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Episode
162
Captain’s Holiday
Time off from work means curling up with a good book, sitting by the pool and maybe meeting someone special. If you’re Captain Picard, it might also mean a conniving Ferengi, security officers from the 27th century and a mysterious object that can snuff out a star. Captain’s Holiday goes into the Mission Log.
Ouch, two mediocre eps in a row? Who’da thought Season 3 had a rough patch? Unless you actually like this episode. Haven’t had a chance to listen yet.
Fortunately, it’ll pick up again after this. The next two are personal favorites of mine and excellent examples of stuff later Trek just forgot how to do well – an old-school weird sci-fi, and two interesting, humorous character pieces. And then….
So again, I will ask you (will, as in not this week), John, how does Season 3 TNG stack up against Season 1 TOS? It IS better, overall. You know it be true. 😀
Whats even more disappointing is bummer episodes in following years. S3 set a standard imo. Laid the groundwork for more fleshing out of Klingons, Borg, Romulans…but ugh, follow up, got weak
Well certainly – the strong episode of S3 are the strongest we’ve seen so far. S1 and S2 are kind of on auto-pilot in some way. Not to discount them entirely (I do think they kind of get dismissed too easily), but it’s nice to see more modern storytelling on TNG in these episodes. The clunkers in S3 are that much harder to take.
Do you mean you find the best of TNG Season 3 to be stronger than the best of TOS? That’s more what I was asking, but I honestly wasn’t expecting you to agree with me. Which is why I suspect you’re not.
I mean, of COURSE the best of TNG Season 3 is better than TNGs 1 and 2. You’d have to be a Pakled to think otherwise.
An Andorian went on vacation once. She wore her full uniform to sit by the invisible pool, felt inferior because all of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends were staying at the same hotel, and then got trapped into an endless conversation with some old guy selling timeshares in Boca condos. No Andorian has gone on vacation since.
lol- body shaming before we even knew body shaming was a thing! lol
always a bummer, that Andorians, Tellarites and even Vulcans did not feature more prominently in TNG. I wanted Bolians fleshed out more too!
Wouldn’t Andorians find Risa to be miserably hot?
That’s why she ordered the frozen Tranyarita, pink skin .
I stand corrected. 🙂
I really felt that Stewart really enjoyed himself in this one and the character relished the opportunity to not have to be all diplomatic-y with the Ferengi and could just punch him in the nose if he felt like it.
And I thought the Vorgons were only there to make sure history maintained the normal flow. Thus creating the term “A Vorgon conclusion”
Booooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
(Sorry, I have a compulsion to boo puns. Even clever ones, such as yours.)
Logged in just so I could upvote that pun.
I believe Jubal Harshaw would deny having sexual relations with the three ladies that live with him on the grounds that he was too old for such shenanigans – though I think it’s fair to say he still enjoys a little eye candy.
In light of Heinlein’s long-time friendship with L. Ron Hubbard, I’m surprised nobody seems to see a connection between the Church of All Worlds, in Stanger in a Strange Land, and Scientology. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.
I’m not much of a fan of Heinlein’s work; and his association with Hubbard adds an extra layer of creepy for me.
awwww I love Starship Troopers!
From The Heinlein Society:
Were Heinlein and Hubbard lifelong friends?
It is not known definite when Heinlein and Hubbard met, though it was probably in New York in 1940, as Heinlein mentions him being present at a dinner party in John Arwine’s apartment where they stayed for part of the trip. Other sources, though, place Hubbard in Alaska at that time. Nevertheless, Hubbard had been on Heinlein’s “radar” for months earlier, particularly because of “Final Blackout,” and communication happened with John Campbell as a go-between.
Heinlein invited Hubbard, who was then at Princeton, to participate in the Kamikaze think tank in 1944, and most of their documented history together begins at this point.
They had a brief falling out in 1946 and 1947, at a time when many people who knew him said Hubbard was in a bad way psychologically because of the War and its aftermath, but were back on good terms in February 1948.
Heinlein and Hubbard never saw each other physically after 1946, but remained on cordial terms and exchanged letters periodically through the 1950’s, tapering off as Hubbard became absorbed in the Dianetics/Scientology movement. During this time, Hubbard periodically remarked in public on his fondness for and intellectual influence of Heinlein. Late in life Hubbard congratulated Heinlein on his long production, just as he was getting back into fiction writing. They exchanged cordial correspondence on an irregular basis thereafter until Hubbard’s death in January 1986.
The first of the many debunking books about Hubbard, Bare Faced Messiah, appeared in 1987 but Heinlein never saw it. To the end of his life he thought of Hubbard as a war hero.
Given a basic knowledge of the time line, the two men, Scientology, and Stranger in a Strange Land, I can’t help but imagine Heinlein’s premise being: “What if there was a guy like LRH who forms a religion like Scientology, but he can actually do the fanciful things LRH only claims to do?” If Heinlein is ostensibly a science fiction author, there seems to be very little science contained in this particular fictional premise. IMHO, the spirituality in Stranger in a Strange Land is just as cynical (or deluded) as LRH and his Scientology.
I am super surprised to hear Ken and John pull a Bob Orci and suggest that Picard simply accepted the Vorgon’s authority. In my observation, he was obviously slow playing them as he ordered the Code 14 before he found the Uthat. He already knew he might need to destroy it to prevent it from falling into their hands.
Good point. also, silly to be unarmed completely. As a Starfleet captain, you gotta have some enemies out there….
I agree completely. To assume that Picard immediately trusted the Vorgons is wrong. If we knew nothing about Picards character, then maybe once could assume that he was gullible. But even then his precautions of ordering the Code 14 ahead of time should negate that impression.
Then, if we layer on what we know of Picard, how can we assume that he could be duped so easily? Ken and Ray, I love you guys, and you do an AMAZING job, but alas at times you disappoint.
Proceed to loose sleep over my (ever so slight … I really love the show and you guys are awesome!) disapproval.
Oh we haven’t slept a full night in years. That’s what Mission Log does to me.
I said the same over in the Facebook comments. Nice to see this observation made here.
Michael Champion “Boratus” male alien Vorgon
He was also a goon in the movie Total Recall. He gets stabbed in the crotch by the little prostitute.
Karen Landry “Ajur” female Vorgon “security officer” lol
random things I noticed and laughed at years ago and now again..
1. hotel privacy rules?!!? nonexistent
2. sybaritic- never had closed captions back then…mean “indulgent/pleasure seeking”
3. Asian sunbathing chick was and still is HOT! lol- wonder what her name was…
4. no weapons on Risa?- Gun Free Zone arguments? just random thought…
5. long trip to dig site? why? no rental shuttles on Risa?
6. info on the “disc” lol, sound so archaic now…
7. no photo ID on Vorgons, no credentials…funny how these time travelers, on TNG, DS9 and VOY just expect us to believe they are who they say they are…hahaha, no badges?
8. Vash stole money to get to Risa?!? again w/ the money…thought we didn’t need money, but really I think its just we don’t need paper money, everything is on credits or PayPal or Bitcoin or gold pressed latinum
9. Picard and Vash camp out on a glittery space blanket..oooohhh so futuristic!
10. Was the Tox Uthat always in the Horga’hn that Picard purchased?? I did not catch that years ago….I thought it was just in one of the many around Risa…
Jennifer Hetrick “Vash” got 3 episodes of Star Trek.!?!?!? really? argggh. so many other characters deserved a follow up…
She got engaged to Stewart.
There is a terrible amount of dialogue in this episode. One of the worst bits is at the end when the Vorgon tells Picard that history recorded when the Tox Uthat was destroyed. Um, silly me, but isn’t that kind of the reason they’re on Risa at that “time” in the first place? And, assuming they did it right, wouldn’t this device have been taken after/before, thereby nullifying the episode? And, not to jump the timeline, but isn’t there an El-Aurian scientist who is able to do this without the Tox Uthat in a few years?
@ John and Ken
Scantily-clad women sell better than scantily clad men in magazines and so forth…probably in focus groups, too. If scantily-clad women sell better than than scantily-clad men, then it makes sense to have more scantily-clad women in your TV show, at least from a business perspective if none other. That’s not “sexism.” It’s business. And, how many women do you think called into Paramount to complain about the lack of scantily-clad men in Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Selling women will also be more profitable than selling men. It still shouldn’t be done. Money and profit are not a justification for doing something wrong. … How very Ferengi of you. lol
Yes, well, if you’re out to put a stop to sex appeal in entertainment, good luck with that. I’m trying to think of a Trek species known to have a proclivity for fool’s errands, but my geek powers are failing me.
The whole point of Star Trek is to try and show how humanity has developed into a more enlightened society that embraces equality and respect to all genders, races and species. So, I think the show can try harder. It is possible. There’s no need to constantly go for the lowest common denominator – that’s what Kim Kardashian is for.
And why must sex appeal always look like a party at Hugh Hefner’s? In reality for most people sex isn’t like that. Most men and women don’t look like the people on Risa and yet I think a lot of them do enjoy sex. Maybe tv should start showing different kinds of sex appeal and not constantly go for the cliche Middle Aged White Male notion of sexuality.
I’m a viewer too. Why can’t I have more things that will appeal to me as well? Why must it always be the male demographic? I have money to spend just like them and dollars smell the same whether the spender is male or female, young or older.
BTW, I meant the Ferengi comment as a joke, not as a disparaging remark. Next time I’ll put a wink emoticon. Sorry, if it came off as an insult.
I’ve been running a ‘fool’s errand’ since I was four when I demanded to be accepted as an equal to the boys that were around me. Maybe I won’t win in my lifetime but I have to believe that if I keep at it and others (men and women, boys an girls) will keep at it, then eventually the ‘larger half’ of the people of this planet will be finally accepted as equal and worthy humans.
My experience tells me that there are substantially more male Trek fans than there are female Trek fans. I’d love for there to be more of you, but you seem more the exception than the rule.
…at least, during TNG. DS9 may have had a closer ratio.
WADR, your experience is not an empirical way to measure the fan demographic. Also, don’t forget that the world isn’t made just of America and England and that nowadays in order to be a success one must be popular all over the world.
I’m also tired of this myth that sci fi fans are just guys. All these jokes about virgin boys who hang out in comic book stores from The Big Bang Theory, etc. Have you ever been to a convention? Didn’t you notice there were women there? What did you think they watch on tv?
Also, I’m quite annoyed here. I’ve been having these stupid – yes stupid – arguments with boys since I was 6:
– ‘You girl! You don’t count!’
– Yes I do! I’m a person just like you!
– ‘No, you girl! Girl are weak. Girl not worth big like boys!’
And then you (males) come up with old sexist arguments why our point of view, our requirements, and our desires shouldn’t be taken into consideration. Never mind that it has no basis in reality – you still argue these things because above all else you wish to marginalize us. Because if you don’t you won’t be able to feel big and strong. Pathetic.
I wish to qualify this: Not all males. Just males with primitive notions about life.
Well, West Africa Democracy Ratio, I don’t know that convention attendance is any better way to judge demographics. It could well be that conventions skew more female for reasons not representative of the overall fan demographic. Just one example that occurs to me is that I happen to see many male-female couples at conventions. Maybe conventions tend to attract couples (it is a nice thing to do with one’s significant other) and thereby increase the female demographic at conventions over what it is generally. But, if there really have always been as many female Trek fans as male Trek fans, then I’m extremely impressed. And I wouldn’t read too much into my preference for seeing scantily clad females over scantily clad males, if it’s got to be one or the other.
Nobody here said that you don’t count as an individual, Judie. Just that ratings has always been a numbers game. And if the likes of you really do have the numbers that you boast. Then I would encourage you to mount a campaign for more scantily clad males in Trek. People vote with their dollars, after all. And studios know this. But, don’t expect the likes of me to join your call for more nude men in Trek, even by accusing me of sexism.
I don’t have any comprehensive information about Star Trek fandom, but I do have a couple of observations. In the last 10 years of convention-going, the demographic shift seems to be decidedly younger and more female. I don’t know if this is attributable to JJ Trek or to the overall change in fandom demographics or other factors. The other thing that I’ve learned over the last few years is just how much of Star Trek-specific fandom was driven by women in the early years. Bjo Trimble is one of those names that everyone knows, but there are many, many more women who drove the early ‘zines, conventions, costuming, merchandise, etc.
Picard visits Fantasy Island.
Even on vacation, Picard gets into trouble.
I dont neccesarily think John is saying this but we all have to stop looking for patriachal oppression like it’s the red scare. Beverly- Troi both have their share of ‘one ight stands’/ daliances and overt oggjust free expression of sex and sexuality. Strong – even boldling of men- examples of going for what they want. It’s an atmosphere of equality in this way. What about Tasha? Tasha who essentially took advantage of someone who was the emotional equivalent of an 11 yr old. Don’t think that’s a big deal b/c Data is an android? He is a sentient being and if Data had been a female android and Riker had lure her into bed- how would everyone feel about that?
Yes the show has issues due to when it was produced. But for the most part it paints a fairly even portrait of individual empowerement across the board- largely.
Also- I too felt that the ending seemed to be missing another scene with the time travelers looking to try again.
I think we see this kind of thing more pointedly addressed in Voyager and Enterprise in which we see the concept of Time Authority- police established to handle this type of thing.
yeah, sexually we still have a ways to go w fair play on characters hooking up. I liked how Jadzia broke down barriers..but I’ve said too much!!! Time line break! sorry!!
…
…
*wince*
What barriers? That she was always automatically the most awesome person at everything and everyone admired her and she knew everybody from the whatever system and was the best gambler and stuff and could always win at Dabo (even though it was a game of chance, and that any game of chance would still be stacked against the player even if the player knows the best strategies to narrow the odds or else it wouldn’t be a functioning, profitable game for the house to run, see also everything in Vegas), or that other game that’s supposed to be a Ferengi specialty (Tongo?) yet we only see it when Jadzia’s cleaning up, and she would always out-Klingon Worf, who, as has been well-established, would himself routinely out-Klingon all other Klingons, to the point where sex with Worf would typically result in Worf (WORF!!!) having to the go to the infirmary, so that would therefore make Jadzia the most awesome person ever because she could best Ferengi at their game and Klingons at theirs and she was also super-confident and always unflappable and would always answer a quip with an ever more forced quip and would only date strange guys that Kira was WAY too prudish for and she always had stories with Sisko of all the cool things she did that were wilder than anything he could conceive of even remembering….
Basically, what I’m saying is that Jadzia didn’t really break down barriers. She was written to be automatically the best at everything and the coolest person ever, even though we almost never saw her earn that distinction (when we actually saw her do stuff, she’d usually be pretty passive and, at most, inappropriately flippant), instead we would just open an episode hearing other people talk about the latest awesome thing she did, and that’s why she was so awesome. So, most of the time, she was only “cool” in retrospect. We were told, not shown.
Oh, but she was less prudish than Worf in that one episode no-one likes, so….yeah, a real trailblazer, her. Because she was in a swimsuit…? Or is it the much-belated Trek lezzie scene, which was clearly only approved because “both chicks wuz hot!”.
Nothing personal. I just don’t like her character. At all. And John and Ken don’t follow their own rules regarding timelines, why should we?
Lol, time police!! hahaha, I really enjoyed her character…I think she broke down barriers for the tv viewer of the mid 90s. I think she served her purpose. I think her skills were a result of lifetimes of experience which gave her an unfair advantage in some arenas. lol “much belated Trek lezzie scene”-
Ken, You were thinking of General Order 4. (The Only Death Penalty left on the books in Starfleet.) Possibly confused with 7.
Seriously, Picard, you big wet towel, if it’s that bad by the non-poolside, go somewhere else! You’ve got an entire planet, it can’t all be crowded with people having noisy fun just to spite you! There must be mountains, forests, isolated places where you can go read in peace! Or even back in your room, order in some food, switch on the AC…
And Unforgettable episode, unfortunately