UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek TNG S1E21 - The Arsenal of Freedom
Added 2023-12-13 19:34:24 +0000 UTC
Comments
While I do think this is a pretty solid episode, the ground side story has always felt a little dated for some reason. Part of it is the used car salesman type character seeming fairly out of place in Trek, but I think also the production values on the planet feel very TOS. That initial shot of the set really made the backdrop way too obvious, and the fake plants really stand out, and the weapon was built from a panty hose container and a shampoo bottle. The underground bit was better. The Enterprise story was much stronger and it set Geordi up to become chief engineer in S2. I'd guess the engineering department accounts for maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the crew, and on a ship of 1000, the chief engineer is in command of a crew as large as a mid size starship. He definitely shows some outside the box thinking. Also IIRC this is the first time we see the ships phasers in action, apart from the enegy beam in Farpoint, and originally that was coming from the captain's yacht on the bottom of the saucer. Troi offering advice to Geordi in the ready room was a good scene for her as well. She sees he's nervous, sees the junior officers he's taking into battle are nervous, and she goes in there to boost his confidence so he can pay it forward to the others. Great use of her living up to her job title. Also she was right to object to Picard beaming down. As for that, this is exactly one of those situations where Picard's place was on the bridge. It didn't really make sense for him to beam down, but I guess it resulted in a few good Crusher/Picard scenes. Overall it's a mixed bag episode, but still firmly in the stronger half for the season. I wouldn't put it in the top 5 for S1 though.
Timothy Nikiforovs
2024-06-29 00:38:15 +0000 UTCI'm a first time watcher, sort of watching along with you guys (on season 2 right now). This episode reminded me so much of a mass effect mission or something, and just for that I love it.
Isaac Schreiber
2023-12-19 08:11:06 +0000 UTCI remember the Peddler as having a much bigger part than he did. They really should have played up the sales pitch more.
Nerd's Gold
2023-12-16 05:11:13 +0000 UTCI dont think so…that style of more formal speech was just more common across lots of shows and films in the 60s People just speak a lot more casually today
Derek Orr
2023-12-15 19:49:39 +0000 UTCI suspect the "professional dialog" you mention was largely a Gene Roddenberry influence, which is why we don't hear it as much as the series goes on. He did the same thing with the dialog in The Cage pilot.
Collin Freeman
2023-12-15 19:40:53 +0000 UTCI think it's fine but maybe edit the post and remove the first part of the last sentence? (But they probably already saw it.)
Tim b
2023-12-15 12:49:09 +0000 UTCSorry. I was trying to explain why we hadn’t seen it since the pilot. Since I didn’t disclose any plot points, & focused on behind the scenes specs it didn’t occur to me it could be considered a spoiler
Matthew McKinnon-Gray
2023-12-14 19:21:43 +0000 UTCThis is a spoiler...
Michael Parnell
2023-12-14 19:16:48 +0000 UTCThis was Geordi first shot at the limelight and LeVar Burton delivers. This story is a really good ensemble piece where everyone plays a role in helping out. The tension both on the ship and on the planet are nicely handled. A solid outing from season one
William McRae
2023-12-14 13:43:38 +0000 UTCIt’s funny after so many years that my response to some of the characters has changed as I’ve become more familiar with the actors. Will Wheaton is a great guy with a sarcastic sense of humor, and really isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Same for Marina (although Troi really improves in later TNG seasons). It’s also impossible to look at Patrick Stewart the same way once you’ve heard him voice characters on American Dad hah
Glenn Johnson Barnes
2023-12-14 05:33:11 +0000 UTCSaucer separation scenes are fairly rare. Only the 6 foot long Enterprise filming model could separate and it was apparently difficult to mount & shoot. By season 3 it was almost completely phased out in favor of a 4 foot long model that couldn’t separate.
Matthew McKinnon-Gray
2023-12-14 03:49:50 +0000 UTCThat shot of the Enterprise's phasers charging up and firing was one of my favorite effects shots of season 1.
tyranusfan
2023-12-14 03:24:12 +0000 UTCNo, Wesley was always a horrible character
Derek Orr
2023-12-14 02:32:55 +0000 UTCAlso, Star Trek doesn't feature a bunch of people in an office. They are the military. Not civilians. So then and now, they would be talking like they talk in TNG.
StonyD
2023-12-14 02:02:55 +0000 UTCSince Riker plays trombone its not a big stretch that he knew the song as he was learning different genres and styles.
Badger
2023-12-14 01:29:05 +0000 UTCIm biased but complaining about TOS is sacrilege. People can complain about Voyager imo BC VOYAGER DIDNT START THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE. TOS gets a pass. Always.
Michael Nemo
2023-12-13 23:23:07 +0000 UTChttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uM6NbOUdoU
James Bottas
2023-12-13 23:05:22 +0000 UTCWe’ve had some YouTube comments complaining about it. Obviously from TNG but not TOS fans
Josh (Target Audience)
2023-12-13 22:58:33 +0000 UTCWhat are other people telling you about mentioning TOS?
Michael Nemo
2023-12-13 22:56:02 +0000 UTCLt. Solis is a bigtime ballet dancer choreographer and actor.
Michael Nemo
2023-12-13 21:52:57 +0000 UTCWell considering we generally don’t like children we aren’t very surprised with our feelings, but we’ve given the character credit when it’s due such as in Coming of Age
Josh (Target Audience)
2023-12-13 21:28:22 +0000 UTCWhen Riker refers to the Lollipop as "a good ship," he's referring to the song "On the Good Ship Lollipop," performed by Shirley Temple in the 1934 film "Bright Eyes." I correctly guessed in advance that you guys wouldn't get the reference, as shown by your lack of reaction to it. This in turn raises the question of why Riker, a 24th-century man, is familiar with the song. Possibly Riker actually made a timelier cultural reference which the Universal Translator replaced with one that would be familiar to 1988 audiences? Julia Nickson, who plays Lian T'Su, the young officer at Ops, had been one of the runners-up for the role of Tasha Yar back when the character was named Macha Hernandez and was intended to be a brunette. As you know, Marina Sirtis and Denise Crosby were the final choices for Hernandez and Troi respectively, and Gene Roddenberry then swapped their roles and changed the security chief's name to give her a Ukrainian ethnic background. I feel bad that we, the members of the Target Audience, may have turned you guys against Wesley, and that I personally may have contributed to it with my comment on "Where No One Has Gone Before," when I asked whether the writers were building up Wes in such a way as to alienate the audience from him. Dislike of the Wesley character has been so widespread over the years as to be the default response from fans, and you guys usually go against the flow of fan opinion. I almost wish we could hear you comment on Wesley as you would have if none of the comments had ever said anything about him.
Anthony Bernacchi
2023-12-13 20:54:30 +0000 UTCThat professional style dialogue was a staple of TNG and the other Star Trek shows of that era (especially season 1 and 2 of TNG) Today’s current Trek shows use more real life current style dialogue…and it’s absolutely horrible and drives many fans crazy. The “professional style” dialogue makes it more believable that they are from the future
Derek Orr
2023-12-13 20:50:08 +0000 UTCSold! You won't be sorry.
Collin Freeman
2023-12-13 20:46:37 +0000 UTCFirst episode with my Blu-ray set, super looking forward to this
SinocTheHodgeheg
2023-12-13 20:40:16 +0000 UTCJust a few more years and they'll combine ChatGPT with Boston Dynamics.
Steven Johnson
2023-12-13 20:07:44 +0000 UTC5:15 Well, "Beam me up" was common in TOS, wasn't it?
Jovet
2023-12-13 20:01:27 +0000 UTCPeace through war! 😁 Self-learning AI weapons...what could go wrong?
Bret Kay
2023-12-13 19:43:08 +0000 UTC
