{"id":46824,"date":"2013-07-29T10:16:17","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T09:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=46824"},"modified":"2013-07-29T10:45:56","modified_gmt":"2013-07-29T09:45:56","slug":"star-trek-the-next-generation-season-4-blu-ray-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/reviews\/star-trek-the-next-generation-season-4-blu-ray-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 Blu-ray review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Star Trek<\/em> had its ups and downs in 1991. The year began with The Next Generation<\/em> well into its fourth season and no longer the awkward offspring of a TV classic. The show had come of age and was buoyed by overwhelmingly positive comparisons with its 1960s predecessor.<\/p>\n

At the year\u2019s end, though, Star Trek<\/em>\u2019s biological father was dead.<\/p>\n

Gene Roddenberry had been influential in scriptwriting decisions in TNG<\/em>\u2019s third season, but the installation of Rick Berman and Michael Piller as showrunners and his failing health meant the fourth was effectively out of his hands. It was also the last full season he would live through before he passed away.<\/p>\n

Despite Roddenberry\u2019s minimal oversight, though, Season 4 of TNG<\/em> is a fitting epilogue to his life. Aside from its premiere \u2013 the finale to \u2018The Best Of Both Worlds\u2019 \u2013 no episodes stand among Trek<\/em>\u2019s greatest.<\/p>\n

Yet, several exemplify the values and intelligence that Roddenberry is credited with investing in the franchise. \u2018Suddenly Human\u2019 and \u2018Galaxy\u2019s Child\u2019, for instance, aren\u2019t classic episodes, but they are classic Trek<\/em> in their celebration of life, diversity and humanity through dilemmas involving ethics and choice.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Drumhead\u2019, meanwhile, transcends nerd appeal with the casting of screen legend Jean Simmons and a script that makes a prescient point about not sacrificing principles in our efforts to defend them.<\/p>\n

Less inspiring is \u2018Final Mission\u2019 with its predictable tale of father-son bonding that at least has the virtue of packing Wesley off to school. \u2018Data\u2019s Day\u2019 is also ho-hum, but after 164 episodes Star Trek<\/em> was probably due a wedding story (\u2018Amok Time\u2019 doesn\u2019t count). Meanwhile, \u2018Family\u2019, highlights the absurdity of casting Patrick Stewart as a Frenchman by making Jean Luc Picard\u2019s relatives enunciate proper English just as well as he does.<\/p>\n

Overall, though, The Next Generation<\/em>\u2019s fourth season is a solid sci-fi experience that suffers in comparison to the season before only because that was such a big step up from what the series had previously produced.<\/p>\n

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