Amazon.com The fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation saw some of the very best of all 178 shows. "Darmok" had the feel of a "classic Trek" episode, dealing with language as metaphor. "The First Duty" challenged Wesley Crusher's loyalties. The season closer "Time's Arrow" (which concluded in year 6) ranks as one of the best TNG cliffhangers, and treats fans to canon-changing story lines and tons of in-jokes. Best of all was the painfully melancholy "The Inner Light," in which Picard experiences an alternate lifetime. There were great guest stars--Paul Winfield ("Darmok"), Ashley Judd ("The Game"), Kelsey Grammar ("Cause and Effect"), Famke Janssen ("The Perfect Mate"), and Jerry Hardin ("Time's Arrow")--and as always there were contributions from Q, Lwaxana, and Barclay, too.
After the confidence of the previous two years, however, year 5 often disappointed by not seeing a good idea through to the end. Denise Crosby was swept back under the carpet in the Klingon soap opener ("Redemption, Part II"). No one could make the prospect of Deep Space 9 attractive enough to Michelle Forbes, so her fantastic performance as Ensign Ro seems wasted in retrospect. And no one could reschedule Robin Williams to guest star, so we had Matt Frewer instead ("A Matter of Time"). Of all stories to use Leonard Nimoy in, "Unification" wallowed in Romulan politics instead of anything emotionally engaging. Gene Roddenberry wanted to introduce a gay character, but mere months after his death all we got was the trite "The Outcast." This was inarguably where the series weakened, without the Great Bird overseeing what was going on. Worst of all, his hard-as-nails bad guys the Borg were given a touchy-feely side in "I, Borg." Fans and critics now appreciate that the behind-the-scenes focus had shifted from The Next Generation to the next spinoff, and it would never fully return.
Season Five's Greatest moment!July 8, 2010 John Blackhall All in all a sturdy season five set of episodes with the usual TNG entertaining collection of 'techno-babble', 'Cause and Effect' and 'The Next Phase', to the brilliant and whimsical 'The Inner Light'. Horrors of the season were 'Imaginary Friend' and 'Cost of Living'.
One little gem appears in the episode 'Conundrum'. Data and Troi in the opening teaser are playing three D chess. Data in his usual methodical manner advises Troi that he will have her 'King' in check very soon. Troi surprises him with an unforseen move that will win her the game. Anyone ever notice what the 'King', piece is? Someone else's review may have mentioned it, but I thought it still worth a giggle. It's the 'Lost in Space' TV series robot.
A nice little 'in' joke from the production crew. I've seldom ever seen it referred to.
Season five suffers a little too much from familiarity breeding run of the mill, however each episode does offer something for everyone, both topical, technical and a little bit fairytale.
Very organized index andset up of episodesJuly 6, 2010 Tim Jordan(Tim) Love the show and enjoyed watching my favorite episodes of the 5th season. The packaging is of decent quality and the set up when you pop it into the computer or DVD player is easy to understand. And I am one for siplicity!
I'm a trekkie. I came of age in the 1980s. This is nirvana....April 12, 2010 David Hostetler(League City, Texas U.S.A.) Needs a play all function like the later seasons of MASH, but otherwise... Seeing these episodes without TV station edits leaving out the good parts is a blast!
Step Aside, Wesley CrusherFebruary 22, 2010 Sparky Lightbulb(Orlando, FL USA) Season 5 of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" contains many predictable elements. Big surprise, the Enterprise encounters new aliens that test the crew's versatility and quick thinking as well as meeting old foes, like the Crystalline Entity and the Borg, who make them debate good and evil, right and wrong. Season 5 includes time travel, body possession, and transporter malfunctions. For a little titillation, the audience can count on Cmdr. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) seducing any pretty young thing in sight.
So why aren't we bored? How does "STNG" still manage to fire up our imaginations? Season 5 captivates its audience with a foolproof formula: It introduces a neophyte who, because of limited experience, thinks like the audience who are just as ignorant. Situations and veteran characters then guide the neophyte to understand issues and responsibilities in fuller, deeper ways, schooling us in the process.
The first four seasons, we had young Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) as our stand-in. For Season 5, the writers introduce Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes), a Bajoran with Starfleet experience but no familiarity with the professionalism and community that characterize the Enterprise. Ensign Ro does more than give the audience a new neophyte to learn from; she appeals to a different variety of geek.
Geeks fall somewhere on this continuum: At one extreme point are the folks who desire idealized social conformity. They yearn to participate in a cool group--just not the imperfect cliques at school or work. They want a community without pettiness, bullying, and other human flaws. Folks at this extreme want to be members of the near-utopian Enterprise, and they identify with Wesley because they would love the opportunity to come up in the culture as he has. At the other extreme of the geek continuum are the rebels. They ridicule Wesley for his desire to please and hope to identify with the misunderstood aliens the Enterprise is bound to meet. These folks embrace Ensign Ro, whom Big Daddy Picard (Patrick Stewart) rewards with attention despite her being standoffish, disobedient, and untamable.
To explain her atypical behavior, the writers give Ensign Ro this back story: She and her race lost their home planet to the Cardassians. Orphaned and living in refugee camps, Ro grew up feeling discarded and so is herself quick to reject. She abandons her own people to join Starfleet but then disobeys orders with disastrous results, including the forfeit of her commission and personal freedom. Ro boards the Enterprise with a sullen attitude and non-regulation Bajoran earring, happy to throw away a good first impression on Cmdr. Riker. When in 10-Forward Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) ask if she would mind their company at her table, she answers simply, "Yes," dismissing their offer of friendship.
Forbes does an excellent job communicating the coltish energy of an exasperated teenager. Although her character never utters the word, we hear a "Whatever!" in the way she throws her body around. We soon forget that Ensign Ro is a Starfleet officer as Forbes has Ro assume sloppy, defensive posture, barely able to contain her contempt for the old farts who just can't appreciate her radical ideas and maverick methods. Whenever Ro knits her brow, either to signify anger or perplexity, those signature eyebrows emphasize the emotion.
Ensign Ro obviously has lessons to learn, and since we have all had occasion to feel that we will never fit in or do things right, we get schooled along with her. In "Disaster," for example, Counselor Troi finds herself in charge of a ship about to explode. Ro recommends abandoning the drive section despite the survivors it might contain. Troi refuses to separate the saucer, a successful maneuver that teaches Ro that an officer should not so callously abandon her crew.
In "Power Play," however, Capt. Picard demonstrates when an officer must sacrifice life. The Enterprise encounters penal colony escapees who board the ship in the bodies of Counselor Troi, Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney), and Lt. Cmdr. Data (Brent Spiner). Picard tricks them into a cargo bay where he can blow the hatch, sacrificing himself and the other officers but taking the prisoners with him and thus saving everyone else on the ship.
In "The Next Phase," Ensign Ro awakens on the Enterprise after a transporter accident. Since no one can see her, she believes she is dead, a suspicion confirmed when she discovers Dr. Crusher filling out her death certificate. Lt. Cmdr. La Forge (LeVar Burton), cloaked in the same manner, convinces her not to abandon her place among the living so quickly, that another explanation besides death might account for their predicament. Working together, they find a solution to their invisibility rather than haunt the ship as ghosts.
What Season 5 needed was one more episode to show whether Ensign Ro grew as a result of her experiences on the Enterprise. The writers should have put her in a situation similar to the disastrous away mission from the Wellington when her disobeying orders caused the deaths of eight crew members. With flashbacks or another storytelling device, the writers could have given the audience the opportunity to learn the events of that day and make up its own mind whether Ro behaved poorly or not. The Enterprise crew knows the story; it's unfair that we don't. Was her decision a calculated loss of life? Would by-the-book have definitely failed? Was the captain of the Wellington an ineffectual leader prone to giving bad orders? A drunk? The paralleling new situation would have allowed us to observe what Ro had since learned.
If the Enterprise resembles a plastic surgeon's office with its calm pastels, uncluttered surfaces, and recessed lighting, the characters often seem victims of the doctor's knife, sliced a little too tight, as with Ensign Ro. Or perhaps the real characters of the series are the controversial issues each episode addresses, the crew just flat pieces, like plastic checkers, pushed around as the two sides face off.
Terrific fifth season!February 2, 2010 Obiturized(New Hampshire) Just an amazing season, it's everything I expected AND MORE!, this series really took shape on it's 3rd season, and never looked back, this continues the excellence in every way shape and form, season 3 onward, there is so much character development, and the stories are just amazing, I'm so glad this series survived it's first 2 seasons, it's amazing how it did, but thank God it did.
Lots of standout episodes on this season, I'll mention my favorite episodes, 'Redemption Part 2' is the conclusion to the 4th season cliffhanger, and delivers what you would expect, an excellent, and driven episode, 'Darmok' is another standout, it's so similar to The Original Series, 'Disaster' is great as well, most of the crew is locked out of the bridge, and Troi is forced to take command, 'Unification Parts 1 and 2' is an excellent episode about Spock, and a peace treaty with the Romulans, 'A Matter of Time' is a really great time episode, with an unsuspected villain! 'Conundrum' is another great episode, dealing with a parallel universe in a way, 'Power Play' is excellent as well, Troi, Data, and Chief O'Brian overthrow the bridge crew!, 'Ethics' is a good Klingon episode, 'Cause and Effect' is one of my favorite Star Trek episodes of ALL Star Trek, the Enterprise gets caught up in a temporal time loop, 'I, Borg' continues the excellence, it gets you closer to...YES, THE BORG!, a really well thought out episode, 'The Next Phase' Geordi and Ro are caught up in a parallel universe, where they exist, but cannot be seen, nor heard, 'The Inner Light' is another one of my favorite episodes of all Star Trek, it deals with Captain Picard, living the life of another man, on a planet doomed for destruction, and what a twist at the end!, 'Time's Arrow Part 1' Data finds about his own death in the 19th century, and an accident brings him back to that period.
I have yet to see the conclusion, but I will not have to wait, I have the whole series now, if you are a fan of Star Trek, this season is needed, if you are a fan of science fiction in general, you need this season, actually you need all season from 3 to 7, as they are the best.
Do yourself a favor, if you're a fan, get this series!
