The Golden Age of Star Trek: we had the 6th Season of The Next Generation and the 1st Season of Deep Space Nice on our televisions, Generations on view in our cinemas and First Contact due out soon. This season of TNG contains some excellent stand-alone episodes and several spectacular two-parters, with only the occasional make-weight. Despite the length of time it had already been on the air, it still represents some of the highest standard of television Science Fiction ever broadcast.
This episode could be viewed as little more than the set up for Worf's adventures on a remote planet which is home to a long forgotten Romulan prison camp for the Klingons who were captured after the battle of Khitomer. After all, this part of the story is set up at the very beginning of Part I and does not really get going until Part II. Various bits of narrative seem to have been inserted to change it from a one-and-a-bit-length episode into a two-parter. That doesn't much matter if you are enjoying the various excellent storylines and only seems a bit weird if you try to break it down afterwards.
Well, quite a few "rule books" have been abandoned by this stage in the series and who would want to miss the cross over appearance of Doctor Julian Bashir from the fledgling series, Deep Space Nine? Alexander Siddig (at the time still going by the name of Siddig el Fadil) radiates the youthful enthusiasm with which his character joins the new series' regular crew and is an absolute joy to watch. If it was intended to encourage US viewers of TNG to try out the brand new DS9 then I hope it was a success. In the UK, because of the VHS release schedule, we had already had the chance to see Deep Space Nine and, for Star Trek cognoscenti, there was simply no going back. We were hooked.
Data's dream world is extremely imaginatively presented. A lot of work must have gone into depicting such a surrealistic view of the Enterprise interior and the symbolism, as illustrated in Data's fantasy paintings, is fascinating. These scenes have a freshness and a creativity which speaks highly of the continuing commitment of all concerned at this late stage in the series' run.
My favourite character, of course, is the cunning and rather repellent Jaglom Shrek, played to perfection by Hollywood A-lister James Cromwell. He exudes avarice and guile despite being encased in a full head of latex prosthetic; the repulsive worm-like detail of which stands up very well to high definition viewing. Even his hands are rendered completely alien and thumbless by some clever camouflage. Imagine having to go around like that for a prolonged day's filming? Now that's true dedication to the craft.
Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.
This episode could be viewed as little more than the set up for Worf's adventures on a remote planet which is home to a long forgotten Romulan prison camp for the Klingons who were captured after the battle of Khitomer. After all, this part of the story is set up at the very beginning of Part I and does not really get going until Part II. Various bits of narrative seem to have been inserted to change it from a one-and-a-bit-length episode into a two-parter. That doesn't much matter if you are enjoying the various excellent storylines and only seems a bit weird if you try to break it down afterwards.
Well, quite a few "rule books" have been abandoned by this stage in the series and who would want to miss the cross over appearance of Doctor Julian Bashir from the fledgling series, Deep Space Nine? Alexander Siddig (at the time still going by the name of Siddig el Fadil) radiates the youthful enthusiasm with which his character joins the new series' regular crew and is an absolute joy to watch. If it was intended to encourage US viewers of TNG to try out the brand new DS9 then I hope it was a success. In the UK, because of the VHS release schedule, we had already had the chance to see Deep Space Nine and, for Star Trek cognoscenti, there was simply no going back. We were hooked.
Data's dream world is extremely imaginatively presented. A lot of work must have gone into depicting such a surrealistic view of the Enterprise interior and the symbolism, as illustrated in Data's fantasy paintings, is fascinating. These scenes have a freshness and a creativity which speaks highly of the continuing commitment of all concerned at this late stage in the series' run.
My favourite character, of course, is the cunning and rather repellent Jaglom Shrek, played to perfection by Hollywood A-lister James Cromwell. He exudes avarice and guile despite being encased in a full head of latex prosthetic; the repulsive worm-like detail of which stands up very well to high definition viewing. Even his hands are rendered completely alien and thumbless by some clever camouflage. Imagine having to go around like that for a prolonged day's filming? Now that's true dedication to the craft.
Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.