Ahhh season one TNG, how strange you are. It's a bizarre landscape where Crusher also calls Riker "Number One," Geordi is in red, Riker is beardless, the Ferengi are scary, and the uniforms are one-piece so there's no Picard Maneuver. Except, this is the one that features the actual Picard maneuver, which I'm sure you all remember learning about in elementary school.
First, one quick scientific question. At one point Picard tells Riker to release the tractor beam on the ship they are towing, because it's a waste of energy since inertia alone is enough to sustain it. That sounds right. But then, why do the warp engines need to stay on? And how do they stop the ship? We are led to believe that they "slow to impulse," but wouldn't they have to reverse engines to slow down?
Anyway, the Ferengi show up and bring Picard's old ship, the Stargazer, as a gift. Everyone, including the Ferengi crew are shocked that this opportunity is not used as a profit-generating move. Daimon Bok swears that it's just a gift for the "Hero of Maxia." But in with the captain's stuff in his old quarters (which is probably riddled with priceless artifacts), Bok has placed a mind control device. It gives Picard a headache, which is apparently unheard of in the future. It also screws with his perception of reality. It turns out that Bok's son was on the ship that Picard destroyed years ago, and his plan is to put Picard back on the Stargazer and have him destroy the Enterprise using the same tactic that he used to destroy the Ferengi ship. Obviously this doesn't work, because the Enterprise crew knows exactly what is about to happen. Bok is relieved of command, and the mind control device is destroyed with unnecessary slo-mo fanfare. The end.Normally I don't pick apart continuity errors and such, but with this particular episode, I have some issues:
-WHY THE HELL DID THEY ABANDON SHIP IF THE SHIP IS JUST FINE? AND WHY DIDN'T THEY EVER GO BACK AND GET IT?
-How does Riker know that there are two spheres, when they have only just learned about the one in Picard's quarters and they have no understanding of how they work?
-I thought Star Fleet had no interactions with the Ferengi prior to the events of this season. Now we're saying that we were doing battle with them nine years ago?
-The Ferengi beam directly on to THE BRIDGE? Really?! Is that a good idea?
-Tasha says that since Picard raised the shields on the Stargazer, they can't beam over "anyway." But no one was talking about beaming over prior to this statement, so it makes no sense.
-When Riker is trying to talk Picard down from the ledge, there are all sorts of explosion sounds going on in the background, as if they are engaged in an intense fire-fight, but they are not.
-Why the hell is Wesley privy to the captain's brain waves? Also, here's a pic of Troi and Crusher listening to Wesley explain his findings that perfectly sums up my reaction to the entire episode:
Unfortunately, "The Battle" is just Horrible. The early tropes of Boy Wonder Wesley somehow solving this week's mystery and Data being infallible fall far short of good plot development here. Wesley sighing "adults" and the Ferengi first officer saying that he's "all ears" provided extra cheesiness in their failed attempts at humor. Terrible
Published Sept 11, 2019
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