rating: ****
the story: Q uses Vash and the tale of Robin Hood to teach Picard a lesson.
similar to: "A Piece of the Action" (original series), "Our Man Bashir" (Deep Space Nine), "Bride of Chaotica!" (Voyager)
my thoughts: "Captain's Holiday" guest character Vash makes the second of three appearances (the third occurs in Deep Space Nine's "Q-Less"), entangling herself in the affairs of Q in the process. She thusly becomes a sort of next generation Harry Mudd, a character fans hopefully identify with the series even if her overall impact is less than other familiar faces end up being.
Airing the same year as Kevin Costner's blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, "Qpid" could very easily have come off as a bad gimmick, but the contributions of Vash and Q, as well as how the proceedings help distinguish the dynamics of the crew (notably, Worf's immortal line, "Captain, I must protest, I am not a merry man!") elevates it to a classic very easily.
Picard's near-romance with Vash is exceptional enough, and this return engagement of its very possibility helps flesh out Picard, how he interacts with the crew (Crusher is always at her best playing off of him). The only person who seems more hapless at finding love than Geordi is Picard, and this is a fun way of exploring that status.
Even better? His increasing chemistry with Q. The more flippant Q becomes, the more regular his appearances, the better he is, and this is one of his best. The more exasperated Picard becomes, the more he has to break from his most comfortable bearings. It's not even Q, but the whole Robin Hood scenario that further reveals how even in action mode he differs from Kirk. The frequent allusions to how in his youth Picard was considerably more carefree make it all the more rewarding when we see glimpses of what exactly that might have looked like, or what it looks like now, given an opportunity to stretch a little. When he climbs into Vash's chambers, for instance, he's not looking to storm the premises, but make it as quick and painless as possible (never mind what Vash does to him in return!), so that even carefree doesn't mean careless for him. (Which is not to say Kirk was careless, but certainly, reckless.)
And to fit in his archeology hobby, too seldom in the spotlight, and how he fits in to the greater galactic community outside of his role in Starfleet, and his feelings on that...This episode is just firing on all cylinders. It's the season, and the series, once again completely owning its own potential.
criteria analysis: franchise - series - character -essential (all criteria met)
notable guest-stars:
John de Lancie (Q)
Jennifer Hetrick (Vash)
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Showing posts with label Jennifer Hetrick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jennifer Hetrick. Show all posts
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Monday, January 6, 2014
Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x19 "Captain's Holiday"
****
Akin to the original series effort "Shore Leave" in its claim to being a classic, "Captain's Holiday" is an excellent deviation from your standard Captain Picard episode.
On the basis of the debut for Vash, this one would be a milestone. Vash is basically the Next Generation equivalent of Harry Mudd, a character who made several appearances despite not necessarily adding to the overall legacy of the original series. She returns in "Qpid" and the Deep Space Nine episode "Q-Less," which interestingly leaves the same distinction for the character with Q.
Here and in "Qpid" she's an unlikely romantic foil for Picard, a classic example of opposites attracting. Perhaps a younger Picard would have had much more interest in pursuing her, but the older model only finds her interesting on a sexual level (when he warms to the idea, because at first it's a vacation destination impishly suggested by Riker but not otherwise explained), and the fact that they share archaeology as a passion. Their artifact hunting here just so happens to also feature the classic Star Trek staple of timeline shenanigans, a weapon from the future hidden in the past.
And yes, Vash technically counts as a pop cultural predecessor to Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.
Anyway, the episode is a lot of fun. It introduces Risa, the quintessential Star Trek pleasure planet, handily replacing the one featured in "Shore Leave." Risa is a major feature of two later episodes, "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." from DS9 and "Two Days and Two Nights" from Enterprise. In terms of an impact on the franchise, that has got to count for something.
Aside from all that, it is a sign that looking for different ways to present Picard can frequently lead to some of the show's best material, another reason why the third season is so crucial to the series, because it's the point where the best initial efforts in this regard are made. The same thing happened in DS9's third season with Sisko, by the way, arguably Enterprise with Archer as well.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Jennifer Hetrick
Max Grodenchik
Memory Alpha summary
Akin to the original series effort "Shore Leave" in its claim to being a classic, "Captain's Holiday" is an excellent deviation from your standard Captain Picard episode.
On the basis of the debut for Vash, this one would be a milestone. Vash is basically the Next Generation equivalent of Harry Mudd, a character who made several appearances despite not necessarily adding to the overall legacy of the original series. She returns in "Qpid" and the Deep Space Nine episode "Q-Less," which interestingly leaves the same distinction for the character with Q.
Here and in "Qpid" she's an unlikely romantic foil for Picard, a classic example of opposites attracting. Perhaps a younger Picard would have had much more interest in pursuing her, but the older model only finds her interesting on a sexual level (when he warms to the idea, because at first it's a vacation destination impishly suggested by Riker but not otherwise explained), and the fact that they share archaeology as a passion. Their artifact hunting here just so happens to also feature the classic Star Trek staple of timeline shenanigans, a weapon from the future hidden in the past.
And yes, Vash technically counts as a pop cultural predecessor to Lara Croft, Tomb Raider.
Anyway, the episode is a lot of fun. It introduces Risa, the quintessential Star Trek pleasure planet, handily replacing the one featured in "Shore Leave." Risa is a major feature of two later episodes, "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." from DS9 and "Two Days and Two Nights" from Enterprise. In terms of an impact on the franchise, that has got to count for something.
Aside from all that, it is a sign that looking for different ways to present Picard can frequently lead to some of the show's best material, another reason why the third season is so crucial to the series, because it's the point where the best initial efforts in this regard are made. The same thing happened in DS9's third season with Sisko, by the way, arguably Enterprise with Archer as well.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Jennifer Hetrick
Max Grodenchik
Memory Alpha summary
Friday, July 13, 2012
Deep Space Nine 1x7 "Q-Less"
****
Arguably the most effective Deep Space Nine episode created to try and make it attractive to fans of Next Generation, the title already says most of the reason why, because it features Q.
The funny thing is, Q almost doesn't even notice that he's on the space station, because he's too busy obsessing over the other crossover character, Vash (I would argue this as being her best appearance in the franchise, possibly because that romance with Picard never really made sense and clearly was going nowhere fast), and mostly reacting to the actual main characters of the series as distractions.
His best encounter is with Sisko, though, and "Q-Less" as a result has the essential Sisko moment of the season, outside of the pilot, in which Q foolishly engages in fisticuffs with the commander, and gets to utter the line, "You hit me! Picard never hit me!" While Patrick Stewart successfully converted Picard into an action star later in Next Generation and in four movies, Sisko was already more physical in his first appearance than his predecessor ever was, willing to get down and dirty (even when reluctant about it, and rarely needing Klingons to provoke him). It wasn't even in a strictly physical sense, since few Star Trek characters (aside from Kirk, and everyone in 2009's Star Trek) are very mobile, but more in the menace in Sisko's eyes, knowing that his was a kind that was always working, not just out of necessity, but because he was always refraining from hitting someone (making his mirror universe counterpart more appropriate than most fans probably realize). Yes, he hit Q!
A lot of fans complain that "These Are the Voyages...," the final episode of Enterprise was hijacked by Next Generation. The same can be said for "Q-Less," except both episodes say far more about the series they're actually in than the guest characters who supposedly steal the show. This is about as far from a typical Q episode as you can get. As I said, he spends most of it obsessed with another guest character, which is far from unprecedented, but without going out of his way to cause mischief. Like "All Good Things...," rather, he's not the cause of the mischief, he's actually trying to prevent it. It's a grounded Q, even more than the time he became human, and it's very Deep Space Nine. Most fans dismiss this appearance, probably for the very reasons I've just explained. I argue that they make "Q-Less" essential.
As an episode of this particular series, it's one that helps put things back in perspective, perhaps for the first time since the pilot, pulling away without losing focus, but rather gaining more than it seems.
It's one that definitely deserves another look.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
John de Lancie
Jennifer Hetrick
Memory Alpha summary.
Arguably the most effective Deep Space Nine episode created to try and make it attractive to fans of Next Generation, the title already says most of the reason why, because it features Q.
The funny thing is, Q almost doesn't even notice that he's on the space station, because he's too busy obsessing over the other crossover character, Vash (I would argue this as being her best appearance in the franchise, possibly because that romance with Picard never really made sense and clearly was going nowhere fast), and mostly reacting to the actual main characters of the series as distractions.
His best encounter is with Sisko, though, and "Q-Less" as a result has the essential Sisko moment of the season, outside of the pilot, in which Q foolishly engages in fisticuffs with the commander, and gets to utter the line, "You hit me! Picard never hit me!" While Patrick Stewart successfully converted Picard into an action star later in Next Generation and in four movies, Sisko was already more physical in his first appearance than his predecessor ever was, willing to get down and dirty (even when reluctant about it, and rarely needing Klingons to provoke him). It wasn't even in a strictly physical sense, since few Star Trek characters (aside from Kirk, and everyone in 2009's Star Trek) are very mobile, but more in the menace in Sisko's eyes, knowing that his was a kind that was always working, not just out of necessity, but because he was always refraining from hitting someone (making his mirror universe counterpart more appropriate than most fans probably realize). Yes, he hit Q!
A lot of fans complain that "These Are the Voyages...," the final episode of Enterprise was hijacked by Next Generation. The same can be said for "Q-Less," except both episodes say far more about the series they're actually in than the guest characters who supposedly steal the show. This is about as far from a typical Q episode as you can get. As I said, he spends most of it obsessed with another guest character, which is far from unprecedented, but without going out of his way to cause mischief. Like "All Good Things...," rather, he's not the cause of the mischief, he's actually trying to prevent it. It's a grounded Q, even more than the time he became human, and it's very Deep Space Nine. Most fans dismiss this appearance, probably for the very reasons I've just explained. I argue that they make "Q-Less" essential.
As an episode of this particular series, it's one that helps put things back in perspective, perhaps for the first time since the pilot, pulling away without losing focus, but rather gaining more than it seems.
It's one that definitely deserves another look.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
John de Lancie
Jennifer Hetrick
Memory Alpha summary.
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