Deja Q

This is far from the best episode of TNG, but it is riddled with some of the very best lines. Especially John De Lancie, and his delivery of:

"Eaten any good books lately?", "Please don't feel compelled now to tell me the story of The Boy Who Cried 'Worf'.", "Simple. Change the gravitational constant of the universe.", "You weren't like that before the beard.", "Ah, Dr. Crusher. I see Starfleet has shipped you back into exile." "Your bedside manner's admirable, Doctor. I'm sure your patients recover quickly, just to get away from you!"

This might be the best episode in the entire history of the franchise. It's not just one element that makes it perfect but a whole collection of them. The writing (at first) is absolutely perfect: every single line of dialogue is witty and funny and has a reason to exist: all the "serious" plot lines of the rest of the episode are well thought out and have a reason to exist; the execution is also perfect: all the actors are at the top of their game and perfectly representing their characters: al-around a perfect tng episode and a perfect star trek episode in whole and possibly the best piece of star trek in the history of the entire franchise.

It's yet another outstanding performance by de Lancie as Q. I know that he is a successful actor now, but given his consistent greatness on this show and his outstanding performances in "Breaking Bad" I'm surprised that he isn't a superstar and I'm not seeing him in every other big budget movie that I watch. It's also a testament to Gene Roddenberry's genius that he recognized his immense talent and cast him in the first couple of episodes as the iconic Q entity.

Data's simpatico interactions with Q and his guidance through the mores of humanity make for some of the best dialogue on the show. It's great subtle and witty humor. I really love this episode.

This is what Roddenberry allegedly told De Lancie after his Q audition, and I totally concur. It is a good summary of De Lancie's amazing performance as Q.

The episode itself has a few good storylines: Q's fall from grace, Data's "humanness", and how people can learn and develop. It's a good sci-fi/philosophical funny episode. However, as a stand-alone episode to someone who is not familiar with the Star Trek characters it might appear a bit plain.

Q is ejected from the continuum and transformed into a human.

This is a solid episode with a fairly interesting story, great visuals and an entertaining performance from John de Lancie.

It is a humorously intended character transformation story with Q learning about humanity to make him a better omnipotent being.

How much you enjoy the Deja Q depends on how interesting you find the concept and whether the comedy works for you. For me it is refreshing to see him on the receiving end of the torment, but the jokes, albeit hilarious in very short doses, are (for my own sense of humour) not hugely consistent. Q has a brief exchange with Worf that is particularly memorable.

There is a decent sci-fi element to the episode with the sub-plot regarding the decaying orbit of a moon being an interesting idea and the detail that goes with it feels plausible.

I like the notion of Q as an observer and frequent judge of humanity, but this is the point where the character lost a lot of mystique for me in the grand scheme of the show. I think it stems from the number of scenes we see where the character whines about his predicament. As a stand-alone story it does work very well though I have to admit.

I do not wish to take anything away from John de Lancie's performance which is as excellent and charismatic as ever. His banter with Enterprise characters is always engaging and great for generating humour, but with it comes a loss of awe around such a powerful character. Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn and Patrick Stewart play off him particularly well.

Visually this is an impressive episode with some superb effects, editing and strong cinematography.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.