Episode Review - Rascals (Next Generation, Season 6)

For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here

Overview – Returning from an expedition, Captain Picard, Guinan, Ensign Ro, and Keiko O’Brien encounter an occurrence that puts their shuttlecraft in jeopardy. When the Enterprise beams them aboard, they appear on the transporter pad as children. The altered crew members try to adjust to their new youthful states and the rest of the crew try to help them adapt. As Doctor Crusher searches for a way to reverse their condition, a group of rogue Ferengi attack and capture the Enterprise, forcing the adult crew members into slave labour. Picard and the rest of the “children” are left to retake the ship.

A surprise upon their rescue.

Score: 8/10 – I must admit that while I was writing the overview for this episode, I was taken aback by how ridiculous the summary sounded. Yet the episode is oddly endearing and fun. Yes, it is a bit incredulous that the Enterprise could be taken over by the Ferengi in such a manner, but if you can suspend your belief over that, the story is quite clever and enjoyable. We love to see our beloved characters in interesting, unusual, and odd situations, and who wouldn’t want to see them as children with adult personalities. I must say that the casting of the child actors was brilliant. Isis J Jones, who plays young Guinan, was also cast as a young version of Whoopi’s character in the movie “Sister Act”. To cast David Tristan Birkin, who previously played Picard’s nephew, as a young Picard was clever and perfect. Caroline King and Megan Parlen are wonderful as the respective younger Keiko and Ro Laren. Each child actor wonderfully captures the essence of their adult counterparts. In addition, we get to use Worf’s son, Alexander, in a more meaningful manner. I also love the humor in this episode, from Riker’s techno-babble to confuse the Ferengi Morta, to Guinan and Ro’s polar opposite approaches to their condition, to Picard’s “temper tantrum” to get access to his “father” Riker (“He’s my Number One Dad!”), the script is cleverly written. Yes, it is odd that the hundreds of experienced Enterprise crewmembers are unable to fend off the Ferengi, yet Picard and a bunch of kids are able to retake the ship, and yet I can’t help but love this episode.

Guinan and Ro, perfectly cast.

Relevance - 3 points. One point for the first time that Hana Hatae as Molly O’Brien. This is also the final episode for the O’Brien family on TNG as they will be going to Deep Space Nine after this episode (which was actually filmed after DS9’s pilot). This incident is referenced in the DS9 episode “Bar Association” when Odo is reminding Worf of various security breaches on the Enterprise during is tour as security chief, so a third point is scored.

O'Brien is not too sure how to take his wife's change.

Continuity - 2 points. Character continuity works perfectly here, especially with the children versions. I loved how Picard runs his fingers through his hair, how Keiko still acts like a wife to Miles (which was also quite funny), and how Guinan especially is thrilled to be a kid again. Mostly, it is Ro Laren that acts perfectly here, as her childhood was much less enjoyable than the others, leading her to first resent and then love this second chance. Story continuity is spot on as well. While to enjoy the episode requires the viewer to simply ignore the relatively easy manner in which the Enterprise falls to a bunch of Ferengi with a couple of old Klingon ships, I cannot ignore this bit of universe continuity violation in this section. I must deduct a point for making the Enterprise crew look either totally incompetent, or the Ferengi extremely lucky.

Can you believe these guys took the ship?

Character Development – 2 points. I would say that if there is one character whose story is advanced in this episode, it is Ro Laren. We get a deep insight into her childhood that explains much about her tough manner. She is then taught to appreciate childhood thanks to the guidance of Guinan, her friend and mentor. The other affected characters are also given a bit of depth, but none more than Ro. Of particular, the ending which has Ro choosing to remain a child for a little longer so that she can continue to enjoy her coloring is sweet. This is before adult coloring books were created, so I am sure a lot of us adults were thinking how nice it would be to spend the afternoon coloring like a kid again.

Kids mobilizing to retake the ship

Social Commentary – 2 points. What would we do with a second childhood? That is a great question that we the viewer can’t help but ask ourselves upon watching this episode. For some of us, like Ro, we need to learn to be kids again. Others of us are like Guinan, who take the most of the opportunity. We also explore a bit of what we would do with Picard, contemplating everything from taking a sabbatical to returning to the Academy to take more courses. There may also be the time-honored parenting lesson of never underestimating the tenacity of children.

Like father, like son.

Cool Stuff – 2 points. As I have mentioned several times, we have brilliant casting that gives us one of the coolest moments with seeing some beloved characters as children. A second point is scored for the director. This is the first Trek episode directed by Adam Nimoy, son of Leonard Nimoy. It was neat to know that the son of the legendary actor and director was following in his father’s footsteps by directing Star Trek.

One of the more touching moments for Ro and Guinan

Rank – Captain (19 points). A great episode full of light-hearted fun and shenanigans. Try not to let the incompetence of the Enterprise crew get in the way of enjoying a trip to a second childhood.

Picard and his "#1 Dad"

If you would like to read other reviews from the Next Generation, click this link.

If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.

Episode Review - Acquisition (Enterprise, Season 1)

Here we are with yet another episode review. A friend requested a Ferengi episode, so Peter, this one is for you. I also want to welcome an old friend to the blog. About 25 years ago, I went to a church summer camp and met a guy who was as big of a Trekkie as I was. It did not take much for the two of us to become good friends. We attended Trek conventions in Edmonton together, even winning a sound-alike competition as a group. Over the years our lives took us in different directions, but the nice thing about good friends is that we can pick up where we left off. Mike McDevitt (aka Mike the Bold) is one of the most passionate guys I know when it comes to Star Trek, as well as pretty much all things inherent to Geek Culture. He also has a couple blogs, “Beyond the FarthestBlog” and “Mike’s Best Blog Ever”. He is a writer, actor, collector, and all around “wild and crazy guy”. Teaming up with Mike for these episode reviews is a no-brainer for me, and I can think of nobody better for being the first collaborator on this ambitious goal of reviewing every Trek episode. Thanks for taking the time to do this, Mike.

ACQUISITION EPISODE OVERVIEW – The Enterprise crew is gassed unconscious with only Trip Tucker left free to save everyone from a quartet of unidentified looters. It's both the final appearance of and "first contact" with the alien Money Grubs known as The Ferengi. The Internet tells me a Ferengi greeting "Amo Kino-ku" translates equally as "How are your finances?" and "How is your inner peace?". As any Ferengi knows- Wealthy is Happy.

EPISODE SCORE

Mike the Bold – 8/10: It's accessible and funny (even Captain Archer jokes for once), with no complicated ongoing arc to scratch your head over. It's all you might ask for in terms of pretty people running around, getting tied up & punching each other in space.

Mighty Elroy – 7/10: I will agree with the appeal of a humorous story without complicated storyline arches getting in the way. In a TV series, I think it is important to have some of these lighter episodes to balance everything out. I didn’t rank it quite as high mainly because the story is a commonly used one, where the heroes find themselves at the mercy of a clever yet ultimately inferior gang of crooks. The heroes then use all the old tricks to get the upper hand. There is nothing original in Enterprise’s approach. I also found it disappointing that this was pretty much a Trip-T’Pol-Archer show where the rest of the crew were unconscious for pretty much the entire episode. I think Porthos had more acting to do then everyone else.

I actually agree that the episode is by-the-numbers. And suffers from a lack of the supporting cast. Not changing my rating, but that's only because I'm lazy!

Relevance

Mike the Bold– 2 points. It drops nods to 'Dear Doctor' & multiple Ferengi stories from the last 15-odd years.

Mighty Elroy – 2 points. No argument here. Check on both counts.

Continuity

Mike the Bold – 3 points. The Ferengi plasma whip harkens nerdishly back to its only previous appearance in 'The Last Outpost' while dialogue references water polo, Porthos, oo-mox, and the nerve pinch, to name a few. Archer, Trip, & T'Pol behave exactly as you might expect, as do their bumbling trollish adversaries.

Mighty Elroy – 2 points. Again, I agree 100% with everything here. I have to say that I was very happy to see the Ferengi energy whips again. I had always wondered why they were never used after the first TNG episode. Where I docked the one point was at the end, when one of the Ferengi (Muk, played by Clint Howard) offered to Krem a Bolian female. If the Federation (of which the Bolians are a part of) does not officially encounter the Ferengi until Picard’s time, how do the Bolians factor into all of this? I was able to accept how well the writers stayed true to the whole meeting the Ferengi before we officially met the Ferengi, but that last bit just didn’t do it for me.

You're not wrong about Bolians. Although I can't cite anything ON SCREEN saying when Bolians became spacefarers or joined the Federation! All 'Acquisition' tells us is that in 2151 Muk has met Bolians and probably Menk.

Good point. Still, they were pushing the envelope with this episode in messing up continuity. A different species all together would have been a better chance for me. Maybe

Character Development

Mike the Bold – 1 point. Nobody learns nothin'! But I consider it a recurring character trait that the NX-01 crew are terrible at recording their first contacts! I'm looking at YOU, The Borg.

Mighty Elroy – 0 points. Due to the point I made previously as to how Malcolm, Travis, Phlox, and  Hoshi having no lines of dialogue, and that everything else with the others was business as usual, I would say that there was no significant development for anyone.

Societal Commentary

Mike the Bold – 2 points. Capitalism as a religion, piracy, and women viewed as property are all current-day problems but not treated here with any special honesty or sensitivity due to the farcical atmosphere.

Mighty Elroy – 1 point. I originally thought this would get a 0, but your points are true. However, because they were not treated seriously for the reasons you offered, I could only give it a 1.

Cool Factor

Mike the Bold – 3 points. Ethan Philips, Clint Howard, and Jeffrey Combs are all ideal guest stars. Plus I'm an obedient fan boy who buys into the excuse that it's NOT centuries too early to run across Ferengi – as long as they forgot to introduce themselves.

Mighty Elroy – 3 points. Your ideal guest stars for this are right on the money. Each one has a special cool factor: Howard for being in the Original Series 35 years before this episode, Philips for performing his third Ferengi (tying Armin Shimmerman and Max Grodenchik for that honor), and Combs for portraying his 7^th Trek character. I also have to give Combs credit for a great performance. Plus, the energy whips. Loved seeing their return. My third Cool Factor point goes to a hypothesis rather than canon-fact, but I can’t help but think that Krem’s obsession with T’Pol was the genesis of the “Vulcan Love Slave” holo-program that was so prevalent in the TNG-DS9 era.

I like your point about the Vulcan Love Slave- it's suggestive of the stories Quark will write in the future, implying this is the "real" world incident that fired the Ferengi imagination for centuries!

RANK

Mike the Bold – Captain (19 Points). Goofy & irreverent. But I prefer bringing the fun even if you have to shove it in there like a sack of stolen pies.

Mighty Elroy – Lieutenant (15 points). I like your concluding statement, Mike. I almost ranked it as Captain myself (just one more point!). A fun episode for those who love the Ferengi.

Final thoughts – As I researched this episode, I found there seems to be a few different camps out there. One group loved the episode, just like we did. Another group loved the Ferengi, but had a hard time with the apparent lack of continuity. The third group, which is definitely the most vocal, hated it with a passion. Many hated it because they hated the Ferengi episodes or the Ferengi themselves in general.