In the first episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation<\/i>, Captain Picard and his crew face the ambiguously frightening Q, who is prepared to judge all of humanity. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Holy shit.<\/p>\n
Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s get a couple things out of the way first!<\/p>\n
Please read the Site Rules and FAQ if you<\/b>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re new here<\/b>. I imagine that a lot of you sat out my watch through\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, a lot of you told me you did, haha. But in case you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re new here, I recommend you familiarize yourself with my community before you post. We have stringent rules about spoiling and not being a total asshole. Read them. And, more importantly:<\/p>\n
Please listen to the moderators.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b>Many have been moderating here for five years. They know what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing. They will nicely remind you about spoilers or slurs. They are volunteers. And you should respect them as you would respect me.<\/p>\n
Video commentaries are recorded a week before the review is posted live.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b>Each episode will be $0.99 and will be posted in my store, collected by season. I announce when new videos are available on Twitter and over on Mark Spoils so you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to wait for the review to go up to see my immediate reactions. Each file you purchase can be downloaded 10 times, so feel free to spread to others who cannot afford the cost. Please consider supporting me with a Video Pass, which can be used on video files ONLY.<\/p>\n
My Master Schedule denotes when each review goes up.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b>I am following the airing order for the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek<\/i> canon. That means I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll watch the movies based on what episodes aired before and after it; I will also begin to switch between\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation<\/i> and\u00c2\u00a0Deep Space 9\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>once they aired at the same time. The entirety of the four remaining shows and the ten films are on the Master Schedule, and I assure you that will answer most of your questions about how I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m watching this.<\/p>\n
I do like to be transparent about what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spoiled\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for on a show, so here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I knew going into\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation<\/i>.<\/p>\n Which is a great thing, because the first half of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Encounter at Farpoint\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a FUCKING SPECTACLE. You know, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know if I know half these characters names. Tasha Yar, Picard, Riker, Data, the Crushers, Worf\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 WHO THE HELL IS EVERYONE ELSE? Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the frumpy white guy who barely talks? The woman who has psychic powers, who I WANT TO KNOW PLENTY MORE ABOUT? Levar Burton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character? (I recall something like Forge?) And I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think this is a negative aspect of this pilot. I was grabbed by this story because the writers dropped me into a surreal, existential disaster, and then they expected me to figure it out on my own. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not typical of\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series<\/i>, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a bold start to a show that many people would use as their introduction to this fictional universe.<\/p>\n But isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t also something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfect for this kind of show? The original show had a lot of episodes about omniscient, god-like beings who wanted to judge the crew of the\u00c2\u00a0Enterprise<\/i>. However, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Encounter at Farpoint\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is so much more brutal than most of what we saw on the original series, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great way to show the audience that this is not going to be the same show. John de Lancie portrays Q with a ferocity that makes Q\u00c2\u00a0utterly terrifying. Q is not afraid to toy with these people, and\u00c2\u00a0Q does as they wish because they\u00c2\u00a0CAN<\/i>. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the sense I got from that bizarre, Kafka-esque trial. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all a show simply because Q knows that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll win. But why? Where did the Q come from? How long have they been observing humanity? We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get these answers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at least not yet \u00e2\u20ac\u201c because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not important right now. This is merely the canvas that the writers use to introduce us to these characters for the first time.<\/p>\n We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Jean-Luc Picard, who is INSTANTLY portrayed as more cold than Captain Kirk ever was. I LOVE IT. I mean, if there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anyone here who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most like Kirk, that would be Riker. This episode establishes the power dynamic between the two of them. Picard is powerful, dominating, but well aware that this makes him intimidating. Riker, so far, seems eager to be a part of command. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to see how much they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll develop the relationship between him and Picard, given that Picard has asked him to step in so that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come off like an asshole. Another character dynamic I picked up on is Yar and Picard; she seems to be the youngest of the bunch, not counting Wesley, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s VERY, VERY PROTECTIVE of everyone around her. Which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m totally into, since the show is already subverting expected gender roles through her. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first (and only!) person to throw a punch in this episode, and she does so out of a deep love for Starfleet and her fellow crew. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M INTO THIS. MORE PLEASE.<\/p>\n I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite understand the role of the other woman on the ship, but I noticed that Picard relied on her a couple times for advice, so I wonder why she provides him guidance. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite like the role Riker will play. Well, obviously, since she can READ MINDS or something. WHAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S THAT ABOUT? And what of Worf? I was pretty damn shocked to see a Klingon onboard, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m assuming that something happened since\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series<\/i> ended that would explain\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the Federation now trusts the Klingons. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fascinating is that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think that since Worf is a non-human species, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d fall into the role that Spock played. But no, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say Data is a lot closer to Spock. (I mean, if Bones says so, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s canon. HAHAHAHA I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M TOTALLY FINE WITH BONES\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S APPEARANCE HERE. NO PROBLEMS. TOTALLY OKAY.) That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to say he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the same character; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s utterly inhuman as an android, but I can see how the show might be able to build off of this characterization for both humor and insight.<\/p>\n As for the story? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite know what to think because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen so little of it. I loved the court sequence for its weirdness and brutality, but all the stuff on Deneb hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been developed much. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got access to some sort of power that allows them to manipulate matter, and we saw that one dude talking to\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 nothing? The air? A GHOST??? Something must be up, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll work as a test for humanity, nor why Q is so insistent that Picard will fail. I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll save my commentary on that for the second half of this pilot.<\/p>\n But I did want to say that THIS WAS SO TERRIBLY EXCITING TO WATCH. Look, I know a\u00c2\u00a0lot<\/i> of people who count this as their entrance to this fandom and to science fiction. (Thank you to those same people for not spoiling me!) Having made my way through\u00c2\u00a0The Original Series<\/i> and the utterly fantastic films that came out prior to\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation<\/i>, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been pretty damn excited myself to get here. I want to know why y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all love this, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because Patrick Stewart is on it\u00e2\u20ac\u009d will have to suffice for now. (It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great reason.) How did this show challenge things established by the original show? How did it build from it? What did it do to make it so beloved? Why am I not best friends with Levar Burton? (Seriously, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, how has this not happened yet?) I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how this show will unfold; I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know any of the characters not introduced yet; I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get any serialization; and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know where this takes place within this established universe. That sense of ignorance is a thrilling thing for me, and I mean that. I love watching television without knowing what the fuck I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting into, and with an episode as bizarre as this, I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m off to the right start.<\/p>\n The video for the first part of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Encounter at Farpoint\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>. (I have had to retire my policy of giving the first episode away for free. My hosting costs are skyrocketing, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather not change the price of anything for y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Thanks for understanding!)<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS. In the first episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0The Next Generation, Captain Picard and his crew face the ambiguously frightening Q, who is prepared to judge all of humanity. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Star Trek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,614,632],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-4439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-avatar","category-star-trek","category-the-next-generation","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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