What is the best episode of television you've ever watched
imo This episode is kind of the Casablanca of the series and it stands alone AND as good serialized television, in an era predating serialized television at least in the way we understand in the modern day IN THIS FILM PAPER I SHALL--
Whoopi Goldberg bringing her gravity to this fifth appearance as Guinan, nailing even her shortest appearances but I believe this is her most screen time in character to date, a heavy hitter at the height of her ascendancy to fame, in both comedy and drama
That's the baseline for this episode
John deLancie in his 3rd as Q, hits a home fucking run, elevating What was a tired trope the progenitor show itself invented (petulant one-off god-thing), coming neck-and-neck with Harry Mudd as chaotic friend-foe recurring antagonist
He is a classic Loki here, charged with glorious purpose
The way that Stewart deLancie & Goldberg interplay in one-on-one's with each other, steal the show in a wonderful triangle
Picard is a young fool compared to these two
despite her screen time, Guinan's mystiques is preserved
Q betrays he is not all knowing, by virtue of being surprised by her
There's a lot of clunky dialogue in this show and it's mostly from the secondary cast Riker is CEO this ep (chief exposition officer) beating out I think even Data
Guinan's natural reactions to what is just batshit thinking in contrast to survival choices balance that in a way she hasn't before
In narrative This is a turning point for Q, when he confesses to Picard that that was a big admission. It's a very human moment in what separates a next-gen story from an original Trek story
It's good '80s drama in what is otherwise a procedural show
