#4ShiftRotations

I’m not as critical as you are of this episode, but this is well articulated and funny.

Troi gets as much character development in this episode as she did over the entire run of TNG. I’d definitely say this series is ahead of the TNG curve on that front. 

Christ Zack, it’s your favourite episode of the season, you gave it the best grade, and your review reads like an Uber review for Hitler. I know it’s a critic’s job to be critical, but articulating praise for the things done right is part of the job, too. (personally I thought the last episode was objectively better,…

Don’t worry, most things—including the comments section—remain the same.

You’re quite right. I mistook the list of Colour Purple nominations for a list of wins. Incredibly that movie received 11 nominations but didn’t win anything.

I didn’t say that. I’d say that entertainment is always more entertaining if it’s watched with a mind desirous of being entertained, rather than one desirous of spotting and deconstructing flaws. Unless I’m an MST3K-mode of hate watching something, I try to avoid thinking about a TV show as a TV show when I’m watching…

Good points as always, Cookie, though I disagree with reading Zack’s reviews before watching the show, or in place of watching the show at all. Zack’s a savage critic, and his reviews magnify flaws. Watching the show without a critic’s eye makes it much easier to be swept up in it, and enjoy it for what it is. That’s…

You may know this, but for those who don’t, Whoppi was a really hot commodity during TNG’s original run (87-95). She won an Oscar in 86, and her commercial biggest hits, the Sister Act movies, were in the middle of TNG’s run. She was only available to be on set for like 3 days of the year (her appearance in a…

Well, with a last name like “Horse”, the temptation must have been irresistible.

Are you gas lighting me.

Who is this “Billie Ellish”. It’s Billy Eilish.

The feature-length CSI episode that concluded the series (and included a reappearance by William Peterson) was absolute dogshit. It had the production value of a 1998 MTV series. If they bring it back, they better be a lot more serious about it.

The “do you love to drink? I know my dad did” Bud Light joke was worth the 30-minute price of admission.

If you had a free hour at 8pm, and the world of streaming content at your fingertips, would you really choose to watch a ploddingly paced late night show? The whole attraction of late night TV has always been that it’s the only thing on. If you’re one of the 7 million people in the 18-49 demo that is watching…

I absolutely left this episode craving more progression of the plot, but I don’t consider that to really be a negative. It’s the nature of serialized storytelling that you never finish an episode having all the answers that you want. Even seasons often end in cliffhangers.

I think the scene was necessary to establish the necessity of acquiring a ship. Picard couldn’t go around begging for favours (including from the Starfleet that he just trashed viciously on galactic holo TV) unless he knew that he needed to. If all you have is a bicycle, learning that someone you’re trying to find is…

People above seemed really convinced that she was Vulcan, so I figured they picked up on something I didn’t. But, yeah, on my reading it was quite clear that they were Romulan spies. Though it did occur to me that they must have really been playing quite a long time to infiltrate the fucking admiralty of star fleet,…

Even 30 years later it remains quite possibly the most batshit death of a main cast member on a dramatic TV show. I’m sure there are examples of off-screen deaths of fired actors that are given conspicuously short shrift (though the only examples immediately springing to mind are comedies, Poochie on Simpsons and…

I have a vague memory of some kind of parody skit from several years ago about a cop procedural called “Locke & Key”. I can’t remember if it was like a Key & Peele-type thing, or maybe just a joke promo in the universe of a comedy TV show. I remember thinking it was funny because it seemed so plausibly like something…