I spoke a few days ago about “The Lights of Zetar”. I commented that
when the characters finally figure out what is happening, the reveal is
not that interesting because the audience has already figured it out!
But it’s dragged out anyway and gets dull. Though we dont know the
backstory which we learn with teh characters, so good job there keeping
that reveal a secret till it was time to be revealed. But this isn’t
always the case. Star Trek, like any show, very often tries to surprise
their audience with the cause of their troubles and/or the big solution
that saves the day. And sometimes, it works. Another example is from
“The Deadly Years”, where the answer to why Chekov didn’t age was held
until the last five minutes, but it makes sense and I think it’s safe to
say may not have been guessed yet when it is revealed. In TNG’s “The
Survivors” they drag out the secret of the old couple for the whole
episode, and while Picard is on to them the audience is left with an
interesting mystery right until the end.
And yes it’s not uncommon to reveal the villain early on, but usually
something is kept quiet until the characters figure it out. The
motivation, how they did their deed, or some other surprise twist.
However, some episodes blow the twist to early and it hurts the episode!
It bores the audience and makes the characters look stupid. It’s almost
as if the creators don’t realize how smart their audience is.
Here are six examples of what I mean from Classic Trek and Next Gen.
“Who Mourns for Adonais” (TOS)
Ok this one isn’t the worst, or even that big, but it’s really
blatant how they dragged it out. As the crew discuss how Apollo could be
able to channel the power to do his stunts, McCoy mentions that he
discovered that Apollo has an extra organ in his body that he has no
clue about. Kirk begins to ask the obvious question when he is cut off.
It’s like twenty minutes later when Kirk finally finishes the qustion,
asking McCoy if the extra organ is how Apollo channels the power he
does. It’s not a big thing, but what was the point of holding that off?
Did they really think we wouldn’t have figured it with Kirk? Just get it
revealed and move on!
“The Schizoid Man” (TNG)
This was second season TNG so you know we’re in trouble off the mark.
Ok, a dying scientist deposits his consciousnesses into Data. And while
it isn’t specifically stated this happened, since Data acts normal at
first, it soon becomes clear especially in one moment when Data whistles
a tune the scientist had been whistling. Despite this, we still have to
go thru the long process of the crew figuring out what is wrong with
Data. First Picard orders him to report for a checkup, then Picard
discusses things with LaForge who thinks Data may be getting carried
away, then Troi studies him and determines Data is of two minds. Picard
gets it…but of course doesn’t tell anyone else. Finally, they bring in
Dr.Selar who confirms things. And we still need a scene of them
discussing it! They knew who the scientist was and that he was trying to
bridge the gap between man and machine, why did we need so much time in
the Ready Room? It just goes on and on and for an episode that had an
interesting idea and could have been a real psychological study, it
becomes a real bore.
“Day of the Dove” (TOS)
I briefly mentioned this episode the other day, when I mentioned how
lackluster the alien in it is. Not only is it a bad design, but it’s
revealed in the first few seconds. So we’re aware of what is going on
from the start. Which would be OK if we got more info in the episode,
but we never do. Instead we spend the whole, entire freaking episode
waiting for the crew to discover this alien on the ship and determine
what it does (It makes people racists basically). There are some good
moments in this episode to be fair but by the time Kirk and Spcok
finally see the alien we don’t care anymore. It would have been so much
better if the alien was kept in the dark until Kirk and Spock found it,
then we would have been more invested in what the heck is going one. For
instance, TNG’s “All Good Things” waiated almost an hour to reveal Q,
because they knew not knowing it was him would add to the tension and
mystery. Which it did!! And how is the alien thing beaten? They laugh it
off the ship. Good lord this episode, thank goodness for Michael Ansara
as Kang he is what elevates it to a decent episode.
“Violations” (TNG)
I am torn by this one, because I really liked this episode. But I have
to be fair, and the fake out is really lame. There are these aliens on
the ship, and one named Jev is mentally attacking the crew. We see that
it is hin, clearly. Toward the end of the episode, Troi is reliving the
events to find out what happens when who should appear but…Jev’s father.
Which we know is crap. And yet they make it seem as if we are supposed
to be fooled, and of course it’s a whole five minutes later when the
truth comes out making that deception a waste of time. What, were they
trying to fill five minutes or something? Oh well, despite that I still
love watching Worf punch the jerk wihout beating a sweat the way he
does. Epic.
“Schism” (TNG)
As I’ve noted, usually the reveal gets blown in the episode. This is
an example of an even worst thing. How would you like your big surprise
reveal to be ruined in the coming attractions for the next episode??
Yep. Aliens are experimenting on the crew, and the entire episode is
building things up. We see the crew having symptoms of PTSD, they then
recreate their memories on a holodeck confirming something happened,
further confirmed by medical scans. Turns out it’s aliens kidnapping the
true. This would have been a real creepy episode except for the fact
that the teaser for the episode SHOWS THE DAMN ALIENS, and the basically
gives the whole damn thing away. Now it’s not a bad episode, it does
capture the moody atmosphere well, but I don’t think anyone was
surprised by the final outcome. And even one of the creators admitted
that the episode was hurt by that foolish teaser promo.
“Operation:Annihalate” (TOS)
This one literally makes me facepalm. Ok, so these jellyfish like
aliens are hiding in the shadows of the planet attacking people and
taking them over. It is established that the sun is the answer…but what
is it about the sun that could affect them? They throw all kinds of
experiments at one of the aliens regarding heat and radiation, and are
still mystified! Finally, and I mean finally!, Kirk realizes that the
one things they missed is the brightness of the sun. No way! McCoy has
one of his dumbest lines when he points out that sunlight isn’t harmful
humans. Uh yeah, we’re not talking about humans! Ya think that maybe
that was why they were always hiding in the shadows guys? Kirk has to be
the big genius who figures this all out.
Oh, and it gets dumber. They blind Spock using an experiment with
intense white light…before discovering ANY light would work, even if
it’s the invisible end of the spectrum. What was this, forced drama? Oh
and don’t worry Spock’s blindness was temporary thanks to an inner
eyelid never mentioned before. This episode kind of sucks.
So what about you guys? Any episodes you can think of that blew the
big surprise before the characters could learn it? And it doesn’t have
to just be Star Trek.
No comments:
Post a Comment