UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek TNG S2E21 - Peak Performance
Added 2024-03-29 14:34:30 +0000 UTC
Comments
I've always loved this episode. It's not Measure of a Man or Q Who, but I'd put it on about the same level as A Matter of Honor. It really is a great ensemble episode, and I think it works so well because they split the crew in half and pit them against each other in this friendly competition, so it's easier to find something for everyone to do. Troi and Pulaski didn't play into the war games, but they both got some good moments with Data's subplot with the strategema. I do like how far Pulaski has come in terms of her attitude toward Data at this point. First off practically begging him to take on Kolrami showing that she thinks he's the only one that can beat him. Second, she shows genuine regret for causing Data's crisis of confidence by getting him into a losing game. I do love how Data almost seems to be enjoying driving Kolrami mad at the end. I'd also agree it doesn't make much sense for Riker and Picard to be this resistant to war games given the recent encounter with the Borg and Picard's acknowledgement that "they will be coming". Not to mention the other threats they've come across. They need to be ready, and putting some of the crew on the back foot by putting them on a broken down old ship so they have to be extra resourceful is great training. Of course, they could probably do all this on the holodeck, but then the Ferengi curve ball at the end wouldn't work. Lastly, Picard's like "it is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." is IMO still one of the most quotable "life advice" lines Picard ever uttered. Fantastic episode, and in a way the real season finale.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-07-22 02:14:54 +0000 UTCNeeded to get more use out of the prosthetics they fitted to his head
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-07-21 17:00:47 +0000 UTCAlso where we get the “Picard Maneuver” which is Stewart tugging the jacket down as he stands up.
Pokeysaurus
2024-04-17 13:46:33 +0000 UTCOne positive thing about moving on past the two seasons is Picard began trimming back his back of the head hair giving a more masculine look (continues subtly thru the next two seasons). The uniform is also upgraded by removing the odd piping on the shoulders and adding a collar. Also the one-piece uniform becomes a two-piece (jacket and pants).
TeenyStudio Flicks
2024-04-04 00:24:04 +0000 UTCEvery TNG character started out rough. Unfortunate that Pulaski is often singled out
JGoss
2024-04-01 02:16:01 +0000 UTCI guess they liked him the first time around.
Evan Guthrie
2024-04-01 01:11:29 +0000 UTCMaybe Ferengi ships used Windows OS. lol.
James Hoffmann
2024-03-31 09:10:38 +0000 UTCGood ol Ferengi barely fight two Federation vessels that deliberately have all their weapons disabled. There's a reason why they aren't actually the big bad evil. And that reason is that any old Federation ship would wipe out these guys without breaking a sweat. But for stuff like this, it's interesting.
Ullrich Pfeiffer
2024-03-31 00:29:38 +0000 UTCMaybe. Given this episode, I think it's about what Duke Potemkin is most known for. That duke was most famous for his Potemkin villages. Potemkin villages have huge, rich looking facades and nothing else besides. Allegedly, he built them wherever Tsarina Katherine was visiting, to decieve her into looking at the Russian countryside as some sort of rich fairyland instead of the desperately poor shitshow it always was. Whether that actually happened is another question. Absolutist systems are famous for inventing stories to not blame the ruler and blame someone else instead. It's possible that Katherine just didn't give a fuck about her subjects who lived in serfdom. But in its allegorical usage, Potemkin stands for great facades which trick someone else despite not being backed by anything. I'm pretty sure it's an easter egg for people, since the Hathaway is literally a Potemkin village.
Ullrich Pfeiffer
2024-03-31 00:12:29 +0000 UTCMaybe the Ferengi just bought the cheapest OS they could find on the free market.
Ullrich Pfeiffer
2024-03-30 23:31:11 +0000 UTCPulaski turned into a fine character
Scarpad’s Domain
2024-03-30 20:15:31 +0000 UTCThe Potemkin was a battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy whose crew were famously driven to mutiny in 1905. The conditions that the working-class crew had to endure at the hands of the aristocratic officer-class was reflective of the oppression that lead to the Russian revolutions twelve years later. From a film-making point of view, the mutiny is highly significant as it lead to legendary Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 film "The Battleship Potemkin" in which he first invented the montage by intercutting different shots during a riot scene.
Regan
2024-03-30 02:18:48 +0000 UTCUgh I hate them. Lame concept
Derek Orr
2024-03-30 00:09:27 +0000 UTCWell no one died in this one. Unlike the original enterprise chewing up sister ships and killing hundreds of crew.
Derek Orr
2024-03-30 00:08:55 +0000 UTCIts a breath of fresh air to have the more traditional naval style battles vs the silly video game mess that modern sci fi does with space battles. But it was a bit too slow with the clunky dialogue about pretty basic ass movements /manoeuvres and then waiting for the other ship to do something while they talk about it etc.
Derek Orr
2024-03-30 00:07:39 +0000 UTCRight!? I’ve said 2 Ferengi in a stolen shuttle couldn’t infiltrate the Enterprise. Maybe Goldblum at least had a sample of their OS 🤷♂️
Philbot
2024-03-30 00:06:34 +0000 UTCIt's right up there with ID4 on how you can instantly hack alien software
Firekrys FWO
2024-03-29 22:33:57 +0000 UTCAlso, why don't we see any more shots of Worf trying to work on a model ship and snapping the pieces? I'd have love seeing him trying to show it off to Picard and the ship is angled in a way so you can't see the side that has all the broken pieces glued together.
Firekrys FWO
2024-03-29 22:33:36 +0000 UTC"Guile."
Evan Guthrie
2024-03-29 20:51:58 +0000 UTCPlot hole? How did Worf hack the Ferengi sensors? He knew the enterprises codes wouldn’t creating Ferengi sensor ghosts be harder.
Philbot
2024-03-29 20:38:02 +0000 UTCArmin Shimerman playing a Ferengi (again), huh that's funny. Why do I mention it? Oh, no reason.
JGoss
2024-03-29 19:55:34 +0000 UTCAnd there we have it, the end of season 2. A great episode to finish up with. Lots of fun.
Joe Stacey
2024-03-29 19:14:40 +0000 UTCHe's simply the best. Que the Tina Turner music.
Collin Freeman
2024-03-29 18:46:59 +0000 UTCThe ensemble cast and performances is one of the many reasons I love this show.
Collin Freeman
2024-03-29 18:29:27 +0000 UTCGood call on the Kirk maneuver from the Kobyashi Maru, Alex. Wesley apparently learned from the best.
Collin Freeman
2024-03-29 18:01:40 +0000 UTCI like the Ferengi showing up. It's just the right time to give the audience a bit more insight into their value system.
Jovet
2024-03-29 17:39:36 +0000 UTCYou forgot: “Very unfortunate. We will be dead.”
Jovet
2024-03-29 17:37:53 +0000 UTC48:38 I knew you guys would react to the Ferengi that way. 😀
Jovet
2024-03-29 17:36:07 +0000 UTCI had the opportunity once to play a Russian grandmaster in a game of chess. I was at the top of my game at the time, Captain of my chess team, and able to regularly beat everyone else on my team (including our coach.) I made no mistakes that I can see, but he beat me easily. My proudest moment was that for one of his moves, he had to think for ten seconds.
John
2024-03-29 17:31:01 +0000 UTCDr. Edgemar from Total Recall!
badvertised
2024-03-29 17:13:54 +0000 UTCTo the best of my recollection, this was the first TNG episode I ever saw, three-quarters of a lifetime ago. It was, of course, a wonderful introduction to the show’s entire ensemble of characters. For example, Data’s speech speculating about Riker’s potential tactics in the wargame tells a new viewer a great deal about both Riker and Data at the same time, making them both intriguing, likeable characters whom I wanted to keep watching. “The Immunity Syndrome” was the first TOS episode I saw, a similarly excellent introduction to that show’s characters. When I recently looked the two episodes up on episode lists, I realized for the first time that they are each the 47th episode of their respective series. I began watching Star Trek (in 1990, I believe) in syndication on a station that alternated episodes of TOS and TNG. It seems likely that the station was airing the two series in perfect lockstep, and that I saw “The Immunity Syndrome” and “Peak Performance” either on the same evening or on consecutive evenings. The fact that they are the shows’ 47th episodes is a remarkable coincidence, for reasons that will become clear later in TNG’s run. Although TNG is an episodic series, I could not help but wonder on this rewatch whether Worf is in a bad mood when Riker visits his quarters because of K’Ehleyr’s departure in the previous episode. Is it possible that Riker knows what happened and asks Worf to join his crew to distract him from his woman troubles? The Ferengi make their long-awaited return in this episode. Armin Shimerman (DaiMon Bractor) had previously played another Ferengi, Letek, in “The Last Outpost,” as well as the Gift-Box Face that freaked the two of you out in “Haven.” Roy Brocksmith (Kolrami) is the third member of the "Total Recall" cast to appear in TNG Season 2, following Lycia Naff and Robert Costanzo. Among his other roles, he played a casket salesman on "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction"! The prolific career of Glenn Morshower (Burke, the redheaded tactical officer) has included roles in "Under Siege" (also featuring Colm Meaney in a chillingly effective performance as a terrorist), "Pearl Harbor," "Black Hawk Down," and "Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," as well as his best-known roles, Agent Pierce in "24" and General Morshower in the "Transformers" films. Contrary to what you might assume, this episode’s score is by Dennis McCarthy, not Ron Jones. The war game gave McCarthy justification to compose noticeable music for once (not a criticism of McCarthy, but of Rick Berman’s musical preferences). The Potemkin was a Russian battleship (named for 18th-century military leader Grigory Potemkin) which was the scene of a famous mutiny in 1905, the basis of Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein’s classic silent film "Battleship Potemkin." There was also a Starship Potemkin in Kirk’s era, when it was one of the ships that participated in the war game with the Enterprise in “The Ultimate Computer.” Since “Peak Performance” also involves a war game, the reuse of the name may be a deliberate allusion to the earlier episode. The name’s use in TOS was presumably a gesture of goodwill on Star Trek’s part toward the Russians, as with the introduction of Chekov. Pulaski makes an extremely sophisticated pun in this episode, which I would not have noticed if someone had not pointed it out on the episode’s IMDb page. After Pulaski compares Data to “Achilles in his tent,” a reference to Homer’s poem, the Iliad, about the Trojan War, she continues, “You might be able to sell Troi [Troy] with that story, but not me.” As of this episode, Pulaski’s attitude toward Data has completely turned around from what it was in “The Child,” as shown by her heartfelt apology for manipulating him into challenging Kolrami and the remarkable moment when *Picard* suggests that Data is incapable of the emotions *Pulaski* is attributing to him. Pulaski is still a “female Bones,” but she is now a fully successful realization of that concept and has completely integrated herself into the TNG ensemble. Picard’s statement, “It is possible to commit no mistakes -- and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is ‘life,’” is one of the most iconic speeches in the Star Trek franchise. It will appear in "Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations" someday if it does not already. 34 years after I first saw it, there are so many details in “Peak Performance” that I must have missed back then but can now appreciate with a more detailed knowledge of TNG and the clarity of Blu-ray, from Riker and Data responding simultaneously when Picard addresses “Number One” (since Data is Picard’s acting first officer) to the joy and relief on Picard’s face – he almost seems to be tearing up – when the Ferengi see the illusory starship, indicating that the Hathaway survived the explosion, a reaction only the audience can see because Picard is facing the viewscreen. With the completion of “Peak Performance,” the TNG production team had successfully finished 21 episodes for the show’s 22-episode second season. Due to changes in accounting methods for Season 2, it had become possible to transfer money between episodes’ budgets, enabling TNG to make the visually spectacular and extremely expensive episodes “Elementary, Dear Data” and “Q Who.” Unfortunately, this practice had a downside...
Anthony Bernacchi
2024-03-29 16:32:26 +0000 UTCI’m sure I am not alone when I say: Time to: “Bust ‘em up.”
Thicketdweller
2024-03-29 15:27:53 +0000 UTC"Bust him up" "You're outmanned [ forgot the rest], what do you have left?" ".....guile..." "Where am I going to find optical cable" "(Yanks some from ceiling) Anywhere." Another fun episode! Good 'ol War Games, where nothing goes wrong. ;) A nice way to focus on the strategy it takes for a Starship in battle, as well as a great way for Data to realize he's not infallible, until Picard gives him a reality check.
Firekrys FWO
2024-03-29 15:19:15 +0000 UTCAs in The Ultimate Computer, Starfleet can't stage a wargame without something going disastrously wrong. This episode proves that it wasn't a fluke!
tyranusfan
2024-03-29 14:59:09 +0000 UTCI love this episode. For one, I appreciate space battles that are smart and require tactics and strategy, like Wrath of Khan or Balance of Terror. We see that here. Riker and Picard show some real clever tactics. It is a breath of fresh air compared to the CGI mess we get now. But I also love the plot with Data. Picard's line about "it is possible to make no mistakes and still lose. It is called life", is a great life lesson. And I love Data winning the game by playing for a draw. Another example of being clever and adapting your strategy to your opponent. The little moment at the end where Data says "I busted him up" is so fun.
James Hoffmann
2024-03-29 14:56:07 +0000 UTCMan, I love this episode. I just…feel it’s not only one of many, but a *prime example* of an episode that could just be a day in the life, and *didn’t need a threat.* At all. It’s extremely disappointing to me that the Ferengi showed up. I would have preferred to have just the war games.
Ragnarok
2024-03-29 14:39:28 +0000 UTC
