ST: TNG S01E01 & S01E02 "Encounter at Farpoint"

The episode that started it all is also the one that elicits the most groans when I tell people I am watching it again. As with everything I cover here, others have done detailed summaries and analysis, so this is only meant to spark nostalgia and discussion. This isn't the worst episode of TNG (there are several candidates; the leading contender is perhaps the second season closer, "Shades of Gray"), but it is certainly clear that they were still finding themselves at this point and there are many changes ahead (for the better) as the show matures. When it originally aired, the episode was in one two-hour long shot, but has since been broken into two parts and listed as episodes one and two, so I will follow that numbering here.

We begin with an introduction to our new captain, stepping out of the dark and then followed by shaky cameras past several mini-skirted or shorts-wearing crew members to the bridge where we have a painfully undeveloped Data and a tearful Troi. This is followed by introducing Q, a powerful alien mainstay of this series that I generally wish they'd left out. Here also is the first time they use saucer separation, but it becomes the quickly suggested extreme measure for a number of occasions to follow.

So far, TNG is frightfully similar to the later parody, Galaxy Quest. When going back and watching season one, it's very clear that the production value increased as the series went on. Also, they changed the uniform colors for command rank from the original series gold to the red here, leaving the gold for security and engineering, and I like it. The first half ends with a nod to the old series in the form of a cameo from an aging McCoy.

The second half gives us the Pinocchio aspect of Data, an introduction to the holodeck which features later in several good episodes, and unfortunately young Wesley's first visit to the bridge (with some exceptions, this character is largely annoying, even given my tendency to like the geeky advanced student sorts). In the end we also get of course, the final order, "Engage" that we come to know and love.

I fear my nostalgia clouds my judgment on this one--there are so many aspects to this episode that are groan worthy that I won't even attempt to list them, and yet I know how good it gets and they had to start somewhere. I'm betting that someone watching this fresh for the first time would instead label it simply as Bad, but I just can't. I will say that I think the second half is stronger than the first, and I'm going to give Encounter at Farpoint as a whole a So Bad It's Good.