September 08, 2003
TNG: The Measure of a Man
[Trek Talk]
Probably one of the best episodes from season 2, The Measure of a Man effectively deals with hard moral topics of free will, the right of a living entity and slavery. It is episodes like these that shine and show the intelligence and moral foundation that Star Trek was founded on. A poor work of science fiction will simply guess about the future; a fair work will entertain as well; a great work will challenge the reader/viewer by wrapping a through provoking topic in a digestible example. In this case Melinda Snodgrass strives for greatness with her intelligent and provoking writing. Credit must also go to Patrick Stewart (I) and Brent Spiner, two great actors with the background in classic theater to be able to pull the performance off. It took two well trained and seasoned actors to be able to generate the energy present in the episode's confrontation; the producers should count themselves lucky to have had capable cast members.
Posted by Leopoldo at September 8, 2003 06:00 AM | TrackBack'Measure of a Man' is one of those rare episodes in which there are few, if any, flaws. This is a shining example of the excellence that the Next Generation could achieve. Unfortunately, this level of quality was evidently too difficult to maintain.
Posted by: heathcliffe on September 8, 2003 11:44 AMYeah, well, every show has its ups and downs. But this was a great one
Posted by: Diane Gibson on September 9, 2003 11:31 AMOne of the reason I preferred to some degree DS9 over TNG was because I think it tried to capture this aspect of the Star Trek tradition more than TNG.
Posted by: Nick on September 11, 2003 03:19 PMThis one was AWESOME!!! a KILLER episode!
Posted by: dyingofluv on September 15, 2003 07:31 AMThis was actually the first Next Generation episode that I ever saw, so it's one of my favourites. An excellent episode.
P.S. Is this the first time we see wrapping paper on Star Trek?
Wrapping paper? As in for a gift? When?
Posted by: Leopoldo on September 16, 2003 08:44 PMData's going-away party - it has that really funny wrapping-paper argument, which to rip or not to rip controversy apparently never died, even in the 24th century.
Posted by: dyingofluv on September 17, 2003 09:36 AMThanks for saying it for me, dyingofluv...you said it a lot better than I would have.
Posted by: Diane Gibson on September 18, 2003 02:46 PMIs that REALLY Irish coffee Riker's drinking as he looks up Data's files?
Posted by: Diane Gibson on September 20, 2003 10:02 AMI just saw this episode for the first time yesterday when it aired on Spike TV. All I have to say is WOW. I laughed, I cried, it moved me. There are so many things that are revealed in this episode, things I (as an until recently casual viewer) had never known before. I think I was slightly more shocked than whatever-her-name-is was when Data revealed his... relationship with Tasha Yar. I think I literally cocked my head to the side and said, 'He can DO that?!'
I give props to the actors, all of them, who felt they had to make my heart stop beating when Data was deactivated.
By the way, I do not begrudge Riker his Irish coffee one bit, as I am sure his nerves were quite on edge.
Posted by: Alix on November 19, 2004 06:00 PM
