1x01 Encounter at Farpoint

[7.3/10] One of the great pleasures of life is returning to something you love with new eyes. I grew up with Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was my entree into the world of the Federation as a child, and in that sense, it will always be my Star Trek no matter how much I’ve enjoyed its successors and predecessors.

But coming back to it after so many years, and after finally sitting down to watch The Original Series, puts its pilot episode in a new context, a new light that exposes some of its flaws, but also exposes the seeds of what would become one of the foundational science fiction shows on television, and for your humble reviewer.

The first thing that stands out on rewatch is how many tropes from The Original Series are deployed here. With a script penned by Gene Roddenberry himself and star scribe D.C. Fontana, “Encounter at Farpoint Station” hits some of Gene’s absolute favorite beats. There’s the godlike being judging humanity for its barbarism, there’s the mysterious object in space that appears out of nowhere, and there’s even the society that seems nice enough on the surface but is clearly hiding some terrible secret.

It’s clear that Roddenberry and Fontana wanted to evince a sense of continuity of storytelling with the old series, and if you excise the various character introduction scenes, it’s not hard to imagine Kirk, Spock, and Bones plopped into this same sort of adventure and getting similar results.

But there’s also some DNA from Star Trek: The Motion Picture built in as well. Despite the fig leaf of the tactical reason for separating the saucer section of the Enterprise-D -- something The Original Series occasionally teased but never put into action -- the event is mostly an excuse to show off some fancy models and graphics work, while the music swells and the camera cuts to any number of reaction shots from the crew on the battle bridge. (The battle bridge, incidentally, seems to exist to create more visual continuity with the bridge of the original Enterprise in contrast to the Holiday Inn Lobby setup of the main bridge.)

The same goes for Riker manually reconnecting the saucer section. While it ties into the plot thread of Picard testing his first officer, it seems to mostly exist to inject a bit of spectacle into what is otherwise an episode that promises excitement to come, but is mostly still establishing its premise and world. The first part of “Encounter” doesn’t skimp on those space-faring moments that seem designed to say “look what we can do!”

But reckoning with the series history also shows the differences between TNG and its forbear, chief among them the acting talents of its lead. What a difference centering the show around a classically-trained actor like Patrick Stewart makes. I don’t mean to slag William Shatner -- he came to prominence in a different era and his style serves the 1960s series’ ends -- but Stewart is the biggest boon to the nascent sequel show.

He has the inherent gravitas to make the more outlandish technobabble sound convincing. He has the chops to take the silly, sweeping commentary on what humanity is or was and make it sound convincing. He has the talent to convey the layers in a Captain who puts on air of detachment when evaluating his second in command, softens once the test is passed, and reveals his own insecurity about dealing with families aboard his starship.

If there’s one thing that makes The Next Generation easier to swallow despite still shaking off the rust of its predecessor and figuring out how to chart a new course, it’s the steady hand of Stewart, there to imbue the new captain of the Enterprise with the strength and level of performance to sell him as a real, compelling figure in this fantastical world.

Coming back to the show as an adult also let’s you see how much of the heavy-machinery placement that inevitably takes place in pilots comes to the fore in “Encounter.” The episode does well to split up the crew into two halves to prevent things from getting too crowded at the beginning. Rest assured, however, that we get some shoehorned-in exposition about Tasha’s backstory, a few character-establishing moments for Data, Counselor Troi’s first pointless use of her Betazoid power, a conversation that underscores the history for Dr. Crusher and Wesley, and some explanation as to what exactly’s going on with Geordi’s visor. There’s even brief interludes for Worf and O’Brien that give them a hint of personality before they’re fleshed out as characters.

Plus Q! If there’s one thing that gives this episode a boost coming back to it as a fan, it’s the presence of one of the franchise’s favorite characters. Here, Q is a little more explicitly malevolent and moralizing than the trickster god he would later become, but it’s still a treat to see John de Lancie plying his trade in theatrical fashion. There’s a bit more Alan Alda baked into his presentation than I remembered, but seeing him hold court, freeze dissidents, and run through the costume department’s leftovers still injects some whimsy and weirdness to the proceedings.

That just leaves Riker as far as big character introductions though. He’s missing for the first half here, but Frakes’s dashing figure receives almost the same level of introduction that Picard does. What’s truly interesting is the great character work “Encounter” digs into between the captain and first officer once the rush of Q’s intergalactic cage and kangaroo court are (however temporarily) behind us. The notion of Picard testing out Riker, seeming cold and distant and yet letting his soon-to-be Number One earn his respect by completing a difficult maneuver and affirming that he’ll do his duty to protect the captain regardless of how Picard feels about it, thereby showing his skill and integrity, is a good way to not only introduce Riker but kick off one of the core professional relationships of the show.

It’s hard to tell whether from the opening hour alone whether the show’s braintrust intended to establish a dynamic between Picard and Riker to match the one between Kirk and Spock, but the groundwork is there, both actors have enough of a presence to fill out the back half of the episode, which feels more devoted to setup and introduction than the nigh-instant fireworks of the first half.

That just leaves an appearance from good ol’ Dr. McCoy to pass the torch to the new crew. He’s 137 years old, reverted to his Foghorn Leghorn-like accent from the prior occasions in which he’s prematurely aged, and is as cantankerous as ever. His back and forth with Data intentionally evokes the dynamic the good doctor once shared with his Vulcan counterpart in a way that’s a bit clumsy. But he offers a benediction on the new ship, and by extension the new show, and it’s enough to hand the baton to the next generation.

It will take some time for The Next Generation to take that baton and run with it. Elements that worked in 1966 but not so much in 1987 linger for a while before the show demonstrates why it’s the namesake for “Growing the Beard.” But even in this early installments, the roots of this essential science fiction show -- from its great central performance, to its unique cast of characters, to its cheesy but high-minded reflections on humanity -- are evident as signs of what the series would become.

[6.0/10] Most of the time, when I’m writing these reviews, I wait until I’ve completed my write-up to look into any of the behind the scenes information. Knowing the circumstances under which something is made can color how you look at the completed product, rather than judging it on its own terms. But more than once, going back and looking at the production history of a show or a film can explain problems or successes that are evident in the final work.

The second half of “Encounter at Farpoint” is a great example. The original outline and script for the episode were written by one of The Original Series’s best writers, Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana. But there was grand debate between Gene Roddenberry and the producers at Paramount as to whether the premiere of a new Star Trek series should run for one hour, two hours, or ninety minutes. The result is that Fontana, and later Roddenberry, were cutting and adding material throughout the scripting process.

The result is a “Part 2” that feels logy and unfocused. Much of the episode feels more in line with a traditional episode. There’s a mystery down on the planet; the crew tries to investigate it; difficulties ensue, and through a last-minute revelation, the day is saved. But mixed in with that fairly straightforward (at least by Trek standards) story are lots of moments that don’t add much to the episode-specific narrative but are designed to introduce to the new set of characters and their relationships with one another.

In multiple instances, that takes the form of long lost or forbidden romantic relationships among “key officers” on the Enterprise. The most obvious form of that comes between Riker and Troi, a relationship the show would explore with some regularity as it goes on. “Encounter” uses a heavy hand though, playing sweeping music as Riker gawks at his old flame and Troi psychically tells him “I couldn’t say goodbye either.” There’s little compelling about the connection here in the early going, despite Troi expressing concern when Riker risks his life in the cave, but it’s another point where you can see the heavy machinery of a pilot episode being wheeled around.

The other, no more subtle but slightly more successful effort in this vein happens between Picard and the Crusher family. This part of the episode plays a little better if only because it’s more complicated than just a bit of unresolved romantic tension. There’s complexity that the show would eventually mine in the fact that Picard was friends with Dr. Crusher’s deceased husband, and even delivered the news of his passing. The way that Picard tries to show compassion for the difficult position this puts Beverly in, and Beverly responding with resoluteness that pushes back against any patronizing sets them out to be excellent foils for one another right from the jump.

It also gives us the first scenes shared between Picard and anti-fan favorite Wesley. While the li’lest Crusher was few people’s favorite character, there is something to be wrung from the Captain who explicitly admits that children annoy him and make him uncomfortable trying to be accommodating for the son of his dead friend. More to the point, the show uses the scene where Picard welcomes Wesley to the bridge to sell the awe and majesty of the ship better than any saucer-spinning space maneuver could.

The camera switches to a POV shot from Wesley’s perspective, letting us see the bridge through his eyes: the scope and depth of the path to the controls, the imposing Klingon standing in his sightline, the regal Captain himself gesturing toward him. As much of an impossibly, annoyingly talented kid as TNG would make Wesley, it could also use him as an audience surrogate, someone wowed and in wonder of the Federation’s flagship, and that’s where he finds his best use here.

(We also get a brief encounter between Riker and Data, with “Pinocchio” comments that feel like foreshadowing, or at least fodder for callbacks, in a later episode.)

The same can’t be said for Q, who reappears in the second half of the pilot to taunt Picard and render judgment. De Lancie is still a fun ingredient in the soup of the first episode, replete with “mon capitan” utterances and claims that he leaves of his own volition, but he’s more imposing than playful. That’s not to say he’s bad, just not quite as familiar as the character would become, leaving him feel somewhat more perfunctory considering how Roddenberry shoehorned him into Fontana’s original script.

That script, or at least the portions of it that remain in the broadcast version, are generally strong. As much as the acting and the pacing of this hour suffer (and man, Troi’s glassy-eyed protestations about what she’s sensing are no better here than they were later) there’s a very traditional, and heartening story at the core of it.

Star Trek is about many things, but one of its most prevalent themes, and the one I’d argue provides the essential ethos of The Next Generation, is the will to explore and the importance of lateral thinking. This isn’t the last time Q will impose a puzzle on Picard and company and force the crew of the Enterprise to consider the unconsidered, and test their commitment to their principles.

It’s less interesting to see Riker’s away team dodder around in a cave or negotiate with the overacting local representative. But it’s compelling to see Picard have to decide whether to fire on what looks to be an enemy ship attacking the station below, or find some other solution. It recalls “The Korbomite Maneuver” as another instance where the Enterprise crew is threatened and encouraged to strike, but forbears, finds alternative answers, and discovers new life in the process.

The image of those giant space jellyfish emerging and reuniting in interstellar fashion is a weird but beautiful one, which captures the spirit of the franchise. It’s an unexpected resolution to the central mystery, one that answers the questions asked by the strange occurrences down on the surface with a story about respecting life and sideways solutions to unforeseen problems.

The opening hours of Star Trek: The Next Generation certainly have their problems. The stop-and-start-and-double-back scripting process can be firmly felt in each scene that feels unrelated to the one before it. But it capture the feel of the series -- the personalities and connections between them, the spirit of adventure, the need to think outside the box, and the respect for life that make up the core of what Star Trek is.

Picard’s final lines, about more interesting adventures and seeing what out there are on the nose, but also inviting, making you want to, like Wesley, sit in that chair and wait for whatever’s to come. I certainly felt that way watching this show as a kid, and it’s heartening to know Picard’s first declaration of “engage” can stir the same feelings today.

EDIT 3/12/2022: When I first revisited this episode, five years ago, it was after my run-through of The Original Series. Seen in that context, there’s nothing particularly objectionable about “Encounter at Farpoint Station”. The rhythms of the show, its style of presentation, aren’t all that different from those deployed in service of Kirk, Spock, and Bones more than twenty years earlier. The similarities make sense given how much talent behind the scenes was held over from the 1960s series.

But coming back to it now, after revisiting the other 170+ episodes of the show, it’s striking how, well, bad this installment is. My pet theory is that The Next Generation is the bridge between television’s previous epoch and the modern era. Nothing drive that home better than watching the polished, surprisingly contemporary hours of entertainment the show could put out in what is an admittedly weaker final season, versus this awkward, stilted throwback of a premiere for the show.

It’s also apparent how much Roddenberry’s influence versus Fontana’s story-telling sense bore out. The pacing and structure here is atrocious, with long pointless scenes that don’t advance the main plot in any meaningful way, and necessary but shoe-horned in character introduction scenes that could effectively be deposited into any first season episode. As much as I love Q, the whole first half hour of his overextended tete-a-tete with Picard plays like pointless academic navel-gazing about the nature of man, a favored Roddenberry pastime.

It’s apparent, in hindsight, how much of the Q material was added to fill time, or more charitably, beef up the episode, and how perfunctory it feels. Toss in the elongated scenes of Riker manually docking with the saucer section, or the weirdly gendered space jellyfish emerging and hanging out together, and you have a debut episode that was clearly made by committee without a unifying vision or clear structure to separate wheat from chaff.

The style is also strikingly antiquated in a way the episodes which premiered just a few years later are not. The whole set and costume design aesthetic is far more beige, more riddled with that washed out 1980s look than I’d remembered. Much of it practically stings the eye. To the same end, the score here is oppressive, with cheesy synth stings galore. Throw in a high-volume acting style from almost everyone -- especially poor overmatched Marina Sirtis, who’s tasked with overdoing every emotion under the sun -- and you have an opening salvo that plays like a hokey relic.

And yet, I can’t help but have a certain affection for this rocky first outing of The Next Generation. It still has Patrick Stewart who, while still needing to settle into the role, still makes you feel the emotional weight of the moment when he reunites with the widow and son of his dearly departed best friend. Q remains a tad off-brand, but is still imbued with John de Lancie’s inimitable, teasing joie de vivre. And for all its faults, “Encounter at Farpoint Station” is still devoted to the highest values of Star Trek, in all its forms: a respect for life in all its forms and a desire to explore the unknown.

Most shows’ first episodes feel a little strange to longtime fans. Almost every program takes time to find its voice and settle on a style. Going back to this opening hour after seven seasons’ worth of evolution and revolution for science fiction on television is a splash of cold water. But these humble beginnings only make it that much more impressive how high Captain Picard and company would eventually fly.

It's interesting, the saucer section of the Enterprise takes only about an hour longer to arrive at Farpoint than did the stardrive section, despite having no warp capability of its own.

Until this viewing, I never noticed the Mr. Fusion (actually a Krups model 223A coffee grinder, used on screen presumably as a teapot) on the table in front of Picard after Riker finishes docking with the saucer section. Back to the Future, Alien, and ST:TNG (and possibly more) have this prop in common.

I'm trying to review the first half and the second half of this episode separately, but since the Blu-ray release I have contains the original "two-hour" (92-minute, really) version it's difficult to find the split. I'm considering the corridor scene between Data and Admiral McCoy as the end of Part 1, just based on time, and I hope that's a close enough guess. Without subscribing to CBS All Access just to play the last 30 seconds of their Part 1, or getting much luckier with my google-fu than I did today, it's as close as I'm going to get. Berman help me if the scenes were reordered for syndication (as they probably were)…

For my part, it's hard to decide if this is a more or less cringeworthy opening than DS9's "Emissary". I'll make no bones (sorry, Mr. Kelley) about it: Star Trek has pretty universally bad pilots across the entire franchise, and this (at least, the first half) is no exception in my book.

Character interactions being strained or awkward goes hand in hand with pilots in the Trek universe, but this first half is just the strangest assortment of emotions. Picard immediately jumping to "enemy" mode when Q shows up seems way out of character for the captain I know from later in the series, and is also just a straight-up overreaction even if I ignore what I know about the man. Separating the saucer section comes across as a blatant excuse to show off the new ship's capability, nothing more. Picard's tactical reasoning completely escapes me. Surely, if this new being (Q) wanted to harm the crew, he would have done so. His demonstrated power is already clear, so why leave the majority of the ship's crew stuck at sub-light velocities? The whole thing is just weird.

Without Picard's complete overreaction and the superfluous display of visual effects prowess that is separating the ship at warp, maybe Q's playfulness could have come through more in Part 1.

The scenes that do take place with Q in the room are more bearable, particularly (most of) the courtroom sequence. Some of the Picard I know and love shines through when he's countering Judge Q's points, and that plus John de Lancie's usual verve in the role makes the "court of the year 2079" scene a highlight.

As for Farpoint? Let's just pretend that none of…whatever that was between Riker, Wesley, and Crusher happened. I did, however, enjoy Riker's exchange with Groppler Zorn and the mysterious appearance of that bowl of apples.

In the end, most of my complaints (and I'm sure I'll have more in Part 2) likely trace back to the influence of TOS. As Andrew Bloom points out in his own review, this script draws heavily on tropes from the original Star Trek TV series—tropes that I never liked, and which even now keep me from going back to watch through TOS a second time.

My review of Part 2 (https://trakt.tv/comments/178384) covers the rest of the episode after the corridor scene with Data & McCoy.

Here I continue my review from Part 1 (https://trakt.tv/comments/178380). As before, the dividing line between Part 1 and Part 2 of "Encounter at Farpoint" is the scene between Data and Admiral McCoy in the corridor.

Boy, are there some out of place scenes in this half. Number one on my list is when Picard goes to Sickbay and (more or less) asks her to transfer off his ship. That wasn't the time to go apologize for yelling at Wesley, either. Thanks to Andrew Bloom, I know why so much of this episode felt wrong, though: The target length of script was in constant flux throughout the writing process. Constantly adding and removing scenes doesn't help anyone trying to write a cohesive teleplay, that's for sure.

Now, a word about Troi: Mon Dieu is her character awful. Blank-faced monotone suits no one, especially a new character the audience is (I guess?) supposed to like. I don't like Troi at this point in the series. She doesn't get that much better later, but she does improve.

Actually, Q was disappointing as well. I almost said in my review of Part 1 that Q's playfulness didn't come through, but deleted that paragraph because I realized on reflection that it actually does, sort of. In Part 2, though… Q is just obnoxious. Showing up on the bridge and disabling Picard's command of his own ship isn't so much playful as it is mean. Though depicted later on as being a, er, being of his (its?) word, this early incarnation of Q seems entirely too ready to go back on promises already made.

More than anything, from a production perspective, I was surprised at the lack of variety in spaceship-alien corridor sets. While it makes sense that both aliens would have similar internal structure, there was very clearly only one set constructed. The different lighting used for the one in orbit didn't conceal it, and the camera work didn't even try. For a project as important as putting Star Trek back on TV, one might rightly expect higher production values. (I am, of course, watching the remastered Blu-ray. The redone visual effects are really nice—the team did an amazing job making the giant aliens look good in HD—but the move to HD was less kind to physical sets.)

Ultimately, I found Part 2 (or the second half, I suppose, since I only have the full-length Blu-ray release of this episode and not the two-part broadcast-syndicated version) slightly better than Part 1, but still rather "meh". I gave this half 6/10 instead of 5/10 only because 1) giving both halves the same rating is passé and 2) I was rounding up from 5.5.

It's my x-th rerun of this show. My first one after my first run of the disappointing original series. The first episode already shows why I love the TNG installment of the franchise that much. It looks so much better than the original series or the Kirk movies. I must admit, the HD remaster looks great and adds to my overall satisfaction. Well done!

This episode is of course somewhat silly (all Q episodes are, but the cage is also strange) and there's much room for improvement in the seasons to come, but it's also an important episode. You may not know it yet, but Q's trial is actually the show. The raison d'être for their mission. The philosophy of the whole show: mankind has come a long way but you can watch them striving to become something better. Of course the crew won't understand this until the show's finale. It's not exactly an overarching story arch (didn't fit into late 80's TV scheduling as DS9 painstakingly dscovered later) but it's a bracket that holds the show neatly together.

It's always astonishing to watch how well the core concept and characters are working from episode one: the ship is the star of the show (the saucer separation is always a spectacle). You immediately realize that this is a behemoth. Yet it is elegant and powerful. We also learn that this ship is primarily made for exploration and has hundreds of civilians aboard. This is not Kirk's boring Enterprise with only three leading officers at the helm while all other officers are dwarfed by the larger than life personalities of this triumvirate. You immediately understand how well the characters are designed from the beginning. Of course they will change over the course of the show (in case of Deanna that's very welcome), but you immediately realize each bridge crew's core character and core skills. You immediately realize what an outstanding leader Picard is. All characters seem to have more depth already than all the guys from the original Enterprise. And you immediately realize that some of the elements of the original installment are not totally forgotten: this is still a show with it's fair share of supernatural beings, mystery (and silliness).

It's a great premiere... until the second strange part at Farpoint. That's a weak story. It's basically Deanna feeling pain. And enslaved jellyfish. That's minus one point, what otherwise could have been a very respectable 7/10 (premieres are hard to nail anyway).