The Next Generation 5x6 "The Game"

rating: **

the story: Wesley returns on break from Starfleet Academy to discover something's wrong with the crew.

similar to: "Genesis" (Next Generation)

my thoughts: It's fascinating that Wesley's very first episode back since his departure as a regular in the previous season, is quite possibly the perfect example of everything the series needed to correct about the character and needed to redeem in the first place.  Wes was the typical boy wonder, the kid genius who quickly became annoying to a considerable proportion of fans.  "The Game" is literally about a crisis only he can overcome.

Yet it works, and is arguably one of his best episodes, if not his most memorable episode, not just because Ashley Judd was particularly adorable as his love interest, but because the whole setup is cleverly thought out, so that you don't even need to think of it as an analogy for the rising evils of video games in 1991 America.

By quickly eliminating the need to focus on, well, anyone else but Wes and Judd's Robin Lefler, the viewer is allowed to focus both on how cute they are together, and the mounting dread of the inexplicable conspiracy (better than the actual episode "Conspiracy," arguably) that has sucked everyone else into it.

...But yes, you have to ignore the convenience of everyone, even Picard, falling for the gaming scam.  If you can ignore that, you will enjoy "The Game" a great deal! 

So that leaves Data, and the further convenience of someone being cognizant enough to take him out in order for everything to work.  Really, it's to the level of everyone but Kirk succumbing to Sybok's charms in The Final Frontier.  You don't have to be bothered by such niggling details, but they exist, and how much they bother you will probably color what you think of the rest of it, much like fans don't care how much Kirk bonds with Spock and McCoy around campfires.

But rest assured, it really is possible.

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential

notable guest-stars:
Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher)
Ashley Judd
Colm Meaney (O'Brien)
Patti Yasutake (Ogawa)

The Next Generation 5x2 "Darmok"

rating: ****

the story: Picard must learn to communicate with an alien who seems to speak in gibberish.

similar to: "Arena" (original series), "The Enemy" (Next Generation) "A Night in Sickbay," "Dawn" (Enterprise)

my thoughts: Being marooned on a planet with someone who appears to be an enemy and being forced to help each other survive...Yeah, that's a Star Trek as well as sci-fi in general (Enemy Mine)trope, from the debut of the Gorn in "Arena" to Geordi bunking down with a Romulan in "The Enemy."  Yet it's "Darmok" that's the undisputable classic.

It's not so hard to see why.  Unlike the divisive "Night in Sickbay" from Enterprise (though another classic), "Darmok" is actually the story of Starfleet finally making a breakthrough with an alien culture that previously proved too difficult to penetrate, and as such serves as another feather in the cap of Picard and his crew, surely the most intellectual from throughout the whole franchise.  This is arguably the best example of that, as the strange language of the Tamarians is deciphered, simultaneously, both in researching their culture through databases and by the experiences Picard has with his counterpart.

It's the rare opportunity to see a situation explained to have no ill-will, no matter how the circumstances look, and while it would certainly have looked better for all involved if there had been no trickery involved, for the Tamarians this was a last-ditch effort, a desperation play, and it's only Picard with his infinite patience and powers of comprehension who can make the breakthrough.

It's a textbook Next Generation episode, perhaps the one to show anyone skeptical about it, whether original series partisans or those who have never watched Star Trek at all.  You don't need to know anything about the series itself to enjoy it, and as such is also an excellent argument for the episodic nature the franchise was once allowed to embrace, because this really is about as good as it gets.

It's also worth singling out Paul Winfield's performance as the alien captain.  Previously featured in Wrath of Khan, Winfield boldly appeared completely unrecognizable, speaking lines that hardly flatter an actor's natural instincts.  And is a large part of why the episode works so well.

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential (all criteria met)

notable guest-stars:
Paul Winfield
Ashley Judd (Robin Lefler)
Colm Meaney (O'Brien)