GatewayRedbirds.com

Voyager gets better after Kes goes away. Ah Seven of Nine <3

Neelix is dumb. Harry Kim and Tom Paris are okay but they weren't my favorite of the Trek duos that every series seems to create. Bashir and O'Brien probably hold that title. TNG definitely had a lot of holdover of TOS in the first couple of seasons; and the whole switching doctors thing was weird. Dr. Pulaski was an okay character but it was just a strange thing to do.

TNG Episode mini-rewatch of 10 episodes and GO:

The Neutral Zone
Pen Pals
Q Who
The Ensigns of Command
Deja Q
The Drumhead
I, Borg
The Inner Light
Tapestry
All Good Things

Oh yeah, Bashir and O'Brien were awesome. DS9 is so damn good, but like all the Trek shows of the 90s, really struggled finding its way and developing chemistry between characters for a season or two.

DS9 and Voyager both did better at that; though they both needed some time to find their footing. They did have TNG's foundation to build on of course which made it easier. TNG got better when Riker got the beard and DS9 took off when Sisko shaved his head. That's what it takes to have a successful show.

I’ve watched a ton of TNG but never in order, so I have this hope that maybe there’s an episode in there I’ve missed, and keeping the mystery has prevented me from doing so.

Early TNG is definitely worse than when it hits it's stride, but I still found the low production budget and dimly lit glow oddly comforting.

Its not the production budget. A lot of it I fondly remember as TOS-like. Its the writing and the focus on terrible characters, specifically Riker and Tasha Yar, and Troi is really bad early. "I sense plot device captain." Plus the writing for Picard's character is really limited early, but even in early season 1, Patrick Stewart is such a good actor that he's becoming the Picard we know.

Its like the writers at the beginning of season one were like, "Hmm, the best actors we have are: Patrick Stewart, then a standard deviation later, LeVar Burton, followed closely by Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn. Clearly we should make them secondary characters and not give them much to do."

Riker was Roddenberry's version of Pike/Kirk etc which is why he got a lot of play early on. I like Riker; but he is much more suited to the role of Picard's sidekick than a focal point.

Bumping to make sure people know that there is a free way to watch Picard until April 23!

CardsofSTL wrote: ↑

March 24 20, 11:36 am

Just in time for the quarantine

CardsofSTL wrote: ↑

March 25 20, 10:55 am

Riker was Roddenberry's version of Pike/Kirk etc which is why he got a lot of play early on. I like Riker; but he is much more suited to the role of Picard's sidekick than a focal point.

Yeah, its obvious they tried to make Riker be Kirk early, it just didn't work well. He's great as a supporting character, fantastic even, just not as a lead.

Like in Picard. He's basically there to cook pizza and be in the background and say things like, "Shields up!" and "Cancel red alert. Just a burned tomato."

Frakes does his best work as a director.