First Aired: Sept. 28, 1987
Summary
These two episodes comprise the pilot of TNG. We are introduced to the brand-new crew of a brand-new ship named the Enterprise, after the ship from TOS. We are also introduced to Q, an ongoing antagonist of the series. In these episodes the crew assembles only to immediately face trouble bigger than they had imagined--their simple mission assemble at Farpoint on Deneb IV and to discover how the Bandi who live there have such immense power sources becomes a mission to prove the goodness of humanity when Q puts the crew on trial for the crimes of their species. They, of course, succeed in solving the mystery and proving humanity innocent, though Q warns that he will continue watching them.
No "Man" Goes Before
Upon starting this episode, I immediately noticed the updated to the famous final line of ToS's intro sequence--"where no man has gone before" became "where no one has gone before." I also noticed that the bridge of the Enterprise now consists of not on, but two women, doubling the number present in ToS.
Commander Troi
Commander Troi I am somewhat conflicted on. She ranks very high, probably higher than the Starfleet regulations of ToS would allow (I am thinking of Captain Kirk's ex-lover who held a grudge against him for being denied a position of command because of her gender). However, it feels somewhat cheap to make her value to the ship lie mostly in her empathetic abilities. While she is no doubt designed as an opposite counterpart to Spock (a half-Betazoid woman instead of a half-Vulcan man), the choice doesn't exist in a vacuum (no pun intended). I also am not terribly fond of the way she's flung into romantic drama with First Officer Riker the moment they meet (again) and she attempts to communicate telepathically with him about their shared past. The first episode is, of course, too early to judge her characterization beyond this, and I remain optimistic.
Lieutenant Yar
I think Lieutenant Yar is probably my favorite character, at least in these episodes. Lieutenant Yar strikes me as a solidly wonderful improvement from the female characters of ToS. Security Officer is not a "feminine" role at all, nor is her boyish pixie cut something that would've been seen in ToS. Considering this is the late 80s we're talking about, I'm certainly at least somewhat impressed. What impresses me also is how Captain Picard respects her even when he disagrees. When she suggests that they try to fight the Q, he does not call her names or question her judgement, but rather confirms what she's just suggested and tells her he'd "like to hear [her] advice," which she responds to rather gracefully. She also is allowed to feel rather than remain a stoic Strong Female Character, and even tears up when defending Starfleet in the court trial. Even modern media often struggles with giving female characters power without sacrificing emotions.
(On a more personal note, I fear from what I've heard that this is a classic case of me putting all my eggs in the wrong basket when choosing favorites in early episodes of a show--but that's to worry about later.)
Captain Picard
Speaking of tearing up, let's talk about Picard tearing up when the life of his crew is threatened. Let me remind you that this is 1987--men crying in media was still somewhat unheard of, and the cases where it did appear were typically much larger scale and with personal impact (the death or imminent death of oneself or a loved one, large-scale tragedy, etc.). Captain Picard cries here because the lives of his key officers, who he barely knows, are in danger. He also cries for the incredibly false image the Q have of his entire species, which has grown past the "savage child race" he's accused of being a member of. This is also interesting because not only is he denouncing war, as the entire premise of Star Trek is wont to do, but the idea that he would do anything but denounce it brings him to tears.
This is, of course, still the 80s, so of course they had to add the whole bit about Picard being bad with children. Hopefully his awkwardness around something that requires no awkwardness at all diminishes as the series goes on--it's a senseless bit of characterization.
Doctor Crusher
Doctor Crusher is intriguing to me because she is given a trope usually given to male characters. The loss of her husband still weighs heavily on her, but she refuses to let it affect her work in the slightest and actually requested to be assigned to the Enterprise. She seems to use the pain of her past to make her more determined in the present. That's a turning of a trope I enjoy seeing even in new media, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see it here.
"Let's See What's Out There"
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, both from a feminist viewpoint and as someone who immensely enjoyed ToS (despite all its flaws). The musical callbacks to ToS as well as the guest appearance by DeForest Kelley made me smile, especially. I'm definitely excited to keep watching!
No comments:
Post a Comment