I watched it. I remember bits of it, so I must have watched it at some point, but I wonder if it was while I was making dinner or doing some homework, because I don't think I paid total attention back whenever I saw it.
1. Why give a Klingon prune juice? Some sort of Guinan sense of humor? ("Does he always look like that, or is he chronically irregular?")
2. I think TOS could do "war" better than TNG because most of the US population in 1967-69 remembered war better, more were veterans, and frankly, the US was a heck of a lot more militaristic in the 50s and 60s than later on. And hundreds of thousands of drafted young men were rotating through the Vietnam quagmire*. Ending the draft meant the US could throw its weight around without involving more than a tiny percentage of the population in military life. Of course, now, we have a passing familiarity with "war" because of digital gaming, which I maintain is and can only ever be a simulacrum, and because of the glorification of the "special" military units. Most Americans could still ignore or avoid the topic as much as they wanted to even during the last twenty years, again because of the vaunted "all volunteer" farce. It's still a "light footprint" and most people risked nothing, even most people who served. So the people of today can make a "war" show, because of the Wars Against Mean Nouns, but even the experiences they draw on are limited, and the vast majority of the audience has no clue. The audience of 1990 was more out of touch with "war."
3. Incredible to me that AMT offers a model of Enterprise C based on one episode. If I ever see it on sale I may buy it. But first I need to build some of the ST kits I already stashed in my hoard.
4. I liked the exchange between Captain Garrett and her lieutenant, regarding the crew mostly wanted to return to the fight in the past. I just wish they could have shown the resolve in a scene involving the actual crew. I think the feeling of being in the wrong time, and that former family members would be dead, is appealing, but...I can't help feeling that it's not realistic. We're talking only 22 years, as far as friends and family. And we're talking about people who came out a nasty battle. And took heavy casualties. I think those survivors would all marvel at new tech and amenities, and want to get plastered at Ten Forward, and hope to get some leave time. They could have visited the Enterprise D's PTSD clinic, run by Psychological Officer Deanna Troi, which realistically, the Enterprise D would have had, if they were a "battleship" in a fleet fighting for years. See, writers who experienced real warfare, or at least had relatives who did, would have known better.
5. All in all it was a nice effort at making a foray into an alternate time. I think it's interesting how they patched a few stories together, and wrote through Turkey Day. Those lucky writers, at least for one year, missed cantankerous family table conversation and ugly sweaters.
* 2023 me yells at 1990 me: "You call that a quagmire? You ain't seen nothing yet!"
Thanks for these further comments - interesting reading! I feel you are entirely correct that classic Trek engaged with war stories from a more engaged position because of the shadow of World War II and the wars that followed after. Even the nature of starship combat in classic Trek is essentially modelled upon capital ship confrontations - which was central to the war in the Pacific, where the US was most active, and after that conflict ended essentially vanished from military practice. TNG, to some extent, inherits this tradition but - as you say - with writers who had no direct experience of warfare to draw against.
As for digital gaming - I work professionally in games, and would be the first to suggest that playing virtual tag with toy guns does not expose anyone to any aspect of war, and that to my knowledge nobody has come close to representing authentic warfare in a game format. Strategy games capture one element though: the potential for command to treat the boots on the ground as expendable resources. This experience is conveyed all-too-well through games, although it does not chill us as perhaps it should.
Finally, I think the desire to go back is more credible than you paint it here. I have found that there are people who have a kind of 'future lust' for whom the idea of waking up a century later is appealing, but that these are a strict minority, and the majority are so bound to their community that to be torn from them represents a significant psychological cost. However, I do think that your point about the battle they left is salient. I think it speaks well of the episode, however, that we can have these kinds of discussions about its content!
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts! Greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your grace and indulgence to my ramblings, sincerely. It was definitely an episode worth my time, and your presentation and analysis stimulated my rusty brain case.
I do admit that future shock is a real malady. And the crew would probably feel Lost in Space and time, and have survivor’s guilt.
I thought that the first iteration of Battlestar Galactaca did ‘aircraft carrier warfare’ in space very well.
By the way, I am not a war-monger. I have been fixated by aspects of it since childhood, and seek to understand humanity through that lens. If I could I would sweep away the US military industrial complex. I think I like ST science fiction because it has always been in part a discussion about how we could have a better human society.
Chris, I am a devotee of Kirk/Spock/McCoy, and the first season of TNG underwhelmed me big time. I did learn to appreciate aspects of TNG later, but I think there are lots of episodes I have not seen. I think that TNG was a compromise show that my wife and I could both watch back in those halcyon days when our domicile possessed one single screen. We also watched Hercules and Xena. wow, cobwebs stirred up!
I forgot you were a classic fan - no bad thing, in my book! And for what it's worth, my wife and I also watched a great deal of Xena back in the day. 😁
I don’t think I ever saw this episode. I would have loved more war in TNG, as the youngster I was back then. I have to make some time to watch this.
I watched it. I remember bits of it, so I must have watched it at some point, but I wonder if it was while I was making dinner or doing some homework, because I don't think I paid total attention back whenever I saw it.
1. Why give a Klingon prune juice? Some sort of Guinan sense of humor? ("Does he always look like that, or is he chronically irregular?")
2. I think TOS could do "war" better than TNG because most of the US population in 1967-69 remembered war better, more were veterans, and frankly, the US was a heck of a lot more militaristic in the 50s and 60s than later on. And hundreds of thousands of drafted young men were rotating through the Vietnam quagmire*. Ending the draft meant the US could throw its weight around without involving more than a tiny percentage of the population in military life. Of course, now, we have a passing familiarity with "war" because of digital gaming, which I maintain is and can only ever be a simulacrum, and because of the glorification of the "special" military units. Most Americans could still ignore or avoid the topic as much as they wanted to even during the last twenty years, again because of the vaunted "all volunteer" farce. It's still a "light footprint" and most people risked nothing, even most people who served. So the people of today can make a "war" show, because of the Wars Against Mean Nouns, but even the experiences they draw on are limited, and the vast majority of the audience has no clue. The audience of 1990 was more out of touch with "war."
3. Incredible to me that AMT offers a model of Enterprise C based on one episode. If I ever see it on sale I may buy it. But first I need to build some of the ST kits I already stashed in my hoard.
4. I liked the exchange between Captain Garrett and her lieutenant, regarding the crew mostly wanted to return to the fight in the past. I just wish they could have shown the resolve in a scene involving the actual crew. I think the feeling of being in the wrong time, and that former family members would be dead, is appealing, but...I can't help feeling that it's not realistic. We're talking only 22 years, as far as friends and family. And we're talking about people who came out a nasty battle. And took heavy casualties. I think those survivors would all marvel at new tech and amenities, and want to get plastered at Ten Forward, and hope to get some leave time. They could have visited the Enterprise D's PTSD clinic, run by Psychological Officer Deanna Troi, which realistically, the Enterprise D would have had, if they were a "battleship" in a fleet fighting for years. See, writers who experienced real warfare, or at least had relatives who did, would have known better.
5. All in all it was a nice effort at making a foray into an alternate time. I think it's interesting how they patched a few stories together, and wrote through Turkey Day. Those lucky writers, at least for one year, missed cantankerous family table conversation and ugly sweaters.
* 2023 me yells at 1990 me: "You call that a quagmire? You ain't seen nothing yet!"
Thanks for these further comments - interesting reading! I feel you are entirely correct that classic Trek engaged with war stories from a more engaged position because of the shadow of World War II and the wars that followed after. Even the nature of starship combat in classic Trek is essentially modelled upon capital ship confrontations - which was central to the war in the Pacific, where the US was most active, and after that conflict ended essentially vanished from military practice. TNG, to some extent, inherits this tradition but - as you say - with writers who had no direct experience of warfare to draw against.
As for digital gaming - I work professionally in games, and would be the first to suggest that playing virtual tag with toy guns does not expose anyone to any aspect of war, and that to my knowledge nobody has come close to representing authentic warfare in a game format. Strategy games capture one element though: the potential for command to treat the boots on the ground as expendable resources. This experience is conveyed all-too-well through games, although it does not chill us as perhaps it should.
Finally, I think the desire to go back is more credible than you paint it here. I have found that there are people who have a kind of 'future lust' for whom the idea of waking up a century later is appealing, but that these are a strict minority, and the majority are so bound to their community that to be torn from them represents a significant psychological cost. However, I do think that your point about the battle they left is salient. I think it speaks well of the episode, however, that we can have these kinds of discussions about its content!
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts! Greatly appreciated.
Chris.
Thanks for your grace and indulgence to my ramblings, sincerely. It was definitely an episode worth my time, and your presentation and analysis stimulated my rusty brain case.
I do admit that future shock is a real malady. And the crew would probably feel Lost in Space and time, and have survivor’s guilt.
I thought that the first iteration of Battlestar Galactaca did ‘aircraft carrier warfare’ in space very well.
By the way, I am not a war-monger. I have been fixated by aspects of it since childhood, and seek to understand humanity through that lens. If I could I would sweep away the US military industrial complex. I think I like ST science fiction because it has always been in part a discussion about how we could have a better human society.
That's a discussion always worth having! ❤
I'm flabbergasted than any TNG fan hasn't seen "Yesterday's Enterprise"! 😱 You should definitely give this one a go, it's a genuine classic.
Chris, I am a devotee of Kirk/Spock/McCoy, and the first season of TNG underwhelmed me big time. I did learn to appreciate aspects of TNG later, but I think there are lots of episodes I have not seen. I think that TNG was a compromise show that my wife and I could both watch back in those halcyon days when our domicile possessed one single screen. We also watched Hercules and Xena. wow, cobwebs stirred up!
I forgot you were a classic fan - no bad thing, in my book! And for what it's worth, my wife and I also watched a great deal of Xena back in the day. 😁
I so wanted TNG to stay 'dark and exciting' - owell! 😆