More Inevitable Than Extraordinary: The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 Trading Cards!

The Good: Good text, Some wonderful autograph signers, Some neat sketches, Archive Cuts cards
The Bad: Insanely expensive to assemble, Ridiculous look for collated set, Some ridiculous sketch cards and autograph cards, Requires the prior set
The Basics: Star Trek The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards concludes Juan Ortiz's artwork odyssey and makes for an inherently awkward set.


I love Star Trek trading cards. There is a reason I started collecting trading cards with Star Trek cards and built my collection outward from there. But, as the years have gone by and trading cards have evolved from a pleasant diversion to a big business, even my Star Trek trading card collection has diminished some. My love for Star Trek cards fell into conflict with the trading cards sets becoming virtually impossible to collect. A great example of how the trading cards have become insanely difficult to collect is the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints trading cards. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints trading cards should have been a massive, ambitious set. Instead, it was very inorganically broken into two sets. 2015 saw the release of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 1 (reviewed here!). Now, Rittenhouse Archives has completed the set with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading card set.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards are a necessary evil. They are designed to complete the massive set, but they do so without much in the way of flair and with a shocking lack of enthusiasm for the biggest premium of the set. While there are some neat autograph signers in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards, the sketch cards are what truly carries the collecting weight these days. And while there are thirty-seven artists who participated in the Series 2 set, that is down from 48 artists who produced for Series 1 and all but 2 are duplicates - artists who drew sketch cards in Series 1. Between that and some autograph signers who were for exceptionally background or minor characters, there was a feeling that much of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards was phoning it in.

Basics/Set Composition

Properly assembled, the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading card set consists of four hundred fifty-eight trading cards: four hundred forty-eight available in the boxes and packs of cards and only eight found elsewhere. For a current series of cards, that there are only ten cards that cannot be found in the boxes is actually wonderful. Unfortunately, like many of the sets released for other properties, the most coveted cards in this set - the color sketch cards - are produced and distributed with such rarity that only a handful of collectors will be able to assemble a true master set and given how there are fewer sketch artists and autograph cards signers in this set, it is hard for collectors to not feel a bit cheated.

Unlike the Star Trek Portfolio Prints, which were based on previously-released artwork produced by Juan Ortiz for startrek.com, the artwork in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards is unique to this set! Juan Ortiz was commissioned to continue the concept of the retro posters into the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode line.

The hook for collectors with this set is that Series 2 is only all the even numbers. Unlike the "Complete" Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 1 and Series 2 trading card sets, which split the episodes at the mid-point of the series (the middle of the fourth season), Rittenhouse Archives released what amounts to an incomplete set with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards.

Common Cards

With only eighty-eight of the cards in the set being common cards, there are quite a few chase cards to hunt down. The eighty-eight cards in the common set of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 set are half of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes - the even ones. The set is comprised of a single card per episode for the even numbered episodes from "Encounter At Farpoint, Part Two" (an oddity considering it aired originally as a single, double-long episode) through "Preemptive Strike." There are no checklist cards with this trading card set. Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation are treated to a plot blurb on the back of each common card. The plot synopsis’s are well-written. All of the cards in this set were oriented the same way, a portrait orientation that made it very easy to look through the cards when in one's binder. . . at least until the bonus cards.

This common set for Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 is problematic in both concept and execution. The concept is an essentially flawed one: retro posters reminiscent of the Star Trek Portfolio Prints for a show that aired in the 1980s/1990s. The Star Trek Portfolio Prints worked because they mimicked the style of the art deco posters of the 1960s - when the episodes were produced and aired - exceptionally well. There was a sense of kitsch to them that played perfectly for a show that is very dated in a lot of ways. Star Trek: The Next Generation does not have that age to it, so the concept would have held if Juan Ortiz had made the episode posters look like movie posters from the 1980s. That would have, undoubtedly, required a lot more in the way of likeness rights clearances and would have been vastly more time consuming to pull off. It is a shame Rittenhouse Archives did not push Juan Ortiz (or other artists) to so try!

The concept might be flawed, but the execution has the potential to save it. Unfortunately, while the artwork is generally all right, the "every other one" concept guts the common set. For those who do read the cards, there is something surreal about encountering the cards for episodes that were part of two-parters - "The Best Of Both Worlds, Part I," for example, is in this set, but "The Best Of Both Worlds, Part II" is not. Similarly, "Redemption 1" and "Unification 2" are in this set without their completing episodes.

Most of the cards in the eighty-eight card set is a clear execution of the concept rendered in vivid colors. "Suddenly Human" might well be the least-evocative of the set and "Clues" is a tough one to pull off. Most of the rest at least make the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading card set look good.

Chase Cards

The bonus sets for the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards are a mix of mundane and wonderful, with a continued thorn being that the bonus sets, like the common set, are all the even-numbered cards, making for incomplete bonus sets. While this is generally bearable, the Ships Of The Line set - which is intended to form two nine-card murals looks absolutely ridiculous without the cards that preceded them from the Series 1 set. With two parallel sets, card collectors who love the common set have a lot to be excited about. Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation in general are likely to be much more excited by the other bonus sets which focus on the characters and the comic books, as opposed to replicating the common set in new and imaginative ways. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 set has three hundred seventy bonus (insert) cards in the set, of which all but ten are found in the boxes and packs of cards. The bonus cards found in packs are broken down into the following sets: gold signature parallel cards (88 cards), Juan Ortiz autographed parallel cards (88 cards), Ships Of The Line cards (9 cards), TNG Universe Gallery (9), Comic Book cards (40), Comic Book Archive Cuts (40), TNG Silhouette Gallery Metal (5), TNG Rendered Art Metal (5), SketchaFex (37), and Autographed cards (39).

The two parallel card sets replicate the common card set and were very much designed for trading card collectors. The first eighty-eight card set is printed on thicker cardstock and features embossed gold signatures by Juan Ortiz printed on each card. The glossy backs are foil-stamped with an individual collector’s number. Each card is given a number from one to one hundred twenty-five, so there are only one hundred twenty-five complete gold signature parallel sets. The faux-signature set cards were found one per box. This is a really cool parallel set because the gold signatures beautifully offset most of the artwork and the contrast is distinctive and cool.

As with the prior sets, there was a parallel set of Juan Ortiz autograph parallel cards (numbered JOA with the common card numbers). These cards were found one in every other box. Each of the poster cards were replicated and then signed by Juan Ortiz in blue ink. The Juan Ortiz autograph cards were re-numbered and the backs have Juan Ortiz’s statement on what watching Star Trek: The Next Generation was like him, back in the day. This parallel set is an interesting one and, like the gold faux-signatures, the blue autographs have good contrast with most of the cream-colored artwork on the poster cards. This bonus set might have been a little more interesting if Juan Ortiz had commented on each episode and/or his process with making the posters, but the autograph size is much bigger than on the Star Trek The Original Series Juan Ortiz autograph parallel cards, so there's no mistaking them for the common cards this time around, even just looking at their fronts. The blue ink pops noticeably on almost all of the cards and they look great for it!

One per box are Star Trek: The Next Generation Comic Book cards. These cards replicate 40 of the covers from first major DC Comics Star Trek: The Next Generation comic book series (there was a six-issue mini-series that was the subject of bonus cards in earlier sets). This set is cool because the backs feature plot descriptions of each comic book and the fronts have some of the best, most memorable Star Trek: The Next Generation comic book covers. The plot descriptions are strange for some of the arcs that encompassed several books, but these cards are some of the best in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards!

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 cards mimicked their Original Series counterparts with the TNG Universe Gallery cards. The nine TNG Universe Gallery cards were featured one per box and are art deco versions of some of the most popular main cast (Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher) and significant recurring guest character - Dr. Pulaski, Ensign Ro, etc. - as if they were Animated characters. This is a neat idea and certainly a good one for people looking for something different for their beloved characters. Sadly, Rittenhouse Archives stepped into a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation by breaking up some related characters if one were to put the even and odd numbers together to actually create the TNG Universe Set in full.

Every other box of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards features one of nine Ships Of The Line trading cards. The front of these landscape-oriented trading cards feature brand new digital imagery of ships from the Star Trek: The Next Generation era. Some of these ships are concept ships that were never seen in any of the episodes and are somewhat incongruent with what one remembers from the show, like a Borg ship taking on an Ambassador-Class vessel. Similarly, one card has the Enterprise, Defiant, and Voyager - three ships that were never together. Unfortunately, the backs are an absolute mess. The backs reveal that the cards are intended to go to two different nine-card murals from the Series 1 set. This set, sadly, looks sloppy when placed in pages as a result of the backs not coming together to form a single picture.

In most modern trading card sets, the autograph cards are a big deal, but for me the impressive aspect of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards were the TNG Comics Archive Cuts cards. The Archive Cuts are a simple concept: they are like costume cards - double-thick trading cards with material embedded and sealed within them with a "picture window" for fans to look at and feel the fabric - but the fabric is replaced with panels from Star Trek: The Next Generation comic books! These panels make each card in the set unique and the 40 cards in the Series 2 Archive Cuts set have rarities that vary, but all seem to be in the 100 - 160 range. The back of each Archive Cuts card bears an individual collector's number, further emphasizing how no two cards are the same! The panels from the Star Trek: The Next Generation have wonderful color contrast and I've not come across a single one that didn't "pop." (On some of the comic book-based trading sets Rittenhouse Archives has produced, sometimes their materials come from VERY old comic books and the panels are faded. Such is not the case with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 Archive Cuts cards).

With the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2, Rittenhouse Archives assembled a wildly inconsistent autograph card set. While this set provided Star Trek: The Next Generation fans four new Silver Series style autographs of Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden and Denise Crosby, it also has autograph cards of Peter Parros, (another!) Lycia Naff, and Tracee Cocco. Autograph cards of characters who recurred but did not even have lines are hard to get excited about. The set has thirty-nine autograph cards and outside the four silver series cards, they are portrait-oriented autographs in the style that was begun with the Complete Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 1 set. The smaller picture on the front of the card allows for a decent amount of space for the signer to sign and this set includes some truly awesome signers, most notably Mick Fleetwood, Madchen Amick, and Diedrich Bader. But having one of the rarest autographs of the set being from Robert Schenkkan (Remmick) is troubling; he had a memorable role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he is hardly on par with performers like David Ogden Stiers or Whoopi Goldberg who were in the same signing class of rarity in prior sets!

Like most recent releases, the real grail for collectors are the hand drawn color sketch cards. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series Two set feature thirty-seven artists' works. These cards are found one in every case, so that means to assemble a true master set, one would have to buy 37 CASES of these cards, which is pretty cost-prohibitive for most fans! Still, it is hard to argue with results! Warren Martinek did some amazing color sketches of starships, while most of the other artists focused on characters. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 cards have artwork that varies for the sketch cards (as one might expect from so many different sketch artists producing unique works of art on each cards), but most of them are astonishingly good renditions of characters and spacescapes.

Also one per case are metal insert cards from one of two five-card, character centered sets. Metal cards are becoming a real coveted chase card and the ones in the TNG Portfolio Prints Series 2 set are notable in that they are not simply parallels of other chase cards in the set! One of the two five-card sets focuses on the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and they are similar to the Crew cards from TOS Portfolio Prints, save that they are metal and artwork, as opposed to photo images. The other five-card metal set replicates and expands the artwork from the Star Trek The Next Generation Blu-Ray seasons boxes and they look absolutely amazing, especially in metal! All ten of the metal cards from the cases of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints are each individually stamped with a collector's number out of 100.

Non-Box/Pack Cards

As is customary from Rittenhouse Archives, there are a few cards not available in the boxes, no matter how many one buys. These range from the ultra-common P1 promotional card (easily available in the secondary market) to the two nine-case incentive cards that dealers were given for buying in volume. There are two other promotional cards in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 set: the P3 album exclusive promotional card and the P2 Non-Sport Update promo. The P2 Non-Sport Update promotional card is harder to track down than the other two and it is the least impressive of the bunch, featuring comic book style artwork of Captain Picard. The P3 is a landscape-oriented and features the U.S.S. Enterprise, while the P1 is an art card featuring Troi and Riker embracing with Picard's head in the background. None of these promotional cards are yet impossible to find in the secondary market.

This set also had one of two casetoppers. The two casetoppers were very basic Juan Ortiz art cards Q and Locutus Of Borg. There is nothing remarkable about either of these casetoppers, save that they are rare, though they are not even individually numbered.

For every six cases of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints trading cards a dealer ordered, they were granted a Dual autograph, in the familiar style from Rittenhouse Archives's old "Quotable" Star Trek: The Next Generation set. The 6-case incentive autograph features Brent Spiner and Denise Crosby from their iconic precoital embrace in "The Naked Now." Given how Picard and Crusher never worked out, this is a sensible pairing, though a Partick Stewart dual-autograph with Whoopi Goldberg or Jonathan Frakes would have been a far bigger coup than a Spiner/Crosby dual-autograph.

The real grail of the bonus cards was the incentive card for buying nine cases of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 1 trading cards. For that, every dealer was given a hand drawn, painted sketch card by either Charles Hall or the Glebe Brothers. Charles Hall painted characters with extensive and detailed backgrounds, while the brothers Mick and Matt Glebe seemed to focus on character portraits. Either way, the artists did immaculate work that was absolutely incredible for their incentive cards.

Exclusive to the Archive Boxes was a portrait-oriented metal card of Q. Individually numbered on the back up to 100, the metal card gives fans a reason to chase down the archive boxes which were given as an incentive to dealers who purchased 18 cases.

As well, for the fans who collected enough wrapper points, there was a Rittenhouse Rewards exclusive autograph card. The exceptionally rare autograph card is of Pamela Adlon and its rarity has not been confirmed, though given its wrapper cost, it is rarer than most Rittenhouse Rewards cards.

Overall

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 is the logical end to an awkward idea that was executed in a problematic way. Only the most determined, die-hard collectors will care about completing the set. It is too tough a sell for anyone but the most wealthy, eager collectors who demand completion without a care for genuine quality.

This set culled images from Star Trek The Next Generation, which is reviewed here!

This is a set of cards which I sell in my online store.  Be sure to visit and shop from our extensive inventory of them at the Star Trek The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 Trading Card Inventory!

For other Star Trek The Next Generation trading cards, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Star Trek 25th Anniversary Series 1
Star Trek 25th Anniversary Series 2
Star Trek The Next Generation Inaugural Edition
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Profiles
"Quotable" Star Trek: The Next Generation

3.5/10

For other card reviews, please visit my Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Bottom Ten Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes!

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The Basics: Even classic shows have some duds. With Star Trek: The Next Generation, these are the episodes you can easily pass on. . .


I grew up watching and loving Star Trek: The Next Generation. In fact, had I not been raised on Star Trek: The Next Generation, I don't think I would have been in a place to appreciate Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (my favorite show of all time) as much as I came to. But even with my love of the series, it's hard to go back and watch it objectively now because there were some episodes that were just plain terrible. There were some episodes that give terrible a bad name.

So, as a public service and for the enjoyment of my readers, and for those Scholars of Star Trek, here are the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation to pass on, even when playing the drinking game, they are hours of your life you cannot get back:

10. "Code Of Honor" - reviewed here! - Garrett Wang (Harry Kim on Star Trek: Voyager) tells a wonderful story of his trepidation to join the series when his only experience with Star Trek: The Next Generation was this episode. It's easy to see why; "Code of Honor" has a b-grade camp quality to it that makes one cringe when watching it. It's amazing that the series survived its third week (when this episode aired) given how quickly it had such a significant dud,

9. "Man Of The People" - reviewed here! - Who doesn't love Counselor Deanna Troi? No one I know! After all, she strides around the ship in fun outfits, illustrating that she's a busty woman. Who wouldn't want to go to counseling when Troi is the counselor? I don't know, but it's a shame that when she gets an episode early in the seventh season and she becomes a psychic spittoon for a jerk that Marina Sirtis was forced to go along with it. And yes, the make-up is just plain terrible,

8. "Where Silence Has Lease" - reviewed here! - Second season, Star Trek: The Next Generation, writer's strike imminent. Episodes will be rerun many, many times before new episodes are written and shot. Why did this have to be one of them?! My review of the episode is so stark because NOTHING HAPPENS IN THIS EPISODE! How much can someone write about an episode where the ship flies around in circles for several minutes before giving up and waiting for everyone to be killed? I hope whoever wrote this one got sacked as part of the writer's strike negotiations,

7. "The Neutral Zone" - reviewed here! - And joining that person should be whoever wrote this episode. Someone thought they could be clever and write an episode that simply combined elements of the original Star Trek episodes "Balance Of Terror" and "Space Seed" and throw in a hick to boot. The only thing that keeps this in the upper five of the bottom ten is that Marc Alaimo appears for a few seconds in the episode. Yea Marc! But really, whoever thought that this finale would get people to come back the next season, they ought to be prevented from ever doing anything creative again,

6. "The Outrageous Okona" - reviewed here! - How many famous celebrities can appear in an episode of a television show and have it still suck? Well, outside the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, this episode features Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Piscapo, Billy Campbell, and Teri Hatcher (yes, THAT Teri Hatcher!) and it's still a dog. It's a dog that's so mangy kids don't cry when it's taken out back and shot. Half the episode involves Data trying to become a stand-up comic and the other half involves a rogue sleeping with various members of the crew, but the whole thing is just dumb,

5. "Shades of Gray" - reviewed here! - Clip show as a season finale. Do I honestly need to say more? Poor Pulaski to be written out on such a note,

4. "Hero Worship" - reviewed here! - I was shocked at a recent Star Trek convention to discover that there are people who actually love this episode! I'm convinced these people are the Star Trek fans most comparable to those people of faith who believe the Bible is the literal word of god and completely infallible (including all of the contradictory stuff, the concept of slave ownership and the right to stone your neighbors for sinning). When a young boy begins to emulate Data to avoid a trauma, the psychology is solid, but the episode is anything but,

3. "Devil's Due" - reviewed here! - As a person who sells Star Trek memorabilia, I'm keenly aware of things that interest fans of Star Trek. Recently, a Star Trek: The Next Generation trading card set was released and the incentive card for the binders was an autograph from the woman who played Ardra in this episode. Now despite the fact that this woman is rather attractive (even with the prosthetics), never does conventions, and has never signed for any of the trading card releases, her autograph in the binder did not drive anyone to buy a binder from me. That's how disliked her character was, that's how bad this episode was,

2. "The Royale" - reviewed here! - Second season again and this one was a close call for the worst of the bunch. You know how I suggested that whoever wrote "The Neutral Zone" ought to be barred from doing anything creative ever again? Well, "The Royale" is original, but it's so bad, it's a parody of bad and it's a parody of Star Trek: The Next Generation. When Riker, Worf and Data get trapped in an alien casino, things go from terrible to dismal to just plain suck. Not only should the writer and director of this episode be barred from ever making anything again remotely creative, they ought to be sterilized so they cannot have children who might make such monstrously stupid works. Added to that, the entire guest cast (save Sam Anderson) ought to be expelled from the Screen Actors Guild just for participating in this piece of utter idiocy,

and . . .

drumroll please . . .

1. "Force Of Nature" - reviewed here! - I'm an avid environmentalist and I still hate this episode! Two crazy environmentalists board the Enterprise with a crackpot theory that warp speed travel is destroying space (much like the deterioration of the ozone layer). They blow a hole in space to prove their theory and the science behind this episode makes no sense, nor does the whole plot and the characters are just ridiculous parodies. Even the actors walk through this last season episode looking like it's a bad idea. Maybe this was the real reason the series was canned . . .


For other, similar articles, please be sure to visit my articles on:
The Top Ten Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes
The Top Ten Star Trek Episodes
The Bottom Ten Star Trek Episodes

For other Star Trek reviews, please be sure to check out my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Top Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation!

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The Basics: The classic science fiction television show Star Trek: The Next Generation is easily available on DVD, VHS and (soon) downloads; here are the ones most worth watching . . .


Star Trek: The Next Generation was easily one of the most popular science fiction series' of all time and with its easy availability in syndication, on VHS, on DVD and via digital download, it seems strange that so few people (outside StarLog Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and people at Star Trek conventions) have offered a comprehensive list of the best episodes of the series for those thinking of dipping into the series or just looking for great television.

In considering the ten BEST episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, there was some pretty stiff competition as figuring out the ten best out of 178 episodes can be a real challenge. There were some worthy near misses from the highly rated pile, including: "Conspiracy," "Clues," "First Contact," "Darmok," "Chain Of Command, Part II," "The Drumhead," and "Family." But if you're going to spend time watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, the episodes you cannot miss are:

10. "The Emissary" / "Reunion" - reviewed here and here! - It seems I always cheat on these top ten lists and squeeze a little something extra in; at least this time I'm getting my cowardice out of the way early! Two Worf stories lead off the list as a perfect pair of episodes that act quite nicely as a two-parter, despite being separated by over a season. These are the two episodes that feature K'Ehleyr, Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire, a human-Klingon hybrid and former lover of Lt. Worf. She appears on a mission and reignites the passions of Worf, then returns . . . with Worf's son in two memorable episodes made perfect by guest star Suzie Plakson,

9. "Too Short The Season" – reviewed here! - Easily the most contentious episode on this list, this first season episode is a surprise to those rewatching it these days. Originally despised for the poor special effects, this episode stands up and knocks out the viewer now with the quality of the story and character study of a man going to extreme lengths to right a past wrong. While the Enterprise journeys to a planet to negotiate a hostage situation, the aged Admiral Jameson begins to de-age as he tries to wrest power from a planetary leader who he once was involved with shady weapons dealings with,

8. "I, Borg" – reviewed here! - A similarly quiet episode finds the U.S.S. Enterprise rescuing a Borg teenager and instilling in him the concept of individuality. Clever and an amazing character study and moral play, "I, Borg," presents the arguments behind the conventions of war in a clever way that asks the viewer to look at the humanity of the enemy in a very real way. Jonathan Del Arco and Patrick Stewart give great performances,

7. "The Survivors" - reviewed here! - The penultimate episode that I've never seen in anyone else's top ten list, this is a weird episode with a sharp moralistic sentiment. The Enterprise arrives at a planet to find the whole place utterly destroyed, save two people and their home. While Counselor Troi becomes tormented by telepathic music, Riker and Picard begin to unravel a mystery of how these two survivors could have been spared on a planet devastated by a cunning and brutal enemy. The result is a mystery and a morality play that is brilliant and the judgment of Captain Picard at the episode's climax is enough to found a new religion,

6. "The Vengeance Factor" - reviewed here! - Similarly neglected by virtually every other fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, this episode becomes something different and amazingly clever. Long before Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Star Trek: The Next Generation offered an episode where known murderer is brought aboard the Enterprise and the crew has to figure out what the audience already knows (who it is) and determine the motive. While the Enterprise crew negotiates between two cultures of aristocrats and scavengers, the episode becomes a simple love story for Riker that is not to be missed,

5. "Measure Of A Man" - reviewed here! - Despite what so many people looking at the series think, it was not always about Picard and Data. Indeed, originally about Riker and Wesley Crusher, it took some time for Picard to break out, and for Data and Worf to follow. The first real episode where Picard and Data explode onto the screen is a masterful episode where Data's rights are determined when a StarFleet scientist wants to disassemble and replicate the android officer. Faced with Data's possible death or a StarFleet filled with an android slave populace, Picard forces a hearing in one of the most directly intellectual hours of the series,

4. "The Best Of Both Worlds" - reviewed here! - And sometimes the lists get it right. When the Borg return to Star Trek: The Next Generation, they seem strangely interested in Captain Jean-Luc Picard in an episode that capped the third season and left the viewers begging for more. Still a nailbiter today, this episode is one of the most clever hours, balancing the Borg menace with the threat of Riker being replaced by a new first officer when he is offered his own command,

3. "Parallels" - reviewed here! - Late in the series, the show got especially clever with a Worf story that explored some of the "roads not taken." When Worf passes through a spatial anomaly, reality begins to bend around him such that he sees elements of his life changing radically, like the state of the Enterprise, his position aboard her, the role of the major powers in the galaxy, and his relationship with Counselor Troi - who he soon finds himself married to. The journey is a clever exploration of the different directions the series could have taken Worf as well as a wonderful lesson on parallel universe theory,

2. "Frame Of Mind" - reviewed here! - Who would have guessed that Jonathan Frakes could dominate an episode that charted this high?! In an incredible Riker story that finds the first officer in a degenerating mental state, the viewer is taken on a reality-bending odyssey that questions whether Riker is the victim of an alien experiment or if he is truly going insane. Blending time aboard the Enterprise where Riker prepares for a play involving his portrayal of a mentally ill man with an incarceration on an alien planet in their mental ward, "Frame Of Mind" keeps the viewer guessing the first time and entertained with the sophistication of how well it is put together each other viewing,

and . . .

drumroll please . . .

1. "The Inner Light" - reviewed here! - Too many people who take on this topic top this list with the phaser battles and intensity of one of the episodes like "Yesterday's Enterprise," but this is the top of the heap for the sophisticated viewer. Picard is doing his normal routine when an alien probe knocks him out. Unconscious on the bridge, he awaken in another place, with another name, on a planet he has never heard of. There he spends over forty years as Kamen, a scientist, artist and father who learns to love, play music and live a different life from that of the starship captain until he finally accepts that his other life was just a dream. Kamen's story is brilliant and an amazing change of pace for the series and a character study that only enhances Captain Picard's stature.

For other Star Trek reviews, be sure to visit the Star Trek Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Less Publicity Shots Makes "The Legends Of Dr. Beverly Crusher" A Better (Though Not Perfect)Set!

The Good: Some decent images, Limited quality, Cardstock
The Bad: Use of even two publicity shots, Cost/Value, Lack of image diversity, Order
The Basics: With nine cards, the "Legends Of Dr. Crusher" is bound to satisfy fans of Gates McFadden and Dr. Crusher if only for the fact that it doesn't rely on many publicity shots!


I figured I would finish off the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew before moving back to the other Star Trek Legends Of Star Trek sets I might have missed reviewing. Thus, we pick up with the "Legends of Dr. Beverly Crusher," one of the most neglected characters in the franchise who was ably played by actress Gates McFadden.

Basics/Set Composition

The Legends Of Star Trek set is a series of cards produced by Rittenhouse Archives and released on average twice a year over the last five years. The "Legends Of Dr. Crusher" set is the tenth in the ever-expanding series that is released in nine card, limited edition increments. There are no bonus cards in this set, they come as complete sets of nine cards sealed in a cellophane package. There are three things that make these sets truly special: cardstock, an individual limited edition number, and the images on the cards. The cardstock is a 20pt. (thicker than usual) cardstock with the standard UV resistant coating that all quality trading cards come with these days. To illustrate the truly limited nature of the Legends Of Star Trek cards, every set is strictly limited to 1701 sets and the L9 card (visible at the back of the cellophane pack) is foil stamped with an individual number for the specific "Legends Of" set. So, for example, my personal set is number 0440/1701! This is where it helps to have a dealer that you are loyal to; dealers were able to order all of the same limited edition collector's numbers each time, so every time I get an order in, they are the same limited edition numbers and I - and my customers - are assembling sets with matching numbers, which will presumably hold the value of the overall series better in the long run.

Finally, the Legends Of Star Trek series is characterized by wonderful, uncommon images that are (usually) not the typical shots that have been on 8x10s, t-shirts and collector's plates before. Instead, these cards capitalize on big rare images, vivid color contrast and cards that are uncluttered by pesky text! These cards are for the fans who know the accomplishments of their heroes! No need to write about them, the images speak for themselves!

Common Cards

The "Legends Of Dr. Crusher" set is a nine-card Legends Of Star Trek set that features eighteen images of Doctor Beverly Crusher from her first season shot from the holodeck episode "The Big Goodbye" to her publicity shots from Star Trek: Nemesis. It's a lot of red hair and blue uniform . . .

. . . and that's the problem with this particular set.

Unlike many of the prior releases of Legends Of Star Trek the "Legends Of Dr. Crusher" set is unimaginative in a way that utilizes very few publicity shots to be dull. Only one of the images on the fronts of the cards are clearly recognizable to fans of the series as being simple publicity shots and the back to one card (L9) is clearly a publicity shot. Most fans will not recognize the Beverly Crusher from the Peabody-Award winning episode "The Big Goodbye" as a publicity shot (though it is). And while the backs have a similar mix of Dr. Crusher in uniform and out of uniform, the selection is from a very limited time period in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

As a result, there are no shots of Dr. Crusher from the first season in her uniform or from the third season when she returned to the show! The three images that have her in her lab coat are all on the backs of the cards and one wonders why her dress uniform (which she wore quite infrequently in the show) was prioritized with the front of the first card while the lab coat shots all made only the backs.

The concept of the Legends Of Star Trek series was to present a visual history of an individual character and with Dr. Crusher's early appearances being neglected for more shots from very late in the series (seven of the images are easily recognizable as being from the seventh season) undermines the concept. But the truth is, Dr. Crusher was largely neglected in the series, so there is not a lot that could have been added. Sure, it would have been decent to have a shot of Dr. Crusher and Wesley together or Dr. Crusher in her aerobics outfit from "The Price" or her Tai Chi outfit but given her lack of exposure or disguises on the series, perhaps it's understandable that Rittenhouse used so many shots of her in her uniform and graces the fronts with images from "The Big Goodbye," "Time's Arrow, Part II" (wherein she is in her mid-1800s disguise) and "All Good Things . . ." while loading up the backs of the cards with more common (conceptually) shots of Dr. Crusher.

Strangely, the cards follow no logical order as the first season shot is card L4, well after shots clearly from seasons five and above. In short, there is a somewhat haphazard quality to the assembly of this Legends Of Star Trek set. At least there weren't too many publicity shots!

Overall

There's just enough to satisfy fans of Gates McFadden in her recognizable role of Dr. Beverly Crusher. Fans of the series will appreciate that and given the rarity of these cards, any collectors that give up on the Legends Of Star Trek set with the "Legends Of Dr. Crusher" release will likely find that there were Gates McFadden fans ready to snatch up the remaining sets.

The nine-card sets tend to sell for $17 - $20 but the cardstock quality - which truly is a professional grade - and the limited edition nature of the set makes it worth it. One suspects in the future, the Legends Of Star Trek sets will be sold in the secondary market almost exclusively as entire series collections, so fans who simply have a favorite character will want to snatch up the releases when they first come out, even if the set is uncharacteristically composed of publicity stills!

For fans of Gates McFadden, this is the "Legends" set for you!

The recommendation of this set is ultimately to fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation and those who love Gates McFadden and Dr. Beverly Crusher. Casual card collectors (i.e. those not assembling a master series of Legends Of Star Trek cards) can safely avoid this set.

This set culls images from:
Star Trek: The Next Generation,
most recognizably "Sub Rosa"
"The Big Goodbye"
"All Good Things"
and Star Trek: Nemesis

For other Legends Of Star Trek cards from Star Trek: The Next Generation, please be sure to read my reviews of:
Legends Of Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Legends Of Data
Legends Of Riker
Legends Of Counselor Deanna Troi
Legends Of Lieutenant Worf

5/10

For other card reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Picard's Long Lost Son Arrives With Little Consequence: "Bloodlines."

The Good: Patrick Stewart's acting
The Bad: Obvious plot, Thematically disappointing, Character
The Basics: When a son Picard never knew he had pops up around the same time as an old adversary, the audience is left unsurprised and unimpressed with "Bloodlines."


I have, in many of my reviews, complained that the seventh season of Star Trek The Next Generation seemed ridiculously preoccupied with filling in backstory of the various characters. For most of them, this came far too late as the series was ending and the producers knew that. As a result, it seems somewhat insane that with four episodes to go, the show introduces a son Picard never knew he had. The episode is "Bloodlines" and it's pretty bad.

The starship Enterprise is poking around the galaxy when it begins to receive messages that threaten Captain Picard, messages from Daimon Bok, the Ferengi who sought revenge on Picard in the first season episode "The Battle" (reviewed here!). Bok is up to his usual thing, but the threats come around the same time that Picard discovers Jason Vigo, a son Picard apparently had as the result of an illicit affair in his youth.

Please! Viewers of Star Trek are not stupid and it insults my intelligence (and yours) to write the plot of the episode as if it were shocking that the two events were not necessarily related. Want to save yourself an hour of your life? The two are related and Bok's search for revenge now extends to him wanting Jason dead, too. I bet you saw that coming.

The problem is, everyone does. There's nothing surprising or significant about "Bloodlines." Instead, it feels like a cheap setup and as a result, the payoff is entirely anticlimactic. There's nothing here to be shocked or surprised about, there is nothing that resonates on an emotional level here.

Unlike the episode "Suddenly Human" (reviewed here!), from the show's fourth season, there is no emotional resonance between the characters of Picard and Jason Vigo. There is no connection that gets formed between the two people to become emotionally invested in Jason. We watch, we might wonder if it's true, but in the end, it's hard to care. Moreover, Picard - who has spent seven years becoming accustomed to children - seems particularly phased by Jason, in a way that seems very inorganic for the way his character has developed. That is to say that Picard's difficulty with children at the beginning of the series had to do with their youth and lack of discipline. Suddenly finding he had an adult child, one he openly admits he was never a father to (not biologically, you understand), should not throw the character as much as it seems to.

Conversely, Patrick Stewart's acting in this episode is phenomenal. He plays Picard with a very different manner than we have seen him before. Stewart continues - even this late in the game - to illustrate his range and he makes great efforts to play Picard as a man who is taking this somewhat ridiculous situation seriously. Stewart is a real professional and him sitting through this episode is a testament to that.

And it's not like he had a lot of help. Guest star Ken Olandt as Jason Vigo is . . . bland. Cast no doubt for his looks, he reminds us of the importance of finding an actor who is actually able to act. Olandt does little to endear us to Vigo and he never seems quite comfortable with the role. Similarly, Lee Arenberg, who plays Bok makes us wonder why the role was recast (Frank Corsentino who played him with a wonderful over-the-top quality in "The Battle" was still alive when this episode was made). Arenberg shows up, but he plays Bok without any real menace.

In short, "Bloodlines" is a disappointing sequel to "The Battle," made perhaps more disappointing by its resolution, which is almost identical to that of the previous episode. "Bloodlines" has little to recommend it to fans of Star Trek, let alone to people who are not fans of the series or science fiction in general. At least it is the show's last real disappointment. Had it come earlier in the series and the circumstances been different (i.e. they handled it in an adult manner as Star Trek Deep Space Nine would have), it likely would have been fine. But this, after all, is Star Trek The Next Generation and like most Trek outings, it tries not to focus too much on consequences over long arcs.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

3/10

For other Star Trek episode, DVD or movie reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Gates McFadden's Directoral Debut Reveals Much Latex: "Genesis."

The Good: Acting, mostly, Make-up, Moments of character
The Bad: Somewhat ridiculous plot, Lame humor
The Basics: Data and Picard return to the Enterprise and find the ship populated by strange animals they reason is the crew. Finding the cause while surviving primordial Worf becomes a challenge in "Genesis."


One of the nice things about the Star Trek franchise, for the actors anyway, is that it allows the series regulars to attend Paramount's film school and become guest directors on the show. The tradition owes its origins to Leonard Nimoy, who was allowed to direct Star Trek III The Search For Spock (reviewed here!). On Star Trek The Next Generation, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner all took turns behind the camera. As the seventh season wound down, Gates McFadden got her chance with the episode "Genesis."

Following one of Barclay's usual bouts of hypochondria, Worf's attempts to increase photon torpedo guidance efficiency goes horribly awry. As a result, Data and Picard leave the Enterprise in a shuttlecraft to recover a rogue torpedo before it can detonate on an innocent and unintended target. In their absence, members of the crew begin to behave erratically, culminating in Worf assaulting Dr. Crusher using a venom he has never before possessed. Picard and Data return to find the Enterprise adrift and its crew in various stages of devolvement as their DNA has caused them to revert to earlier animal versions of their species.

There is little scientific basis for what occurs in "Genesis," though the theory of the episode is that the introns - apparently dormant genetic material in humans - is the genetic refuse from everything we evolved from and that the Enterprise contracts a disease where those introns are activated in such a way that the human body begins to get rewritten by other genetic codes. The problem is that the humans all spawned from generally the same place. So while it makes sense that the de-evolved Worf would look dramatically different from the devolved Riker, it makes no real sense that Riker would turn into an ape, while Barclay would turn into a spider. It's just not logical; some people didn't evolve from spiders while others evolved from apes. It just doesn't hold.

That's a pretty big hurdle for the audience to overcome. There is suspending disbelief and then there is arguing that the sky is and has always been blood red paisley. "Genesis" is based on a difficult conceit to get past, despite the fun of watching the characters change.

But for those who are able to get past it, "Genesis" is a lot of fun. It's cool to see the range of the actors, though some believe that it is not much of a stretch for Jonathan Frakes to play Riker as a gorilla. Here, the story builds well with the changes appearing subtle at first, like Dwight Schultz playing Barclay with more confidence and faster speech. The actors seem to be having a good time with the premise, or at least appear to take it seriously. Moreover, Patrick Stewart's presentation of a more distressed, slower to respond, indecisive Picard is a real stretch considering the authority with which he has portrayed the character for over six years.

The real acting credit should go to Michael Dorn. Dorn has worked for years to make Worf something more than the ridiculous, barbarian villains of Star Trek. Here, Dorn has to go primal and despite the help he gets from all sort of prosthetics, it is his performance that truly brings the episode together. Dorn's use of body language and guttural screaming convinces us that all vestiges of the rational Worf are gone and that works well for this story.

Moreover, "Genesis" works well on the continuing character arc that has been building this late in the Star Trek The Next Generation story. "Genesis" finds the primal Worf "marking" Counselor Troi, an act that makes sense considering how quickly their romance has been building. It is refreshing to see that some intelligence was working on making this episode have some natural sense. Actually, the actions of the different types of animal crewpeople make a lot of sense. "Genesis" does a good job capitalizing on the known strengths of different animals. For example, as Barclay devolves into a spider, he becomes more efficient, productive and economic in his movements.

Outside the lame attempts to make jokes that pop up through some of what is directed as a science fiction horror story, Gates McFadden's debut behind the camera is a pretty solid episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. Considering how bad Patrick Stewart's directoral debut ("In Theory") was, it is a shame that McFadden did not have more of an opportunity to grow into directing.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

5.5/10

For other Star Trek episode, movie or DVD set reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Somewhere Below The Bridge, There Are People Like Us In “Lower Decks”

The Good: Idea, Basic plot, Moments of character
The Bad: Character "types" and acting
The Basics: While the main crew works on an undercover operation in relation to the Cardassians, four junior officers and their bartender try to piece together their places on the Enterprise.


Over seven years of Star Trek The Next Generation, we come to understand that the USS Enterprise is populated by over a thousand people, but the impression we are given is that no more than ten of them are really ever terribly essential. That is to say, the only characters we truly care about are the seven to ten characters we see in episode after episode. "Lower Decks" was an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation where they decided to buck the trend and show that there is more to the starship than the officers we have seen time and time again.

In "Lower Decks," the lives of four young officers are explored. They are good friends who have minimal duties aboard the ship and they compete for promotions, play cards, go to Ten Forward and do everything else with one another. This story finds them each immersed in individual pieces of a larger conspiracy story with orders to not discuss it. So, while Sam tries to curry Riker's favor, he finds himself shut out, Sito Jaxa becomes the central figure in an undercover operation, Nurse Ogawa treats an alien agent in SickBay, and Taurik the Vulcan helps Geordi prepare a shuttle to look as if it were in battle. The main energy of the story is played out in scenes where they try to talk with one another about their suspicious mission without revealing their own parts in it.

"Lower Decks" is a good idea, but it suffers from a few problems. The biggest problem is that the characters are put into the episode mostly as "types," not actual characters. So, you have the young, ambitious career man, the straight man (Taurik), the medical professional wrestling with her professional and personal ethics, and the shaken, uncertain young woman who needs an abrupt lesson in believing in herself. Add to that a young bartender and you have the pretty standard mix. Perhaps Ben, the young bartender, is the most disappointing addition to the episode. He mingles between both the junior officers and the senior officers outside any sort of StarFleet affiliation. The problem here is that he seems like a iridescent green sheep in the field when interacting with the senior officers. After all, we've never seen him before this episode, why do the writers think it's fair for us to assume he has been around and befriended the senior staff? Instead, he feels like a cheap addition, a conduit to connect the two stories. Where was Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan for this one?

Outside that, the episode suffers only in the acting. Of the junior officers, only Patti Yatusake, who has had a recurring role as Ogawa, and Shannon Fill as Sito Jaxa convince us of their characters. Yatusake is a professional, long at ease with her character, making her part in "Lower Decks" quite believable and much easier to watch than had they gone with four totally new (unique to this episode) characters. Shannon Fill played Sito Jaxa in the fifth season episode "The First Duty" (reviewed here!) which is heavily referenced in "Lower Decks." Despite her character's ridiculously easy arc of low self-confidence turning into determination to prove herself, Fill makes the character believable through her facial expressions and the passion she infuses into her eyes when she takes a stand. Her last scenes are memorable and quite believable.

The nice thing about "Lower Decks" is that it engages the viewer from the first moment. This piece connects the viewer to the world of Star Trek The Next Generation far better than any other episode. It's easy to see us, non-military, non-heroic, non-profound people in these characters who are simply going along their lives, doing their jobs. They are likable. So, it's a good idea.

Add to that, the actual plot is a neat one. The mission that is pieced together through the actions of these junior officers is a great idea and worth seeing again and again. It's a clever way to use these people we see in the background and nice to see their perspective. Had this one not come so late in the series, perhaps it would have been fun to see these officers again.

For people who are not fans of Star Trek The Next Generation, this is a nice way to be introduced to the series. It is a rather non-threatening episode in terms of what it expects out of the audience and it is entertaining as well. It's a fairly solid hour of drama with an interesting story that introduces the main crew in a very different light from the heroic stature they appear to have in so many other episodes.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

7.5/10

For other Star Trek episodes, movies or DVD set reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2007, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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When Did Dr. Crusher Become So Dimwitted? “Sub Rosa”

The Good: Costuming
The Bad: Character, Acting, Plot, Sensibilities (or lack thereof)
The Basics: When Dr. Crusher goes to her grandmother's funeral, she hooks up with a ghost man who has been "in the family" with the women of her family for 800 years.


The more reviews I write for individual episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation from season seven, the more I think I overrated the Season 7 DVD set. I'm not even sure why I am finishing these reviews. The idea, when I started out, was to rate all of the individual episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation so people would be able buy individual episodes on video, but now video is almost as dead as records and the reviews I write for things like Star Trek The Next Generation will be largely worthless because people will soon only be reading the DVD reviews.

All of that questioning and common sense reasoning is more than the combined intellectual capacity of all of the characters in the Star Trek The Next Generation episode "Sub Rosa" (and you thought I was just complaining! Ha!). For a group of characters who travel the stars week after week exploring the unknown, there is not a single episode where they are all as singularly dimwitted as in this episode.

Dr. Crusher and the Enterprise crew journey to a planet where Dr. Crusher's Grandma Howard has just died. It's the Scottish Planet In Space and shortly after she arrives, she meets a mysterious stranger, Ronin, who convinces her to light an heirloom candle. Dr. Crusher does and soon, she and Ronin are having the most fabulous sex to the point that Dr. Crusher is willing to leave the Enterprise and settle down on Caldos IV. Having lost all capacity for logic and reason (and common sense), the intoxicated Dr. Crusher ignores everyone she cares about and settles into the house her grandmother owned while Ronin continues to pleasure her.

It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that Ronin is tied to the candle. The way he constantly insists Dr. Crusher keep it lit should make her suspicious, but it doesn't dawn on her until the very end of the episode. So, as Dr. Crusher watches Picard and Data and a colonist tormented by a plasma creature (Ronin in his natural form), it does not occur to her to simply blow out the candle. I'm glad I don't have to rely on her cunning to save my life.

"Sub Rosa" takes some sexual risks that Star Trek The Next Generation almost never did. Dr. Crusher is seen being pleasured by a non-corporal Ronin at various points throughout the episode. But, like most of Brannon Braga's limited writings, Ronin is not a ghost, but some form of anaphasic lifeform feeding off a body (he wrote an episode of Star Trek Voyager - "Flashback" - with essentially the same creature). I suppose that taking a spiritual and sexual risk in the same episode would have been too much for the franchise.

The problem - outside the pathetically weak and obvious script - is that none of the actors are playing their "a" game here. Patrick Stewart seems like an accessory throughout the episode and Duncan Regehr whose three guest appearances on Star Trek Deep Space Nine are pleasant outings, seems to be utilized too obviously as an intended sex symbol. That is to say Regehr looks all right in "Sub Rosa," but there's little beyond that to explain why Dr. Crusher would fall for him, especially after it becomes clear he and the doctor's grandmother were intimate for decades. In short, Regehr utilizes none of his personality to actually make Ronin sexy outside of his looks and it's not enough to sell us on this episode.

Particularly horrible is Gates McFadden in this role. Her acting is consistently over the top as Dr. Crusher, playing the heaviest moments of hurt and realization like a high school theater actress hamming it up for the parents on opening night. That she doesn't seem to realize that she is being melodramatic and out of character - i.e. we've never seen Dr. Crusher so oblivious or expressively passionate before now - just makes the performance that much worse.

At the end of the day, this is another stupid Braga reversal story. I've said all along he is a one trick pony who had three great Star Trek The Next Generation episodes, but this is long after he jumped the shark. This episode only goes to prove that he cannot write romance, either. Outside fans of the series - who by this time must be getting woefully disappointed by Enterprise crew family stories, all of which seem to have sucked this season - there is nothing here. It can't even be recommended as a Star Trek The Next Generation romance or soft porn. Instead, it views like a piece of fan fiction and some of the worst of that.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

3/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please click here to visit my index page!

© 2011, 2008, 2004 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Picard and Dr. Crusher Become “Attached:” It's About Time

The Good: Good character development, Nice acting, Interesting storyline
The Bad: Lack of consequences
The Basics: When Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard share one another's thoughts, Beverly becomes aware of Picard's deep-seated love for her in “Attached.”


Throughout Star Trek The Next Generation, there was a thread of romantic suggestion between the widowed Dr. Beverly Crusher and the lonely Captain Jean-Luc Picard. In the first episode of the series, it was revealed that Picard, Jack Crusher's best friend, had brought Jack's body back to Beverly and her son Wesley. Since then, there had been a sprinkling of suggestions that there was more than an easy friendship between the Captain and Chief Medical Officer. In "Attached," that character conflict reaches its zenith and is fully explored.

When Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard beam down to the planet Kessprytt, a divided world, for a meeting with the Kes, they are abducted by the paranoid and xenophobic Prytt. Immediately, they realize the Prytt have done something to them; they have had some sort of implant put in their heads. Soon, Picard and Crusher are able to read one another's thoughts and as they flee their Prytt prison, the psychic bond between them strengthens until their most intimate thoughts are no longer shielded from one another. In this manner, Dr. Crusher learns that Picard has long harbored romantic feelings for her.

The only real disappointment of "Attached" is that it lacks real consequences in the Star Trek universe. After all of the time spent building up a potential Picard/Crusher relationship, to have is so casually dismissed in the episode's final scene seems like a waste of years of decent groundwork. "Attached" ultimately ends up as the resolution of six and a half years of teasing and it stinks for the loyal fans of Star Trek The Next Generation.

That argument aside, there could not be a better culmination to the tension between Crusher and Picard than "Attached." Jonathan Frakes directs an excellently presented script by Nicholas Sagan. Sagan gives Frakes a great deal to work with, providing a script that pushes the limits of the characters we have known for six plus years. Instead of simply playing with the insinuations, Sagan pushes that into a full test of Picard's willpower and sense of honor. Frakes films the episode with a respect for the emotion of the scenes, never cheapening the intensity of Picard's internal conflict or diminishing Patrick Stewart's commanding presence.

In the end, "Attached" is a character study between Dr. Crusher and Captain Picard and neither character could ask for better representation than they receive here. Dr. Crusher is portrayed as thoughtful and considerate, a long way from the cold, distanced woman who often is seen as aloof on the show. Here she is emotional and respectful of Picard, if a bit confused by the depth of his emotions. Picard has evolved into an actualized, emotional individual, culminating here as someone with very real feelings and urges, a far cry from the dispassionate curmudgeon of "Encounter At Farpoint."

The episode comes alive in the portrayals of Crusher and Picard by Gates McFadden and Patrick Stewart, respectively. McFadden uses the episode to infuse some of her own whimsy into Crusher without stepping outside the boundaries of realism. Stewart plays Picard as a tormented romantic and it comes across with a great deal of genuine emotion to it. Moreover, the pair plays off one another with real on-screen chemistry that makes the episode hold up over repeated viewings.

"Attached" is accessible to anyone who enjoys a well-written love story, though those without a tolerance or appreciation of science fiction may be overwhelmed by the plot device used to get Picard and Crusher together. Outside that, this is a nice, simple love story that fits the bill for entertainment on a cold night when one wants to curl up with a date. Hey, if "Attached" proves anything it is that unlikely individuals may find love. Any science fiction loving geek may appreciate that.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

8.5/10

For other Star Trek episode reviews, please click here to visit my index page!

© 2011, 2007, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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"Descent, Part 2:" Failure To Follow Through On The Psychopathic Androids

The Good: Acting, Elements of character
The Bad: Overwhelming thematic issues, Plot
The Basics: When Lore is revealed to be the manipulator of the rogue Borg, the writers belabor an anti-cult theme that kills the momentum from the first part in "Descent, Part 2."



Star Trek The Next Generation had a flaw that it never outgrew, which was having two-part episodes where the setup vastly outweighed the payoff. In simple terms, Star Trek The Next Generation knew how to do first parts that were interesting, compelling and demanded the viewer watch and wait for the second part, but when the second part came, they were often limp and failed to live up to the potentials introduced in the first part. I attribute this to the writers, who were well known to write the first half of their two-part episodes without having the second part done or even plotted out. "Descent, Part II" opens the seventh and final season of Star Trek The Next Generation with something of a fizzle as a result. Without having seen "Descent, Part I" (reviewed here!) this episode is pointless.

When we last saw the crew of the starship Enterprise, at the end of season six, Dr. Crusher was in command of the Enterprise and the rest of the crew was down on an alien world searching for Commander Data and his psychopathic Borg friend, Crosis. When the season ended, Picard, Troi and LaForge had found Data, the Borg and their master . . . Lore. "Descent, Part II" picks up immediately after the revelation of Lore. Lore reveals that he encountered the Borg following Picard's meddling in "I, Borg" (reviewed here!) and he rescued them. Since then, he has become a megomaniacal leader intent on helping the Borg achieve perfection by ridding themselves of the biological agents that he feels are limiting them. To achieve that, he will experiment on the three captives he has, starting with Geordi.

While Picard tries to reason with Data and Data performs cruel experiments on Geordi, Dr. Crusher's command abilities are put to the test when the menacing Borg ship from the first part returns to destroy the Enterprise. As well, Worf and Riker end up finding Hugh, the Borg they once rescued from the Collective and they set out to destroy the cult Lore has formed.

Essentially, that is what "Descent, Part II" is about; it's about a cult. While "Descent, Part I" promised the intriguing notion of Data having emotion and being mentally unstable, all the sequel offers is a simplified explanation and a refocus of the audiences attention on how emotions are manipulated by charismatic leaders. The problem is, the viewer didn't tune in to be lectured about the dangers of cults, they tuned in to see how the Borg became psychopaths, understand how Data could fall so far and prepared to see a real conflict between Picard and Data and the evil Lore. Instead, we get mush that tries to be action and suspense wrapping itself around philosophy. What the viewer is left with is a jumble that feels much like a non-sequitor when viewed with the first part.

Gone is the menace and the promise of "Descent, Part I." This is clearly an episode where the important accomplishment was simple resolution of a problem. And that is all they achieve. And while I'm not one to advocate the post-Roddenberry violence that erupted on Star Trek The Next Generation in the latter two and a half seasons, even the violence is largely gone. "Descent, Part I" was a violent episode where people (mostly Borg) were being cut down right and left. Here, they simply wait for Lore to tell them what to do.

While the characters muddle through a series of murky circumstances, the stand out of the crew is actually Dr. Crusher. Despite being trapped in a plot about the arrogance of senior officers in their relations with green officers, Dr. Crusher experiences genuine character growth as she commands the Enterprise. Forced to innovate to keep the ship intact, Dr. Crusher makes some fast decisions that we have not seen her make before. Here, she has backbone.

The whole arrogance of senior officers toward junior officers was done early on in the series when Wesley Crusher was given his first assignment on a science team. Here, the conflict between Tait and the security officer is forced, ridiculous and poorly written. This seems a strange contrast to the sudden strength of character that Crusher appears to have. Is it possible she only looks so much better by comparison to the juvenile officers who surround her?

In contrast, the superlative acting in the episode must be a nod in the direction of Brent Spiner. Spiner once again does double duty as both Lore and Data and as a result, we are treated to a diverse performance that reminds us how good Spiner can be at controlling his movements and his sense of timing. Spiner proves he is a master of body language and vocalization, clearly portraying two characters who are more similar than ever for the first time, while keeping them distinctly different.

This marks the second appearance of Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh Borg and unfortunately, his role this time around is little more than a cameo. He fills the slot well and he makes the viewer wish a better part were written for him.

But even the acting and character growth cannot save this episode. In the end, it is simply a resolution to a significant problem that was set up far better. The domination of the cult themes and the constant bleatings about control wear into the viewer and make this episode seem like a demented after school special more than anything else.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season by clicking here!
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4.5/10

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© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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