Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 1

Welcome, gentle reader, to the first of a projected series of 7 blog posts about Star Trek: The Next Generation.

For convenience, I'll be using the standard fan abbreviations to refer to Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and the original series (TOS).  Also, probably best to assume that a Spoiler Alert remains in effect at all times, just on general principle.  I'm not precious about giving away details of a TV series broadcast 25 years ago.

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With some time on my hands, I've decided to undertake a marathon viewing of TNG in order to fill a gap in my fannish awareness.  I've never seen this series all the way through - or any of the various Star Trek series, for that matter - having only ever caught individual episodes here and there depending on what the BBC was showing on a given idle evening.  My best guess, based on what visual moments and plot elements I can remember (and allowing that any number of other episodes may have slipped my memory in the intervening years), is that I've probably seen less than a sixth of TNG, not counting the films - roughly two dozen stories I can confidently recall out of 168 (178 episodes, including 10 two-part or double-length stories).  The figures are probably similar for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, but it seemed sensible to start with this series rather than with either of those.

(Marathoning TOS isn't a priority, as I think I'm more familiar with more of that series already, and while I know there are some good episodes in there, I know there's a lot of outdated gunk too.)

The plan is to write up my thoughts on TNG one season at a time, partly to keep my hand in at blogging and partly as an aide-memoire for myself if I should decide to come back to this series again at a later date.  Posts are likely to appear weekly, but if I suddenly land a day job, that'll change.  On, then, with Season 1.

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First impressions: the Enterprise interior feels a lot more softly lit and more homely than in TOS.  Obviously I'm going to prefer the characters overall, simply because TNG is 20 years closer to my own social attitudes today than TOS.  In narrative terms, it's nice to see TNG fall back on space battles and fight scenes far less than TOS, and try to resolve its plots in a way one might actually expect from a utopian interstellar Federation.  Still, the stories are patchy as hell in this first year - more detail on that below.

It seems trivial to mention that the Enterprise's female crewmembers are not routinely put in skirts as was the case in TOS (although some do wear skirts), but I can't help but notice that a few crowd scenes in the earlier episodes of Season 1 include a male crewmember in a skirt.  An interesting and subtle hint that the utopian future of 1987 defines gender more broadly than the utopian future of 1966.  Non-binary behaviour is even hinted at in some of the regular characters, most notably Tasha Yar.  My memory of the later episodes I can recall suggests that TNG will become a lot more precious and openly didactic about gender issues - it'll be interesting to see if the covert non-binary elements are confined to Season 1 or pop up again in later seasons.

Musically, Season 1 is a lot more interesting than I remember TNG and its successor series being.  According to the little research I've done since watching this season, it's Rick Berman's fault that Star Trek's incidental music became so dull later on.  Composers in Season 1 were encouraged to produce melodic and thematic incidental music - which is the kind I like - but Berman was more of a "sonic wallpaper" man, and when he took over as the executive producer of all things Star Trek he started to clamp down on the kind of music that might stand out and get itself noticed.  The chief casualty of this decision was Ron Jones, who eventually got the boot during Season 4, and naturally it's his work that I've enjoyed the most while watching Season 1.  Every time I've felt the need to check the end credits to see who composed that rich, creamy music, blow me if it hasn't been Ron Jones again.

Anyway, on with the episode-by-episode breakdown.

"Encounter at Farpoint"
I could have sworn this one started with Riker being introduced to the ship and crew.  More likely, I've probably only seen the second part of a two-part re-edit before.  Interesting to see how the character of Data hasn't been nailed down yet, while Wesley Crusher is already the infuriating gimboid he will be remembered as.
"The Naked Now"
Car crash!  And compounding the problem, it's a blatant half-arsed rip-off of a TOS episode that even I can spot - not a good look for the shiny new series.
"Code of Honor"
Car crash!  That is all, except to note what a damn shame it is that the first two episodes after the pilot are such howlers.
"The Last Outpost"
The one that introduces the Ferengi.  More or less as I'd remembered, which is to say, shrugworthy.
"Where No One Has Gone Before"
Hooray, a better-than-average episode!  Lovely visuals.  Admittedly the story is a coatstand on which to hang the visuals, as well as providing the excuse for shoehorning Wesley Fricking Crusher into the bridge crew.  Still, like a stream of bat's piss, it shines out like a shaft of gold when all around is dark.
"Lonely Among Us"
The first one to do alien possession of the crew.  The alien diplomat plot, which might have seemed important to the casual viewer, is completely dropped at the end despite the fact that one of the mutually antagonistic ambassadorial parties hoping to join the Federation has just eaten a member of the other party.  Like it won't be awkward for Picard to explain that when the Enterprise arrives at the space summit.  Ah well, turn it into a throwaway joke for Riker, no one will care.  A mediocre episode with some nice alien make-up.
"Justice"
The one where the crew get shore leave on a planet where people dress skimpily and have sex a lot.  Must have sounded like yuk-a-minute gold to the writing team!  Oh, wait, we'd better have a plot... um... Wesley Crusher gets sentenced to death for trampling some flowers.  Yeah, that'll do.  Oh, wait, we'd better resolve the plot...  So Captain Picard shrugs and ignores the Prime Directive, and the problem magically vanishes.  Shit by anyone's standards, surely.
"The Battle"
Already an improvement in the portrayal of the Ferengi.  If only the Enterprise crew had included a Fictional Tropes Officer, they'd have noticed what was going on somewhere around ten minutes in.  Still, an upturn in quality.
"Hide and Q"
The one where Q gives Riker godlike powers.  Surprisingly superficial, given the potential of the premise.  Heigh-ho.
"Haven"
The one that introduces Troi's mother.  Oh, and Troi is expected to give it all up for an arranged marriage, except that the other party goes off instead with an alien he's never met on the strength of some handwavily explained dream-visions.  Better than it has any right to be, but still not actually good.
"The Big Goodbye"
In which Picard has apparently never been on a holodeck before, despite the fact it's been seen and referenced several times already.  But a welcome first stab at playing across genres, with the bridge crew crashing a noir detective story.  Passably fun, with the promise of more where that came from.
"Datalore"
The one that infodumps Data's backstory and introduces his evil twin.  Clunky as hell in several places.  Brent Spiner's good, though.  Odd to see the Crystalline Entity, which I definitely remember from another episode, but had no idea it wasn't just a one-off thing.
"Angel One"
Car crash!  Honestly, didn't Gene Roddenberry write this in the '70s?  I'll swear this was one of his misbegotten Genesis II pilots.
"11001001"
A little peculiar, but highly enjoyable.  Lovely visuals again.  The Binars' excuse for the entire plot is daft, yet makes a kind of sense for binary thinkers.  (It's tempting for me to make another comment about TNG being non-binary here, but to be honest I don't think there's enough material in this episode to support an analysis on that front.)
"Too Short a Season"
A high watermark of the series to date.  Good drama, good characters (acceptable acting).  With a dodgy gun-running Admiral using Captain Pike's old wheelchair, this episode's wide open to interpretation as a critique of TOS, which is no bad thing.
"When the Bough Breaks"
This one certainly has a TOS feel to it.  The build-up paints the writers into a corner, and consequently the resolution feels pat.  For all that, it's a passable episode.
"Home Soil"
A solid bit of old-style SF detective work on an isolated base.  I could imagine this being rewritten as a Doctor Who script circa 1968 without much difficulty.  The terraforming stuff all adds nicely to the series' depiction of the Federation.  Not bad.
"Coming of Age"
Interesting as a sort of mid-season evaluation of everything that's gone before, as an unpleasant "political officer" type character quizzes everyone on decisions made in previous episodes.  Probably more interesting in hindsight as a prelude to the next-but-five episode, "Conspiracy".  Also notable for focussing heavily on Wesley Fricking Crusher and not making him insufferable.
"Heart of Glory"
The one that openly contrasts and replaces the old "blood and thunder" variety of Klingon honour with the new "inner struggle" variety.  It's a good week to be Michael Dorn.  The Geordi POV material is lovely too.  Nice episode.
"The Arsenal of Freedom"
Relatively light (and light-hearted) anti-militarist stuff.  The plot is dropped pretty quickly once the away team manage to switch off the automated sales machine.  Forgettable, but some nice individual lines of dialogue - "Peace, through superior firepower!"
"Symbiosis"
The one with the heavy handed drug addiction message.  In spite of which, it's a pretty good episode.  The ending, in which the Prime Directive forces Picard to not resolve the problem, is questionable, odd, but also at least complex and realistic.
"Skin of Evil"
In which a cartoonishly evil tar creature kills Tasha Yar very, very abruptly.  It's not a great character exit - no real plot, no real meaning.  The funeral scene at the end of the episode is kind of nice but also kind of schmaltzy, and certainly can't carry the rest of the episode.  The last of the Season 1 car crashes.
"We'll Always Have Paris"
Casts its prominent female guest star in a very '60s role and treats her in a very '60s way.  I'm not sure whether the time experiment shenanigans are good enough to smooth over this and carry the episode.  I'm fairly sure this episode will be more interesting as a footnote to the Time War episodes I know are coming in later franchise series than it is in its own right.
"Conspiracy"
Possibly the least exciting political thriller ever.  Attempts some bold visual effects, but the technology and/or the budget just isn't there to do them justice.  And with the gruesome death of just one character, the entire threat of the Federation being infiltrated is handwaved away, tra la.
"The Neutral Zone"
Possibly the least exciting space opera ever.  One scene of Picard and some Romulans nodding at each other is cushioned within a whole episode of 21st century castaways gently adjusting to the 24th century.  The mystery of who's been destroying everyone's starbases is left hanging, but there's no effort made to suggest that it'll be picked up again or to ensure that the viewer will remember about it after the credits roll.  Hum-ho stuff.

Rankings, from favourite to least favourite:
"Heart of Glory"
"Too Short a Season"
"Home Soil"
"Coming of Age"
"Encounter at Farpoint"
"The Battle"
"The Arsenal of Freedom"
"Symbiosis"
"11001001"
"The Big Goodbye"
"Where No One Has Gone Before"
"Lonely Among Us"
"The Last Outpost"
"Hide and Q"
"Haven"
"Datalore"
"When the Bough Breaks"
"We'll Always Have Paris"
"The Neutral Zone"
"Conspiracy"
"The Naked Now"
"Justice"
"Code of Honor"
"Skin of Evil"
"Angel One"

Episodes that I remembered seeing before: 2 ("Encounter at Farpoint" and "The Last Outpost".)

Episodes that I would make a point of watching again: in this season, probably none of them.  It's early days, and with the benefit of hindsight I know TNG will improve, but quite honestly I don't think I'd have bothered to tune in for Season 2 if I'd watched Season 1 when it was first transmitted.  Still, some moments of interest here and there.