Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 42: Q Who? [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John de Lancie turns in yet another intriguing performance as Q, sending Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the crew of the USS Enterprise on their first fateful encounter with the Borg. Clearly this is one of the most fascinating episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" ever written, revealing the Borg in an utterly alien, yet credible, light. It certainly ranks as among the most suspenseful hours of "Star Trek: The Next Generation". It's a pity most of the other episodes on the Borg weren't as well written as the first.

This video is an absolute MUST for all Borg fans, for this is the first epsiode in which the Borg appear. Consequently, the Borg have appeared in all the other Star Trek series (except the original series).

Q is also at his notorious best (the Q we love to hate) by putting Picard and the crew of the Enterprise in harm's way and watching as they fight to survive against the Borg. Picard must choose between his human pride and the lives of his crew.

Aside from the 1st-season finale which indirectly alluded to them, this is the show where the Borg were introduced, setting the stage for some of the Enterprise crew's greatest challenges in subsequent eppies and a movie! And who better to get the Borg & the Enterprise acquainted than that wonderful omnipotent scamp, the godlike super-being Q? No one of course! His school-of-hard-knocks lesson regarding the folly of Picard's hubris that the Enterprise crew is prepared for every unknown threat really hits home here.

Fortunately, Q's fair warning gives the Enterprise- and the Federation- time to develop a strategy to counter the seemingly-unstoppable Borg threat. But will there be enough time? You'll just have to find out on your own...

`Late

"Q Who" is a good introduction episode to the Borg, simply because of the way the events of this movie were sorted out. It's also a good plot to show the way new encounters leading to fights are made. Clearly, the action can scare you, especially the intruders, how weird they looked until some person came along and redesigned them. Also, the action takes a thrilling turn when the Enterprise escapes. You can't miss this show if you like the Borg.

This episode has it all: great action sequences, nail-biting tension, and intriguing characters.
The omnipotent and omniscient Q pays a visit to the Enterprise, ostensibly to ask Picard if he can join the crew. When Picard smugly refuses the request, claiming that he and his crew can manage whatever is out there without Q's help, Q flings the Enterprise into a distant, uncharted region of the galaxy. Once there, Picard and his crew encouter a terrifying new enemy: the Borg. Are they really as ready for anything as they claim to be?
The Borg were a brilliant notion, and in this episode, as in The Best of Both Worlds, they are terrifying, both in concept and execution. There is a nicely spooky feel to the appearance of the first Borg, and in the scenes on the Borg ship. The episode is paced very well, the action sequences broken up by reflective moments.
Yet despite all the drama and the importance this episode has in the TNG universe, this is also a story about people. There are fresh insights into three of the characters. Picard has to face up to what his pride and ignorance have cost. We learn something of the past of the enigmatic Guinan, who has met the Borg before. And we learn that Q is far more than just a capricious meddler - if it hadn't been clear enough already. He seems genuinely to despise the Borg, and despite the harsh lesson he teaches Picard and his crew, I at least got the feeling that, ultimately, he was trying to do them a favour.
One of the great episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Being part of the Federation Picard believes anything they encounter; he'll be able and ready to handle. Q gives them something to ponder and creates the greatest adversary for the Star Trek universe. Dr. Who has the Cybermen and the Daeleks..even Battlestar Galactica has the Cylons ....well this is another variation on the theme of deadly robot zombies.

It's the episode that jump started the Next Generation. For all intents and purposes this is one you've got to purchase!

In this episode Q has been kicked out of the 'Q Continuum' and attempts to convince Captain Picard to allow him to join the crew. Upon being rejected, Q 'throws' the Enterprise thousands of lightyears away where they encounter the Borg.

This episode is a high-point of TNG's 2nd season. Not only do we see a vendictive Q, but are introduced to one of the most powerful races the Federation will have to fight.

There is a very real sense in which Star Trek: The Next Generation stars over with this episode. After all, we are back to the beginning of the series with Q's sudden arrival. Q is bored and wants to join the crew. Picard gives this serious consideration (really, he does) before refusing the offer. We are then back to first episode with Q again insisting that humanity is not prepared for "what's out there." Instead of heading to Farpoint Station, this time the mountain comes to Mohammed, as Q snaps his fingers and transports the Enterprise to the far side of the galaxy where they encounter a Borg cube. Of course, Picard refuses to surrender and spurns Q's offer to join the crew and help. But that is before Picard's people start dying at the hands of the unstoppable Borg.

Very little of the previous forty-one episodes matters to what happens from this point on, except to establish specifics about the characters: Riker does not want to leave the Enterprise ("The Icarus Factor"), Data has a brother android ("Datalore"), Worf is alienated from his Klingon heritage ("Heart of Glory"), Deanna has a mother ("Haven"), Wesley is not yet ready for Starfleet Academy ("Coming of Age"), Tasha died ("Skin of Evil"), Dr. Crusher is gone for this season ("The Child"), Q likes to cause trouble ("Hide and Q") and Picard likes Dixon Hill novels ("The Big Good-bye"). Now that the characters are all established, it is as if the producers and writers decided to draft a new mission statement. After this comes the classic "Best of Both World," as well as "I Borg" and "Descent."

It is said that it is the quality of the villain that makes or breaks a heroic tale, in which case Next Generation struck pay dirt with the Borg, who are a vast improvement over the Klingons and Romulans. In the cosmology of the original series those two empires supposedly represented the Soviets and the Chinese (which makes Vulcans the Japanese is you want to keep working out this analogy), but they were not particularly worthy adversaries. The Borg, as well as the Cardassians, are both vast improvements on their predecessors, perhaps because they do not have 20th century counterparts. Suddenly the Federation faces an eminently credible threat and the ante is upped considerably. The Borg are coming and so are the really good episodes of this series. With "Q Who?" the Next Generation finally emerges from the shadow of the classic Star Trek.

Plot: Things start out innocently enough, with a very ambitious ensign spilling hot chocolate on Capt. Picard (First sign that this is going to be a good episode). Picard decides to head back and change and instead meets up with Q. Well, Q explains that he's been kicked out of the Continuum. So, to put it bluntly, he's bored and wants to have some fun. He wants to join Picard and the Enterprise and explore the galaxy. Picard, after thinking it through carefully, denies Q's request, explaining that they don't trust him. Q gets a little ticked and snaps his fingers, launching the Enterprise into the Delta Quadrant (The Federation is in the Alpha Quadrent to give you some perspective here). Fortunately, Guinin's people used to live in the area and they ask her what they need to know. She tells them cryptically that they should leave now. Well...they don't (the episode would have been ruined if they had) and they encounter planets very similar to what happened to the starbases back in "The Neutral Zone". Suddenly, a huge cubical ship is detected and Guinin identifies it as...the Borg. The Enterprise is attacked and after a fierce exchange, things quiet down with the Enterprise and Borg ship both having holes punched in them. But, things are about to get worse for our heroes...

High Quality episode. This is the real deadly foe that Starfleet should have been dealing with as opposed to the parasites from "Conspiracy". A really good episode with plenty of suspense, humor, and...(you guessed it) weapons fire.

6 pushing 7 out of 5 stars.

While on a routine mission in deep space, captain Picard and crew encounter the powerful super-entity Q.This time around Q wants to join the Enterprise crew.After having his request denied,Q decides to teach the crew a lesson: he sends the Enterprise hundreds of light-years across the galaxy to the uncharted sector J-25. It is not long before the crew encounters a powerful race of machines known as the Borg. The Enterprise is nearly destroyed but Q intervenes in the nick of time. However the lesson is plainly obvious:there are some things in outer space humanity is not prepared for,but Picard knows the Borg will return. This is one of the better episodes of the second season and serves as a prequel to season three's THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.This episode has everything:Action, humor,drama and serious discussion on the human condition.I heartily recommend that everyone interested in good science fiction buy this video.