More Favorite Guilty Pleasure Films

Here's a follow up to an article I wrote a while back about films which are guilty pleasure of mine. The Terror (1963)

This Roger Corman film was made in just 3 days while Corman was in the midst of filming his great Edgar Allan Poe series. But, unlike those films, this one is not exactly Corman at his best. This story of a soldier (Jack Nicholson) who comes across a mysterious woman (Sandra Knight) who herself is linked to a mysterious baron (Boris Karloff) is pretty much as cliched as they come. Still, for anyone who wants a time-killer in the middle of the night, this film should do the trick. Basic Training (1985)

This military comedy about a female Pentagon employee (Ann Dusenberry) who overcomes sexism by (yes!) seducing a Russian ambassador (Walter Gotell) into betraying military secrets certainly doesn't have the laughs that Stripes (1981) did. Still, if you like your comedies with sex and nudity, there are certainly worse ones out there. Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Price" (1989)

If any episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation can be called a guilty pleasure, it's this one, which aired during the show's third season. In this story, Troi (Marina Sirtis) falls in love with one of the guests (Matt McCoy) who is bidding for the rights to a stable wormhole, only to later discover the unethical methods he uses. Like almost all of Trek's love stories, this one is not exactly a classic, but it did cause a stir for showing the first ever bed scenes in a Trek series. Also, as someone who has crushed on Sirtis forever, this definitely holds rewatchable value for me. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1995)

Officially the fourth entry in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, this film was rereleased once its stars, Renee Zellweger & Matthew McConaughey, became A-listers. The film, written and directed by Kim Henkel, who co-wrote the original film with Tobe Hooper, basically repeats the same beats of that classic movie, although the protagonists here, led by Zellweger, are high school students who become lost following their prom and come across a mysterious farmhouse, who occupants include McConaughey, whose acting here gives new meaning to the term 'ham acting.' Honey (2003)

The title character in this film (Jessica Alba) is a dance instructor who dreams of becoming a choreographer. She is helped along the way by her friend Gina (Joy Bryant) and local barber Chaz (Mekhi Phifer) who she becomes romantically involved with. The film itself doesn't offer any surprises dramatically but it is pleasant to watch.

Double Feature Time; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan/O

For my 1st post of 2026, I'm looking at 2 films I always thought had a bit in common.

William Shakespeare is arguably the most famous playwright in history. So, it's not surprising that his works have been adapted countless times for the cinema over the decades. Many films have also clearly been influenced by his work. One such film is the 2nd Star Trek movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). The movie's director, Nicholas Meyer, clearly was influenced by Shakespeare when making this film. Indeed, echos of Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear are clear thoughout the movie in regards to Kirk beginning to think his best days are behind him and Khan being consumed by his obsession of revenge against Kirk, who had exiled Khan in the original series episode "Space Seed"-an exile which would lead to the deaths of many of Khan's followers, including his wife.. A more literal adaptation O (2001), which is a contemporary take on Shakespeare's Othello. In this film, Othello is Odin James (Mekhi Phifer) who is the basketball champ at a private school and who is romantically involved with this story's Desdemona Desi (Julia Stiles), who is the daughter of the school'd dean (John Heard). Odin's popularity becomes a target of jealousy for his teammate Hugo (Josh Hartnett), this film's Iago and the son of the basketball coach (Martin Sheen). As with his counterpart in the play, Hugo sets into motion a calculated plan to destroy Odin and his relationship with Desi which leads to tragedy for all involved.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine-"What You Leave Behind"

I am still mourning the loss of AgonyBooth.com (as well as the apparent loss of the gentleman who ran the blog). One idea I had for an article is a review of the series finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as the other (so far) Trek finales had already been reviewed on the site. So here now is my review of that episode.

The show's final episode begins, perhaps inevitably with Bashir and Ezri Dax sleeping together, as it was pretty much hammered into our skulls all season long that they would. At least this show gave Bashir a chance at lasting romance, unlike Voyager with Harry Kim.

Elsewhere on the station, O'Brien is being reminded by Keiko and their kids that he needs to tell Bashir about the new teaching job he was offered at Starfleet Academy.

But it's not all fun and romance as Sisko gets another vision from his mother about his journey's end just as he's preparing for a new life with his pregnant wife Kasidy.

As he begins leading the Federation/Klingon/Romulan fleet to Cardassia for a battle that they hope will end the war with the Dominion, Kira, Garak, and Damar (who are also on Cardassia) manage to take out the planet's power grid, causing a break down of the Dominion's communication network.

The trio is captured by Jem'Hadar, who prepare to execute them until their Cardassian allies turn on them in retaliation for the Founders ordering the destruction of a Cardassian city. This turnaround continues as Cardassian ships suddenly fight alongside the Federation and their allies. The female Founder orders all Cardassians exterminated, but Kira and her group infiltrate her command center and take her prisoner, although Damar is killed in the assault. The Founder, who is dying of the Changeling disease crated by Section 31, refuses to give up until Odo arrives and cures her. Apparently this is enough for her to order her forces to stand down (wonder why we didn't try that with Hitler?). Odo later tells Kira that the Founder agreed to surrender if Odo returned to the Changeling homeworld with her so he can cure the other Founders.

After the armistice is signed aboard the U.S.S. Missouri (named for the ship on which Japan signed an armistice to end World War II), Worf agrees to return to the Klingon homeworld with Martok as an ambassador (a development Nemesis would later piss on). The crew celebrate one last time at Vic Fontaine's holosuite lounge. During the party, though, Sisko gets another vision, which leads him to go to Bajor, where he finds Dukat and Winn in the Fire Caves attempting to reach the Pah-wraiths. A fight breaks out in which Winn is killed and Sisko rushes Dukat, sending both of them into a fiery chasm.

Sisko finds himself talking to Sarah, who tells him that he's defeated the Pah-wraiths. But he must remain with them for a time before he can return to his family. He subsequently tells Kasidy about this, who tearfully tells Sisko that she'll wait for him.

After grudgingly wishing Quark well, Odo is accompanied by Kira to the Founders' planet, where they bid each other goodbye.

The series ends with Worf and O'Brien departing. Kira, now in command, stares out into space with Jake.

Two things made DS9 unique among the Trek series: its space station setting & its story arcs, which remain the most concentrated of all the Trek shows. For the most part, the series managed to deliver great drama utilizing a wonderful cast. But, the serialization approach the series took all but said that the show's final season, more so than those of the original series or TNG, would really have to deliver-and overall that final season didn't! TNG's first season is understandably regarded as that series's worst because, with some exceptions, the episodes which comprised that season were simply rehashes of things the original series had already done. DS9's final season, however, is that show's worst because it the ending to this two-year war arc was not as involving as we were expecting. Fluff episodes like "Take Me Out to the Holosuite," "The Emperor's New Cloak," and "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang" certainly didn't help. There was also the issue of new character Ezri Dax (Nicole DeBoer) who was added after Terry Ferrell left (or was dismissed according to some sources) the series at the end of the 6th season. Nothing against DeBoer, but the fact that we only got one season to know her character, gave things in the final season a rushed feeling. Not to mention the fact that Worf does essentially nothing to avenge the death of Jadzia, whom he was married to. People have also understandably derided the flashbacks we see from the regulars at the end of the episode. Not only is Jadzia not seen in them, but the flashbacks unfortunately make the episode drag even more. Finally, I want to discuss Sisko's fate. Some have said he should have either died heroically or remained on the station, but not ambiguously disappear as the episode presents. Personally, I think the final shot of the series should've been Jake looking out that window with his old man. At the beginning of the series ("Emissary"), they both arrive at the station viewing it as a temporary home. But they both view the station as their true home by the last season, and having father and son stare into the sky, and by extension the future, having emerged triumphant from war would've been the perfect ending for the series.

Star Trek: Voyager- "Q2"

The less than satisfying end to the Q saga.

We have now come to the final installment of…

The Rise and Fall of Q

…and boy, does it suck!

This episode aired in the latter half of Voyager‘s final season. By this point, the show had already given up on its premise and decided to become a strict adventure show. On top of that, they ended up ruining the Borg through overuse and cliche-ridden dramatics.

So, I suppose it’s not surprising that Q would end up meeting a similar fate at the show’s hands.

The show begins with Icheb, one of the Borg children previously discovered by the crew in the episode “Collective”. He would go on to become a recurring character while the other Borg kids were dumped off at a nearby planet because they were smart enough to get off Voyager while the getting was good. Icheb is in Janeway’s ready room preparing for his career in Starfleet by giving her an oral report about James T. Kirk’s exploits, and in the process reminding us of a better show we could be watching. She gives Icheb high marks thanks to his presentation which ends up going well over the planned 20 minute mark.

After he leaves, Janeway is startled by a kid (Keegan de Lancie, real-life son of John de Lancie) dressed in a Starfleet uniform and saying that Icheb’s report was boring. Janeway unsuccessfully calls for security before Q pops up and introduces the kid as his son, who I will refer to as Qunior because, like his mom, this kid annoys me. After the title sequence, Q tells Janeway that he’s dropping Qunior off on the ship for a few days in order for him to get experience with humanity. Q departs before Janeway can object. She attempts to tell Qunior that there are some ground rules, but he scoffs at that and vanishes.

Janeway goes to the bridge, where Qunior shows up and says that everything is monotonous on this ship. No argument there. He vanishes again when Janeway shoots down his ideas for blowing up omega molecules or fighting Species 8472 (I guess that’s that species’ name, even though you would think it was simply the designation the Borg gave it). Torres calls Janeway to Engineering, where Qunior has basically turned it into the Mos Eisley cantina. He sends Janeway, Torres, Tuvok, and Chakotay away when they object. Tuvok simply suggests ignoring Qunior so that with any luck, he may go away permanently.

The lack of Han Solo shooting Greedo must’ve caused Qunior to give up on his party, because we next see him in the cargo bay, where he quickly removes Seven of Nine’s clothing. While he clearly admires the view, Seven herself is undeterred and continues her work, which is basically pushing buttons constantly. He leaves again after putting her clothes back on.

Janeway goes to the mess hall, and in the only funny moment in this episode, the replicator tells her to get her own damn coffee. Neelix suggests he try to talk to Qunior. This is why what happens next, while satisfying, is not at all surprising. After Neelix suggests Qunior stop getting neighboring planets into fights, Neelix getting his jaw fused and his vocal cords removed.

Qunior next summons Janeway to the bridge. She finds the ship being chased by three Borg ships. The ship is captured and the Borg beam over. Janeway is about to get Borgified when Q shows up and ends everything. He chastises his son before Janeway’s anger prompts Q to whisk himself and the captain to her ready room.

Q explains that Qunior has been doing bad things such as “tampering with primordial gene pools” and “punching holes in the fabric of space time”. Janeway asks what Suzie Q has been doing during all this and he says she’s disowned her son (good for her!). As a result, Q feels a lot of pressure because he’s the first parent in the Q Continuum, further illustrating that Amanda Rogers is persona non grata.

Janeway points out that Qunior needs to be parented, and Q needs to set an example for him. He gives Janeway a quick lip lock, as sex was out of the question long ago, and happily departs.

Presuming that everything’s fine now, Janeway bathes in her ready room and is startled when Q pops up in the tub with her. He tells her that despite being gone for less than 10 minutes, years of Q time have gone by. During this time, Qunior threw a fit when the old man tried to lay down the law. Janeway tells Q that he has to show Qunior that his bad acts have consequences. Another ugh moment comes when Q kisses her foot as thanks and departs.

The two are next in Sickbay, with Q holding a green petri dish. He snaps his fingers and Qunior pops out, dismayed that he was trapped in that dish as an amoeba. Q tells him that he’ll be an amoeba permanently if he doesn’t straighten out in a week. As added incentive, Qunior gets his powers taken away and Janeway is drafted into watching him. After Q departs, Qunior tries to leave the ship, but Janeway calls security to stop him. She gives him quarters and tells him to prepare for the training she has planned for him.

The next day, Tuvok takes Qunior to the cargo bay, where Seven and Icheb are set to teach him about spatial causality. Qunior cuts to the chase by asking to see Seven in the buff again. Chakotay later takes him to the holodeck. A program is running in which various aliens are debating the mining rites to a planet. Qunior’s task is to resolve the issue before it leads to war. He tells Chakotay that he can do it by himself and Chakotay agrees to let him do so. He assumes that Qunior will soon be begging for help, but he returns and finds the aliens in agreement.

Qunior is later in the mess hall, where Neelix gets even with him by keeping his big mouth talking. Icheb arrives to say hello and Qunior turns down his invite to hang out, because Janeway wants him to write an essay on the Q. Icheb gives him ideas for the essay, and Qunior asks him to write those ideas down. Later on in her ready room, Janeway calls the essay impressive but figures out that Icheb wrote it. She also says that Qunior rigged the holodeck to make resolving that dispute easier. Janeway tells him to go to his room. But Qunior pleads with her since he doesn’t want to be an amoeba. If there’s one thing Janeway loves, it’s the stroking of her own ego, which is why she gives him another chance.

Her subsequent log entry states that Qunior seems to be improving. He even writes another essay to make up for the last one. After Qunior and Icheb take shuttle piloting lessons from Paris, Q shows up to see how things are turning out. Janeway has Qunior read his essay to his father, but Q is less than impressed. After Qunior leaves dejected, Janeway tells Q to cut his son some slack. But Q says that his son needs to prove he’s up to the standards of the Q. So why the hell did he dump Qunior on a shipload of people who aren’t Q?

Janeway goes to Qunior’s quarters and tries to cheer him up by saying that she’ll ask the Continuum to allow him to remain human and on Voyager if they don’t accept him. But Qunior says he wants to be like his dad. Given that his choices are Q or Voyager, can anyone blame him for choosing the former? This may be why Qunior decides to toss aside the good will he’s been earning by tricking Icheb into getting on the Delta Flyer with him. Qunior blasts through the shuttle doors, and using some technobabble bullshit that will never come up again, whips up a portal that takes them to another part of the galaxy.

As Icheb weakly protests, Qunior ends up provoking an alien ship. The captain demands they surrender. When Qunior doesn’t comply, the captain fires on them, injuring Icheb in the process.

Qunior quickly returns to Voyager and gets Icheb to Sickbay. The Doctor says that, for some reason, he can’t help Icheb unless he knows more about the weapon that injured him. Q pops up, and Qunior lies for a while but then admits to stealing the Flyer and asks his dad to save Icheb. But Q declines, reiterating Janeway’s comments that Qunior must realize there are consequences to his actions.

Janeway talks Qunior into going back with her to learn more info from the alien he provoked. He does so, but the alien captain demands that Janeway surrender herself, because his customs say that adults are held accountable for actions of the children they supervise. But Qunior says that he alone will take full responsibility. The alien laughs with approval and reveals himself to be Q. Appearing on the Flyer, he tells them that it was all a test that Qunior passed and that Icheb will be fine.

Q, Qunior, and Janeway return to Voyager where they appear before a trio of Q dressed, for some reason, as those 21st Century judges we saw in “Encounter at Farpoint”.

They announce that Qunior will not be turned into an amoeba. But because he still risked Icheb’s life, Qunior will remain human. They depart, soon followed by Q, who says he’ll be demanding an appeal.

Qunior soon appears in Janeway’s ready room asking her if he can continue his training. But Q appears, saying that he changed the Continuum’s mind and Qunior has his powers again. Qunior whips up a bunch of flowers to thank Janeway. Q tells him he’ll meet him shortly at some planet, after he has a moment with Janeway. Q tells her that he threatened to leave the Continuum if Qunior didn’t get his powers back, and they agreed on the condition that Q will permanently keep an eye on him.

But Q thanks Janeway by giving her info on a way she can shave a few years off their trip to home. This is when she asks what she should’ve asked in “The Q and the Grey”: why not take the ship all the way back to Earth? But Q says that he’d be setting the wrong example for Qunior by doing all that work for them. I’m so sure that the crewmembers who die over the course of the rest of this season completely understand that sentiment.

Like “The Q and the Grey”, this episode is an unfunny mess. Even worse is that we have yet to see De Lancie play Q again. The actor is still with us, so he could conceivably pop up on Discovery, or more fittingly, Picard. But this doesn’t change the fact that the Q saga came to an abrupt, unsatisfying end.

The Next Generation saw the possibilities a character like Q presented and ran with them. This is a reason why his appearance on Deep Space Nine was entertaining. As the audience got to know the character more, one could say he emerged as an explorer of sorts, curious (if doubtful) to see what humanity was capable of. This explains the relationship he ends up forming with Picard, an explorer himself. The result were episodes that were watchable, with some achieving greatness. These ranged from dramatically fascinating (“Q Who”, “Tapestry”, “All Good Things…”) to harmless fluff (“Qpid” and “Q-less”).

But Voyager, despite the good ideas presented in “Death Wish”, would proceed to turn Q into just another alien indistinguishable from the others the crew encountered. This is why, like TNG itself, I continue to view “All Good Things…” as the true send off for Q.

Star Trek: Voyager- "The Q and the Grey"

The fall of Q continues.

Despite its flaws, “Death Wish” was a dramatically intriguing episode. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the next installment of…

The Rise and Fall of Q

“The Q and the Grey” begins with the Voyager crew monitoring a star going supernova, because their longing for home isn’t stopping them from enjoying a light show whenever one pops up.

Janeway congratulates everyone for being only the third crew in Starfleet to witness such an event, while Neelix proves that he’s still an annoying prick just by saying, “Wow!”

Chakotay convinces Janeway to get some sleep and she reluctantly agrees. But upon entering her quarters, she finds a red silk blanket and heart-shaped pillows covering her bed. The captain calls for security, but Q pops up, telling her there’s no need. He puts the moves on her, even changing her attire to something more appropriate for bedtime before telling her that he wants her to be his baby mamma. I suppose Voyager deserves some congratulations of sorts here, because despite the fact that this is John de Lancie in this scene, this is clearly not the same character we saw him play in, say, “Tapestry”.

After the title sequence, Janeway pushes Q aside and goes to put on a robe. Q keeps giving her compliments and praise, but she tells him to get lost. He interprets this as her playing hard to get and vanishes. Frankly, this scene was much funnier when it was in Mr. Mom.

Janeway informs Chakotay that Q is around and tells everyone to keep their eyes open. They discuss this a bit more the next day. Chakotay admits he’s bothered by all this, although this could easily be interpreted as Beltran being bothered with the show at this point. Q pops up in a tiff thinking that Janeway is attached to Chakotay. He also continues his practice of self-humiliation by whipping up a Chakotay-esque tattoo that covers his whole face.

Later, Paris and Kim are doing reports on the holodeck while holo-girls are massaging them, presumably because they aren’t comfortable massaging each other in public yet. Q crashes their little party and asks them for advice on how to win Janeway’s heart, “man-to-man” as he puts it. Boy, did he approach the wrong two guys.

They ignore him and leave, so Q then asks Neelix, whom he appropriately refers to as “bar-rodent”, for a drink at his holo-bar. But Neelix wants to know why he’s bugging Janeway. When he scoffs at Q’s gift ideas for the captain, Q rightfully points out that Neelix himself has done the same by convincing Janeway that he can cook and has survival skills. This must’ve worked, because there was a Voyager cookbook with Neelix’s picture on the cover that I’m sure both of his fans bought. Neelix also adds “liar” to his list of traits by saying that he’s respectful, loyal, and sincere.

Janeway is in her ready room and finds a cute puppy behind her desk. But she quickly calls Q out on it. They sit down and chat, with Q stating that he wants a relationship. He even hits Janeway with the revelation that being so far from home, her chances of settling down aren’t exactly high. Janeway admits she’d like to settle down herself, just not with Q. She gets unexpected support when a lady Q (Suzie Plakson, who previously played Worf’s baby mamma, K’Ehleyr) shows up to rip Q a new one and call Janeway a dog. The expressions on their faces at this insult are definitely Overacting 101.

Q reluctantly introduces Janeway to the female Q, who I’ll refer to as Suzie Q because 1.) that’s what fans call her and 2.) unlike K’Ehleyr, this character really annoys me.

Q’s slide downward into humiliating characterization continues, as he explains that he and Suzie Q have had a centuries-long romance. I wonder what the (male) Q we saw in “True Q” would have to say about that. Janeway assures Suzie Q that she has no interest in Q, and tells them to take their fight elsewhere. She hands the puppy over to Q, who promptly sends it home, and Janeway is called to the bridge.

Chakotay reports that a second star is about to go supernova. Kim then reports a third is about to do the same. Janeway confronts Q about this, as having three stars go boom in the same area in a short space of time isn’t ordinary. He gives a half-assed “it’s not really me” explanation. As a shock wave from one star approaches the ship, Janeway demands Q do something, and he makes himself and Janeway both vanish. An annoyed Suzie Q follows suit as the wave hits the ship.

Cut to a nice manor house. Inside is Janeway, wearing a period dress. Q enters wearing the attire of a Union soldier during the American Civil War and tells her that she’s in the Q Continuum. But rather than a gas station in the middle of the desert, we’re now in a nice mansion. Demanding answers, Q shows Janeway what’s going on just outside the house: a vicious battle.

He says that Quinn’s suicide has resulted in what is now a civil war within the Q Continuum. The numerous supernovas are basically the aftershocks of the battles going on. Q says that Quinn’s actions prompted him to lead a group in favor of change, while others wanted to retain the status quo of the Q. He also believes that having a child with a mortal will create a new being within the Continuum, which will usher in a new era. Janeway is as flabbergasted by this bullshit as we are. But that’s when the mansion gets riddled with bullets, some of which hit Q, causing him to bleed.

Meanwhile, Voyager is damaged from the shock wave (not that it matters, because it’ll be good as new in no time). Chakotay sees Suzie Q has returned, and demands she give him answers. His stance is helped when it’s revealed she’s lost her powers, although she remains as irritable as ever. They’re next discussing the situation with Tuvok. Chakotay suggests they help Suzie get into the Continuum so she can help get Janeway back. Suzie Q admits that there’s one method they could try, with Tuvok reminding her that their primitive ship is her only chance of doing anything right now.

In the manor, Janeway tends to Q’s wounds, with the latter stating that the weapons being used aren’t the standard bullet and gunpowder deals. The firing stops and a voice tells Q that he’s surrounded and to surrender. Despite Janeway telling him to do so, Q stands and defiantly fires his pistol. Naturally, this causes the gunfire to resume, although Janeway manages to drag Q out of the line of fire.

Chakotay’s log says that, since it’s the guest star who’s pulling the bullshit physics out of their ass rather than the Voyager crew themselves, they’re following Suzie Q’s suggestion for how to enter the Continuum. Suzie goes to Engineering to tell Torres to hurry up. The banter that follows is, I guess, meant to be an in-joke of sorts, with Suzie stating how much she likes Klingon females, but all it does is reinforce how annoying she is.

We then see Janeway tending to Q in a camp outside the manor. Since the manor was surrounded, your guess is as good as mine as to how they got outside. She tells Q that she’s thought about what he said earlier and she think it’s a good plan. The difference is, she thinks Q should have a child with Suzie Q. He objects, saying that such a pairing is unprecedented, which may explain why Suzie is such a bitch. But Janeway is adamant, and says she’s going to the enemy camp to surrender.

On the ship, Suzie Q continues to be annoying as she informs Paris to do some technobabble bullshit in order to fly into a star to get to the Continuum.

At the same time, Janeway meets with another Q (Harve Presnell) who’s dressed like a Confederate colonel, naturally. Despite their non-hostile dialogue, the colonel says that he plans to execute Q and asks Janeway where he is. But Q himself saves him the trouble by showing up, although this doesn’t stop the colonel from saying they’ll both die anyway.

As the sun comes up, Janeway and Q are lead into the woods and tied to trees. She pleads for a non-violent end to the war, while Q does the same for Janeway’s life. But Colonel Q isn’t swayed, and dramatic zoom-ins on Janeway and Q signify that they’re screwed. Q apologizes to Janeway, who responds with “I know,” because “-I love you. -I know.” was already taken.

But the soldiers’ weapons are soon diverted by other soldiers firing at them. This includes Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris, and Kim all dressed as Union soldiers while Suzie Q has donned a similar dress to Janeway. It’s not long before the colonel tells his soldiers to stand down while Janeway and Q are freed.

He and Suzie make up and touch fingers, which I guess is the Q way of having sex. Janeway is astonished as she and the others are returned to the ship.

After confirming that the ship is fine and there are no more supernovas anywhere, the episode ends with Janeway in her ready room, where Q shows off his new son. She congratulates the new dad, who asks Janeway to be the baby’s godmother, before Q and Baby Q depart.

Where to begin with this one…

As I noted earlier, this basically reduces Q to a sitcom character, like something out of Bewitched. The Q we saw in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine would definitely rip the Q we see in this episode a new one for being bumbling, unfunny comedy relief.

Secondly, Quinn wanted to end his life because existence in the Q Continuum had nothing more to offer him. One could say that, like V’Ger, his knowledge had reached the limits of this universe, and for Quinn, the next logical step was death. But “The Q and the Grey” makes him out to be a MLK-esque martyr. The difference here is that Dr. King himself was not suicidal. Yes, he knew that the crusade he embarked on could cost him his life, but he pressed on because he and others knew that such change in society was needed and long overdue. But Quinn wasn’t seeking out change. He was simply dissatisfied with how his life was going, but he didn’t encourage others to follow suit and take their own lives.

There’s also the matter of Q saying that a baby with Janeway is the way to fix the civil war. What about Amanda Rogers? Q made a big deal about the fact that she was the child of two of the Q, but that’s never mentioned once here. Of course, if it were, we would’ve been spared this episode’s awful romantic comedy moments.

Finally, the episode ends with the Voyager crew saving the Q Continuum. Let me repeat that: This episode ends with the Voyager crew saving the Q Continuum. Don’t you think that the Q would reward them for such an act? Like, say, snapping their fingers and returning them home?

This episode came in the middle of Voyager‘s third season. During the summer hiatus before the season started, Voyager producer Jeri Taylor said that the third season would have the crew agonizing less about getting home and embracing the exploration opportunities presented by their situation. This, I suppose, was the red flag indicating that Voyager was no longer going to take its premise seriously. Perhaps some Voyager crew members would eventually adopt this stance, but I find it hard to believe that all of them would just magically adjust to being so far from home.

I once noted that the season opener “Basics, Part II” mainly faltered because not one crew member confronted Janeway about the whole crew being stranded. “The Q and the Grey” went even further, with Janeway not even asking Q to send them home when the episode ends. So with “The Q and the Grey”, we’ve now reached the “fall” part of the Rise and Fall of Q—and of Voyager, as well.

Star Trek: Voyager- "Death Wish"

Here is where the fall aspect of the Q saga begins.

While Star Trek: The Next Generation ended with “All Good Things…” (and from everything I’ve been hearing about Star Trek: Picard, I have good reason to continue viewing “All Good Things…” as TNG’s true ending), the Trek franchise wasn’t through with Q yet. Hence our next installment of…

The Rise and Fall of Q

…which aired midway through Star Trek: Voyager‘s second season and drew a lot of attention.

Obviously, seeing a fan favorite such as Q would be a draw, but there was also the little tidbit that he could bring Voyager back to the Alpha Quadrant with a snap of his fingers. And since the entire basis of this series was a ship taking the long, scenic route home, fans were curious how an appearance by Q could possibly get around that. I plan to go a bit more into this shortly, but first, let’s look at the episode itself.

Our story begins with Voyager tracking what appears to be a comet. However, it’s moving at an unexpectedly erratic pace for a natural phenomenon. Janeway sends Torres to the transporter room and asks Kim to beam a sample of it there. Why they don’t beam something as radiation-filled as a piece of a comet into a cargo bay, rather than a space that people use often is never made clear.

But that ends up not mattering as what materializes is a man (Gerrit Graham) wearing a Starfleet uniform, who slowly walks through the containment field and politely introduces himself as Q, who to avoid confusion, I’ll refer to as Quinn because (spoiler alert!) that’s the name he’ll end up with.

Torres fills Janeway in after the title sequence and the captain knows all about the Q and quickly orders a red alert. But Quinn tells her not to bother and takes Janeway and himself into the mess hall, where to express his gratitude for being released from that comet after three centuries, he whips up a nice dinner. This shocks Neelix, prompting him to ask if this guy is a new chef Janeway is thinking of taking on. We should be so lucky.

Quinn already knows who Janeway is and takes a moment to envy everyone in the mess hall for being “mortals”, especially Kes, with her nine-year life span. He explains that this is because he simply wants to die. Janeway confronts him, saying she knows about him because like Sisko, she’s been briefed on the Q by Starfleet. But Quinn says that he’s not that Q, before changing the subject and saying that those who put him in the comet will quickly learn that he’s now free. Janeway is skeptical that he was a prisoner, but Quinn formally thanks everyone and struggles to say fitting final words before just saying goodbye to everyone and making a gesture with his hand.

But rather than disappearing himself, Quinn makes all the men on the ship vanish. The good news is that this includes Neelix. But Janeway is obviously pissed because she’s the only one who reserves the right to kill off her crew.

Quinn apologizes and sends both of them to the bridge. But he’s unable to bring all the men back. That’s when the Q we know shows up.

Q isn’t happy about a Federation ship being in the Delta Quadrant, but Quinn says he didn’t do it. Janeway chimes in, saying that she pulled Quinn out of a comet, prompting Q to make a sexist remark (and get used to that at this point in the Q saga). The captain also correctly deduces that he’s the Q who Starfleet has briefed her on. Q is flattered, the notices all the men are gone. He quickly brings them back, then takes a moment to admire Chakotay’s tattoo before telling Quinn they’re leaving.

But Quinn demands asylum and makes everyone but Q vanish by sending the ship back in time, specifically before the universe was even formed. This results in a little scuffle which includes reducing the ship to subatomic size before it eventually becomes—I kid you not—a Christmas tree ornament in the hands of Q. Well, Hallmark was making Star Trek ornaments by this point, so I guess a reference to that was inevitable.

Janeway stops this nonsense by saying she’ll hold a hearing on Quinn’s request for asylum. Q is amused but agrees as long as Quinn returns to his cell if Q wins. Likewise, Quinn requests to be made mortal if he wins.

Tuvok is working when Quinn unexpectedly pops in. Tuvok comments on his lack of manners before Quinn states his reason for stopping by. He asks Tuvok to represent him at the hearing. Tuvok says he has no experience as a lawyer, but Quinn notes that Tuvok is familiar with asylum laws, and that Vulcan society permits suicide in some cases. Tuvok agrees to his request. Also, Tuvok has always been one of Voyager‘s more interesting characters, so I’d say he’s a good choice.

The hearing begins with Janeway asking all parties not to make light of the situation. Quinn and Q agree, the latter in a condescending tone.

Janeway begins by asking Quinn why he wants to kill himself. He explains that immortality is something he can’t deal with any longer, but the Q Continuum basically forces its members to conform to a specific path. But he objects that he wants his own path to lead to death.

Q rolls his eyes at this and counters that the Continuum’s methods are only for the purpose of keeping Quinn from harming himself. He asks Janeway if he can call an expert witness to back up his case. Janeway agrees and the person Q calls is… Q himself.

The two Qs praise each other before the original asks what Quinn taking his own life would mean for the Continuum. The witness states that it would disrupt the Continuum, because no Q has ever taken their own life. But Quinn points out that they don’t know how much the Continuum would be disrupted, and the Continuum is simply scared of the unknown.

Q the witness states that Quinn, based on his remarks, is mentally unbalanced. But Tuvok points out that Quinn was previously held in high regard by the Continuum and that it’s illogical to say he’s now mentally unbalanced simply because he wants to commit suicide. He goes further, saying that the Continuum has executed other Qs in the past for transgressions (possibly alluding to the death of Amanda Rogers’ parents in “True Q”) and no disruption like the one Q is foreseeing resulted. But Q responds that this particular case is about preserving social order.

Quinn quickly whispers something to Tuvok, who then brings up the spotty track record of Q himself, and is satisfied with Q’s not-so-confident reply that he’s since been redeemed. After the witness is excused, Q asks Janeway if he can bring people from Earth to show him how Quinn has actually benefited her planet for centuries. Janeway is shocked by this notion, but agrees after Q assures her that the timeline won’t be altered, and the people he brings aboard will be returned with no memory of their visit to Voyager.

The trio he brings are William Riker, Sir Issac Newton (Peter Dennis), and some hippie (Maury Ginsberg). All of them are shocked, although it doesn’t take long for Riker to understand what’s happened, given his past with Q.

Janeway speeds things up by asking if they recognize Quinn. Sir Issac says he does because he was sitting under a tree with Quinn just before that famous apple fell on his head. The hippie, who’s named Maury Ginsberg, the same as the actor playing him, because the writers thought it’d be a good joke, recognizes Quinn because he helped him when he had jeep trouble on his way to Woodstock. Riker doesn’t recognize Quinn until Q brings up a photo of Riker’s ancestor Thaddius Riker who fought in the Civil War. The pic also includes Quinn, who apparently made sure that the elder Riker got medical attention and survived his wounds.

Hence, Quinn ensured that a new chapter in physics would begin, the Federation would not be conquered by the Borg, and that some schmuck would get Woodstock underway—and find love in the process.

After the three witnesses are excused, Quinn requests that Janeway and Tuvok experience the uncomfortable conditions of the comet prison. All four of them are briefly crammed in there and the lack of even a TV convinces Janeway that this isn’t a pleasant location.

They return to the ship and Janeway says that, while she sympathizes with Quinn, she can’t say that she’s convinced he’s suffering. She orders a recess. In the mess hall, Tuvok suggests that the next step is for them to view life in the Q Continuum itself.

Q meets with Janeway in her ready room, where she asks if Q could simply reintegrate Quinn into society rather than tossing him back in jail. Q says that would be a bad idea, because while Quinn has done some good things, he also indirectly started a century-long war between the Vulcans and Romulans. He adds further incentive for Janeway to rule against Quinn by showing her how easily he could return them to Earth.

When the hearing resumes, Tuvok brings up his suggestion to visit the Continuum. Q briefly objects, but Quinn convinces him otherwise. All four end up on a road in the middle of a desert. Quinn explains that this is the Continuum presented in a way Janeway and Tuvok can understand. The quartet walk to a small building with a dog and a few people who are presumably other Qs, minding their own business.

Quinn says that the road itself represents the path to the other parts of the universe but he’s already explored it all. He continues by saying that he’s done everything there is to do here, including being the nearby scarecrow and the dog. Janeway says that the other people here don’t appear to be suffering, and Quinn counters that it’s because they’ve already done all those things as well. Sadness would actually be interesting as a result.

He talks about his initial joy when he celebrated how unique and accomplished the Q had become centuries earlier. But as time passed, and more and more of their questions were answered, there was no more to discover. And that’s why the people here aren’t speaking to each other, because there’s nothing new to say. While Q weakly argues that peace and quiet is nice on occasion, Quinn surprises him by saying that Q’s own rebellious period (as seen in “Deja Q”) was actually a good thing. This is because it basically gave the Continuum something to do and shook up the status quo. But this excitement died once Q apologized and got his powers back.

Quinn borrows a magazine that another Q is reading and shows Janeway an article that he wrote. Said article was Quinn’s argument for death, now that the end of the road has been reached for their society. The article also destroyed the high cachet he carried with the Continuum and led to his imprisonment. He asks Janeway if she would want immortality if there were no unexplored avenues of life for her to pursue. Quinn concludes his argument by saying that immortality itself is the disease and the Continuum is forcing it on him.

Upon returning to the ship, Tuvok officially rests their case and Janeway calls for a recess. After this very interesting dramatic dialogue, we for some reason get what’s supposed to be a comedic moment when Janeway is trying to sleep, only to find out she’s sharing a bed with Q.

She leaps out of bed and puts on a robe, and tells him to get lost. She also says that his offer to send them back to Earth, which she calls a bribe, won’t impact her final decision. But Q promises that the Continuum won’t imprison Quinn, but have someone look after him. But to keep up the “comedy”, Q says that Janeway has won and she’ll be praised as a hero when Q sends her back to Earth. He tells her to imagine herself back home with her dogs and a man waiting for her. That man, he says, will be Q himself. But Seven of Nine hasn’t joined the show yet, so Janeway is in no mood for romance. She tells Q to piss off, which he does.

The next day, Janeway delivers her verdict. She tells Quinn that he’s convinced her that he’s suffering and rules in his favor. Q is disappointed, but honors his part of the agreement and makes Quinn mortal. Janeway implores Quinn to not end his own life, as being mortal allows one to experience life in new ways. Quinn says he’ll give it a try. Her subsequent log says that he’s now joined the crew and registered as Quinn on the ship’s manifest.

But before he can take over for Neelix in the kitchen, the Doctor summons Janeway to Sickbay. Quinn has taken hemlock and thanks Janeway for her help before he dies. The Doctor reveals that there’s no hemlock on the ship, and then Q pops up revealing that he gave Quinn the poison because he requested it. He admits that Quinn outdid him when it came to being irrepressible, and hopes he lives up to such a legacy.

The episode ends with Q smiling at the thought that the Continuum will be angry with him once more. He departs with the promise that he and Janeway will meet again.

“Death Wish” certainly does a good job at bringing some new dramatic elements to the Q. Gerrit Graham is both funny and sympathetic as Quinn and does an especially great job at pointing out that immortality, while appealing, may not exactly be the best thing ever. Where it falters are with Q’s attempts to woo Janeway. I’m sure there were other ways to show how strong Janeway could be without making her gender an issue. Also, like “True Q”, the ending is a bit too abrupt and the aspect of Q returning the ship to Earth is swept under the rug. Keep the latter point in mind when it comes to the next and last two Q installments. The sad thing is that, unlike his promise to return in “Encounter at Farpoint”, Q’s subsequent visits to Voyager wouldn’t be much to write home about.

Star Trek: The Next Generation- "Tapestry"

Q's follow up to his DS9 visit.

Just a few weeks after “Q-Less” aired, Q returned to The Next Generation for the next installment of…

The Rise and Fall of Q

The episode begins with Crusher receiving emergency patients, including Picard, Riker, and Worf, who are being beamed up after a surprise attack at a conference they were attending. Picard is unconscious with a huge burn in the center of his chest and gets carried by Worf to a bio bed.

Crusher attempts to revive him, but Picard’s artificial heart is fused.

We fade to white, and Picard is walking around. He sees what appears to be a shadowed angelic figure. Picard takes the figure’s offered hand only to discover that the figure is Q, who welcomes him to the afterlife.

Understandably asking WTF?, Picard scoffs at Q’s comment that he’s God. But Q states that Picard died just five minutes ago. To back up his claim, the spirit of Picard’s dad pops up and scolds his son for joining Starfleet against his wishes, especially since he’s now dead. Never mind that Picard saved humanity more than once by this point in the series. There’s just no pleasing some fathers!

Picard also hears random voices that Q says are the voices of those who have indirectly died because of the captain over the years. But Q says that the good news is that since Picard no longer requires the bathroom, they can now travel through eternity together.

Q points out the reason Picard is now dead and holds up his artificial heart, which Picard had previously told Wesley about in the second season episode “Samaritan Snare”. He says that Picard may have survived the blast that hit him had his heart been a real one. They witness a younger Picard fighting three Nausicaans until one of them sticks a knife in his back, which goes through his heart. Young Picard laughs at the sight before collapsing to the ground.

The present Picard explains to Q that he was reckless and arrogant at that time, which are traits Q wishes he still had. This arrogant streak led to him starting that fight and hence losing his heart. Picard confesses that things would be different now if he hadn’t started that fight.

Picard is surprised by a slap on the face by a woman who quickly walks out. He turns around to see that this little episode is being cheered on by his Academy BFFs Cortan “Corey” Zweller (Ned Vaughn) and Marta “Marty” Batanides (J.C. Brandy). They briefly joke with Picard, who went by the nickname “Johnny” during this time. After Corey and Marty leave, Picard briefly takes in his surroundings, including the cool Starfleet uniform Kirk and company wore in Star Treks II through VI.

Q pops up and says he’s given Picard a chance to change things so he won’t die that premature death. After assuring him that history won’t be altered by what Picard does or doesn’t do, Picard recognizes the setting as Starbase Earhart, where he, Corey, and Marty were awaiting their first postings. Q asks about the lady who slapped him, and Picard says it was one of the many ladies he bedded during this time, and the slap was her reaction when she learned that Picard had another date that same day.

Picard is now in a bar chatting it up with that same date. But the polite respect he now shows leads to her throwing a drink in his face and storming out, to Q’s amusement. Meanwhile, Corey is amazing a crowd with his skills at the billiards-like game of dom-jot. That’s when Nausicaans come in and challenge him to a game. Despite Picard’s warnings, Corey agrees to the challenge and subsequently loses.

In a huff, Corey goes back to his room with Picard and Marty. Corey insists that the Nausicaans had some kind of knick-knack that allowed them to win the game. He plans revenge by rigging the table so the device fails the next time. Picard tries to tell him that this is a bad idea. Corey walks out while Marty notes that Picard is acting differently than usual, saying that he would usually be the one to suggest the revenge idea.

Q walks in with flowers, amusingly saying they are for “John Luck Pickerd”. Marty leaves, prompting Q to note that she’s hot. Picard admits that he wishes he and Marty had been more than friends. But Q is also here to inform Picard that Corey has ignored his advice and is currently rigging the dom-jot table.

Going to the bar, Picard confronts Corey. He eventually says that he’ll rat Corey out to the bar’s owner if he goes through with it. Corey storms off. Back in his quarters, Picard pours his heart out to Marty, while she notes that she likes this new sense of responsibility in Picard. They end up spending the night together.

The next morning begins with a nightmare of sorts, as Picard awakens to find not Marty but Q next to him. Q gloats about what Picard has done so far before vanishing.

Picard meets with Marty in the bar, although she’s not in a happy mood, regretting their romantic evening. They’re joined by an equally unhappy Corey, and they toast to the assignments that await them.

That’s when the Nausicaans return and challenge them again. Picard ends up avoiding the fight and thus saving his real heart by shoving Corey to the ground. The Nausicaans leave laughing their asses off, while both Corey and Marty tell Picard to piss off and walk away.

Q congratulates Picard for avoiding the fight, and the captain is back in the present on the Enterprise. Only now, he’s not a captain. He’s wearing a blue uniform while Worf informs him that he’s a junior grade lieutenant, and Data talks about someone else being the captain. Picard goes to Sickbay, but instead of Crusher, he finds Q, who tells him that he did what he promised: returned Picard to the present as he knows it. All that’s changed is Picard himself, because Picard changed who he was in the past.

Picard goes to Ten Forward and sits with Riker and Troi, asking for their opinion of him as officer material. They both state that, while Picard dots his i’s and crosses his t’s, he’s never acted on the impulse to go above and beyond in order to get into the lucrative command field. In the plus column, he still outranks Harry Kim.

Picard angrily goes to Engineering to give a report to La Forge. In the turbolift, Picard asks Q if he’s amused that Picard is now leading a boring life. The doors open and Picard is back in the all-white setting with Q, who’s bitching about his ungratefulness.

Q points out that, by being less arrogant in his earlier years, Picard didn’t become the commanding figure we met in “Encounter at Farpoint”. As a result, Picard is now stuck with a career that’s almost as bad as being a regular on Andromeda. Of course, there are numerous reasons why TNG was an awesome series and Andromeda was anything but. One of those reasons was that Picard is more interesting and relatable than Sorbo’s Dylan Hunt. We get another example of this as Picard admits to Q that trying to change things wasn’t a smart move, and he asks Q to send him back in order to start the fight this time. Q reminds Picard that this will still result in his eventual death, but Picard doesn’t care. De Lancie does some great acting here; while his facial expression doesn’t change, he’s clearly impressed by Picard yet again.

Picard is back in the bar and this time starts that fight. He gets in a few good punches before that knife goes through his heart, causing him to laugh his ass off all the way back to Crusher’s Sickbay… where she tells him that he should pull through.

The episode ends with a recovered Picard in the observation lounge telling Riker about his experience. Riker notes that he’s never heard of someone having such a detailed near-death experience, and is surprised when Picard admits he’s thankful to Q for the new insight, because he’s always been less than pleased about things he did in his past. Q helped him realize that those stupid acts helped forge him into the person he is now.

“Tapestry” is a wonderful take on Frank Capra’s classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life. Picard isn’t depressed by his life, but rather thinks that if he removes one foolish act he performed in his youth, he won’t die a premature death years later. But Q helps him actually appreciate that act, and realize that in the end, it wasn’t so foolish after all.

“Deja Q” ended with Picard grudgingly admitting that Q was more than a pain in the ass. “Tapestry” ends with Picard openly thanking Q for helping him actually appreciate an event that he had previously viewed with embarrassment and even humiliation. As a result, this episode marks a new point in Q which wouldn’t have been effective had it aired prior to any of his previous appearances, including his pit stop at Deep Space Nine. Q’s relationship with Picard is especially changed, as he’s the only one of TNG’s regulars who Q interacts with here, although Picard keeps the other regulars in the know about what happens.

All this would certainly influence the dramatic direction of Q’s next appearance, which was, of course, the TNG finale “All Good Things…” I’ve already written a review of that episode and can’t think of much to say that I haven’t already said about that masterwork. This is why I’m jumping ahead to Q’s following appearance, which was the Voyager episode “Death Wish”, and this is sadly where the “fall” aspect of the Rise and Fall of Q begins.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine- "Q-Less"

This is a look at Q's only visit to DS9.

Just a few months after “True Q” aired came the launch of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The series, unlike the other Trek series before or since, had a space station setting, rather than one on a starship. It also had appearances from a few characters first seen on The Next Generation, most notably Miles O’Brien as one of the regulars, and Worf, who became a regular in the show’s fourth season.

So, it was natural that DS9 would get its own installment of…

The Rise and Fall of Q

…which came in the first half of the first season.

The episode begins in the replimat where Bashir is attempting to romance a lady by bringing up an ordeal he faced while in medical school. O’Brien is sitting behind this lady, no doubt thinking what the hell is going to possess him to actually be BFFs with Bashir down the road. O’Brien rolls his eyes at Bashir’s gloating after the lady departs, and then the duo are summoned to one of the landing pads, where a runabout carrying Dax and an ensign has returned from the wormhole, but has lost power and is rapidly losing oxygen.

As O’Brien tries to open the bay door, Bashir’s tricorder reads a third person in the vessel. They get in and send the three passengers to the infirmary. O’Brien is surprised to discover that the third passenger is Vash, whom he remembers because he was still on the Enterprise when she visited in “Qpid”. As they head out, she tells him that a friend dropped her off in the Gamma Quadrant. The opening act ends with a reveal of that friend: Q.

After the title sequence, Bashir reveals to Vash that he’s astonished at her good health, considering she was in the Gamma Quadrant for the past two years. The show established Bashir as the “ladies’ man” of DS9’s ensemble at this point, which is why it’s not surprising that he starts flirting with her.

In Sisko’s office, Dax tells him that Vash didn’t reveal how she ended up in the Gamma Quadrant, although she didn’t use the wormhole to get there.

Vash, meanwhile, checks her belongings in with an officer who doesn’t look like he’s smiled a day in his life. He takes special note of the quartz item Vash has obtained during her travels. Sisko arrives and informs Vash that the Daystrom Institute is looking forward to hearing about her experiences. She notes the irony, since she was kicked out of the Institute years ago. But she does express interest in going back to Earth, which Sisko tells her he’ll make arrangements for.

Sisko then checks on O’Brien’s work on the runabout. O’Brien says he can’t tell how the ship lost its power, but it should be okay now. Sisko asks how well he knows Vash, and O’Brien says he only met her that one time, but he knows about her close relationship with Captain Picard. Sisko understandably says that Vash doesn’t seem like the type Picard would go for, and then the power briefly goes out. They head back to Ops, and after power is restored, Dax says that the conditions were similar to what happened on the runabout.

O’Brien takes Vash to her quarters and she asks him how Picard is. He says he was fine the last time he saw him, and she says she may say hi to him again. After O’Brien leaves, Q pops up, slightly annoyed that Vash is still interested in Picard. Vash is equally annoyed, because Q has turned out to be just as insufferable as Picard said he was.

But Q proceeds to annoy her, and then Quark knocks on her door. Q tells him to piss off by making him disappear. Vash demands Quark be brought back and an annoyed Q complies before leaving himself. Quark says that he’s become aware of the trinkets she’s brought back from the Gamma Quadrant and is wondering if she’s interested in joining up with him to auction them off. She persuades him to give her a good chunk of the profits but rubbing his lobes in what I assume if foreplay for Ferengis.

Quark leaves happy, and after another brief comment by Q, Bashir arrives to ask Vash out to dinner. Once he leaves, Vash tells Q to piss off again (poor girl; Picard only had to deal with this crap once a year on average, she’s had to for two years straight).

Bashir is waiting in the replimat for Vash when Q arrives, disguised as a Bajoran waiter (and may I say the earring does nothing for him). He tells Bashir that Vash is bad news, and before Bashir can really object, Q convinces the doctor that he needs sleep with the old contagious yawn gag.

Fortunately, O’Brien is nearby and recognizes Q. He goes to Ops to inform Sisko, who’s already familiar with Q because Starfleet briefed him on the Q years earlier. In Quark’s bar, Vash shows him the quartz item when Sisko arrives telling Quark to get lost. Vash asks him where Bashir is, but Sisko wants to know about Q. But Q saves him the trouble by appearing and not taking long to add Sisko to the list of people he annoys.

Sisko tells Q to go away, but the latter says that a dreary place like this station could use a presence like him, although he does admit to liking Sisko’s uniform, which he quickly replicates for himself. Sisko tells him to stop the power outages, but Q condescendingly tells him that he’s not responsible. Their argument leads to Sisko suggesting they go elsewhere. Q obliges by making everyone around them disappear. Sisko demands he return everyone, prompting Q to turn Quark’s bar into a boxing arena with him and Sisko in the ring, and Q sporting quite the ridiculous mustache.

Quark and Vash place bets on the contestants. Q hits Sisko a few times before Sisko knocks him to the ground with a couple of good hits.

We next see numerous people arrive on the station for Quark’s auction. Odo has his eye on them and is annoyed by another power outage. This one results in a hull breach that Dax says was caused by a graviton pulse. She suggests talking to Q about this, but Sisko is starting to think that Q is not the guilty party.

Quark is dragged into Odo’s office, where Odo says that he’s watching the auction Quark is planning. Specifically, he’s got his eye on the people who are doing the bidding. This leads to him revealing his annoyance at the tendency of people to buy items even though they can’t take those things with them when they die. But Quark is unswayed and even asks Odo if there are any items he might want.

Vash is heading for the auction when Q asks her to reconsider traveling with him. She tells him she can take care of herself, but he reminds her of an insect bite she once received during their travels. He shows her the illness and physical deterioration she would’ve have experienced had he not been there to lend a hand. Q asks her to reconsider her stance before healing her and departing.

Sisko notes in his log that DS9’s life support will fail within 14 hours if the outages continue. Dax suggests that they use a special gas which could potentially trace the outages to their source. Sisko agrees and tells his staff to begin evacuations if this plan fails.

Q pops up to gloat, taking the time to be condescending to Kira, so O’Brien tells him to piss off, too. After O’Brien says he knows him from the Enterprise, Q gets another funny line when he refers to O’Brien as one of the ship’s “little people”. He tells the angry crew that Vash and her current plans are the real threat, and then he vanishes.

Quark is preparing for the auction when an acquaintance threatens him if the merchandise he’s auctioning off isn’t legitimate. Quark is too excited by both the money coming his way and the hots he has for Vash to let that get to him, however. Just then, another power outage causes the station to begin moving toward the wormhole.

But Quark isn’t letting a silly thing like a power outage stop his auction, which he carries on in semi-darkness. He even dismisses Vash’s historical explanations of the items she has and simply tells the bidders what it’s worth.

As Dax and O’Brien put their plan into action, Q pops up at the auction and politely informs everyone that the station is hurtling toward its destruction. Quark tries to calm everyone down while Vash angrily goes to Q to ask him to stop what he’s doing to the station. But Q insists he’s not doing anything.

Soon, after power is restored again, the quartz item is on display and Q spices things up by bidding 1 million bars of latinum on it. Quark is so excited he’s practically crapping his pants, but that’s when Sisko, Kira, and Dax arrive, having traced the power outages to the quartz item itself. Over Quark’s objections, Sisko slaps his combadge on it and tells O’Brien to beam it into space. Once the item is off the station, it transforms into a glowing, sting ray-like creature that heads into the wormhole, leaving the station behind.

The episode ends with the station back in its original spot and Vash telling Quark she plans to go to Earth. He tries to lure her into going to retrieve some valuable ruins from another planet, but she declines. Q quietly pops up with a warning.

"An abysmal place, Earth. Oh, don’t get me wrong. A thousand years ago it had character: the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Watergate. Now it’s just mind-numbingly dull."

One wonders what he would think of the current coronavirus era, with the White House run by a moron who steals speeches from fictional presidents.

The two end up admitting they’ll miss each other, and after Q departs, Vash uses the Ferengi ear seduction technique to ask Quark more about that planet he mentioned. A nearby Dax is bemused by this as Bashir arrives, having just woken up from Q’s yawning spell. She silently tells Bashir he lost his chance to get laid again and not to turn to her, which is probably for the best, as she’ll be walking down the aisle with Worf in a few years.

Like TNG’s first season, DS9’s had moments of repeating what came before that were balanced by more original elements which would get greater emphasis in the coming seasons. Case in point: the end of this episode is definitely reminiscent of “Encounter at Farpoint”. But it is fun to watch Q interact with a different set of characters, and the moment where Sisko hands Q’s ass to him rightly has become a classic. It also gave a sense of closure to Vash.

This would mark Q’s only appearance on Deep Space Nine, which is a shame, as it would have been interesting to see him again once Worf became a regular, and it would’ve been interesting to see Q interact with Odo.

Star Trek: The Next Generation- "True Q"

The latest installment of the Q saga.

Fans ended up waiting over a year after “Qpid” for the next installment of…

The Rise and Fall of Q

…as the character was conspicuously absent from TNG’s fifth season. There were reportedly plans for an appearance but storylines couldn’t be worked out. However, Q would certainly make up for his absence in the following season, with three appearances on not one but two Star Trek series.

The first of these was this episode from the first half of TNG’s sixth season, “True Q.”

The Enterprise arrives at a Starbase to get supplies for a planet having trouble with its atmosphere. They take aboard Amanda Rogers (Olivia d’Abo), who has just won an internship out of many potential candidates. She impresses Picard, Crusher, and Riker with the knowledge she already has about the ship’s layout. As Riker drops her off at her quarters, Rogers says that she wishes her three dogs were with her to enjoy the ship. Once Riker leaves, numerous puppies pop out of thin air. She frantically gathers them up and sweetly tells them that they have to go home, and they all soon vanish.

After the title sequence, Crusher is giving Rogers lessons on how to use various medical equipment. They bond as they talk about their families, with Crusher noting she’s a widow with a son at the Academy, while Rogers says she was adopted after her biological parents died.

Rogers is later helping out in the cargo bay. She impresses La Forge with her knowledge of what’s required for the relief mission they’re on. She also focuses on Riker and is able to save him from a falling container with an unseen move of her hand.

La Forge gives her a tour of Engineering, and as he and Data explain how the warp core works, a breach starts to take place. La Forge orders an evacuation and prepares to eject the core. But that turns out to be unnecessary because Rogers is able to contain the warp core breach, leaving La Forge and Data astonished.

Picard, Crusher, La Forge, and Troi discuss this in the observation lounge. Crusher says that Rogers is in her quarters and La Forge says that there was no reason why the core breach should have occurred when it did. That’s when Q materializes, saying that he caused the breach to confirm his suspicions that Rogers herself is a Q. He explains that her parents took the form of humans and had a child, to Q’s disgust. But after their deaths, the Q Continuum was unsure if Rogers inherited their powers.

Of late, however, her powers have begun to emerge, which is why the Continuum sent Q to check Rogers out. He cautions our heroes that, if unchecked, Rogers could end up using her powers to destroy herself or others. Crusher objects when Q states his intentions to take Rogers to the Continuum once he’s confirmed the extent of her powers. This prompts Q to whisk himself and Picard to the captain’s ready room so they can chat in private.

Q asks Picard to introduce him to Rogers, although Picard is skeptical of Q’s claim that he’s only being helpful. Nonetheless, Picard agrees, and after Q leaves, he goes out on the bridge and asks Data for info about the death of Rogers’s parents.

In Rogers’ quarters, Crusher fills her in and Q literally walks through the wall and begins looking at Rogers in a creepy, #MeToo sort of way. This understandably leads to Rogers telling Q to piss off, using her powers to throw him across the room.

As Q vents to Picard in the ready room (even with his powers, Q can get pissed), the captain suggests being less creepy with Rogers. At the same time, Rogers confides to Crusher about the uncertainty she’s feeling with these new revelations about herself, because she wants to be the same as everyone else. Rogers agrees to meet with Q again, while Crusher promises she won’t treat Rogers with kid gloves.

En route to see Rogers again, Q is stopped by a shadow on the wall, which is presumably one of the Continuum asking about his progress. Q says that he’s working on it, although he expresses his doubts that Rogers will have to die.

Q’s next visit with Rogers is less violent. She doesn’t even seem to mind his creepy tendencies as he explains how awesome it is to be a Q; no doubt because she now knows that she can kick his ass if he goes too far. When Rogers says that she wants to see her real parents, Q instructs her to focus. She soon gets a nice vision of them with her as a little girl.

Rogers meets with Crusher in the lab, where the doctor gives her an experiment to perform. The two ladies have a heart to heart about loved ones, with Rogers asking Crusher if she would bring her husband back if she was able. Crusher says she’s unsure, and once she’s gone, Q shows up and recommends Rogers use her powers to speed up the experiment.

On the bridge, Picard gets a message saying that problems have come up with their relief mission. As La Forge gets to work, Data tells Picard that Rogers’s parents were killed by a tornado at their Kansas home. Picard is suspicious, because in the 24th Century, there’s fancy tech that can dissipate tornadoes.

In the lab, Riker checks in with Rogers and Crusher, and Q notes with disgust that Rogers is drawn to him. The doctor is dismayed at the experimental results, because speeding things up has made it unable to take proper notes. This leads to an argument between her and Q, during which he briefly turns Crusher into a dog, although Rogers turns her back, and Crusher is none the wiser.

Rogers, with Q’s help, explores her powers a bit more. This involves a nice of the ship as they pop up in various locations, such as the warp core, and even outside the ship itself.

That night, she’s dining with Crusher and Troi. Riker comes by on a date of his own, but Rogers whisks him and herself away to a romantic setting with period clothing. Riker resists until Rogers uses her powers to give him the desire to make out with her. But she quickly realizes that the passion isn’t genuine and sends him back.

Q meets Picard in his ready room, where the captain confronts him about the tornado and asks if this was the Continuum’s way of executing Rogers’s parents. Q admits as much, and adds that he has to determine if Rogers herself is a Q or a hybrid of some sort. If so, she’ll have to die as well. He attempts to rationalize this by saying that beings with unlimited power can’t be permitted to roam the universe. Picard asks point blank if Rogers will die, and Q says that he doesn’t know yet.

Picard meets with Crusher and Troi, and they agree that Rogers should be told the truth. At the same time, Riker goes down to the planet to assist with the issues there.

After Picard explains the situation to Rogers, she demands that Q appear, and he does. Picard says that Q is acting similar to the way he did when he judged him in “Encounter at Farpoint”, and reiterates his stance that, despite their vast powers, the Q are still full of shit compared to humanity, and basically laughs at how they’re pondering killing someone who has both humanity and powers of the Q.

This leads to another great Q line.

"Jean-Luc, sometimes I think the only reason I come here is to listen to these wonderful speeches of yours."

He adds that Picard’s conviction isn’t necessary, because the Continuum doesn’t plan to execute Rogers. Instead, they’ll give her a choice. She can join the Continuum, or continue with her human life as long as she doesn’t use her powers. Rogers says that she can refrain from doing so, but Q says that it’s easier said than done.

That’s when the ship is hailed by Riker, who says that the state of the reactor on the planet is worse than they thought. Q insists he’s not doing anything and vanishes. Things are looking grim until the reactor begins fixing itself and the atmosphere of the planet clears up.

Q pops up on the bridge to gloat, and Rogers confesses that she couldn’t just stand by as disaster unfolded. She brings Crusher to the bridge and says that she can’t deny that she’s a Q and agrees to join the Continuum. But she insists on explaining things to the parents who raised her before doing so. She and Crusher hug each other farewell, with the promise that they’ll see each other again, and then Rogers and Q depart.

This episode certainly has good intentions. While I didn’t care for Crusher briefly being a dog or Rogers attempting to romance Riker, the Crusher/Rogers scenes are quite sweet and d’Abo makes it easy for us to side with Rogers. It’s actually a bit reminiscent of the original Star Trek episode “Charlie X”, in that it involves the crew dealing with a young person with immense power. But it’s different enough that it can’t be called a rip-off.

Where the episode falters is the ending, which seems a bit rushed. While Rogers saves a planet full of people, there’s never a sense of urgency to the proceedings like there was in “Q Who”. Afterward, she and Q take off, and that’s that. But it still deserves credit for trying something different; Q himself is actually more of a supporting player here than in his previous outings.

Star Trek: The Next Generation- "Qpid"

This episode is another lighthearted tale.

“Qpid”, the latest installment of…

The Rise and Fall of Q

…has the same lighthearted tone as the previous entry, “Deja Q."

The episode begins with the Enterprise arriving at Tagus III, where Picard is set to give a lecture to a group of renowned Starfleet archaeologists. As he’s the archaeology aficionado, Picard is up in his ready room to the wee hours perfecting his speech, as well as wishing that the ruins on the planet weren’t closed off to the public. Troi comes in and politely tells him that his speech is fine and he should get his ass to bed.

Picard concedes, but upon arriving in his quarters, recognizes something on his table. That something is a horga’hn, which is basically a sex toy he bought for Riker when he went to pleasure planet Risa the previous season in “Captain’s Holiday”. Picard is also happily surprised to find that Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), a fellow archaeology buff whom he romanced in that episode, is in his quarters as well. I think it’s safe to say that Picard won’t be getting any sleep tonight.

We jump to the next morning as the two are having tea. Vash says that she’s part of the archaeology team that Picard is set to talk to, although her tone suggests that there’s something more to her appearance on Tagus III. But he basically freezes up when Dr. Crusher arrives for their morning tea. He stammers as he introduces the ladies to each other, with Vash noting that Picard told her about Crusher, but not vice versa. But this doesn’t stop the doctor from offering to give Vash a tour of the ship.

One stop on this tour is Ten Forward, where Vash meets Riker, and we get the awesome news that Picard does a great Riker impression. Crusher excuses herself when she’s needed in Sick Bay, so Riker continues Vash’s tour, which ends up on the bridge. After meeting La Forge, Data, and Worf, she briefly gets cozy in Picard’s chair, just as the captain comes out of his ready room.

Soon, at the reception in Ten Forward, Troi confirms that Picard told none of the other members of the crew about Vash. Pissed off about this, she confronts Picard, who says that it would be inappropriate, but Vash just thinks he’s embarrassed by her presence. This little tiff leads to him going back to his ready room. Alas, another headache is inside waiting for him: Q, who’s sitting at his desk and asks for a big hug.

After he gives the chair back to Picard, Q says that he’s back because he feels that he must somehow repay Picard for giving him a hand in getting his powers back in “Deja Q”. Picard just says Q leaving would suffice, but Q insists more is needed. He suggests helping Picard with his upcoming speech, which he tells Picard is crap. To that end, he offers to give Picard a look at the planet’s ruins, but Picard says that his speech will do the trick and tells Q to get lost. After Q vanishes, Picard alerts Riker, who in turn alerts the crew.

Later, Picard attempts to make amends with Vash, but those efforts are thwarted when he finds a map of the ruins as well as digging equipment. This lets him know that she plans to continue her pillaging ways, and once more they part, pissed off with each other.

Q happens to catch this argument and pops up in Picard’s quarters when the captain is going to bed. He says that Vash has brought out vulnerability in Picard that Q has been unable to, even saying that he would’ve appeared as female himself had he known. After this, and bringing up his need to repay Picard, the captain once again tells Q to piss off, which he happily does.

As Picard gives his speech the next day, the other regulars seated in the back row are slowly acquiring medieval attire that pops up out of nowhere. The rest of the audience is startled, as is Picard, whose own attire changes before he and the other regulars suddenly find themselves on Earth. They deduce that this is roughly the 12th Century and they’re attired like Robin Hood and his Merry Men, leading to Worf’s classic line, “Sir, I protest! I am not a merry man!”

That’s when Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Clive Revill) appears. Worf engages in a brief sword fight with him before reinforcements prompt Picard and company to take refuge in the forest.

Not long afterward, Q shows up on a nice looking white horse and claims he’s the Sheriff of Nottingham. He tells them that they’ll be returned to the ship by noon tomorrow. The catch is that Maid Marian is set to be beheaded at that time. Picard quickly realizes that Vash is playing Marian. Before vanishing, Q says that while he created this illusion, he’s as uncertain about how things will play out as the crew is.

At Nottingham Castle, Vash is understandably confused. But after her initial hostility, she starts to become more friendly to Sir Guy after hearing that she’s set to go on the chopping block.

In the forest, Worf emulates a classic John Belushi move by gently taking the mandolin La Forge is playing, and smashing it against a nearby tree. Troi likewise is trying to get the hang of using a bow and arrow, as one hits Data, although he’s fine. Picard decides to go rescue Vash on his own over Riker’s objections.

Q is astonished at how Vash is able to sweet talk Sir Guy into sparing her life. After she returns to her quarters, she sees Picard enter via the window. He informs her that Q created this fantasy, but for some reason, Vash decides to get pissed when she learns that Picard came to the castle all by himself. Naturally, this hinders their escape, giving Sir Guy a chance to bust them. Vash even turns Picard’s sword against him, pleasing Sir Guy more. This further astonishes and angers Q, who goes to Vash to introduce himself and give her his compliments.

But Q also finds a letter Vash was planning to send to Riker, and orders the guards to plan for her execution as well. And to think, this wouldn’t have happened if Vash had just kept her mouth shut as Picard was rescuing her. Heck, even Picard calls her out on this as they bitch to each other on their way to the chopping block. Despite this, Picard tells Q to let Vash go.

Fortunately, the other crew members are nearby dressed as monks. Data pulls some doohickey from his arm and tosses it into a nearby torch, causing a brief explosion. This gives our heroes enough time to begin the fight, as Q watches while stuffing his face with the buffet that I suppose is standard for executions. Of course, this includes the infamous bit where Crusher and Troi take out bad guys with pottery, while all the men get to use swords. Happily, future episodes would make this up to both ladies.

As Vash is dragged back to her quarters, Picard and Sir Guy fight, with Picard winning. After reuniting with Vash, Picard tells Q to end the whole thing. He does so, although he gloats that love has brought out the worst in Picard. Vash, however, states the opposite is true, which earns her more praise from Q.

Everyone is back on the Enterprise except Vash. But Picard isn’t saddened for long, as she shows up when he goes to his ready room. They make up before Q appears, with Vash saying that he’s her new partner and they plan to explore the universe together. Picard is initially dismissive, until Vash reminds him that she and Q pretty much deserve each other.

After assuring Picard that Vash will be safe, Q departs so they can kiss each other goodbye.

When all’s said and done, “Qpid” is more or less an advertisement for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which was released a few months later. Still, like “Deja Q”, the episode is enjoyable, even though the storyline isn’t as sharp. This is probably because we know that things will turn out alright because the entire scenario is engineered by Q. Vash rubs some fans the wrong way, but it’s understandable that she and Q ended up viewing each other as kindred spirits. But I will say that this episode would certainly rank higher in my book if we had heard Picard’s Riker impression.