Friday, September 7, 2018

Episode Review - Hide and Q (Next Generation, Season 1)

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


Overview – While Picard and his crew are traveling to a Federation colony to provide medical assistance, Q returns to the Enterprise. This time the omnipotent being comes with an invitation for none other than Commander Riker. Q is offering him a chance to join the Continuum and inherit all the powers of the Q. Riker is sorely tempted by the offer even to the point where he is able to give his friends and crewmates gifts beyond their wildest dreams.


Score: 6/10 – I always enjoyed the character of Q. He started out as a villain and over time evolved into a pseudo-ally of Picard. This being the second of his episodes, he is still largely seen as the antagonist. He continues his ploys and shenanigans as this time he focuses on Riker. This seems to be the only time that a Q story pairs up our imp of the galaxy with the first officer. Considering the context of this episode, it made sense to try to pass Q around a little to see how his chemistry works with others. This episode shows why this was the only real time that Q and Riker ever got some quality time together. We will learn that Data, Worf, and definitely Picard were better matches, but Riker does OK here. The idea is solid, and we get to see some fun things. Worf dies for the first time, and the haters of Wesley’s character get a bit of glee when they see him get skewered by one of Q’s animal/soldier things. Still, while this is a pretty decent episode, it is by far not the strongest of Q’s stories. His character is pretty two-dimensional, even compared to “Encounter at Farpoint”. Almost every other episode with Q is better, but this one does have some good moments making it worth a viewing.


Relevance – 1 point. A point will be scored for Riker being offered the powers of Q, something that is referred to in the next Q-centered episode “Q Who” and refers to the series premier episode “Encounter at Farpoint”. It is a good Segway episode that links Q’s story together. That, for now, is the only connection between this episode and others, so only one point will be scored here.


Continuity – 3 points. Character wise things check out here. Riker originally scoffs at the idea of having the powers is something that he accepts at first, and then it starts to corrupt him. How the rest of the crew help him realize it makes sense. Story wise, it also works. It is a classic tale of the corruption of power. Universe continuity is also good. Q continues to meddle, and Picard continues to wear a pained expression on his face.


Character Development – 2 points. This is a Riker tale. He goes through the typical path of being given extreme power and falling down the hole of corruption. It is a fairly typical story that it does little to really advance his character. We are given more insight into some of the other characters with less time. We sense that Geordi has a little crush of sorts on Tasha, Worf is able to move quickly over rough terrain, and Wesley would rather get to adulthood on his own. Picard and Yar have a moment that in hindsight is a little bit awkward. Not enough to give it full marks, but still something.


Social Commentary – 2 points. Ah, the old “power corrupts” tale. Again, given the context of when the episode was filmed, the message is formulaic at best, but it still works. Riker has the power of a god and tries to keep his humanity. As the temptation grows, he starts to see himself as being above his crewmates and captain. When confronted with how the power is getting to him, he realizes that he has been a fool and turns his back on the power. It is effective in its message, yet not very ground breaking, so only two points here.


Cool Stuff – 1 point. The part where Riker is giving his friends gifts that he thinks they want is my favorite part of the episode. We see the first female Klingon in the show and we are given a glimpse at Klingon romance. We see a really good casting decision for the adult Wesley Crusher, and we see Levar Burton’s actual eyes for the first time. It is a cool scene.


Rank – Lieutenant (15 points). Many years ago while TNG was on the air I once attended a video store opening that had John de Lancie as the guest of honor. He did a Q and A session and an autograph signing after. During the Q and A he mentioned that “Hide and Q” was his least favorite Q episode (if memory serves correct, we were in season 4 or 5 at the time). I can understand his sentiments as Q was terribly lacking in depth here. Still, it’s not a horrible episode, but if one chooses to skip it, I would understand.


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. 




















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