full image - Repost: [Review] A.V.Club on TNG 5x3: 'ENSIGN RO': "There's something new about Ro. There's steel in her. Forbes is terrific. Ro's surliness, while it lasts, is one of the rare times that TNG has managed to have a frustrated character who doesn't immediately seem overly hateful or falsely confrontational" (from Reddit.com, [Review] A.V.Club on TNG 5x3: 'ENSIGN RO': "There's something new about Ro. There's steel in her. Forbes is terrific. Ro's surliness, while it lasts, is one of the rare times that TNG has managed to have a frustrated character who doesn't immediately seem overly hateful or falsely confrontational")
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"There's something new about Ro, something that makes her interesting from her first moments on the Enterprise on. [...] There's steel in her, which isn't really something you can say about the show's usual female cast; hell, the only male I can see standing toe to toe with her is Picard, and maybe Riker on a good day. [...]So, we've got a straightforward conflict with engaging undercurrents. And we've got Ro, who, as I said, is terrific. Antagonistic characters on this show are too often strident irritants or morally corrupt bureaucrats, so it's great to have someone who, at least at first, doesn't much care for the Enterprise and doesn't immediately worship Picard or Riker or anyone else.Ro's surliness, while it lasts, is one of the rare times that TNG has managed to have a frustrated character who doesn't immediately seem overly hateful or falsely confrontational. Generally, the Enterprise crew is such a swell bunch that whenever someone shows up and doesn't immediately drink the Flavor Aid, that person almost always comes off as exaggeratedly unreasonable. Ro doesn't. There's something almost refreshing in her unwillingness to be chums."Zack Handlen (A.V.Club, 2011)Full Review:https://www.avclub.com/star-trek-the-next-generation-ensign-ro-silicon-av-1798167419Quotes:"Well, there's a bit more going on beyond that. "Ensign Ro" introduces us to the Bajoran race, the Space Jews (basically), who've been persecuted by the evil Cardassians (who are pretty darn evil this time around); these guys and this conflict are going to end up being a lot more important in Deep Space Nine. In fact, it's one of the fundamental conflicts of that show, to the point where I had to actually make sure "Ro" was the first time we'd heard of the Bajorans.The Cardassians first popped up in last season's "The Wounded," and the two alien species are so inextricably bound together in the franchise's mythology, I half assumed we'd heard about Bajor back then too. But we hadn't. So here they are, all bad feelings and refugee camps and nose bridge wrinkles. And, in the case of one Ro Laren, hot, hot hotness.[...]But there's something new about Ro, something that makes her interesting from her first moments on the Enterprise on. Yes, partly that's because Michelle Forbes is a nice looking woman, but Forbes is also a terrific actress, able to give weight to even utter absurdity like her role as "Pagan Goddess of Sexing It Up" in the second season of True Blood. There's steel in her, which isn't really something you can say about the show's usual female cast; hell, the only male I can see standing toe to toe with her is Picard, and maybe Riker on a good day.[...]Another point to recommend this episode is that it keeps the complicated politics the show has been slowly bringing to the forefront in the past few seasons, and it does so without belaboring the point or getting too tied up in the details. The situation is set down clearly and concisely. Once upon a time, the people of Bajor were super-advanced. Like, even better than humans, which, I know, is totally hard to believe, but I'm serious. Then they had the misfortune of meeting the Cardassians, who, having just had their reality show cancelled, weren't in a very pleasant mood.The Cardassian subjugated the race, eventually kicking them off their home planet, and now, the Bajorans live in isolated pockets through the galaxy, struggling to make ends meet. Some of them aren't particularly happy about this, and they've formed resistance groups. One of those resistance groups, led by a Two-Face wannabe named Orta, apparently just blew up a Federation outpost. As the Federation has done it's damnedest to stay out of the fight (Prime Directive again), this is a very big deal.Not that hard to unpack, really, but the implications here are potentially devastating. For one, by the end of the episode, it's clear that the Cardassians were responsible for the destroyed outpost, which at the very least throws their relationship with the Federation into question. This isn't the sort of situation where everyone can just shake hands and agree mistakes were made; there's a question of proof, but if the folks at Starfleet are able to provide any, the whole balance of power might shift. (I realize I could look this up on Wikipedia, as Deep Space Nine does a lot with the set-up, but I'd rather go on with vague memories and fingers crossed.)There's also a definite questioning of the value of the Prime Directive, as the Bajorans suffering is unequivocal, and their persecution at the hands of the Cardassians is impossible to justify. Besides, it's not like the Bajorans were significantly less advanced than the Federation. This isn't "let's not mess with a still developing culture." This is "Well, Vietnam sucked, so maybe we should not do that." Well, roughly. The problem is, there are clear good guys and bad guys here, which makes non-interference increasingly difficult to justify. You can see even Picard struggling with his convictions. Sure, he stands by them, but he's clearly satisfied at pulling a fast one on the Cardassians in the end.So, we've got a straightforward conflict with engaging undercurrents. And we've got Ro, who, as I said, is terrific. Antagonistic characters on this show are too often strident irritants or morally corrupt bureaucrats, so it's great to have someone who, at least at first, doesn't much care for the Enterprise and doesn't immediately worship Picard or Riker or anyone else.Ro's surliness, while it lasts, is one of the rare times that TNG has managed to have a frustrated character who doesn't immediately seem overly hateful or falsely confrontational. Generally, the Enterprise crew is such a swell bunch that whenever someone shows up and doesn't immediately drink the Flavor Aid, that person almost always comes off as exaggeratedly unreasonable. Ro doesn't. There's something almost refreshing in her unwillingness to be chums.Of course she has to warm to Picard eventually, and the reason why is the episode's big stumbling point: Guinan. The character has been used well before, but lately, every time she shows up on screen, she drags the episode to a screeching halt, churning out cringe-worthy, pat dialogus that belongs in the climax of some terrible children's film. Here, she forces her friendship on Ro, which somehow leads to Ro trusting her, which then leads to Guinan bringing her to confess her problems to Picard. Once Guinan leaves the room, it's a fine scene.In fact, everything in this episode that doesn't feature Guinan works very well. And yet, there she is, dragging us down half a letter grade. There are half a dozen other, better ways to handle Ro's transition from skeptic to reluctant believer, and the hand-holding we get here is probably the worst. (Well, I guess she could've fallen in love with Riker and/or Barclay. That would've been worse.) Thankfully, the rest of the episode is strong enough that this is just a blip in an otherwise excellent hour."Grade: A-Zack Handlen (A.V.Club, 2011)Full Review:https://ift.tt/HTQqf4Y
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