The Drumhead

A Klingon spy on board the Enterprise has been passing secrets to the Romulans, and that invites a deep inquiry from Starfleet. But when Admiral Satie shows up, the specter of conspiracy threatens to make enemies out of everyone – including Picard himself! The Drumhead in this week’s Mission Log. That’s not to say I think you guys are flinging unhinged conclusions all willy-nilly, and I certainly don’t want to demean the time and effort you put in each week. But the way I see it, some episodes of the show are pure weird fantasy, comedy, or just there to add a bit of interest to an existing crew member. Identity Crisis was a great example of this, in which I believe John compared the lizard-people-making virus to HIV, which was a hot topic of the time the episode aired. I actually found that one really interesting, but finding a similarly profound conclusion in other episodes of the kind would surely be a struggle. I love all you guys do and am an avid listener. I just thought this was relevant and would make for an interesting piece of critique and discussion. I understand the point that Critter’s trying to make here, but at the same time, once a communication is sent, a story told, or a picture painted, the artist is no longer in charge of how it’s interpreted. One of the reasons I keep coming back to this podcast is because they do find new things in each show. Sometimes it’s the same stuff I’ve sworn up and down that I found in them, sometimes it’s something completely new. Either way, it’s always interesting, and that’s why I keep coming back. In the essay anthology book “Boarding the Enterprise” (co-curated by David Gerrold no less), Gerrold talks about how the final spinoff to date, Enterprise, ceased to be about issues and became a show that was simply about connecting the dots of Star Trek continuity. (I know that I myself started to feel that Trek ceased to be “about something” on a frequent basis during the Voyager years.) I’m really looking forward to what John and Ken make of the episodes that I wasn’t that fond of. I know they get a lot of feedback when episodes that people like or hate are coming up; I look forward most to the ones about which my feelings could be summed up as “meh”. Because they often find something that I missed completely. It’s not so much trying to bend existing stories to fit an imagined narrative as finding depths and interpretations that perhaps the original writers hadn’t even thought of. I also dislike discussing certain characters that I find boring (Barclay), and love the quirks of others so much that I don’t wish to “dissect” their personalities and motivations (Lwxana). Interesting notes about Enterprise and Voyager! I haven’t got to those yet. Let me say that the last thing I want to do is dissuade anyone from watching Voyager or Enterprise, it’s just that they seem to be less “about issues” than TNG, or certainly TOS or DS9. I’m reeeeeaaally looking forward to these guys tackling DS9, a meaty show which has the bizarre knack of being more relevant now than it was when it was made, but I’m also looking forward to them tackling Voyager and Enterprise, perhaps finding stuff that I missed. By the way, DS9 reveals some layers to Lwaxana that are pretty fascinating when one tries to reconcile them with TNG Lwaxana. Arguably Voyager does this with Barclay too. Stay tuned. 🙂 I also cannot wait till DS9! I think I plotted out an estimate a few months ago, but I am in for the long haul anyway. I thought DS9’s intro of Section 31 could explain away some TNG loose ends here and there like…”The Offspring” Admiral Halftel’s unusual jerkiness, “The Pegasus” cloaking debacle… I like the layers that get peeled away regarding Starfleet and UFP sensibilities. Lwaxana’s redemption begins with next week’s episode, actually. But, yes, DS9 takes it and runs even deeper. Barclay didn’t need the help. Two episode of TNG were all it took to create a fully-fleshed-out and enjoyable character. H