Writing in 2021, it is great to see that I am not the only person taking a retrospective look at Star Trek, the Next Generation. When this series was first released in 1987, a little less than twenty years after the end of the Original Series, many people thought that, without Captain Kirk and his crew, it couldn't really be Star Trek. However, original creator Gene Roddenberry, was fully invested in the casting, writing and overall look of the new series, so let's see how it shaped up:
BRING IT ON! One of the best Klingon episodes EVER and we are still only part way through the first season. On re-viewing, the success of this episode depends a lot upon the excellent performance of Vaughn Armstrong as Cdr Korris as the Klingon renegade committed to the old values of conquest and honour, and unable to get to grips with all this newfangled, modern diplomacy.
This guest actor is such a favourite with Star Trek aficionados that it is wonderful to be reminded of his first encounter with full-on, alien make-up. That he has the gravitas and range to carry it off is born out by his multiple appearances in further series, depicting a whole range of alien characters. He once stated he was pleased to frequently go unrecognised in Star Trek casting circles because it meant that, not only would it allow him to be re-cast in another role, but he had done such a good job of inhabiting his last one.
Three o'clock in the morning set-calls and all that gunk smeared on their faces: the actors who perform in prosthetics deserve all our recognition. Even more so those cast regulars like Michael Dorn who turned up day after day, week after week, to don the greasepaint and latex EVERY time they stepped in front of the camera. Senior Trekker gets the heebie-jeebies from just subjecting to a dental mould.
Paradoxically: it was watching this episode fully restored and on a big screen that reminded me just how hard cast and crew have worked to entertain while suspending our disbelief. It was precisely because I could now, at last, see the joins that I understood the professionalism required to maintain the illusion for all those years.
(Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5)