"Hide and Q" just doesn't work for me. Surely, confronting man with the possibility of unlimited power is a challenging concept but I think the way presented here isn't the one to deal with such matter. First of all, Riker is the obvious choice for the "God candidate" (who else should it have been, Worf?). But to be honest I can't stand him laughing. He overplays his new role to the limit with his meaningful looks and clumsy arrogance. Sure, Riker's an eager officer and loyal to his colleagues but what I had wished for was reaching deeper into his character to clearly state out what his new powers could mean to him... Idon't know if Frakes would have had the ability to do so at the time (I would almost say no) but such a highly complex matter deserves to be taken seriously. Wouldn't it have traumatized him or given him a mental breakdown or simply blown his mind? And honestly: Riker's conflict about having been able to save the child. Is that all he was thinking about at the moment? Here comes the point which makes clear that this is just another episode awkwardly trying to create a pseudo-theological conflict. It's not Riker we're interested in but only the "what-would-be-if" kind of thing finally resulting in the overly simple solution of realizing that keeping to our true selves is the best thing to do. But the script's way too superficial on that. Shakespeare knew what he wrote about and his lines weigh a lot and it's quite a shame to abuse his work for such purpose (although the Q/Picard "Shakespeare-battle" is a funny thing).
Besides Riker, interestingly it's Data who ruins this show. What had happened to him? Did he just out of nothing develop a kind of conscience? How that? And what's his silly question at the end about Q having problems to deal with humans? I'm glad the producers dropped that kind of Data-parts soon...
Another thing is the "game" Q creates. First of all the set. It's so bad that even the most talented director couldn't have made anything out of it. So, no fault on behalf of Cliff Bole. Wouldn't it have been "game" enough for Q just letting the crew execute their rescue mission and watching how Riker behaves? Wouldn't that have been temptation enough? I do think so... And once again Wesley. Why didn't Riker just let him die? Second opportunity missed...
It's quite a torture to see Star Trek struggling for its way and dealing with quite intelligent concepts in a silly, childish and one dimensional way. Please Mr. Roddenberry, let go... (He finally did and look what became of TNG).
Riker's worst performance so far and Q's much better than in the pilot (although deLancie almost gave in to the temptation of falling back to classic 60s villainy). A new set of the Enterprise's corridors was introduced here and for my part that's all to mention here.
Besides Riker, interestingly it's Data who ruins this show. What had happened to him? Did he just out of nothing develop a kind of conscience? How that? And what's his silly question at the end about Q having problems to deal with humans? I'm glad the producers dropped that kind of Data-parts soon...
Another thing is the "game" Q creates. First of all the set. It's so bad that even the most talented director couldn't have made anything out of it. So, no fault on behalf of Cliff Bole. Wouldn't it have been "game" enough for Q just letting the crew execute their rescue mission and watching how Riker behaves? Wouldn't that have been temptation enough? I do think so... And once again Wesley. Why didn't Riker just let him die? Second opportunity missed...
It's quite a torture to see Star Trek struggling for its way and dealing with quite intelligent concepts in a silly, childish and one dimensional way. Please Mr. Roddenberry, let go... (He finally did and look what became of TNG).
Riker's worst performance so far and Q's much better than in the pilot (although deLancie almost gave in to the temptation of falling back to classic 60s villainy). A new set of the Enterprise's corridors was introduced here and for my part that's all to mention here.