Customer Reviews

Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Sixth Season

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Season 6 of Star Trek the Next Generation has many middle of the road episodes with a few really strong thrillers and character episodes. Chain Of Command (with the superb David Warner from "Titanic" "The Omen" and other Star Trek episodes / films) deals with the capture and torture of Picard by the Cardassians while a new captain takes command of the Enterprise much to Riker's distain. The other 2 parter, "Birthright" is a wasted opportunity to integrate with Deep Space Nine. The 2 shows ran concurrently for 2 years yet once twice did they attempt to cross over. We really wanted to see a 3 or 4 parter with all the Next Gen / DS9 crews in the same story. "Birthright" has the Enterprise docked at DS9 while Worf spends yet another episode dealing with his family and honour.

There are less of the great episodes that we've been used to from the 3rd to 5th seasons. Face of the Enemy, Starship Mine, Second Chances, The Chase and Timescape are all good if somewhat contrived. Descent features the return of the individual Borg faction led by Data's brother Lore. It's not strong enough as a Borg episode, the feeling of them being invincible has gone from "Q Who". Every time Star Trek faces a new, deadlier enemy, several episodes later they are made out to have human values after all - which isn't the point.

Episode list:

Time's Arrow, Part II
Realm of Fear
Man of the People
Relics
Schisms
True-Q
Rascals
A Fistful of Datas
The Quality of Life
Chain of Command, Part I
Chain of Command, Part II
Ship in a Bottle
Aquiel
Face of the Enemy
Tapestry
Birthright, Part I
Birthright, Part II
Starship Mine
Lessons
The Chase
Frame of Mind
Suspicions
Rightful Heir
Second Chances
Timescape
Descent, Part I

Alright some people say that Seasons 3-5 were the best. I beg to differ. I, along with the producers and the cast of the show agree that Season 6 had the most solid line-up of episodes in any season. There wasn't hardly one episode in this season that was a stinker. The only episode that I really didn't care for was "Man of the People." The rest were just superb. Granted a few were a bit contrived or a bit lsow-paced at times, but for the most part, every episode in this season showcased just how good TNG had become.

For example, there were several good Klingon, and this time, Romulan shows. "Face of the Enemy" along with "Timescape" were probably some of the best Romulan episodes in the entire series. In "Rightful Heir" we meet Kahless, the legendary Klingon leader from years past. In "Birthright Part II", we have a somewhat weak attempt at Worf showing a bunch of Klingon prisoners what it means to be Klingon after years of captivity under Romulans. Season 6 also integrates the Cardassians a little better since DS9 started up this same time, with episodes, "Chain of Command, I & II" and "The Chase". And then of course the season ending cliff-hanger "Descent" deals with the "individuality" Borgs led by Lore.

However even the non-classic adversary episodes are nice strong Trek-ish stories involving the growing Trek universe.

"Second Chances" introduces us to William Riker's twin clone "Tom Riker" which was Levar Burton's directing debut. Be sure and watch the extras on Disc 7 for more info on this episode.

But anyway, I would recommend Season 6 to anyone who wants to see just how great TNG really was.

By the sixth season of Star Trek: TNG, the characters had gone through many changes- and the writers, through many ideas. I thought that season six would contain the decline of the quality of the episodes, and that new, unique ideas would be thrown to the wayside as writers focused their efforts on Deep Space Nine. Instead, Star Trek: TNG managed to continue being one of the best shows on television, largely due to the excellent performances of Patrick Stewart.

"Chain of Command, Parts 1 and 2" contain what I consider to be some of the best acting from Stewart ever. Picard is tortured for days by the Cardassians, and Stewart plays the role of the victim perfectly. Not only did Part 2 contain some of his finest performances, but it actually managed to convey a message as well. It focuses mainly upon the roles of the characters. The Cardassian who tortures Picard and tries to break his will is left himself a broken man at the end of the episode, while Picard attains true victory by never giving in. An entertaining, powerful episode.

However, this was only one of the many amazing episodes that season six showcased. "Relics", which featured the return of Scotty from the original Trek, was great. "Schisms" put an eerie but interesting spin on the whole "alien invaders from another dimension" idea. "Tapestry" was another episode that made use of Stewart's amazing ability as an actor. John de Lancie guest starred as "Q" in that episode, and forced Picard to relive events in his life. "Face of the Enemy" finally gave the Romulans some action again after being shadowed by the Borg and the Cardassians. "Starship Mine" was probably the most "action-packed" episode of the season, and "Timescape" was another interesting episode involving being stuck in a moment in time. Finally, "Descent, Part 1" lacked the bang of most season finales, but wasn't all bad - after all, it did involve the Borg.

Overall, season six had episodes that really shined, despite suspicions that it might not.

Usually most television series are on their last legs by their next to last season. This wasn't the case with TNG. In fact, the writing/producing/directing/performing team seemed to have caught their second wind by season six--certainly one of their finest offerings.

I've read lots of complains about Time's Arrow (part 2). I found it to be a refreshing episode of the series--it did recall the flavor of Harlan Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever (more than the Roddenberry-Coon-Fontana rewrite). Adding Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) to the mix was inspired.

While True Q didn't have the bite of most episodes involving Q, it still gave John De Lancie a chance to shine. It really wasn't about Q per se anyway. He was just a bystander in this case witnessing someone else's use of their Q power.

The real stand out episodes was the two part Chain of Command. The interaction between Patrick Stewart as Picard and David Warner as his torturer was riveting. One of Stewart's finest performances is featured in this great episode. In reality, it would actually have been a better season cliff hanger than Descent. I'd also like to praise Ronnie Cox and Jonathan Frakes for their performances as well; the two stories were well tailored and paralleled the changes within each character.

Quality of Life, Aquiel, Face of the Enemy, Ship in a Bottle (which resurrects Dr. Morarity from season 2), Tapestry and The Chase are all stand out episodes. Aquiel is a brilliant character study as well as a look at the effects of loss on the individual. It's a stunning episode that reaches to the heart of humanity--even in a powerful alien spieces. The Chase is particularly interesting as it looks at the road not chosen by Picard as well as providing an interesting explaination as to why there are so many humanoid species populating the universe.

The extras are very nice. There's a profile of Data as well as a preview trailer for Deep Space Nine (which is finally coming to DVD!). Deep Space Nine was the only series spin off from TNG that expanded on the storytelling arcs and scope of the original series. It's one of the finest written of the Trek series and Avery Brooks is very under rated in his role as Sisko.

The picture quality is very good to excellent on most of the discs. There are no analog artifacts although there are a few digital ones from the compression technology of DVD; for example there's one scene where the background behind Riker appears to be a projection simply because the pixels don't change at a very high rate.

The sound quality is stunning. The remix to 5.1 brings a new depth (and appreciation) to the sound effects layered on the soundtrack. It's obvious someone was thinking ahead when they added all the background sounds. The music sounds quite good--not quite to SACD or even DVD-Audio standards--but very good nonetheless. There's a bit of compression but it's hardly noticable.

The extras have been improving with each additional year of the series (likewise the picture and sound quality). The only area for improvement is in the booklet. It's less than informative with a couple of paragraphs about the season and highlighting one or two episodes. It would be helpful to have a brief synopsis of each episode as well as guest stars (if any) and writer/director credits. All we get is the episode name, when it originally aired and what disc it's featured on (and this is alphabetical vs. airdate).

The other area that could use improvement is commentary from a key cast member, director or writer for a handful of pivotal episodes. The Babylon 5 box set Signs and Portents offers three episodes with interesting and enlightening commentaries by writer/creator/producer/director J. Michael Straczinski. It would have served Paramount well to do the same thing while the actors were shooting Nemesis. It's unlikely Paramount will be able to get the cast together again for a commentary given that Nemesis is likely the last TNG feature to be produced.

On the whole, Paramount has finally done well by Star Trek. The original series never received this much TLC (and since the market is smaller for it, their probably unlikely to do so).

I remember when this show started being aired here,i was realy interested to see how it would go.After a while you sort of get addicted to it,and you understand how it gained such a huge following.Great cast,they all did a fine job with their characters.The scripts were interesting as well,always something new and exciting.It followed the original series quite well.I felt that some of the other spin-offs realy went too far with costumes at times,and realy didnt capture my imagination as well as both the original,and TNG.5 stars for every season of this series,and its a good thing there is so many of them.

While many took note that DS9's premire took a little wind out of the sixth season,TNG juggled with stories that ranged from Playful(Rascals,A Fist Full Of Datas),introspective(Tapestry,Lessons),suspenseful(Face Of The Enemy) to eerie (Man Of The People,Schisms).
The highlight of the season was Relics,which James Doohan's Scotty returns after being in a transporter stream for 75 years.The best episode of the season is the two part Chain Of Command which has Picard re-assigned,then taken prisoners & tortured by the Cardassians.
The season finale Descent,returning with a new Borg threat ends on a limp note(especially after Best Of Both Worlds Pt 1),but season six was definately an interesting experience.

This season of Star Trek-The Next Generation is fabulous entertainment. It is very strong storytelling, the characters gain more depth than one could have hoped for. Picard is tormented by the Cardassians in the two-part-episode "Chain of command", possibly the second most notable ordeal in the whole series follwing his first one with the Borg. We get to see "Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott" from the original series again in the episode "Relics", who is suspended for about 75 years in a transporter-buffer. This episode is a fine example for how a transitional episode involving a cast member from the original series is done, because the story is about remembrance. Surely this episode invoked tears in some of Star Trek oldest fan-communities. The episode "Schisms" is sort of "Twilight Zone"-like, crew members are abducted and medically examined by aliens from another universe or dimension. It has a nice creepy element to it and an ending wihtout many hints or explanations. Prof. Moriarty returns with an elaborate plan to finally exit the holodeck and entering the real world in a very cleverly made episode. "Face of the Enemy" features thrill and excitement with Troi posing as a Romulan to assist the Romulan underground movement saving some important high dignataries. The cliffhanger once again sets the crew up against their relentless enemy, the Borg. This episode is very entertaining and thrilling, but one has to admit it would have worked maybe as well with another species of cybernetic or robotic lifeform as it did with the Borg. The first two appearances of the Borg brought a quality and richness to them as never reached again in any future-episodes with them, be it 'Next-Gen' or 'Voyager'. At least in 'First Contact' the feeling of what they were and represented is brought back to life, when Picard is faced with his ultimate nightmare-experience with them. But in the end I have nothing but high praise for this season showing once more what good fiction can be.

If you've been getting all the Next Generation box sets, there's no reason to stop now. Season Six pretty much fires on all cylinders, presenting lots of compelling episodes, a handful of entertaining two-parters (I particularly enjoyed the "Chain of Command" two-parter, where Ronny Cox replaces Picard as captain and starts slapping around the crew with his own version of tough love), and a minimum of soapiness. You also get two great bookends to the season: the return of Scotty to the Trek universe near the start of the set and the action-packed return of the Borg (well, a slightly banged-up Borg splinter group, at any rate) at season's end. The extras are once again generous, interesting, and well-organized.

The season really tests the intelligence of the audience by taking risks unheard of in a science fiction series. There are a few clunkers in this season ("Rascals" comes to mind), but overall, it really played with the format and took off in some bold new directions. Here are some highlights:

"Schisms"- A kind of UFO abduction episode, in which the crew members try to piece together missing gaps in time caused by clicking insect-like aliens who are taking away Enterprise crew members into another dimension.

"Chain of Command" is brilliant not just for Patrick Stewart's harrowing performance as a torture victim, but also for Ronnie Cox as the hard-nosed substitute Captain Jellico. Not since William Windom's Matt Decker have we seen such a plausible Federation captain who does things a different way.

"Face of the Enemy" is eminently re-watchable for Carolyn Seymour's brilliant performance as the cunning Romulan Commander Toreth. You can actually see how she thinks through every move on the tense attack on the Enterprise. With smart characters like these, it's really hard to hate the Romulans. Actually, you walk away respecting them even more the Federation crew.

We have two Klingon "cultural pride" episode with "Birthright" and its companion piece, the fascinating "Rightful Heir" with Kevin Conway (the unforgettable Doctor Haber from the old PBS miniseries "Lathe of Heaven" for those of you who grew up in the 70s) miniseries playing a Klingon version of Jesus, who fufills the prophecy a Second Coming. The episode explores the role of religion and mythology in a civilization.

Jonathan Frakes shines in "Frame of Mind," another mind-bender who has Riker questioning his own sanity as he tries to wade through levels of reality, in another UFO-abduction style episode.

The interview with Levar Burton on the "making of" CD sent chills up my spine. Here is a fan of the old series who got to connect with the Star Trek universe in a way few of us ever could.

In the sixth season, Star Trek: The Next Generation decided to go off in some new directions and new ideas. The season opens with the conclusion of the cliffhanger Time's Arrow. The second adventure is better than the first...a great way to finish the story. We revert again back to the Original series a bit with "Relics" which contains James Doohan guest starring as "Scotty". Humor came through in "A Fistful of Datas" and we saw Patrick Stewart give arguably his best performance of the series in "Chain of Command". The sixth season contains my personal favorite sequence of the series which is Data's dream sequence in "Birthright, Part I". I think the sixth season was when Star Trek: The Next Generation was at its best. It was the climax of the entire show. It ends with Descent...probably the best cliffhanger since "The Best of Both Worlds".

Personal Favorite Episodes:

Time's Arrow: Part II, Relics, Schisms, True Q, Rascals, A Fistful of Datas, Chain of Command: Parts I and II, Face of the Enemy, Tapestry, Birthright, Part I, Starship Mine, The Chase, Frame of Mind, Timescape, and Descent: Part I