iamirwar

An old Cardassian Security Program will never let you down.

To be honest, we had nothing but problems with this from the day we installed it. The first question was how we could create a system that would only focus its attention on the Bajoran slave workers whilst causing no harm to the Cardassian overseers. Due to Dukat's paranoia we were always having to make needless changes to the program, which in time made it virtually useless.

Of course the Operations Centre on the station would need protecting, but the rest of the station should have remained secure as a result of the all penetrating force-fields.

Originally, there had also been the intention to have nano-robots hidden within the bulkheads of the station walls and this massive army would be triggered into action by the program. Their purpose was to shoot on sight all the Bajorans that were on the station at that time. This may have resulted in a couple of days loss of production, but we could always replace those workers with new ones. There were plenty of slaves to be found on Bajor. Unfortunately, we ran into the situation where Dukat feared the robots more than those Bajoran terrorists he was always claiming to have eliminated.

Ironically, the CSP was never actually needed during the time of the Cardassian Occupation. We find it typical but highly amusing that the latest incumbents from Bajor and the Federation should be the ones to set-it-off. Once again, we understand, it was his over-preening self glorification that meant Dukat failed to take full advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. What an idiot. Here in the halls of the order we still find ourselves laughing uncontrollably about the 'Day they found the old CSP at Terok Nor' Ha Ha Ha.

Strange creatures, these Jem'Hadar. Given the rate of speed in which 'the boy' grew from being a baby to a teenager, we should have seen him age much older long before the ending of this episode.

Odo, who appears to have taken a fatherly interest in the boy also made a mistake in suggesting that he and the boy could head-off to anywhere in the galaxy considering the fact that the boy is so dependent on the ketracel-white that can only be manufactured by the founders themselves, or so it would appear according to Bashir.

Mardah certainly knows her way around a dabo-table and takes this opportunity to inform us of Jake's writing abilities and his skill at dom-jot. Of course, Sisko pulled a few strings which resulted in Mardah being offered a dream-job at the Dabo capital known as Botabel, which is the Bajoran equivalent to Las Vegas as the Earthling humanoids often like to remind us. This is why we would not see her again after this Stardate.

For a killing machine, this story was a little bit too sentimental to be of interest, but we like the thought that it has parallels with the life of the Earthly-teenagers.

It has to be said that there is a particular beauty about the Cardassian women, which was first confirmed by the arrival of Natima Lang on the station but wouldn't the Major have suspected that something was wrong when she realised that the room temperature was too hot and humid and not to her 'Bajoran' liking?

Entek had one simple task to perform. We went to such great lengths to infiltrate the space station, capture the Major, and surgically alter her appearance in our endeavour to extract some useful information about Deep Space 09 and the Federation.

Its personnel, it's fire power... and what is its strength in the demilitarised zone. But all to no avail. We had such high hopes for Entek... not only has he disappeared but it seems that he helped that suspected dissident Ghemor escape. It has to be said that the order isn't what it once was... if only we had a few more like Garak in our ranks, but instead we get stuck with these rank amateurs.

Just for the record: We will not bother to comment on those episodes we do not believe merit our attention.

It should be noted, that the Marquis did a terrific job with their attack on the Bok'Nor. If only those meddling Federation stooges hadn't got themselves involved. This should have given the Central Command every justification in wiping out these Marquis as though they were Relvian glow-flies floating on a friction-stick.

That fool Dukat also got himself involved as we expected him to do. He is such an idiot. We lay out the bread crumbs and he follows them like the typical goosestep strutting sleuth he is. Nice that he got Sisko involved as well.

Ah, Sakonna. Vulcan women can be so beguiling but they do lack such imagination. Imagine getting sucked in by the Terok Nor barkeep.

Personally, I feel that the empire has better things to do with its time than getting involved with petty infighting with the neighbours. There is so much to be gained from further exploration of the Gamma Quadrant. Our time would be better served if we stop sitting on our hands and wiped the Marquis off our boots as soon as conveniently possible.

NATIMA LANG: How such a fine Cardassian woman ever got caught up with the wrong crowd, I'll never know... her execution for 'Comments likely to discredit the state' may be considered rash, but it is no doubt necessary. "Remove the military from Cardassia, indeed." We at the Obsidian Order have been saying as much for years, but we whisper such words quietly. We certainly don't go broadcast such comments across the Alpha Quadrant. Dissidents are more trouble than they're worth.

THE TAILOR: Toran the ambitious seems to have got himself lost. He made the excuse that he needed to buy a new suit from a man on Terok Nor, but he hasn't been seen since. Maybe he has gone on the Federations own Witness Protection Programme. Traitor.

Omicron Particles: Are we supposed to be impressed by the fact that Rurigan has conjured up a village of idiots who don't ask many questions? We could have put him to better use on Altaria IV chasing slug-rats instead of the pointless existence he has experienced here. Shame on Odo for encouraging such a frivolous enterprise, we would have thought better of him. Let this be warning of just how dangerous prolonged exposure to these human types can be.

BASHIR: Finally, the good doctor is beginning to put to use all the hints, tips and suggestions we have been feeding him. Pity that he disappeared as soon as the Major had spoken to him.

KIRA and her FRIEND: The coupling of the Major and her friend may prove to be providential. This Bajoran has a particular flair for getting her nose into places we may not want. If needed we can certainly tip her off or send her on some wild goose chase, but for the time being we will do all in our collective power to encourage the union of Kira

DOMINION: The more time spent in the Gamma Quadrant the more we learn of the prominence of something calling itself the Dominion. There are many questions that need answering about this 'group.' Are they similar to the Federation in that they comprise the membership of many planets? Are they a secular gathering who happen to have long ties? Or are they simply the brainchild of some mad scientist much in the vein of that 'replicant' android Lore?

I believe that the problem facing all television drama shows which share a similar duration time of 45 minutes, is that they have to end on a positive note. We, the viewer expect to see a resolution to the story, for the bad guys and gals to get theirs and for the good guys to come out on top. Surely, that is the unwritten rule of TV drama.

I feel that this is one of the things that greatly worked against the writing of DS9. Sometimes they wrote quite complex stories with multiple levels of intrigue but the limitations of time meant that they had to resolve these issues in a very short-handed or abrupt way, which didn't always lend itself to the overall feel of the show we had been watching.

This story was quite brave in creating the Star Trek equivalent of a Khmer Rouge type existence. A woman so captivated by the idea of 'getting back to nature' that she kidnapped the entire crew of a shuttle craft to crash land on a nameless planet and then spend the rest of their lives devolving. The idea is intriguing and I sometimes find myself wondering if today's society would have been able to exist with the limitations they would no doubt found if they somehow found themselves living in an earlier period of the Earth's history. Imagine waking up one morning to find yourself back at the time of the great plague, or the years of King Henry VIII's reign, or during the French Revolution.

There were so many possibilities for this story but of course, the running time of 45 minutes meant we could only scratch the surface of possibilities. Somehow the writers had to resolve what is a complex storyline... and what better way but to include one speech that makes everything right again.

NB. I mistook the actor that played Alixus for the actor who played Haneek in the Sanctuary (S02 E10) episode but now realise Alixus (Gail Strickland) is not Haneek (Deborah May)

Yeah, I liked this one. Of course, I have seen the entire DS9 series before so I do have a memory of how most of these stories will pan out. Although I cannot remember whether I saw what was obvious on my very first viewing of this episode. This time around it was very quickly apparent that someone wasn't who they were supposed to be. I think the arrival of Odo back on the station and the result of his enquiry was all I needed to help me finally join the dots.

The Chief's obsession with ordering Coffee, Jamaican Blend - double strong, double sweet was perhaps the biggest give away.

I do like Mile's O'Brien stories and they are usually among the strongest of each season's run. You would think that in the 24th century there would be a way to screen all incoming visitors to the space station which would help identify intruders and imposters.

Of course, had the Cardassians still ruled the station, they would simply have shot O'Brien or whoever as soon as he stepped through the airlock.

I have to admit that I appreciated this episode more on this viewing than I did when I first watched it. It seemed a little bit of a ludicrous solution to a century old war, but then Star Trek 'red shirts' have been killed off for much less a reason than the one given here.

Clearly, this entire story was put together with the simple intention of 'bonding' Bashir and O'Brien.

The two of them get to spend a couple of days helping the T'lanians and then a extra few days bunkered down together on the planet surface. Interestingly, O'Brien repeats a line uttered by the Tosk when he says about marriage that 'my life is the greatest adventure.' To be fair, the Armageddon Device known as the Harvesters were not really as deadly as the T'lanians first had us believe when we consider how quickly Miles got better once he had returned to the station.

Personally, I felt that Sisko should have demanded a better reason to believe Keiko's story than the one about Miles never drinking coffee in the afternoon but at least she got to visit Ops for what is the only time I can remember.

I especially liked Quarks tribute to the two stricken crew members: "They were good customers, they always paid their bar bill on time." So, not the best episode of season two but certainly not the worst. On this one I'm going to go middle-for-diddle.

I really liked this story and believe it was one of the first to set the bar on what we could expect from Deep Space 9 as opposed to TNG.

It has to be agreed that TNG still retained that 'cosy' Star Trek feel which is a hangover of Gene Roddenberry's vision for the original show. I have recently watched the entire TNG series again and although there were many great stories, I always felt that maybe the writers were being held back a little by the limitations that Gene's vision placed upon their shoulders.

Not only was the make-up of the Tosk done so very well, but this story also pushed Miles O'Brian to the forefront of the action. In TNG he was little more than a glorified extra.

I like to think the Tosk lived to a ripe old age. Indeed, I consider that Tosk's live the life of royalty when they are on their home world. They are then given 100 days to set-off on their journey as quarry before the pursuers join the hunt. Legend has it that the most famous Tosk of all was Tosk XXXIII who lived a number of centuries ago. To date his hiding place still hasn't been discovered. Some maysayers suggest he flew straight into a star as soon as he left the home world, but history believes he ivaded the hunt for all this time. Considering most Tosk live to the age of 80, it is believed Tosk XXXIII died centuries ago, but the people of his home world have not forgotten him and now there is a constellation in their night sky named in his honour.

By far one of the best episodes of season two. This story allows us to delve into life onboard 'Terok Nor' during the Cardassian Occupation and whatever we may say or think about the Cardassian's, we all have to admit, they knew how to keep the lights on.

This story could be accused of getting a little bit 'Murder She Wrote' at times but to be fair, the story and the development of several characters really needed this.

Gul Dukat: I always felt that history hasn't been as kind to Dukat as it could have been. It cannot be an easy job running a space station, especially in the Cardassian world where signs of weakness are not to be tolerated and at every turn, someone is looking to dob you in so they can steal your job. Sure, the Bajoran's complained during the occupation, but since the Cardassian's left can the Provisional Government really claim to have done much better? That world has been spiralling towards revolution and civil war every since our lizard like friends left. We should also give Gul Dukat credit as it was he that personally chose Odo for the security job he still holds on the station.

Rom: One of my favourite characters and I believe this episode marked the beginning of Rom's meteoric rise within the DS9 canon. Here we see him interacting with one or two of the main characters. Prior to this, I don't remember Rom in any scenes with anyone else but Quark.

Kira: Further development of her character and we learn that she can be spicy when she needs to be.

This was certainly a daring subject for a popular TV series to explore; the abandonment of war refugee children. I feel it was a brave decision to make this a central theme of the story although I was disappointed that the main focus of that story was Rugal. A Cardassian child who was brought up by Bajoran parents and learned to hate the planet of his origin. This then develops into a custody battle, with Dukat, of all people, pulling a few strings. This is suprising when we consider Dukat's own indiscresion. (Ziyal) which will become apparent in later seasons.

This was always going to be a difficult subject to cover and I feel that maybe the writers realised that there was no simple way to end such a story on a happy note.

I was greatly disappointed by this episode, because it started with so much promise and had a lot going for it until the last chapter. I had always liked the character of Kurn from his first appearance in TNG: s03 e17: Sins of the Father and was always disappointed that the writers didn't do more with him. So again, this story that had so much going for it, reached a climax that totally undermined everything that happened before it. It is as though they had lost the last few pages of the original script and someone made up a replacement on the fly. What a disappointing end for such a great character such as Kurn.

I've always been surprised that this one got such a low rating. I know it wasn't a brilliant or original idea, but I did like it. Maybe it's because it did remind me of a similar THE PRISONER episode. Yes, it was lightweight, but it was also fun to watch Quark grovel thinking that he had put senior crew members lives at risk.

This is the first DS9 where we get to know a little more about our large eared friend and in this episode we see that although he may be ruthless when it comes to acquisition, he does actually care about others. As I remember it, the jury was still out as far as the opinion of fans and the Ferengi were concerned, and I think this episode was the first to present Quark as central to the crew of DS9 as anyone else. I also thought Babel, The Storyteller and The Forsaken were weaker season one stories.

ANSWERS; Quiz starts at Series 04: Episode 17 Night Terrors S04 e17: I Don't Sleep I Dream = R. E. M. Referenced several times during episode S04 e18: World Without Sun = Jacques Cousteau (Shuttlecraft on the planets surface) S04 e19: Guardian of Lo = Argus S04 e20: Wallis and Blanke = The Adventures of Robin Hood (1958) S04 e21: Varinia = The name of Jean Simmons character in Spartacus S04 e22: S04 e23: Doctor Caroline Ryan = (Gates McFadden) or The Hunt For Red October S04 e24: 60Ghz to 90Ghz (Radio Frequency) = E-Band S04 e25: Susan Francisco = Michele Scarabelli (Alien Nation)

S05 e01: The Sword In The Stone = Excalibur S05 e02: Dionysus, Demeter, Apollo... = Homeric Hymns 0r Hermes who would be next in the list S05 e03: French name for a nobleman. = Marquis S05 e04: Bertolt = Bertolt Brecht = Brechtian Cluster S05 e05: Brother John = Frere Jacques S05 e06: Law 91 = Always watch your back.

S05 e07: & S05 e08: Songs for my Valentine = T'Pau S05 e09: Mayor Jason Hobart = Stefan Gierasch (High Planes Drifter) S05 e10: A Diamond Necklace Played The Pawn = Surf's Up (Soliton Wave) S05 e11: Religion, Marriage, Burial = Giambattista Vico S05 e12: Letters. Somewhere Tomorrow, Night Train to Kathmandu = Directed by Robert Wiemer S05 e13: Cagney & Lacey, The Dukes of Hazzard, Simon & Simon... = Michael Pillar (writer) S05 e14: Barry Huffman - McDuff (or Duffman/Duff Beer) S05 e15: Wings made of feather and wax = Daedalus S05 e16: Ben Harper, Clark Kent, Edgar Anscombe... Christopher Reeve S05 e17: 1519 Spanish Expedition = Magellan (Ferdinand) S05 e18: Tossed Salad and Eggs = Kelsey Grammar S05 e19: Tom Paris = Robert Duncan McNeill S05 e20: Dr Lipschitz = Tony Jay (Third Minister Campio) S05 e21: Dumah = Mickey Cottrell (Voyager) S05 e22: Jerry Nelson, Michael Earl Davis, Martin P. Robinson = Mr Snuffleupagus S05 e23: Tea With Alice = Jonathan Del Arco S05 e24: Jeff, Marty and Jeannie = Randall & Hopkirk/My Partner The Ghost S06 e25: Arrive without travelling, See all without looking, Do all without doing = The Inner Light (Beatles)

S06 e01 & S05 e26: Wild Bill Weschester = Sam Clements or Jerry Hardin S06 e02: The Uncertainty Principle 1927 = Werner Heisenberg or Heisenberg Compensator S06 e03: Margaret Marshall = Bare Essence or Susan French S06 e04: Kelley, Lenard,-----, Doohan = Nimoy (All Original Series actors who appeared on TNG) S06 e05: The dispersion or spread of any people from their original homeland - Diaspora S06 e06: Handbags and Gladrags, Build Me Up Buttercup - Mike d'Abo songwriter Manfred Mann S06 e07: Rene = Rene Picard (Jean-Luc's nephew in family) or actor David Birkin S06 e08: Days Of Our Lives, Remington Steele, Annie Meyers = Joy Garrett (Died not long after this airing).

S06 e09: Julie Masters = The Amazing Spiderman (1977) or Ellen Bry S06 e10 & S06 e11: How many lights can you see there? = There are Four Lights S06 e12: Cogito ergo sum = I think, therefore I am.

S06 e13: From The Earth To The Moon = Verne (Shuttlecraft) or Jules Verne.

S06 e14: Tosk, Goran'Agar = Scott MacDonald S06 e15: Capra, Stewart, Reed, Barrymore, Graham... = It's A Wonderful Life S06 e16 & S06 e17: Admiral Noyce = Richard Herd S06 e18: Devor - T'kar - Tuvok = Tim Russ S06 e19: Piano Sonata No. 14 = Moonlight Sonata S06 e20: Humanoid Progenitor = Salome Jens S06 e21: Legate Turrel = Andrew Prine or DS9: Life Support.

S06 e22: A Ferengi Scientist = Dr. Reyga (or Peter Marx or Peter Slutsker) S06 e23: Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Liam Neeson, Lolita Davidovich = Leap of Faith S06 e24: Sam Bobrick, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Dustin Diamond = Saved By The Bell S06 e25: 'Maybe you just got to know how to HANDLE them.' (A Tough one) = Dr Crusher 0.47

S07 e01 & S06 e26: Alex Datcher = Ensign Zandra Taitt S07 e02: Paul Sheldon = James Caan (Misery Film) S07 e03: Bell Reynolds, The Saratoga Captain = Madge Sinclair S07 e04 & S07 e05: Sondra Huxtable = Sabrina Le Beauf S07 e06: Nakamura = Clyde Kusatsu S07 e07: Mary Jane Watson = Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman 2002) S07 e08: Spencer Garvie = Robin Gammell: Street Legal S07 e09: A particular place or point = Spot S07 e10: Enina Tandro = Fionnula Flanagan S07 e11: Marie Salomea Sklodowska = Marie Curie or Shuttlecraft Curie S07 e12: First in the Cpt Picard Day artwork = Paul Menegay S07 e13: "Paul doesn't move for anyone" = Paul Sorvino S07 e14: Shakaar = Duncan Regehr S07 e15: Ensign Lavelle, Ensign Sito, and Ensign Taurik = Dan Gauthier, Shannon Fill, Alexander Enberg S07 e16: Kuklinski- Mr. Freezy- Marty Freeman- Deborah Pellicotti = Iceman S07 e17: Son of Helios and Clymene = Phaethon S07 e18: Bogs Diamond = Walter Pierce or Mark Rolston S07 e19: Meleagris = Turkey S07 e20: Deputy Pete Gutierrez = Ned Romero or Harry O S07 e21: Jo Ellen = Virgin River or Gwynyth Walsh S07 e22: Daimon Birta = Peter Marx or Peter Slutsker S07 e23: "Oh brave new world that has such people in it" = The Tempest (Shakespeare) S07 e24: Macias = John Franklyn-Robbins

REVIEW 2022 As I am in the process of completing a review of the entire TNG run of 176 episodes, I did set about this task with the intention of setting out the wheat from the chaff. There have been some exceptional episodes during the run to-date, but there have also been some turkeys. I also wanted to identify any of those episodes that could be said to form an arc. These could either be Borg arc, Data-Lore Arc, Klingon arc, or even DS9 arc.

We're on our way to a briefing with regard to the demilitarized zone along the Cardassian border. Also, Ro, who not many people liked, is back. She's a Bajoran.

We're receiving a distress signal from a Cardassian ship, lets go look and see what's wrong. Federation ships causing all the hoo-ha. What's all that about? Maquis.

I have to be honest, I never cared much for the Marquis story arc in TNG or DS9. I always thought that they were something of a distraction, especially during DS9. For some reason I had always remembered the Maquis stories as being more prevalent during the TNG run, but maybe I was associating every episode of TNG that featured Ro Laren as being Maquis based. Watching these shows again I now realise that this episode is the only truly Maquis-based story in the entire TNG run.

So Ro wants to be accepted in her new friends secret organisation. I think the problem with this story is that many viewers never really took to Ro Laren and as a result, not many of us care about the fact that she would join the Maquis as most probably predicted she would from the very first mention of their name at the start of this episode. I don't think I would have trusted her whichever side she claims to be on. But if the old man mention's Hasperat again, I am going to get really upset.

It had the potential to be a great episode but the interaction between the old man and Ro Laren was too syrupy. I never really cared that much about Laren and I could never understand why the writers were so desperate for us to accept her character. Why did they keep pushing her onto us? Was she related to someone at Paramount? I'm sure she's a wonderful actress, if they could only tear it down and start again.

I also felt its was too late in the day for them to create an episode that revolves totally around Ro Laren. I only hope she gets hers in DS9. Good riddance I would say.

As far as the Captain is concerned, Ro Laren was obviously the worst choice to send on this mission. I think we should punish Picard by only allowing him to take the Enterprise out on one more double-header episode and perhaps a couple of movies, and then discard him to the box-set collection shelf.

Ro's words at the end were possibly the closest to the truth that any character would ever get in the entire Star Trek universe. "It's been a long time since I ever felt I really belonged anywhere." Didn't she have a brief fling with Will Riker in one of her earlier appearances. Hell hath no fury... etc, etc.

This Episodes Clue: Macias

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL REVIEW 2022 of the TNG SERIES. I only commenced this review at Season Four: Episode 17 Night Terrors as my intention was to only review each episode as far as best of season was concerned. Initially I had simply graded the earlier episodes with points between 0 and 10. Once I complete the entire review, which is very close now, I will choose the six best episodes of each season and put them forward into a FINAL REVIEW, whereby I will try to arrange them in order of from GREAT to OUTSTANDING.

As I am in the process of completing a review of the entire TNG run of 176 episodes, I did set about this task with the intention of setting out the wheat from the chaff. There have been some exceptional episodes during the run to-date, but there have also been some turkeys. I also wanted to identify any of those episodes that could be said to form an arc. These could either be Borg arc, Data-Lore Arc, Klingon arc, or even DS9 arc.

Another episode that begins with Data doing Shakespeare in the holosuit. So, we have a database retrieval malfunction. Are we going to take a trip on the Orient Express with Picard and Crusher?

We are in the process of surveying new Federation colony sites having weathered an unexpected magnascopic storm in the Makorda sector. Strange things are happening, we have suddenly gone into warp and lost primary helm control on the bridge. I would wager that the magnascopic storm has something to do with things. Or should we expect Q to pop-up anytime soon?

La Forge and Data are trying to find out what was the cause of the sudden jump into warp.

This story has similar elements to the earlier season seven episode: Phantasm and I believe I mistook that one for this one whilst I was reviewing it. This makes me wonder if the writers whilst writing the earlier episode had alternative ideas as to how it would play out, and that the basis of this story evolved out of the discarded ideas from the Phantasm story.

I like this one as it has an original series feel about it and it is interesting to watch the team trying to piece together the clues although it is pretty clear that the 'ship' doesn't want the team interfering in the weird goings-on. There has to be another way, there just has to be.

It's strange watching these latter TNG episodes without considering that the series was coming to an end. It is hard to imagine that the main cast had any real passion for the series anymore and that they weren't all just going through the motions. This is the series that would define most of them as actors for the rest of their lives, much as I appreciate that most of these actors would go onto other things, including Worf (Michael Dorn) who would soon pop-up again in DS9. But then Shatner, had other vehicles such as T. J. Hooker. Both Nimoy and Shatner appeared as villains in Columbo stories. Indeed, they had wide and varied careers after the original series ended its run, but they would always be remembered as Kirk and Spock.

A good story but nothing special.

This Episodes Clue: "Oh brave new world that has such people in it"

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

An unmanned probe is closing in on our position. There are no identifiable armaments but it does contain a holographical image of a Ferengi who has a message for the ears of our captain.

Who is Jason Vigo? Who is Miranda Vigo? Does our Captain have a son?

We're off to the Camor System at warp five. I have to say that at this stage in the TNG story I found it hard to take threats from the Ferengi seriously, especially with the familiarity that had formed with the Ferengi characters that were by now appearing on the DS9.

It's a boy... and so we are going to suffer another 35 minutes of son trying to bond with father and neither of them getting very far. There are bound to be recriminations at the fact that Jean-Luc impregnated Miranda and then did a runner. Clearly, the difference of opinion with Bok is bound to take a back-seat to the father/son story development and I feel we are all going to be the poorer for that fact.

This episode supposedly has links to the season one episode, The Battle, although there has clearly been a realignment as to the significance of certain characters. I truly phased out of this one a good twenty minutes before the end although Bok's character was interesting. Otherwise it's cringesville.

This Episodes Clue: Daimon Birta

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

As time passes, a boy inevitably becomes a man... tempered by...

It's an Alexander, son-of-Worf episode. That is apparent from the very outset. Alexander is approaching the Age of Ascension, only Alexander refuses to play ball.

For reasons that aren't made clear, we won't be able to rendezvous with the Kearsarge for another four days which is Star Trek speak for 'we have an unscheduled period of down-time. I advise that each of you use this time to your own advantage.' which is more-or-less what Picard is saying now.

So, we are off to the Festival of Kot'baval thanks to Picard and his meddling in others affairs. Klingon Opera, what could be better?

It's a Klingon matter, and could even be regarded as continuing the arc which started with Season Three's, Sins Of The Father and continued with Reunion and the two-part Redemption.

The Klingon arc is possibly the one and only complete story arc during the run of the entire TNG show, or at least it was the most compelling with all Klingon characters being played by some of the best character actors and most of their culture already being well-known among fans. In this case, James Sloyan makes a wonderful Klingon, although I suspect Worf felt uneasy with the big-hug at the end. His attempts at schooling Alexander in the ways of Klingon was brilliant. Personally, I think this episode is one of the best of Season VII.

This episode also features Quark from Deep Space Nine, who was, at the time of original airing in 1994, one of my favourite characters as far as Star Trek lore and the relatively new DS9 was concerned. B'Etor and Lursa also make yet another long-overdue appearance. Those gals are still scheming.

I was always surprised that the franchise didn't consider making a complete film story based around the entire Klingon culture and experience, there was certainly plenty of scope to do so.

Meanwhile, the Kearsarge are left hanging...???

This Episodes Clue: Jo Ellen

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

Of course, this is yet another episode I well remember from first airing. We've arrived at Starbase 310 for a meeting with Admiral Necheyev and we've also picked up Wesley. But Wes seems a little bit unimpressed.

Admiral Necheyev is onboard and we want her to feel welcome. However, it would seem that the Admiral just wants to come to the point. But she will take a few Bularian canopies. That's nice.

The Federation and the Cardassian's have come to some kind of agreement over the border between their two areas of influence. Naturally, there will also be a demilitarised zone where neither side will be able to place military outposts or conduct fleet exercises, or station warships. The agreement is far from perfect and some of those colonists who find themselves on the wrong side of the border will just have to move.

We're off to evacuate some American Indians from Dorvan V. Tough one! Some concessions had to be made but this is no time for moral objections. I thought Jean-Luc was going to kiss Necheyev for a moment. I've always liked a woman in uniform and I bet the captain does too.

I like Wesley's new threads, but he's still not happy. Obviously, the Indians are not happy at the prospect of being uprooted again and who can blame them.

Clearly, this episode is going to be revolve around the Indians need to vacate the planet of Dorvan V and their objections to it. Arguments will rage from both sides but I think we all know what the outcome should and will be. Wes needs his ears clipped or maybe he's just trying to find himself.

Of course, the simple solution would be to wait until the inhabitants of Dorvan V are asleep and then transport each one of them to the holding cell onboard the Enterprise. Once the starship reaches the next habitable planet within Federation space, transport them down to it into a region that is similar to that one they left behind. This would be a totally bloodless action. Even though Wesley let the cat-out-of-the-bag, they could still transport them and there would be nothing they could do about it.

Looks like Wesley has reached the end of his journey. I'm still a bit puzzled as to how the son of an earth man and women would acquire such special powers that allows him to cross plane's. But this is a very watchable and fascinating story and certainly one of the better episodes of season seven. I think Richard Poe makes an excellent Cardassian and that Gul Evek should have featured more in TNG and DS9. Maybe he will.

His presence certainly adds to the high-quality of the story, but then the Cardassian's weren't all bad, were they?

This Episodes Clue: Deputy Pete Gutierrez

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

We took a walk in the arboretum: Riker boasting about his love life again. He mentions his latest flame, Rebecca Smith. I believe this scene is designed to remind us all that Riker has moved on from Deanna Troi and that Worf has an open run at it. Reg is onboard again and still the hypochondriac.

Much as I like cats, I don't think Spot should be treated in the same medical centre as the humans. Does Crusher even bother to wash her hands between flitting from one patient to another.

It seems to be the case that Alyssa is also with child. Hers must be the fastest courtship in the history of space. Well, Star Trek's universe anyway.

Is it wise for the Captain to go chasing after the errant torpedo? There are many other crew members on board who could go chasing after the thing, including Worf who fired the darn thing.

This is another episode I very well remember from first airing, and another one I had assumed was part of the first season when ideas for the show were still stumbling along and we could allow for the odd-turkey to trot across our screens. The mystery and the devolution was intriguing in itself, but the basic premise of the story was totally ridiculous and just not creditable, even for a science fiction show.

And if the story itself wasn't bad enough, the resolution was even more trite and implausible.

The idea that once having devolved so far back that the 'virus' could some how be reversed so that all crew members return to their normal self is equally silly.

Troi's lying at the bottom of a pool with lizard like eyes... "Will, can you understand..." Captain Picard can really be an idiot at times, can't he?

That is really all that can be said about this Meleagris.

This Episodes Clue: Meleagris

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

We are losing containment in the starboard nacelle tube, we need more power to the field coils. La Forge cannot shut-down the plasma injectors, somebody's locked out the controls. It looks like we may have to jettison the core. At least Dan knows what he has to do... We have lost a good officer who had a fine career ahead of him. It might be a good idea to look through his personal belongings in an attempt to piece together his last few days, maybe this would shine some light on what drove Dan to his sorry end.

It would seem that the medical situation on Barson II has worsened. The good news is that Starfleet have given the Captain permission to exceed warp-speed so that they can get back on schedule.

I have to say that I sometimes find it annoying that the various crew-personnel's quarters are so tidy. No discarded towels on the floor, no dirty dishes in the plate-replicator... no dirty socks in the linen basket.

This story itself is taking the path towards investigation. I'm predicting a love-triangle somewhere along the road. It's a bit like a Murder-She-Wrote with Troi asking all the questions and searching for the answers.

Of course, we now have a love-story developing between Deanna and Worf. Fortunately, this is counter-balanced by the ghostly apparitions experienced by Troi in the control room.

I thought Worf's response to Crusher when she informed him that medical supplies were ready to be taken to cargo bay for transport was totally unprofessional. Ship board romances are all very well, but one should maintain a professional work ethic at all times.

The elements of the ghost-crime story created a very good suspense filled episode and the pangs of jealousy Troi felt towards Ensign Calloway also added a little spice to the proceedings. Wow, the penny's finally dropped, Mr Worf.

Next stop Utopia Planitia, you'll like it there.

This Episodes Clue: Bogs Diamond

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

Mrs Narsu says we should try to make our sculptures as realistic as possible. But today we want our sculptures to make us think of flying. How exactly that works I'm not quite sure??? We're working in the realms of abstract, it seems.

We have a rogue comet out the starboard window, its been en route for 87 million years.

Has Deanna got a secret admirer? Somebody leaving her strange obelisk type sculptures in her room? It seems that there are strange things going on all over the ship. Data seems to know a few things about the structure that was hidden within the comet, but he doesn't know why he knows things about it. The mystery deepens.

Masaka is waiting... so says Ihat. Best thing would be to confine him to quarters. That line gave me the biggest belly laugh so far this season.

This is another episode I very well remember from its original airing and from a few repeat showings over the years. It's one of those episodes where Data gives voice to several different characters. We need Korgano, but where is he? It's a puzzle wrapped inside an enigma which is hidden behind a riddle. Very symbolic obviously. Very mythological. Hence Troi's references to abstract at the beginning of the show.

Actually, I think this might have worked better had Troi been Mosaka rather than Data, but I suppose that may have created the belief that it was a lovers pursuit rather than an allegorical one. This story borrows a little from the Greek myth of Selene who drove the white chariot of the moon across the sky each night. Her brother, Helios did the same thing each morning in his golden sun chariot.

I've always had a special interest where Greek Mythological stories are concerned and for that reason alone, I rate this story highly.

This Episodes Clue: Son of Helios and Clymene

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

Doctor Crusher reading the Bridge Officer's log at the start of this one: Stardate 47611.2 for those who are interested in such matters. Troi's been away on Starbase 231. Data is away in search of a deep space probe that crashed on Barkon IV. The Barkonians are a pre-industrial society, fortunately the probe crashed over a hundred kilometers from the nearest settlement, so no worries about the Prime Directive here, I hope. I already suspect that in some way we will be trashing the PD before the end of this episode.

The Enterprise have a mission to rendezvoused with the Lexington where they will pick up medical supplies which they will then have to transport to the Taranko colony... Data will have to wait a few days before the Enterprise can return to pick him up. Radiation from the probe may be interfering with communications, but Bev thought she would try anyway.

Meanwhile, Data seems to be omitting a weird sound in place of his voice. There's a little girl in this so I hope we aren't going to get too cloying. Data is the man with no name.

Data is carrying a container clearly marked RADIOACTIVE... The villagers of Taranko feel obliged to open that heavy container.

I like this story, it's like a Grimm's Fairy Tale. The secondary story featuring Deanna's attempts at trying to pass the bridge test is also compelling and she does look cute since she got her new auburn hair. But what does concern me is that the villagers still drank the water despite the stranger putting something in it just before they harpooned him.

This Episodes Clue: Kuklinski- Mr. Freezy- Marty Freeman- Deborah Pellicotti

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)

It's crew evaluation time again, those three months have passed so soon. Fletcher has more experience with propulsion systems where as Carstairs is better with people and as this is a supervisory position, Deanna gives the nod in her favour.

A Vulcan, a Bajoran and an Earthling stroll into a bar... there's sure to be a joke in there somewhere. Imagine if you were just a cleaner on board ship, wouldn't that be weird? What would happen if you decided that you wanted a day-off, or couldn't be bothered getting out of bed? Do you think anyone would notice on the bridge?

Alyssa, we didn't tune in to hear about your love-life, get back to work Lieutenant. We had her burgeoning romance, betrayal and marriage-proposal all played out without ever meeting the groom.

The good news is we are off to Cardassian space. We're in search of an escape pod. Let's go fetch it.

Picard's chewing Ensign Sito out about that incident at the Academy a couple of years ago, although I don't remember him having it out with Wesley when he was last onboard.

I liked Worf's teaching Sito the Gik'tal and her interaction with Picard and I would have to question his judgement by involving the young ensign in the dangerous mission into Cardassian space. If he gets her killed I will want his head on a silver platter.

A great episode which is what season seven desperately needed, but we never actually got to meet Fletcher or Carstairs. "Aye Aye, Sir, but we're all still crying over here"

This Episodes Clue: Ensign Levelle, Ensign Sito, and Ensign Taurik

(Answer's to all episode clues will appear in the reviews of season seven, episode 25: All Good Things, Part One.)