S2E16 - Q Who

[dnaphil]

I selected this episode because it introduces The Borg.

Q episodes are always tricky, in that the crew is at the whim of Q, which can be frustrating, but I love Delancy's acting.

This episode teaches Picard a lesson in humility, that humanity may not be prepared for anything, but in true Q style he bends the rules in order to show them, but hurling them across space, in a place farther than they would have normally reached. A sneak peek of sorts.

I really enjoyed that Q and Guinan have a past, and that they do not like either other. What I think is interesting to note, is that as powerful as Q is, he does not use his powers on Guinan to get rid of her, hinting that there is more to Guinan than meets the eye. He also mentions that he has not seen her in two centuries, so clearly Guinan is more than human.

While I like this episode overall, it is not one of my favorites, but it a solid episode for me in the lesson it teaches and the introduction of the Borg.

If you feel like the end of this episode was foreshadowing, you will be correct. We will see the Borg again...

[pksullivan]

As far as Q episodes go, this was pretty light on Q. He was more the inciting incident than the antagonist. The decor in the Borg ship is reminiscent of H.R. Giger and we’re given some fairly horrifying scenes inside the ship with the baby being modified. Plus we get more great Guinan moments and I love the idea that she (and possibly other El-Aurians) are the anti-Q.

[JimLikesGames]

Heh, [mention]pksullivan[/mention] because I am always thinking about gaming as I watch, the baby thing also jumped out at me "Welp, there's another thing that's an easy shorthand for 'here be monsters' that would get X-Carded in a game." I remember at the time just being totally fascinated and terrified by the Borg, they were such a departure form the typical Trek adversary. Going back and watching this decades later, they still pack a wallop, and it's easy to see why they became so iconic.

[Jared Rascher]

I only thing I wanted to add is that this may be the only time we see a "wizard hands" standoff between two characters in Trek.