimmick, the plot itself was not especially memorable.  

As is true of many great stories, TNG's series ending felt like a new beginning for the characters (see here).  Picard's relationship with his crew had clearly changed.  Perhaps the first movie could have worked better if it did more to build on that new beginning.  I understand wanting to make a film bigger than the show had been in terms of scope.  But don't lose sight of why we've grown to care about these characters.

So where does Generations stack up against the previous films?

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
4. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
5. Star Trek VII: Generations
6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
7. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

For the first six movies, my rankings mirrored the Rotten Tomatoes ratings exactly.  Here, I break.  RT has The Motion Picture slightly above Generations.  In truth, both movies feel disappointing - acceptable but so much less than they could have been.  Fortunately, in both cases, the subsequent film was a considerable improvement.

What Is The Next Generation?

via Memory Alpha

Star Trek belongs on television.  Movies are all well and good but Trek is at its best as a television series.  Even skeptics were excited for The Next Generation when it first hit TV screens in fall 1987.  Fans were hungry for new stories and if that required getting used to new characters, so be it.  The series took a season-plus to gain its footing but once it did, it surpassed the celebrated originals in the hearts of many, including mine.  

While NextGen itself was dragging to the finish line by the end of seven seasons, the franchise overall was stronger than ever.  One spin-off, Deep Space Nine, was off to a fantastic start and was already testing the boundaries of the Trek concept in refreshing ways.  Another, Voyager, was due to launch in January.  After a brief vacation break, the TNG cast and crew got right to work on their first film, Generations, to be released in November of 1994.  It would bring in $118 million worldwide at the box office.

Mission accomplished.

Over the long run, The Next Generation benefited significantly from the unusual circumstances of its birth.  Put off by the fact that none of the major networks would give them a deal they felt their valuable property deserved, Paramount decided on a new approach for getting the new Star Trek series on the air: first-run syndication.  They cut deals one local independent station at a time for the broadcast rights.  The benefit to the local stations was enormous and it put the studio completely in the driver's seat regarding the future of the show.  Whereas the creators would have had to appease a major network constantly, what local operation in its right mind would cancel Star Trek?

As a result, the new show benefited from two significant resources the original didn't have: patience and time.  Would NextGen have survived after its weak first season if it had aired on NBC instead?  Maybe ratings would have saved it but the pressure would have been on and growing tension over creative control might have harmed the product (and there was enough of that anyway).  The first-run syndication arrangement provided the space to grow slowly.  By the fourth season, a point by which the original series had already been cancelled, TNG was humming along beautifully.

The Next Generation quickly outpaced the original series in two areas: character development and world-building aboard the Enterprise.  While one could argue (as I did here) that those considerations were not the driving purpose of the originals, NextGen established templates for all Star Trek series to follow.  The new series emphasized relationships and a sense of home.  Each principal (eventually) has a developed personal life and not all of their interactions revolve around the captain.  In the 2020s, even with the return of many Kirk-era characters, the emotional pulse of Star Trek resonates more strongly with Jean-Luc's Enterprise than with James T's.  

via Memory Alpha

Politically, the basic message of Star Trek was the same: tolerance.  What was new was exploration of how the individual finds their place in a pluralistic society.  How is it to live in two cultures at once? (Worf)  How does one balance obligations to family with one's personal ambitions? (Deanna and Beverly, though from different perspectives)  What are the rights of an artificially intelligent life form? (Data)  What role does one's specific disability play in shaping the self-identity of a disabled person? (Geordi)

The racial attitudes still needed some work.  By the mid-'90s, White America wanted to believe it was living in a post-racial society.  Civil rights were a done deal, right?  We don't see color (race) anymore, right?  Obviously, the world is more complicated than that and even Star Trek had a lot to learn.  In 1994, the rhetoric still implied strongly that humanness was the ideal and the closer someone like Worf or Data could come to meeting that standard the better.  It's way too easy to extend that line of thinking to whiteness but the writing staff, at least, wasn't making the connection.  Over time, the franchise has gradually improved and 29 years later, the work continues - as it should.

*****

It's time to hand out the hardware...

Favorite Episode: "Darmok"

After this, my third time watching through The Next Generation, I have a new favorite.

Our heroes encounter the Tamarians, a culture whose language the universal translator has not been able to decipher.  Dathon, the Tamarian captain, and Picard must work to understand each other in order to fend off a common threat.  "Darmok" is the entire Star Trek concept boiled down to a single 42-minute episode.  It's also a perfect bottle episode which I think places it above the competitors for this top spot.  You get all the set up you need in the opening teaser.  

Least Favorite Episode: "Code of Honor"

Tasha Yar is kidnapped by a visiting delegation of Ligonians.  Obviously, our heroes must rescue her.  The basic plot is not the problem.  Episode director Russ Mayberry chose to cast all of the Ligonians as Black actors costumed in a "1940s tribal Africa" theme.  Mayberry was fired but the episode still aired, a truly appalling decision.  Star Trek has been preaching racial tolerance since 1966.  With "Code of Honor," the franchise fell well short of its own standards.

The Ranking of Captains

via Memory Alpha

The original series had a top tier of three characters: Kirk, Spock and McCoy.  The Next Generation has a top tier of one: Picard.  Yes, Jonathan Frakes (Riker) gets second billing in the credits after Patrick Stewart and before the "Also Starring" principals.  That's the sort of thing agents haggle over.  In practice, there's no doubt who the lead is in TNG.  As noted above, not every relationship revolves around the captain but it's Picard's ship and Patrick Stewart's show.  As such, comparing Picard to the other regulars is a silly exercise.  One can only compare him meaningfully with Kirk.

1. Jean-Luc Picard

2. James T. Kirk

Start with the actors.  Patrick Stewart is several grades above William Shatner as a thespian.  Stewart brought unprecedented class to Star Trek and as I've written before, his professionalism set a standard for the rest of the young and relatively inexperienced cast.  Without question, the entire series would have evolved differently with a lesser actor in the role.  Stewart's vocal and physical presence commands the screen yet he also understands how to support the scenes of others.  His emotional range in episodes like "Family" or "The Inner Light" far exceeds anything Shatner ever achieved as Kirk.  "Chain of Command, Part II"?  Not even worth discussing.

In his recently published memoir, Making It So, Stewart writes about his own journey as an actor in the role.  From what I've heard, it's not what you'd expect.  I'm eager to read it.

As discussed above, Picard's Enterprise is a warmer, friendlier place than Kirk's.  A great deal of material in the early going is devoted to exhibiting Picard as an appreciative leader and a good boss.  His ship is a rewarding place to work.

Favorite Principal Character: Worf

via Wikipedia

After Picard, the two characters who get the most development are Data and Worf.  They are also, not coincidentally, the two principals with the strongest sense of "otherness" among the rest of the crew, Data because he is an android, Worf because he is Klingon.  The two men approach their otherness with opposite attitudes.  Data is Pinocchio, wishing to be more human.  Worf has spent most of his life among humans and instead yearns to connect with his Klingon heritage.  

Both character threads are rich, each providing some of the most memorable episodes of the run.  Each arc has its strengths.  For Data, it is the fascinating questions regarding the possibilities for an artificially intelligent life form.  For Worf it is the deep exploration of a non-human culture.  Each has its weaknesses.  For Data it is his limited capacity for personal growth paired with Brent Spiner's over-acting whenever he's "let out of the box."  For Worf it is, in a word, Alexander.

Just as there are Led Zeppelin people and Rush people in the world (see here), I perceive both a Data camp and a Worf camp among NextGen fans.  How one feels about each of these character journeys goes a long way in determining how one sees the series as a whole.  I'm in the Worf camp.

No character grows more from first episode to last than Worf (though Deanna Troi is an interesting study in this regard - if only she'd been given more material).  With each new season, his narrative stature improves.  Through him, we learn more about Klingons than any other non-human culture on TNG.  Just as importantly, Worf is the most nuanced of any of the second-tier principals.  Bless him, he has quite a temper and his emotions frequently put him in tricky spots.  He is far more likely to challenge authority and/or ignore orders than his colleagues are and also more likely to be challenged in his assumptions.  Quite frankly, he pisses people off in ways you don't otherwise see aboard Picard's Enterprise.  He is more obviously flawed - a demonstrably terrible father.  All of these delightful imperfections add up to a highly relatable, if not always likable, character.  

Favorite Recurring Character: Guinan

via Memory Alpha

It's really no contest.  The producers hit a home run when they brought Whoopi Goldberg into the fold.  The actress had a busy movie career at the time and was thus unable to commit to a full-time role.  But she made the most out of her 29 appearances, each story improving the instant she comes on screen.

Guinan's value is manifold.  Between her "You're not supposed to be here" line in "Yesterday's Enterprise" and her exchange with Hugh in "I, Borg," she delivers in two of the most chilling moments of the series.  More importantly in the long term, she demonstrated the possibilities for a character outside the command structure.  Both Quark (Deep Space Nine) and Neelix (Voyager) are her obvious descendants.

Favorite Adversary: Professor Moriarty

via Memory Alpha

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced Sherlock Holmes's nemesis Moriarty in "The Final Problem," published in 1893.  Moriarty entered Star Trek canon in Season 2's "Elementary, Dear Data," which I believe was TNG's first truly great episode.  Data and Geordi play on the holodeck as Holmes and Watson respectively.  Seeing how well his android buddy knows the source material, Geordi challenges the computer to find an adversary more worthy of Data's abilities.  The computer produces Moriarty and the game is on.

The long-term hook: Moriarty has self-awareness.  He knows he's a holodeck program and vows to extend the reach of his mischief into the rest of the ship.  His return episode in Season 6, "Ship in a Bottle," is my choice for best holodeck story of them all.  

I will go further than simply naming the professor as my top NextGen villain.  Star Trek's is my favorite interpretation of the Moriarty character, including Doyle's original.  A tip of the hat to actor Daniel Davis.

Favorite Guest Star, One Shot: Hallie Todd

via Memory Alpha

Todd played Lal, Data's daughter in Season 3's "The Offspring."  Lal is one of the most demanding roles in the series.  Her journey from birth to death is a whirlwind and Todd is all in every step of the way, from lifting Riker off his feet to kiss him to her final, heart-rending exchange with Data.

Favorite Blast from the Past: Scotty

via Memory Alpha

Scotty's return to the Enterprise in Season 6's "Relics" is bittersweet.  In the beginning, he is an annoyance to Geordi (and the audience) as he tries to assert himself in engineering.  Feeling the universe has past him by, he heads to Ten Forward for a bottle of Aldebaran whiskey, then to a holodeck to reconnect with the past.  That's where the magic happens...

The door opens to the bridge of a ship we know well: the Enterprise, Kirk's Enterprise.  I get goosebumps every time.  And a nostalgic tear for the first 1960s ping.

One could reasonably argue that Spock gets a better overall story - not to mention a Third Man-worthy entrance - in Season 5's two-parter, Unification.  But nothing in that episode pulls at the heart strings quite like seeing the original set again.

Top 10 Episodes

In order of original air date...

"Yesterday's Enterprise" (Season 3, Episode 15) - Our Enterprise (D) is thrown into an alternate history where the Federation is at war with the Klingons.  If that weren't complicated enough, Tasha Yar is back.  In this universe, she never died.  I'm usually not a big fan of time travel or alternate dimensions in Star Trek but this story hits all the right buttons.

"The Offspring" (3.16) - Data creates a daughter, Lal.  Even more fascinating than Data's experience of fatherhood is Lal's experience of being alive at all for a brief, tumultuous adventure.  Before "Darmok" changed my mind this time around, I had long considered "The Offspring" my favorite episode and it's still a not-too-distant second.  

"Sins of the Father" (3.17) - Obviously, I had to include a Worf episode and this is probably the most important one.  First, he discovers a brother he didn't know about.  Then he goes to the Klingon home world to help restore his family honor.  The episode is the third in the best three-episode run of the series.

"Family" (4.2) - Speaking of great three-episode runs, "Family" is the unofficial Part 3 of The Best of Both Worlds.  Picard visits the family vineyard in France.  We get a glimpse of the life our captain could have lived if he'd stayed on Earth, as well as insights into why he made another choice.  Most importantly, the story represents an emotional breakthrough for the character.  He exhibits a vulnerability we've never seen in an Enterprise captain before.

"Darmok" (5.2) - Simply the best.  See above.

"I, Borg" (5.23) - The Borg arc takes a crucial turn when our heroes rescue an abandoned drone.  If one of the collective can be restored to individuality, is there hope for the future in confronting the Borg?  Guest star Jonathan Del Arco is perfect as Hugh, the drone.  On top of everything else this story is, it's Geordi La Forge's best episode.

"The Inner Light" (5.25) - Picard is transported into another life.  He becomes Kamin on the planet Kataan where he lives for forty years, has a family and friends and learns to play the flute.  The episode is simply beautiful.  Paired with "Family" especially, we learn quite a lot about the man behind the uniform.

"Chain of Command, Part II" (6.11) - Picard is captured and tortured by the Cardassians.  No NextGen episode gives Patrick Stewart as much room to flex his acting muscles as this one does.  I don't know of any actor on stage or screen who plays Man Pushed to the Edge of Madness better than Stewart.

"Lower Decks" (7.15) - This episode almost deserves a spot on the list for the concept alone.  The story follows not our usual principals but a group of junior officers plus their bartender buddy, Ben, providing a glimpse behind the scenes of a world we've come to know pretty well seven seasons in.  It worked well enough to inspire an animated spin-off series 26 years later.  When they added the Sito Jaxa story, an already excellent episode became one of Star Trek's very best.

"All Good Things..." (7.25 & 26) - The series finale pushes all the right buttons.  Every great story ending feels like the beginning of a new, exciting chapter in the lives of the characters.  As Jean-Luc sits down with his senior officers at the poker table for the first time, we all know the moment marks a shift in his relationship with his subordinates.  The stage is set not only for the movies but for Picard's Season 3 which would air in 2023.

Essential Viewing Guide

The following list is admittedly subjective.  It's a tour through the NextGen storylines that are most important to me.  There's no Lwaxanna Troi nor Vash nor Alexander.  Time travel and space-time anomalies are kept to a minimum.  It is not an exhaustive list of all good episodes.  I've left out a few that are exceptional and, indeed, included a few that aren't but which are important for insights into arcs that are meaningful to me.  It's the quick tour I, your faithful Squid, would take you on if you asked because simply watching my Top 10 wouldn't be quite enough - whereas it would be sufficient for the original series.

In original broadcast order...

"Encounter at Farpoint" (1.1 & 2)

"The Naked Now" (1.3)

"The Big Goodbye" (1.12)

"11001001" (1.16)

"Coming of Age" (1.19)

"Heart of Glory" (1.20)

"Skin of Evil" (1.23)

"The Child" (2.1)

"Elementary, Dear Data" (2.3)

"The Measure of a Man" (2.9)

"Q Who" (2.16)

"Peak Performance" (2.21)

"Evolution" (3.1)

"Yesterday's Enterprise" (3.15)

"The Offspring" (3.16)

"Sins of the Father" (3.17)

"Hollow Pursuits" (3.21)

"The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1" (3.26)

"The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2" (4.1)

"Family" (4.2)

"The Final Mission" (4.9)

"The Wounded" (4.12)

"Darmok" (5.2)

"Ensign Ro" (5.3)

"The First Duty" (5.19)

"I, Borg" (5.23)

"The Inner Light" (5.25)

"Relics" (6.4)

"Chain of Command, Part I" (6.10)

"Chain of Command, Part II" (6.11)

"Ship in a Bottle" (6.12)

"Lower Decks" (7.15)

"All Good Things..." (7.25 & 26)

My Best Unused (So Far) Spinoff Idea: Star Trek: Klingon

As 2023 comes to an end with Star Trek still thriving, the franchise's greatest shortcoming is still the inadequate exploration of non-human cultures.  Thanks to Worf's character arc, The Next Generation examined Klingons more than any other species.  The next logical step would be a series actually based in Qo'noS, the Klingon home world.  If you must have a human protagonist (and for the record, that would defeat the purpose for me), they could be a diplomat or a spy.  The expat perspective is inherently interesting.  Or if it has to be on a spaceship, why not a Klingon vessel?  "The Inner Light" even reveals the power of stories in a civilian context.

Maybe Worf himself is the best in: a Klingon in whom the faithful are already invested.  Worf has more Star Trek screen appearances than any other character and yet there are still plenty of gaps in his life story left to explore.  

The Ranking of Series

The Next Generation would never have happened without the original series.  I readily acknowledge that.  I also acknowledge that in many ways, it's an apples to oranges comparison.  The narrative objectives of the two shows were different and thus judging one by the standards of the other is not entirely fair.

The fact is, by the third season, the originals were clearly running out of steam.  Some of the episodes - "Spock's Brain," "The Way to Eden" - were practically unwatchable.  Sure, TNG had its ups and downs, too, but they still made it to Season 7 before the well was obviously starting to run dry.  And they still managed to finish strong.

1. The Next Generation

2. The Original Series

3. The Animated Series

*****

This is a long post.  If you made it this far, congratulations and thank you.  It will be all Deep Space Nine for a while now and to be honest, I rather like it that way.  

Star Trek: All Good Things...

Episode: "All Good Things..."

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episodes 25 & 26

Original Air Date: May 23, 1994

via Memory Alpha

Picard is flashing back and forth between different points of his own life: the current NextGen Season 7 time, 25 years into the future and seven years into the past when he first took command of the Enterprise.  In all three points, he eventually confronts the same problem: a spatial anomaly in the Devron System.  Eventually, we learn that Q, of course, is behind all of this time jumping.  What's more, Q tells the captain the anomaly is all Picard's fault and that if he doesn't fix the problem, humanity's very existence hangs in the balance.

So at last, we come to the end of the series.  "All Good Things..." is a feature-length episode, essentially a two-parter aired for the first time on one May 23rd evening.  Without question, it heaps on ample portions of Trek elements that usually send my eyes rolling: time travel, techno-babble and Q.  Yet it works.  Each principal, even Tasha Yar, gets their one-on-one moment with the captain.  Picard's triumph over his nemesis is satisfying.  The final scene with Picard sitting down at the weekly poker game for the first time is a sweet good-bye kiss, delivered with the gentle elegance only Patrick Stewart can bring.  

"All Good Things..." is considered by most critics as the best series finale of the franchise.  Indeed, it tends to do well on "best of" lists for all of television.  I worried it might lose something with the developments in Picard's Season 3.  After all, we know more now about how the canonic future plays out for these characters.  I feel I can confidently report, the impact of that final poker game scene hasn't diminished in the slightest.

Thoughts on Season Seven

General Impressions

To put it kindly, Season Seven is uneven.  More bluntly, it's frequently painful.  Beginning with the third episode ("Interface"), the writing staff could see the creative well was running dry.  Fortunately, there was still enough in reserve for a few gems, including a magical send-off.  

Favorite Episode: "All Good Things..."

This is not an easy choice.  As good as the finale is, I dearly love "Lower Decks" and still contend that it's built on one of the most refreshing premises of the entire run.  I'm glad for the animated series it inspired 26 years later.

"All Good Things..." hits all the right notes.  The producers intended it as a love letter to the fans and they could hardly have made it sweeter.

Least Favorite Episode: "Masks"

Unfortunately, there's no shortage of strong candidates for this dubious honor.  The idea for "Masks" is cool: the Enterprise encounters the floating archive of an extinct civilization.  The archive invades the ship's computer and, along with it, Data's programming.  It's an excellent set up for building on Picard's passion for archaeology.

The script for "Masks" was submitted by Joe Menosky while he was living in France so he wasn't around for the editing process.  The other writers did the best they could with it.  The result was terrible.  Even Brent Spiner's overacting through multiple personality changes couldn't save it.

Favorite Recurring Character: Sito Jaxa

via Memory Alpha

If any NextGen recurring character deserves a return episode, it's Sito Jaxa.  She was first introduced in Season 5's "The First Duty."  She returned as one of the fun gang of junior officers in "Lower Decks."  Her story turns serious when Picard assigns her to a dangerous mission.  She doesn't survive.

Or could she have?  We never see a body.  The original plan was for her death to be permanent but I wasn't the only faithful viewer who was impressed.  There was an unrealized plan for a DS9 episode in which she turned up as a survivor of a Cardassian military prison.  On Memory Alpha, she is listed as "Reported KIA" so... maybe someday.  

Favorite Blast from the Past: Robin Curtis

Robin Curtis took over the role of Saavik in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock when Kirstie Alley gave up the part for fear of being typecast.  In Season 7, Curtis came back to the fold in order to play the duplicitous Tallera/T'Pal in the two-parter, Gambit.  It's a fun character - more dynamic than Saavik, in fact.  Curtis has made no further Trek appearances since.

Favorite Guest Actor, One Shot: Bruce Beatty

via Memory Alpha

Sito Jaxa was not the only "Lower Decks" character who left me wanting more.  Bruce Beatty played Ben, a bartender who, as a civilian, was able to float comfortably between social groups.  Guinan made no appearances in Season 7 so a new face in Ten Forward was most welcome.  Alas, Ben never returned.  

In fine Trek tradition, Beatty is an accomplished Shakespearean.  As a student, he attended a Shakespeare workshop led by none other than Patrick Stewart at the Paramount soundstage.  

Onward

In 1994, the torch was passed to Deep Space Nine as the standard bearer for the franchise.  By the end of Season 2, DS9 had hit its stride and was only going to get better.  Another spin-off was set to launch in January 1995.  In my opinion, Voyager's path was a rockier one, which will definitely make it fun to write about!

I'll have a long wrap up post for The Next Generation next week.

Star Trek: Preemptive Strike

Episode: "Preemptive Strike"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episode 24

Original Air Date: May 16, 1994

via Memory Alpha

Lieutenant Ro is back, just in time to be sent on an intelligence mission to infiltrate the Maquis.  The mission tests her loyalties.  She wants to prove herself to Starfleet and certainly wishes to avoid disappointing Picard.  But her resentment of the Cardassians runs deep, thus so does her sympathy for the Maquis cause.  She forms attachments, quickly leading to experiencing painful loss.  In the end, she must make a difficult choice.

This was the best episode in a while (an admittedly low bar).  It makes sense to tie off the loose ends for one of the more popular secondary characters, though Michelle Forbes (Ro) was not exactly on the producers' list of favorites at this point.  Forbes had rejected an offer of a principal role on DS9.  The end of this episode was intended to allow for her story to continue on the soon-to-be-launched Voyager.  She turned that down, too.  Right move on her part?  Hard to say.  She's had a reasonably successful TV career on other series since, though nothing with Star Trek's staying power.  Then again, the broader Trek responsibilities - conventions and such - were not so appealing to her.  Ro would not return again until "Imposter," episode 5 in Picard's 3rd season, 29 years later.

Acting Notes

via Tardis Wiki

John Franklyn-Robbins played Macias, leader of the Maquis cell Ro infiltrates.  Franklyn-Robbins was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, December 14, 1924.  He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.  

On stage, he was an accomplished Shakespearean, parts ranging from Ariel in The Tempest to Macduff in Macbeth.  He had many appearances on British television, including such classics shows as The Avengers, I, Claudius and Doctor Who.  Films included Overlord, Mrs. Dalloway and The Golden Compass.  

John Franklyn-Robbins passed away in 2009.  

Star Trek: Emergence

Episode: "Emergence"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episode 23

Original Air Date: May 9, 1994

via Memory Alpha

All is going haywire aboard the Enterprise and the trouble seems to revolve around the holodeck.  First, a steam locomotive invades Data's Shakespearean Tempest-scape.  Then the ship's computer takes control of the vessel, whisking our friends off to lord knows where.  Back to the holodeck.  Aboard the train - not just any train but the Orient Express - our heroes encounter characters from a wide range of programs: knights in armor, two flappers, a hayseed and a Capone-era gangster.  What's behind all of this madness?  In time, we learn the Enterprise is giving birth to a new life form.

The story's creation began with the jumbled up holodeck program idea, the writers wanting one final send-off for the holodeck arc.  The ship going berserk concept was built around it.  As has become all too common in this seventh and final season, the end result is awful.  Are there fun moments?  Sure.  I enjoyed the opening as Picard explains the Prospero character to Data.  But most of the tale is just irritating, like an anxiety dream you can't quite shake.  The new life form concept feels exactly like the half-assed afterthought it was.  

Only two more episodes to go.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

David Huddleston (the train conductor) was born in Vinton, Virginia, September 17, 1930.  After serving briefly as an officer in the Air Force, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Huddleston had a long and varied career on screen, both big and small.  Films included Blazing Saddles, Santa Claus: The Movie and The Big Lebowski.  He had the title role in each of the last two.  On television, he made appearances on numerous high profile shows across multiple decades, including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Columbo, The Waltons, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Charlie's Angels, The Wonder Years and The West Wing.  

Huddleston passed away in 2016 from heart and kidney disease.

Star Trek: Bloodlines

Episode: "Bloodlines"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episode 22

Original Air Date: May 2, 1994

via Memory Alpha

DaiMon Bok is back (see here).  Still bitter about Picard killing his son in battle, Bok has found Picard's own son, Jason Vigo, and has threatened to kill him as vengeance.  The Enterprise rushes to the Camor system in order to save the young man from Bok.

Wait, Picard has a son???

It's the sequel no one wanted.  Well, that's not entirely true.  Producer/writer Jeri Taylor had asked Patrick Stewart if there were any aspects of his character he'd like to explore and he responded that it seemed a shame the Bok-out-for-revenge story had never been resolved.  "Bloodlines" was the result.  There are now three NextGen episodes left.  The series is gasping for air.

The long lost child trope is an important one for Trek.  It's a central element in Wrath of Khan, of course.  I suppose it's believable enough for a spaceship (or sea) captain: woman in every port and what not.  It feels different with Picard, though, than it did with Kirk.  Captain James T. was well-established as an interstellar playboy.  Jean-Luc has never been like that (often to Patrick Stewart's own disappointment).  There's a sheepishness when he admits to his relationship with Jason's mother.  It's endearing.  

Acting Notes

via Criminal Minds Wiki

Ken Olandt (Jason) was born in Richmond, California, April 22, 1958.  Not long before this appearance, he had the lead in the series Super Force.  Beyond Trek, television guest spots include Riptide, V and Murder, She Wrote.  Films include Leprechaun, Summer School and Falcon Down.  Orlandt has also done significant work in production and financing, including co-founding Unified Film Organization, LLC.

Star Trek: Firstborn

Episode: "Firstborn"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episode 21

Original Air Date: April 25, 1994

via Memory Alpha

Alexander shows no interest in becoming a warrior, causing his father great worry.  At Picard's urging, Worf takes his son to Maranga IV to join in the festival of Kot'baval, hoping to spark the boy's interest in Klingon culture.  During the visit, Worf is attacked, then rescued by a mysterious stranger who identifies himself as K'mtar, advisor to the House of Mogh.  

Not all is as it seems...

This is TNG's last Klingon story.  It involves both Alexander and time travel so I'm not exactly a fan.  It's a shame.  Worf's complicated relationship with his Klingon heritage is one of the series's richest narrative wells.  Three decades on, we know this is far from the end of the thread but as NextGen staggers to the end, a more satisfying send off would have been nice.  

As part of the festival, street performers reenact the fight between Kahless and the traitor Molor.  While I'm not fond of this episode overall - and the performance itself is ultra-hokey - I love this glimpse of the arts within Klingon culture.  I'll talk about this more when it's time to wrap up but even thirty years and hundreds of episodes and films later, Star Trek's greatest need is the deeper exploration of non-human cultures.  Largely thanks to Worf, Klingons get the most attention in NextGen and would seem the best candidates.  Even so, we are still provided only a severely monolithic perspective.  "The Klingons are a warrior race," we're told.  Really?  All of them?  A population of billions spread out over hundreds of planets with millennia of history and all any of them cares about is war?  I find that difficult to believe.  

Think of everything going on in the world right now in 2023.  The monolithic perception of the other is everywhere.  But not all Palestinians are terrorists.  Not all Israelis are soldiers.  Most people in the region - or anywhere else - are just trying to get on with the blessed day, hoping for a better life for themselves and their children, wanting to get along with the neighbors because the alternative is horrifying.  It's hardly surprising that when people kill each other, they see the worst in the people doing the killing.  

But if we're ever going to heal, we need to rise above.  Yes, I know that's easy for me to say from thousands of miles away but that doesn't make it less true.  It's a lot easier to kill people once you've dehumanized them.

The entire Star Trek concept is based on a premise: Earthlings will be ready to explore outer space once we've learned to get along better with each other.  Unfortunately, Trek stories themselves often reveal how much work is left to be done.  Not all Klingons are warriors or even wish to be.  As in any culture in world history, some are farmers, some are engineers, some are clergy, some are teachers, some are artists and musicians, some are busy trying to raise their kids.  They love their families.  They want to live a good life.  Some of them are street performers, not so different from the ones I see on Church Street in Burlington.  Every glimpse we are offered of a broader Klingon society makes their culture more real.  

Star Trek - and its legions of fans - need to get past seeing humanness as the ideal.  It's too close to the prevalent perspective of white culture in the United States and beyond.  Are we any better 29 years later?  Not better enough.  I believe Star Trek can and should be part of the solution.

Acting Notes

via Z Nation Wiki

Gwynyth Walsh played the role of B'Etor, one of the notorious Duras sisters.  She was born November 7, 1956 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  She graduated with a BFA from the University of Alberta.  In fine Trek tradition, she's an accomplished Shakespearean, winning a Dramalogue for her portrayal of Beatrice in A Midsummer Night's Dream.  

Beyond her numerous Trek appearances, Walsh was a series regular on DaVinci's Inquest and had recurring roles on Black Summer and Virgin River.  Films include Blue Monkey, The Crush and Star Trek Generations (as B'Etor).

Star Trek: Journey's End

Episode: "Journey's End"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episode 20

Original Air Date: March 28, 1994

via Memory Alpha

The Enterprise is ordered to relocate the settlers of Dorvan V, now on the wrong side of the border according to a new treaty with the Cardassians.  The settlers are Native Americans who have been on the planet for twenty years after a 200-year-long search for a new home.  The parallels with earlier North American history are lost on no one, yet the order stands.  Meanwhile, Wesley is home from the Academy and he's being a royal jerk to everyone.

The series is limping to the finish line.  There are only five more episodes to go now.  "Journey's End" is pretty awful.  The well-intended attempt at Native American representation falls into all the usual white liberal pitfalls: noble savages, enlightenment attained through ceremonial hallucination, the need to assuage white guilt for the sins of the past, etc.  The Wesley story... they painted themselves into a corner with the character early on.  By setting him up as a chosen one/wunderkind, there was no way a simple Starfleet career was ever going to cut it as his ultimate destiny.  In this last TNG appearance, Wes runs off with the Time Lord... er... Traveler to join in trans-dimensional, universe-saving adventures, a story line without much payoff over the long term.  It mostly serves to get rid of Wesley, then allow him to weave in and out of future stories whenever the producers are in the mood for a cameo.

This re-watch of "Journey's End" comes to me at an interesting time.  I'm in the midst of a deep dive with North American Indigenous music at the moment, searching way beyond the Smithsonian Folkways-style recordings of traditional musicians.  There are, in fact, numerous Indigenous musicians in various genres trying to make it in the biz right now.  That's the part stories like "Journey's End" miss.  Indigenous cultures are neither dead nor lost.  Nor are they stuck in 19th-century period costume.  While certainly marginalized by the dominant white culture, Indigenous nations live and breathe right now.  An interesting discovery I've made in my exploration: most of the artists who've attained a certain level of success are Canadian, speaking to the greater visibility of such cultures north of the border.

I think Halluci Nation is my favorite find.  See their song "Electric Pow Wow Drum" here.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Tom Jackson played the role of Lakanta, a Dorvan colonist who turns out to be the Traveler in disguise.  Jackson was born October 27, 1948 in One Arrow Reserve, Saskatchewan, Canada.  He dropped out of high school at 15 and lived on the streets of Winnipeg for a few years.  Eventually, he found his way into acting.

Most of Jackson's work has been in Canada (like I was just saying...).  Television credits include Shining Time Station, North of 60 and Sullivan's Crossing.  Films include Grizzly Falls, Skinwalkers and Cold Pursuit.  In Canada, he's probably best-known as the creator and host of the long-running, touring charity holiday concert series, Huron Carole.  He holds numerous national honors, including the Order of Canada.

Star Trek: Genesis

Episode: "Genesis"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episode 19

Original Air Date: March 21, 1994

via Memory Alpha

Due to a snafu in sickbay (it's Barclay's fault, naturally), the Enterprise crew de-evolves.  Nurse Ogawa reverts to a more primitive ape form.  Counselor Troi develops gills.  Worf becomes a ravenous, pre-historic Klingon beast.  Barclay goes arachnid.  Even the pets are not spared.  Data's cat Spot becomes an iguana.

Naturally, Data is unaffected, a key plot point in all "every organic creature is doomed" narratives on NextGen.  He's the Scarecrow in the poppy field.  Picard and Data are off-ship when the disaster strikes so the effect on the captain is also delayed.  

I'm not a huge fan of the horror-trending stories but "Genesis" has humorous moments, too.  The episode was nominated for three Emmys: Sound Editing, Makeup and winning for Sound Mixing.  Other evaluators have been less charitable.  Star Trek 101 gave "Genesis" the Spock's Brain Award as the worst of the series.  I can think of at least two that I like less: "Code of Honor" and "Masks."

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Carlos Ferro played the role of Ensign Dern, a conn officer.  He was born in San Francisco.  He worked as a DJ before turning to acting.  

Most of Ferro's credits are in voice acting.  On television, he has voiced characters in Justice League and Spawn.  Video game work includes the Assassin's Creed and Gears of War franchises.  

Star Trek: Eye of the Beholder

Episode: "Eye of the Beholder"

Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 7, Episode 18

Original Air Date: February 28, 1994

via Memory Alpha

Lieutenant Daniel Kwan commits suicide by hurling himself into the plasma stream.  While Counselor Troi is investigating, she experiences a telepathic flashback of memories not her own to the time of the Enterprise's construction.  She suspects someone was murdered.  What's more, the murderer may still be aboard the ship.

The mystery story is interesting enough but to me, "Eye of the Beholder" feels like a missed opportunity.  The creators balked at what could have been a meaningful exploration of mental health.  In the beginning, no one, not even those close to Lieutenant Kwan, understand how he could have taken his own life.  Of course, there has to be a reason.  The past murder visions become the reason.

But why couldn't it have been a story about depression?  Was that really so taboo in 1994?  Or was that yet another disease for which Earth had found a miracle cure by the 24th century?  Picard says he'd never had to inform a family about a suicide before.  That seems unrealistic.

Historically, active military personnel have a lower suicide rate than the general population.  That would still have been the case in 1994, though the rate wouldn't have been zero.  More recently, the gap has closed and not the way you would want it to.  The rate for the military has gone up.  Retired military are another matter.  Veterans are significantly more likely to commit suicide than non-veteran adults.  PTSD is the most likely culprit.  Maybe Earth will have the answer to that, too, in a few centuries.  But I'm getting away from my main point.

Far too often, suicide is used as a literary device while ignoring the most difficult questions.  It's the narrative copout for problems the author doesn't otherwise know how to solve.  Romeo and Juliet is the most obvious example but it happens all the time.  In this case, suicide launches the mystery and is then mostly forgotten in favor of the story they really wanted to tell.

Part of that story does have long-term significance.  In Troi's alternate, hallucinated reality, she and Worf become romantically and sexually involved.  As noted in previous posts, I am 100% in favor of this pairing.  Stay tuned.

Just in case you ever need it, for the suicide hotline in the US, dial 988.

Acting Notes

via Dubbing Wikia

Mark Rolston played Lt. Pierce, the murderer.  Rolston was born in Baltimore, December 7, 1956.

When someone is described as a "character actor" we generally think of comedy specialists, someone with considerable talent and also looks that fall short of leading man/lady expectations.  And they're funny.  Rolston isn't funny - well, he might be hilarious in real life but it's not his calling card professionally.  Instead, he mastered a chilling, icy stare that makes casting directors' dreams come true.  

100 years from now, Rolston will still be best remembered as the deeply evil Bogs Diamond in The Shawshank Redemption, also released in 1994.  Other films include Aliens, Rush Hour and The Departed.  He's also had creepy guest star roles in Babylon 5, The X-Files and Supernatural.  He's had a successful voice acting career as well, particularly in the DC Universe where he has voiced Firefly, Deathstroke and Lex Luthor.