Captain's Log,
A colony has a disaster, blah blah. For once the Premise and the Enterprise actually go together reasonably well organically, as I can imagine that state of the art flagships wandering the wilder reaches of the Federation will often be called on for emergency aid relief, just as modern warships... at least US Warships often do disaster relief in the oceans of today.
We see at least three Uniform Skirts in this opening, two in the hall, one on the bridge... no dudes for once.
Anyway LaForge says something about a 'Methane Like Gas'... Sigh.
Methane is a fairly ordinary chemical compound, we all know about it, yes. Not scifi enough for Star Trek? Why not? Its also pretty common and occurs naturally from any number of chemical reactions, not limited to decaying bodies, to burning more complex hydrocarbons and just floating in gas giant atmospheres. Why does it have to be 'methane like', rather than just being.... you know... methane?
I guess its a bit like referring to 'plastocrete' or 'pourstone' or any number of funny names for concrete. A bit of set dressing to make it all look so much more... sciency, at the expense of actual science.
But this episode isn't really about disaster relief at all. Its about Q, as the title clearly states, so Q once again makes a grand entrance. I rather prefer the later episodes, where he just appears. Anyway; Force field, floating orb with cobra heads... lots of flash to start with. Worf leaps over the mezzanine thing and almost falls on his face. I wonder how many takes that took?
Q, still in snake form, sets up the Plot by suggesting he is going to offer them their impossible dreams, and Picard is all duty first. Seriously, didn't he learn last time that Q don't give a shit what the Enterprise's mission is, ever? Then Q changes in John De Lancie in a gold braid encrusted Star Fleet Admiral's uniform, roll Title.
Is it my imagination or does Riker smirk or smile way too much in this season? He seems to find the entire act of being in Star Fleet to be a great game or something. Anyway, Q approaches him and says an incredibly awkward line "...Riker, whom I noticed before." This line had me reviewing Farpoint to see if they'd even shared a stage together at any time... which they did at the very end of the episode, but they hardly interacted at all.
Worf starts to approach like a stalking cat, which is slightly funny, but Picard stops him. I'm trying to think if anyone, other that Sisko, ever actually attempted to physically attack Q, or if it was always assumed he would just ignore it with his godlike power? Picard stops Worf from trying and Q makes an incredibly lame insult about Macrohead with a Microbrain... oh, the glorious era of late Eighties insults. He seems way too pleased with it, and Michael Dorn has to debase himself by showing his teeth and growling pointlessly.
Picard gets the plot train back on track by repeating Q's line about impossible dreams and drops into dummy negotiating mode. They banter back and forth, reminding everyone about the events in the pilot episode, wasting time. I like that Q mocks him for constantly repeating 'Seized my vessel'. To be honest, I've always thought that Picard and company handled Q poorly. He shows a pretty clear, puckish, behavior, tweaking them and so forth, yet they always go back to making demands on him, asserting their authority. Tweaking authority is sort of Q's big thing. Hell, if they'd taken to bowing and praying to him he probably would have flounced off in a huff and never come back!
My point isn't to speculate the best way to treat with puckish godlings, but to point out how slow on the uptake Picard actually is. I'm not entirely complaining, as this always gives Patrick Stewart an excuse to chew scenery as only he can.
De Lancie is bug eyed and manic in this opening for some reason, Q as high on uppers? Honestly, it's Q at his worst as a character, barely even interacting with the others but just... doing. Still, the plot train keeps moving, and he takes all the bridge crew except Picard. It takes our redoubtable ship's fool a good moment to realize that he can't offer a rejoinder, and that no one else is there. You can see him looking around for someone to give him advice...
Classic Star Trek scenery, dirt and rocks with a green sky, a dead and empty world. There is some crew banter, and Riker seems to be looking forward to it.
Cut to Picard on the bridge, realizing he is alone and isolated, trying to call security, anyone. He even pushes a button on the Conn, like he's never actually tried that before, but it just beeps at him. The automatic doors don't open...
Back to the planet.
Q reveals himself with a napoleonic uniform and a set dressed war tent and addresses Riker personally, discoursing on Hartley and games. This reveals something of Q, both his attitude towards interacting with people and how much he has studied earth. Given his mastery of time and space, it can't really reveal how long he's been at this study, of course... but it is interesting that he would take the time to learn human thinkers and philosophy just for these little games and tests. I don't buy for a moment that the 'Q continuum', or even Q himself, was ever honestly judging humanity, but I don't want to revisit Farpoint to make that case, so...
Riker's attitude is swingy as hell. In one scene he is smiling and amused, almost eager, in the next he has to be reluctantly persuaded to even talk to Q. Hell, in one scene he'll go from smiling to serious.
So, apparently Riker likes lemonade. And he convinces Q to provide refreshments to everyone else. Data looks at his drink in confusion and sets it aside, and Worf deliberately pours it out, which I think was awesome. Pointless, but awesome. No, not pointless. Worf poured it out specifically because he was making a point. Q is not his friend, his ally. For all their power differences, Q is the enemy, and that Matters.
Q makes some point about how only humans can't abide stagnation.
lolwut?
No species abides stagnation. We can presume other species may be more hidebound, more traditional minded, but frankly we can say that about different Human cultures. Stagnation is a biological death spiral, welcome only by a few opportunistic, and generally primitive, life forms that exploit it as long as they can before it too consumes them.
Q reveals that he gets his information... in this case the uniforms and historical information... via telepathy, specifically from Picard's mind. In short, every evil he has used to condemn humanity he only knows about because Picard knows about it, which explains why Picard always recognizes right away what Q is currently stealing. Interesting. It may also suggest that Picard has a very unhealthy fascination with the darker periods of history, possibly explaining his military career.
Q goes on to insult human (? he may mean just Riker) intelligence and strength, brags about how he is more enlightened than to play fair, and utterly fails to describe rules or stakes. Yar steps forward and shouts "you've gone to far!", which for her is practically restraint and Q gets visibly upset and bops her out of existence. It is slightly forced, I suppose.
Q then explains the Penalty box, which is that if anyone else is put in the penalty box by Q, Tasha Yar will simply cease to exist. He doesn't lay out any actual rules for this, making it an incredibly vicious and pointless threat.
Cut to Picard on the bridge. He attempts to make a captain's log entry but can't even do that. Yar appears behind him at her station. This is an incredibly good scene all around. Yar does her best to be stoic, as she clearly knows what Q told Riker about the penalty box, but the sword of damocles over her head is just wrecking her shit. We clearly see that Picard's relationship to her is very fatherly, probably more than with any other member of his crew as he gives her permission to cry in the Penalty box. Q appears in Picard's chair, and we finally see something human in Q. All three actors are masterful here in different ways. Crosby stretches herself with the turmoil of her character, her best acting on the show so far, Stewart manages to handle both the concern of Picard and his awkwardness with these personal dramas perfectly, and John De Lancie gives us a prideful, puckish God who suddenly realizes he has gone too far, but can't actually admit it. Without saying a word of apology, while still formalistically needling the humans, he slouches in the chair like a sullen child, pushing his marshal's crop around... selling the entire subtext without any help from the script. This is Q at his best, more human than he has ever been, more than he will be even when he is stripped of his powers. Q made a mistake, and he can't allow himself to admit it, but he knows.
That entire bit is only a couple of seconds, but even as the scene progresses, Q is more subdued that we've seen him all episode, only slowly recovering his élan as he engages his favorite target, Picard. Q lays out the Plot, hinting once more that he's going to grant Q powers (but I get ahead of the plot) to Riker if he wins, and Picard, silly, stupid Picard, misses the point and only sees that Riker is the designated opposition, and declaring that he is certain that Riker will defeat Q.
I conjecture that Riker, and the Q powers granted to him, aren't actually the game here at all. As always, it is pure amusement, needling Picard. Q, at last warming up, leaps at the opportunity to make a wager he'd never obey: Picard's command vs Q leaving humanity alone forever. If we take him as a mythological trickster god, which we should even as poorly rendered as he is, we already know that he wagers in bad faith. We've also seen, in just this very scene that Q regularly leaps on opportunities to ply his trade when he shouldn't. Just like he is forced to confront his own malicious cruelty, of having taken a joke too far, we know that Q would be upset if Picard actually resigned at the end of the Wager. Not necessarily because he cares about Picard's career, but because it would deprive him of a target.
On the planet, Worf is scouting the enemy camp alone. The enemy are some aliens in napoleonic uniforms.
On the ship, Picard walks into his ready room, Q is in his chair reading a big book of Shakespear. Picard asks Q to stop playing games and just be direct, and Q does the Shakespear quotes. Both Stewart and de Lancie have a lot of stage time, so this is a pretty meta moment, really, but fun for it. Curiously, Q accuses Picard of not knowing the contents of his library.
Did not Q just admit, in this very episode, that he pretty much riffs through Picards mind for stuff? While we can presume that Q's basic personality, his puckish need to prick authority, is his own, almost every single aspect of his character is molded purely in opposition to Picard. We might suggest that Q already knows how Picard will respond to every provocation... which in turn suggest that he is not testing Picard at all, which we already know, but in fact shaping him. This scene includes a moment of Picard proudly quoting a bit of Hamlet as aspirational rather than condemnatory.
This might just be the point, for Q. Picard clearly knows the line by heart, and likes it, views it something for Humanity to live up to. But has he ever actually put it so plainly on the table, even for himself? Has he ever given himself a reason to live up to that Idea? I'd guess not. Q is a god, an immortal being with vast powers over time and space, and very very few peers. He is bored, though I'm reaching far beyond the episodes we've seen so far for this, and his people are, in fact, Stagnant. He is more than capable of playing the long game, of seeing what challenges Picard will face, that Humanity will face, and setting up a piece upon the board to ensure an outcome he prefers. Needling Picard is a bonus for him, not the goal.
Q challenges Picard, nakedly, to live up to the idea, that humanity is godlike, and disappears once he's gotten what he wants, letting Picard think he's gotten to him.
I suppose one suggests a dichotomy here, the puckish Q who accidentally does things he regrets vs the godly Q who pretends to anger and outrage as he provokes Picard into living up to his very highest ideals. Both can be true, after a fashion, but they are hard to reconcile. Q makes the bet knowing the outcome, he punishes Yar cruelly to be the bad guy he needs to be, but hates himself for it?
On the planet they discuss the enemy muskets, dismissively. Just for fun, someone should have been shot by one. Seriously, muskets may be terribly primitive weapons compared to phasers, but within that hundred meters that Data gives them, they are still lethal weapons. A machine gun is better than a thrown rock, but a thrown rock will still kill you.
So, not trusting Q to give them an advantage... which I chalk up to their arrogance as well as utterly missing Q's game... Riker tests his phaser. Worf leaps out from cover ready to fight... or playing police man. There is some pointless praise and talking about 'a warrior' this and that, which reads terribly lame to me. Anyway, Worf describes the enemy as 'vicious animal things'... um... is Worf, or is he not, a member of a large and highly diverse organization dedicated to exploring the galaxy and meeting new and exciting aliens? He may not know what species the enemy is, but calling them 'vicious animal things' seems sort of... un-starfleet like?
On cue the enemy arrives, and everyone just sort of stands around watching. Data turns away and turns back as Q. The general ineptness of Starfleet as a military, especially on the ground, is shown clearly as the enemy begins shooting beams at the four...now three... crew. They dive around helplessly (and late!) to avoid being shot, as Q pulls Riker out of immediate danger long enough for him to remember he's holding his own weapon.
Since it is now a 'fair' fight, weapon wise, and an unfair fight in terms of numbers, Riker is desperate enough to bargain with Q to save his people. Now, either the writing is terribly sloppy (there is no real game being played out, no rules, no stakes...), or I am right about Q, and he's merely putting on a show to disguise his manipulations as he reveals to Riker that he's given Riker Q powers.
What?
No, seriously: The entire point of the whole planet side excursion was that Riker had to prove himself worthy of 'the greatest gift you could imagine'. Riker hasn't actually done anything to earn that gift, and in fact would be honestly viewed as being in the losing position of Q's deliberately unfair game. Yet, he has the gift already. In fact, it is probable that he had it since arriving on the world, and being put in danger is simply Q giving him a reason to try and use it. So, we either have unconscionably sloppy writing or...
Riker, of course, transports everyone back to the Enterprise. I would speculate that Q didn't actually give Riker any powers at all, and merely used his own powers the way Riker thought about using them, but the way the episode ends makes me think otherwise. But I get ahead of myself.
Back on the ship, presumably just as Q left it before (thus back in time a few moments), Yar is on the bridge alone as it seems to come back to life. Picard enters, orders her to the Conn, and they discover that the Enterprise had been frozen in time, so only they are aware that Q had done anything. Then the... away team... appears. Now: Q only took the five main cast members, but the bridge complement of a dozen or so was completely gone, where are they? When do they reappear?
LaForge repeat's Worf's uncharacteristic 'Animal Things' description, which given that Picard never saw the uniforms would be terribly misleading to him. LaForge offers to have Data explain, but Data seems to have figured out that Picard is something of a Franco-phile and admits it could be offensive to Picard.
They continue the fiction that Q took interest in Riker at Farpoint, retconning in scenes that never happened, and for no payoff.
Riker, still on the planet, sits and laughs to himself. Q appears in his Starfleet uniform and they talk. This is Q subdued rather than Manic. He does ask the obvious question, why Riker stayed, but Riker is more interested in what Q was after. We note that while Riker has the powers of a Q, he doesn't have their perceptions or knowledge... a fraction of their ability if you will. This lends some credence to the idea that Q only pretended to give Riker the power. Q's normal attitude surfaces briefly when Riker challenges him, but he goes back to his seductive sweet talk, laying out the case: Riker has to accept becoming a Q, rather than just using their powers.
To be honest, aside from not trusting the messenger, I have a hard time accepting ANY rationale for refusing it. I can think of a lot of bad reasons to accept, of course, but none to refuse that make sense.
Of course: Not trusting the messenger, the gift giver, is a damn good reason, as Troy could tell you. (not Troi...who is missing this episode).
I like Q when he's dealing with a near equal, a peer... someone he can't just baffle with magic. Technically Riker is still just a human, its true... but Q treats him like he's already a Q, and that means a peer. He drops the showmanship, the needling, the false mania.
There is more to it than simple enlightenment, simple self aggrandizement too. Riker's joining the Q would give the Continuum, an organization of unknown size and influence but astounding power, a reason to act more favorably, less hostilely towards Humanity and the Federation. If Riker was simply about Duty, he'd still be bound to accept just for the chance to influence the Continuum for the better.
So is Q's offer genuine?
Actually, I think in a way it is. He has to know Riker won't accept it. He as much admits that the Q can see humanities future, and he's already proven his prescience at Farpoint. As the only face of the Q, he has to know his obnoxious behavior will be a strong influence on Riker's decision. But we also know that the Continuum is stagnant. It is dying, eternally dying, but dying just the same. Sure, as of this episode we can't know that (though Q's constant talk of humanity's growth and change is good foreshadowing). Q probably does want, on some level, for Riker to take his offer, to inject a little new blood into the Q culture. His long game probably accounts for either probability, but his hurt at being rejected here is probably real, as evidenced by his resumption of mania and the game (contrast the false hurt of outrage when Picard quotes Hamlet at him...).
So the entire main cast, minus Doc and Troi, but including Space Jesus, appear on the planet for the resumption of hostilities. Space Jesus skips protocol to just straight up ask what's going on from Riker, but Yar interrupts with the much more important fact that no one has a phaser.
Worf never lets that stop him, so he charges the aliens. Everyone else just stands there looking stupid. Worf gives a good accounting for himself with bad TV fighting, knocking out two of them before missing a disarm on the third and being knocked down and bayonetted for his trouble. Naturally this leads Space Jesus to run up to Worf's body and get stabbed in the back, which may earn some laughs of dark pleasure, but isn't actually satisfying.
So Riker throws up a Q force field. I note that he uses huge arm swings to use Q power, just saying. Picard is accusatory here at being saved from a bayonetting, and Riker naturally has no time for his dumb ass, and just warps everyone off planet, undoing their bloody demise along the way.
So, we could hope that dying in bloody agony would be a good life lesson for Space Jesus, but in vain. Riker looks unaccountably smug on the bridge with everyone else as the violins of drama play.
Captain's Log.
So, people are dying horribly of methane-like explosions, but Riker's Q power means Riker is the one in trouble? Sigh.
Still, once the voice over is done, and Riker enters the Ready room, Picard's first words are reasonably sensible, from his point of view.
How the hell do I advise you?
Given that Picard is stupid, and that he views Q, and everything Q touches with more than a whiff of suspicion, its a reasonable question, an honest admission that he's out of his league. The fundamental problem he has to overcome first is that Q's power is a thing without moral value, good or ill. Using it, having it, doesn't make Riker good or bad, and having similar powers as Q doesn't make Riker an irritating trickster god like Q... any more than powering a space laser with the Tesseract makes the space laser 'powered by pure evil' just because Red Skull used the Tesseract to make guns... but that's Agents of Shield and we're talking Star Trek.
So long as you buy Picards point of view, which Riker clearly does, the conversation between the two of them is good. Its fundamentally a superstitious, primitive point of view... equating Q with Satan, and the powers of Q as a devil's bargain. A smarter, deeper conversation might have given a bit more weight to the thought of Riker's accepting the gift, but I can't expect everything.
With that its time to transport to the disaster area. Five hundred colonists, and we see maybe a dozen wounded survivors... Data uncovers a dead little girl.
My thought when rewatching this the very first time was that Picard was a fool to send Riker into temptation like this. That thought still stands, but it is flavored a bit differently. At Farpoint, and at the beginning of the episode, one of the charges against Q was how he was interfering with their humanitarian missions. Now that Riker has that power not only is he naturally tempted to use it to save the colonists, but how do you explain why he doesn't? Using the Q power to save that little girl is wrong, why?
Its not just keeping Riker from temptation, but the reasoning behind preventing him from using the power he has to do actual good, the sort of good they are there to do, only better, faster and more completely. How do you explain holding back?
Data is the one to drive that temptation home, which is a poor choice. I mean as a function of logic he can arrive at the conclusion that Riker can do something at least as fast as any human, though lacking the emotional impetus to try... but he is the one member of the crew that would accept the premise that Picard had asked Riker not to use his powers, and that Riker had agreed, with out feeling guilty or outraged. Unless Data couples that request with a powerful argument from rational ethics... which I accept he could do... he has the least motivation to ask aside from Doc, who may not know. Laforge, however, clearly knows and doesn't.
The sad thing here is the missed opportunity, to weigh the value of a promise versus a single human life. To weigh temptation vs reward... every problem is presented in binary, with the good and bad already decided and resolved, and no debate about the merits. For a show that prided itself on discussing and exploring difficult topics its a curious lack. No one calls Riker on the bullshit of standing by his promise over a little girl's life, though they should even if they are proven wrong.
The only thing they seem to get right in this episode is that Temptation should actually be tempting, that the Right Call shouldn't be easy. In real life it sometimes is, but in drama... never.
On the ship... Riker slow walks onto the bridge and stares down Picard. He makes a bullshit statement about never having made that promise.. bullshit, because if he meant it he would have broken it. If he took his word that seriously, then he should have thought the promise through. Riker and Picard face off, and between them they actually build some tension. Riker is clearly done with this, and Picard is standing by his usual hierarchy. Riker calls a bridge staff meeting for when the crisis is done and walks off.
Next scene Riker returns to the bridge. Heh. I missed that before: Yar walks by just as he enters and freezes momentarily. Its a little, subtle touch, but its good. Riker and Picard do a little rank posturing.
When Riker calls Picard "Jean-Luc" its a smart play, showing how he's elevating himself above the rank and file. Picard pauses, then sits calmly. Doc and Space Jesus arrive on the bridge. For some reason this disturbs Riker, and Space Jesus opens his stupid smarmy mouth.
Another subtle touch I missed, possibly accidental. Riker permits Space Jesus to stay, and as they walk forward from the turbo lift, Doc gives a slight head tilt, almost as if to say "look at the huevos on this guy".
Anyway: Everyone sits at tentatively as Riker addresses them, calling attention to the fact he is effectively a God, but he's still the Riker they know. Its a curious enough opening. He notes that this hasn't relieved anyone, and Picard pops in with the whole power corrupting bit. Its a fair point, but its being made a bit late for my tastes.
Riker finishes the thought with a grin... this guy and his grins... and challenges 'Jean-Luc' to judge his character. Picard points out that they are now on a first name basis. I might prefer this to be unstated, one of those subtle touches, but its done well for all that. When Picard deliberately drops the Number One schtick to address Riker as Will its better.
Riker asks the same question I've been asking: What was wrong with using his power to save the little girl?
Picard doesn't answer that, preferring the soft target of pointing out the 'invented' danger Q put them in.
The conversation gets stupider. Yar points out that the Q treats humans like animals, to be used for their amusement... which is a fair enough assessment from her point of view, if irrelevant to Riker. I mean: Is she saying that Riker will have to think like that too?
Essentially Yar brings in the "Hitler was a Vegetarian, so Vegetarians are evil" argument right there. Yes, Vegetarians are evil, but not because Hitler.
Riker, naturally enough, responds instead that Q told him that they think highly of humanity. Because that's what a normal person would say... Its almost, but not quite, a conversation of non sequitors. I can't blame Picard for accusing Riker of having his mind muddled, but I can blame Riker for responding that they don't get him, like he's a rebellious teenager.
Q, of course, responds by showing up as a franciscan monk.
Picard asks the first smart question of Q ever: Have you no identity of your own?
Of course, across three series we know the answer is... sort of. The Q we see is a construction taken from Picard's mind (Revealed this episode), but Q does have a personality that is consistent among the Q as well as humans. That he sticks with this Q for Sisko and Janeway reveals that he is comfortable enough with it not to change it, preferring a less perfect model for his interactions with them than losing the identity he's invested into this human form.
One thing I'm making note of is that every time Q gets shouty and outraged with Picard he's gaming. Sometimes its obvious, such as forgiving Picard's blasphemy in this scene, other times its less so, such as when Picard challenges him with Hamlet. My working Theory is that Q's obvious outrage is ALWAYS a put on, such as when he was dealing with Riker on the surface. When he was truly upset he smiled and blinked out.
Hm.
Looking ahead: Giving magic gifts to the crew members is what convinces Riker that Picard is right. Really, we could say that it's Rikers spectacular lack of imagination in the gift giving, but whatever.
But it is Q that comes up with the idea. Riker is already in Q's pocket, as his argument with the crew clearly showed, so every single thing Q does in this scene produces the exact opposite result... that of Riker refusing. Its not Picard, its not the alienation from the others, it is straight up Q showing up and suggesting that Riker show off by using his power frivolously. Note too, Riker has never used the Q power except on Q's test planet, and here, now, when Q was standing right there. Evidence that Riker never had it to begin with?
Picard is smugly confident here. As Riker will say later, Picard knew that this would convince Riker to refuse.... and Q tapped Picard's mind to build his image of the Napoleonic Era in his own words... implying, as I said, that Q is literally channelling, mirroring Picards nemesis consciously. So Q has to know what Picard knows of Riker... so Q wants Riker to fail, and in this specific way.
As Riker offers to guess their dreams, Doc goes to pull Space Jesus away with motherly concern. Its a nice touch, but I'm having a hard time buying everyone's sudden fear of Riker's power. Q aggravates them, but they don't actually fear him like this. The problem, I think, is that they needed less time fighting napoleonic aliens and more time on the ship with Riker's powers.
Riker, of course, decides to do Space Jesus first, before he can get away, and he turns Space Jesus into a full grown man. In light of the pudgy manbearpig Wheaton turned into, the nordic muscleman with Space Jesus's voice is doubly amusing.
Next up is Data, who quickly cuts him off. Its sort of curious, and as an FX, if anything it is cheaper and easier than replacing Space Jesus with a new actor, its just removing makeup... but maybe they were afraid that if they made Data human it would forever shatter the delicate illusion that white greasepaint and yellow contacts created? Anyway, we don't get to see Brett Spiner as a human Data.
Data's reasoning is... suspect. Being made 'human' would be an illusion? I get the 'to thine own self be true', that's some strong mojo there, but calling the transformation illusory, I don't get. Of course, a reasonable compromise of giving Data emotions, or a better grasp of human behavior...none of that is considered.
Then the episode takes yet another turn into malicious evil. Riker removes LaForge's VISOR, giving him real eyes. So far, so good. LaForge has always talked about wanting to see for real, and how the VISOR gives him headaches. This isn't even debatable. LaForge tosses out the compliment to Yar that neatly reprises their conversation in Naked Now, a very nice touch if somewhat unprofessional.
But... for all that LaForge turns him down, stating the price is too high. So here we have an objectively good outcome for the character, but presumably his dedication to duty and his Captain means that LaForge has to sacrifice his eyes to teach Riker?
Fuck you, writers. First the little girl and now this? You are just bad people with a head full of bad wiring, that you make THIS the good outcome.
LaForge does neatly tie this back to Worf's early 'commentary' of pouring out the drink, as LaForge says he wouldn't have to thank Q, so its not that the writers are entirely hacks. They clearly have a grasp on their craft, so this is entirely a product of how they actually think about morality and ethics. Better to let little girls die and blind men stay blind than accept the gift of godlike power just because the messenger is a little douchey. Got it.
So, preference Cascade. Data refuses with sound reasoning of a sort, LaForge actually rejects the gift he actually does want, after opening it, so Space Jesus can now refuse the gift he ought to have refused... since aging ten years isn't really that great of a gift even for an impatient young man.
And so Riker refuses the gift from Q. But god damn the nasty buggers writing it for making LaForge have to beg Riker for his blindness back, just driving home that this is an honest to god sacrifice for the character. Sure, I bet the actors loved it... actors love things that let them act more... but we don't care about THEM.
But I got ahead of myself with Space Jesus there. First Riker makes the last ditch effort, giving Worf a hot chick. Ok, a klingon chick. Silly Riker, Worf has been playing the Robot and Data has been playing the alien. If you'd offered to make Worf a real boy, and given Data the hot chick* you might have gotten somewhere.
Anyway: Worf straight up backhands a bitch! Shit, I forgot how insane this show would look from a 'modern' feminist point of view. Good thing everyone involved were progs in good standing, then, and this show was personally blessed off by the Cathedral from its inception! Thats why you never hear a word of complaint about klingon misogyny or how Racist the third episode was**
LaForge gives us the character growth exposition by asking if this is what Worf considers sex and Worf says that it is, but that he has no place for it in his life now... interesting, as it implies that Worf considers himself some sort of warrior monk, but we already know this bit will be forgotten when they find him a klingon girlfriend in later seasons. Worf gets some heavy retconning as this season progresses: At this point Worf is still a straight up Klingon from the Klingon people, whereas in the very near future we find out he was adopted as an orphan and raised on Earth. Now he's a celibate Monk, later he'll be a mack daddy. Really, this sort of thing should be done before the show started... oh well...
NOW Space Jesus asks to be turned back. Its a bit more like Data's refusal than LaForges, but much less forced (since losing ten years of your life is a bit... awkward)...
And just like at the end of Farpoint, you can almost tell how you should go by doing the exact opposite of what Q suggests. He's so very blatant about it that it couldn't possibly be serious.
Riker turns to Picard and asks 'how did you know, I feel like an idiot'... which is lazy writing in my opinion. I do like that Picard agrees that he should feel like an Idiot, ignoring that Riker still has Q powers.
So Picard confronts Q, demanding Q pay off the wager and Q naturally refuses to admit to wagering. Picard makes entirely unearned statements about how the Q Continuum will react while thunder rumbles ominously and Q screams and is transported out...
Now, I straight up want to say that this was pure theater on Q's part. Picard has literally no idea how the Continuum works or if anyone is even watching Q do his thing. Q is playing to his beliefs, right?
The fly in that ointment is that when we next see Q he was stripped of his powers by the Continuum, though they don't specifically say for this.
But our choice is this: Either Q is so nakedly bad at manipulating people that a five year old could see through it, or that Q is getting exactly the outcome he expects, even wants. Any genuine disappointment would stem from his inability to have his cake and eat it too, of having to make hard choices (Riker joining the Q vs successfully manipulating the Humans towards his unknown ends, presuming that success in the first one weakens the second to an unacceptable degree).
Hmm.
I'm thinking that discussing Q might be a post for itself. Well, maybe after a few more Q episodes, as I find my thoughts evolving as I pay closer attention to the show than simple watching.
At the end, aside from generally poor pacing, the greatest weakness of this episode is the utter lack of philosophical depth appropriate for the material. The blind assumption of right answers spoon fed to the audience is troubling. For a show that prides itself on making people think it spectacularly does the opposite here.
But beyond that, barring the opening and closing scenes, Q is magnificent in this episode. Not just De Lancie, but the character and his interactions with the crew. Setting up the game isn't the strongest, but its a step above most of Farpoint, and his two main scenes, one with Picard, or Picard+Yar (I count this as one scene), and the later one with Riker alone on the planet are both simple in form and rich with subtext and interplay. We see Q more as a character in this episode, stripped of his costumes even as he wears them.
In Farpoint I made the claim that the character of Q, as portrayed by De Lancie, singlehandedly saved TNG from oblivion. In this episode, Q saved himself.
I didn't realize it, until I did a little research as part of these reviews, that De Lancie was actually a bigger property at the time than Star Trek. I presume most of that was Stage work, as he hardly made a blip on the movie and television scene that I recall. They had to make accommodations around his schedule to bring him aboard as Q, and as much as we might like to see more of Q in the show, too much Q would likely have done to Star Trek what Urkel did to...whatever that show was called... the Urkel show, you know the one.
In the end I don't care how they resolve the debate about Q powers, just that they have it. They didn't and that is what troubled me. I understand that permanently changing the characters is a fraught issue with writing Television, especially as TNG still wanted to be purely episodic, perhaps unrealistically episodic, in this season. Riker going Q would remove him from the show. Making LaForge... Not Blind, or Data Human would remove both character's primary defining trait, which reveals a weakness in trying to create characters around that sort of trait. So, despite the big budget and mainstream popularity... even arguably better overall writing, in this department TNG actually is weaker than shows like Farscape, which handled its characters with far more honesty, and permitted them real, even drastic, changes as the show went on. Never mind Babylon Five, which made entire plot arcs out of permanently changing characters (such a Delenn gaining hair...).
Also: No Troi. None. Given that this is a Riker-centric episode this is actually unforgivable. I know that the actress may have been unavailable but... Troi and Riker were linked clearly in Farpoint, they have an established, long running relationship (inzadi, and all that) and things that affect one character (such as Troi's upcoming marriage) explicitly affect the other. Not having Troi here to react to Riker's situation is just bad planning. Given that Sirtis, like Crosby, was already feeling neglected by the show at this point (a problem endemic to large ensemble casts... though I find it curious you didn't hear about similar complaints from Burton or Dorn... similarly neglected), filming an episode like this without her seems to be compounding the problem.
And really? Neglected? Troi shows up in any number of scenes where she has no business, giving bitch face and empty advice everywhere she goes, and Yar practically owned half of Naked Now, with tight emotionally intimate scenes with Burton and Spiner and Sirtis, and big showy scenes like her hallway swagger. Then you've got this episode, where she gets the big Penalty Box moment, which I think is a great deal for missing out on half of the stupid planet side portion. Top that with Code of Honor, which was pretty much a straight up Yar episode from start to finish... What exactly was she complaining about? Eh. I liked her better as a romulan anyway.
*you know, like Tasha Yar, maybe?
**not very in either case, but that's never stopped the legion of the perpetually outraged from raising a fuss before.
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