Posted on March 21st, 2008 by Samuel Walters
Series Overview
As I reflect on the seven season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the most prominent thought I have is that this series is greater than the sum of its parts. I have analyzed, reviewed and evaluated every episode. And yet, if you averaged out each episode’s grade, I am certain that the result would not represent the measure of success that this series achieved. Which means, of course, that there is something more to TNG – something that mere statistics cannot tell us. So what is it? What distinguishes Star Trek: The Next Generation?
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Posted on March 12th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
All TNG Episode Reviews Are Complete!
Dauntlessmedia.net is proud to announce that, as of today, every episode, in all seven seasons, has been reviewed. It is an important moment because in August 2007, the latest incarnation of Dauntlessmedia was launched in conjunction with the TNG site.
I would like to personally thank each of our repeat readers from across the United States, and across the globe, for joining me on this journey. The feedback I have received (both public and private) has been exceptionally encouraging. And I would like to say to you: The journey is not yet complete.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Reviews will continue with reviews of all four TNG films (I promise to rewatch Nemesis, even if it kills me). In addition, there are a number of in depth discussions planned that will focus on main themes, such as the Prime Directive, Time Travel, etc.
Also, be on the lookout for additional media, including: archives of episode information; sound clips; and, most notably, Podcasts. I expect Podcast production to begin some time in the next few weeks. My initial goal will be to produce one Podcast per week.
But for now, I’ll be taking some time to sit back and reflect on the TNG experience. Expect my first article to be a summary of those thoughts …
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Posted on March 12th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
With All Good Things … the seven year run of Star Trek: The Next Generation comes to worthy, if somewhat unremarkable end. There’s plenty of grist here for TNG fans, including trips back into the past, to just before the Encounter At Farpoint mission, and into the future, where we get a glimpse at where the crew might end up. In fact, time is a major element in this episode. As is camaraderie. And Q. The series opened with Q’s Trial of Humanity and within that framework, the series unfolded. The premise is revisited. And it is very much appropriate.
However, All Good Things is the strongest piece of evidence that the series had run its course. The real criticism of this episode is its inability to become greater than the sum of its parts. That is, of course, the mark of a true work of art. As a series, TNG manages to accomplish that feat. But as an episode, All Good Things does not. And in spite of its feature length, as a series ending episode, it is simply a good episode — not a great one.
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Posted on March 11th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
Preemptive Strike is an episode that comes full circle for the character of Ro Laren. The central dynamic of the episode is her relationship with Picard — his trust in her has helped her forge a new life. She is immensely grateful. But their mutual trust and respect are put to the test. In another solid layer to the episode, it builds on the establishment of the demilitarized zone in Journey’s End. This is TNG penultimate episode (if you count All Good Things … as a single installment). And the series delivers.
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Posted on March 11th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
Emergence has the singular distinction of being the last bad episode of TNG. But did it have to be this bad? More than anything, I think Emergence is the prime example why the series had run its course. It’s an episode filled with endless TNG cliché from finding new life to malfunctioning Holodecks to a commentary on humanity in general, and the crew in particular. But what really sinks the episode is its almost complete lack of character development. I guess you could argue that such development came from the ship itself, but that’s a bit of a stretch.
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Posted on March 10th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
As TNG draws to a close, I certainly appreciate that the series is making an explicit effort tie together story ideas introduced early on. The conclusion of Wesley’s story in Journey’s End is an example how this can be an asset. What I don’t get though is why anyone would want to revisit the horrible Ferengi plot from The Battle. More interesting would have been a deeper exploration of the Stargazer. Unfortunately, Bloodlines gives us “The Battle Part II: The Wrath of Bok” — much to the detriment of the episode.
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Posted on March 9th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
Firstborn tells yet another story in the ongoing troubles between Worf and his son, Alexander. It tries to break the mold and offer an avenue of eventual reconciliation between the two individuals — fitting, considering its proximity to the end of the series. And the underlying premise is certainly intriguing enough. Unfortunately, the much of the episode never really transcends the criticisms that have plagued nearly every other Worf-Alexander story line.
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Posted on March 9th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
Wesley Crusher’s story arc gets a worthy, and fitting, conclusion in Journey’s End. What makes the episode so successful is that not only does Wesley’s story fit into the episode’s main conflict, but Journey’s End also manages to provide a measure of closure for an idea first introduced in Season 1’s Where No One Has Gone Before — namely, the notion that Wesley is a prodigy, with a destiny very different from that of everyone else.
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Posted on March 8th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
“Theres some sort of disease on board the Enterprise. And its spreading.”- Nurse Ogawa.
She’s right. It’s called Really Bad Overactors Disease.
Do you remember that horrid Geordi LaForge episode in Season 4, called Identity Crisis? Do you recall how utterly preposterous it was that someone’s entire DNA could be rewritten, and then returned to normal as if nothing ever happened? Apparently someone had a bright idea to take that concept and make another, even more ludicrous episode based on the same concept.
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Posted on March 8th, 2008 by Samuel Walters
There is a new TNG Season 7 review available:
Eye of the Beholder is another attempt at a paranormal “ghost story” type episode. And like the previously horrid Sub Rosa, Eye of the Beholder does not handle the genre very well. In fact, it often resorts to bag of overused, unsophisticated devices in order to generate the suspense and drama that the story is otherwise lacking.
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