But the children wouldn't safe on earth if those aliens who talk to whales return in a foul mood.
Shields down?
Lash some of those pesky toddlers on the aft section (yeah little Billy, that permanent record thing WILL bite you in the ass, contrary to your opinion). Should absorb another photon torpedo or two before the plates start buckling.
Oh T…you and your quaint 21st century mindset. We in the 24th century have evolved beyond the need for such hand-wringing.
…And I’m sure you all die contented. 
Oh, that’s right: You don’t fear death in the 24th century! So you probably *do *welcome the release! 
They always said the SFX were too expensive, but I never understood this. They already shot the effects for Encounter. How hard or expensive could it be to just reuse those shots?
The real reason has to be that it dragged down storytelling and undermined the tension, but no one wanted to admit that they’d made such a huge storytelling error and tried to make it a central feature of the series, so they just blamed the bean counters.
I thought the turn-around happened a bit earlier - during this Q-speech in a late season 2 episode
"If you can’t take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It’s not safe out here. It’s wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it’s not for the timid. "
Perhaps they used a cable to pull them back together.
Of course, if they reused the SFX shots, there would then be complaints on reusing the SFX shots
See: the original Battlestar Galactica with the Viper launch sequences. MAD Magazine pointed it out in their parody. “Why do we see this same launch sequence every time?” “Because it’s our most expensive SFX shot and we have to get our money’s worth!”
Agreed in general, but in fairness, is there any service personnel posting that involves going five solid years between seeing your family?
Question withdrawn if the Enterprise periodically returns to Earth.
The last time I saw the episode, the acting and dialog seemed so painfully mannered; but for all that, The Inner Light was one of the most conceptually brilliant pieces of sci-fi I’ve seen. Captain Picard, you sometimes agonize over the choices you’ve made. You want to see what your life would have been like if you’d chosen a different path? Here ya go: you’re an ironweaver with a little farm, a devoted wife, and, ultimately, children and grandchildren. I thought it deepened Picard’s character, for him to see what joys a family might have brought him.
I can understand the mass hatred for seasons 1 and 2, but season 3 was brilliant. Easily my favorite season of the entire series.
Odd how that works. TOS had some pretty good-to-excellent shows season 1 and 2, season 3 just crapped out. And the most recent series, Enterprise, hit its peak in season 4 (except for that throwaway last episode). I have no opinion on DS9 or Voyager because quite frankly, I was never able to connect with either of those series.
I always liked Data’s attempt at standup.
Looking at a list of Season 3 episodes, I can see there were some good ones. But I still think the later seasons were much better.
And if anyone needed a holiday, it was Picard: abstrusegoose.com - abstrusegoose Resources and Information.
Hence needing a therapist on the bridge with him–despite otherwise being completely useless.
This thread might be mergable with the one comparing TOS and TNG.
“Do you remember what I taught you, Imzadi? Can you still sense my thoughts?”
I didn’t know Betazoids could teach telepathy to humans. That would have been useful for her to teach to…everyone on the Senior Staff.
It also implies that Riker at one time could sense thoughts - a skill I would have thought he would have tried to keep sharp.
G-d, that fellated with great alacrity.
I believe she was teaching him Kama Sutra, not telepathy.