tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349653650482188023.post2585659684303849135..comments2024-02-18T22:30:19.655-10:00Comments on Vaka Rangi: “Crucible”: The DrumheadAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03828341842948036592noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349653650482188023.post-30384503716207071472018-03-11T22:12:49.793-10:002018-03-11T22:12:49.793-10:00This is right on. I never felt this episode was as...This is right on. I never felt this episode was as challenging as it gets credit for, but I couldn't quite put into words what was wrong with it. An insightful critique.<br /><br />I liked this one when I first saw it, but I'm always gobsmacked to see it cited as an important, progressive episode much more often than "The Wounded," (or at least it seems that way). As you say, it's pretty weak tea in comparison to that one.Beth https://www.blogger.com/profile/00181538167994145152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349653650482188023.post-92101222920528006062015-05-29T21:03:07.356-10:002015-05-29T21:03:07.356-10:00I will admit though as a teen I loved it the first...I will admit though as a teen I loved it the first time as it was pretty gripping in a way. But now it feels like a fake facade on a pretty dull building.Daruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870910268972702784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349653650482188023.post-54689890629366039802015-05-29T20:59:48.897-10:002015-05-29T20:59:48.897-10:00"I actually think “The Drumhead” is a step ba..."I actually think “The Drumhead” is a step backwards in this regard: The Federation's deep, dark secret is that it's not immune to McCarthyist rhetoric? Tame, tame, tame."<br /><br />Yep as you say there are whole swathes of other darker not exactly secrets going on where the Federation and Starfleet have behaved abominably towards other races.Daruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870910268972702784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349653650482188023.post-7005133297411424392015-05-20T02:51:54.363-10:002015-05-20T02:51:54.363-10:00One of the things I found interesting about this e...One of the things I found interesting about this episode and the one that comes later -- "Below Decks"? -- is that we as regular viewers see and empathize with the main characters in their adventures. But when those adventures are extracted and held up out of context in a courtroom situation or from the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern characters, then what we had agreed to see looks very different.<br /><br />It also reminds me a bit of the different ways shows like MASH would trot out different ways of telling a story, trying to find new perspectives from which to see the characters.<br /><br />(And of course, I write this having seen this episode only once on its first run. Such is internet commentary.)brownstudyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333599990012361188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349653650482188023.post-24925479569552518852015-05-18T08:46:40.098-10:002015-05-18T08:46:40.098-10:00My take on it was that I liked how it showcased Wo...My take on it was that I liked how it showcased Worf a lot from that point of view, but also from his recent history. He's been forced to disavow his seeking out of his heritage, so he'll turn back into his adoptive nation full-tilt, as well as echoing all the way back to Heart of Glory, because that Klingon dude was pretty explicitly saying the same kinds of things they were.<br /><br />Enterprise good, Federation bad. Yeah, we know.<br /><br />So Worf's usage, and Picard's speech at the end. Do they make the whole episode good? No, to be honest one of the dilemmas I have with a courtroom episode is that they're drearily boring affairs. This courtroom drama is inferior to the ethical highground of Measure of a Man, and inferior-er still than Menagerie, which was a two-parter rehasing an unseen pilot and still had a level of action, tension and anticipation, mystery, characters doing things.<br /><br />But this does mark another of the increasingly odd episodes where for instance, when I catch my sci-fi weened, now basically neoconservative (I've never been certain that these things are mutually exclusive, but that's a story for another fathers/sons episode, probably) father watching it, and I see him nodding in agreement with Picard because he gets the allegory, I can't for the life of me understand how he views current events. Which means that to me at least, slightly dreary except for a couple high notes, there's at least a degree of relevancy still to be had from this one.<br /><br />But if it's about any specific aspect, it's not so much the obvious McCarthy parallels, it's about legacy. Nora Satie's legacy, and how blinding that can be, to worship something, the way she worships everything from her father to her flag.<br /><br />Skepticism and Cynicism are old rivals.Keith Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09191397165163257948noreply@blogger.com