Current Events > Star Trek watchthrough 2. Ongoing spoilers from TNG season 4.

(+) Yeah! (+)

the Barclay actor is named Dwight Schulz. He is most famous for being on the original A-Team television show. His character on the A-team was named Murdoch

Politely breaks an instrument.

One thing mildly amusing/mildly sexist about this episode is that Sirtis and McFadden were the only members of the cast to actually be trained in fencing, but being women, they naturally just threw pots at people.

And, yet, one scene wonder Henry is the one who puts a stop to it

they?

if you want an actual answer to this question, with the least amount of spoilers i can manage:

the symbionts are referenced as "it"s, and the combined being is referred to by their host's preference.

This was kinda long before they/them really caught on as preferred non-binary pronouns. Isnt there a Trill officer in Discovery who goes by they/them?

. It occurs to me that the real O'Brien puts up with a lot of shit.

No idea what Darmok is, except that it's next.

Temba, his arms wide!

Hows the dating going?

Episode 2: Darmok

So, thats what you lot were blathering about. Language truly is a beautiful thing.

Picard's new jacket is fucking nice. Enjoy his optimism at being able to communicate with the Children of Tama. Fun seeing him learn the rules of the language. Assumes aggression a bit too readily. Great though his realisation is, expressing it as example and metaphor seems slightly simple. It's correct, but the way its phrased doesn't sit right with me. Reciting The Epic of Gilgamesh is a phenomenal scene.

Riker naturally gets in a flap over losing Picard. Tends towards the aggressive. It suits the themes, so, I'm not going to consider it a problem, but a few tend towards being out of character and Riker gets the worst of it.

La Forge offers a mildly impractical solution.

Worf considers the more threatening possibilities. Some hesitation when bringing the shuttle back. There was a neat touch to Dorn's acting when he and Riker were debating shooting down the ship. The way he almost half shrugs, conceding the point, when Riker tells him it's a last resort suggest that either Worf is more comfortable with being on the Enterprise after the last episode or Dorn is simply more comfortable in the role. Nice thing to notice, regardless.

I'm assuming that McFadden's pregnancy/recently given birth is why she's been relatively absent from the more recent episodes.

Troi's on the optimistic side. Has a eureka moment. Kind of like her arguing with Worf. Feels like they're making a more concerted effort to have all the characters be more involved with this season.

Data exposits. Shares Troi's exasperation as best he can. It's actually quite cool seeing these two work closely together. His explanation of the language was more what I was looking for.

O'Brien almost works a miracle.

Even when completely incomprehensible, you're able to get a vague feeling from the Tamarians of what they're about. Dathon demonstrates immense patience despite his frustration and has to discipline his right hand man after he mocks the main characters as though they are children. The transporter plan is clearly a last resort because he knows that it will be taken as an aggressive act. His laugh during The Epic of Gilgamesh is incredible.

Even in just the cold open, I had great fun in trying to decipher exactly what they're trying to communicate. I'm typing up these thoughts after each commercial break because I think that's more in the spirit of things (not that there's anyway to prove it). Plus, I want to experiment with what im doing here and im in a good mood, besides. Assuming the universal translator is vaguely functioning and that there is some correspondence between English and their language, then the frequent use of proper nouns, often with reference to a location or event seem to suggest that context and meaning is conveyed through reference to an important story in their shared history or mythology that likely dealt with that idea. A name or collection of names indicate the intended emotion to convey, with locations and times serving the role of adjectives. The poetic nature of all these lines remind me of many works in the oral tradition. The preamble through genealogies at the start of Beowulf most immediately springs to mind.(Cold open).

It becomes pretty obvious quite quickly what the meaning of lines like "his eyes shut" (ignorance, lack of understanding, misconception) mean. "His arms open" is explained by Picard and thank god he doesn't take forever to get there. (Act one).

Troi and Data basically stumble upon the shared history idea. Makes this experiment slightly embarrassing for me, even if you choose to believe that im playing legit. I was hoping for more of a puzzle box. (Act two).

Picard gets clued up and confirms most of my theories. I will admit to one misunderstanding. I assumed "when the walls fell" may have referred to a breaking down of barriers between peoples. In hindsight, failure is more logical answer. The specifics of some lines do still escape me at this stage, too. (Act three).

Nothing much to say, except that I'm delighted at how far they are taking this exploration of language. (Act four).

Even aside from the joys of language, its an excellent production all round.

I actually really admire how mature and thorough the episode with this exploration of language. There is far more to understanding a people than simply substituting one set of sounds for another and having a species whose language is dependent on awareness of their culture for even the slightest ghost of understanding is one of the most brilliant metaphors for that idea. I particularly enjoyed the discussion in the observation deck about how their unique language informs the way they think, much as it often precedes thought in human cultures, despite being intended to express thought. Taking the discussion as far as ancient Sumer and The Epic of Gilgamesh is just remarkable, invoking one of the earliest societies to have developed both a still extant language and literature. A levels don't quite prepare you for the full richness of discovering how language functions, so much as they give you a tantalising taste and, so, I find myself wonderfully out of my depth (as well as out of time. In fact, im slipping on these reviews of late) to fully describe everything I want to. I will add one final thought that it's not lost on me that is basically Arena, but far more idealistic.

I'm actually astonished. This was truly beautiful and went far further than I would've expected.

Ensign Ro is a bit more obviously a character.

Aside from Ro being a truly excellent character, it's nice for this episode to lightly discuss the plight of war refugees. I was worried at a few points, though. While I don't believe that attacking innocents is ever justified, it was hard for me to not see Picard's demand that the terrorism stop as somewhat unsympathetic to the very real suffering that the Bajora are going through. There tends to be a patronising attitude among the well off towards such refugees that leads to the condemning of theft and other "crimes" that may actually be necessary for basic survival. Attacking an entirely separate government may be a completely different and more severe issue, but the tone its delivered with reeks of an overly privileged attitude. It's a bit of a moot point, though, since the episode goes in a different direction.

More worryingly is the characterisation of some of the main cast, whose attitude towards Ro ranges from merely nasty to seemingly bigoted. Having familiar characters suddenly act like dicks is not something I need.

Riker and Co being unpleasant stops it from being great, but Ro alone almost saved it.

Silicon Avatar is next.

Absolute arse with Laren. Unlikeability is becoming a pattern with him. Like, he is genuinely angry, and is even slightly snappy with Picard, and I finding it difficult to appreciate his character because of it.

Aside from Ro being a truly excellent character, it's nice for this episode to lightly discuss the plight of war refugees. I was worried at a few points, though. While I don't believe that attacking innocents is ever justified, it was hard for me to not see Picard's demand that the terrorism stop as somewhat unsympathetic to the very real suffering that the Bajora are going through.

The Game is next.

Troi finds the whole tour business hilarious. Quite out of her depth with command, which doesn't seem right. Shouldn't she have had similar training to Riker or at least Data?

Has an impish Jim Carrey feel to him

<3 me some Matt Frewer.