1.01 Encounter at Farpoint (Parts 1 and 2)

Rating: 3.5

Captain Jean Luc Picard assembles and leads the crew of the Enterprise to a new space station built at Farpoint. But there is a mystery which must be solved to avoid being punished for ‘crimes of humanity’ by Q, a powerful alien.

Comments

The opening episodes of Trek series (NextGen, DS9, and VOY) have been above par two-part episodes.

Everyone keeps ending their sentences with ‘sir’. It’s very disconcerting.

DeForest Kelley appears in a cameo as a 137 year old Bones McCoy. In a charming scene, he makes some funny comments about Data being similar to a Vulcan.

Q is a great villain. John de Lancie and Patrick Stewart are excellent actors and play off each other well. Stewart in patricular is excellent: he takes mediocre dialogue and makes it sound like Shakespeare.

Troi wears a mini-skirt, as do some of the other female crew. But there’s equal opportunity, as one of the male crew also wears a mini-skirt!

Even though the episode has some flaws (e.g., the flat looks given by the crew during special effects sequences), it is still so exciting to see the new Enterprise again for the first time and think back on what it meant in 1987, and how much has come before and after.

The only part of the Bandi city that we see has an open square, earth tone buildings, no motorized or wheeled vehicles, and no animals. (This doesn’t mean anything yet, but keep it in mind as we visit more alien planets throughout the course of the series).

Nits

Everyone seems to pronounce ‘Grappler Thorn’ slightly differently.

Quotable Quotes

"The meaning of that vessel is as plain, as plain as the noses on your ugly little primate faces."
– Q