In the eighth episode of the fifth season of The Next Generation<\/i>, Spock reveals his plan. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n
God, this was just so satisfying for me, and everything I wanted out of an episode like this happened AND EVEN MORE.<\/p>\n
Cowboy Diplomacy<\/b><\/p>\n
Can we just assume that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a slight reference to Captain Kirk? Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to because THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S HALF OF THE ORIGINAL SERIES<\/i> EPISODES. Truthfully, though, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brilliant line because it helps explain why Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior feels so unlike him and so dangerous. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Spock to ignore Federation protocol, especially not on a visit that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so obviously controversial. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Spock was ever na\u00c3\u00afve enough to believe that his actions wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ruffle feathers back home. He simply hoped that he could do what he could, as a Vulcan, to fulfill a dream that had no real chance of success until this very moment.<\/p>\n
I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s realistic, then, that Picard and Spock don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily get along during that initial meeting. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not openly hostile to one another or anything of the sort, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not on the same page. Spock has his own interests at stake, and Picard has his duty to contend with. Even when Spock reveals what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to do \u00e2\u20ac\u201c re-unify the Vulcan and Romulan people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Picard still isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite ready to join forces with the legendary Starfleet officer. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe in the possibility, and you know what? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t blame him. I was skeptical of reunification as well. How do you undo generations worth of cultural hatred and prejudice in a matter of days? Yes, Spock just wanted to start<\/i> the process, but even getting it started in a place like Romulus was an ambitious idea.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite understand Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motivations for the whole \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cowboy diplomacy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he takes part in here, only because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s referencing something I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve not seen. (Will The Next Generation<\/i> flash back to tell us what happened when the Klingon peace was negotiated?) Regardless, I found a lot of sense in Spock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to give this complicated plan a chance.<\/p>\n
It<\/b>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Trap<\/b><\/p>\n
Despite that Spock was very much aware that this might all be a trap, he persisted on with the plan to have the young Preconsul in the Senate introduce reunification. My wariness, though, stemmed from how easy<\/i> it was for Spock to get the man to talk about something that most Romulans wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t entertain for a second. Plus, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the Preconsul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face. HE LOOKED LIKE A LIAR. Honestly, though, any time a difficult task goes smoothly? I get suspicious. VERY SUSPICIOUS.<\/p>\n
What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting about the design of the second part of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is how there are multiple traps set by the Romulans, and all of them are avoided by ingenuity and intellect. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very Star Trek<\/i> resolution to these conflicts, you know? Riker reasons that the Vulcan ships that enter Federation territory aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what they seem; and Data and Spock use their minds to crack the Romulan computer encryption in order to pull a fast one on Commander Sela. (GOD, DENISE CROSBY IS SO GOOD AS A VILLAIN.) Which is a good thing, because holy shit<\/i>, what Sela had planned was so devious and awful. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a while since we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had an antagonist like her on the show, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all! She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s oppressive, downright cruel, and poses a legitimate threat to the peace of numerous nations and peoples. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the closest The Next Generation<\/i> has ever gotten to a Big Bad aside from The Borg, which still<\/i> has only ever shown up twice.<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M A BIG FAN OF THIS.<\/p>\n
Humanity<\/b><\/p>\n
Literally nothing is less okay than Data realizing that Spock has thrown away the very thing he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been searching for his whole life. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever felt a bigger punch to my heart from The Next Generation<\/i> than that. Who wrote that? Who thought it was okay? Who hurt you so much that you had to hurt us?<\/p>\n
Share<\/b><\/p>\n
AND THEN THIS SAME EPISODE GIVES US A TEARFUL PICARD LOOKING ON AS SPOCK MIND-MELDS WITH HIM TO GET HIS FATHER\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S MEMORIES AND FEELINGS? WHAT THE FUCK. I AM BUT ONE HUMAN AND THIS SHELL CAN ONLY STAND SO MUCH EMOTION.<\/p>\n
Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the thing: if this show was gonna use Spock in a Next Generation<\/i> plot, then it had to do him and his legacy justice. I honestly think this two-parter is a fine spectacle. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exciting, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thought-provoking, it does not provide the rebel Romulans with an easy solution, and it shows us potential. Could you imagine if Spock was around all the time? DO YOU REALIZE HOW GREAT THAT WOULD BE?<\/p>\n
Bless this two-parter so much.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unification, Part II\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>. In the eighth episode of the fifth season of The Next Generation, Spock reveals his plan. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[614,632],"tags":[615],"class_list":["post-4986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-star-trek","category-the-next-generation","tag-mark-watches-star-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986","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=4986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S. this summer and fall Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"