{"id":4990,"date":"2015-10-14T13:00:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-14T20:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4990"},"modified":"2015-09-21T09:36:12","modified_gmt":"2015-09-21T16:36:12","slug":"mark-watches-the-next-generation-s05e10-new-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/10\/mark-watches-the-next-generation-s05e10-new-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘The Next Generation’: S05E10 – New Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the tenth episode of the fifth season of The Next Generation<\/i>, Worf\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s son complicates his life on the Enterprise<\/i>. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Star Trek<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Well, they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t all be amazing. This is not a terrible episode of The Next Generation<\/i> and there certainly have been many, many worse. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that great, either. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a quiet attempt to introduce Worf to fatherhood in a more serious way, but it suffers from a lack of urgency. Even the big climactic scene at the end feels artificial and forced.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not without a genuinely good surprise at the end, and I think it starts out well enough. I liked the idea that Worf\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents felt like raising their grandson was something they simply weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t interested in for their later years. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like they couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t raise a Klingon child, nor did they feel like he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lovable. They simply believed it was time for them to live the rest of their lives for themselves. Which is fair! He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not their child, and I believe that Worf respected that decision.<\/p>\n

Alexander\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s integration into life on the Enterprise<\/i> was, unsurprisingly, difficult. I expected that. First of all, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Klingon, so that was bound to cause problems. But his behavior confused me, especially since it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to be related to him being a Klingon. The aggression and contempt, maybe<\/i>. But the theft and the lying? It perplexed me, especially when we saw how openly he did it. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like he lied whenever Worf wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t around; it was a constant thing!<\/p>\n

So why lie? Why the disobedience? It takes a (brilliant!) conversation with Troi for Worf to realize that maybe he caused his son\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior years earlier. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, that scene is easily<\/i> the best one here, and I really wonder why we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see more of them. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got one of the most insightful and empathetic characters imaginable around all the time, and yet? Scenes within Troi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office are few and far between, which is a crime, considering how entertaining and revealing they are. I mean, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fascinating watching her work, especially as she guides Worf to his revelation, rather than tell<\/i> him what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looking for.<\/p>\n

While this is all well and good, I did not find the rest of this episode to be as engaging. The entire sub-plot involving the Soliton wave was scientifically interesting, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here except to create a faux-suspenseful scene at the end of the episode. Is it meant to inspire Worf to invite his son to stay on the Enterprise<\/i>? Perhaps, but the connection didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel that clear to me. Instead, the whole plot feels tacked on for the sake of it, as if the writers realized that Worf\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story had no action and the episode needed something preposterous and physical. I think the rest of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153New Ground\u00e2\u20ac\u009d could have been developed further to make it a character study, but instead, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 okay. Not spectacular, but not terrible either.<\/p>\n

I admit I did not think that Alexander would be asked to stay on the ship. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of cool! I guess we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to see if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll actually appear in future episodes, though, or else this twist won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hold that much weight. Regardless, this is one of the weaker episodes this season.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153New Ground\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>.
\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":"