Customer Reviews

Star Trek Fan Collective - Q

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Misunderstood or just a god with a nasty sense of humor either way Q (the marvelous John de Lancie)was one of the highlights of "The Next Generation" and was such a good character that he was seamlessly incorporated into two other series. If this follows the course set with the other releases, we'll see probably 12 episodes. Here's the episode listing for each Q appearence as well the series it was drawn from.

The best of Q, however, truly is in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". In "Encounter at Farpoint Parts 1 & 2" Q puts humanity on trial for its arrogance and destructiveness. The Enterprise crew has one chance to redeem themselves--they must figure out a mystery involving "Farpoint" a station for the Federation that comes under attack by a mysterious alien race. The pilot also features a cameo by the late DeForest Kelley as Admiral McCoy in an amusing scene with Data.

The first season of "The Next Generation" was wildly uneven with some truly bad episodes alternating with some extremely good ones. "Hide & Q" straddles the line between these two extremes. While not the best it does offer de Lancie the chance to chew some scenery. Called in to help a mining colory, Q sets a test for Riker--he gives him the power of the Q and tempts him to use it to save his crewmates. In "Q Who" an enraged Q flings the Enterprise across the galaxy to test the crew against a new race they've never dealt with before--the Borg.

The third season featured two Q for the price of one. In "Deja Q" Q has been stripped of his power and made into a mortal. Q must prove his worth both to the Enterprise and to his the other Q (including Corbin Bernsen in a cameo as another member of the Q). This episode includes a text commentary.

"Q-Pid" brings together the Enterprise crew and Q in a reenactment of Robin Hood with Captain Picard as Robin Hood and Q as the Sheriff of Notthingham. "True Q" is a so-so episode in which an honor student on the Enterprise realizes she's a member of the Q Continuum. Q comes to claim her but she is torn between her humanity and going to the Q Continuum. When Picard is killed in a terrorist attack in "Tapestry"he finds himself in limbo with Q claiming to be God. Q feels bad for Picard and allows him to revisit a moment in his past. It was evidently inspired by a pitch for an episode called "A Q Carol" a variation on "A Christmas Carol".


Finally we get the conclusion episode of the series "All Good Things Parts 1 & 2" in which Picard discovers that the universe is about to end and its all his fault. Picard whisks back and forth in time with Q providing him clues as to why he's responsible for the end of humanity but refusing to provide him with the solution.

The "DS9" episode "Q-Less" is the only episode from the series featuring Q and it's quite a good one with a highlight being a boxing match between Commander Sisko and Q in which Sisko knocks Q out ("Picard never hit me!"). Finally from "Voyager" we get "Deathwish" in which a member of the Q Continuum wants to die and Captain Janeway is chosen as the judge in the case while Q presents the arguement against allowing a member of his race to die. This episode includes another text commentary. This episode actually appears on disc two as it takes place before "Tapestry".

"The Q & The Grey" the Q are in the middle of a civil war and Q transports the Voyager crew to his continuum chosing to make it appear symbolically as America during its own Civil war. In his final appearence as Q de Lancie appears to the Voyager crew and dumps his adolescent son Q2 (also the title of the episode(Keegan de Lancie)on the Voyager crew to deal with. Evidently the boy is bringing chaos to the Q continuum and the Continuum has indicated that Q must straighten the boy out. Q believes that Starfleet ideals might serve the youth and do the job.

As someone else pointed out this set would have worked well with the inclusion of "The Squire of Gothos" since the character of Trelane was an inspiration for the character of Q in "The Next Generation". Unfortunately it's not included with the set. I'm not sure if it wasn't presented as an option for this set or if it was just overlooked. It's a pity as it would have fit in quite well with this set.

Are these sets worthwhile for fans who own the entire run of "TNG", "Voyager" and "DS9"? Probably not but if you have a couple of seasons of one series or don't have all the Trek incarnations this is a pretty good set to have. Paramount has added three text commentary tracks to this set which is a nice plus since there weren't any on the original "Next Gen" or "DS9" sets.

This set will contain evry episode that Q appeared in. Twelve episodes in all - including two two-parters. Here is the official list:
Disc 1

* "Encounter at Farpoint" - Star Trek: The Next Generation production # 721
* "Hide and Q" - Star Trek: The Next Generation # 111
* "Q Who?" - Star Trek: The Next Generation # 142

Disc 2

* "Deja Q" - Star Trek: The Next Generation # 161 (w/ text commentary)
* "QPid" - Star Trek: The Next Generation # 194
* "True-Q" - Star Trek: The Next Generation # 232
* "Q-Less" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine # 407 (w/ text commentary)

Disc 3

* "Tapestry" - Star Trek: The Next Generation # 241
* "All Good Things..." - Star Trek: The Next Generation # 747
* "Death Wish" - Star Trek: Voyager # 130 (w/ text commentary)

Disc 4

* "The Q and the Grey" - Star Trek: Voyager # 153
* "Q2" - Star Trek: Voyager # 265.

I hated Q during TNG's run and avoided all his stories in reruns. So imagine my surprise when I found myself really enjoying this collection--it probably helped that I hadn't seen the Next Gen eps since they aired and the others not at all. The character of Q brought something to the next gen Star Treks that they lacked all too often--humor, unattractive character traits, selfishness: a humanity that other characters lacked sometimes, even though I loved TNG. Yet thanks to Q, we see a grumpy Worf, a grumpy Geordi, etc. Q's interactions with the regular cast is fun to watch--though we needed more Q and less Vash in Q-less (though I did like the character of Vash a lot). Seeing Suzy Plakson again is great, too, in the Q and the Grey, even if it's not a strong episode. Seeing Q interact with each of the three captains is fun, and the character arc for Q is interesting. John de Lancie does a really excellent job and he "gets" Star Trek as well as anyone.

Encounter at Farpoint and Hide and Q are a bit painful to watch--the cast was overacting so badly that it's a wonder that the show survived the first season--they are interesting for that reason alone. Q was the best thing in both episdoes. Q-Who is chilling and wonderful, and the Borg were at their best--they lost a bit of their menace with each subsequent appearance. Deja Q was very, very funny--better than I remembered. The Q-Geordi and Q-Data interaction is great. Q-pid is nearly as funny. True Q is a bit dull, but Tapestry is one of the best ever TNG episodes. All Good Things is fun if you ignore the plot holes that you can drive a truck through. As the commentary points out, Q-less, as one of the first DS9 eps, gives a wonderful look at the foundation of the DS-9 characters and watching Q interact with Sisko is great. I liked the fact that they show the episodes in Q-order with this episode before TNG finale. The Voyager episodes are the weakest in the lot--but Q stirs things up and brings a liveliness to the proceedings. By the time I got to them, I was just enjoying John de Lancie without worrying about the stories overly much. The one-liners and witty observations are evident in all twelve episodes. Seeing Colm Meany as O'Brien in TNG pilot and then on DS9 seems like a nice bonus, as does having both TNG pilot and finale in one set.

I hadn't really noticed in the other collectives--but there's one text commentary per series so that you get insight into each.

These lower priced boxed sets are a good way to review all your old favorites from the various trek series. You avoid two of the pitfalls found in the alternative of purchasing all individual seasons: firstly, even at a reduced price, you will end up spending considerably more on individual seasons; secondly, having a bookshelf devoted to startrek is not always socially the wisest course of action. For those who make the leap and fully indulge in their passion for Trek, I make no judgments. Personally, I would like to enjoy my sci-fi fix with a little bit more subtlety than a 28 season marathon in my room and few more dollars in my pocket.

The episodes chosen seem to capture the theme of each boxed set very well, and it would be nice to see a "Startrek: Classics" set with no particular theme, just those good episodes that were fun to watch. I like the 'Time Travel' Collection more than the 'Q' and `Borg' collections because the episodes seem to have a little more variety within that theme. The Next Generation episodes present a much broader spectrum of 'Q' and 'time travel' than than the 'Borg' collection manages.

Generally speaking, if I were going to purchase only one of these Fan Collectives, 'Q' would not be it (time travel is the best in my opinion); however, because I am a star trek geek, I bought more than one set, and I am enjoying re-viewing the shows I watched when I was younger. The 'Q' collection is pretty much self explanitory- every episode deals with the omnipotent being we all love to hate. So if thats what you want to watch, then this is the collection for you. If not, then don't buy it. Don't expect much new, if you've already spent a thousand dollars on all the complete seasons.

I will fault the selections for the overlap that is present in each theme. I'm not positive, but I don't think you can purchase any two sets without re-purchasing at least one episode.

This is a must have for Trek fans who don't have the episodes on DVD. To put it simply, this is every single episode Q has every appeared in, so you get every episode of Q! This is a dream come true to Q fans that have been waiting for a collection like this to be released. Love or hate him, there is no denying that Q is one of the greatest characters ever created in not just Star Trek but Sci-fi history.

The special features on this collection are not as good as in the previous collectives since you only get text commentaries on a few episodes, but I suppose that is better than nothing. Once again, like in the previous fan collective, there are episodes that are already on the previous collective releases but it doesn't matter in this case since it is all of the Q episodes. Once again, if you already have every season of Trek from every series, you don't need to buy this at all. If you have all the seasons, then you already have every episode on here and you would only be paying money for the box. There are no special features on here that you will die if you don't have. This is for the fans that don't have all of the season and/or want all of the Q episodes all in one package. If you want every single Q episodes all together, this is for you and it is totally worth the money!

For anyone that is a Star Trek fan, this is a have to own. I can't think of any other Star Trek character that was a "bad guy", but you still loved him all the more, except for Harry Mudd from the Original Series. "Q" simply makes Star Trek a neat experience, and for anyone that likes Q, you will really enjoy these DVD's. It is a collection of every Star Trek from any franchise that has the character of "Q" in it.

Star Trek has always been hit or miss. There are episodes from all the various series that are truly worth watching repeatedly, and others that are very forgettable. In this collection of Q-related episodes from TNG, DSN, and Voyager, again there's a bit of hit and miss. But the hits are so good!

Q (played by actor John de Lancie) is an all powerful, all knowing entity from the Continuum. He appears during the first episode in The Next Generation series, and puts humanity on trial for being a savage, barbaric race. Captain Picard begs to disagree.

In Deja Q, Q has lost his powers and, even with his omnipotence, he experiences a few things for the first time, particularly pain (back, hunger, and a fork jabbed into his hand). And how did that one scene go? "I'll have 10 hot fudge sundaes... I'm in a really bad mood."

In Tapestry, Picard is killed. Is Q God? Q gives Picard a chance to relive a period from his past, and Picard, for the first time, sincerely thanks Q for his help. By the way, Picard comes back to life.

My favorite episode (part 1 and 2) from this series is All Good Things, where Q intersects with the new Captain Picard and crew, an experienced Picard and crew, and an older and disbanded Picard and crew.

Note: If you are not a Trekkie, then consider watching this series with one in the room. You'll need someone to explain why Seven of Nine is so nonchalant about losing her clothes, why Tasha appears and disappears as chief of security, and what a Betazold can do.

Enjoy.

No surprise here, Q was one of my favorite characters. One of the drawbacks of his character is that many of his scenes actually depend on his annoying behavior, and that doesn't stand up as well as more straight drama or comedy. I prefer the more developed Q, once they got past the first few episodes, and before he was more of a wimpy whiner with Janeway. Begging Janeway to have his child? Please.

The Farpoint show could have been much better. Too bad they didn't do it a few years in. Q's scenes could have been more refined, for example, as his touch of evil at that time was more compelling than the drift toward comedy.

"All Good Things" is one of the best, if you do the usual blocking out of the huge holes in time travel stories and the illogic in the core threat of the thing that ate the galaxy. Picard and Q had such a natural relationship, with Stewart and De Lancie each effective.

"Death Wish" has always been an excellent concept, perhaps underappreciated. What would you do if you were immortal and omnipotent? Hmm. Really takes "been there, done that" to a new level.

"Tapestry" has Picard as George Bailey and Q as Clarence. Yes, it's a bit of a stretch to conclude that, but Q gives Picard a look at what might have been. One of the best in this collection.

When Q takes the Enterprise to encounter the Borg, that remains chilling, even now. Two of Star Trek's best ideas: Q and the Borg, together.

Paramount has done the right thing with the specialized collections on Picard and Q.

Joh Delancie was the best actor in all of the STNG/Voyager/DSN universe. Or perhaps it was just that his character, Q, had all the best lines. This collection has all of the episodes that Q appears in. Some episodes are pretty lame (espeically the pilot for STNG), but Q always relieves the tedium when he appears.

If you happen to be a fan of Q and the Continuum, if the episodes in which Q appeared are your favourites in any of the Star Trek series, then this collection is right up your alley. It includes all episodes featuring Q--from TNG to DS9 to Voyager.

Personally, I always felt (and still feel) that we never got quite enough Q from the Star Trek universe; he's a delicious character (John de Lancie plays him so well), and probably a lot of fun to write. But if, like me, you'll take of Q what you can get, I highly recommend this DVD set.

Some episodes in the set have optional extras: commentary written on the lower margin of the screen (but not spoken aloud). If it's been a while since you've seen the episodes, I recommend leaving the commentary off for the first go, as it becomes distracting sometimes (much like audio commentary, really).