episode #01-#02: Encounter at Farpoint

ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT episode #1-#2, first season
written by D.C.Fontana & Gene Roddenberry; Directed by Corey Allen

Though we didn't know it when this first aired, this double-length pilot episode of TNG would eventually form a bookend with the final episode, All Good Things...
We were introduced to the new Enterprise-D in this episode and its new captain, the experienced Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). They did a few things right in this start-up: there was a sense of this new beginning (the ship had just been built, Picard had just been assigned, a crew was just beginning to work together) in this first episode, of an anticipation to begin exploring areas not yet encountered.

But, it was a bit rough; Picard's first discussions with Data (Brent Spiner), the android, came across like a roughdraft in need of fine-tuning. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) and Troi (Marina Sirtis) ranged from amateurish to insipid as played by the actresses. Worf (Michael Dorn) was so very one-note. And Geordi (LeVar Burton) seemed very hidden behind that visor.

This was also the first appearance of the holodeck - Riker meets Data in some wilderness setting in the holodeck and Wesley has his first goofy scene there - but keep in mind that there was a version of this technology in the Animated Series episode Practical Joker way back in '73. There was some explanation of how this mind-blowing tech works, as it's presented as almost new in this episode.
In the plot, Riker (Jonathan Frakes as the first officer), Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) and her son (Wil Wheaton as Wesley) were not yet aboard; they were waiting for the ship to pick them up at Farpoint Station, a backwards yet oddly advanced little community resembling a mall, where odd little things were being noticed. But, the Enterprise was waylaid by Q (John de Lancie), a cosmic trickster with unlimited power who utilizes some sort of handy energy web.

This first episode may have caused a problem for the remainder of the first season: Roddenberry and his crew may have shot their load for the first year with the intro of the 'anything-goes' Q entity, so that most of the other 1st season shows would look pedestrian in comparison. Even  so, this was a bit slow - sort of too talky and even repetitive (Enterprise gets away from Q, he chases it down, ho-hum). Q became a little tiresome to me somewhere near the midpoint, ranting about mankind's crimes in that weird courtroom set-up (in the TOS episode, The Squire of Gothos, the short court scene was set up as a bad joke; here everyone takes it very seriously and drags it out).

Still, the introductions of all involved made this one of the better first season offerings (which isn't saying all that much   ).  The revelation towards the end about giant lifeforms was always a bit strange to me... how was the character of Zorn (Michael Bell) able to capture and keep one of these as his slave..? This seems far beyond his capabilities... but, never mind. I guess things had to be big all around in the first episode. BoG's Score: 6 out of 10.
TNG Trivia: this featured the first separation-of-the-saucer-scene for the ship; there's also a DeForest Kelley cameo in an early scene as a very elderly McCoy, now an admiral (I wonder if he changed careers, say, 40 years prior, and switched to the command section of Starfleet; he certainly had time - maybe he made this decision when he hit his 100th birthday ).