As the Titan tries to hide from the Shrike in a nebula, only to keep being discovered, it becomes clear that something -- or someone -- is giving away their position. Jean-Luc and Beverly have a difficult conversation about their relationship and Jack. And elsewhere, Worf and Raffi learn who is really behind the theft of dangerous technology.
I'm going to start by jumping to the end of the episode, which pits Riker and Picard against each other over how to deal with the Shrike. I think for characters who have cared for each other as long as these two (and they even showed that multiple times in this episode), the writers have to work extra hard to make such a conflict believable -- and I think they fell short. Picard's argument for going on offense seemed non-existent, an unsupported contrivance for the plot. The way Riker chastises Picard in the end ("You've killed us all.") felt like dialogue that would have been written for Captain Shaw, simply put in Riker's mouth. I thought it was an unfortunately sour note to end the episode on.
And that's a shame, because I thought just about everything else about the episode was excellent. At center was the amazing confrontation between Beverly and Jean-Luc. There, both characters did have a point of view that made sense, and argued them believably. Indeed, the scene struck me as so good that it actually made me a bit sad to think back to The Next Generation: Gates McFadden was capable of delivering this, and her skills were never fully utilized. At least when given her best scene ever as Beverly Crusher, she knocked it out of the park.
Relationships were key throughout the rest of the episode too. Before Riker and Picard's false feud, the early flashback demonstrated their deep friendship and set up the meaning of the "Seventeen Seconds" title to be beautifully paid off later. Worf's addition to Raffi's storyline boosted that narrative. Worf was written at his best -- a blend of operatic drama, dry humor, and unaware humor -- and Michael Dorn seems not to have missed a beat playing him. Worf and Raffi made a fun good cop / bad cop team that carried their part of the episode. (Though I'm antsy for them to unite with Picard and company soon.) Even Seven got a nice character moment, with LaForge.
The production values felt sky high this week, with a number of eye-popping visuals for the chase through the nebula, and the Shrike's horrifyingly clever use of its "portal gun." The score continued to use classic Goldsmith Star Trek themes in just the right amounts -- and even gave us an homage to James Horner's Wrath of Khan score as the Titan plunged into the nebula.
The big reveal this week is, essentially, that this isn't just a curtain call for The Next Generation, but in many ways for Deep Space Nine as well. As Worf spent four seasons there too, it really just makes sense. Indeed, it seems obvious in retrospect: the Shrike has the lines of a Dominion ship, and the helmets worn by the "henchmen" we've seen could have been covering the fact that they're Jem'Hadar. In any case, I'm eager to see how this story picks up the baton. (And I can now hope for some appearances by Deep Space Nine characters too!)
Other observations:
(For whatever reason, I usually only do this in my "retro" Star Trek reviews. But I have a couple more thoughts here and didn't have anywhere better to put them...)
- OK, the first use of Deanna Troi in this season also wasn't a great part of the episode. But I assume better is still to come. (And I liked her "bring the whiskey" demand, a connection of sorts to First Contact.)
- I struggled to figure out where I recognized the criminal captured by Worf and Raffi. That's because I wasn't picturing him as a surly teenager, as John from The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
- I appreciate the quick hanging of a lantern on the subject of Jack's British accent.
No comments:
Post a Comment