TNG 1:1, Encounter at Farpoint
In leiu of actual content on my blog, I think I’m going to start a review section. I’ve been toying around with the idea for awhile now of working my way through my The Next Generation dvds and doing a writeup of each episode as I go along. Having watched the first episode tonight, I think I’ll take a crack at it.
Having the advantage of hindsight, I don’t think TNG series was as good as I thought it was the first time around in the 90s, but still there were some darn good episodes. Perhaps the main reason I don’t think that the series has stood up to the test of time is that storytelling on television has evolved; bigger better things have been done since then. TNG was mostly all standalone episodes that only related to each other loosely. Since then, the X-Files, Millennium, and Angel have really pushed the envelope on what’s possible in a television series. I don’t know as much about the X-Files or Millennium, but Angel in particular I think is excellent because of the evolving storyline. TNG had a few story arcs that they would return to every so often, but in general one episode didn’t impact greatly on the next; the characters become comfortable and predictable, and don’t change a whole lot over the course of the series. In my opinion, ‘comfortable’ is actually a good word to describe TNG in general.
Despite any limitations, the great strength of Star Trek — and it’s great irony — is that it is about humanity, and TNG shined brightest when it focused on this theme. The stellar acting of both Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner anchored the cast, most especially in the shows about humanity. The special effects were good and improved as the series progressed. Eventually the show hit its stride around the third season or so, and from then on out things were pretty good for the most part. Prior to that, it can be a little painful to watch however.
The first episode of the series, Encounter at Farpoint, is actually not as bad as I seemed to remember. There are a lot of expository parts that introduce us to all the new characters and how they fit together. And of course, the new ship. (Yawn.)
This is also the first appearance of Q, who at first glance is the driving force behind the episode. Q puts humanity on trial for being ‘greivously barbaric’, but that’s really just the framework around which the actual story at Farpoint occurs. The mystery about the lifeform enslaved to make Farpoint the miracle outpost station was what I found most interesting. I don’t think they needed a whole two hour episode for that. If they could have written it to start en media res with the Farpoint situation I think it would have been a much stronger episode despite the possible lack of Q. As it is, it’s a pretty strong episode that’s diluted by all the introductory exposition.
Not a lot about humanity in this episode, although I’ve always liked Picard’s quote, “If we’re going to be damned, let’s be damned for what we are.”
Next up, The Naked Now.
October 22nd, 2004 at 1:25 pm
I used to *love* TNG, but ever since Babylon 5 I can’t help but view Star Trek has too sterile, too sanitized, and too superficial. The characters never really changed, even after 7 seasons, and the science was in my opinion too powerful and yet too uneven.
October 22nd, 2004 at 3:34 pm
Yeah, B5 is another example of bigger and better; I didn’t even think of it since I never followed it, but I’ve heard plenty of tell about it to know it had a lot more depth than TNG. Besides, you’ve got Christopher Franke scoring the show, so how can you go wrong, right? ;)
October 24th, 2004 at 8:28 pm
Storytelling on television has not really evolved, unfortunately. X-Files, Millenium, Angel (you forgot Buffy and Alias) are very much the exception to the rule. Television is dominated by CSI, L&O, and crummy shows without storylines. ST: TNG actually does show signs of evolvoing along this way, even in the first season (there are several episodes that connect together with an overarching plot). Deep Space Nine, Enterprise (a whole season long arc that was actually interesting!) and even Voyager continued this. Mostly, Trackerneil is right–the presence of this kind of storytelling was driven by B5 which set a new standard for it. Heaven forbid I say this, it is probably a trend that ultimately has it’s root in anime.
Getting back to TNG, the characters on TNG do evolve, in particular Troi changes the most–literally finding a spine on screen through her interactino with Ro Laren, probably one of the best characters to appear on any Star Trek. Picard evolves, too, particularly from the Picard of this episode (children, boo!), Riker finds himself, Data learns what it is to be himself, Worf becomes more than a one joke character, and even Wesley… Well, when you get to Wesley episodes, we’ll get to that. :)
As for EaF, it unfortunately needs the exposition–having watched every episode it’s very dull and doesn’t stand up to repeated viewing (at least the exposition), but it was needed within the context of the show. The puzzle of the episode is engaging, the Ferengi are a fun new race, and Q will later prove himself an important part of the TNG puzzle.
Finally, EaF no longer stands on its own, but must be viewed in the light of All Good Things as a bookend for what really is one of the best television shows of all time, even with some fairly stiff competition. Because all those shows listed up above are so unrelentingly grim, it’s nice to have some fun once in a while.