Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "The only person you're truly competing against, Wesley, is yourself."
Wesley Crusher: "Then you're not disappointed?"
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "Wesley - you have to measure your successes and your failures within, not by anything that I or anyone else might think. But, erm... if it helps you to know this... *I* failed the first time, and you may not tell anyone!"
-Picard and Crusher discussing his Starfleet Academy test, from the episode "Coming of Age"
My long-term study of Star Trek continues apace. I completed Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series (too short and uninteresting to review, sadly, other than providing a quick rating of 5 out of 10 right now), and the Star Trek films through Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Last month, I began watching an episode of TNG while riding the exercise bike each weekday morning. (Ok, just Monday through Thursday. Friday's my day off.) And although Season One is considered among the worst of this celebrated series' offerings--other than the dreaded Season Two, of course--I have to admit that my reaction here is surprisingly positive.I've seen Season One a couple times before, the last time rather recently, and I didn't care for it much. It's certainly not the best television ever produced. Season One of TNG projects an overall feel of childlike innocence bordering on naïveté. Considered absent the context of prior Star Trek entries, this jejune atmosphere is only slightly north of ho-hum, probably not compelling enough to attract the casual viewer--and certainly not the scifi skeptic. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep during some of them.
In light of TOS, TAS, and the original six movies, though, Season One shines with the triumphant optimism of late-Cold-War American culture, a refreshingly critical attitude (most of the time) toward reigning social norms, and--most of all--more professional writing and acting, helmed notably by the iconic Patrick Stewart. I'd argue that the season is a high water mark, far better than any single counterpart in either TOS or TAS. With its early pessimism and late jingoism, TOS echoed the decline of white American masculinity and the rise of its counterrevolution against the Civil Rights Movement; TAS, in turn, revealed scifi's New Wave interests in feminism and environmentalism, even as it effectively turned the Enterprise into The Mystery Machine of space. Enter TNG, a scifi fusion of post-stagflation sighs of relief and late-Reaganite, willing amnesia toward the horrors of the Vietnam War.
Like the United States, the Federation at the start of the series has achieved a hegemonic presence, its "unipolar moment," a sort of Fukuyama end-of-galactic-history that, as in life in the late 1980s, made for a refreshing diversion. But this age of innocence could only be interesting for that short while. The TNG writers attempted to dream up compelling enemies for our new heroes and heroines: Q, too powerful to be effective foils for long; the Ferengi, viewed almost instantly as ridiculous, even as their presence was a welcome critique of capitalism; Armus, who reminded me too much of Eeyore; and, of course, the classic enemies of each other, in that sort of Nietzschean stare-into-the-abyss-and-see-it-staring-back sort of way. If you cheat by flipping too many chapters ahead and know of the Borg advent, you're left just a bit sad.
I'm tempted to talk about the relationships among the characters (Picard as the crew's superego, and other such nonsense). But as these issues bleed into future seasons, I'll stop and promise to reflect more deeply on characters, plots, and meanings at the end of Season Seven. For now, I'll simply rank order my favorite and least favorite episodes:
Top Five Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Episodes:
1. "Conspiracy," Excellent, 8/10
By far the best episode of Season One. I think it's brilliant how the writers foreshadowed the anti-Federation plot in a previous episode (which happens to be my second favorite, "Coming of Age"), built up a genuinely creepy atmosphere of suspense, and spent probably ungodly amounts of money on some cool (for television at the time, anyway) and gruesome special effects. Picard is amazing, as always, and Riker starts to come into his own, rather than being the horndog everyman. The scene where he stalks Beverly is chilling.
2. "Coming of Age," Great, 7/10
A great episode that can stand on its own as representative of TNG at its best. I like Wesley Crusher, and I realize not everyone does, so this is probably a controversial choice for the second best of Season One. If you give him a chance, though, do so with this episode. It takes the young savant down a peg, but does so in the best way possible, developing his moral compass. And Picard rocks it again as he puts up with the insufferable Lieutenant Commander Remmick. One of my favorite scenes in Season One (and maybe all TNG) features Picard, roughed up after the officious pug's constant nitpicking, saving Kurland and thumbing his captain's nose in Remmick's smug face.
3. "The Big Goodbye," Great, 7/10
Another amazing standalone episode, and the first to put the holodeck to a real philosophical test. The acting is simply great; I loved how fascinated the captain, Beverly, and the historian were by the atmospheric touches of the noir setting. And the plot: unnerving. What would you do if you created a universe but were unable to escape? The holodeck is one of the best features of the Star Trek universe, and one of the scifi elements best used by writers in all of the coming series. This episode is an engaging testament as to why.
4. "Encounter at Farpoint," Great, 7/10
The pilot, and as such, an easy entry for the Top Five. It's not the greatest television that TNG has to offer, but it's a classic opener that set the optimistic, awe-inspiring tone of the new series. I don't like Q--gasp all you want, fanboys--but here I think Q is used to its best potential (unlike in "Hide and Q," which is too cutesy and unbecoming of what could be an interesting foil for Picard): as a prod to the conscience of a stagnating hegemonic culture.
5. "When the Bough Breaks," Great, 7/10
Again, probably a controversial choice. I like it because it's a statement--albeit a ham-fisted one--about the importance of a liberal education. Yawn all you want. The episode begins and ends with a child who refuses to study calculus instead of his passion for art, but who learns that individuals and cultures are strongest when they are open-minded and well-rounded. My class in a nutshell.
Bottom Five Worst Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One Episodes:
21. "Hide and Q," OK, 5/10
As I said earlier, I'm not a fan of Q. I think it's uninteresting as an enemy, given that it simply has no boundaries. (Yes, yes. Later episodes try to show Q's limitations, but whatevs.) This one made me question whether I liked even Riker, who to be fair is a rather cardboard character in Season One as a whole. But the episode far too overrated, as well, which made me dislike it even more.
22. "Angel One," OK, 5/10
"How innovative!" exclaimed the misogynistic writing staff. "Let's write an episode where we examine gender dynamics by flipping women into the privileged role!" It didn't accomplish that goal, needless to say. This one belongs in TOS.
23. "Code of Honor," OK, 5/10
Just OK, and borderline uninteresting. The gender commentary is out of place in the TNG universe. It's sad that this is one of Yar's few focused episodes. She's not my favorite Enterprise crewmember, to be sure, but she deserved far better than a cage match.
24. "The Heart of Glory," Uninteresting, 4/10
The first of the lame and boring Klingon episodes. Why they keep reappearing throughout Star Trek, I have no clue. Worf isn't my favorite character by a long shot, either, but his double-take when prompted to choose between loyalty to the Enterprise over some dimwit Klingon cons was out of character and just stupid.
25. "The Last Outpost," Uninteresting, 4/10
Ugh. The worst episode of Season One, hands down. Even the Ferengi laugh at how bad they are. Seriously.
My Rating: Decent, 6/10
My IMDb Rating: 6/10
