{"id":5716,"date":"2015-01-29T05:15:15","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T05:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/126-The-Neutral-Zone"},"modified":"2015-01-29T05:15:15","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T05:15:15","slug":"126-the-neutral-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2015\/01\/29\/126-the-neutral-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"1.26 — \u201cThe Neutral Zone\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

1.26 — \u201cThe Neutral Zone\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Data finds cyrogenically frozen Caucasian popsicles<\/strike> 20th century humans aboard a derelict vessel at an inopportune time for Captain Picard. He has just been given the assignment to enter the Neutral Zone and investigate a series of destroyed outposts. Starfleet thinks the Romulans may be responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> Yaaaawn! This episode starts with some promise, but turns into a big letdown. If it appears that the writers totally ran out of gas, that isn’t far off from the truth. According to the Internet, the big 1988 writer\u2019s strike hit just as this episode was being developed. Producer Maurice Hurley wrote what he could write in a day and a half, and there were no revisions. This episode had originally been planned as the first part of a two-part episode introducing the Borg. That introduction would wait until Season Two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The impact of the Big Writers Strike also explains why Season Two will only have 22 episodes, instead of the normal 26. That\u2019s good news–we\u2019ll get through it faster!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picard\u2019s evident annoyance that his staff would have the nerve to rescue marooned refugees from a derelict ship was amusing. And they’re from the 20th century, too! That\u2019s just too much; Picard now needs some tea. “FINE–if we must<\/strong> have time travelers from Earth\u2019s history on board, everyone keep them away from me and I\u2019ll pretend it isn’t happening.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But I thought Picard was a 20th century enthusiast? One of the refugees could have met the creator of Dixon Hill!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Texan guy isn’t very convincing as a–what? Rock musician? Country western star? The \u201cshow don\u2019t tell\u201d maxim is violated constantly throughout the episode. The moralizing about the 20th century is quite broad–but it is interesting to hear of the late 20th century being referred to as being in the writers\u2019 future, although in our past. It’s almost like we are the time travelers, in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is a reference to television dying out by 2040. I don\u2019t want to blow your minds, but we are closer today to 2040 than we are to 1988, when this episode first aired. It seems quite plausible that conventional television will be dead by then–but probably not filmed entertainment in general. It just won’t be watched on a television (probably).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The script calls back to \u201cBalance of Terror\u201d (destroyed outposts in the Neutral Zone) and \u201cSpace Seed\u201d (frozen 20th century space travelers) and gives us a cool new Romulan ship design…. all for nothing. The Romulans do nothing, then leave. The destroyed outposts are not explained. Oh well. Plus, the Romulans look goofy. They are like math nerds sitting in judgment (NTTAWWT). Is this supposed to make us look forward to Season Two?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One interesting side note–this is the first (and only?) Star Trek episode to identify the date with a precise year, instead of a stardate. This year, 2364, is the peg on which all Star Trek future chronologies are based, working forward or backward from this point in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It would have been nice to end Season One on a high note. Grade:<\/strong> Fail.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.memory-alpha.org\/wiki\/The_Neutral_Zone<\/a>