The Next Generation 1x6 "Where No One Has Gone Before"

****

Before we go much further, let me just mention the title of this episode.  It's another call and response from the original series, but one that like the episode itself is perhaps the first sign since Q that The Next Generation is going to be a notable enterprise all its own.  It comes from the famous mission statement that Kirk and Picard speak over the credits of every episode, with that one crucial difference, "one" instead of "man," just as years later Enterprise would eliminate the split infinitive concerning the boldness of the adventures when essentially having Zefran Cochrane creating it.  As with the later example, it's Star Trek trying to grow up a little, just as in the casting of the older Patrick Stewart to be the captain of this new crew.  Of course, there will always be fans who suggest such quibbles aren't necessary to fix.

Anyway, so "Where No One Has Gone Before" is the best Wesley episode of the season (arguably the only good one).  It's the introduction of his cosmic destiny, something that wouldn't be visited again until the final season.  Had the series been launched later, it's very probable that subsequent creators would not have allowed such an important character development to be overlooked.  It's arguable that this is a lot of what the series should have been about, and that Deep Space Nine, especially with Sisko's relationship to the Prophets, that Star Trek itself later figured this out.

The Traveler, then, is a lot like Q, Next Generation introducing a giant concept that could very well have been like something out of the original series but instead transformed into an integral element of the mythology that shaped later franchise developments.  On the surface he's just the catalyst for crazy warp engine experiments (tagging along very much with one of those original series misguided-Starfleet-officers-of-the-week) that push Picard's ship into one of several far-out journeys into unknown territory (happens again in "Q Who?" and eventually becomes the premise of Voyager).  But when we find out that it's the Traveler making everything happen (unfortunately while being exploited, which is another nice aspect of the episode), and that he's marked the erstwhile annoying boy genius Wesley as another like him.

Q was the first to suggest that Next Generation was about taking Star Trek to the next level, figuring out how to not only explore strange new worlds but to, well, go where no one has gone before.  Later seasons, although technically superior in every way, lost this thread and later series never really got it back.  That's one reason why this episode still stands out.

franchise * series * essential * character

Notable guest-stars:
Eric Menyuk
Dennis Madalone



Memory Alpha summary.

The Next Generation 1x5 "The Last Outpost"

*

So this is the debut of the Ferengi.  The Ferengi were the worst screw-up of Next Generation's first season, but in a lot of ways, it's a screw-up that ultimately doesn't matter, much like the rest of the season.  Originally, the Ferengi were essentially to become the new Klingons.  As presented here they're complete jokes, of course.  And even when the series finally got them right, they're just not all that familiar to fans of Deep Space Nine.  It takes Voyager and Enterprise to reconcile the differences, if you must know.

Anyway, like much of the season, it's bafflingly bad (although Riker does get to notably bellow "Anybody?" off a cliff, which is where most of these episodes go).  Even the intriguing concept of the ancient civilization the Ferengi and Starfleet spar over is not even good as a pastiche of all the similar plots from the original series (and this season manages to do it better in "The Arsenal of Freedom").

So the story is forgettable and the Ferengi are laughable with their laser whips (with nary a Dolph Lundgren in sight).  Anything at all worth taking away from it?  Glad you asked!  Among the first actors to portray a Ferengi happens to be Armin Shimerman.  This is not even the only time he shows up in the season (see also: "Haven").  He's better known, of course, as Quark in Deep Space Nine, a far more respectable Ferengi (though anyone who knows him would beg to disagree, starting with his "pal" Odo).  That's a remarkable bit of fortuitous casting, and one of the big benefits of the franchise keeping tabs on its actors.

Anyway, as far as the Ferengi go, this is worth watching merely as their first appearance in the series.  All of it gets better.  Don't panic!

franchise * series * essential * character

Notable guest-stars:
Armin Shimerman

Memory Alpha summary.

The Next Generation 1x4 "Code of Honor"

This is one of those episodes that absolutely should be stricken from the record.  It's one of those episodes that's so bad it's embarrassing, and to many fans actually represents the whole of the first season of The Next Generation.  It's at the very least at the top of a steep learning curve that resulted in far better material later on.

If care to know what this travesty actually features, it's almost worth a look for the way it reflects back on other Star Trek material, an officer being thrust into a duel to the death on some alien world.  There are plenty of those.  This one does not need to be viewed to complete that collection.  Picard ends up visiting a world with such bad African stereotypes even Marvel Comics' Black Panther wouldn't want anything to do with it.

Long story short these guys become obsessed with Tasha Yar, who at this point is the character the series least knows how to handle.  As portrayed by Denise Crosby, she's the soft-spoken security officer whose rotten past makes a far more interesting character, but is asked to fill a role she's not suited to, basically the surrogate Kirk (even though Riker, or perhaps just increasingly so as the season continues, is also in that position, though he's also initially conceived as a surrogate Decker, as in The Motion Picture Decker, with Troi being his Ilia).

Anyway, it's an ill-fit for Yar, for the episode, for the season...Best left overlooked.  This is the first of several episodes to have that distinction from the season, unfortunately, and because of this, each subsequent new Star Trek series is assumed to require a certain amount of developing time, which is only really necessary in Deep Space Nine, as Voyager and Enterprise are both pretty confidently themselves from the start.  But because of material like this, some fans will just never be convinced.

franchise * series * essential * character

Memory Alpha summary.

The Next Generation 1x3 "The Naked Now"

**

As the first regular episode of Next Generation, it may have been somewhat questionable to pattern "The Naked Now" after one of the more memorable episodes of the original series ("The Naked Time").  Although it's also a pretty bold move.  Aside from the fact that like many episodes from the first season of the series it doesn't age terrifically well, it does do exactly what it's supposed to, and further distance the new from the old crew.  The new one is more apt to look at a problem from a strictly analytic approach, whereas the old one usually ran by its emotions (yes, even Spock, because most of the time he had to deal with the questionable logic of his two friends, especially Bones).

Like many episodes of Enterprise, "The Naked Now" plays off of a familiar story, so there's at least a link to familiar material if you want to look at it that way.  There isn't an image quite as memorable as Sulu fencing on the bridge (which remains Sulu's definitive image from the TV incarnation of his crew, which says a lot about how important Sulu actually was), though Yar basically stripping in front of Data certainly comes close.

Actually, let me correct that.  Wesley Crusher, the controversial boy genius who was probably the biggest victim of the first season's baby steps, has a pretty infamous subplot in that he basically takes control of engineering, which is made easier by the fact that La Forge had not yet become chief engineer and so Next Generation left one of the original crew's most famous posts wide open and subject to some pretty weird developments.  This episode is the worst example of how that definitely did not work out.

La Forge does, however, get to emphasize the key characteristic everyone knows about him, that he needs artificial help in order to see (the awesome-looking VISOR up until First Contact that was one of the show's most distinctive elements).  There's also Picard and Crusher brushing on their theoretical romance that never quite played out but remained a recurring theme for both of them until the last episode, plus a tease of the Riker/Troi relationship that did happen and ended in a marriage (eventually).

It's Yar, though, who leaves the lasting impression, and while it's not Fencing Sulu it does provide Data with one of his earliest bonding moments, one that is left unexplained when it's referenced again later in the season (if you don't know what I'm talking about, and you're new to Next Generation, let's just say explaining would require a spoiler alert).

While far from a recommended episode, "The Naked Now" is not as horrible as most of the first season is in the eyes of most fans.  It's actually something of a lost gem (though the shine needs considerable buffing).

franchise * series * essential * character

Memory Alpha summary.

The Next Generation 1x1/1x2 "Encounter at Farpoint"

****

In some ways, it's really hard to appreciate "Encounter at Farpoint."  As with the majority of the first season of Next Generation there's an aesthetic that was outdated even upon original airing, indicated by the dramatic shift in quality beginning with the third season (although even the second season was markedly better if less distinguished).  The main crux of the episode, the crisis at Farpoint as Picard struggles to learn what exactly is going on (not the only parallel with the series finale "All Good Things..."), is hardly worth watching for the most part, much less commenting on.  We do get introductions to each of the characters of the series, however, including Data's memorable whistling of "Pop! Goes the Weasel" (which is what Riker struggles to remember in Nemesis, by the way, even though he's the one who finishes the tune, though you may be forgiven if all you yourself remember is that the scene is also the introduction of the holodeck).

The real meat of the episode was actually included as an afterthought, once Paramount decided to make "Encounter" a two-hour affair.  That meat would be Q, as memorably portrayed by John de Lancie, who perhaps is the greatest bit of continuity through the rest of the series and several others besides.  If anyone but de Lancie had been cast, Q would very easily have become just another of Star Trek's meddling omnipotent beings, another link fans just getting into the first new Star Trek cast since Kirk would have scoffed at seeing again (this would be a problem in other first season episodes).

Also memorable but not as striking is DeForest Kelley's cameo appearance as an aged "Bones" McCoy, buried under so much bad prosthetic makeup (another episode from the season would feature bad prosthetic makeup, in case you were wondering, "Too Short a Season") that even his distinctive voice might be hard to catch.  He takes a short stroll with Data (making the android easily the other character, besides Q, to make a definite impression from "Farpoint"), touring the new Enterprise.  If you didn't know it was Kelley, you certainly wouldn't know it was supposed to be McCoy.  Kelley would leave better impressions in The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country, both released after this pilot, though this is his final TV appearance.

For those looking for niftier continuity casting, this is Colm Meaney's first appearance in the franchise, though his character (Miles O'Brien) doesn't receive a name.  It took a long time to establish a character for Meaney, but he eventually became a regular, in Deep Space Nine.

In other tech developments, the Enterprise performs a rare saucer separation, which may be another notable aspect of the episode worth watching.  It's the odd bits, not the entirety of it, that makes "Encounter" its own kind of new Star Trek classic, not just because it makes history in itself, but because there are definitely things worth remembering and savoring.

But mostly it's Q, not Jean-Luc Picard, who gets to see what's out there.

franchise * series * essential * character

Notable guest-stars:
DeForest Kelley
John de Lancie
Colm Meaney

Memory Alpha summary. 

A note on what to expect in the future.

Having now concluded detailed looks at six seasons from three different series, I will now be starting work on two seasons from The Next Generation, the first and then third, and following that a strictly chronological look at the remaining twenty-one seasons, starting with the original and including the animated series, and the seasons so far omitted from Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise.  I expect that this will at least take me through 2013, so this is to say there's plenty more where all this came from...

Enterprise 2x26 "The Expanse"

****

The second season ends with a bang, concluding the crew's efforts to figure out how they fit into the grander scheme by letting them know that they have a long way to go.  This is accomplished by kicking off the Xindi arc with a giant swash of Florida being eradicated, and also the last efforts by Duras to gain revenge on Archer, concluding another arc begun in "Judgment."

In a lot of ways, this is Enterprise being Deep Space Nine, having the series steeped in its own mythology.  Next Generation started this with "Redemption," which also featured Klingons, and certainly "The Best of Both Worlds," still the most famous but not first appearance of the Borg.  Contrary to how much of the preceding season had played out, there's a definite connection to other episodes (another irony of the perception of the season, given that even in the early episodes, there was a link between "Minefield" and "Dead Stop," and Trip references plenty of things we've seen in "Dawn").

Another notable feature of "The Expanse" is its inclusion of the Temporal Cold War arc, which even at this point seems to have been altered from its original conception.  Future Guy makes his last appearance of the series, undeniably aiding Archer, as previously suggested for his motives in "Cold Front" from the first season.  Rather than a black and white, Silik-is-the-bad-guy/Daniels-is-the-good-guy interpretation that some episodes might have argued (notably "Shockwave," which ambiguously ended the first season and began this one), we have reason to believe after "The Expanse" that it benefits plenty of factions for events to play out as they historically did, rather than be altered.

Which in itself suggests that the whole third season could be redefined as the definitive Temporal Cold War story, even though the familiar players from other stories in the arc are mostly absent (Daniels appears a few times).  But that's an argument for another time.

Even if you don't care about that arc, there's plenty to enjoy about the episode.  Trip loses his sister in the attack, which is the last push the season gives him for everything that would come, the material that would truly build his enduring legacy.  The Xindi crisis itself reflects the 9/11 attacks that had just occurred when the series began, marking the first time Star Trek used contemporary events to inspire an ongoing story (unless you count the other Cold War and the Klingons).

If you don't particularly want to watch this one for all the interseries continuity, it can still be enjoyed as a standout Star Trek adventure.

franchise * series * essential * character

Notable guest-stars:
John Fleck
Vaughn Armstrong
Gary Graham
Daniel Riordan
James Horan
Daniel Riordan

Memory Alpha summary.