I'll Always Have Trek

So, I decided to DVR Star Trek: The Next Generation and see how it held up. Thought I'd record a weekend's worth and watch them all in one big go, but it turns out it doesn't run as much as I'd expected. And it also turned out that the third episode, recorded last night (MLK Jr Day) was one I remembered VERY fondly.

"We'll Always Have Paris."

Saw it 20+ years ago and loved it. Haven't seen it in almost that long. Just finished watching it.

It's probably not fair to start with a favorite old episode of a show you haven't seen in years and years. Perceptions could be colored as memories shift.

"Paris" holds up like gangbusters.

I took notes as I watched it. Mostly those notes were very surface, and ignored questions of writing and acting. I know, right? Why the fuck am I watching a TV show if I'm going to just give it a pass on the writing and acting?

Because. It's Trek. You don't go back to your childhood home and pay attention to whether the house is laid out well. You don't notice that there is a bigger closet off that bathroom than the one that was in your bedroom when you lived there. You just look around and think it's smaller than it used to be. And then you realize it's where you grew up. And you look around a little more and you realize, it's a pretty nice place, with a decent little yard, and sure the highway is right there...

And then you get smacked RIGHT in the face when that metaphor you've been stretching breaks.

Anyway.

Most of the notes I made had to do with impressions. Music, design, and so forth. And a fair few were snarky. The music is dated as hell, and my notes do have a couple comments and cracks about it. So let's get that out of the way.

My first note referring to the music is one word long: SynthTASTIC! But knowing what little I do about music production for TV, I totally get it. Ron Jones was probably operating under horrendous time pressure. Synths make it (relatively) easy to do so, and the FM synths he seemed to be using were state-of-the-art. The music gets a bit busy from time to time, but for the most part it's completely forgivable. And the music in the cafe scenes is actually pretty damn good.

And concerning music Jones DIDN'T write, there's the theme. I can't even tell you if I objectively think the theme is any good. It reminded me of my thirteen year old self, and that's something.

Design of set and special effects? I have no idea what kind of budget they were operating under, but I'll promise you that BONES has a bigger special effects budget for four episodes than TNG had for an entire year. And the gear required has only gotten cheaper in the past twenty years. So never mind that. But the computer interfaces were pretty shiny. Wouldn't mind having the TNG touch screens as a theme for my phone, to be honest. Also, the matte painting used for the Paris holodeck sequences? Pretty nice.

Costume design is... well, terrible. Apologies to the costume department. The uniforms needed the collar introduced later on, the piping looked kind of silly, and the guest stars... oh, that poor woman. That poor, poor woman.

So that's the superficial stuff out of the way. (Except for the makeup, which I will dispense with quickly: It really seems like the Klingon makeup got better.)

There is some GREAT stuff here. Primarily in character work, but I'll get back to that.

There's a scene about halfway through where Picard, Riker, and Data see themselves in the turbolift. They're experiencing some sort of time loop, and the trio of "now" is aware of the trio of "then" and vice versa. Data Then: "I feel no disorientation." Data Now: "Nor do I." And then Riker takes a minute to explore the philosophical ramifications of the bilocation and seems to have a good grasp on it, even though you know what he's really thinking of is tag teaming Troi with himself.

Love that scene.

For character work, Brent Spiner as Data delivers what I recall as being an incredibly reliable, quirky interpretation of a highly advanced, logical being. So advanced and logical that TNG pretty much didn't bother with Vulcans.

Jonathan Frakes as Riker didn't have a whole lot to do, but he did it well, even if he was still holding Captain America's shield. Gates McFadden as Dr. Crusher had about as much to do dealing with the occasional subplot of her involvement with Picard. Levar Burton, Michael Dorn, and Marina Sirtis were really just there to be there as Geordi, Worf, and Troi, respectively.

This is mostly a Picard episode, though, and Patrick Stewart, being Patrick Stewart, delivers in spades. And there's a lot of setup for his character in this episode, even though it's mostly just touched on. As usual, he elevates every scene he's in.

The thing I liked about this episode, and still like, is that it set Picard even further apart from Jim Kirk. This was NOT a love-'em-and-leave-'em guy, most emphatically. He had baggage, and he remembered his loves and his losses, and they informed who he was. And even at thirteen, that spoke more eloquently to me than Kirk ever could.

I'm really glad I gave Trek another try. Don't expect more of these lengthy reviews of episodes, but I will continue to comment as I watch. And remember, It's Wheaton's Fault.