Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 48: Shades Of Gray [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Are you sick and tired of NextGen episodes that actually make efforts to be original, and not rely on stock footage? Are you a big fan of Commander Will Riker? If you said, "yes" to both of these questions, then "Shades of Grey: Riker's Greatest Hits" is just the thing you've been looking for! Be amazed by the desperate measures a TV/movie production studio will take to pad out the episode total of a writers'-strike-shortened season! Be relieved by the fact that this show marks Dr. Pulaski's final NextGen appearance!

A few of Number One's more memorable (so to speak) recycled moments in this eppie include:

- The exploding-head scene from `Conspiracy'!
- The death of Tasha Yar (`Skin of Evil')!
- Getting dragged into and submerged in a nasty pool of black sludge (`Skin of Evil')!
- his first encounter with Data on the Holodeck (`Encounter at Farpoint')!
- Disciplining a Klingon subordinate (`A Matter of Honor')!
- Ordering the activation of the Enterprise's self-destruct function (`11001001')!
- Helping in the rescue of a couple of Klingon renegades (`Heart of Glory')!
- Reconciliation with his dad (`The Icarus Factor')!
- The bevy of babes he's seduced (`Angel One', `Up The Long Ladder', etc.)!
- ...and many more amazing Riker scenes!

SPECIAL BONUS: Less than 2 minutes of Wesley Crusher footage overall! That's right- you need endure only a minute-and-a-half of NextGen's most reviled teen prodigy in this Greatest Hits collection! Or you can just fast-forward right through it to save you the pain and annoyance!

But wait, there's more! Act now, and Amazon™ will include a handsome illustrated single-ply cardboard slipcase and soft temporary lamination absolutely free of charge! What a deal!

So don't delay-- get "Shades of Grey: Riker's Greatest Hits" today! (Hey-- that last sentence kinda rhymed and stuff!)

`Late!

This episode was the result of a very low budget and an uncertainty at the time about the future of the series. Almost half of the episode is scavenged from former episodes. The limited budget that the studio had imposed on the writers and the rather extravagent special effects used during the second series meant that the episode had to be made on a shoestring. This is a ploy used in many different TV series; Star Trek: TNG is certainly not unusual in this. However, for dedicated fans, such episodes end up in their "most disappointing" category. As far as the limitations of flashback episodes go, and considering the questionable quality of the first two seasons, this is not a bad result. However, being what it is, it is certainly one of the lower points of the series. I would, however, rank it somewhat better than such episodes as "The Last Outpost" and "Justice."

It is pretty ironic that the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation ends with the classic "Best of Both Worlds" cliffhanger, because the second season ends with this particular tribute to the art of montage. The show might have been a success in syndication but it was still expensive, and "Shades of Gray" is what they came up with the money for special effects ran out. The justification for the flashbacks is that Riker gets stabbed by a plant while on a survey of this week's unexplored planet. The plant infects him with microbes that will kill him once they reach his brain. Apparently the microbes are not traveling via his circulatory system, otherwise the episode would be over at this point. Dr. Pulaski, in her last episode, has fun putting long rods into Riker's head so she can stimulate Riker to have various memories of all the fun times he has had aboard the Enterprise (e.g., the death of Tasha, fighting his father, etc.). This is because "bad" memories hurt the invading microbes. Consequently, this is an atypical "flashback" episode because usually a television series celebrates the good times on the series, not the bad ones. So, if you do not like Riker, "Shades of Gray" has to be your top choice of an episode that puts him through the wringer. Fortunately, the Next Generation never comes close to ending a season on so low a note ever again.

This is a 'flashback' episode where clips from previous episodes are used. To do this, the writers have Riker be attacked by some vicious plant which leaves a thorn in him. The poison attacks his brain which causes the flashbacks. While it is a bad episode, I will purchase it just to complete my collection!

One thing about the next generation series that has always annoyed me is the character of the chief medical officer of the Enterprise. Whether it is Dr. Crusher or Pulaski, the most common line seems to be, "I don't know . . . " Even twenty-first century doctors don't talk like that, and they don't have the advantages of another couple of centuries of medical knowledge and intelligent diagnostic computers. In this episode, the line is repeated by Dr. Pulaski until the point of boredom is reached. Dr. McCoy of the original series sometimes said it, but not as often and always with a tone of irritability rather than bafflement.
What saves the episode is the courage shown by Commander Riker as he faces death. While on a simple survey mission, he is pricked by a thorn that injects microorganisms into his leg. They infiltrate his nervous system and rapidly migrate towards his brain. His humor and good grace as the organism invades his brain shows us all how we should face a death that we can see as it approaches. Of course, Dr. Pulaski finally wises up and determines that negative emotions will kill the bugs. By stimulating those emotions electronically, Riker is cured and awakes with a quip on his lips.
In the original series, the lines given to Dr. McCoy occasionally got predictable and routine, including the classic, "He's dead Jim." However, it never reached the point that it does in the next generation. This episode is one of the worst offenders and while watching it, I did something I rarely do when watching any Star Trek episode, entered into a bored state.

This is the only time that TNG had a clip show. After viewing this episode, you will know why it was the only one. It is obvious that the producers were trying to save money. And did they ever. This was the finale of TNG's second season. It was about Riker getting a disease from a Predatory vine. The only way to save Riker, is to inject him with androphins to try to give Riker, good bad, lustful and primitive memories. And, you guessed it, the memories shown are memories from the first two seasons episodes like Heart of Glory, The Last Outpost, and A Matter of Honor. The clips are put together pretty nicly, but I still give the episode one star, because it was rushed, it had a really, really, really bad script, and it was obvious that this show was poorly thought out.